It seems counter intuitive to target veterans for a keeper league team, but this was one strategy that was instrumental in helping me win the keeper league that I previously mentioned. After all, it makes more sense to acquire a star rookie with an entire Hall of Fame career ahead of him. Think Nathan MacKinnon (hey, no pressure at all, kid) or whoever the next shiny new toy will be this coming season.
I knew during the last offseason that I would probably be losing one of Tyler Seguin and Jordan Eberle, who were players I could retain on rookie contracts for the first few years of their careers. As it turned out, needs at other positions resulted in me losing both players to much, much higher bids from other teams. Any team with that kind of loss seems doomed, right? Not so fast.
The impending loss of Eberle meant that I had a hole to fill at right wing, so I performed my best Dale Tallon impression (literally). I decided to sign Marian Hossa to a five-year contract offer, which like his real-life contract, will expire after he hits the big 4-0. You might be thinking, is this guy nuts? Well, yes and no. I don't expect Hossa to produce at a near point-per-game level at that stage like he is now. However, like the real-life NHL, stretching out Hossa's contract means less of a cap hit each year in this fantasy league. I had only thrown out the five-year contract as a tactic to force another league member into a more difficult spot if they really wanted Hossa, but as it turned out I had to use the contract offer that I made. But I am more interested in winning now than winning a few years from now, so this contract would simply be the cost of doing business.
The previous offseason, I was so surprised that no one was that interested in Patrick Marleau as a free agent. Sure, he's also in his 30s, but left wingers who consistently score 30 goals a season don't exactly grow on trees (only eight managed to last season, and no left winger reached 40 goals). Marleau and Hossa each have multiple years left on their contracts with my team, so they are a major part of my plan going forward.
Not all veteran keepers pan out. I have expensive expiring contracts on Johan Franzen and Dan Boyle, both of whom experienced diminishing returns this past season to go with their relatively advancing age. I will only plan to re-sign either player if the price drops on the open market.
So the next time you think keeper league, think Jaromir Jagr. And no, this is not a blog from 1992.
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