GM Guide: Bench Management

Calgary (CP) In the second part of the GM Guide to the GDHL, I take a look at the roster spots of a team and most importantly how to manage your bench.

Firstly, there is and always will be a fine balance between how many forwards, defencemen and goalies to keep on your roster. Taking a look back at season's past, I've found that the top 5 finishers kept on average at least 3 forwards, 2 defencemen and 2 goalies on their bench with the last one being used as a floater (i.e. rookie etc.) In contrast, the bottom 5 people kept an average of 2 forwards, 2 defencemen, 1 goalie and 3 floaters. So what does that tell me? I believe people may be missing the real value a bench serves. First and foremost the bench is to provide the team flexibility when injuries occur etc. Having ~40% of your bench as rookies that may or may not play limits your ability to adjust your team when needed. The top 5 from last year seem to have made it a priority on cashing in on Pool Points NOW as opposed to 3 years from now when a rookie starts to become productive.

I'll take my so called "liking of veterans" as an example. Its not so much that I value veterans, its that I value veterans more than rookies since they have a proven track record and will give me on average more Pool Points than the younger folk in a given year. Sure they may not be flashy but they are usually reliable.

Note that this really only applies to the pool rules laid out by the GDHL (i.e. 5 year timeframe). If this was a pool that was continuous, then the balance I'm sure would be different. That being said we would hopefully have a much different rules to make-up the pool.

Remember: Rookies that break into the league and have an immediate impact (e.g. Ovechkin, Crosby, Malkin) come once every 10 years. The NHL has just been spoiled the last couple of years. Usually the highly touted rookie falls flat. Case and point is Lecavalier. The defending Rocket Richard trophy winner was compared to being the next Lemieux... but didn't really become productive until his 6th year.

Fur Engee (CP)