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FANTASY DO'S AND DONT'S: WEEK FOUR

Tips to make your salary-cap team successful this weekend

01/27/2010

By Ryan Rosengrant for NLL.com

The NLL Fantasy Challenge is in full swing and this upcoming weekend offers - as is usually the case - both good and bad matchups for NLL fantasy owners.

One such matchup comes with a rematch from last weekend, with the Toronto Rock against the Rochester Knighthawks. The Rock won the first contest, 17-3, but this game will be in Rochester where the Knighthawks are known to be a tough matchup. However, the Rock's defense has been solid as a rock thus far, allowing only 5.6 goals per game. Until the stats say otherwise, I would avoid using any fantasy players against the best defense in the league up to this point.

The game to watch this weekend from a fantasy perspective will be the undefeated Washington Stealth take on the Colorado Mammoth. The Mammoth hired a new interim coach (Steve Govett) last week and proceeded to win two games last weekend against Philadelphia and Minnesota, both in overtime. This game should be a track meet and a fantasy players dream; the Stealth are averaging 15.3 goals per game, while the Mammoth scored 15 and 12 during last weekend's 2-0 stretch.

There are two players who will turn fantasy teams into gold this weekend. The first is forward Brian Langtry of Colorado. Not only does Langtry have six goals and 11 assists in four games this season, he had three very successful games last season against the Stealth; Langtry totaled 11 goals and eight assists in those contests. His value for this week is $19, so he should be the player leading your team to fantasy glory this weekend.

On the Stealth side, I have a sleeper pick for everyone. I really like forward Tom Johnson to break out in this game. Granted, he won't put up stats like Langtry, but he will put up solid numbers. In the March 14 game last year against Colorado, Johnson totaled one goal and four assists. I expect a similar output this week, plus his value is only $9. The key in fantasy is getting good value, and Johnson is a great value pickup this week.

We will now switch gears to another game which has opposing players who have good matchups and values this week: the Minnesota Swarm at Buffalo Bandits.

For the Bandits, I really like forward Mike Accursi. Last season he played well against the Swarm, recording four goals and an assist in the February 28 game against Minnesota. He has also done well this year with five goals and four assists. His value is in at $13. While I don't believe that the number is bad luck if you do stay away, I would dive in and reap the rewards.

On the other side, forward Sean Pollock of the Swarm is due for a breakout game like he also had in last year's February 28 game. In that contest, Pollock exploded for three goals and six assists. If he has a game anywhere near that this week, you have struck fantasy gold. With his value at only $11, I say take the chance and pick up Pollock.

There are also ways in which you can cripple your fantasy team. The way the league works is you get $100 as a salary cap, and you must fill in ten spots. The highest value that a player can reach is $25 and this week there are five players who have that value: Dan Dawson (Boston), Josh Sanderson (Calgary), Casey Powell (Orlando), John Grant (Rochester) and Colin Doyle (Toronto). Granted, these players will most likely have very good games, as there is a reason that they have the highest values. Additionally, if you have built your team to a higher value at this point in the season, then part of the reward is being able to pick up one of these players without handcuffing the rest of your moves. We can't all be so fortunate, though.

Assuming you are hovering around the $100-110 mark, you need to look at your roster as if you were a real general manager: are you really going to spend 22-25% of your teams salary on one player? Good luck if you do, as you will have one great performer but the rest of your team will be a roll of the dice, and potentially suffer. I would much rather let Langtry lead my team so that I can pick up other players like Pollock.

Good luck this weekend to all you fantasy players out there, and I hope you take my advice and, in turn, have bragging rights at the water cooler on Monday.