[Cliffsnotes]

There were a couple of proposals for scoring categories for next year. So let's discuss it.

Here's where we are currently at:

11 skaters (each day) contribute to 8 skater categories: G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, Shots, Hits, Blocked Shots.
Math: 8/11 = 0.72 categories per skater.

2 goalies (each day) contribute to 4 goalie categories: Wins, GAA, Sv%, Shutouts.
Math: 4/2 = 2.0 categories per skater.

Let's determine what breakdown we want for skater/goalie categories first, then we can figure out if we need to add or swap out categories.

[The Jewish Cunthead]

May 28, 2015 12:29:46 GMT -5 Cliffsnotes said:

There were a couple of proposals for scoring categories for next year. So let's discuss it.

Here's where we are currently at:

11 skaters (each day) contribute to 8 skater categories: G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, Shots, Hits, Blocked Shots.
Math: 8/11 = 0.72 categories per skater.

2 goalies (each day) contribute to 4 goalie categories: Wins, GAA, Sv%, Shutouts.
Math: 4/2 = 2.0 categories per skater.

Let's determine what breakdown we want for skater/goalie categories first, then we can figure out if we need to add or swap out categories.

Let's.

[The Jewish Cunthead]

Would TOI be a good one?

[ALL CAPS]

TOI is silly. It's a coaching category and is very situational. It has nothing to do with production. I don't like it.

[Cliffsnotes]

Just so it's handy, these are the available categories. PPP and SHP was cut off the bottom.

[DevSop]

My top 3 additions would be special team points, faceoffs won (ideally faceoff %), and maybe losses for a goalie as I do think they should get 1 more but nothing jumps out. Next on my list would be ATOI.

[Cliffsnotes]

I don't really want TOI, but I wouldn't call TOI (or ATOI) situational. It rewards the guys that coaches want on the ice the most, regardless of production. It helps negate the poor +/- of good players on bad teams, and rewards defensemen more than forwards. Here's league leaders from this past season. I don't see many "flukes" in this category.

espn.go.com/nhl/statistics/player/_/stat/timeonice/sort/avgTimeOnIce/seasontype/2/position/forwards
espn.go.com/nhl/statistics/player/_/stat/timeonice/sort/avgTimeOnIce/seasontype/2

As for faceoffs, this category obviously rewards centers, as few wingers and no defensemen take faceoffs. A dual-position player that takes faceoffs gets a big lift in value (ie, a guy like Malkin that has C/LW eligibility, but generally takes faceoffs and plays center, has enormous value if you play him at LW in your fantasy lineup). Wingers will mostly lose value.

There seems to be interest in adding SHP, whether as a separate category or by changing PPP to STP. The league leader in Shorthanded Points last year was Tyler Toffoli with 6. That's like one per month. I don't want SHP as a category, but switching from PPP to SHP is fine with me.

I'll suggest one swap that probably isn't a big deal, but serves to slightly mix things up a bit.

Defensemen Points instead of Blocked Shots. Blocked shots heavily favor defensemen anyways - the top 102 shot blockers were defensemen. So the value of defensemen would only change slightly vs forwards, but it rewards the elite offensive players that are a bit more well known than the grinding defensive defensemen. So Erik Karlsson's value would increase while Dion Phaneuf's value would decrease. I'm ok with that.

I could also do Defensemen Points instead of either Hits or Penalty Minutes. This would shift more power to defensemen than forwards, but again, it rewards the skilled defensemen instead of the grinder-type forwards and defensemen.

[DevSop]

I'd definitely want to keep Blocks as a category as I think keeping an eye on those fringey guys that might only help in 1 or 2 categories is a big component of fantasy leagues. Anyone can draft/pick-up the guys with the most points, but do you take someone who won't score but might dominate in one category like blocks. It's why I like the baseball league we do that uses Holds as a category. It's a pretty important factor in the sport so it should be as well in fantasy.

And making dual position guys more valuable with faceoffs, is the same thing to me. The more choices/decisions someone has to make, the better.

[otfsquared]

I'm fine with switching PPP to STP.

If we are looking to add categories, I would prefer shifts over ATOI. I think that it would be a new and different category. Also GWG isn't a bad category, but would toward scorers, I think it would be interesting to get more of the grinding type players involved. Which is usually what blocked shots and hits do.

[The Canadian Content]

I think goalies are currently too powerful/important/influential. I wouldn't mind seeing one of the G categories dropped (GAA or SV%?), rather than adding an offensive category. We've got plenty of those already.

[panicfan68]

I like keeping the non-scoring type categories like blocks, hits, and penalty minutes. I've always thought that since those grinder type players are important to hockey teams, they should present some value in fantasy hockey too. I'm good with changing PP to STP, but I don't like having short-handed points as a stand-alone category. I'm not big on game winning goals because it can be a bit fluky.
I don't think we need to add any new categories but I guess I would be ok with face-offs or TOI if we had to add something.
I'm ok with goalie categories as is, definitely don't think we need more. Maybe dropping one of the percentage stats is cool.

[Cliffsnotes]

The poll has closed, and everyone has had a chance to speak up. We've got some direction and it's time to move forward.

Here's what we used last season:

11 Skaters compete in 8 categories: G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SOG, HIT, BLK
2 Goalies compete in 4 categories: W, SO, GAA, SV%.

Based on the comments, here's what I think it's safe to say:

1. Because "The more roster decisions the better", we will have more than 12 total categories next year.
2. But we definitely don't want to give more power to goalies.
3. Goalie categories will remain at 4, but we may replace a goalie percentage category with another goalie category.
4. We will add at least one skater category.
5. Changing PPP to STP seems to have a consensus. So that's done.
6. No other skater categories will be dropped.

I will be creating a couple of separate polls. One to discuss adding skater categories, and one to discuss swapping out goalie categories.