The basic philosophy I used in building my team was I wanted to control the puck and control the matchups. I built the core of my team around seven guys; my top two centres, my top four defence, and my goalie. From my centres and defence I wanted guys who could push the puck up ice, but who could be trusted in their own end as well. Behind them I wanted a guy I simply don't have to worry about to stop the puck. I then added guys to round out my forwards and defence that could provide offence and cause matchup problems for any team.

Here's the roster, and then I'll explain my choices after the jump.

Daniel Sedin - Jonathan Toews - Justin Williams
Andrew Ladd - Patrice Bergeron - Wayne Simmonds
Pascal Dupuis - Adam Henrique - Mikkel Boedker
Cory Emmerton - Craig Smith - Chuck Kobasew

Ryan McDonagh - Victor Hedman
Francois Beauchemin - Dion Phaneuf
Justin Faulk - Tom Gilbert

Ryan Miller
Ben Bishop

Scratches: Chris Butler, Matt Hendricks, Eric Nystrom

Total cap hit is just under $64M. Kobasew and Dupuis are the only UFAs after 2013. Seven RFAs, but since most of them are being utlized in depth roles te cost to re-sign shouldn't be that difficult.

Toews, Bergeron, and MIller were the first three I picked.

On D I looked for guys who play lots of minutes against tough competition, and who move the puck up the ice. I added Beauchemin once I realized I had enough cap space.

After building my core, I added scoring depth on my wings, then looked for some young, cheap talent to create a sheltered scoring line.

Toughest players to omit were probably Jacob Markstrom and Jordan Eberle, both of whom were also 2008 draftees. I also had a bad habit of liking guys who were from the 2003 draft as seconday scorers, so that didn't quite work out.

Selections by team:
ANA - Beauchemin
BOS - Bergeron
BUF - Miller
CGY - Butler
CAR - Faulk
CHI - Toews
COL - Kobasew
CBJ - n/a
DAL - Nystrom
DET - Emmerton
EDM - n/a
FLA - n/a
LA - Williams
MIN - Gilbert
MTL - n/a
NSH - Smith
NJ - Henrique
NYI - n/a
NYR - McDonagh
OTT - Bishop
PHI - Simmonds
PHX - Boedker
PIT - Dupuis
SJ - n/a
STL - n/a
TB - Hedman
TOR - Phaneuf
VAN - Sedin
WSH - Hendricks
WPG - Ladd

Selections by Draft Year
1998 - Beauchemin (3rd)
1999 - Sedin (1st), MIller (5th)
2000 - Williams (1st), Hendricks (5th)
2001 - Kobasew (1st)
2002 - Nystrom (1st), Gilbert (4th)
2003 - Phaneuf (1st), Bergeron (2nd)
2004 - Ladd (1st)
2005 - Bishop (3rd), Butler (4th)
2006 - Toews (1st), Emmerton (2nd)
2007 - McDonagh (1st), Simmonds (2nd)
2008 - Boedker (1st), Henrique (3rd)
2009 - Hedman (1st), Smith (4th)
2010 - Faulk (2nd)
undrafted - Dupuis