Unmasked: Types of Fantasy Hockey Managers

ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA — For many diehard hockey fans, one of the more exciting parts of a brand new NHL season is the return of fantasy hockey! The thrill of drafting, managing and trading professional athletes is enjoyed by millions of fans annually.

Whether you are participating in a league for the first time this season, or are a seasoned veteran who manages multiple teams a year, I have a feeling that you have already met a few of the following characters in your fantasy league.

The Best Player Available

This manager takes pre-draft prep to an extreme. Just like Santa did only a few short weeks ago, the rankings of players names are scrubbed over and over until the list is just right! Once their rankings are perfect, there is no flexibility in this style!

On draft day, this manager often does really well. The average value per player selected is through the roof and their roster is likely leading the league in post-draft standings projections. The problem is, the strategy is too bold. Unless a manager really enjoys having ten center-only eligible skaters for three roster slots and three defensemen for four slots, I would avoid this method.

The Scout

This manager is a rebuilder’s dream! Having watched hours of junior hockey and second-tier European pro leagues, this individual thinks they can build a contender directly from the farm systems. League preparation will consist of scribbled notes of suffocating penalty-kill shifts and dominant possession numbers.

Drafting only hidden gems and picking up late-bloomers off waivers, this team will look competitive on paper, but will have a hard time pushing for a championship anytime soon. If one can be patient and really enjoy analyzing prospects, this could be a recommended style. Just make sure that you are in a keeper league!

The Trader

This manager fills their watch list instead of doing any draft preparation. The actual draft is of no concern with this style, because anybody can be traded. Even Gretzky! The key here is constant roster turnover. Individual hot streaks and cool slumps should be feared by the members of this team.

The internal league message boards are a fire with this style. If you enjoy a high-pressure atmosphere and thrive on change, this style is not only contagious but mildly successful as well.

The Chemistry Builder

This style is literally the exact opposite of the aforementioned trader. This manager typically has a good draft, looking for good value throughout the draft rounds and building the roster responsibly with nice positional balance.

A potential problem soon rears its ugly head! Thoughts of ‘I love my team!’ and ‘I have built the perfect roster’ soon occupy this managers dreams at night. Veterans, rookies, breakout candidates, and consistent performers round out this team.

In a perfect season with no injuries, postponed games, or slumps this looks like a style that could work. The problem is change is feared. This manager refuses to break up the perfect training camp chemistry and often pays dearly for it. This is a strategy that can work to start a season, but you would be foolish to follow through on it.

The Roster Filler

This one is a personal favorite of mine! I have certainly been guilty of this several years running. Just ask my fellow managers in the Travel Boys League. Managing roster space to optimize the amount of players in your possession is the key here whether this means stashing players that have suffered injuries with long recoveries directly from free agency to injured reserve slots or keeping a mid-tier player on injured reserve even though he returned last week, its all fair game.

The pay off with this strategy is you own as many potential breakout players as possible. The Injured reserve slots should always be utilized to the max. The big weakness here is clearly flexibility. Rarely can you make a streamer pickup for one night, or complete a quick trade, as the manager will likely not have the roster space for it.

The Support Local

During a pandemic, the name of this style should be complimented! We all need to support our local businesses during this very difficult time to ensure they all make it through and have the chance to thrive again. Unfortunately, the style itself is not very efficient in fantasy hockey.

It consists of truly staying in your local market, and targeting all the players that played in your areas minor, minor-pro, or amateur teams. Most of these local products likely looked like generational talents while this manager drove town-to-town to see them dominate. The problem, of course, arises when the manager realizes that every single professional athlete once absolutely tore up the local loop. As levels increased, the competition likely improved and even though the athlete kept succeeding, the individual stats were starting to plateau.

This is a respectable strategy, but at some point you have to realize that even though the neighbors second cousin is a major success story for making the show, he may just need to miss the cut to make your roster.

The Homers

This manager, successful or not, may end up having the most fun in the league! The key here is to target current and former players on your favorite team. The fun speaks for itself. Who doesn’t love cheering for their team in more ways then one?

The efficiency of this strategy is very underrated. All you need to do is watch the games you already plan to watch anyways to do your league preparation. The problem arises if your favorite team is not very good. Another potential issue is a big portion of your roster will share the same schedule making it difficult to compete on a nightly basis and fully utilize all your position slots. Avoid this strategy at all costs.

The Character

This manager demands respect, so much so, that the entire team is built from players that have earned that respect, play hard every night and play the game ‘the right way.’ It’s commendable, from a branding perspective, unfortunately I have yet to be in a league that awards points and wins for a strong character trait.

I have also never had a bad locker room presence destroy my team. These could just be my biased findings though. Save this style for rinks and workplaces.

The Set it and Forget it

This is perhaps the most frustrating of all the styles. This manager is likely doing a commissioner a favor by joining the league. Well, the favor ends quickly. The key to this style is minimal effort.

First, the draft is set to auto. Why bother researching when others have already done it for you? Then the lineup is set once, maybe twice, and it is forgotten. Annoying email will start coming in regarding trade requests, injury updates, and ineligible roster alerts, but those are of no concern.

The set it and forget it is the most frustrating style for the league as a whole. Please do not be this person!

The Rebuilder

Back to a fun one! This manager loves to plan, revise that plan and plan again. The rebuilder is constantly ready to tear it down. No matter how strong the core is, the long-term future is of the utmost importance.

The concern of players aging out of their prime is a major core of this style. The draft strategy here is to go young and to package veterans and lower picks in trades for the hope of drafting high-end elite talent. It’s a very effective strategy that is similar to “The Scout”, but has a higher chance of paying off in the long run.

What is the only downside? Be sure that you have patience and that you are in a keeper league that has a strong chance not to fold!

The Panicked

This strategy is best utilized if you are very connected to the hockey world. You need to be on top of all news, notes and especially transactions. The key to this style is to react before any other manager is even aware of the latest rumblings whether a junior player is called up on emergency basis, a coach is fired or a star player is on the trade block, you need to act and fast!

This manager is likely in the middle pack of the standings, but has a history of some success. It’s a high-risk, high-reward style that can pay off when truly elite players have a major change coming that could affect performance. The problem is, there just is not that many truly elite players out there involved in daily tidbits of news.

Be cautiously optimistic with this style.

The Challenger

This style is crucial to any successful and long-running fantasy hockey league. This is the manager that demands a fair playing field, as every trade and rule is potentially up for debate here for the betterment of the league. It’s a strategy that will challenge relationships and potentially ruin trade negotiations, but it is criminally underrated.

Be prepared and know the rules and player stats inside and out before attempting to perform this style. It can produce results, especially when trust and respect is established among fellow managers. It can also rip a league apart if used too aggressively. Pursue with extreme caution. Oh, and don’t forget to have fun!

Good luck to all the fantasy managers out there this season! May you all have lineups with no injuries, while your opponents lineup is lit with red postponement colored lights!

Acknowledgements

Thank you to all my fellow co-managers I have had the pleasure to play against over the last couple of seasons. Obviously, none of the stereotypes listed are based on your styles. Better yet, we are all a mixed bag of these styles!

Special thanks to Shane for some of the contribution ideas.

By Mike Raschle, Staff Writer
All Habs Hockey Magazine
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