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Critch · 04-02-2023, 10:18 PM

I held off for a little bit, as there was another patch coming along, but it's out now and there's no mention of unrestricted free agents sitting about unemployed rather than signing for less than they think they're worth, so I'm going with expansion. We'll see if this helps with the issue, but I have my doubts. It'll make a change anyway; nine-team divisions always looked a little strange.

Expansion Teams
Just like the original Anchorage/Quebec/Hartford/Atlanta expansion 11 seasons ago (haven't the years flown by?), this expansion will feature a couple of returning defunct teams. I read an article on The Athletic about how Canada could support a dozen more NHL teams, as Canadians are 11 times more likely to be hockey fans, so it's almost all Canadian teams this time. "Almost all" equals 3 out of 4.

I used up all the recent defunct teams last time, so this time I went further into history.

Pacific Division - California Seals. First, the non-Canadian team. The originals went out of the league in 1976, so they'll mark the 60th anniversary by returning to the league. They're based in Oakland, CA, and have the most garish green jerseys possible.

Central Division - Saskatoon Saskatchewanians. Well, I like the name. Purple and White.

Metropolitan Division - Hamilton Tigers - They went out of the league in the 1920s so even longer for a return. The article I read about Canada needing more NHL teams mentioned Quebec City (already taken care of) and the greater Toronto/Golden Horseshoe area, so here's Hamilton. Black and Yellow.

Atlantic Division - Nova Scotia Admirals - Another Canadian team, an East Coast version of Anchorage. Far away from everybody else, small market. Yellow and Blue.

Cleveland, Kansas City, Portland, Mexico City, Honolulu, and Baltimore all miss out this time. Maybe in ten years' time. Or if I relocate somebody on a whim.

Expansion Draft
The protection lists are set: 10 forwards, 5 defensemen, and 1 goalie protected. So we go into the expansion draft with backup goalie Thomas Kiesewetter, defensemen John Fireman and Steve Peters, and forwards Vasili Podkolzin and Ralph McKeamish unprotected. Somebody taking Vasili Podkolzin and his $6.5 million salary would be ideal; it would allow me to sign some defensemen, but no luck. The only player we lose is the Anchorage-born Steve Peters, who goes to California Seals.

Other ex-Anchorage favorites on the move in the expansion draft are G Sebastian Cossa and D Paul Mayer, who go to California Seals, D Carter Murphy, who goes to Saskatoon, and D Conor Walton, who goes to Nova Scotia. Hamilton thinks they're too good for Anchorage cast-offs, so they splash out on the most expensive free agents they can find, a few 5.0 stars surrounded by nothing much.

Rookie Draft
Let me czech my notes. Yes, we drafted lots of Czechs. 1st round LW Alexander Broda, 2nd round LW Vaclav Pastor, 3rd round LD Ales Sustek. Not intentional, I left the Anchorage head scout to do the draft on his own and he went Czech-crazy.

Free agency and stuff:
There were a lot of contract extensions for current players, so Anchorage was jammed up against the owner's maximum salary before the free agent season even started. There was no money to offer to the other expiring contracts, so D Easten Turko (3.5) and D Jackson Gillespie (2.5) went to free agency, Turko in particular will be missed, he'd become a good defenseman. Since there were still some holes in the roster, especially on defense, we need to clear some salary to free up cash. Jorgen Palm took his 2.7mil to California for LD Carsen Adair on a minimum salary, C Ralph McKeamish went to Saskatoon for a low pick, and we had enough space to sign a bunch of mediocre rookies for backups stored in the AHL, and a backup winger LW/RW Jonas Lambert from Ligue Nord-Americaine de Hockey.

And we were all set for the new season.

Did expansion help with unsigned free agents?
No.

Jackson Gillespie and Easten Turko left Anchorage, and old Husky Emil Hemming left the Flyers. All good players, they're all sitting unemployed in free agency on regular season opening day. Old Huskies D Tarin Smith has just entered his 4th year of not playing while he holds out for 2.5mil. At one point, Emil Hemming was asking for 2.6mil for 3 years, so I cleared salary to go for him. But when I went back the next day, he had changed to 4.9mil for 3 years.

I've been enjoying the game, but the AI is terrible for free agents and ruins any sense of realism. I've got a feeling that it would be easy to take advantage of the AI and build a super-team if you were playing all-out min-maxing and no house rules. Which I can't be bothered doing.

(p.s. I put this through ChatGPT and asked it to edit spelling and grammar. So that's one AI that pulls it's weight, maybe they could teach it to play FHM.)

04-02-2023, 10:18 PM	#72
Critch lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Herndon, VA	I held off for a little bit, as there was another patch coming along, but it's out now and there's no mention of unrestricted free agents sitting about unemployed rather than signing for less than they think they're worth, so I'm going with expansion. We'll see if this helps with the issue, but I have my doubts. It'll make a change anyway; nine-team divisions always looked a little strange. Expansion Teams Just like the original Anchorage/Quebec/Hartford/Atlanta expansion 11 seasons ago (haven't the years flown by?), this expansion will feature a couple of returning defunct teams. I read an article on The Athletic about how Canada could support a dozen more NHL teams, as Canadians are 11 times more likely to be hockey fans, so it's almost all Canadian teams this time. "Almost all" equals 3 out of 4. I used up all the recent defunct teams last time, so this time I went further into history. Pacific Division - California Seals. First, the non-Canadian team. The originals went out of the league in 1976, so they'll mark the 60th anniversary by returning to the league. They're based in Oakland, CA, and have the most garish green jerseys possible. Central Division - Saskatoon Saskatchewanians. Well, I like the name. Purple and White. Metropolitan Division - Hamilton Tigers - They went out of the league in the 1920s so even longer for a return. The article I read about Canada needing more NHL teams mentioned Quebec City (already taken care of) and the greater Toronto/Golden Horseshoe area, so here's Hamilton. Black and Yellow. Atlantic Division - Nova Scotia Admirals - Another Canadian team, an East Coast version of Anchorage. Far away from everybody else, small market. Yellow and Blue. Cleveland, Kansas City, Portland, Mexico City, Honolulu, and Baltimore all miss out this time. Maybe in ten years' time. Or if I relocate somebody on a whim. Expansion Draft The protection lists are set: 10 forwards, 5 defensemen, and 1 goalie protected. So we go into the expansion draft with backup goalie Thomas Kiesewetter, defensemen John Fireman and Steve Peters, and forwards Vasili Podkolzin and Ralph McKeamish unprotected. Somebody taking Vasili Podkolzin and his $6.5 million salary would be ideal; it would allow me to sign some defensemen, but no luck. The only player we lose is the Anchorage-born Steve Peters, who goes to California Seals. Other ex-Anchorage favorites on the move in the expansion draft are G Sebastian Cossa and D Paul Mayer, who go to California Seals, D Carter Murphy, who goes to Saskatoon, and D Conor Walton, who goes to Nova Scotia. Hamilton thinks they're too good for Anchorage cast-offs, so they splash out on the most expensive free agents they can find, a few 5.0 stars surrounded by nothing much. Rookie Draft Let me czech my notes. Yes, we drafted lots of Czechs. 1st round LW Alexander Broda, 2nd round LW Vaclav Pastor, 3rd round LD Ales Sustek. Not intentional, I left the Anchorage head scout to do the draft on his own and he went Czech-crazy. Free agency and stuff: There were a lot of contract extensions for current players, so Anchorage was jammed up against the owner's maximum salary before the free agent season even started. There was no money to offer to the other expiring contracts, so D Easten Turko (3.5) and D Jackson Gillespie (2.5) went to free agency, Turko in particular will be missed, he'd become a good defenseman. Since there were still some holes in the roster, especially on defense, we need to clear some salary to free up cash. Jorgen Palm took his 2.7mil to California for LD Carsen Adair on a minimum salary, C Ralph McKeamish went to Saskatoon for a low pick, and we had enough space to sign a bunch of mediocre rookies for backups stored in the AHL, and a backup winger LW/RW Jonas Lambert from Ligue Nord-Americaine de Hockey. And we were all set for the new season. Did expansion help with unsigned free agents? No. Jackson Gillespie and Easten Turko left Anchorage, and old Husky Emil Hemming left the Flyers. All good players, they're all sitting unemployed in free agency on regular season opening day. Old Huskies D Tarin Smith has just entered his 4th year of not playing while he holds out for 2.5mil. At one point, Emil Hemming was asking for 2.6mil for 3 years, so I cleared salary to go for him. But when I went back the next day, he had changed to 4.9mil for 3 years. I've been enjoying the game, but the AI is terrible for free agents and ruins any sense of realism. I've got a feeling that it would be easy to take advantage of the AI and build a super-team if you were playing all-out min-maxing and no house rules. Which I can't be bothered doing. (p.s. I put this through ChatGPT and asked it to edit spelling and grammar. So that's one AI that pulls it's weight, maybe they could teach it to play FHM.)