While Pro Hockey Talk doesn’t specialize in fantasy hockey (our Rotoworld cousins do, though), we still think that there are areas where we can help you, the budding imaginary general managers. For that reason, we’re going to discuss different philosophies, strategies and cheat sheets as fantasy drafts begin to increase around North America.
Minnesota Wild right wing Cal Clutterbuck (22) checks Colorado Avalanche defenseman Ryan Wilson, center, over the boards as Avalanche players, from left, Kyle Quincey, Tom Preissing and Scott Hannan get out of the way during the third period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Nov. 27, 2009, in St. Paul, Minn. Minnesota won 5-3. (AP Photo/Tom Olmscheid)
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Previous entries: Penalty Minutes, Faceoff winners, Shots on Goal leaders.
Today’s entry: Hits leaders.
One of the biggest developments in fantasy hockey this season is that Yahoo added the hits and blocked shots categories to their fantasy hockey format. Both stats are intriguing because they help to justify the selection of defensive defensemen; after all, the Brooks Orpiks of the world aren’t going to put together big point totals but they earn nice salaries in real life because they protect their goalies at all costs.
Personally, I prefer hits as a category for two reasons. First, forwards are likely to get plenty of hits too so it’s not a category strictly for defenseman. Secondly, stats bloggers succeeding in convincing me that a blocked shot isn’t always a great sign. While it proves that a blueliner has incredible courage, its often a last-ditch effort for a player who is out of position.
If you are choosing between hits and blocked shots, I’d go with hits but there’s nothing wrong with going for both. I’ll still do a post on blocked shots (and perhaps a “five-tool player” entry that ties it all together?) later on, though.
Anyway, I checked Yahoo’s stats and they only have the top hitters for the 2009-10 season. Here are the top 10 hitters from the last three seasons, via NHL.com.
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As I’ve done with shots on goal and penalty minutes leaders, here are the NHL players who ranked in the top 10 in hits at least twice in the last three seasons.
Cal Clutterbuck: 1, 1, NR
Dustin Brown: 2, 3, 1
Ryan Callahan: 3, 4, NR
Stephane Robidas: 4, NR, 10
David Backes: 5, NR, 5
Brooks Orpik: 6, 2, 6
Alex Ovechkin: NR, 9, 9
Clutterbuck only played two games in 07-08, so chances are he’ll be a top hitter next season too. I wouldn’t be surprised if Alex Ovechkin threatened the top 10 last season if he didn’t miss 10 games (then again, more checks might have meant more trouble for Alex O in 09-10). LA Kings captain Dustin Brown’s name will be known in more hockey circles because of the hits category as he’s a perennial hits leader who also scored 24, 24 and 33 goals in the last three seasons.
Ryan Callahan won’t bring in many points, but Orpik could be a very valuable defenseman if you have blocked shots and hits as two categories (especially if you expect him to net a nice plus/minus). David Backes brings a very nice mixture of goals, PIM and hits to the table.
Really, though, it all comes down to the fact that you can now add “hits” to “obvious pun opportunities” on the short list of reasons to draft Cal Clutterbuck. If that’s not good enough for you to add hits as a category, then I don’t want to be in a league with you.
