Keeper League Madness

So it's the dog days of summer. How can you possibly be thinking about your hockey pool? Well, if you're in a keeper league this could be the best time of year to set yourself up for a successful run.

Many poolies were probably already burning up the phone and email lines in advance of the July 1 UFA signing period starting, as they were trying to secure some players that were going to be on the move. In some cases (like if you traded for Scott Gomez) you could be doing quite well. And if you secured the services of Michael Nylander (soon to be Alex Ovechkin's set-up man) you're probably very pleased with yourself.

All that being said, if you haven't made any moves yet, all is not lost. There are two things that you can do. First, if one of your players recently signed you can take advantage of the hype and try and move him for someone who could be a little more productive who is flying under the radar. For example, Todd Bertuzzi signing with Anaheim could increase interest in the mercurial power forward...take advantage of that and see if you can get a guy like Patrik Elias (selling your potential suitor on the fact that Elias lost his center in Scott Gomez). You will almost certainly have to sweeten the pot, but the point is that Bertuzzi has more value now than he did a month ago.

The second thing you can do is speculate on the second tier free agents. Some of these folks could really make an impact depending on the circumstance and they could be had at bargain basement prices. Here are the top 5 UFAs who could be had cheap:

• Alexei Yashin - depending on where he goes, he could be a steal. His buyout from the Islanders could leave a sour taste in some mouths. Take advantage of this.
• Brendan Shanahan - the signing of Drury with the Rangers could muddy the waters when it comes to where he'll play next season. Use this as your negotiating tactic.
• Sheldon Souray - the fact that teams have bypassed Souray and picked up Timonen, Rafalski, Schneider and Poti could worry some owners. No matter where he signs he'll be on the top PP unit, remember that and go get him.
• Teemu Selanne - call us crazy, but you could do worse than speculating on Teemu. You could probably get him for a song and what happens if he does come back?
• Peter Forsberg - this is a stickier situation, because there's some chance that he may never come back. But there is even a worse case scenario...he comes back in December or January. Still if you can pick him up cheap, he could be a deep sleeper.