ROSTER

#2 Alex Ovechkin (Drafted 1st Round)
#17 Dustin Byfuglien (TRADE – Drafted 2nd Round)
#18 Zdeno Chara (Drafted 2nd Round)
#47 Pekka Rinne (Drafted 3rd Round)
#67 Chris Stewart (FREE AGENCY – Drafted 5th Round)
#79 Mark Streit (Drafted 5th Round)
#82 Vincent Lecavalier (Drafted 6th Round)
#84 Derek Roy (TRADE – Drafted 6th Round)
#94 P.K. Subban (TRADE – Drafted 6th Round)
#111 Gabriel Landeskog (Drafted 7th Round)
#114 Dustin Brown (Drafted 8th Round)
#129 Patric Hornqvist (FREE AGENCY – Drafted 9th Round)
#131 Teemu Selanne (TRADE – Drafted 9th Round)
#142 Jaroslav Halak (FREE AGENCY – Drafted 9th Round)
#143 Kari Lehtonen (Drafted 9th Round)
#146 Stephen Weiss (Drafted 10th Round)
#151 Steve Downie (FREE AGENCY – Drafted 10th Round)
#153 Brenden Morrow (FREE AGENCY – Drafted 10th Round)
#175 Brian Campbell (Drafted 11th Round)
#193 Michael Del Zotto (FREE AGENCY Drafted 13th Round)
#207 Sheldon Souray (Drafted 13th Round)
#308 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (TRADE – Drafted 20th Round)
#335 Vaclav Prospal (Drafted 21st Round)

KEY POINTS

9 of my 23 players (39.13%) are original Top 100 draft selections
6 of my 23 players (26.01%) have been plucked for zero cost from the waiver wire
3 of my 23 players (13.04%) were drafted from #207 downward in a 384-player draft
20 of my 23 players (86.94%) were drafted in the top half of the draft

ANALYSIS

Granted… draft position is absolutely not indicative of how successful a player is (or will be), however it’s a great way to evaluate the early season effectiveness of one’s wheeling and dealing.

The numbers above speak for themselves. I’m thrilled to have nabbed so many top-level players; some who are doing beautifully, others who aren’t but are more than capable of shaking short-term slumps. And those who were not originally that highly rated (Souray & Nugent-Hopkins), I dare say would both be top 150 picks if a re-draft was held right now.

Bottom line = any more trading and waiver transactions will be limited to injuries and absolute necessity. I do like having a ‘flex’ spot on my roster to stream with each passing day depending on need, but how can you refuse when the core of your team is from the top half of the NHL?

Catch me if you can.