Seattle Dragons: A Draftless* 32nd Team Expansion

[PFellah]

Re: Seattle Dragons: A Draftless* 32nd Team Expansion

February 2019: Free Fallling


Jon Marchessault picks Mike Green's pocket and then buries the return pass from William Karlsson for his second goal of the game. It was that sort of day and month for the Dragons.

Interesting schedule this month, as we spend most of the first half on the road, followed by most of the second half at home. And of course at the end, the trade deadline awaits. Let’s get to it.

2/1 at Boston (23-21-5) – 3-2 W (SO)
Hey, we actually open the month with a win for once. Patrick Eaves gets the tying goal with 14:40 left in the third, but Mike Green puts one past Tuukka Rask in the shootout for the win. Big shot disparity, as Boston outshoots Seattle 46-25. Andrei Svechnikov celebrates a round number, getting #20 on the year.
GOALS: SEA – Cammalleri 11, Svechnikov 20, Green SOW. BOS – Bergeron 17, Eaves 9.

2/3 vs Carolina (20-23-7) – 4-3 L
Seattle gets out to leads of 2-0 and then 3-1, and things are looking pretty solid for the Dragons. But then Carolina comes storming back with three unanswered goals in the second, and a scoreless third on both sides seals the deal.
GOALS: SEA – Hansen 10, Svechnikov 21, Perron 17. CAR – Faulk 10, Carrick 4, Fleury 5, Faulk 11.

2/4 vs Colorado (25-23-3) – 2-1 L (SO)
Christian Folin is almost the unlikely hero of the game, matching Nathan MacKinnon’s early goal with about five minutes left, sending the game to overtime (his first of the year, no less). But Colorado rattles off three straight goals in the shootout and it’s game over.
GOALS: SEA – Folin 1. COL – MacKinnon 26, Landeskog SOW.

St. Louis has made us two offers on Eric Gustafsson, but it’s fairly minor draft-pick tweaking. (Gustafsson and a 3rd and 7th in 2020 for a 3rd and a 4th in 2019). Basically bringing the pick from the Hamhuis deal back into 2019 and adding a 4th. I decide to pull the trigger since it’ll restock the prospect pool faster.

TRADE: St. Louis trades a 2019 3rd rounder and a 2019 4th rounder (from ANA) to Seattle for D Erik Gustafsson, a 2020 3rd rounder (from ARI) and a 2020 7th rounder.

2/6 at Los Angeles (32-18-2) – 4-2 W
It’s a battle for supremacy in the Pacific, as LA currently sits a point ahead of Seattle. Last time we met, LA ran us out of the building, but this time, it’s a little more even. Seattle scores a pair of first-period goals, but then LA gets them back in the second, setting the stage for a tight-fought third. But in the third, Seattle gets a fluky goal that goes in off Tyler Bozak’s shin, and then Alexei Emelin scores on a slapper off the faceoff moments later to provide a cushion. It almost ends at 5-2, as Bozak misses the empty net with time expiring.
GOALS: SEA – Beagle 11, Nash 11, Bozak 11, Emelin 2. LA – Muzzin 2, Lewis 12.

They don't all have to be pretty. Sometimes you just have to be in the right place at the right time.

Toronto comes in with an offer on Iginla – Iggy and 3rd and 4th-rounders in 2020 for a 2nd in 2019. I decide I’m going to play around with that a little. I like the general idea, but I would rather deal from 2019 surplus (now at 12 picks) than 2020 (basically my standard allotment; just moved a 5th to the 4th). I play around with the trade maker for a bit but decide to shelve it for a bit.
Also, Joe Morrow is out injured, evaluation pending.

2/8 at Tampa Bay (24-24-5) – 5-3 L
The road trip continues in Tampa, and it turns out to be a bit of a letdown game – the Dragons let the Lightning run up a 4-0 lead before finally getting on the board, and there’s just not enough time to climb back in it. Seattle closes to 4-3 before a Yannick Gourde empty-netter seals it.
GOALS: SEA – Svechnikov 22, Cammalleri 12, Komarov 11. TB – Kucherov 20, Killorn 16, Kucherov 21, Conacher 8, Gourde 7.

2/10 at Montreal (28-18-8) – 3-2 L
Nice bit of symmetry on that won-loss record. Same basic outcome as the Tampa game on a smaller scale; Les Habs roll up a 3-0 lead, and then Seattle doesn’t wake up and start scoring until it’s too late.
GOALS: SEA – Perron 18, Grabner 12. MTL – Gallagher 18, Weber 10, Drouin 18.

2/12 at Las Vegas (29-20-6) – 5-1 L
Ugh. Five minutes in, with an Andrei Svechnikov power-play goal in hand, things were looking good for the Dragons. But from there, Las Vegas found another gear and ran the visitors off the ice. The Knights win the shots battle 37-21, hits 21-9, faceoffs 18-9… basically a dominant performance.
GOALS: SEA – Svechnikov 23. VGK – Lindberg 11, Tuch 13, Marchessault 15, Marchessault 16, Haula 10.

We have a few days off until our next game, and Montreal comes in with an offer of a 3rd (Buffalo’s so fairly high in the round) and a 6th for Alexei Emelin and Scott Hartnell. I'm not going to take it yet, but everyone’s healthy, so I pretty much have to decide what to do about roster moves. Montreal had asked about Scott Hartnell, so I play around with offers and come up with their 4th-rounder in 2020. I’m a little worried at how many morale dings show up in the clubhouse, but whatever… he’s been a healthy scratch for a couple weeks now.

2/16 at St. Louis (31-25-0) – 3-2 L
Other than the LA game, the road trip ends with yet another lackluster performance. St. Louis scores single goals in each period; Seattle doesn’t wake up until the third.
GOALS: SEA – Komarov 12, Svechnikov 24. STL – Steen 13, Edmundson 3, Tarasenko 21.

It's frustrating because we're not doing anything differently than we've been doing, and we've been THIS close a lot of times. It's just winning a puck battle here and a lucky rebound there, but it's the difference between two points and zero.

2/18 vs Philadelphia (32-23-2) – 2-1 L (SO)
For two periods, it looks like home cooking is all Seattle needed to right their ship. Jay Beagle staked the team to a 1-0 lead and the defense was making it stand up. But in the third, Wayne Simmonds tied the game and Jakub Voracek put it away in the shootout. (Something to investigate: Lehner gave up the goal in regulation, but Chad Johnson was in for the shootout. Hope that doesn’t mean injury.)
GOALS: SEA – Beagle 12. PHI – Simmonds 20, Voracek SOW.

2/20 vs Winnipeg (40-16-2) – 6-5 W (SO)
This was a barn-burner. Seattle jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first. Winnipeg answered back with three of their own in the 2nd. In the 3rd, Winnipeg widened the lead to 5-3, but then Seattle came back with two to tie it. Overtime went without a score, and then Mike Green won it in the shootout.
GOALS: SEA – Perron 19, Sheahan 5, Nash 12, Perron 20, Cammalleri 13, Green SOW. WPG – Wheeler 21, Ehlers 12, Laine 28, Scheifele 21, Wheeler 22.

We certainly weren't as tight on defense as we would've liked but we'll take it. You hope a win like this against one of the best teams in the league can be that spark where we turn it around and get back to what was working for us.

2/21 at Vancouver (28-29-2) – 1-0 L
Compared to yesterday’s shootout, this was downright dull. Brendan Gaunce scored with 1:54 left in the first period, and… that’s basically all that happened. Zzzzzz. Thatcher Demko with the shutout.
GOALS: SEA – NONE. VAN – Gaunce 5.

2/23 vs Columbus (31-24-5) – 3-2 L
David Perron gets a pair of goals but no one else finds the net. Cam Atkinson matches Perron with a pair of his own, but Columbus also gets a goal from Oliver Bjorkstrand to put the Jackets over the top.
GOALS: SEA – Perron 21, Perron 22. CBJ – Atkinson 18, Atkinson 19, Bjorkstrand 16.

2/25 vs New York Islanders (26-28-7) – 4-2 L
We may actually be in crisis mode now. The Isles’ score two in the first and then add a 3rd after David Perron scores in the second. Cammalleri narrows the lead to 3-2 early in the 3rd, but an empty-netter late puts the game out of reach for good.
GOALS: SEA – Perron 23, Cammalleri 14. NYI – Beauvilier 14, Nelson 11, Nelson 12, Ladd 12.

Chicago comes in with a trade offer of a 2nd and a 6th for Alexei Emelin and Chris Kunitz. Asking on the heels of a 1-7-1 stretch is probably the right time to come at me with this. I’m going to go ahead and say yes. Replacement players will probably be Duncan Siemens on defense and Jacob de la Rose for Kunitz. De La Rose will wear #32, Siemens #17. Riley Nash will get Kunitz’s “A”.

TRADE: Chicago trades 2019-2 and 2019-6 to Seattle for D Alexei Emelin and LW Chris Kunitz.

I thought about trading Jarome Iginla as long as I’m selling off the old guys, but screw it, I think I’ll keep him around. I already have 14 picks in next year’s draft, and I build up some karmic goodwill letting the veteran ride it out.

You hate to see guys like Kuny and Emmer leave, but I guess management felt like they had to do something. Is it running up the white flag, or is it shaking things up because we haven't been playing well? Nobody in here is ready to write off the season, but you look at the way we played this month, and... I guess you don't get to complain when the guys upstairs try something different to turn things around.

2/28 vs Pittsburgh (39-22-1) – 4-2 L

Damn. It looked like we might squeak out with a low-scoring defensive win, but Pittsburgh scored four in the third period (in the last SEVEN minutes, no less) to complete a really awful month.
GOALS: SEA – Sheahan 6, Svechnikov 25. PIT – Kuhnhackl 6, Malkin 26, Kessel 30, Sheary 8.

MONTHLY SUMMARY

STANDINGS REPORT

• MONTH: 3-9-2. Worst month ever at the worst possible time.
• YEAR-TO-DATE: 33-36-4, 70 points
• DIVISION: 5th place with 70 points. The good news is that everyone above me is still catchable (first place is only 78 points), but then again by that logic, everyone below me could catch me (last place is only 62).
• CONFERENCE: For the first time since the earliest part of the season, we're on the outside looking in -- ninth place. Technically we have the same number of points as Nashville, but they have ROW advantage on us. Top 8: CHI 89, WPG 88, LA 78, MIN 76, EDM 76, SJ 75, VGK 73, NSH 70.

TEAM LEADERS

• POINTS: Perron 53, Svechnikov 51, Bozak 42, Cammalleri 39, Komarov 29, Green 29
• GOALS: Svechnikov 25, Perron 23, Cammalleri 14, Nash 12, Grabner 12, Komarov 12, Beagle 12. There's also another 3-4 guys at 11.
• ASSISTS: Bozak 31, Perron 39, Svechnikov 26, Cammalleri 25, Green 23
• PLUS-MINUS: Bozak 14, Perron 14, Svechnikov 8, Johnson 6, Morrow 4

ON THE FARM
Tacoma still first in their division and conference at 41-20-2, but the Grand Rapids Griffins pushed them into second place across all the minors. Seven double-digit goal scorers, led by Brandon Pirri’s 17. Pirri also sits just outside the Top 10 in total points (he has 49, 51 is top-10 worthy). Elvis Merzlikins rates stats have been trending positive (.918 save percentage, 2.03 GAA); Driedger still solid as a backup.

[PFellah]

Re: Seattle Dragons: A Draftless* 32nd Team Expansion

February 2019: Around The League

TRADING DEADLINE - MAJOR MOVES
("major" = a Top 6/Top4 type player or a #1 draft pick involved)

• Nashville gets Ryan Kesler from Anaheim for a package headlined by Eeli Tolvanen.
• Jeff Skinner to Toronto for picks, including a 2020 1st.
• Boston gets Anders Lee for a package of Zach Senyshyn and picks.
• Jason Demers and Richard Panik to NJ for a pick package that includes a 2020 1st-rounder.
• Ottawa starts the teardown by sending Matt Duchene to the Devils for their #1 in 2019 (and other pieces on both sides)
• Ottawa, continued: Ryan Dzingel to Minnesota for a 2nd and a 3rd.

STANDINGS


We're starting to see some front-runners emerge. Montreal has opened up some daylight in the Atlantic; Chicago and Winnipeg are making the Central a two-team race; Pittsburgh and the Rangers doing the same in the Metro. The Islanders are in as much of a tailspin as the Dragons, if not worse -- they've fallen to last in the Metro.

LEAGUE LEADERS


Starting to see things settle in on the leaderboards, though Winnipeg guys have been making a recent push up the charts. On the goalie side, the big news is Thatcher Demko logging enough games to qualify in the rate stats, and he's been pretty solid.

CALDER WATCH


Svechnikov soldifies his scoring lead. The two interesting notes around the edges are Filip Zadina jumping a few slots and Thatcher Demko spending most of the month as the starter in Vancouver, officially making him a goalie worth watching.

[PFellah]

Re: Seattle Dragons: A Draftless* 32nd Team Expansion

March 2019: Serious But Stable Condition


Filip Forsberg scores on a breakaway to solidify Nashville's control on the final wildcard slot. Forsberg would add a third goal in the closing moments to complete the hat trick.

3/1 vs Nashville (33-26-4) – 4-2 L
Coming in, Nashville holds the lower wild card that we’d like to occupy. For two periods, it’s a fairly even games, with both teams scoring twice. But the third period is all Nashville and mostly Filip Forsberg, who gets an insurance goal on a breakaway and completes the hat trick on a power play with 6 seconds to play. Also, Michael Grabner leaves the game with an injury and it looks like he’ll miss a week or two.
GOALS: SEA – Svechnikov 26, Perron 24. NSH – Turris 14, Forsberg 16, Ellis 10, Forsberg 17, Forsberg 18.

3/4 vs Florida (25-37-2) – 2-1 L
I don’t know we’re in must-win territory, but we’re definitely in “don’t want to be losing games to teams with losing records” territory. And yet the Florida Panthers jump up and bite us with a 2-1 W. David Perron scores his 200th career goal in the loss.
GOALS: SEA – Perron 25. FLA – Barkov 21, Vatrano 8.

200 goals? It's nice, and maybe somewhere in the offseason, I'll take some time and think about what it means to hit that milestone, but right now, the number I care about is the next two points, and keeping us in the conversation for the playoffs. I can't afford to care about anything else, and neither can anyone else in this room.

3/6 at Chicago (40-11-4) – 4-3 L
We’re past moral victory time, but the Dragons make a pretty good game of it in Chicago. Jarome Iginla scores with 12:32 left in regulation – his second of the game -- to tie the game at 3, but Patrick Kane scores his 40th of the year seconds later to propel Chicago to the win. Former teammate Chris Kunitz helps stick the dagger in with a goal.
GOALS: SEA – Morrow 2, Iginla 4, Iginla 5. CHI – DeBrincat 21, Jurco 4, Kunitz 9, Kane 40.

3/9 vs Dallas (30-29-7) – 1-0 L
It’s a statistically even game, and Antoine Roussel gets the game’s only goal early in the 2nd. 33 shots for Dallas, 31 for Seattle. Ben Bishop gets credit for the shutout. The losing streak now stands at 8 games.
GOALS: SEA – NONE. DAL – Roussel 7.

3/11 at Anaheim (33-27-7) – 2-1 W
Finally, Seattle gets their first points in almost a month, hanging onto a 2-goal lead to beat the Ducks. Sheahan and Svechnikov get the goals for the Dragons.
GOALS: SEA – Sheahan 7, Svechnikov 27. ANA – Carrick 1.

3/13 at New York Rangers (39-22-7) – 5-4 L
A combined five goals in the first send the message that it’s going to be a shootout, but the Rangers end up with the last word. Paul Carey scores about halfway home in the third to break a 4-4 tie, and it’s another loss for the Dragons.
GOALS: SEA – Cammalleri 15, Cammalleri 16, Green 7, Sheahan 8. NYR – Zuccarello 12, de Haan 7, Shattenkirk 14, Belesky 10, Carey 5.

3/14 vs Ottawa (27-39-3) – 6-3 W
We’ve got a stretch of games against teams with losing records, so maybe we at least have a chance to stop the bleeding. I hope. Ottawa is down both Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel, and two goals each from Riley Sheahan, Jarome Iginla, and Brian Gibbons get it done. Note that that’s two multi-goal games this month for the 41-year-old.
GOALS: SEA – Sheahan 9, Iginla 6, Iginla 7, Sheahan 10, Gibbons 4, Gibbons 5. OTT – MacArthur 5, White 8, Ryan 14.

We should've called up this Iginla kid a while ago, huh?It's been a rough stretch for us as a team, but seeing Iggy get out there and put pucks in the net... everyone in this dressing room kinda gets a lift from that.

3/16 at Arizona (31-35-4) – 3-1 W
The Coyotes aren’t in complete sell-off mode, but they did ship a few parts out for draft picks, so hopefully they’re ripe for the taking. Riley Nash leads the way with a pair of goals, the Dragons outshoot the Coyotes 38-23, and Seattle walks away with back-to-back wins for the first time in forever.
GOALS: SEA – Nash 13, Nash 14, Perron 26. ARI – Hamhuis 3.

I took a quick glance at the standings. Currently we’re in 5th with 76 points. The wild cards are Nashville at 82 points and Vegas at 79. 82 points is also where the line starts for automatic bids in the Pacific. While looking into this I noticed we have our first two clinches – Chicago at 101 points and Winnipeg at 99 are far enough ahead that they’ve punched their tickets to the postseason.

3/19 at Washington (32-33-6) – 6-3 L
Washington picked the worst day to remember they’re still the defending Stanley Cup champs. They unload for four in the first period and never look back.
GOALS: SEA – Beagle 13, Cammalleri 17, Hansen 11. WSH – Ovechkin 44, Orlov 6, Backstrom 15, Kuznetsov 22, Burakovsky 18, Stafford 1.

3/22 vs Toronto (35-29-8) – 2-1 L (SO)
It’s a defenseman battle as Mike Green and Nikita Zaitsev score the only goals in regulation, but Blake Comeau comes up with the deciding goal in the shootout, making it 1 point for the Dragons instead of two.
GOALS: SEA – Green 8. TOR – Zaitsev 4, Comeau SOW

Checking the standings, we’re still alive, but it’s getting ugly. LA has pretty much got the division sewn up, but 2nd, 3rd, or a wild card are still reachable if we can find that early-season magic.


3/23 vs San Jose (39-27-7) – 5-2 W
The next three games are all against divisional opponents, so this stretch is probably our season right here. Riley Nash gets the only goal in a quiet first period, but then things bust open in the 2nd. Nash scores his 2nd of the game, but Thomas Hertl gets one of them back. Then Jannik Hansen and Mike Cammalleri score to pad the lead a little. In the final minute, Joe Thornton and Cammalleri trade goals, and it’s 5-2. After a scoreless third, that’s how it would end. We still have a pulse!
GOALS: SEA – Nash 15, Nash 16, Hansen 12, Cammalleri 18, Cammalleri 19. SJ – Hertl 17, Thornton 10.

It's do-or-die now. Every game. I think everyone in this room understands that. I mean, if someone doesn't, maybe they need to reconsider what a career in this league means.

2/26 vs Calgary (33-31-10) – 5-2 L
This is going to sound familiar, but… a close game gets away from the Dragons in the third. At the end of 2 periods, it was 2-2, and fairly even on the stats. But in the third, Calgary ripped off three unanswered goals to play spoiler on the Dragons’ remaining playoff hopes.
GOALS: SEA – Grabner 13, Svechnikov 28. CGY – Brouwer 7, Frolik 21, Monahan 14, Tkachuk 21, Tkachuk 22.

3/27 at Edmonton (37-28-10) – 4-1 W
Fighting for their playoff lives, the Dragons play like it for once. The teams trade goals in the first, but after that it’s all Seattle. Jacob de la Rose gets his first goal for the Dragons; Cammalleri his 20th.
GOALS: SEA – de la Rose 1, Sustr 4, Cammalleri 20, Grabner 14. EDM – Caggiula 11.

Looking around the league, LA has clinched the Pacific Division. Montreal, Pittsburgh, and the New York Rangers have at least clinched playoff spots.

3/30 at Minnesota (41-27-8) – 4-0 W
Minnesota is shaping up as the #3 seed in the Central so this should be a tough matchup. But actually… Seattle cruises to a shutout victory. Svechnikov scores goal #29 and knocking on the door of 30. Lehner stops 22 pucks to record the shutout.
GOALS: SEA – Green 9, Grabner 15, Sheahan 11, Svechnikov 29. MIN -- NONE

3/31 vs Buffalo (18-48-11) – 3-1 W
It took a period to get going, but Seattle takes control in the 2nd and rolls to win #40 on the season. Playoff hopes stay on life support a little while longer.
GOALS: SEA – Bozak 12, Hansen 13, Sheahan 12. BUF – Mittelstadt 13.

We're starting to play like ourselves again, and like we played earlier in the year. Did we take too long to find it? I guess we're gonna find out these next few days.

MONTHLY SUMMARY

STANDINGS REPORT

• MONTH: 7-7-1. Back to .500 is an improvement, but not exactly grabbing the playoff bull by the horns.
• YEAR-TO-DATE: 40-33-5, 85 points
• DIVISION: 5th place. Technically tied with Vegas at 85 points for 4th, but they have ROW advantage. LA has clinched the division at 100 points, followed by San Jose 88, Edmonton 86, and Vegas holds a wild card spot at 85.
• CONFERENCE: Still looking in from the outside. If the season ended today, the wild cards are Nashville at 88 points and Vegas at 85. Top 8: WPG 108, CHI 107, LA 100, MIN 92, NSH 88, SJ 88, EDM 86, VGK 85

TEAM LEADERS

• POINTS: Perron 62, Svechnikov 59, Cammalleri 56, Bozak 50, Green 39
• GOALS: Svechnikov 29, Perron 26, Cammalleri 20, Nash 16, Grabner 15
• ASSISTS: Bozak 38, Cammalleri 36, Perron 36, Green 30, Svechnikov 30
• PLUS-MINUS: Bozak 12, Perron 11, Johnson 7, Hansen 5, Beagle 4

ON THE FARM
Tacoma has clinched a playoff spot at 52-23-2 and are at the top of the standings for home-ice throughout the playoffs, but the next closest teams are too close behind (103 points) to have anything wrapped up just yet.

[PFellah]

Re: Seattle Dragons: A Draftless* 32nd Team Expansion

March 2019: Around The League

STANDINGS


I'll break this down in its own post.

LEAGUE LEADERS


New faces at the top of the skater categories -- Phil Kessel is now your scoring leader, Tavares pushes past Kane in goals, and the Winnipeg boys (Scheifele and Wheeler) flip-flop first and second in assists. After being invisible in the Top 10 most of the season, Sidney Crosby rockets into the picture in goals and points. On the goalie side, Connor Hellebuyck has a hell of a month (3 shutouts) to move to pretty much the top of everything (technically 2nd in GAA by a few points).

CALDER WATCH


Barring a miracle, Andrei Svechnikov should probably find some shelf space for a Calder Trophy. Zadina pushes up another few slots -- maybe Ottawa should've had him up all year. Thatcher Demko's late push grinds to a halt as he only appears in four games this month.

[PFellah]

Re: Seattle Dragons: A Draftless* 32nd Team Expansion

Around The League EXTRA: Playoff Picture


I realize you can't make out the details at this level of magnification, but... DATA VISUALIZATON! If they can cross the green line, they're still in the wildcard hunt. If they cross the pale orange line, they can still finish Top 3 in their division. Though as I'm looking at this, Washington should really be eliminated, but I'm lazy and don't want to redo it.

CLINCHED-GENERAL (6): WPG 108, CHI 107, PIT 102, LA 100y, NYR 99, MTL 93

ELIMINATED (6): The wild-card bar is 87 in the East and 85 in the West. 3rd place in three of the four divisions is higher, but in the Atlantic, it's Toronto at 82. So if you can't reach 82 in the Atlantic, 87 in the Metro, or 85 out West, you're done. That gives us six teams: WSH 76, VAN 74, DET 70, ARI 68, OTT 63, BUF 47.

ATLANTIC:
LEAD: MTL 93, BOS 87. That's it. Montreal has at least clinched home-ice in the first round.
TOP 3: MTL 93, BOS 87, TOR 82, TB 79, FLA 72. Florida might as well be done; they'd have to win out, Toronto would have to lose out, and Tampa would have to mostly lose out.

METRO:
LEAD: PIT 102, NYR 99, CBJ 93. Columbus could still theoretically get there if they won out, but it's close to a two-team race.
TOP 3: PIT 102, NYR 99, CBJ 93, CAR 87, PHI 87. Pittsburgh and the Rangers are in; Pittsburgh's next win or Columbus' next loss would clinch home-ice in the first round.

EAST WILD CARDS: CAR 87, PHI 87, NJ 86, NYI 84, TB 79. Tampa is at the threshold of elimination (but would still have divisional possibilities). Obviously Toronto or Boston would also play here if there's shuffle in the Atlantic Top 3.

EAST #1 SEED: PIT 102, NYR 99, MTL 93, CBJ 93. Montreal and Columbus are in the same boat where Pittsburgh winning or them losing puts it out of reach, so the winner of PIT and NYR is probably the #1 seed as well.

CENTRAL:
LEAD: WPG 108, CHI 107. They ran away with this a while ago; no one else can get close.
TOP 3: WPG 108, CHI 107, MIN 92, NSH 88, STL 84. We're really talking about who gets 3rd; Winnipeg and Chicago are kinda doing their own thing. Minnesota has the inside track on the 3 spot. With only 4 games left, St. Louis can only tie Minnesota at 92, but they would have ROW advantage if that somehow happened.

PACIFIC:
LEAD: LA 100 -- CLINCHED
TOP 3: LA 100, SJ 88, EDM 86, VGK 85, SEA 85, CGY 82, ANA 79. LA has #1 locked up but the rest is gonna be a sprint to the finish. Anaheim is probably alive in name only -- they'd need to win out and have multiple teams lose out to sneak into 3rd.

WEST WILD CARDS: NSH 88, VGK 85, SEA 85, STL 84, DAL 83, CGY 82, COL 80, ANA 79. Again, the leaders division leaders ran away with things, but the fight for the lower spots is going to be intense.

WEST #1 SEED: WPG 108, CHI 108, LA 100. Despite clinching their division first, the Kings don't have much of a path to the #1 seed -- with five games left they could reach 110, and that's it. The winner of CHI-WPG will probably be the #1 in the west, AND...

PRESIDENTS' TROPHY: WPG 108, CHI 107, PIT 102, LA 100, NYR 99. The Rangers are the longest of longshots; if Winnipeg gets ONE point, they're done. But really, it's most likely going to the Central champ, whoever that is.

[PFellah]

Re: Seattle Dragons: A Draftless* 32nd Team Expansion

April 2019: In Like A Dragon, Out Like A Lamb


The moment the 2019 Dragons' season ended. Wanted for murder: either Boston's Patrice Bergeron, or the month of Februrary. Depends who you ask.

First, let's reset the table...

EASTERN CONFERENCE

• IN: Pittsburgh 102, NY Rangers 99, Montreal 93
• BUBBLE (WC or Top 3 possible):Columbus 93, Philadelphia 87, Carolina 87, Boston 87, New Jersey 86, Toronto 82, Tampa Bay 79
• WILD-CARD ONLY: NY Islanders 84
• DIVISION ONLY: Florida 72
• ELIMINATED: Washington 76, Detroit 70, Ottawa 63, Buffalo 47

WESTERN CONFERENCE

• IN: Winnipeg 108, Chicago 107, Los Angeles 100
• BUBBLE (WC or Top 3 possible):Minnesota 92, San Jose 88, Nashville 88, Edmonton 86, Las Vegas 85, Seattle 85, St. Louis 84, Calgary 82, Anaheim 79
• WILD-CARD ONLY: Dallas 83, Colorado 80
• ELIMINATED: Vancouver 74, Arizona 68

The stage is set… let’s see what happens.

APRIL 1 – 6 CLINCHED, 6 ELIMINATED, 20 STILL IN PLAY

SEATTLE – NOT IN ACTION

• ATLANTIC (MTL 95x, BOS 89x, TOR 82, TB 79, FLA 72): Montreal and Boston both win, but Boston’s 8-1 beatdown of the Sharks is bigger because it clinches a Top 3 division finish – Tampa can no longer catch them and Florida never could. Toronto loses its game-in-hand advantage in a 4-2 loss to Carolina.
  
• METRO (PIT 102x, NYR 102x, CBJ 95x, CAR 89, PHI 87): Columbus goes head-to-head with Pittsburgh and comes through with a win to punch their playoff ticket – they’re PROBABLY the #3 seed, but at worst could flip with one of the wild cards. New Jersey is reduced to wild-card only, and Philly would need to win out and get lucky with ROW.
  
• EAST WILD CARDS (CAR 89, PHI 87, NJ 86, NYI 84): Carolina’s win means Tampa’s only hopes are divisional – the Lightning can’t catch Carolina; they could tie Philly if they won out, but the Flyers have ROW advantage.
  
• CENTRAL (WPG 110, CHI 107, MIN 92, NSH 88, STL 84): Nothing really changes in the divisional race, but Winnipeg’s win pretty much puts them out of LA’s reach (ROW tiebreak) and ensures the Central champ will be the Presidents’ Trophy winner.
  
• PACIFIC (LA 102y, SJ 88, EDM 86, VGK 85, SEA 85, CGY 82, ANA 79): No change. LA won, but it’s almost meaningless. San Jose lost their game in hand, but still sit in 2nd. The rest of the division had the night off.
  
• WEST WILD CARDS (NSH 88, VGK 85, SEA 85, STL 84, DAL 83, CGY 82, COL 82, ANA 79): Not much happening. Nashville moved the bar for the top wild card up, Colorado kept themselves in it by winning, and that’s about it.

NEW CLINCHED: Boston, Columbus
NEW ELIMINATED: NONE

APRIL 2 – 8 CLINCHED, 6 ELIMINATED, 18 STILL IN PLAY


SEATTLE – NOT IN ACTION

• ATLANTIC (MTL 95x, BOS 89x, TOR 82, TB 79, FLA 74): Toronto loses their second in a row, keeping Tampa and Florida’s hopes alive a little longer (Florida also won).
  
• METRO (PIT 103x, NYR 101x, CBJ 95x, CAR 89, PHI 87): Pittsburgh and the Rangers both win, clinching home-ice in the first round for the Penguins, who can now finish no lower than 2nd in the Metro.
  
• EAST WILD-CARDS (CAR 89, PHI 87, NJ 86, NYI 84): By a bit of a scheduling quirk, none of the wild-card teams were in action.
  
• CENTRAL (WPG 110x, CHI 109x, MIN 93, NSH 89): Minnesota only gets a point, but it’s enough to end St. Louis’ divisional path – they’re wild-card only now. Nashville also picks up a point to remain 4 back.
  
• PACIFIC (LA 102y, SJ 90, EDM 88, VGK 85, SEA 85, CGY 84): San Jose, Edmonton, and Calgary all win, but it’s not enough to clinch anything. Anaheim, on the other hand, loses, and bad ROW tiebreaks against Vegas AND Seattle means they’re done.
  
• WEST WILD-CARD (NSH 89, VGK 85, SEA 85, STL 84, CGY 84, DAL 83, COL 82). The big thing here is Anaheim formally being eliminated.

NEW CLINCHED: NONE
NEW ELIMINATED: Anaheim

APRIL 3 – 8 CLINCHED, 7 ELIMINATED, 17 STILL IN PLAY

SEATTLE – at Detroit (31-39-8) – 5-0 L
Sorry, which one of these teams was already eliminated and which was fighting for their playoff lives? Detroit got a pair of goals from Gustav Nyquist and five tallies in total, and ultimately put 44 shots on Robin Lehner. That’s not how you get yourselves into the playoffs, boys.
GOALS: SEA – NONE. DET – Bertuzzi 12, DeKeyser 5, Nyquist 14, Helm 11, Nyquist 15.

• ATLANTIC (MTL 95y, BOS 89x, TOR 82, TB 79): Boston’s loss clinches the division for Montreal. Florida loses, formally ending the Panthers’ chances.
  
• METRO (PIT 104x, NYR 101x, CBJ 97x, CAR 91): Columbus wins, pushing Philly out of the divisional picture. Carolina wins to keep pace, and the Hurricanes do have tiebreak advantage on the Jackets.
  
• EAST WILD-CARDS (CAR 91, PHI 89, NJ 88, NYI 84): Everyone wins except the Islanders, but nobody’s eliminated at this point.
  
• CENTRAL (WPG 111x, CHI 109x, MIN 93x, NSH 89): Minnesota has at least clinched a playoff spot, and are pretty close to locking up third. Winnipeg and Chicago will continue down to the wire.
  
• PACIFIC (LA 104y, SJ 90, EDM 88, VGK 87, SEA 85, CGY 84): The standings stay the same, but Vegas picks up a win and Seattle loses to formally open up a gap.
  
• WEST WILD-CARDS (NSH 89, VGK 87, STL 85, SEA 85, CGY 84, COL 84, DAL 83): Still the same cast of characters. Nashville is moving the upper wild card out of reach, but the lower is still tight.

NEW CLINCHED: Minnesota
ELIMINATED: Florida

APRIL 4 – 9 CLINCHED, 8 ELIMINATED, 15 STILL IN PLAY

SEATTLE – NOT IN ACTION

• ATLANTIC (MTL 95y, BOS 89x, TOR 82, TB 79): Ruh roh. Toronto lost again. Tampa still hasn’t picked up ground, but the door remains tantalizingly open for the Lightining. It does mean Boston is locked into the #2 seed and will host a first-round series.
  
• METRO: (PIT 104x, NYR 103x, CBJ 97x, CAR 91, PHI 89): Pittsburgh loses and the Rangers win, tightening the race for the Metro crown to a single point. Columbus could still pull out 2nd over the Rangers on ROW but it’s looking like a long shot. One more point either way would lock the Rangers into the #2 seed.
  
• EAST WILD-CARDS (CAR 91, PHI 89, NJ 88, NYI 84): Again, all the wild card teams were off tonight.
  
• CENTRAL (WPG 111x, CHI 111x, MIN 93x, NSH 90): We have a tie at the top, though Winnipeg holds a large ROW advantage over the Blackhawks. Meanwhile, Nashville gets a single point, which is enough to keep them in the race for third for another day.
  
• PACIFIC (LA 104y, SJ 92x, EDM 90, VGK 87, CGY 86, SEA 85): San Jose wins and clinches a playoff spot. Edmonton also wins, which doesn’t formally clinch, but makes Seattle and Calgary’s divisional path pretty tricky, if not impossible.
  
• WEST WILD-CARD (NSH 90, VGK 87, CGY 86, STL 85, SEA 85, DAL 85, COL 84). No change, though Colorado and Dallas are pretty close to done.

NEW CLINCHED: San Jose
NEW ELIMINATED: NONE

APRIL 5 – 10 CLINCHED, 8 ELIMINATED, 14 STILL IN PLAY

SEATTLE at New Jersey (39-30-10) – 4-3 L
Both teams are fighting to stay relevant in their respective playoff hunts. They spend the first period feeling each other out, than each team puts up a pair in the second. Nico Hischier and Jarome Iginla trade goals around the 12 minute mark, but then it’s Jesper Bratt scoring what would be the eventual game-winner with 10:21 remaining. The loss formally closes any chance of Seattle winning a Top 3 spot; the wild card is their only hope now.
GOALS: SEA – Bozak 13, Green 10, Iginla 8. NJ – Vatanen 4, Duchene 24, Hischier 16, Bratt 26.

• ATLANTIC (MTL 96y, BOS 91x, TOR 82, TB 81): Tampa wins, closing to within 1 of the Maple Leafs (the only team that might be in danger of choking harder than the Dragons).
  
• METRO: (PIT 104x, NYR 103x, CBJ 99x): The top three are basically set, as Columbus’ win puts them beyond Carolina’s reach. Specific order still TBD.
  
• EAST WILD-CARDS (CAR 91, PHI 91, NJ 90): Everyone except Carolina wins, but that’s enough to push the bar to 91 points and eliminate the Isles.
  
• CENTRAL (WPG 113x, CHI 111x, MIN 93x, NSH 90): Winnipeg just refusing to let up. With the tiebreak in hand, one more point or a Chicago loss will lock up the Presidents’ Trophy. Minnesota and Nashville had the night off.
  
• PACIFIC (LA 106y, SJ 92x, EDM 90, VGK 87, CGY 86): The leaders were all off, except for LA, whose win is now meaningless. As mentioned, Seattle’s loss closes off a divisional path – they’re wild-card only now. Vegas lost, keeping the wild card door open, but we’ll get to that….
  
• WEST WILD-CARD (NSH 90, VGK 87, CGY 86, STL 85, SEA 85, DAL 85, COL 84). Vegas’ loss keeps the door open for a few teams but situation basically what it’s been for the last few days.

NEW CLINCHED: NONE
NEW ELIMINATED: NY Islanders.

APRIL 6 – 10 CLINCHED, 9 ELIMINATED, 13 STILL IN PLAY


SEATTLE – NOT IN ACTION

• ATLANTIC (MTL 96y, BOS 91x, TOR 84, TB 81): Toronto finally wins, but they still can’t clinch yet.
  
• METRO (PIT 106x, NYR 105x, CBJ 99x): Pittsburgh and New York winning lock Columbus in as the #3 team in the Metro.
  
• EAST WILD-CARDS (CAR 91, PHI 91, NJ 90): Schedule quirk continues – they’re all off.
  
• CENTRAL (WPG 113x, CHI 113x, MIN 94x): Minnesota finally locks down the #3 slot. Chicago wins to keep the race for #1 going.
  
• PACIFIC (LA 106y, SJ 94x, EDM 90x, VGK 87): San Jose wins, but Edmonton loses, which keeps Vegas in the hunt for #3. Edmonton is showing as a clinch, though -- I think it's that Vegas could catch them, but nobody lower could, so their worst-case is Vegas passes them and they're the other wild-card because Calgary/Seattle/et. al. can't get to 90 points.
  
• WEST WILD-CARD (NSH 90x, VGK 87, CGY 86, STL 85, SEA 85, DAL 85, COL 84): Nashville backs into a clinch based on other outcomes, but the race for the lower wildcard continues.

NEW CLINCHED: Edmonton, Nashville
NEW ELIMINATED: NONE

APRIL 7 – 12 CLINCHED, 9 ELIMINATED, 11 STILL IN PLAY

SEATTLE vs Boston (42-31-7) – 4-2 L
This is basically it. Vegas holds tiebreak over the Dragons, so if we lose, we’re done. Boston goes up 1-0 on a David Backes goal and Andrei Svechnikov answers with his 30th goal of the season. Boston gets it right back, but Mike Cammalleri comes through on the power play to even it at two. But then Patrice Bergeron converts from in front of the net, and Seattle doesn’t have any further answers in them. Boston later converts a 5-on-3 power play to get breathing room, and Seattle’s season is over.
GOALS: SEA – Svechnikov 30, Cammalleri 21. BOS – Backes 14, Pastrnak 22, Bergeron 38, Enstrom 4.

It's frustrating. You can sit here and make excuses and talk about what a good first half we had and all that stuff, if it makes you feel better, but when it comes down to it, we had every chance to keep playing hockey into April, and we couldn't get it done. Maybe that "glass half full" stuff will matter later, but right now, it just sucks.

• ATLANTIC (MTL 96y, BOS 93x, TOR 84, TB 83): Tampa wins to make game 82 meaningful for Toronto and Tampa. Tampa has tiebreak, so Toronto could use two points to make sure.
  
• METRO (PIT 106x, NYR 105x, CBJ 101x): It’s basically just down to who’s #1 and who’s #2. Pittsburgh has tiebreak, so the Rangers have to take it from them outright.
  
• EAST WILD-CARDS (PHI 93, NJ 92, CAR 91): The Devils sneak past Carolina into the second wild card slot with one game remaining for each team.
  
• CENTRAL (WPG 114x, CHI 113x, MIN 94x): Just waiting on the champion.
  
• PACIFIC (LA 108y, SJ 94x, EDM 90x): Vegas loses so they can’t catch the Oilers anymore. In fact, no one can catch anyone… there’s your top three.
  
• WEST WILD-CARD (NSH 90x, VGK 87, STL 87, CGY 86): Seattle and Dallas are out on tiebreak. Colorado is just out.

NEW CLINCHED: NONE
NEW ELIMINATED: Seattle, Dallas, Colorado.

APRIL 8 – 12 CLINCHED, 11 ELIMINATED, 9 STILL IN PLAY

SEATTLE – NOT IN ACTION (and eliminated anyway)

• ATLANTIC (MTL 96y, BOS 93x, TOR 84, TB 83): Tampa has a chance for the Cinderella finish, as Toronto loses 2-1 to the Wild.
  
• METRO (PIT 107z, NYR 107x, CBJ 101x): The Rangers win to force the issue, but Pittsburgh manages to pick up one point against the Coyotes, and they have the tiebreak, so they’re the #1 seed in the Metro. The Rangers will host Columbus.
  
• EAST WILD-CARDS (PHI 93, NJ 92, CAR 91): All three teams off, so this will go down to the wire.
  
• CENTRAL (CHI 115x, WPG 114x, MIN 96x) Chicago wins to push into the lead for the Presidents’ Trophy. Winnipeg takes to the ice tomorrow night.
  
• PACIFIC (LA 108y, SJ 94x, EDM 92x): Everything’s locked in. LA will play Nashville and San Jose will host Edmonton.
  
• WEST WILD-CARD (NSH 90x, VGK 87, STL 87). Nashville has the upper wild-card locked up; the Knights and Blues will take it down to the wire tomorrow night.

NEW CLINCHED: NONE
NEW ELIMINATED: NONE

APRIL 9 – LAST DAY OF THE REGULAR SEASON

SEATTLE – vs Carolina (41-31-9) – 3-1 L
The Dragons no longer have playoff ambitions, but they can play spoiler for the Hurricanes, who are currently on the outside of the playoff picture. But Seattle is listless and Carolina isn’t fooling around, as they break open up a 1-0 lead in the first and then widen it to 3-1 in the 2nd. A scoreless third follows, and the Seattle Dragons’ inaugural season ends with a dull thud.
GOALS: SEA – Nash 17. CAR – Faulk 22, Faulk 23, Rask 23.

• ATLANTIC (MTL 96y, BOS 95x, TB 85x): Tampa Bay comes through with the Cinderella finish (or Toronto collapses worse than we did, depending on your perspective). For their troubles, they’ll draw Boston in the first round.
  
• METRO (PIT 107z, NYR 107x, CBJ 101x): No change.
  
• EAST WILD-CARDS (NJ 94x, CAR 93x): New Jersey completes its come-from-behind journey as the top wild-card, and will now face Montreal. Carolina sneaks by Philadelphia on tiebreaks and will face Pittsburgh in Round 1.
  
• CENTRAL (WPG 115z, CHI 115x, MIN 96x): Winnipeg only gets one point in their season finale, but that’s all they needed to wrap up the Presidents’ Trophy. They’ll take on… (spoiler).
  
• PACIFIC (LA 110y, SJ 94x, EDM 92x): No change.
  
• WEST WILD-CARD (NSH 90x, VGK 89x) ...they'll take on the Golden Knights, who hold off St. Louis for the final wild-card spot.

FIRST ROUND PLAYOFF MATCHUPS

• Montreal Canadiens vs. New Jersey Devils
• Boston Bruins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
• Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Carolina Hurricanes
• New York Rangers vs. Columbus Blue Jackets
• Winnipeg Jets vs. Las Vegas Golden Knights
• Chicago Blackhawks vs. Minnesota Wild
• Los Angeles Kings vs. Nashville Predators
• San Jose Sharks vs. Edmonton Oilers

MONTHLY SUMMARY

STANDINGS REPORT
MONTH: 0-4-0
YEAR-TO-DATE: 40-37-5, 85 points
DIVISION: 6th in Pacific division. FINAL: LA 110, SJ 94, EDM 92, VGK 89, CGY 86, SEA 85, ANA 83, VAN 76

TEAM LEADERS

POINTS: Perron 63, Svechnikov 61, Cammalleri 58, Bozak 53, Green 43
GOALS: Svechnikov 30, Perron 26, Cammalleri 21, Nash 17, Grabner 15
ASSISTS: Bozak 40, Cammalleri 37, Perron 37, Green 33, Svechnikov 31
PLUS-MINUS: Bozak 11, Perron 9, Johnson 4, Gibbons 3, Hansen 2


ON THE FARM
Tacoma finishes as kings of the regular season with 114 points (56-24-2). If I’m reading my standings correctly, they should draw the Hartford Wolf Pack (44-31-7) in the first round of the playoffs. (Yes, Tacoma somehow ended up in the east. Don’t ask me why.) Brandon Pirri made a late push to finish 4th in the league in points with 67. Elvis Merzlikins finished stronger, dropping his goals-against below 2.00 on the season, and finishing top 10 in pretty much everything.

[PFellah]

Re: Seattle Dragons: A Draftless* 32nd Team Expansion

April 2019: Around The League

STANDINGS


LEAGUE LEADERS


Phil Kessel is your 2018-19 scoring champion, with a 103-point season. Patrick Kane and Connor McDavid both sneak past John Tavares in the final week in goals. Winnipeg's Mark Scheifele leads the way in assists. On the goalie side, there's no breakaway guy who dominated all the categories -- Corey Crawford was tops in the rate stats, but he gave up a lot of playing time to Anton Forsberg. Meanwhile, Connor Hellebuyck and Jonathan Quick are your choices if you like more of a workhorse starter.

CALDER WATCH


I mean, Svechnikov almost got as many points as the next two guys combined. He's gotta win the Calder, right?

[PFellah]

Re: Seattle Dragons: A Draftless* 32nd Team Expansion

2018-2019 Closeout: Playoffs And Awards



STANLEY CUP
The San Jose Sharks are your 2018-19 Stanley Cup champions! The Sharks blasted through Edmonton in 4 straight, went to seven games against the Kings, beat the Presidents' Trophy-winning Jets in five, and then got the brooms out again in the finals, dispensing with the Boston Bruins 4-0. Both the Cinderella stories (Tampa and New Jersey) ended in the first round, but Columbus represented the underdog community by knocking off the #2 Rangers and #1 Pens before losing to Boston in the Eastern Conference Final.

CALDER CUP
Tacoma got past their first-round matchup 3 games to 1, but then got bounced in the second round 4-2 against the Rochester Americans. Rochester then went on to lose to the Chicago Wolves in seven in the final.

PLAYER AWARDS
Hart: Phil Kessel, RW, Pittsburgh - 40-63-103, +42, 10 PIM, 18.8% shooter
Norris: Brent Burns, San Jose -- 23-42-65, +24, 55 PIM, 8.7% shooter
Vezina: Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg -- 68 GP, 43-16-7, 11 SO, 2.05 GAA, .929 save percentage
Calder: Andrei Svechnikov, RW, Seattle-- 78 games, 30-31-61, +0, 18 PIM, 13.6% shooter
Conn Smythe: Martin Jones, G, San Jose -- 20 GP, 16-3-1, 4 SO, 1.54 GAA, .949 save percentage
Lady Byng: Phil Kessel, RW, Pittsburgh
Masterton: Jacob Trouba, D, Winnipeg
Selke: Patrice Bergeron, C, Boston
Lindsay: Phil Kessel, RW, Pittsburgh

AUTOMATIC (stats-based) AWARDS
Art Ross: Phil Kessel, LW, Pittsburgh -- 103 points
Maurice Richard: Patrick Kane, RW, Chicago -- 53 goals
William Jennings: Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg -- 179 goals against

DRAFT LOTTERY/TOP 10
1. Arizona
2. Vancouver
3. Washington
4. Buffalo
5. Colorado (via Ottawa)
6. Detroit
7. Florida
8. Anaheim
9. Toronto
10. Dallas

Seattle will be picking 11th.

NOTABLE RETIREMENTS (> 500 GP)
David Booth, Zdeno Chara, Jason Chimera, Matt Cullen, Johan Franzen, Brooks Laich, Ryan Malone, Patrick Marleau, Dominic Moore, Brooks Orpik

Fairly small batch of retirees. And surprisingly, Jarome Iginla isn't on the list.

[PFellah]

Re: Seattle Dragons: A Draftless* 32nd Team Expansion

THE DRAGON'S LAIR: Looking Back, Looking Ahead

Brock: Welcome back to the Dragon's Lair. We're sneaking up on the 2019 entry draft and free agency, which means it's time to assemble our panel of commentators to discuss the season past, and where the Dragons go from here as they head into their second season in the league. As always, we're joined by Logan Marx, Stu Kennedy, and Sarah Shaw, and for this edition we spared no expense in bringing Dan DeCarlo, our man in Tacoma, up the I-5 to give additional perspective on the farm club.

Dan: Thanks Brock. My breakfast burrito was delicious.

Brock: Nothing but the best for you, buddy. So, the elephant in the room... what happened to this team last year? They were cruising along pretty well through February and then the wheels just came off. Who wants to start?

Stu: I'll put my head in the lion's mouth and say it... they weren't that good a team, and they pretty much played over their heads in the first half. They were mostly a one-line team -- you take the Perron-Bozak-Svechnikov line out of the equation, and the rest of the team is just average at best. And it started to catch up to them, whether it's opponents adjusting to them or their luck running out or... whatever.

Logan: I wouldn't go as far as Stu. If you look at the roster, they had a good breadth of scoring. There's a lot of guys who put 10-15 pucks in the net. But I will agree they were too dependent on that top line, and it's probably no coincidence that Svechnikov's scoring dried up during that rough stretch in February. Don't get me wrong... the kid had a great year, but he did have spells where he wasn't much of a factor, and that was noticeable.

Sarah: It could also have to do with the fact that you had a lot of guys playing more minutes and tougher roles than they'd played... maybe not EVER in their careers, but in the recent past... and that it wore them down a little over 82 games. Maybe for 20, 30, 40 games they're OK but it starts to wear them down a little.

Stu: I still think trading away guys like Kunitz and Hartnell didn't help. Other than Iginla, they basically sold off all the veteran leadership right when they needed it most.

Logan; OK, but the big slide had started before they made any of those deals. That said, I feel like there were other deals that may have been an issue, and I'm thinking about the moves on the defense. They dealt Dan Hamhuis... OK, now Chris Folin is a starter. Then they deal Alexei Emelin and now Matt Bartkowski is a starter. And indirectly, they also dealt Eric Gustafsson who might have gotten a callup somewhere along the line, so now you're pushing the talent level down further. And you can say, "oh it's just the third pair' and "it's not that much of a downgrade" but two or three of those in a row adds up.

But at the same time, you talk to the organization guys, and they say this was always going to be a multi-year plan, and stocking up the farm system was important. Important enough to cost them the playoffs, though?

Brock: You mention those draft picks -- we're coming up on the draft, and Seattle has 14 picks. That's one pick in the first and sixth, four 4th-rounders, and two in each of the other rounds. Do we really expect them to add 14 guys, or do we think they'll be looking at trading some of those? Let's bring our guest in on this one. Dan?

Dan: I get the feeling they're going to want to move some of those. I'm told that there's a couple guys in this draft that they really like, but they might need to move up to get them. I was told one of those is a lottery guy where they might choose to step up from 11 if the price is right. The other is less of a name guy, but they may also need to be a move-up based on where Central Scouting thinks he might go. The flip side is I've heard they might also go the opposite direction and move a few picks into future years, just so they don't have a big glut of talent flooding the roster at the same time. For the moment, they're keeping all options on the table. But I don't think you're going to see 14 new names on the roster at the conclusion of the draft.

Brock: While we're on you, how is last year's draft class shaping up?

Dan: well I hear that Svechnikov kid is pretty good. (laughter) Seriously though, I've been hearing that Ty Dellandrea is coming along well enough that he should get a contract offer, and a roster spot, at least a Tacoma roster spot, is his if he wants it. (ED: 65 OVR, Top 6 potential) Pavel Kenins is maybe another year away, but they still see some talent there as well, though "talent" when you're talking about a guy with his playstyle is a little bit of a moving target. (ED: 62 OVR, Top 9, but he's a Grinder) The rest of the class hasn't panned out like they've hoped -- they're starting to talk about the 3rd-round defenseman, Ian Van Riemsdyk more in terms of a depth piece than a real difference maker. Same with most of the low-round picks.

And while we're talking about prospects, let's talk about Kasperi Kapanen. I think he kind of got forgotten a little when he struggled in his first audition with the big club, but he went down and had a really solid year at Tacoma -- 19 goals, 24 assists. It'll depend on what sort of additions they make in free agency, but it wouldn't totally surprise me if they try to make room in the Seattle lineup for this kid.

Brock: You mentioned free agency, and I immediately saw Sarah start shuffling papers over there. Clearly she's been waiting to get to this. So... what do you got, Sarah?

Sarah: Well, it's pretty obvious that the start of free agency is going to be like Christmas in July. The Dragons are already $20M under the cap, and then you can assume another $10M or so that's going to come off the books in fairly easy calls -- $5M is Matt Moulson, who they signed just to get to the salary floor, then you add in Jay Beagle at $1.8M, Jannik Hansen at $2M, Jarome Iginla's $1.3M, maybe a couple other guys. So they're going to have a TON of money to work with.

Brock: What's on their shopping list?

Sarah: The short answer is "other than goaltending, what isn't?". I look at it this way, if you assume Beagle, Iginla, and Hansen are gone, they have enough natural openings on the roster that you could drop an entire starting lineup of free agents - three forwards, two defensemen -- into the holes that already exist without disrupting anything. Then at least up front, there's a second tier of guys like Riley Sheahan, Leo Komarov, and Mike Cammalleri where you could go either way with it... you could live with them as bottom-six options, but their salaries aren't killing you if they're depth players.

Stu: I'd love to see them get some guys who can really set the table for Svechnikov. That's not meant to be a knock on David Perron or Tyler Bozak, they did a decent job. But if he had some truly elite talent on a line with him... boy that would be something.

Logan: This isn't a playmaker type, but I was having lunch with one of the front-office guys and just joking, I asked him if he thought Artemi Panarin would make a nice linemate for Andrei since they're both Russian kids, and he didn't say a word but he got the biggest grin I've ever seen. Make of that what you will.

Stu: HE was grinning? Now you got me grinning too! Might be tough finding enough pucks for both of them, but that'd be a heck of a problem to have.

Sarah: Stu's in a good mood? When's the last time we've seen that? They gotta sign Panarin now.

Stu: The get Panarin and Tyler Seguin on a line with Svechnikov, I'll dance an Irish jig right on this desk!

Logan: If that's not worth $15 or $20 million a year, I don't know what is.

Brock: We're gonna hold you to that, Stu.

With that image in your head, we're going to wrap things up for this edition of the Dragon's Lair. We'll see you next time.

[PFellah]

Re: Seattle Dragons: A Draftless* 32nd Team Expansion

2019 Entry Draft

CENTRAL SCOUTING TOP 10

1. LW Leonardo Little (USA) -- 6'1", 192 SNP
2. D Ross BenDahan (Norway) – 6’5”, 212 DFD
3. RW Angelo Wesley (USA) – 6’0”, 189 ???
4. C Preston Clements (USA) – 5’11”, 183 ???
5. RW Esa Korpikari (Finland) – 6’3”, 211 PWF
6. C Kirby Dach (Canada) – 6’2”, 179 PWF
7. D Matti Hahl (Finland) – 6’4”, 205 DFD
8. D Vojtech Lintner (Czech Republic) – 6’4”, 214 DFD
9. C Raphael Lavoie (Canada) – 6’4”, 187 PWF
10. RW Jaime Hull (USA) – 6’4”, 215 PWF

SEATTLE DRAGONS PICKS (INITIAL)
Round 1, Pick 11
Round 2, Pick 43
Round 2, Pick 57 (from CHI)
Round 3, Pick 75
Round 3, Pick 79 (from StL)
Round 4, Pick 104 (from ANA)
Round 4, Pick 107
Round 4, Pick 111 (from StL)
Round 4, Pick 128 (from SJ)
Round 5, Pick 139
Round 5, Pick 157 (from CBJ)
Round 6, Pick 185 (from CHI)
Round 7, pick 193 (from BUF)
Round 7, Pick 203

PRE-DRAFT THOUGHTS/STRATEGY
As a general philosophy, 14 picks is probably too many. I don’t want a huge glut of talent coming through all at once, so I might want to look at either a) packaging picks to get better picks early or b) maybe moving some picks to future years.

Looking at the draft board, I’ve got a two Gems identified – one of them is Kirby Dach, a fairly obvious lottery pick. The other is C Valentin Nussbaumer, a TWF who Central has in the mid-40s. Dach is definitely the real deal; Nussbaumer is a bit more iffy because his gem-osity taps out at Top 6, not Elite.

Dach is a tough call. He’s likely to be very good, but I could stay at 11 and probably still get someone nearly as good – Peyton Krebs or Ryan Suzuki would be the most likely candidates; there’s also a guy named Jackson Danner who the scouts compare favorably to Evgeny Kuznetsov.
I think I’d be able to get Nussbaumer at his slot with one of my 2nds (or maybe with a small kicker to move up), since he’s rated in the 40s by Central Scouting.

The other guy I’m generally looking at in the early rounds is OFD Anttoni Honka. My (imperfect) scouting has him as a Franchise guy; even if he drops down to Elite or Top 4, he’d still be a useful guy. Also, he profiles as an OFD, which I always like. Central has him around 36, so again, might need to put some picks together to move up.

And then of course, there’s always Kappo Kaako, sitting at 35 in Central Scouting. This one’s a little meta-gamey since, technically my scouts don’t really have good data on him, and think he’s “just” a Top 6 guy. But hey, every once in a while the front office overrules the scouts. Maybe our GM saw some YouTube videos and fell in love with him.

TRADES
As the draft starts to unfold, it looks like the price to move up into Kirby Dach range is getting too high – my #11 and a 2nd-rounder doesn’t even make the bars anywhere close to matching. For grins, I start adding picks until the bars are sort of equal, and it looks like 11, 43, and 57 MIGHT get it done. Gem or not, I’m not sure Dach is worth that much. I think I’ll just take someone at slot (Peyton Krebs probably the leading candidate) and focus on moving up into the late 1st/early 2nd to work on Honka and Kaako.

As I start to work the phones. I play around with straight pick deals, but those don’t seem to be coming together. On the other hand there might be some room to maneuver when it comes to players, and I eventually cut my first deal.

TRADE: Seattle trades D Jack Johnson, C Riley Sheahan, and a 3rd-round pick (#79 overall) to Montreal for their 1st round pick (#26 overall).

OK, not the deluge of extra picks I envisioned, but it gets me one pick in the Honka-Kakko range. Now let’s try to put another one together.
It seems like contenders are more willing to part with picks in exchange for present needs, so I start poking that concept with a stick, and come up with another deal.

TRADE: Seattle trades RW Leo Komarov, Chicago’s 2nd round pick (#57 overall), St. Louis’s 4th round pick (#111 overall) and San Jose’s 4th round pick (#128 overall) to Los Angeles for the Kings’ first-round pick (#28) overall.

This is closer to the “overwhelm them with picks” model I envisioned -- three picks and a player to move up. I felt like Komarov was on his way to being expendable anyway with Svechnikov established, Kapanen getting another shot, and a decent crop of free agents at the position. So Komarov plus picks gets me in position to take Honka AND Kaako. And I still have a 2nd-rounder left to go after that Nussbaumber kid.

SEATTLE DRAGONS PICKS

• 1-11-11 – LW Peyton Krebs (18, Canada) – 6’0”, 173 PLY – a fully scouted Elite. I very briefly considered trading down -- either just a few slots, or go to the low 1st as a Honka/Kaako pick -- but didn't feel like doing the work.
• 1-26-26 (from MTL) – D Anttoni Honka (18, Finland) -- 5’10”, 177 OFD – my scout only has him at 2 of 4 pips, but Franchise talent level. Even if he drops a little, he could still be a find.
• 1-28-28 (from LA) – RW Kappo Kaako (18, Finland) – 6'2", 189 TWF – I admit it’s a little meta-gamey, since my scouts don’t really like him that much (only Top 6 and not even fully scouted). But actually, most of the guys nearby either don’t even have THAT much ceiling, or I’d have to reach for an Elite from either further down the draft.
• 2-11-43 – C Valentin Nussbaumer(18, Switzerland) – 5’11” 167 TWF – only showing Top 6, but was tagged as a Gem.
• 3-11-75 – D Thomas Harley (17, USA) – 6’3” 179 OFD – it was either a poorly scouted Top 4 D or a well-scouted Top 9 forward. Decided to go with the upside.
• 4-8-104 (from ANA) – C Jesper Blomstrand (18, Sweden) – 6'1", 186 PLY – poorly scouted but showing Elite.
• 4-11-107 – LW Erik Marsh (18, USA) – 6’0” 204 PWF – kinda small for a power forward, but he’s showing Elite and well-scouted. Also jumped from the 150s to 120 since the last Central Scouting report, so he’s trending upwards.
• 5-11-139 – C Johan Sodergran (19, Sweden) – 6’2” 201 SNP – OK, it’s my third center in this draft, but it was either that or a right wing who was both small (5’9”) and slow (“foot speed” listed as a weakness).
• 5-29-157 (from CBJ) – G Mika Kerman (18, Finland) – 6’4”, 202 HYB – haven’t taken a goalie yet, so let’s grab one of those. Big frame, two ticks of Elite scouting.
• 6-25-185 (from CHI) – RW Reid Forbes (18, USA) – 6’2”, 196 SNP – probably could’ve gotten him in the 7th, but all the stuff near slot was AHL garbage or unscouted.
• 7-1-193 (from BUF) – C Frank Hilpert (17, Germany) – 6’2” 194 TWF – Yeah, four centers. But he’s the last Elite guy on my board.
• 7-11-203 – D Glen Stewart (18, USA) – 6’3”, 200 TWD – haven’t taken a defenseman in a while, so might as well try for a lottery ticket here.

So I got 14 picks down to 12. Still more than I would've liked, and I have to admit I was getting bored picking the last couple guys. Realistically, I'm hoping the top 4 become useful players, and if I can get one or two lottery tickets out of the other 8, I'll be happy.

[PFellah]

Re: Seattle Dragons: A Draftless* 32nd Team Expansion

2019 Free Agency


RE-SIGN PHASE
Let’s look at who’s up for deals:

• UFAs: LW Matt Moulson ($5M), RW Jannik Hansen ($2M), C Jay Beagle ($1.8M), RW Jarome Iginla ($1.35M), D Fredrik Claesson ($900k), LW Brandon Pirri ($875k), RW Devin Setoguchi ($725k)
• RFAs: LW Jacob de la Rose ($1.05M), C Alan Quine ($850), D Duncan Siemens ($775k) D Hardy Haman Aktell ($700k), RW J.C. Lipon ($700k), D Jordan Subban ($700k), G Chris Driedger ($700k)

For the UFAs… it may be callous but I'm going to let ‘em all walk. Beagle was a useful 4th-line center and penalty killer, and I have sentimental attachment to Iginla, but I don’t want to tie up money and roster slots at this point. If plans changed and I wanted to bring them back as depth signings later, I feel like they’d probably still be there. I might throw Pirri an offer as a respect move just because he was our leading scorer in the minors last year, but even then, I wouldn’t spend a lot of time negotiating. Hansen's roster spot probably goes to Kasperi Kapanen, and Moulson was literally acquired just to reach the salary floor -- the definition of expendable.

The RFAs are more of a mixed bag. There’s a chance de la Rose fits in my bottom six plans, so he gets an actual offer. (A lot depends on whether Peyton Krebs is playable as a rookie.) I’m going to let Siemens and Lipon walk – not good enough crack the roster now, too old to have prospect buzz. The rest get tenders for now: Aktell is young enough (20) to still be sort of prospecty, Quine was my second leading scorer, Driedger was a solid backup in the minors, and I like having a Subban on the roster even if it’s not the “right” Subban.

On the last day of re-sign, all four tenders sign.

OPEN FREE AGENCY
First, let's take a look at the depth chart and see what our needs are (beyond prospect fishing and organizational depth, of course):

CENTER: Tyler Bozak (81), Riley Nash (81), and Derek Grant (78) return. Ideally, I'd like two guys here, pushing Nash and Bozak to bottom-six and Grant to a depth role. If something goes wrong and Grant is my 4th-line center... I can live with it, but it's not ideal. Market: Tyler Seguin is the best guy available, but he’s asking WAY too much at $11M a year. More affordable options include Logan Couture, Adam Henrique, and Derick Brassard. I could even take another look at Paul Stastny, who passed on our offer last year.

LEFT WING: Technically full – Perron (84), Grabner (81), Cammalleri (79), and de la Rose (76) – but a) I’d push the stack down for the right free agent and b) another slot might be needed if Krebs is good enough to crack the roster as a rookie. Cammalleri played RW a lot for me; might just do that again this year which would ease the logjam some. Let's assume I'm adding at least one guy here. Market: Oops. Somehow Columbus dug around in the couch cushions and found the money to keep Panarin. The best choices here would be Anders Lee or Jeff Skinner. The reach pick here is Joonas Donskoi. On one hand, showing Elite talent, on the other, only 81 OVR – but not fully scouted on either. One of those has to be wrong. (Or possibly both.)

RIGHT WING: Svechnikov (84) and Kapanen (78) are returnees, plus Brian Gibbons (78) as a depth guy. Right now, my gut reaction is to just add one free agent and make de la Rose or Cammalleri the 4th-line RW. The only real wrinkle is figuring out who will be linemates. Kap probably needs to be Top 6 to progress, but putting Svech or a major free agent on the third line is... weird. Market: Blake Wheeler is the cream of the crop. Jordan Eberle or Gustav Nyquist would also be decent fits.

DEFENSE: Here’s where we need to do some work. Returnees are Green (82), Sustr (81), Morrow (78), and Folin (78), and I consider Folin to be more of a depth piece. So we need a MINIMUM of two signings, and three would be better. Market: Tyler Myers, Calvin de Haan, Anton Stralman are probably the top pieces available. Adam McQuaid a half-step below that. There’s a second tier of guys like Dan Girardi and Michael Del Zotto who… I wouldn’t want them to be my best acquisitions, but if I get two good guys, I can settle for a lesser player for the third-pair, but it would still be an upgrade on Folin.

GOALIES: We’re actually set here. Lehner (83) and Johnson (81) are both under contract for another season. (Unless I wanted to make a play for an upgrade, but then I'd have Lehner as a $4M backup.) Though the presence of Sergei Bobrovsky at least makes me stop and think for a second. But no… I can’t do that.

JULY 1
Supposedly I have about $33M to spend, so I can’t climb the ladder for everyone. First batch of offers go out: Logan Couture, Derick Brassard, Anders Lee, Gustav Nyquist, Tyler Myers, Calvin de Haan, Nathan Beaulieu, and Jesper Boqvist (a 20-year-old with Top 6 potential for 900k – might help bridge the gap until some of my home-grown guys are ready. Some at their offer, some I went a little lower just to feel them out. That’s showing as $31.6M at the moment. Couture might be a pain because he wants 7 years. Let’s let those percolate a few days and see what happens.

JULY 3
Boqvist signs. Not a key piece, but OK, whatever.

JULY 5
Nathan Beaulieu signs (2 years/$2M). Myers, Nyquist reject but still in play. Calvin de Haan gets away for a second straight year, re-signing with the Islanders. Brassard signs with the Blues.

New offers: Nyquist and Myers were both lowballs, so I’ll come back with their terms. In Myers’ case, since he’s in the prime of his career, I’ll jump him up a few 100k. At center, it’s a little humiliating since he turned us down last year, but I’m going to try Paul Stastny as a replacement for Brassard. For Calvin de Haan, Anton Stralman.

JULY 6
Anders Lee signs with Philly, Couture with Ottawa. AND it looks like Adam Henrique signed with Phoenix. Glass half empty: this is NOT going as well as I’d hoped. Glass half full: if I get the guys that are left – Stastny, Nyquist, Myers – and add another piece or two it can still be a net improvement on last year. Jeff Skinner will get Anders Lee’s money, but at center, I’m in a bit of a bind, as what’s left isn’t a LOT better than Derek Grant. I think I’m going to go with Chandler Stephenson – he’s a sideways move from Grant, but he’s at least young and still has some growth potential.

JULY 8
Stastny rejects. Decide to pull a Bozak and overload him on money, but a short deal. My dilemma now is that Blake Wheeler is sitting out there with no bids, and I could afford him. Do I spend the money to spend the money, or do I just let other pieces settle a little first?

JULY 9
Another rough day at the office. Stralman rejects and chooses Philly. Myers, Nyquist and Skinner reject but are still in play, so I re-offer on all. I decide to get in on Jamie Oleksiak to replace Stralman.

JULY 10
The lesser fish – Oleksiak (2 years @ 2M) and Stephenson (2 yrs @ 1.6M) sign. So I’ve got a bunch of secondary guys; now I just have the core of my team hanging in the wind, NBD.

JULY 12
Skinner goes to Vancouver. Stastny rejects, but still in play. I give Stastny his 5 years, which I’d been trying to avoid. I decide to start Blake Wheeler with a lowball offer (6.5 against the 8+ he’s asking) just to see what happens.

JULY 13
Tyler Myers rejects but still in play. Time to offer him the kitchen sink. Nyquist signs with Colorado, so I guess I’m in on Wheeler for real now. (I wish you could raise an existing offer – I’d love to up my offer to Wheeler now that he’s my main target.) At this point, I’m also going to put a bid in for Yanni Gourde at left wing. He’s at a decent price, and he’d at least represent a bottom six upgrade.

JULY 16
Paul Stastny accepts – five years at 3.5M. It’ll be annoying when he’s 37 or 38, but we’ll figure that out later. For now, it gets me a center, and a playmaker to boot.

JULY 17
Tyler Myers signs: six years, $5.2M: a little pricy, but I can live with it since he’s a mid-career defenseman who supposedly has Elite talent. Wheeler rejects but is still in play, so I’m going to stop screwing around – I’ll blow him out on money ($9M, over the $8.3 he wants) but shorten the years from 6 to 3. Also Gourde signs – 2 years at 3.225M.

While I’m waiting for Wheeler to (hopefully sign), time for a little kinda-prospect fishing. Offers go out to D Kyle Wood (23, Top 4 DFD), LW A.J. Greer (22, Top 9 TWF), and LW Brendan Lemieux (23, Top 9 PWF). I also formerly offer last year’s second-round C Ty Dellandrea a contract. While poking the lists for prospect types, I notice Sergei Bobrovsky is also still unsigned. JUST SAYIN’.

JULY 21
Wheeler rejects. I decide to give him his six years (oh God, he’ll be 38 at the end of this deal), but drop the money to 7.5M. The good news is he has no other offers at the moment.

JULY 24
Lemieux and Wood sign. I’ve got a bit of a glut at LW in the minors now. Whatever… figure it out later.

JULY 27
Wheeler rejects. Now he’s looking for a one year deal at 9.9M. I’m actually thinking that may be a good play. I have the cap to spend now, and if Kapanen doesn’t progress, I can talk long-term deal with Wheeler next off-season. Just for grins I make it an even $10M.

At this point, I also decide to go in on Bobrovsky. I’ve got to spend the money somewhere, and having one of the best goalies in the game would certainly be a boost. If I land him, I’d probably have to look at trading Lehner, because $4M for a backup is kind of painful, but we’ll figure that out if Bob signs.

AUGUST 1
Blake Wheeler signs. One-year rental, we’ll figure him out later. Bobrovsky rejects, but we’re still talking, and now he’s also receptive to a 1-year deal.

AUGUST 6
Bobrobsky accepts – 1 year at $8M. So basically we’ve got $18M in rental players on the books, and we now have a $4M backup goalie. Still, it’s adding elite talent.

I have the cap room that I don’t HAVE to move Lehner if I don’t want to, but I probably should – maybe firm up the center situation a little or pick up some draft picks. I poke around, and actually Detroit needs a goalie, and I’ve always liked Andreas Athanasiou. I play around with a few different permutations and come up with…

TRADE: Seattle trades G Robin Lehner, a 2020 4th-round pick (from MTL) and LW Taylor Leier to Detroit for C Andreas Athanasiou.

Lehner and a 4th (I had three 4th rounders from various deals) was close – Leier was the sweetener that got it over the top; since I just signed two LW pseudo-prospects who were younger than Leier, he seemed expendable. Athanasiou -- he's only showing 81 OVR, but he's young enough (24) that he's got room to improve.
At this point, I'm basically done with free agency. I might want a few more bodies in the minors to round out the roster and steal minutes from “extra” CPU players, but I’ll wait for camp to do that.

RECAP
SIGNED: RW Blake Wheeler (1 yr/10M), G Sergei Bobrovsky (1 yr/8M), Tyler Myers (6 yrs/5.2M), C Paul Stastny (5 yrs/3.5M), LW Yannick Gourde (2 yrs/3.225M), D Jamie Oleksiak (2 yrs/2.2M), D Nathan Beaulieu (2 yrs/2M), C Chandler Stephenson (2 yrs/1.6M), C Jesper Boqvist (3 yrs/925k), D Kyle Wood (1 yr/875k), LW A.J. Greer (1 yr/850k), LW Brendan Lemieux (1 yr/825k)

Well, it wasn’t the free agency season I thought I’d have, but when you come away with the best goalie (Bobrovsky), the best defenseman (Myers), and the best or second-best forward (Wheeler) on the market, you can’t get too vocal in your complaints. Yes, I would’ve liked a more well-rounded roster (the secondary guys are weaker than I’d hoped) and not thrilled that I have to do it all over again next year with my two biggest signings, but it’s definitely a better roster than the one we started last season with. And we’re still about $6M under the cap, so we would still have some room to add talent if anything became available as the season progresses.

[PFellah]

Re: Seattle Dragons: A Draftless* 32nd Team Expansion

Free Agency 2019: Around The League

SIGNINGS OVER $1M/YEAR

• Anaheim: RW Jordan Eberle (85), G Carter Hutton (82), G Calvin Pickard (81), C Tom Pyatt (79)
• Arizona: C Adam Henrique (84), C Jay Beagle (79), D Kevin Gravel (76)
• Buffalo: D Madison Bowey (77)
• Calgary: LW Johan Larsson (82), RW Joel Armia (80), D Carl Gunnarsson (79), G Jon Gillies (78), RW Alex Chiasson (78)
• Carolina: LW Carl Hagelin (81), D Toby Enstrom (79), D Dan Hamhuis (79), D Dennis Seidenberg (79), C Sean Kuraly (78), LW Scott Wilson (78)
• Chicago: G Al Montoya (80), D Carl Dahlstrom (79)
• Colorado: RW Gustav Nyquist (83), G Ryan Miller (82), RW Justin Williams (82), D Jake Dotchin (75), C David Desharnais (??)
• Columbus: G Brian Elliott (82), RW Jannik Hansen (78), D Scott Harrington (77)
• Dallas: LW Michael Ferland (81), G Jaroslav Halak (80)
• Detroit: G Anton Khudobin (82), G Keith Kinkaid (81), C Ryan Dzingel (81), D Robert Bortuzzo (81), C Tomas Nosek (79), LW Nic Kerdiles (78)
• Florida: D Niklas Kronwall (81), D Deryk Engelland (80)
• Las Vegas: C Tyler Seguin (90), D Mark Stuart (81), G Curtis McElhinney (79)
• Montreal: D Jan Rutta (80), D Dan Girardi (80), D Jordie Benn (80), RW Jason Pominville (80), C Jason Spezza (79), C Tim Schaller (79), LW Patrick Sharp (79)
• Nashville: D Braydon Coburn (80), D Nick Jensen (78)
• New Jersey: G Steve Mason (81), D Adam McQuaid (81), C Marcus Kruger (76)
• New York Islanders: G Pekka Rinne (88), LW Rick Nash (82), D Calvin de Haan (81), D Cody Franson (78), D Ben Lovejoy (76)
• Ottawa: C Logan Couture (85), G Cam Talbot (83)
• Philadelphia: LW Anders Lee (85), D Anton Stralman (82)
• Pittsburgh: C Pierre Edouard-Bellemare (79)
• St. Louis: C Derick Brassard (84), LW Joonas Donskoi (81), C Tomas Plekanec (79)
• San Jose: C Brian Boyle (82), D Michal Kempny (80)
• Seattle: G Sergei Bobrovsky (93), RW Blake Wheeler (91), D Tyler Myers (83), C Paul Stastny (83), LW Yanni Gourde (82), D Jamie Oleksiak (81), D Nathan Beaulieu (79), C Chandler Stephenson (79)
• Vancouver: LW Jeff Skinner (85), LW Colin Wilson (80), D Slater Koekkoek (77)

NO MAJOR SIGNINGS: Boston, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Minnesota, New York Rangers, Tampa Bay, Toronto, Washington, Winnipeg

[PFellah]

Re: Seattle Dragons: A Draftless* 32nd Team Expansion

Pre-Season 2019

POSTCARDS FROM TRAINING CAMP

It's a different environment this year. Last year wasn't BAD, but it was just a group of random guys, maybe a few people knew each other from other teams they played on, but it was kind of... distant, maybe? This year, we all have that history together, and it's a real locker room with its own feel and its own routines and its own jokes. And OK, we gotta bring a few new guys in like every team does, but it's normal now.

I was wearing 26 in Winnipeg, but Paul's got a special connection to that number because of his dad being a Hall of Famer who wore the same number; you kind of have to respect that. I wore 42 as a rookie when I first came up with Boston, so I figured I'd go back to that.

72 was my number in Detroit, but it's cool... Bob was here first, even if it was only by a couple days. Besides I figure you want to keep your starting goalie happy. So I just went back to then number I wore in juniors (22).

Last year was disappointing. One of the best things about an expansion situation is that every job is up for grabs, and I didn't do enough to take advantage. But I feel like I did good work in the minors and it's a new chance this year. I'm not getting sent back down again.

It was a bit of a revolving door on defense last year, with all the moves the team was making. You kind of accept that's going to happen with a new team, where they're trying to figure out what works and what doesn't, but it can be a little difficult having to get used to playing with new guys multiple times. Hopefully this year will bring a little more stability and we can settle in with the guys we're going to battle with.

I don't want the media or the fans to read too much into the fact that I signed a one-year deal. Some people are gonna look at it and say "oh, he's all about the money" but it wasn't really that... it just reached a point where it felt right to just push pause on a multi-year deal and just get on the ice for this season. I'm not opposed to a long-term deal if things go well here, but I also don't want people to view it as some act of betrayal if I decide I want to test the market again next year, either. But for the next 82 games, this team gets 100% of Blake Wheeler, and then we'll figure that other stuff out when the time is appropriate.

Last year we had a bunch of older guys, but this year, I kinda stand out like a sore thumb. I suppose I could be self-conscious about it or look over my shoulder, but I'd rather just go out and play my game, and if some kid is going to take my job, I'm at least going to make him really earn it.

GAME RESULTS


9/25 at Anaheim -- 5-3 W
Phil DiGiuseppe ends up being the hero of the first pre-season game "scoring" both the tying goal (an own-goal by Anaheim's Josh Manson, but it was DiGiuseppe's shot that created the rebound he knocked in) and an empty-netter late for insurance. Tyler Bozak scored the game-winner on a goal that went to the booth for video review.

9/27 vs Edmonton -- 3-1 L
It's a low-shooting defensive affair (Seattle wins the shots battle 24-21), but Edmonton has a big second period to make a 1-0 lead a 3-1 lead.

9/29 at Los Angeles -- 3-0 L
Elvis Merzlikins gets the start and the Kings put up single goals in each of the three periods, while Seattle can't solve Jonathan Quick on 36 shots.

10/1 vs Las Vegas -- 5-2 L
Seattle draws first blood on a Brendan Lemieux tally, but Vegas chases Merzlkins from the net in the 2nd and continues the onslaught against Niklas Rubin. Rookie center Vyacheslav Zaytsev ends up with a hat trick, and Nikolay Kulemin also notches a pair.

10/3 vs Calgary -- 5-1 W
Paul Statsny gets the game off to a good start with a pair of first period goals. Andrei Svechnikov, Riley Nash, and Yanni Gourde put the game out of reach.

10/5 at San Jose -- 6-2 L
It's "just" pre-season, but it's also the defending Stanley Cup champs. Unfortunately, the champs jump all over poor Chad Johnson. The only bright spot in an otherwise dreary game is that Andrei Svechnikov got both Seattle goals.

10/7 vs Vancouver -- 5-2 L
Are we going to play any defense at all? This one is more of a close game that gets out of hand in the third, as Vancouver held one-goal leads for the first 40. For the second straight game, the consolation prize is one individual performance -- this time, it's Kasperi Kapanen scoring both times.

FINAL RECORD: 2-5-0

PROSPECT REPORT


The bad news: #1 pick Peyton Krebs isn't ready for prime time. Only 58 OVR, so he'll need a year in the minors. I wasn't counting on him anyway, but still.

The good news: I'm showing FOUR elite talents -- Kakko, Krebs, Honka, and Erik Marsh are all showing as Elite. Marsh is actually showing at 70 OVR, so I'm actually going to go ahead and offer him a contract and start him at Tacoma. I don't know what an Elite Enforcer gets you, but I guess we'll see.

LINES/OPENING DAY ROSTER

FORWARD LINES

• 57 David Perron - 26 Paul Stastny - 33 Blake Wheeler
• 37 Yanni Gourde - 71 Andreas Athanasiou - 16 Andrei Svechnikov
• 41 Michael Grabner - 43 Tyler Bozak - 24 Kasperi Kapanen
• 32 Jacob de la Rose - 20 Riley Nash - 13 Mike Cammalleri
• 38 Derek Grant, 18 Chandler Stephenson as depth forwards

I may play around with line combos for the first few weeks of the season, particularly mixing up the right wings, but it's going to look something like that. I'm also kicking around letting Chandler Stephenson play out of position on RW instead of Cammalleri.

DEFENSE PAIRS

• 56 Tyler Myers - 25 Mike Green
• 6 Jamie Oleksiak - 62 Andrej Sustr
• 82 Nathan Beaulieu - 70 Joe Morrow
• 5 Christian Folin as depth defenseman

GOALTENDERS

• 72 Sergei Bobrovsky
• 31 Chad Johnson

CAPTAINS: David Perron (C), Mike Green (A), Riley Nash (A). Thought about giving Nash's "A" to someone else now that he's on the 4th line, but can't really decide who I'd give it to, so it can stay with him for now.

FINAL SIGNINGS: Sign a few more bodies to keep CPU players from getting too many reps. Maybe they develop into interesting trade bait or something. All 1-year, two-way deals at 700k: D Alexandre Carrier, LW Pierre Engvall, RW Gabriel Gagne, C Miska Siikonen,

[PFellah]

Re: Seattle Dragons: A Draftless* 32nd Team Expansion

October 2019: Somebody Hit The Snooze Bar


Kasperi Kapanen gets 2019 off to a good start with a game-winning goal with 52 seconds left. Too bad the rest of the month didn't go nearly so well..

10/14 vs Dallas (0-0-0) – 5-3 W
New season, new roster, new alternate jersey (black pops a little more). Seattle gets off to a bit of a slow start as Dallas opens up a 2-1 lead after two periods, with Paul Stastny getting the lone goal for the Dragons. But the Dragons come roaring back to start the third, with Stastny scoring his second and Tyler Myers putting them in front. Devin Shore ties things up with about seven to play, setting up a tense finish. But Kasperi Kapanen becomes the hero of Opening Night, jamming home a Michael Grabner rebound with 52 seconds left, and then he adds an empty netter seconds later.
GOALS: SEA – Stastny 1, Stastny 2, Kapanen 1, Kapanen 2. DAL – Janmark 1, Johns 1, Shore 1.

10/15 vs Pittsburgh (2-0-0) – 3-0 L
Seattle’s offense takes the night off, while the Pens score individual goals in each period. Matt Murray only has to face 19 shots to collect the shutout.
GOALS: SEA – NONE. PIT – Aston-Reese 1, Guentzel 1, Crosby 1.

10/17 vs New York Islanders (2-1-0) – 4-3 L
Seattle does a good job digging out of a 3-0 hole but Anthony Beauvillier breaks a 3-3 tie with 2:25 remaining to give the Isles the victory.
GOALS: SEA – Myers 2, Grabner 1, Bozak 1. NYI – Tavares 4, Stafford 1, Nelson 2, Beauvillier 2.

10/20 vs New York Rangers (3-1-0) – 2-1 L
The Metro Division continues to have our number. Seattle strikes first on Kasperi Kapanen’s third goal of the season, but the Rangers score a pair in the second, and a scoreless third closes things out.
GOALS: SEA – Kapanen 3. NYR – Belesky 1, Fast 3.

10/22 at Calgary (3-1-1) – 3-2 L
Seattle jumps out to a 2-1 lead over the Flames, and for two periods, it looks like the Metro mojo might be broken. But Calgary scores twice in about a minute in the third period to send the Dragons to their 4th straight loss.
GOALS: SEA – Wheeler 1, Beaulieu 1. CGY – Frolik 2, Chiasson 2, Monahan 2.

10/23 vs New Jersey (1-3-1) – 2-0 L
Chad Johnson gets the start since it’s back-to-back games, but the result is the same. Another loss to the Metro, and another shutout. Nico Hischier and Kyle Palmeiri score the goals for the Devils; Steve Mason stops 26 pucks for the shutout.
GOALS: SEA – NONE. NJ – Hischier 1, Palmeiri 1.

It's good to have an elite goaltender, but it's not fair to ask him to be perfect. We've got to give him better effort on defense and we've got to put more pucks in the net.

10/26 at San Jose (4-1-1) – 5-4 W
For a while it looked like the story of the game was going to be Seattle blowing a 4-0 3rd period lead, as San Jose scored goals at 4:32, 7:59, 8:27, and 13:02 of the final frame, and had a power play with about five minutes to play. But then Seattle caught a break, as Yanni Gourde put a throwaway shot on net, but Brent Burns turned the attempted cover-up into a game-winning own-goal. Ugly, but we’ll take the two points.
GOALS: SEA – Stastny 3, Morrow 1, Stastny 4, Gourde 1, Gourde 2. SJ – Kane 1, Labanc 3, Winnik 2, Pavelski 4.

We got lucky. Blowing a four-goal lead is absolutely unacceptable and humiliating, but we got a break and they bailed us out. It's nice that the offense showed up tonight, but we have to play a complete 60 minute game.

10/29 at Florida (3-3-1) – 3-1 L
Back to our low-scoring losing ways. Florida outshoots the Dragons 37-22 and Jonathan Huberdeau breaks a 1-1 tie with 5:10 remaining, and Mark Pysyk adds an empty-netter in the final minute.
GOALS: SEA – Bozak 2. FLA – Barkov 3, Huberdeau 1, Pysyk 1.

10/30 vs Columbus (3-4-1) – 7-6 W (SO)
Bobrovsky returns to his old stomping grounds, but Chad Johnson gets the start against Joonas Korpisalo. The resulting game is a wild ride, as a sedate 3-3 affair turns into a 6-6 barnburner in the 3rd. Seattle scores twice in the final five minutes to force overtime, and then Blake Wheeler nails things down in the shootout. Columbus’ Alex Wennberg scores a hat trick in the losing effort.
GOALS: SEA – Stastny 5, Athanasiou 1, Bozak 3, Wheeler 2, Kapanen 4, Gourde 3, Wheeler SOW. CBJ – Wennberg 2, Dubois 2, Jones 2, Panarin 1, Wennberg 3, Wennberg 4.

As much as we've struggled to put the puck in the net, t's good to see we can get out there and score in bunches. Now we just need to put that sort of offensive effort together with cleaner play in our own end. Yeah, our record isn't where we want it to be, but a game like tonight shows us that the pieces for success are there.

MONTHLY SUMMARY

STANDINGS REPORT

• MONTH: 3-6-0.
• YEAR-TO-DATE: 3-6-0, 6 points
• DIVISION: 7th at 3-6-0. Edmonton starting off 0-7-2 is the only thing keeping us out of the cellar.
• CONFERENCE: 14th in the conference. Edmonton in last place, Nashville also behind us at 2-6-1.
  

TEAM LEADERS

• POINTS: Stastny 7, Bozak 6, Gourde 5, Wheeler 5, Kapanen 4, Grabner 4, Green 4, Perron 4
• GOALS: Stastny 5, Kapanen 4, Gourde 3, Bozak 3, Wheeler 2, Myers 2
• ASSISTS: Green 4, Perron 4, Wheeler 3, Granber 3, Bozak 3, Svechnikov 3
• PLUS-MINUS: Bozak 4, Grabner 3, Beaulieu 0, Stephenson -1, 10 guys at -2

ON THE FARM
Tacoma is off to a hot start at 8-1-0. Beau Bennett leads the way with 13 points (4 goals, 9 assists); no real standouts other than that – pretty even contribution across the roster. Chris Driedger and Elvis Merzlikins have spit starts fairly evenly and both have been solid.

[PFellah]

Re: Seattle Dragons: A Draftless* 32nd Team Expansion

October 2019: Around The League


STANDINGS


Not going to over-analyze too much yet.

LEAGUE LEADERS


Uncharacteristically, a lot of backups made the cut early on. I assume that will wash out later.

CALDER WATCH


This year's #1 overall, Leonardo Little, getting out of the gate fast for Arizona. In general, mostly pedigree prospects -- all 1st-rounders and one 2nd-rounder. There are too many goalies who played in at least 3 games, so not even gonna do that.