Frozen Fantasy: Revisiting Past Drafts

It's All-Star time. There was a lot to see, but there wasn't much substance to any of it. Weird skill competitions. Weirder Brett Hull cameos.

And WTF was Auston Matthews thinking with those bizarre suits?

Friday, it was Ron Burgundy blue, complete with bad 70s hair and weird moustache. Saturday, it was Beetlejuice or the Addams Family with those stripes.

Maybe the fall from the best-dressed list hurt that wrist.

Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day tossed F-bombs like they were free t-shirts for the fans. So much for family friendly.

The stats-central feed was interesting… until they turned on the ghost lines behind the puck.

My mind started to seriously wander. But then Quinn Hughes scored that sick goal that impressed Wayne Gretzky, And I realized he's actually the prize of his draft, not Rasmus Dahlin.

Not that Dahlin is bad. But Hughes is great. Generationally so, considering his success so far.

So, with the All-Star game in the background, I rethought the last few drafts. Sample sizes are small for the most recent drafts. I err toward defenders – that's a tough position to play so young. So I'll always move them up.

Tell me your thoughts. Or yell at me. I'm good either way. This was fun.

I'll take a look at the previous two drafts after we talk about the guys who caught my eye this week (and a bit).

Andre Burakovsky, LW/RW, Colorado (27 percent Yahoo! owned) – Burakovsky is incredibly talented, but he's always been fragile - at least psychologically. That's not a knock – the guy is just so unnecessarily hard on himself that his confidence falls and his game plummets. But not this year. Colorado has changed him. Burakovsky has 33 points in 46 games, but he's been especially hot heading into the break. He's on a three-game, five-point streak and eight points (two goals, six assists) in his last six games. There's no way he should be out there in three of every four leagues.

Charlie Coyle, RW/C, Boston (12 percent Yahoo! owned) – Coyle has frustrated many owners, but reality is harsh – he's just not the 56-point guy he was in Minnesota. But he is warming up right now and can provide you with cheap secondary scoring. Coyle has seven points, including five assists, in his last eight games. He also has 13 hits, 16 shots and 48 FOW in that same span. Just don't overrate him.

Brian Elliott, G, Philadelphia (17 percent Yahoo! owned) – Elliott is the man between the pipes for the Flyers for at least another week-to-10 days. He's won three straight since taking over for the injured Carter Hart and Tuesday's shutout of the Pens (and their killer offense) was impressive. Snap him up as a short-term play. Hart is nursing an abdominal strain and Philly won't want to bring him back too soon. 

Erik Gustafsson, D, Chicago (50 percent Yahoo! owned) – Last year's fantasy surprise fell back to earth hard this season – that's why he's out there on the wire in half of Yahoo! leagues. Gustafsson is on a paltry 40-point pace after hitting 60 last year. He even fell out of favor on the PP. But his game really sharpened into focus heading into the All-Star break. He is riding a three-game, six-point streak with one PPA, four hits and three SOG. There's no guarantee he can resurrect last year's glory, but the Hawks are strangely in the playoff hunt. So, they'll push as hard as possible. He's worth a shot if he's out there.

Slater Koekkoek, D, Chicago (0 percent Yahoo! owned) – Koekkoek had so much promise coming out of junior, but he has been nothing but brittle in his pro career. It forced him to change his game. More D, less O. But even then, he couldn't stay on the ice. Koekkoek has never delivered more than eight points in any season (or played more than 35 games). But he's already at seven in 23 games. And four assists in his last five games. Those points are somewhat hollow – he doesn't get any power-play time. But at least Koekkoek is contributing something and that might boost your last roster spot.

Brandon Saad, LW/RW, Chicago (10 percent Yahoo! owned) – Saad is better than his stats have shown. He's on the wire because of the measly 16 points he put up in his first 32 games. That and his recent month-long absence due to injury. But Saad had three goals in four games before he got hurt and returned with two goals in three games right before the break. Remember – Saad has put up at least 23 goals in four of his last five seasons. The Hawks are doing better than any of us thought. Saad could be poised for a strong couple months.

Alex Stalock, G, Minnesota (11 percent Yahoo! owned) – Stalock has gone from clear-cut backup to emergency starter to a platoon split this year. It's been a roller coaster for the one-time hot prospect. Stalock is coming out of the break with a 2-1 record - including a shutout win over the Stars and a sharp victory over the Bolts - in the Wild's last four starts. And he'll likely get more starts if the Wild becomes a seller. Sure, goalie changes at this time of the fantasy season smack of fantasy desperation, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Jason Zucker, LW/RW, Minnesota (20 percent Yahoo! owned) – I'll make this quick. Zucker could be on the move if the Wild hold a tag sale in the coming weeks. He does have a 10-team no-trade list, but that still leaves a lot of possibilities. The team at the front of the line is the Pens, who have coveted Zucker for a while. His value will go through the roof playing alongside one of Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin. Speculate now or be sorry later. I'm already in.

Back to the re-drafts.

From a fantasy perspective, drafting prospects is always a bit of a crapshoot.

Picks are based on promise, not performance. But gone are the days of waiting for young guys to perform. We expect them to excel immediately because the league is younger and faster than ever.

And we simply move on when they don't. This exercise makes me think about cutting bait on Tyson Jost and Timo Meier. But laughing in sinister glee that I own Hughes, Makar and Eichel in the same league.

I think I'll go target Mikko Rantanen now.

BTW I expanded my lists for 2015 and 2016. PLEASE tell me where I'm wrong. You know me and the joy of debate.

Until next week.