Fantasy Hockey is around the corner. Drafts are roughly a month away. Now is the time to start prepping. Depending on if you’re in keeper format or new, a lot goes into your draft strategy. As someone who’s won two fantasy leagues, I highly recommend taking goalies early. The quality drops off quickly. Sometimes, you can luck out and find a bargain late. But those days are coming to a close. A great number one goalie can take you far. Considering major categories such as Wins, GAA, Save Percentage and Shutouts, getting a stud netminder early can make the rest of your draft go smoothly. There’s more supply of offense. But only 30 NHL teams. On two hands, you can probably come up with 10 goalies who should put up solid numbers across the board.

Henrik Lundqvist should top most lists. The Ranger netminder is the King of the crop capable of winning 40-plus and posting 10 shutouts along with superb GAA and Save Pct. The big question is how does Alain Vigneault impact his stats? He could see more odd-man rushes. In an Olympic year, one must also stay on top of things as Hank will once again be Sweden’s top backstop barring injury. If you are uncertain on going for the top gun, there are others available who won’t have as heavy a workload. You could go with St. Louis tandem Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak. Keep a close eye on Jake Allen. Devil duo Martin Brodeur and Cory Schneider could have value if the Devils can score enough goals. If you’re looking for strong constants, there’s always Jimmy Howard in Motown and Jon Quick in Hollywood. Both will get the bulk of the starts and should put up strong numbers. Of course, Howard changes conferences with the rest of the Red Wings coming to a strong Northeast Atlantic. Tuukka Rask is the man in Beantown and Corey Crawford is a Cup champ in the Windy City. How will reigning Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky perform back in the East where he’ll see the Flyers quite a bit along with the Pens? These are all factors in who you take.

If you believe in Ottawa, then Craig Anderson is a good bet. Youngster Robin Lehner backs up. Can Antti Niemi repeat in San Jose? And what about Hab prince Carey Price? Braden Holtby is a year older in D.C. with the Caps now back in the old Patrick with Carolina and Columbus mixed in. What about the Sabres’ Ryan Miller? He’s in a contract year and could get moved. A bit risky. Minnesota has overlooked vet Niklas Backstrom with Josh Harding backing up and a strong system. Anaheim has Jonas Hiller and Viktor Fasth. Are you prepared to bet on either Pen netminder? Tomas Vokoun is a year older and who or what has happened to Marc-Andre Fleury? These are all questions to ponder.

For now, go and vote in our latest Battle/NY Puck poll above. Who is your top pick out of the poorly named Metro? Is it Sid The Kid or Geno or has John Tavares climbed the ladder? Or perhaps you love chanting Hen—rik! Don’t forget Ovechkin! Have at it.