Houston Renegades (Now in NHL20-o-Vision!)

[PFellah]

NOTE: I decided to do a reset and start over, but since I didn't get that far, I'm just going to go back and re-use this thread. Why did I restart? It's an even split between "I put the game down for a while and forgot where I left off and would rather start clean" and the completely shallow "I didn't like my first pass at the uniforms and didn't want to wait a year to change them". The road unis in particular looked like pajamas.


Finally time to start a new NHL 20 franchise: I shelved my last 19 game because it was hard to get excited about it with the new one coming out. So time to start over... new rosters, new bells and whistles (hello Trade Finder, you sexay thing, you), but the same basic format of my other franchises. I know the Young People have all moved on to their YouTube videos and Twitch streams, but I'm all about being long-winded in the written word.

For my first franchise, I'll be just doing default rosters, and setting my sights on Houston: the thinking man's destination for people who think moving Arizona to the Central is too weird. Major rules: I don't bother with owner finances or morale meetings -- those things don't add much for me -- but I do keep fog of war on, and in general I try not to meta-game too much with what I know about real hockey. For example, if my scouts were to somehow get things wrong and say Kaapo Kaako is a Bottom 6 forward, I'd try as much as possible to accept that as the reality of this game world and not meta-game. (Though if it's a close decision based on game metrics, knowing something about a guy in real life might be a tiebreaker.)

Traditionally I do a monthly format -- sim most of the games (play one or two just to keep an eye on things and collect screenshots), and then do a summary post for my team and an "around the league" post that sums up the rest of the league action. I also throw in a few "studio show" interludes that serve as a back-door way of talking about key decisions at greater length -- the studio team serves as a bit of a Greek chorus, explaining what I was thinking about major decisions (trades, draft picks, etc.). Those tend to show up at the trade deadline (midpoint summary, and discussing potential deadline moves) and in the early off-season (post mortem of previous year, looking ahead to next season) sometimes showing up at other times as well.

[PFellah]

Re: Houston Renegades (Now in NHL20-o-Vision!)

SEASON CAPSULES

2019-2020
Regular Season: 49-26-7, 105 points. 1st place in Central.
Playoffs: Lost in first round to Winnipeg, 4-1.
Key Off-Season Additions: none - first season
Key Off-Season Departures: none- first season
In-Season Moves: RW Andre Burakovsky and "extra" draft picks to New Jersey for RW Kyle Palmieri. Palmieri started slow with his new team but ultimately ended up putting up a 15-14-29 for Houston.
Stats Leaders: Matt Duchene 34-36-70, Artemi Panarin 19-47-66, Joe Pavelski 31-34-65, Brent Burns 18-38-56, Anders Lee 22-29-51.
Summary:
After a .500 start in October, the Renegades took off in November and kept rolling all the way through to March, where they slowed down and the Minnesota Wild caught them from behind. With a playoff spot clinched, but bragging rights and a division title on the line, Houston salvaged a division title on the last day of the season. Unfortunately, the Renegades couldn't duplicate Las Vegas' inaugural playoff sucess, falling in 5 games to Winnipeg. Jacob Markstrom took home the Vezina trophy.

[PFellah]

Re: Houston Renegades (Now in NHL20-o-Vision!)

Houston Renegades

The alt is the space-themed "Mission Control" uniform. The gray helmet is meant to represent the moon, and the bright orange legs are supposed to evoke a rocket liftoff. HIGH CONCEPT!

San Antonio Toros

Forgot there was already an AHL team in San Antonio. Also, minor irritant that San Antonio is in the North division. I might try to fix it, but not gonna lose a lot of sleep on it.

[PFellah]

Re: Houston Renegades (Now in NHL20-o-Vision!)

Build-a-Bear(ly Functioning Roster) Workshop: The 2019 Expansion Draft

First, taking a quick eyeball of the talent pool, it’s still heavy on defense, but not as bad as it was last year – there’s at least some tolerable forwards to be had in the pool this year. It does seem like the game’s understanding of bad/expiring contracts has improved and there’s some talented-but-expensive guys like Ondrej Palat ($5.9M) available that weren’t there last year.

If there's a “problem”, it's that the expiring contract guys are better than they’ve typically been. Matt Duchene, Gustav Nyquist, Derick Brassard, Marcus Johansson… there’s some actual real players. But do you want to roll the dice on one of those guys and then have them decide to test the market? Or, is having an exclusive window to negotiate with them worth passing on someone else from that team?

So let's roll up the sleeves and get into it. My rough methodology is: 1) Goalies first. 2) A first pass of "obvious" choices. 3) A second pass where I do kind of a knee-jerk choice to get a full roster. 4) Fine-tune and finalize.

GOALIES
I decide to start with goalies because it should only be three guys and it’s the position where I have the clearest strategy going in. Basically I want one solid veteran to start day one, and then 2 or 3 young guys with potential. I’ll start with three guys total, with a possibility I could snag a 4th goalie at the tail end of the process.

First, I’m eliminating Robin Lehner from consideration – it doesn’t feel right that he’s available. Besides, I had him in one of my ’19 franchises so there’s a little bit of “been there, done that”.

The best choices for that veteran starter are Seymon Varlamov (COL) and Cory Schneider (NJ) but they have opposite problems – Schneider is locked up for 4 more years at $6M per, while Varlamov is a free agent and could walk. The next best choice is Vancouver’s Jacob Markstrom – 85 OVR and under contract. (And Vancouver doesn’t have much else worth taking anyway.) Looks like he’s my starter.

Looking at the young guys for those other two slots, I've got a couple choices. Pittsburgh’s Tristan Jarry definitely one of them -- Elite potential, and as a Pens fan, I just like him. The other slot has two candidates. Eric Comrie (WPG) is only showing Fringe Starter, but he's already 80 OVR at age 23. Ottawa's Marcus Hogberg is showing Starter potential and the Sens' other choices stink. So I guess I'll take all three for now.

I'll note that there are a few other goalies I could take more as trade bait, but that'll be my first pass.

DEFENSE
Next, let’s look a first look at defense. The problem won’t be finding bodies, it’ll be how many to get and what mix of trade bait, current roster, and prospects.

First, we’ve got the expensive top-pair guys. Brent Burns (SJ, 90 OVR), Mike Giordano (CGY, 89 OVR), and Ryan McDonagh (TB, 87 OVR) are all guys who could immediately drop into top-pair, but they also have fairly painful contracts (McDonagh’s is an extension that kicks in if I draft him). Burns in particular is scheduled to get $8M a year until he’s 40. It’s not a problem today – every expansion team I’ve done so far has spent the first few years WELL under the cap -- but out toward the end of the deal, these could get ugly.

There’s a second tier that are a step down in overall rating, but also have more manageable contracts – Adam Larsson (EDM), Alex Martinez (LA), Jared Spurgeon (MIN), Mattias Ekholm (NSH), Jake Muzzin (TOR). Lower dollars, fewer years, or both. These are backbone guys I could really build around, or guys I could possibly sign and trade, depending on how much of a wheeler-dealer I want to be.

Then there’s the more prospecty types. Lots of guys in their early 20s with Top 4 or Elite potential, it’s just a question of mixing-and-matching, and the fact that I ultimately can’t go over 13 defensemen because of other roster minimums. Tony DeAngelo, Julius Honka, Haydn Fleury, Caleb Jones are names that stick out on first pass, but I could probably find 13 guys with SOME sort of “prospect” shine if I really wanted to go full youth movement.

FORWARDS
Forwards are going to be a bit of a grab-bag. There’s a few demi-prospects, a few tweeners like Conor Sheary who are too old to be prospects but still might be useful, a few expensive guys being dangled (Adam Henrique, Valeri Namestnikov, Ondrej Palat). It’ll be better than NHL 19 insofar as I’ll be able to field four credible lines at the end of the expansion draft, but it’s still not the cornucopia the defensemen are.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
First pass will just be “easy choices” – teams where either there’s one guy that stands out, either because the talent just isn’t there, or the contracts funnel the decision toward that one guy. Those adds will be:

• ANA – RW Daniel Sprong (22, 82 OVR, Elite). Anaheim does have other good young players (Max Jones, Ondrej Kase, Jack Kopacka, but Sprong is prospecty AND can play today.
• BOS – D Brandon Carlo (22, 84 OVR, Elite). Zach Senyshyn COULD get a look if numbers get dicey later, but for now, Carlo stands well above the rest. He is an RFA, but we'll figure that out.
• CAR – D Haydn Fleury (22, 78, Top 4). Most of the other players are old guys or expiring contracts.
• MIN – D Jared Spurgeon (29, 84, Top 4). Best of a bad bunch. He’s expensive (5.19M) but only has 2 years on his contract, so it’s not a long commitment.
• NSH – D Mattias Ekholm (29, 85, Top 4). Good solid cornerstone pick. 4 years @ $3.75 is in that range where I could keep him OR he’d still hold trade value.
• SJ – D Brent Burns (34, 90, Elite). $8M a year is painful but almost everyone on SJ’s list is a) an expiring free agent, b) not that good, or c) both. As a first draft, Burns is in the obvious choice bucket.
• STL – C Jordan Kyrou (21, 72, Elite). The Blues have some decent young defensemen, but they’re showing Top 4, and it’s tough to find legit forward prospects, so Kyrou it is.

That puts us at 11 guys – 0 LW, 1 C, 1 RW, 5 D, 4 G. Now we gotta start making some tougher decisions.

KNEE-JERK - TEAM-BY-TEAM

• ARI – RW Conor Garland isn’t showing as a GREAT prospect (Top 6 Med), but he’s sorta prospecty. (And in real life, he scored a goal with his face. Gotta respect that.) On the other hand, Arizona is a team that has lots of supporting-player types (Michael Grabner, Richard Panik) so this could be a place to round out the roster.
• BUF – LW Conor Sheary seems like the most compelling pick, though as a Pens’ fan, I always felt like playing with Crosby propped up his stats.
• CGY – Calgary has some decent choices, but looking at C Sam Bennett. Top 6 potential, 79 OVR at age 23, 89 speed, and also gets rave reviews for his leadership.
• CHI – Erik Gustafsson is looking like the best of a bad lot. 84 OVR, team-friendly contract.
• COL – Most of Colorado's best choices under contract are middle-ground defensemen -- not good enough to be trade bait; not prospecty. So first pass, I'm going to roll the dice on my first free agent and see if C Derick Brassard can be convinced to stay.
• CBJ – Same as Columbus, but even higher stakes. Matt Duchene is 87-Elite... that's a #1 center. But he's also a free agent, so I'd have to hope I can convince him to re-sign during the exclusive week. But since the other choices aren't compelling, let's do it.
• DAL – I've got three Elite-rated young guys to choose from -- D Julius Honka, C Jason Dickinson, and RW Denis Gurianov. Honka has a little more existing pedigree, but again... defense is pretty deep. Since I'm feeling exposed having Duchene and Brassard both be free agents, Dickinson makes me feel better.
• DET – Defensemen, expensive rentals, or LW Givani Smith, who is sorta prospecty (21 years old, Top 9/Low potential) but also plays more as a Grinder or Enforcer. Smith for now, but not sold on the move.
• EDM – Here it’s basically a two-man race at the blue-line: 26-year-old Adam Larsson for the established guy, or 22-year-old Caleb Jones for more of a prospect look. Since there are other mid-career guys yet to come, I think I’ll go with the kid this time and give Jones the slot.
• FLA – Uninspiring choices here. Gonna take D Ian McCoshen for the moment, but if defense gets crowded, he’d be another one that could be out the door early.
• LA – We'll start with D Alec Martinez, but could easily move to RW Tyler Toffoli if there are too many defensemen to choose from. After those two, it gets funky.
• MTL – Joel Armia is probably the best pick on talent, but he's a free agent. Karl Alzner is a good cornerstone D, Xavier Ouellet a more prospecty choice. I'll go Armia for now.
• NJ – Ew. The “best” choices are Top 9 forwards. I guess I’ll take LW John Quenneville because he’s the youngest guy available, but not feeling it.
• NYI – If I think Brock Nelson would be worth 6 years at $6M each, I could take him; otherwise it gets dicey fast. For now, we’ll go with young defenseman Parker Wotherspoon.
• NYR – It’s really a choice between Valeri Namestnikov or Tony DeAngelo. Namestnikov could be a top six forward, but Tony D. is one of my sentimental favorites, so let’s grab him.
• PHI – Best choices are RWs -- it's a coin-flip between Ryan Hartman and Justin Bailey. Bailey is a year younger, so let's go with him.
• TB – Officially, Anthony Cirelli isn’t that exciting because he’s showing Bottom 6 potential. But he’s already 79 OVR at age 21, so not sure there’s anything wrong with a guy who’s “just” a really good third-liner.
• TOR – Jake Muzzin is head-and-shoulders the best choice unless I think Kasperi Kapanen is drastically under-rated or Nic Petan is really an Elite. For the moment, Muzzin.
• WSH – This one’s going to be a little bit of a reach pick – RW Andre Burakovsky. On one hand, he's a free agent; on the other hand, he some pedigree as a goal scorer..

Looking at where things stand after the first pass:

So, let’s take one look before finalizing:

• GOALIES (4): Eric Comrie, Marcus Hogberg, Tristan Jarry, Jacob Markstrom
• DEFENSEMEN (12): Brent Burns, Brandon Carlo, Tony DeAngelo, Mattias Ekholm, Haydn Fleury, Erik Gustafsson, Caleb Jones, Alec Martinez, Jake Muzzin, Ian McCoshen, Jared Spurgeon, Parker Wotherspoon.
• LEFT WING (3): John Quenneville, Conor Sheary, Givani Smith.
• CENTER (6): Sam Bennett, Derick Brassard, Anthony Cirelli, Jason Dickinson, Matt Duchene, Jordan Kyrou
• RIGHT WING (5): Joel Armia, Justin Bailey, Andre Burakovsky, Conor Garland, Daniel Sprong.

The good news: goalies and defense are fine. Defense in particular is stacked enough I can maybe deal a guy or two.

Right wing is tolerable as long as I can reach terms with Armia. Sprong-Armia-Burakovsky-Garland plays; maybe add a guy in free agency. Center is fine IF I can re-sign Duchene and Brassard. If they leave in free agency, I get real young at the position real fast. Cirelli and Bennett as #3 and #4... cool. Cirelli and Bennett as top-sixers... ew.

Left wing... is a tire fire. Three guys, two of whom are prospecty and at least a year away, and neither is an A-list prospect. It seems like the simplest way to clean this up is to take a couple names from the bottom of the defense (McCoshen, Wotherspoon, DeAngelo) to shore up left wing.

Rangers: remove Tony De'Angelo, add Vladislav Namestnikov
Islanders: remove Parker Wotherspoon, add Anders Lee

Lee's a pending free agent. If I somehow lose him, I'll look at moving a defenseman to bring someone in, but for the moment, swing for the fences on a guy who could be a top-line guy.

FINAL EXPANSION ROSTER

• GOALIES (4): Eric Comrie, Marcus Hogberg, Tristan Jarry, Jacob Markstrom
• DEFENSEMEN (10): Brent Burns, Brandon Carlo, Mattias Ekholm, Haydn Fleury, Erik Gustafsson, Caleb Jones, Alec Martinez, Jake Muzzin, Ian McCoshen, Jared Spurgeon.
• LEFT WING (5): Anders Lee, Vladislav Namestnikov, John Quenneville, Conor Sheary, Givani Smith.
• CENTER (6): Sam Bennett, Derick Brassard, Anthony Cirelli, Jason Dickinson, Matt Duchene, Jordan Kyrou
• RIGHT WING (5): Joel Armia, Justin Bailey, Andre Burakovsky, Conor Garland, Daniel Sprong.

[PFellah]

Re: Houston Renegades (Now in NHL20-o-Vision!)

2019 Amateur Draft

We enter the draft picking #4 overall. I have a general notion I might want to move a defenseman or two to try and get some more picks. Alec Martinez and Mattias Ekholm seem like the best candidates to move based on salary and projected role. I also don’t have a lot of emotional investment in either Ian McCoshen or Erik Gustafsson, but they both have team-friendly contracts.

That said, let's at least get the first-rounder in the books. Thanks to a couple CPU create-a-players cracking the Top 5, Kaapo Kakko and Bowen Byram are both in reach. And then, the Kings draft the projected #5 guy (RW Nikolai Medvenov) at #2 overall, opening up Kirby Dach as a possibility as well. For me, it's between Dach and Kakko. They’re both NHL ready. Central puts Dach higher, but my scouts have Dach as Top 6 and Kakko as Elite. So we go with Kakko.

With our first pick locked in, we head back to the trade block. The Avalanche come back with an interesting offer on Ekholm – pick #17 this year, a 2nd in 2020, and Semyon Varlamov, who’s there to make the salaries equal, but I assume I’d let him walk as free agent. Alec Martinez gets a similar haul, this time from Nashville -- #25 overall, and a 3rd rounder next year. So now I have picks #17, 25, 35 upcoming and that still leaves me with a top 6 (by OVR) of Burns, Muzzin, Carlo, Gustafsson, Spurgeon, and Caleb Jones. And I cleared out almost $10M in salary (once Varlamov comes off the books).

TRADE: Houston trades D Mattias Ekholm to Colorado for their first-round pick (#17 overall), a 2nd-round pick in 2020, and G Seymon Varlamov (pending free agent).

TRADE: Houston trades D Alec Martinez to Nashville for their first-round pick (#25 overall) and a 3rd-round pick in 2020.


At pick 17, it's a bit of a dead spot with low-ceiling players. First I try to move up to 12 to grab a decent center; then I try to move down to pick up additional picks. Nothing comes together in either direction, so OFD Andrei Kasparaitis becomes the selection. He’s a mild overdraft (#23 in central scouting) but he had Elite potential whereas the other guys around him were Top 9/Top 6 guys. And OK... with those initials, I'm already planning to make him wear #47 so the legend of "AK-47" can be born.

At pick 25, the main guy I’m looking at is RW Rylan Burish, who’s not completely scouted, but what’s there is showing Elite-High. Since he’s EXACTLY #25 in central scouting, it’s hit and miss whether he’ll be there. None of the teams in the low 20s want to move and I can’t break the bank, so I have to play the waiting game. Fortunately Burish stays on the board and becomes pick #25.

For #31, I might actually want to get back into the first-round, as there’s an elite (RW Josh Williams) who probably won’t be there at #35. Washington (26), Tampa (28), and Boston (31) are all willing to part with their pick, so I play around with using that 2020 3rd from Nashville to move #35 up to #31, and the Caps bite. Burish and Williams go back-to-back. (I recognize that’s THREE RWs in the first round… something we’ll have to manage in the next 2-3 years.)

TRADE: Houston trades their 2nd-round pick (#35 overall) and Nashville's 2020 3rd rounder (from Martinez deal) to Washington for their first round pick (#26 overall).


And that ends the wheeler-dealer portion of the draft. From here on, I’ll just play it straight up and take the best deal I can find. Usually that means partially scouted Elite, or FULLY scouted Top 6/Top 4. I suppose my one ace in the hole is trading McCoshen if the absolute right guy came along, but not gonna sweat it too much.

2019 DRAFT PICKS

• 1-4-4 – RW Kaapo Kakko (6’2”, 190, 18, Finland). Elite-Med PLY.
• 1-17-17 (from COL) – D Andrei Kasparaitis (6’1”, 194, 18, Russia). Elite-Med OFD.
• 1-25-25 (from NSH) - RW Rylan Burish. (6'2", 188, 17, USA). Elite-High PLY
• 1-26-26 (from WSH) - RW Josh Williams (6'1", 185, 18, Canada). Elite-Med SNP.
• 3-3-67 - C Albin Grewe (6'0", 176, 18, Sweden). Elite-Med PLY.
• 4-3-99 - D Anttoni Honka (5'10", 176, 18, Finland). Top-Low OFD, but close to fully scouted. Also going on name value if I'm being honest.
• 5-3-131 - C Markuss Nazarov (6'4", 203, 17, Ukraine). Elite-Low SNP,
• 6-3-163 - C Mikhail Goldobin (6'0", 187, 17, Kazakhstan). Elite-Med PWF.
• 7-3-195 - G Noel Mikkelson (6'2", 197, 18, USA). Elite-Med HYB. He was in the 220s in central scouting, but figured I should have at least one goalie in the pipeline.

Next up... FREE AGENCY.

[PFellah]

Re: Houston Renegades (Now in NHL20-o-Vision!)

2019 Free Agency

As usual with expansion teams, our first free agency is fairly straightforward. Try not to lose the guys we had coming in, deal with our RFAs, possibly sign Kakko to his ELC. We have north of $40M to spend, but we will be locking some of that up trying to keep our big-ticket guys.

RE-SIGN PHASE


UFAs (4)

• C Matt Duchene (previous: 6M, asking: 7 years @ $7.875)
• LW Anders Lee (previous: 3.75M, asking: 6 years @ $5.975)
• G Semyon Varlamov (previous: 5.9M, asking: 3 years @ $4.825)
• C Derick Brassard (previous: 3M, asking: 4 years @ $4.750)

OK, Varlamov is just passing through -- we got him in the draft-day deal to keep salaries under the cap, but I neer had any intention of keeping him. I think I'm going to give Lee and Duchene what they want -- they'll only be in their mid-30s when those deals expire, and it gives us credibility dealing with other free agents. If they age badly, we'll figure that out when it arises. Brassard is the tough call here. I kinda want to keep him around, but I'm not sure he's worth almost $5M a year. He also shows "No" on an extension, so he might not sign anyway.

RFAs (10)

• D Brandon Carlo (790k, 4 @ 3.625)
• RW Andre Burakovsky (3.0M, 3 @ 3.2M)
• D Haydn Fleury (865k, 3 @ 2.875M)
• D Ian McCoshen (925k, 3 @ 2.05M)
• RW Joel Armia (1.85M, 1 @ 1.55M)
• RW Justin Bailey (715k, 2 @ 1.1M)
• C Jason Dickinson (875k, 1 @ 875k)
• C Sam Bennett (1.95M, 1 @1.225M)
• G Eric Comrie (700k, 1 @ 1.025M)
• LW John Quenneville (810k, 1 @ 900k)

I'm feeling like Armia/1.5M-ish is the cutoff for "easy" decisions where I'll probably just renew all those guys at what they're asking. Other than Quenneville, they're all asking acceptable money for the role they're likely to play. As far as Quenneville, whatever... below $1M is just organizational depth anyway.

On the "tough" decisions, I'll probably give in on Carlo and McCoshen. Fleury and Burakovsky will get RFA tenders to preserve my right to match, but not in a huge hurry on either -- Fleury is bench depth, and if Kakko is at all decent, he's pushing Burakovsky to the bottom 6.

EXPIRING UNSIGNED ROOKIES (0)
None at this point, but I'm creating a placeholder for consistent formatting in future years.

JUNE 25
First offers go out. As discussed above, Armia and everyone below him get what they're asking, as do Duchene and Lee. The other RFAs get tenders. With Brassard, I decide to do a short deal but higher on money -- 2 years at $5M per. It's an overpay today, but it'll be off the books quickly. If he doesn't accept, I may just take it to free agency and see what the other options are.

UFA offers (3): Brassard, Duchene, Lee
RFA offers (6): Armia, Bailey, Bennett, Comrie, Dickinson, Quenneville
RFA Tenders (4): Burakovsky, Carlo, Fleury, McCoshen
Released (1): Varlamov

JUNE 26
Accept: Armia, Bennett, Comrie, Dickinson, Lee, Quenneville.
Reject - Bailey, Brassard, Duchene

Cap space drops from about $43M to about $35.3M. Duchene gets a new offer (5 years @ $8M), Bailey gets an RFA tender for playing hardball, and Brassard can walk.

JUNE 27
Duchene rejects. Trying 5 years at $8.2M.

JUNE 28
Duchene rejects again. Trying 3 years at $9M. If this doesn't work, I guess we probably go to free agency, but this time he signs. Expensive, but a short enough deal it shouldn't get me in too much trouble.

While we're at it, I also offer ELC's to Kakko and Kasparaitis. Figure they're both Top 20 picks, they'll either start with the team or be there next year.

OPEN FREE AGENCY


Let's try to break this down by position.

CENTER (5): Matt Duchene 87, Jason Dickinson 80, Jordan Kyrou 79, Sam Bennett 79, Anthony Cirelli 78.

The scouting on Kyrou is weak, so it wouldn't surprise me if he needs a year in the minors. Similarly, I don't think another year of seasoning would hurt Dickinson, so if I sign a #2 center and push him down the depth chart, I'm OK with that. The best free agents are RFAs (William Karlsson, Brayden Point). UFAs drop off quick -- it's Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Brassard, and then a bunch of guys who may or may not be better than what I have. The interesting play here would be stealing Anthony Beauvillier from the Isles as a RFA signing. He's only asking $1.6M, so he'd cost me a 3rd

LEFT WING (5): Anders Lee 85, Conor Sheary 81, Vladislav Namestnikov 80, John Quenneville 72, Givani Smith 64

Smith definitely belongs in the minors. Quenneville is bubble -- he could go to the minors or be a bench part who plays when other people are hurt. So I could use AT LEAST one guy, and two might be better. Fortunately, the market at LW is pretty healthy -- Panarin is the big fish, but there's a decent second tier (Marcus Johansson, Ryan Dzingel, Micheal Ferland) that might be worth a look.

RIGHT WING (6): Joel Armia 82, Daniel Sprong 82, Conor Garland 70, Kaapo Kakko ??, Andre Burakovsky 78 (RFA tender), Justin Bailey 76 (RFA tender)

I have bodies, but Garland could live in the minors and Armia is on a friendly enough contract he could be a depth piece. Burakovsky starts to look like a luxury if he wants $3M or more. The big question mark is where Kakko settles in to the depth chart. Much like center, things drop off quick -- Gustav Nyquist and Wayne Simmonds are the big prizes and then it gets weird.

DEFENSE (9): Brent Burns 90, Jake Muzzin 85, Erik Gustafsson 84, Jared Spurgeon 84, Caleb Jones 82, Andrei Kasparaitis ??, Brandon Carlo 84 (RFA tender), Haydn Fleury 80 (RFA tender), Ian McCoshen 78 (RFA tender).

No real needs here, mostly just depth signings. I do always like having a veteran 7th whose development won't be hurt by sitting. The one potentially interesting thing is it actually has Kasparaitis on the depth chart at the moment, but that may just be because RFAs don't count as active-roster. We'll see if that lasts. If I wanted to try and corner the market or needed to spend money, there are guys -- Jake Gardiner, Tyler Myers, Ryan Murray headline.

GOALIES (4): Jacob Markstrom 85, Eric Comrie 80, Tristan Jarry 78, Marcus Hogberg 66.

No needs, but if a goalie better than Hogberg emerged, I'd at least consider it.

So to summarize: primary goals are a #2 center, a #1 left wing, and a veteran 7th defenseman. Secondary goals would be another body at right and left wing. Similar to the veteran defenseman, a versatile veteran forward also wouldn't hurt.

JULY 1
The first batch of offers go out. Main targets are Artemi Panarin (7 years @ 8.5M), LW Marcus Johansson (4 years @ 5M), C Joe Thornton (2 years @ 4.825M), D Chris Wideman as the 7th defenseman (1 year @ 1.075M), and a lowball offer on RFA C Anthony Beauvillier (1.375M, just below the line for a 3rd).

JULY 5
First responses come back. Johansson and Wideman are a yes. Beauvillier a no – resigns with the Isles, but that was kind of a weak shot anyway. Thornton rejects, but says more money might sway him. If I’m gonna have to pay $5M for Thornton, figure I’ll try to get Pavelski for $6.5M instead. Panarin is still thinking, but he also doesn’t seem to have any other offers. Not sure exactly what to do next, so I give Panarin another day or two to percolate.

JULY 6
PANARIN ACCEPTS! Left wing has gone from a weakness to a strength – Panarin, Lee, Johansson, Sheary, Namestnikov. Waiting on Pavelski and then I have most of a roster, except for dealing with RFAs and signing some warm bodies for the minors.

JULY 9
Pavelski signs! Top three targets acquired. So now I have 27 players under contract, about $8M in cap space left. Let's turn to cleanup tasks for a bit.

On the RFA front, I think I want to get Carlo signed and generally check to see if anyone's ask has gone down. Burakovsky has come down to a more reasonable $1.85M, so I’ll offer an even $1.8M for two years. Carlo wants 4 years, 3.7M; I offer 3.3M. Fleury and McCoshen are still holding firm, so I’ll wait a little longer on them. In a related note, I decide to offer on RW Zach Aston-Reese just because I like Penguins. If I get him, he kinda-sorta takes Justin Bailey’s roster spot. Technically he’s an RFA, but I keep it below the tender line (1.35M).

Meanwhile, I’m gonna basically stock the minors with two-way contracts. Based on some “know it when I see it” combination of youth/potential/speed/willingness to accept a two-way deal, a bunch of offers go out: Two-way deals for RW Beau Bennett, C Chase DeLeo, G Zach Fucale, C Axel Holmstrom, LW Juuso Ikonen, C Adam Johnson, LW Kalle Kossila, D Keaton Middleton, D Markus Niemelainen, RW Markus Nurmi, LW Shawn St-Amant, D Keaton Thompson.

JULY 11
Wait... crap. Burakovsky signed his tender for $3M. Ouch. He's an OK player, but if Kakko is good, I'm paying $3M for a 4th-liner. Oh well. Only for one year.

JULY 12
Carlo signs. That leaves just Bailey, Fleury, and McCoshen as RFAs, and their tenders are all under a million. If they hold out, OK. If they sign, also OK. Also 5 of the 12 San Antonio dudes ink deals. 35 contracts, $3.6M cap space.

JULY 13
ZAR accepts, and now we see if the Pens match. Additionally, the rest of the Scrub Squad signs, putting us at 42 contracts.

JULY 15
Pens don’t match, so ZAR is officially a Renegade! Still have about $3M in cap space remaining, but think I’ll leave that in case my RFAs sign their tenders. At this point I’ll sim out to the end of the month and call it a done deal.

MAJOR SIGNINGS (OVER $1M/YEAR)

• LW Artemi Panarin (7/8.5M)
• C Joe Pavelski (1/6.5M)
• LW Marcus Johansson (4/5.0M)
• D Brandon Carlo (4/3,3M) (RFA re-sign)
• RW Andre Burakovsky (1/3.0M)
• RW Zach Aston-Reese (1/1.35M)
• D Chris Wideman (1/1.075M)

[PFellah]

Re: Houston Renegades (Now in NHL20-o-Vision!)

Free Agency 2019: Around The League


First a few late developments on the RFA front -- Justin Bailey caved and signed, but Ian McCoshen got an offer from Montreal (1.735M) that would give me a third-rounder. I'm going to go ahead and take it since I'm getting kinda tight against the cap and don't really have a role for him.

Last, as I was simming to the next season, Minnesota came in with $3.5M on Haydn Fleury, which would be second round compensation. I like Fleury, but I technically don't have the cap space to match anyway, and even if I did, $3.5M for a guy to top-pair in the minors is steep, so -- with some regrets -- I let Fleury walk.

SIGNINGS OVER $1M/YEAR

• Boston: C Jason Spezza (80), D Dennis Seidenberg (75)
• Buffalo: LW Micheal Ferland (82), C Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (81), LW Remi Elie (81), LW Colin Wilson (80), LW Johan Larsson (79), RW Jimmy Hayes (78)
• Calgary: G Cam Talbot (81), G Chad Johnson (80), RW Devante Smith-Pelly (80), C Par Lindholm (80), RW Patrik Berglund (78), LW Taylor Leier (75)
• Carolina: D Dan Girardi (82), LW Joonas Donskoi (81), G Linus Ullmark (80)
• Chicago: D Tyler Myers (83), G Al Montoya (80), G Curtis McElhinney (76)
• Colorado: D Jake Gardiner (83), G David Rittich (82), RW Alex Chiasson (80), LW Brandon Tanev (79), D Luke Schenn (74)
• Columbus: D Ryan Murray (84), C Derick Brassard (82), RW Justin Williams (82)
• Dallas: C Valtteri Filppula (80), RW Brett Ritchie (75)
• Detroit: C Joe Thornton (84), G Petr Mrazek (83), G Michael Hutchinson (80)
• Edmonton: C Charles Hudon (80), RW Brett Connolly (80)
• Florida: G Sergei Bobrovsky (90), RW Wayne Simmonds (82), D Ben Lovejoy (81), RW Brian Gibbons (79), D Carl Gunnarsson (77)
• Houston: LW Artemi Panarin (89), C Joe Pavelski (87), D Brandon Carlo (84), LW Marcus Johansson (83), Andre Burakovsky (78), Zach Aston-Reese (77)
• Los Angeles: D Nathan Beaulieu (82), C Alex Iafallo (80), RW Jason Pominville (80), LW Brendan Leipsic (79), D Michael Del Zotto (77), C Mark Letestu (76), C Thomas Nosek (75)
• Minnesota: D Anton Stralman (83)
• Montreal: G Cam Ward (81), C Brian Boyle (80), G Anton Forsberg (78)
• Nashville: D Ron Hainsey (81), D Deryk Engelland (77), C Derek Grant (77), D Joe Morrow (76)
• New Jersey: RW Gustav Nyquist (84), LW Patrick Maroon (81), C Riley Sheahan (76)
• New York Islanders: C Anthony Beauvillier (81), G Michal Neuvirth (80), C Noel Acciari (78)
• New York Rangers: G Keith Kinkaid (82), RW Richard Panik (81), LW Brendan Lemieux (80)
• Ottawa: G Semyon Varlamov (86), D Niklas Kronwall (81)
• San Jose: D Lucas Sbisa (80), D Adam McQuaid (78), D Ben Chiarot (78), C Nick Shore (76), RW Troy Brouwer (76), RW Eric Fehr (74), LW Tobias Rieder (74)
• St. Louis: G Jordan Binnington (86), D Jordie Benn (79), LW Nic Kerdiles (79)
• Tampa Bay: LW Ryan Dzingel (83), G Mike Smith (82), C Cedric Paquette (77)
• Vancouver: G Robin Lehner (86), D Patrik Nemeth (80),WR Josh Leivo (80), D Derrick Pouliot (76)
• Winnipeg: LW Thomas Vanek (81), C Andrew Copp (79)

NO MAJOR SIGNINGS: Anaheim, Arizona, Las Vegas, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Toronto, Washington

[PFellah]

Re: Houston Renegades (Now in NHL20-o-Vision!)

POSTCARDS FROM TRAINING CAMP

Vegas really reset people's expectations for an expansion team, and I feel like when you look at our roster, we're going to try and take that to the next level, bringing in guys like Panarin and Pavelski. That's not to say we'll go to the Finals our first year, but we're going to compete in all 82 games. If I have a concern, it's that we don't have our pipeline of young talent built out, so our organizational depth is still a work in progress. But we'll get there once we get a few drafts under our belts to stock up.

Arty (Panarin) and I got a chance to play together a little in Columbus, so the coaches decided to continue that here and see if we can build on that. And now I've got a Top 5 pick on my other wing (Kaapo Kakko). I think we're going to be tough to stop.

I don't want to make more of it than it is. Yeah, I had that number (90) for a while, so it's a little disappointing. But Nasty (Vladislav Namestnikov) can say the same, and he was here first. I didn't want to be some diva coming in and demanding things be my way, so I'll try a new number (89) and see how it goes.

Leadership is more than how many goals you score or how long you've been in the league. With the decision to give Sammy (Bennett) the "A", it's about the tone he sets and the enthusiasm he brings to his game. He's a guy that just goes out there every shift, every practice, and looks like he's having a blast and makes you want to play the same way. It's like someone took a golden retriever and dropped it into a hockey player's body or something.

What line I'm on doesn't really bother me. Bringing in those guys made our team more competitive, and winning a Cup is why we're here. If anything, I can take it as a challenge -- we can really make teams hate playing us if we've got three lines that can put pressure on and put pucks in the net.

First, a little roster tweaking: adding a couple bodies on the blue line to replace McCoshen and Fleury and keep CPU clones from sucking up minutes. Using a very loose evaluation of potential, willingness to take a 2-way deal, and preferably some semblance of youth. Based on those criteria, Gavin Bayreuther and Daniel Brickley get cheap two-way offers and both eventually sign, which puts us at 48 contracts. From there, I think we’ll save the last two spots (and our remaining cap room) to see what develops during the season.

GAME RESULTS

Before we get started with game action, we actually have a trade to report.

9/26 vs Winnipeg – 7-4 L. It was actually a close – if high-scoring -- game through two, but the Jets put up a pair early in the third to pull away. Defense was nowhere to be found as Winnipeg peppered poor Zach Fucale with 46 shots. Kaapo Kakko looked at home early, tapping home a deflected shot by Andre Burakovsky for a goal on his first shift of the pre-season.

9/28 vs St. Louis – 5-4 L. Despite outshooting the Blues 43-25, three early goals and two solid periods go to waste as the Renegades collapse in the third. Klim Kostin scores two goals to tie the game at 4-4, and Nic Kerdiles scroes the game winner with 3:13 to play.

9/30 at Dallas – 2-1 L. Different style, same results. This time it’s a low-shot, low scoring effort, but the Renegades give up another third-period backbreaker to go 0-3 on the preseason.

10/2 at Minnesota – 5-4 L. Minnesota jumps out to a 4-1 lead after the first period. Matt Duchene gets a pair of goals late to make it look closer than it was, but Minnesota was mostly in control for the duration.

10/4 vs Nashville – 4-1 W. Houston finally comes away with a win against the Predators. Brent Burns and Marcus Johansson put a close 2-1 affair away in the third.

10/5 at Chicago – 4-2 W. And there’s two in a row. Alex Debrincat ties things at 2 early in the second, but Jake Muzzin notches the eventual game-winner later in the 2nd and Burakovsky adds an insurance tally in the 3rd.

10/7 at Colorado – 4-3 W (SO). And pre-season ends on a high note, as Houston comes back from a 3-0 deficit in the third period, and Brent Burns bangs home the winner in the shootout.

FINAL RECORD: 3-4-0

FINAL ROSTER TWEAKS

As I’m getting ready to put the roster to bed, I’m struck by the fact that left wing is both crowded and pricy – I have a top three of Panarin, Lee, and Johansson (all over $5M), with Conor Sheary ($3M) and Vladislav Namestnikov ($4M) battling for the roles of 4th line and depth forward. So I decide to shop around and see who needs a body. Everything except salary is pushing toward moving Sheary – Namestikov is younger by a year, faster, and I’m leery of a 5’8” finesse player getting pushed off the puck a lot. And the offers are better on Sheary -- baseline offers from the trade finder are a 3rd and a 4th in 2021. Namestnikov tends to be a 4 and a 5. This eventually leads to:

TRADE: Houston trades LW Conor Sheary to Columbus for their 3rd round and 4th round picks in 2021.

It was a coin flip between them, Detroit, and Buffalo which organization would still be screwed up two years from now, and I decided to go with the Jackets. Buffalo has a lot of good young guys, so they should be on the rise, and Detroit is a team with a recognizable core that just has to get out from under a bunch of bad contracts. Columbus? Feels like general disarray there.
This leaves me about $5M under the cap, and at 47 contracts. I think I’ll start the season in that configuration and see how things go.

It does, however, mean I’ll need to call up a depth forward: right now my bench is Zach Aston-Reese on offense and Chris Wideman on defense. This is normally where I trade for known fetish item Darren Helm (it’s the speed, plus the 85 on faceoffs that makes him a stealth center fit), but it seems silly to hand back the $3M I just saved by moving Sheary. Looking at in-house solutions, Beau Bennett emerges as the choice – at age 27, he’s not really a “prospect” anymore, so he wouldn’t be hurt by sitting.

PROSPECT REPORT

Everything's on target with Kaapo Kakko -- holding his Elite and up to 79 OVR. It’s just a question of which line to put him on, but he’ll at LEAST get the 9 game trial, and probably more. Andrei Kasparaitis, the other rookie I signed to an ELC, is looking like a disappointment early on. He’s downgraded to 7th D potential, though he is showing a 68 overall. I mean, we need third-pair guys too, so he’s not a total washout, but he’s not what I hoped I’d be getting. I’ll still give him Top 4 minutes and put him on the power-play in the minors, see if I can’t salvage something there.

For the unsigned rookies, it’s a mixed bag. RW Josh Williams, C Markuss Nazarov, and D Anttoni Honka are holding their draft ratings well (Elite for the first two, Top 4 for Honka). RW Rylan Burish and C Albin Grewe have fallen from Elite, but are still on track to be usable players (Top 6 for Grewe, Top 9 for Burish). C Mikhail Goldobin and G Noel Mikkelson are positioning to wash out.

OPENING DAY ROSTER AND LINES


LINES AND DEFENSE PAIRS

FORWARD LINES
9 Artemi Panarin – 95 Matt Duchene – 24 Kaapo Kakko
89 Marcus Johansson – 10 Joe Pavelski – 11 Daniel Sprong
27 Anders Lee – 93 Sam Bennett – 40 Joel Armia
90 Vladislav Namestikov – 71 Anthony Cirelli – 65 Andre Burakovsky

DEFENSE PAIRS
56 Erik Gustafsson – 88 Brent Burns
8 Jake Muzzin – 26 Brandon Carlo
3 Caleb Jones – 26 Jared Spurgeon

GOALTENDERS
25 Jacob Markstrom
1 Eric Comrie

BENCH/SCRATCHES
49 Zach Aston-Reese
13 Beau Bennett
29 Chris Wideman

CAPTAINS
Brent Burns gets the C as the veteran presence, and the long contract means he'll be here basically until he retires. Matt Duchene gets one of the A's as a basically Day-One guy, but the other one is a little bit of a surprise, going to Sam Bennett. (He gets top marks from the scouts on leadership.)

[PFellah]

Re: Houston Renegades (Now in NHL20-o-Vision!)

October 2019: Houston, We Have Liftoff


The Renegades come up just short in their first NHL game, as Jonathan Marchessault scores in the final moments of overtime.

10/13 vs Las Vegas (0-0-0) – 4-3 L (OT)
The first game in Houston Renegades history was an exciting one, but not the result the home fans hope for. Jacob Markstrom withstood a 58-shot shelling to keep his team in the game, and Andre Burakovsky provided last-minute heroics to put seemingly put the game away with 36 seconds left. But Vegas pounded the ensuing faceoff down into Houston’s end to force a face-off and then Mark Stone scored with 6 ticks left on the clock to force overtime. In overtime, Artemi Panarin took a tripping penalty, and Jon Marchessault buried a give-and-go from Erik Haula to seal the comeback win. Let the record reflect that Daniel Sprong recorded the first goal in franchise history, converting a two-on-one with Artemi Panarin after the Knights got caught in a line change.
GOALS: HOU – Sprong 1, Lee 1, Burakovsky 1. VGK – Miller 1, McNabb 1, Stone 1, Marchessault 1.

There are some positives in there. We didn’t quit, Jake stopped a ton of shots to even keep us in the game. And I don’t want to over-react to one game… especially when it’s opening night and people’s engines are revving a little hot. But Vegas did all the foundational things to win that game and we didn’t, so in that sense we were lucky to even get the one point out of it. They were crisper on their passes. They won the majority of the faceoffs. We didn’t control rebounds and move guys out from in front of the net.

10/14 at New York Islanders (1-0-0) – 6-3 W
Anders Lee leads the way against his former team, scoring a pair of second goals to provide what would be the final margin of victory. The first and third also feature matching 2-1 periods, with goals by Joe Pavelski and Sam Bennett bookending Lee’s tallies. The only bad news comes on the injury front, as Kaapo Kakko is out for about a week with a minor groin injury.
GOALS: HOU – Pavelski 1, Bennett 1, Lee 2, Lee 3, Pavelski 2, Bennett 2. NYI – Komarov 2, Acciari 2, Clutterbuck 2.

10/17 at Los Angeles (2-0-0) – 4-2 W
After an even 1-1 first period, Houston gains the separation they need with a pair of power-play goals a minute apart (not a five-minute major – looks like got a 5-on-3 and converted twice) in the early 2nd period, and Jared Spurgeon scores an insurance goal late in the third.
GOALS: HOU – Armia 1, Duchene 1, Carlo 1, Spurgeon 1. LA – Iafallo 2, Leipsic 1.

10/19 vs Colorado (3-0-0) – 6-4 W
It’s a messy defense-optional performance, but the Renegades come out on top in the end. Colorado builds a 3-2 lead after the first, but Houston scores a pair unanswered in the second to take the lead. In the third, Matt Duchene scores twice, sandwiched around a lone Avalanche goal.
GOALS: HOU – Sprong 2, Pavelski 3, Cirelli 1, Burakovsky 2, Duchene 2, Duchene 3. COL – Rantanen 1, Rantanen 2, MacKinnon 3, Gardiner 1.

Between games, Daniel Sprong joins Kakko in the trainer’s room… evaluation pending.

10/20 at Carolina (0-3-1) – 5-4 W (OT)
With a back-to-back, Eric Comrie gets his first start in net against the winless Hurricanes. The game proves to be tougher than expected, as Carolina opens up a 4-2 lead in the third. But the Renegades are able to rally – Vladislav Namestnikov scores with 49 seconds left to force overtime, and Joe Pavelski prevents the shootout with 21 seconds left in extra time. Artemi Panarian also scores his first goal in black and orange (finally!).
GOALS: HOU – Duchene 4, Panarin 1, Armia 2, Namestnikov 1, Pavelski 4. CAR – Teravainen 2, Niederreiter 3, Hamilton 1, Niederreiter 4.

It's nice to finally get Arty that first goal. He's still been hustling and making plays out there, just nice to finally see it on the scoresheet because he's capable of so much for us. Hopefully it's the first of many.

Good news on the injury front: Kakko is playable, and Sprong (sprained ankle) is only going to be out about a week.

10/22 vs Montreal (3-2-0) – 4-2 L
Comrie gets the start again, and a pair of Shea Weber goals in the 2nd prove to be the eventual margin of victory. Panarin scores with 7:26 left to close the gap, but Andrew Shaw gets an empty-netter in the final minute to lock it up for Les Habitants.
GOALS: HOU – Aston-Reese 1, Panarin 2. MTL – Danault 3, Weber 2, Weber 3, Shaw 1.

10/25 at New Jersey (4-2-0) – 4-2 L
The Renegades get the better of early action but make a couple mistakes in the late stages of the first period, handing the Devils a 2-0 lead after one. In the second, Houston’s blue-liners find the net to even the score – Erik Gustafsson goes coast-to-coast, and then Caleb Jones follows a rush to bury a one-timer from Matt Duchene. Unfortunately, Gustav Nyquist gets a third-period goal Houston doesn’t have an answer for, and the Devils add a power-play goal in the closing seconds for insurance.
GOALS: HOU – Gustafsson 1, Jones 1. NJ – Hall 1, Wood 3, Nyquist 4, Wood 4.

On the positive front, Daniel Sprong will be returning to the lineup, so we’re back to full strength.

10/26 vs Tampa Bay (5-1-1) – 3-2 L
Tampa cruised through the regular season last year and are off to another hot start this season as well. Early on it’s all Houston, with first-period goals from Sprong and Kakko (his first NHL goal). But Tampa scores a pair in the 2nd to even the score and Yanni Gourde opens the third with what proves to be the game-winner. If there’s a silver lining in defeat, it’s Houston putting 48 shots on Mike Smith.
GOALS: HOU – Sprong 3, Kakko 1. TB – Callahan 3, McDonagh 2, Gourde 2.

10/29 at Arizona (4-4-0) – 1-0 W
It’s a low-scoring finish to the month. Both teams are held under 30 shots, and Brent Burns scores the lone goal of the contest. Eric Comrie stops 30 Arizona shots for the first shutout in franchise history.
GOALS: HOU – Burns 1. ARI – NONE.

Overall, I like where we're at as a team. We're spreading the puck around and getting a lot of guys involved in the offense and that's a good sign moving forward. There's some stuff we need to tighten up on the defensive side, but we'll get there.

MONTHLY SUMMARY

STANDINGS REPORT

• MONTH: 5-3-1, 11 points. Decent start, especially playing against some pretty good teams (based on last year's standings).
• YEAR-TO-DATE: 5-3-1, 11 points
• DIVISION: Currently 5th. COL 16, DAL 16, WPG 13, MIN 12, HOU 11, NSH 9, CHI 9 STL 7.
• CONFERENCE: Currently 6th, in the second wild-card spot. COL 16, COL 16, LA 14, WPG 13, MIN 12, HOU 11, VAN 10, SJ 10.
  

TEAM LEADERS

• POINTS: Lee 10, Panarin 10, Duchene 8, Pavelski 8, Burns 7
• GOALS: Duchene 4, Pavelsk 4, Spring 3, Lee 3, S. Bennett 2, Panarin 2, Armia 2, Burakovsky 2
• ASSISTS: Panarin 8, Lee 7, Burns 6, Johansson 5, Duchene 4, Pavelski 4
• PLUS-MINUS:Gustafsson 6, Panarin 3, Pavelski 3, Carlo 2, Burns 2

ON THE FARM
San Antonio is off to a 6-2-1 start, and sit second place in the AHL North, one point behind Laval Rocket. Conor Garland (7-4-11), Jordan Kyrou (1-9-10), and John Quenneville (4-4-8) lead the attack for the Toros. Tristan Jarry has started all but one game, putting up a 2.52 GAA and a .913 save percentage. (Zach Fucale notched a shutout in his only start).

[PFellah]

Re: Houston Renegades (Now in NHL20-o-Vision!)

October 2019: Around The League

STANDINGS


Not much to be noted here, except for the defending champion St. Louis Blues snake-bitten early with FIVE overtime losses in nine games. But it's early yet.

LEAGUE LEADERS


The goalie leaderboards are a mess because a lot of part-timers qualify in the first month. On the skater side, it's about who you'd expect to see there. Notably absent... Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid.

CALDER WATCH


Early yet, not much to be gleaned, except that Jack Hughes is good. Kakko held back by his injury.

[PFellah]

Re: Houston Renegades (Now in NHL20-o-Vision!)

November 2019: Renegades Rising


Houston breaks out the "Mission Control" alts to start the month against the defending champions, the St. Louis Blues. Houston would win 6-2 to start a very productive November.

11/1 vs St. Louis (1-3-5) – 6-2 W
Sloppy play all night from the defending champs, as the newcomers were able to turn multiple turnovers into goals. Anders Lee and Kaapo Kakko each scored twice, though Kakko’s second came on an “excuse me” slapshot from just inside the blue line with 1.1 seconds to play.
GOALS: HOU – Lee 4, Armia 3, Pavelski 5, Lee 5, Kakko 2, Kakko 3. STL – Steen 3, Kerdiles 1.

It's the defending champs, and that's always a good bar to measure against. Yeah, every team has turnover and maybe some guys came and went, but those are still the same core of guys who lifted the Cup not so long ago. So to win a game like that feels good.

11/3 vs Philadelphia (7-3-0) – 4-3 W (SO)
Philly comes back in the third period to force overtime, but Houston pulls it out in the shootout, with Anthony Cirelli getting the deciding goal. Travis Konecny got two for Philly, including the equalizer with 4 minutes left in the 3rd.
GOALS: HOU – Cirelli 2, Armia 4, Pavelski 6, Cirelli SOW. PHI – Konecny 6, Gostisbehere 1, Konecny 7.

Bad news between games as Artemi Panarin is out with an injury, evaluation pending.

11/4 vs Vancouver (5-3-3) – 2-1 L
Bo Horvat scores one in the first, and one in the third, and Robin Lehner makes it stand up facing 34 Houston shots. Brandon Carlo spoils the shutout with a little less than seven minutes to play.
GOALS: HOU – Carlo 2. VAN – Horvat 6, Horvat 7.

11/6 at Columbus (4-4-4) – 4-1 W
Not sure how their skaters are doing, but Joonas Korpisalo has been amongst the league leaders in net, so we can’t take this matchup for granted. After a 1-1 first, the Renegades pull away – officially Daniel Sprong gets credit for the winner.
GOALS: HOU – S. Bennett 3, Sprong 4, Burns 2, Namestnikov 2. CBJ – Bjorkstrand 2.

Bullet dodged, as Panarin’s knee injury is already playable.

11/9 vs Boston (9-3-1) – 4-0 W
Single goals in the first and second, and a pair in the third, while the Bruins muster a quiet 30 shots against Markstrom.
GOALS: HOU – Pavelski 7, Spurgeon 2, Lee 6, Cirelli 3. BOS – NONE.

11/10 at Winnipeg (7-4-3) – 5-4 W (SO)
Eric Comrie gets the start against his former club, and it’s rough going early on as the Jets build up a 3-1 lead over the first 2 periods. Houston rallies to tie early in the third, but then Blake Wheeler puts Winnipeg back on top with 12:41 to play. But Artemi Panarin scores with 5:59 left to force OT, and the Renegades finish off the comeback with three tallies in the shootout.
GOALS: HOU – Lee 7, Pavelski 8, Burns 3, Panarin 3, Duchene SOW. WPG – Perrault 5, Perrault 6, Ehlers 2, Wheeler 6.

It was nice catching up with some of the boys before the game, but once the puck dropped, it's just two points we need to go get. As far as "showing them what they missed out on" or "revenge" or anything like that, no, nothing like that. The rules for the expansion draft are what they are, they couldn't protect me, and Houston had an opportunity here. There's no hard feelings to get "revenge' for.

Injury update: Panarin is fully healed, but replaced on the shelf by Jared Spurgeon, who’s out a week or two with a mild concussion. Chris Wideman gets a sweater for the first time this season.

11/13 at Detroit (7-6-2) – 4-1 L
The teams trade goals in the first period, but Detroit pulls away with a pair in the second and an insurance goal in the third. Despite outshooting the Red Wings 37-23, Houston takes the L.
GOALS: HOU – Panarin 4. DET – Larkin 6, Bertuzzi 5, Larkin 7, Mantha 8.

Slightly worse news on the injury front, as Sam Bennett will be out until mid-December with an MCL sprain. I think we’ll put Jason Dickinson on the bus from San Antonio; technically he’s waiver-eligible but we’ll figure that out when the time comes.

11/15 vs Florida (9-7-0) – 7-1 W
Things started relatively calmly, with a 1-1 first period. But things got wild in the second and third as the Renegades put the pedal down and put up three goals in each stanza, even against Sergei Bobrovsky, one of the best goalies in the league. Jake Muzzin and Marcus Johansson finally scored their first goals of the year.
GOALS: HOU – Panarin 5, Muzzin 1, Cirelli 4, Johansson 1, Burns 4, Pavelski 9, Cirelli 5. FLA – Huberdeau 7.

11/17 at Nashville (8-8-1) – 2-1 W
The Predators and Renegades battle to a 1-1- tie for 59 minutes and 42 seconds, but Joel Armia beats Pekka Rinne with 18 ticks on the clock to prevent overtime.
GOALS: (oops, forgot to record them)

11/19 at Chicago (8-8-2) – 5-2 L
A three goal second period dooms the Renegades in a divisional game against the Blackhawks. John Hayden leads the ‘Hawks with a pair. Shishkanov, the guy I tried to trade up to get in the draft also tallied his fifth of the year.
GOALS: HOU – Duchene 5, Burns 6. CHI – Keith 1, Hayden 3, Strome 4, Hayden 4, Shishkanov 5.

The revolving door continues on the injury front – Spurgeon is playable but Brent Burns is out of the lineup, evaluation pending. Markstrom is also nursing a playable knee injury.

11/21 vs Pittsburgh (11-7-1) – 3-0 W
Pittsburgh falls quietly as Houston scores a goal in each period, including an empty-netter by Jared Spurgeon with a second left. The Pens only manage 24 shots against Markstrom, and he stops ‘em all.
GOALS: HOU – Armia 6, Duchene 6, Spurgeon 3. PIT – NONE

Good news on the injury front as Burns’ sore knee is playable, so Wideman goes back to the bench. Meanwhile, the CPU assistant really wants to bench Burakovsky in favor of Zach Aston-Reese; since he hasn’t scored in over a month, I’m going to go ahead and try that for a bit.

11/24 vs Dallas (14-6-0) – 4-3 W (SO)
It’s the first regular-season battle for Texas, and it’s also a battle for second place behind the Avalanche. Houston builds a 3-0 lead but blows it in the third before recovering to win the shootout and the two points.
GOALS: HOU – Duchene 7, Muzzin 2, Burns 7, Lee SOW. DAL – Pitlick 2, Lindell 2, Seguin 9.

Obviously we got the win, but one of those things you need to develop as a team is that killer instinct where you put a game away once you have the other guy down. We got a little sloppy and let them get back into it, and that's something we need to address.

11/26 at Minnesota (10-7-4) – 5-1 W
Matt Duchene scores two times in the early stages of the first period, and it’s off to the races. Zach Parise spoils Markstrom’s shutout bid at the start of the third, but beyond that, it’s a fairly easy two points for the Renegades.
GOALS: HOU – Duchene 8, Duchene 9, Aston-Reese 2, Cirelli 6, Johansson 2. MIN – Parise 11.

Hmmm… this is a little more interesting. Burns is back on the shelf and Brandon Carlo joins him. They’re both in evaluation, so not sure if I should bring someone up from the minors, or just put a forward back on D for a game. Looking at the minor-league roster, Keaton Middleton doesn’t need to be run through waivers, so I put him on the bus from San Antonio.

11/28 at Washington (11-8-3) – 11-3 L
Thanksgiving! The nation’s capital! Should’ve been a fun holiday road trip, but instead, it was a nightmare from start to finish. The defense couldn’t clear pucks from in front of the net, leading to second, third, even fourth chances. The Caps got up 5-0 before the Renegades even found the net once; Houston scored twice to briefly make the game competitive again, and then Washington kicked in the afterburners. Our last stand was trying to prevent the 10th goal while killing a 5-on-3 down the stretch, but not only did they get goal #10, but got #11 with 3 seconds left.
GOALS: HOU – Duchene 10, Panarin 6, Duchene 11. WSH – Wilson 4, Jaskin 3, Jaskin 4, Oshie 7, Backstrom 3, Stephenson 3, Wilson 5, Vrana 8, Boyd 5, Jaskin 5, Backstrom 4.

Of course it’s embarrassing. In every way possible. You almost catch yourself wishing there was a mercy rule when you’re on the wrong end of a game like this. But you lick your wounds on the plane ride home and then you try and remember it’s one game out of 82, and there’s no other choice but to put it behind you and play the next one.

11/30 vs Toronto (13-9-1) – 3-2 L (OT)
After the Thanksgiving massacre, a respectable overtime loss is a tolerable way to get back in the saddle. It’s 1-1 after 1, 2-2 after 2, and then a scoreless third before Andreas Borgman puts the game way for the Leafs in OT.
GOALS: HOU – Sprong 5, Namestnikov 3. TOR – Matthews 7, Hyman 3, Borgman 3.

And we end the month with an injury update – Burns and Carlo both have sore knees, and will be back around the 9th of December… also the same time as Bennett. But now Anthony Cirelli is out with an injury as well.

MONTHLY SUMMARY

STANDINGS REPORT

• MONTH: 10-4-1, 21 points. Other than the beating by the Caps leaving a foul taste, a very solid month.
• YEAR-TO-DATE: 15-7-2, 32 points
• DIVISION: Now sitting second in the Central behind Colorado at 36. COL 36, HOU 32, DAL 31, MIN 26, WPG 26, CHI 24, NSH 22, STL 20
• CONFERENCE: 3rd in the West. COL 36, SJ 36, HOU 32, EDM 32, LA 31, DAL 31, MIN 26, WPG 26.

TEAM LEADERS

• POINTS: Duchene 22, Lee 22, Panarin 21, Pavelski 19, Burns 19
• GOALS: Duchene 11, Pavelski 9, Lee 7, Burns 7, Panarin 6, Armia 6, Cirelli 6
• ASSISTS: Panarin 15, Lee 15, Burns 12, Duchene 11, Muzzin 11
• PLUS-MINUS:Gustafsson 11, Burns 11, Duchene 7, Panarin 7, Johansson 6

ON THE FARM
San Antonio leads their division and is tied with Springfield for the lead in the Eastern Conference at 17-6-1. Their offense is middle of the pack (2.96 goals per game), but they’re 4th best in all of the mjnors with a 2.13 goals per game against. Tristan Jarry has a 14-5-1 record with a 2.05 GAA and .924 save percentage. The offense is fairly diversified, but is led by Jordan Kyrou (8-17-25), John Quenneville (6-19-25) and Connor Garland (9-11-20).

[PFellah]

Re: Houston Renegades (Now in NHL20-o-Vision!)

November 2019: Around The League

STANDINGS


The big news here is Philly opening up a nine-point lead on the rest of the Metro. Both divisions out west are starting to stratify into "top three" and "everyone else". Nobody's dramatically out of the playoffs at this point, but the Knights, Rangers, and Canadiens languishing below 20 points has to be a cause for concern in those cities.

LEAGUE LEADERS


Colorado continues to put up some impressive offensive numbers. The goalie picture is still clouded a little bit by part-timers, but Jacob Markstrom cracks the leaderboard for goaltenders -- top 10 in save percentage and just outside the Top 10 in goals-against.

CALDER WATCH


Jack Hughes continues to set the pace for the field, but Kaapo Kakko finally makes the leaderboard -- in fact, five of the top 6 picks in the 2019 draft are now in play. And D Dylan Lam (#5 overall) isn't too far off the pace and could re-emerge at some later point.

[johnstone1987]

Re: Houston Renegades (Now in NHL20-o-Vision!)

I really dig those home unis. Pretty sick.

[PFellah]

Re: Houston Renegades (Now in NHL20-o-Vision!)

December 2019: Houston, We Have A Rivalry!


Brandon Carlo takes a poke at Colorado's Gabriel Landeskog in the third period of a 5-2 Renegades' loss. Landeskog had just ridden Joel Armia hard into the boards seconds earlier.

The Renegades start December in a mostly good place. After a .500 start to the season, the wins came quickly in November and the Renegades started rising in the standings. If there's a small dark cloud, it's on the injury front -- no less than four starters are on the shelf, and the depleted defense corps just took a double-digit pasting from the Caps on Thanksgiving Day.

12/3 at San Jose (17-5-2) – 3-1 W
Despite having two defensemen and two centers (Sam Bennett and Anthony Cirelli) out injured, the Renegades put in a solid effort, scoring three goals and holding the Sharks to one goal on 27 shots.
GOALS: HOU – Namestnikov 4, Burakovsky 3, Sprong 6. SJ – Brouwer 2.

12/4 vs Anaheim (9-13-3) – 4-0 L
Bad game for Jacob Markstrom as the Ducks put four pucks in the net despite only taking 24 shots. Ryan Miller stops 35 shots for the shutout.
GOALS: HOU – NONE. ANA – Perry 6, Mahura 1, Shore 3, Shore 4.

First good news on the injury front as Cirelli is upgraded to playable with a rib injury. Burns and Carlo are just a few days behind.

12/6 at Calgary (13-12-1) – 6-4 W
The Renegades chase Chad Johnson out of the net with four first-period goals and eventually open up a 6-2 lead after two. Calgary scores a couple in the third to make things look competitive, but the Renegade mostly cruised to victory.
GOALS: HOU – Duchene 12, Duchene 13, Sprong 7, Lee 8, Aston-Reese 3, Armia 7. CGY – Backlund 5, Monahan 4, Monahan 5, Gaudreau 18.

Both defensemen are back, so Keaton Middleton gets a ticket back to the minors. Other than Sam Bennett, we’re back to full strength.

Obviously that Washington game gave us some pause for concern, but I give the guys credit that they responded well to it, made the changes they needed to make, and came together to get back on a good path. Now we're getting guys back and we can use that experience to reach even greater heights.

12/8 vs Ottawa (11-13-3) – 5-4 W (OT)
It’s a wild ride as the Renegades dig out from deficits of 2-0, 3-2, and 4-3 before finally winning the game in extra time. Despite the score, the shot totals were fairly low, with Houston holding a 30-27 edge.
GOALS: HOU – Kakko 4, Panarin 7, Duchene 14, Duchene 15, Caarlo 3. OTT – Boedker 8, Paajarvi 3, Kronwall 6, White 3.

12/11 at Edmonton (15-9-4) – 5-2 W
Eric Comrie gets the start in net and lets in goal less than two minutes in, but from there on, it’s mostly Renegades. Three defensemen score to stake the visitors to a 3-1 lead at the first intermission and it holds up from there. Matt Duchene continues to be on fire – that’s five goals in three games.
GOALS: HOU – Burns 8, Spurgeon 4, Carlo 4, Cirelli 7, Duchene 16. EDM – Larsson 3, Hudon 5.

Mistake on the roster management front. Sam Bennett is back, so I got a little cocky and tried to pass Jason Dickinson through waivers, and Vegas claimed him. Oops. Also, it looks like the CPU sent Caleb Jones down anyway. Grrrr…

12/13 at New York Rangers (10-15-4) – 4-3 L (SO)
Ah well, a hard-fought game slips away in the shootout. Pretty even all the way around – 1-1 after 1, 3-3 after 2, shots were even fairly close (36-34). Duchene runs his goal-scoring streak to 4 games.
GOALS: HOU – Duchene 17, Panarin 8, Pavelski 10. NYR – Vesey 8, Howden 6, Zibanejad 9, Buchnevich SOW.

12/15 vs Buffalo (17-11-2) – 3-1 W
A fairly even game through two periods, but Houston pulls away in the third on goals by Kaapo Kakko and Duchene. Also, that’s win #20 on the season.
GOALS: HOU – Pavelski 11, Kakko 5, Duchene 18. BUF – Dahlin 8.

12/17 at Las Vegas (10-19-2) – 5-4 W (OT)
An exciting game in Sin City, as the teams trade 8 goals while the margin never goes above one goal. Joe Pavelski is the hero twice with the equalizer in regulation and the overtime winner. Sadly Duchene’s goal streak comes to an end, but we’ll take the two points, thanks.
GOALS: HOU – S. Bennett 4, Kakko 6, Gustafsson 2, Pavelski 12, Pavelski 13. VGK – Tuch 8, Eakin 7, Tuch 9, Eakin 8.

The streak is mostly just a thing for you guys to write about. For me, it's more about whether I'm feeling good and my game is locked in, and I still feel like my game is there, even if I didn't get one tonight. Tonight it was just someone else's turn to step up.

12/19 vs New York Islanders (20-10-2) – 5-1 W
Duchene gets back in the scoring groove, Pavelski runs HIS goal-scoring streak to four, and the Renegades roll to an easy win. The Isles muster only 15 shot on Markstrom; of course it’s Beauvillier spoiling the shutout.
GOALS: HOU – Duchene 19, Pavelski 14, Cirelli 8, Burakovsky 4, Lee 9. NYI – Beauvillier 11.

12/22 vs Los Angeles (17-14-2) – 5-4 W (SO)
The Kings and Renegades give the fans a good one going into the Christmas break. Alex Iafallo breaks the tie with 6:14 remaining in the third, but Artemi Panarin gets it back less than 90 seconds later to salvage overtime. After a scoreless overtime, it’s Matt Duchene with the decider in the shootout.
GOALS: HOU – Gustafsson 3, Duchene 20, Duchene 21, Panarin 9, Duchene SOW. LA – Kopitar 11, Leipsic 7, Kempe 6, Iafallo 8.

12/27 at Colorado (22-10-2) – 5-2 L
Coming back from the Christmas break, it’s a battle at the top of the division. Unfortunately, Colorado gets 2 goals in the first four minutes and never really looks back. The Renegades didn’t really begin to play competitive hockey until the latter half of period three. Way too many penalties, including multiple 5-on-3s. At least Brandon Carlo beat the snot out of Gabriel Landeskog after he rode Joel Armia hard into the boards, so that’s something. The loss notwithstanding Houston still leads Colorado in the standings by a single point (49-48).
GOALS: HOU – Burakovsky 5, Cirelli 9. COL – Soderberg 10, Kerfoot 8, Ekholm 6, Kerfoot 9, Rantanen 12.

Look, it's a physical game and you play hard for 60 minutes. But when you run a guy full-speed into the boards when you're already winning by 4, 5 goals... that's sending a message. So we received that message and we let them know what we thought of it.

12/28 vs Carolina (13-15-7) – 3-2 W
The Renegades recover from a beating with a solid win over the Hurricanes. Sam Bennett breaks a 2-2 tie with 8 minutes left in the second and that ends up being the final margin.
GOALS: HOU – Namestnikov 5, Lee 10, S. Bennett 5. CAR – Donskoi 9, Zajac 3.

12/30 at Montreal (14-19-3) – 3-2 W
Kaapo Kakko and Joel Armia score two minutes apart in the 1st to stake the Renegades an early lead, and Markstrom makes it stand up to end 2019 on a winning note. The only bad news is Anthony Cirelli ends up on the injury report after the game (evaluation pending).
GOALS: HOU – Kakko 7, Armia 8, Duchene 22. MTL – Gallagher 12, Domi 9.

MONTHLY SUMMARY

STANDINGS REPORT

• MONTH: 10-2-1, though four of those wins were overtime or shootout wins, so it could've gone differently.
• YEAR-TO-DATE: 25-9-3, 53 points
• DIVISION: 53 points, first in Central Division. HOU 53, COL 50, DAL 46, MIN 44, WPG 37, CHI 32, NSH 32, STL 31
• CONFERENCE: Second behind San Jose (54 points). Top 8 are: SJ 54, HOU 53, COL 50, DAL 46, MIN 44, VAN 44, EDM 43, ANA 41.

TEAM LEADERS

• POINTS: Duchene 39, Panarin 34, Pavelski 30, Lee 27, Burns 24
• GOALS: Duchene 22, Pavelski 14, Lee 10, Panarin 9, Cirelli 9
• ASSISTS: Panarin 25, Duchene 17, Lee 16, Pavelski 16, Burns 16, Muzzin 16
• PLUS-MINUS:Gustafsson 18, Duchene 16, Burns 16, PAnarin 11, Kakko 10

ON THE FARM
Toros continue to play well (26-10-1, 54 points) but have been overtaken for the divison lead. Since last month, the goal scoring has gone up, but we’re also letting in a few more. Tristan Jarry continues to be solid in net (2.31 GAA, .911 save percentage). Jordan Kyrou leads the team with 33 points; there are three double-digit goal scorers: Justin Bailey and Conor Garland have 12 apiece and Kalle Kossila has kicked in an even 10.

[PFellah]

Re: Houston Renegades (Now in NHL20-o-Vision!)

December 2019: Around The League

STANDINGS


In addition to Houston, Detroit, Vancouver, and to a lesser extent Florida are the month's big positive movers. On the losing side, the Rangers, Golden Knights, and Blues (the defending champs) are starting to fall out of relevance, more than 10 points out of even the wild card conversation.

LEAGUE LEADERS


Matt Duchene bursts onto the leaderboard in goals, and he's just outside the top 10 in total points. Similarly, Jacob Markstrom is up there in wins, but a little outside the top 10 in the rate stats.

CALDER WATCH


Mostly a re-shuffling of what's already there. Jack Hughes still leads all rookies in goals and points. Colin White and Kaapo Kakko are this month's climbers, while Stanislav Shishkanov went ice cold (along with the Blackhawks as a team). All of the rookie goalies except Thatcher Demko have dropped off the leaderboard for the moment, though there's a few guys just outside the cutoff (12 games, not 8).