Hey everyone! There hasn’t been an RCL update since the NHL season has started so I thought it was necessary to fill everyone in on how the different RCL’s are shaping up in the early going. We are looking at 5 different leagues, 4 of which are in the correct format and 1 that is a roto league because Reid messed up setting the league up! No worries though, that league will still be in the battle for the overall prize. Let’s take a look at all of the action to this point:
Viz Versus The Commenters:
RCL #1 sees Matt, Reid and myself taking on 9 of the commenters. We broke down this draft on a podcast that you can listen to here. At this point, yours truly is on top of the standings with a 56-22-3 record. I lead the league in goals, penalty minutes, goals against average and save percentage while being second in wins and shots on goal. The biggest key for this team is the goaltending duo of Devan Dubnyk and Sergei Bobrovsky. Waiting on goalies allowed this team to load up on forward talent that to this point has overcome the loss of Steven Stamkos and Taylor Hall for stretches. Dubnyk is currently the #1 goalie while Bobrovsky is third. Evgeni Malkin fell to me at 25th overall and he has delivered… Just stay healthy!
“F Off I’m Vacuuming” is in second place at 54-23-4. While none of his goalies have been individually great, Henrik Lundqvist, Roberto Luongo and Cam Talbot have provided him with a very solid trio. Nikita Kucherov has led the way offensively providing great value at 27th overall. There’s even some potential for improvement with Jamie Benn and especially John Klingberg struggling compared to their lofty standards.
“The Mother Puckers” sit in third at 52-27-2. He’s not great in any category outside of plus-minus but it’s been good enough across the board. Jonathan Quick going down early put a hurting on him in net but he’s pieced together decent enough goaltending with Pekka Rinne, Peter Budaj and Scott Darling. Cam Atkinson has been his big surprise offensively supporting Joe Pavelski and Brad Marchand. Matt currently sits in 6th while Reid is down in 10th 26 games behind me. Take that Reid!
ATP: The League
Matt’s league sees his team far out in front with an amazing 65-14-2 record. None of his stats truly stand out but he’s top 2 in 5 of the 6 offensive categories and he must be running pretty well in terms of goaltending. He’s below average in GAA and SV% but that hasn’t stopped him from winning. Getting Connor McDavid and Brent Burns at 11th and 14th overall is working out to understate things.
“Team CSKA” sits in second at 57-22-2. Tuukka Rask and Chad Johnson have led the way for him in net while his offensive depth is outstanding. Patrick Kane leads the way but he has 11 additional players with at least 18 points already.
“Team Voell” isn’t far behind with a 54-23-4 record. Dubnyk is leading the way in net right now while his forwards are absolutely stacked. The depth is outstanding but we had the top end guys as well with Ovechkin, Tyler Seguin and Marchand.
Smug Razzballers
Reid did not adjust the settings before the draft and nobody realized it until it was too late. Oh well, last year we did rotisserie leagues, I’m perfectly fine with it. If someone else wins, I’ll figure out a way to translate that finish into head to head, but at the moment it’s not a concern because I’m running a way with it. Two great teams! Good start after a couple disaster teams last year. I’m currently sitting at 98.5 out of a possible 120 points while being 20-80 starts behind the people that are in 1st through 4th. If it wasn’t for plus-minus, where I’m -49 and have 1 point, I’d be lapping the field. I’m currently leading all goaltending categories and have at least an 8.5 in everything besides plus-minus. This is another team with Dubnyk and Bob but also Jake Allen. Ovechkin, Seguin and Stamkos led the way but now Jack Eichel is back along with Hall carrying my offense.
“Lord of the Rinks,” a winner from last year, sits in second place right now with 84.5. Rask is his best goalie by a mile while we find another person that easily has 10 solid or better forwards. Wayne Simmonds leads the way with Pavelski and the breakout of Alex Radulov gives him a great assist guy. LotR is only 20 starts behind me so he has 35 and 60 starts in hand on 3rd and 4th respectively. I’d be fairly shocked if he doesn’t finish in 2nd here.
“Greg’s USA Team Russo” is in third with 82 points although as mentioned above, he’s extremely over offensive starts. For now, it’s paying off having an 11 or 12 in 4 offensive categories but it’s a near certainty that he’s going to bleed those points off. The key for him will be getting more goaltending points (18 at the moment) so Ben Bishop will need to turn things around. It’s the Vladimir Tarasenko show offensively with Alex Galchenyuk out for a month plus.
Razzballlers Unite!
“Crimson Fratellis” has a strong lead to this point sitting at 55-23-3. His goaltending is actually quite poor with a 2.77 GAA and .910 sv% on the season but his offense is absolutely loaded. Tarasenko, Simmonds, Hall, Nathan MacKinnon plus a P.K. Subban, John Carlson, Rasmus Ristolainen, Ryan McDonagh blue line gives him a solid core to work around.
“Atlanta Thrashers” is at 47-29-5 in second place on the back of Rask and Martin Jones in net. He’s done a great job grabbing hot forwards on the waiver wire to supplement John Tavares and Marchand. At the moment, Artem Anisimov, Viktor Arvidsson, Sam Gagner, Conor Sheary and Matthew Tkachuk are all contributing in relatively big ways.
“Euros Aliens” is a half game behind at 47-30-4. With Dubnyk, Allen and Matt Murray in net, he’s going to be extremely hard to beat in goaltending stats. Offensively, he has a handful of studs with Patrick Kane, Jakub Voracek, David Pastrnak and Claude Giroux with Evgeny Kuznetsov starting to turn things around. I wouldn’t be shocked if this team makes a move up.
I’m sitting in 6th 5.5 games out of 3rd place. Getting Jack Eichel back to help out Seguin, McDavid and Mark Scheifele should go a long way towards pushing back to contention.
Scott’s Second League
The second league is really the first because the first didn’t fill but whatever, it’s still an RCL! “Flamin Puckheads” is far out in front with a 57-22-2 record. Dubnyk with Corey Crawford in net gives him an excellent combo when Crawford gets back and like a lot of teams, McJesus leads the way offensively. Patrik Laine‘s excellent rookie season gives him an elite goal scorer while the depth top of bottom is terrific.
“Semin Stains” is in second at 44-32-5. Carey Price has been excellent in net and if John Gibson starts to turn things around, he could make a push towards the Flamin’ Puckheads. Voracek is his best offensive player with the Rangers duo of Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes giving him great value given their draft position.
“Team Olcott” is in 3rd with a 44-33-4 record. Goaltending is a bit shaky passed Matt Murray although he’s staying on top of things right now having grabbed Antti Raanta. Pavelski and Scheifele are his best forwards while the return of Eichel should help quite a bit. Charlie Coyle and Cam Atkinson have provided excellent value to this point.
That’s all for now guys. I’m planning on starting to update the RCL’s at the beginning of every month with more updates as we approach or are in the playoffs. Any questions or comments can be posted below. Take care!
