Coach: Art Ross
Assistant: Frank Patrick
Sweeney Schriner - Newsy Lalonde - Eddie Oatman (C)
Jack Walker (A) - Nels Stewart - Ace Bailey
Tommy Anderson - Tommy Dunderdale - Atty Howard
Goldie Prodger(s) - Jack Adams - Billy Boucher
Babe Siebert - Hod Stuart (A)
Jack Campbell - Ott Heller
Lloyd Cook - Bert Corbeau
Georges Vezina
Billy Nicholson
Spares: Tom Hooper - Herb Cain
PP1: Schriner-Stewart-Lalonde-Campbell-Cook
PP2: Adams-Dunderdale-Howard-Siebert-Stuart
PK1: Walker-Bailey-Siebert-Heller
PK2: Oatman-Prodger(s)-Stuart-Corbeau
It's much easier to talk about one's own lineup, but that's the way it is. You know your own lineup better than anyone else's, especially in a draft like this.
It helps that this team came together over the course of what, 12 days? So I can easily remember my thought process that justified each pick vs. who was available, what my needs were, and so on.
As a coach I grabbed Ross just at the end of the run of coaches. Ross is overall a run-of-the-mill coach in this draft, so to enhance that, I also picked up Patrick, who's probably only about 8th-9th most qualified as a head coach here, but as an assistant is a really good yin to Ross' yang. It was worth being short a spare skater for Patrick. Ross had some fairly conservative rules (though, if you ever read them you will understand that expecting him to follow them literally in a fantasy league held in 2023 is also unrealistic), so I wanted a more wide-open, free-thinking type of coach to make sure my offensive players had someone in their corner who'd let them go out and do their thing. Along with Lester, Ross was one of the game's most innovative minds, so I expect that to manifest itself in the occasional wild unexpected gambit when necessary.
The forward lines all have a very similar theme: feed and serve the center. The wingers all are specially selected to have puck winning/puck ragging/defensive/possession/playmaking ability that allows them to serve the needs of the center. The centers are proven goal machines that need the puck to find them. Much like Phil Esposito who absolutely could do a lot himself, it's unfair to pigeonhole these four centers as being one-dimensional players who just stand in the slot and wait. But, if they have wingers (like Esposito often did) that make it possible to do just that, then great things can happen.
Lalonde was one of the most talented and prolific players ever. I'm confident saying that he's a clear 3rd among forwards in this draft, unless you really love Russell Bowie. Lalonde can carry the puck, and he can stickhandle and pass, but how great is it that he can specialize in just brutalizing the opposing center and defenseman, and rifle pucks in the net from anywhere? Sweeney Schriner (3X top-3 in NHL assists) is one of the best playmaking wingers in this draft (maybe the best?) and is a speedy, dazzling player with an array of moves. Soft, sure, but that's just more reason to believe that they're the perfect complementary pair. Oatman on the other side is not an ideal first liner, but don't kid yourself, he's got the numbers to stick with these players. He's also a very assist-heavy player who can dig pucks out of the corners and play physical. These two combine to give Lalonde exactly what will make him the most successful.
Nels Stewart, on the other hand, is one of history's most one-dimensional players. He's been reduced to pretty much a caricature at this point: an oversized bully who spends most of the game standing in the blue paint (when he
finally gets there), spitting in the goalie's eyes, hacking the knees off of defenders and then easily shoveling in shots, Espo-style. Of course, that's a caricature. Stewart had to have velvet-soft mitts to put in as many goals as he did, but the numbers don't lie: he liked to shoot much more than he liked to pass. That's why Ace Bailey on the right side is so important for him. We simply cannot expect Nels Stewart to be the guy carrying the puck up ice. First of all, he's a slow skater. Secondly, if he gets there successfully, what does he do then? Pass? No, of course not. So that's far too ineffective and predictable. Bailey, on the other hand, was one of the best puck-ragging players in the league when he played, and could really distribute the puck (3rd, 5th, 6th, 8th in assists), so in a 2nd line situation we believe he's a guy who can get the puck across two lines and then find something productive to do with it. Secondly, Stewart is poor defensively, mainly because his skating is bad, but probably also because he's lazy. On the rushes coming back the other way, we need something extra. Enter Jack Walker. Aside from Nighbor, he's one guy you can really say is like two players defensively: and he has to be. And I think if you look around the league, his offensive numbers show that he can hang as a 2nd line glue guy in this thing.
There's no dedicated defensive line on this team. If there was, I'd be putting it on the 3rd line. I had no real plans to take Tommy Dunderdale in this thing, but I really didn't expect to see him available well after all the 2nd line centers were taken. He's a scrappy goal scoring center (notice a theme) who was nothing special in his own end. So why not give him a LW with multiple top-10s in assists, who was a puck winner and won the hart as a defenseman, along with a somewhat assist-heavy RW on his other side? Another line with a little of everything.
Lastly, I thought I'd change things up on the 4th line, so I drafted Jack Adams to play center (lol). Adams was another "value pick" for me - not the guy I thought I'd go with, but too good value to pass up. Of course, he's the focal point of the line, like the other centers, so I wanted players who'd "serve" him - the big, strong, fast Prodger(s) on one side, and tough little Boucher on the other. Boucher was surprisingly balanced for goals and assists (I was surprised, anyway), so these two provide the toughness, responsibility and skill that allow Adams to head for the net whenever we get the zone.
Building the defense was all about value picks and getting the right guys at the right time. Hod Stuart was a no-brainer as he was the BDA at the time. Getting guys like him and Campbell and Dunderdale where I did, made up for going for the first goalie. Stuart didn't really specialize in offense or defense so I didn't feel the need to get a counterbalance, instead settling on the best two-way guy available at the time, Hart winner Babe Siebert.
I feel I got a bit of a steal with Campbell, who might be the 2nd-3rd best offensive defenseman in this draft. That's a bold statement, but look at the numbers posted by
@rmartin65 in the chat thread. Did Campbell score more points from point/CP between 1886-1897 than all other defensive players combined? If not, it's pretty close:
Name | Seasons | Games | Goals | Assists | Points |
Dolly Swift | 12 | 60 | 56 | 8 | 64 |
Archie Hodgson | 7 | 46 | 31.5 | 16.5 | 47 |
Dave Brown | 10 | 50 | 30 | 8.5 | 38.5 |
Herbert Russell | 8 | 45 | 27.16 | 10.17 | 37.33 |
A.D. Scott | 9 | 48 | 27.16 | 7.5 | 34.66 |
Archie McNaughton | 5 | 24 | 23.5 | 3 | 26.5 |
George Lowe | 8 | 38 | 22 | 4 | 26 |
Jack Campbell | 6 | 33 | 19.5 | 2 | 21.5 |
S. McQuisten | 9 | 39 | 13 | 3 | 16 |
Jack Findlay | 7 | 43 | 14.5 | 1 | 15.5 |
R.J. Davidson | 9 | 28 | 11.5 | 4 | 15.5 |
A.E. Scott | 7 | 21 | 9.66 | 5.5 | 15.16 |
Halder Kirby | 8 | 26 | 13 | 2 | 15 |
D.A. Elliott | 7 | 37 | 13.5 | 1 | 14.5 |
Jack Kerr | 7 | 24 | 11.25 | 2 | 13.25 |
Sam Lee | 7 | 30 | 10.5 | 2 | 12.5 |
Billy Hodgson | 4 | 21 | 12.5 | 0 | 12.5 |
Jack Arnton | 8 | 37 | 9 | 2 | 11 |
A. Ritchie | 5 | 22 | 8.5 | 2 | 10.5 |
E.W. Barlow | 8 | 45 | 8.5 | 1.5 | 10 |
Allan Cameron | 11 | 67 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
J. Craven | 5 | 22 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
Andy Shearer | 6 | 35 | 6.5 | 0 | 6.5 |
W. Drysdale | 6 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
J. Muir | 5 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Jas. McDonald | 9 | 45 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
R. Laing | 6 | 23 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
James Stewart | 11 | 63 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
W. Norris | 5 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Tom Paton | 9 | 47 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Robert Jones | 7 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
I get the sense his defensive game wasn't polished, or at least he was all over the ice so much that it was impossible to effectively defend at all times. I believe that in this case a pure defensive, steady eddie type was needed, so the right shooting Ott Heller was drafted to play with him.
It was also a blessing to be able to get to start a 3rd pairing with Lloyd Cook (ranked 20th among defense players in our pre-merger project, though of course behind about a dozen other post-merger guys in this draft), and given his offensive bent, gave him a big, strong, defense-oriented partner. Pretty elementary.
Vezina was a luxury I just had to have in round 2. A couple seemed surprised I took him when I did, but he's the best goalie in this draft and I was confident in my ability to mine value later on. Nicholson is just a run of the mill backup - all I needed. But he really does have a surprisingly strong resume full of recognition and accomplishments everywhere he went.
Cain was drafted solely because I needed a spare LW (to be honest, I forgot Seibert was also a spare LW, which may have changed the direction I went). Hooper is a legitimate spare at C, RW and D which makes him very useful in injury situations.
I feel that my 1st PP unit has no equal in this draft. Being able to have a net front presence like Stewart, with Schriner sending pass after pass and Lalonde sending shot after shot in his direction, is a huge luxury. This unit also makes use of the explosive puck skills of Jack Campbell, who is like a 4th forward, and Lloyd Cook, whose offensive skills need no introduction. This PP doesn't really lack any of the necessary elements. The 2nd unit is closer to average, though if you look around I'm sure that Adams and Dunderdale are more potent than you will typically see.
The PK on this team is ok, but not a specialty. Jack Walker is a bit of a trump card. It's hard to call any PK unit with him on it bad, and he gets possession master Bailey to work with, along with two defensive stalwarts on D who are nearly beyond reproach.
I had just barely enough guys to fill a 2nd unit, though. I'm confident in Oatman, Prodgers and Corbeau holding the fort, but Stuart may be the best all-around defenseman you'll see on any 2nd pairing.
I made Oatman the captain because I believe his work ethic is contagious, and apparently a lot of coaches felt the same way, as he was a captain everywhere he went. picking assistants was tougher (because guys like Lalonde were in the running), but Stuart and Walker seemed as good as any, just to spread the letters out.
Overall, I expect this team to do well and go far, but probably ultimately lose to a team that picked a handful of value pre-1900 picks that they can justify as better than their regina counterparts.