When it comes to playing (and especially winning) fantasy hockey, no time is more important to the season than draft day. Your fortunes for the year are largely determined by an hour or two of fast-paced decision-making. So it makes sense that preparation is key. A large part of your preparation should be focused on practice. That’s where the mock draft comes in.
Mock drafts have been popular in fantasy football for years, and are starting to catch on in other sports as well, including fantasy hockey. So why do it and how should you approach it?
Developing a game plan
The biggest benefit you get from mock writing is the opportunity to try out various drafting strategies to see how they might work. This is especially important if you are new to a particular league and its scoring system. Scoring and roster rules can vary drastically from league to league and each deserves a different approach. For example, most Yahoo leagues differentiate offensive positions by C, LW, and RW, while CBS goes with C and W, and others simply group all forwards together. It makes a big difference how you approach your picks. Quality centers abound in the draft, but if you lose one of the best left wingers early in the draft, you’ll be looking for options later on.
The mock draft isn’t really valuable until you know your exact draft position and the number of teams in your league. If you select the eighth, there is no point in even thinking about Crosby vs. Ovechkin. Enter your mock draft in the position you will so you can see where the chips will land in subsequent rounds. While you may not want to stay until the end of your mock draft (who cares who ends up on your bench in a mock draft), it’s important to draft multiple times, trying a different approach with each one. For example, on your first time out, plan on taking a goalkeeper with your first pick, then see what quality forwards and defenders you can land in rounds 2-4. Next time, start with a center, and so on. Most mock draft systems allow you to see your results and go back to them, so you can compare how you did from one time to the next. Take a look at your top picks from draft to draft and decide which roster you’d rather start the season with. That should give you some indication of what strategy to use when it comes down to reality.
Timing your selections
Most drafts are neither won nor lost in the early rounds. You have to have solid picks at all times to win. A key factor is identifying the right round to pick your target players. You don’t want to draft a guy too soon, only to have everyone laugh and tell you he would have been available in the 12th round. When building your draft list, it makes sense to target certain underrated players who you think will have breakout years. and try to assess where they will fall in the draft. Most mock draft sites list an ADP (Average Draft Position) which tells you where that player tends to get drafted. For example, it’s a good bet that Phil Kessel has his best season ever, so how long can you wait before drafting him? If his ADP is 64, in a 10-team league, you can expect him to go off the board around round 6. So if you want to take advantage of his goals, you should target him for round 5 or risk losing him. Arm yourself with the ADP ratings for your draft and use them to play out some scenarios in your mock draft.
Discover the recommendations and warnings of Sleeper
While you may go into a mock draft with a few dormant picks in mind, you’re just as likely to discover one or two more via a mock draft. For example, there may be a rookie or a guy who got injured last season that you completely forgot about. Someone in a mock draft is bound to pick it up. Likewise, you could be high on a guy and accept him into your mock draft, only to have someone tell you that he signed on to play in the KHL. Better make that mistake on the practice field.
Types of mock drafts available
There are two basic types of mock drafts to consider: fully automated and face-to-face with other “real” people. They both have pros and cons. In a face-to-face with other users, you can benefit from the dialogue and bounce thoughts of real fantasy players. Some guys are talkative, but most tend to be quiet. The downside to these drafts is that they tend to take a long time and often the guys back off after a few rounds, so you might be sitting there a long time before the auto draft kicks in. CBS and Yahoo are two sites that offer these drafts, but they don’t get much engagement until the end of September.
A fully automated draft loses the personal advantage, but can be completed in a very short time. This obviously gives you the ability to run many mock drafts without taking a day off to do so. Landsharkhockey.com offers this type of mock redaction option.
