Know Your Scoring System Inside and Out

Hello again. I know that it's been awhile, but I've been focusing on work and family interests for the last little while. But now that fantasy numbers are standing still (but the playoffs are very much alive and well), I now have the opportunity to study the season that was.

As I tweeted last night, I'm going to write about some tips, based on a keeper fantasy league that I finally won this season (and a few others that I didn't win thrown in there too). My first tip is Captain Obvious for those of you who have been playing fantasy leagues for awhile, but it bears repeating because of its importance: Know your scoring system inside and out.

For example, this particular league awards more points for defensemen than forwards in goals and assists. Having a defenseman like Kris Letang absent for over half the season would normally be crippling, but you can absorb the loss when you receive a somewhat expected 50-point season from Alex Pietrangelo and an completely unexpected 50-point season from James Wisniewski. Applying this particular scoring system, Pietrangelo and Wisnewski were the two players that earned me the most points this season. With goals being worth even more than assists, super sleeper Tyson Barrie and his 13 goals paid significant dividends, especially during the second half of the season.

Another interesting scoring observation was at the position of goaltender. Because this particular scoring system subtracts points for goals allowed and losses, there is arguably less benefit from owning a starting goalie on a bad team than there is from owning a backup on a good team. Would any of us have expected Frederik Andersen to be better than Cam Ward at the start of the season? As it turned out, both goalies played about the same number of games and recorded around the same number of saves, but Andersen earned over double the number of points because he recorded twice as many wins and allowed just under one fewer goal per game. Interestingly enough, Andersen's fantasy stock should continue to rise the longer he and the Ducks manage to stick around during the playoffs.

Another great example is in leagues that count non-standard stats, such as hits and blocked shots (not this particular league). If you have to fill up, say six defense slots on a team, like I did in an experts league, it wouldn't hurt to add someone like Radko Gudas (273 hits, third in NHL) or Andrew MacDonald (242 blocked shots, first in NHL). Both of these d-men were owned in less than one-third of Yahoo leagues. If your league counts both hits and blocked shots, the little-owned Ben Lovejoy, Mark Stuart, and Mike Weber makes sense to use, as each recorded at least 200 hits and 150 blocked shots.

In a time period in which there is a website for just about anything, there are seemingly limitless fantasy hockey articles that will provide you with useful information and great advice. However, these articles are usually written based on standard scoring systems. Same goes with the player rating systems that are usually used, although you may be able to find stats customizable to your scoring system in a few different places. Ultimately, though, it is up to you to understand your scoring system, both inside and out, to maximize the potential of your fantasy roster.