Wednesday, June 4, 2014
I lifted Brandon Prust to replace Bobby Robins for a good price, always liked the guy in real life and in game so he centers the 4th line now.
I will edit the lines of the players as I am not near my PS3 right now, but the top 2 lines aren't... they aren't pretty but we are getting there slowly but surely. Grigorenko is a winger on the second with 77 overall. I thought the increased ice time would get him a jump sooner which I really need. In the future I want a line like so:
J. Skinner // M. Grigorenko // L. Wallmark
So we have Sniper, Sniper, Playmaker. I might go ahead and swap E. Staal for a top 2 d-man soon as we are REALLY lacking there and let my future draft picks get a goalie to serve once Cam Ward moves on. But I am worried about Florida, Toews, Barkov and Huberdeau... That has a really really good look to it, look how good the Kings play with Kopitar, Carter and Richards in the center for their 3 lines.
~~Will update today at some stage~~
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Absolutely stunned, and to top it all... Jeff Skinner, SCHOOLS the NHL with 50 goals in the season dwarfing Ovechkin's measly 43 (2nd). And in the first round we have the CBJ!!
Stanley Cup Playoffs:
- CAR Win - 3-1
- CAR Win - 2-1
- CAR Win - 4-3... Say it isn't so...
- CBJ Win - 3-2...
- CBJ Win - 3-2
- CBJ Win - 1-0... You are kidding me. May as well not have qualified if we are going to do this!!
- CBJ Win - 3-0 FFS! Carolina imploded and **** the bed. 3-0 up and then lose in 7. Whatever.
Looked through the Prospect report and noted on a few guys that I like the look of.
As another note we already have 20 Mil cap space to spend this year.
Bobby Robins plays one season with us and retires. He was only 33, whatever.
| Carolina Pre-Draft | |||||
| Pick | Team | Player | Pos | Ht | Wt |
| 4 | Travis Konecny - PLY | C | |||
| 6 | Jeremy Roy - OFD | D | |||
| 9 | Oliver Kylington - OFD | D | |||
| 13 | Blake Clarke - PLY | LW | |||
| 36 | Daniel Sprong - SNP | RW | |||
It looks like we will fall short again, 4 of the 5 here would be nice but I don't think that will happen either. To make matters worse, we have picks 19 / 20 / 22. FFS.
| Carolina Draft 2014 | |||||
| Pick | Team | Player | Pos | Ht | Wt |
| 19 | Carolina | Sam Harding - TWF | C | ||
| 20 | Carolina | Grayson Pawlenchuk - SNP | LW | ||
| 22 | Carolina | Ethan Price - SNP | RW | ||
| 46 | Carolina | Jason Bell - OFD | D | ||
What a disaster. Naturally the team is named after a natural disaster but this is much worse IMO!...
Harding and Pawlenchuk are 3.5 Yellow Stars thankfully but thats where the excitement ends. Resign stage!
Goalies: No one to tend to.
Defense: J. Harrison is gone, M. Pysyk is re-signed for 3.
RW: P. Dwyer is gone.
LW: Z. Boychuk is 84 overall now, he did have first line minutes. So he is re-signed and D. Bowman as well. Pawlenchuk is given rookie contract.
C: M. Grigorenko is given 2 years, Loktionov is given 1 year, asking a lot but at 81 overall Im not buying his massive increase. Harding offered contract.
So now we hit FA with a cool 23 Million to spend. Bombshell. Double. Bombshell.
J. Toews AND P. Kane are in Free Agency this year!!! Apart from those two, FA is once again lacking any quality players to help this team.
| Carolina Hurricanes Depth Chart - 2014/15 | ||||
| STARTER | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | |
| LW | J. Skinner - SNP -87 | D. Bowman - SNP - 79 | E. Lindholm - PLY -73 | B. Robins - GRN - 65 |
| C | E. Staal - PLY - 88 | A. Loktinov - PLY - 80 | M. Grigorenko - SNP - 76 | Z. Stortini - ENF - 71 |
| RW | J. Tlusty - PLY - 85 | Z. Boychuk - TWF - 83 | P. Dwyer - TWF - 76 | C. Nielsen - ENF - 72 |
| D #1 | A. Sekera - DFD - 84 | J. Liles - OFD - 81 | J. Harrison - DFD - 76 | |
| D #2 | J. Pitkanen - OFD - 84 | J. Faulk - TWD - 83 | A. Sustr - DFD - 78 | |
| G | C. Ward - HYB - 89 | T. Vokoun - HYB - 83 | ||
So here is how the team looks this time around. Absolutely pants? I totally agree. However, I have realised just how many centers I have now. Tlusty for one is out of position... I will sim a little and see what the score is, if we are swimming against the current I will shop on more guys and see what I can get. This is another great draft and I know of a few ace cards in the deck so I would like another shot at more first rounders. FYI, Nylander and Wallmark are on the third line for the AHL. Honka is back in the WHL this year.
As the game sims, there are two players I am majorly interested in. Travis Konecny and Blake Clarke. Both of them are Playmakers, Travis being a center and Blake a LW. Much to my delight, both of these players are extremely capable of being first liners in the future, Blake can play as a center (in a previous update he was a center). Effectivly, you can get one or two players, ok they wont be McDavid calliber and be 90 overall but one high player wont win games alone.
16 games in and we are 8-8-0. I will sim to the All Star game and see what the damage is before making the call. And at the half way point the team goes 26-20-2.
Shockingly, we are 3rd in the Metro, 1 point above CBJ. Better yet, Skinner is leading the NHL in Goals with 29! But yet, I still want to pull the plug. Team are going to start trading and everyone in this division is still in touch with 4th place (Islanders have 42, Blue Jackets have 53). Going to try a trade here...
Carolina Sends:
- C - J. Tlusty
- Toronto - 2015 - 1st
- Dallas - 2015 - 2nd
- RW - N. Goldobin (3.5 star)
Happy days! Nothing against Tlusty but, he's not really going to fit into my future team. I would like another pick in case I need to combine to get higher up the order in case one or both my hopefuls go higher. So...Carolina Sends:
- D - A. Sekera (Now is the time to move him. He would have been a good top 4 / 6 but by the time this team is ready he'll drop.)
- Tampa Bay - 2014 - 1st
Friday, May 30, 2014
Simmed ahead to the Draft!! We have 2 first round picks (Buffalo and Carolina). From the Scouting report, and knowing I only have 1 phone, I need a decent 1st pick from someone else and a second. The players I am looking for are ones I know will work and one who I am taking a punt on.
- M. Dal Colle
- W. Nylander
- B. Siebenaler
- J. Honka
Carolina Sends:
- D - R. Murphy
- LW - B. McGunn (3 green, good value)
- LW - Z. Boychuk (Can get better in free agency)
- 2014 - 3rd (72)
- 2014 - 2nd (42)
- C - T. Oleksuk (Trade Fodder)
- RW - B. Reid (Trade Fodder)
- 2014 - 1st (7)
- 2014 - 2nd (36)
To make matters even worse, I miss both Siebenaler (6th overall) and Dal Colle (11th)... Grrrr. We do get Nylander, disappointing all the same. So I just pick up Honka now to make sure I have him. We will be busy in Free Agency this year it seems! Thankfully with the resigning of contracts comes ridding of people! We are about to say goodbye to half the roster mark my words!
Like I always do, start at the back... Justin Peters is gone, can replace him in FA. We did sign yet another 3.5 star goalie with the second round pick I had left.
No re-signs.
Defense, dropping Hainsey, and a lot of 3 star and below players. We have J. Pitkanen, A. Sustr and Honka to sign up now!
Right Wingers, Dvorak is gone. Have to sign Nylander just.
LW, It kills me to do it considering all the magic he did in NHL 13 but Gerbe is gone. D. Bowman, Z. Boychuk (damn you!) are getting signed.
Centers, Malhotra is gone, I want to REALLY toughen up the bottom 3. Tlusty and Loktionov are getting re-signed (The latter a trade asset).
And oh my god. Free Agency is dire. Nothing worth talking about bar Tomas Vokoun!! I sign Bobby Robins (ex Belfast Giants player, had to!) Carl Nielsen and Zach Stortini to long term toughness contracts (sub 1 Mil for each). We get all three and Tomas Vokoun so I can sell off the other 3.5 star goalies and get someone else in. This is nothing short of disappointing. But turns out the OFD I missed out on was only 4 star so he would likely have been a trade asset for when I have the line how I like it.
No real choice but to sim on sadly, I don't have the assets to trade to make the team contendors, nor are we. So Fly through the next season and see if we can get another big piece of the puzzle with a draft pick. A second C. McDavid without over expending to get the first pick!? Stay tuned :P
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
So all adjustments have been made, I've placed Lucas Wellmark in the third line of the Charlotte Checker (65 face off rating, not bad for a winger!) so he centers J. Staal and E. Karlsson (The TWF). So now the preseason results!
· The team goes 5-1-1, pretty great all things considered including a 9-1 destruction of the Islanders.
· 3 Players in the top 8 of points, J. Liles with 10 (tied first) , N. Gerbe and J. Staal on 9. Our 2nd lines of defense and offense out played the top ones.
· Leading assists was J. Liles and A. Sekera both with 7.
· The leading goal scorer was J. Staal with 7. The closest to him is 4 players on 3.
Early on, Nathan Gerbe looks like he used to back in NHL 13 when he would be an 88 overall destroyer of universes getting 7 goals in 7 games from the second line. It's not long before J. Tlusty takes over for a while before FINALLY being passed by Skinner. That's what I wanted 40 games ago kid!! Finally we make it too the Olympic break. Our record is very respectable at 35-18-5. Good enough infact to have us in 2nd, 2 points behind Columbus who have 77. I still want shot of Jordan Staal and Alex Semin ASAP, so I enquire with Buffalo, they want Staal and can afford him. Interestingly, Grigorenko's value is a little lower, plus the pick they got from the Islanders (4th in Metro Divison) means I have a trade I want to put through.
Apparently, it's not a good offer. I guess they really want Ennis and the Hodge as their centers. I'm going to try and add in Da Silva, 3.5 star goalies come about, he has a little bit of value. I will add in a second pick from us for 2015 and a dud goalie from them to see. Trade will not go through what so ever Im not one to be beaten, so now they have J. Staal and A. Semin, for a 1st, Grigorenko and Pysyk. Suck on those apples Buffalo, I hope we tank you EVER time. Whatever. Pricks.
The good news, we have cap space
That took a lot of work, the team is in pieces but to hell with it. Im running this ship and putting rings on fingers!! Time for the Tommy special!! Pysyk is too low for the NHL, Grigy can stay on the bottom 6 so I call up Ron Hainsey from the AHL
here is the line up now!!J. Skinner - SNP - 86 // E. Staal - PLY - 88 // N. Gerbe - PLY - 80//
M. Grigorenko SNP 75 // J. Tlusty - PLY 81 // J. Liles OFD - 81
D. Bowman - SNP 75 // A. Loktionov - PLY -78 // Z. Boychuk - TWF - 76
R. Dvorak - TWF 77 // M. Malhotra - GRN - 77 // P. Dwyer - TWF - 76
A. Sekera - DFD - 84 // J. Pitkanen - OFD - 84
R. Hainsey TWD - 80 // J. Faulk - TWD - 83
A. Sustr - DFD - 77 // M. Komisarek - DFD - 78
C. Ward - HYB - 89
J. Peters - HYB - 78
Yes, the lines are butchered, yes we will probably fall out of contention. But This team could not have won it this year. The Defense is a shambles, I could have traded but upgrading would be near impossible give the computer still has so many players still signed this early on. And my top line looks great and then you see Gerbe. This team is just not for the cup this or next year I'd say.
So let's have a review so far.
Halfway point positives
- Tlusty, Skinner and Staal should all make at least 70 points this year. Given the team around them, that is Hercules points that they are still finding.
- We have 2 first round picks so far (looking more so more to come!)
- Cam Ward is probably the unthanked hero behind this having notched 29 wins. If I can build the team in front of him well, he'll have a few fingers with Stanley Cup rings on them by the time he retires.
- Only 6 players are plus players. Given the situation I can't be too harsh but thats 18 who are negetive. How on earth are we second in the Metro like that?
- That Buffalo trade really annoyed me but seeing the window to get rid of them I took it.
- It's a long season to go still.
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Posted on May 25, 2014 at 07:00 PM.
How on earth does this team win the Stanley cup year after year when you sim the game? The Defense is horrible. 2 84's as your 1-2 punch? Had better rookies doing it.
On that note, the rookies for this team are great. High hopes for Justin Faulk at the back and J. Staal and J. Skinner.
The big problem I have though, is with aforementioned Jordon Staal. 6 Million for the next 11 years. While I can rebuild the Hurricanes around Eric Staal and Skinner as my dynamic scoring duo, I don't think I will entertain 6Mil a year for my second line center. I'd be hard pushed for that on the front line let alone second. Zach Parise and Ryan Suter have a slightly higher earning but they ARE the team. Jordan Staal, is not.
Alexander Semin is as good as gone. 6 years at 7Mil, good luck in the Western Conference.
But other than that, we have 0.290 Million coming up to the Entry Draft and then resign stage. So let's hit that first!
~~Entry Level Draft~~
- The Only Top 5 Pick that is a player is Lucas Wallmark, A RW, left handed Playmaker. This interests me great, if Im keeping the E. Staal and J. Skinner line, another playmaker to make magic happen could really stack the points.
- Wallmark is scouted to go 5th overall, I might make a move for him. Cam Ward is 29, he has long enough for us to work with and draft / trade his replacement when the time comes!
Carolina Sending:
- Carolina - 2013 - 1st (5)
- G - A. Khudobin
- C - V.Rask
- Tampa Bay - 2013 - 1st (3)
- D - A.Sustr
And it's a done deal. V. Rask had low 4 yellow stars, but had a very low overall. It may take him a year or two before the overall rises enough for him to be effect on the AHL and progress. Tampa wanted Khudobin and that sorted my cap space issue when I get A. Sustr. Big DFD, he'll be top 6 but off to a good start. And top top it off, we jump 2 spots in the Draft to try and get Wallmark!
First 2 picks are Goalies, so welcome to Carolina Lucas Wellmark!! Seeing that there is still a few 3.5 star goalie later in the second round I will try a punt on a Jason Da Silva, 18, Hybrid goalie just incase he has a good potential. If not, oh well!
~~Resign Stage~~
We only need to resign one player, E. Karlsson (RW - TWF - 56). 3.5 yellow stars, sure why not! Give him a standard rookie contract. Lucas Wellmark is indeed 4.5 yellow stars, only 55 overall. Having come from Sweden he will have to play in the AHL... fingers crossed for this kid! JDS is a 3.5 yellow star goalie. No loss. Could be a gain. Unfortuantly, I have no room to sign these two so player Tommi Kivisto - TWD - 59 - 2.5Y* is bought out along with Mike Murphy - HYB - 64 - 3R*. Both have a small hit for 2 years. But that means I can sign my two new guys!
I have space for one more but it's a goalie spot. No one in free agency looks that great so I wont bother. The other 4 goalies that went top 5 all are 4 star and one 3.5 green star so I feel like the bandit in a robbery in this one!
~~Season 1 - Beginning~~
Im going to go ahead and begin the season, I wont be able to offload either J. Staal or A. Semin for a year or two until teams scrap back some cap space. Knowing how good this and the next draft is, I might try and stock pile some picks. It's only when you assemble the team into lines you realise how terrible it is.
J. Skinner - SNP - 86 // E. Staal - PLY - 88 // A. Semin - SNP - 85
N. Gerbe - PLY - 80 // J. Staal - TWF - 86 // J. Tlusty - PLY - 81
P. Dwyer - TWF - 76 // A. Loktionov - PLY -78 // R. Dvorak - TWF - 77
Z. Boychuk - TWF - 76 // M. Malhotra - GRN - 77 // D. Bowman - SNP 75
A. Sekera - DFD - 84 // J. Pitkanen - OFD - 84
J. Liles - OFD - 81 // J. Faulk - TWD - 83
A. Sustr - DFD - 77 // M. Komisarek - DFD - 78
C. Ward - HYB - 89
J. Peters - HYB - 78
If this team is to make the post season, it lies on our first line and goalie. So realistically, I think we will likely sell off a few players and stock pile the picks.
- Using the normal rosters, I've became so used to progression I would be afraid to try something new and be full of suck.
- All settings on hard, though games will likely be simmed.
- Starting at the draft, so we might get a lucky punt on someone.
- Injuries off. Don't annoy me with that
So without futher ado, Im going to run my eyes over the roster and post up after the draft and free agency!
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