Doing My Homework for the Keeper League

As you may have read already, I'm joining my first keeper pool and I'm trying to get a little more into the step of things by doing some more homework.

First things first, I thought I would name my team after the brand I have showing... the Sherpa's Yaks will be the moniker to which my team will be known as. I've always enjoyed using that as my team name.

Looking at the e-mail updates, it looks like there might be a couple more expansion teams joining the QMHL, which would lessen my chances for Steve Mason, who I am still hoping for come the end of September. I am going to need a back-up plan, which is a little more in-depth than before.

One of the things I really like about keeper leagues is that teams go head-to-head in weekly battles for the most points and then the pool is then determined by the standings and not the total points. That's one of the elements that really interests me, so I'm going to have to develop somewhat of a good strategy for winning this. No idea how, since a lot of the superstars will be taken up, but I figure my knowledge of depth players should be my advantage.

Scoring	ES Goals	PP Goals	SH Goals	Assists
Forwards	2	1	4	1
Defense	3	2	5	1
	Wins	Shutouts
Goalies	2	5

Since we know how the format is going to work, we should have a look at how the points are broken down. Certainly, by the looks of things, we're looking for goal scorers, rather than just overall good players. In the goalies case, we need goalies that not only win, but put up good games that give them a shot at shutouts. See, this is why I think Steve Mason will be clutch as the first pick for me. Looking at other available goalies, Tomas Vokoun was behind Mason's 10 shutouts with 6 of his own, while Tim Thomas had 5. Both goalies do play on some free-wheeling teams, so the goose eggs may be few and far between again this season.

The top goal scorer available this summer is Zach Parise of the Devils, who would also be a great player to have on the team. He was a huge help to me last year to win the regular pool, as he broke out with a huge year. I think a nother huge year is on the cards as well. Parise finished 2009 with 45 goals. Going down the list of available players, Loui Eriksson of the Stars and Phil Kessel of the Bruins each finished with 36 goals, being tied for second, while coming in fourth was Jonathan Toews of the Blackhawks. Toews, to me, is the only real safe bet here, especially since Kessel is still a RFA this summer and he'll likely have to be dealt beforehand.

There isn't a great deal available in the way of defenseman goal scorers, as Anton Babchuk, also a restricted free agent in Carolina, leads the pack with 16 goals. Pavel Kubina, newly dealt to Atlanta, is second with 13, while Dennis Wideman of the Bruins is in at 13. Kubina and Wideman should be safe bets to be in their respective team's line-ups, but Babchuk could also be a pawn in a deal before training camp starts. Going down the list, I can see a few names that tickle my fancy, including Zach Bogosian, Alex Edler, Marc-Eduoard Vlasic and Kyle Quincey. Those five have a lot of potential for some goals, but will have to breakout to do so.

The available players for the entry draft is a pretty bare list, but like I mentioned in my first QMHL post, all of the teams that are currently in the league have rosters that are super-over budget, so there should be some ripe pickings from those teams. There's a good chance I'll have to be creative with that draft as well.

Well, I should get to adding some salaries to my list, as I would like to have some quick reference to those numbers.