The 2017/2018 NHL Thread

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

The Vegas movie gets made whether they win the Stanley Cup or not. 

Rooting for Ovi.

[Meacon Keaton]

I can't ever bring myself to root for the Caps. Vegas all the way. 

[Draevyn]

I'm cheering for Vegas but part of me feels bad for Ovi and wants him to win a cup. Yes, he was arrogant early on and all that but honestly, he's the second best player in the NHL and probably the purest goal scorer that the NHL has. His rivalry with Sid has been amazing through the years and as much as I love that we can always hang it over Ovi that as good as he is, he's never won a cup, I feel he deserves to have it.

[Ruki]

Give it to Ovi....win or lose, what the Knights did was remarkable. BUt who knows when the Caps will next get to the final?

[gunnar hendershow]

14 hours ago, Ruki said:

Give it to Ovi....win or lose, what the Knights did was remarkable. BUt who knows when the Caps will next get to the final?

This is where I'm falling. The fact Vegas has a division & conference championship banner to raise after one season is enough. Washington has enough "close but no cigar" banners with Ovi and it's not right for him to retire without his name on the Cup. I know with the size of the league nowadays there's finally gonna be a large swath of Hall of Famers who don't get their names on the Cup, but I'd like for as many of them as possible to win at least one time.

Right now if you're ranking the best to never win a Cup you probably have Gartner, Sundin, Iginla, Ovechkin, and Dionne in some order. In a decade or two there's probably gonna be a dozen guys who can lay claim to that top 5.

[The Buscher]

Holy shit they got Michael Buffer to do the intros 

[Beeker00Zero]

I really wish it had been Washington / Vancouver in the finals. Both franchises with storied histories of breaking their fans' hearts. It would have been a series that never ended with a winner.

[Gabriel]

23 minutes ago, Beeker00Zero said:

I really wish it had been Washington / Vancouver in the finals. Both franchises with storied histories of breaking their fans' hearts. It would have been a series that never ended with a winner.

AND a riot.

[RoHitman Reigns]

goddamn that game last night was a total blast. 100 percent behind vegas for this as i just want to see the cinderella story complete. plus my aunt is a caps fan and i cant help but go against her here. go vegas!

[gunnar hendershow]

MY GOD

 

[Meacon Keaton]

Alright, folks. I need some advice. We have two new expansion teams coming in this upcoming year in my Strat hockey league. The expansion draft begins in two weeks and I have a few more days to finalize my protection list. The rules are I have to protect 9 forwards, and either 5 defensemen and 1 goalie, or 4 defensemen and 2 goalies. I have decided to keep two of my goalies, because I like them both and I don't see a 5th defensemen I should keep over either of them. I'm looking for some input on someone I may be overvaluing by keeping, or by overlooking by letting them go into the draft. I retain whoever isn't drafted and up to 4 of my guys (2 per expansion team) will be taken. 

So here's who I'm keeping:

2 goaltenders
1. Tuuka Rask
54 games 2.36 GAA
2. Matt Murray
49 games 2.92 GAA

4 defensemen
1. Dougie Hamilton
82 games 44 points
2. Shea Theodore
61 games 29 points
3. Mike Matheson
81 games 27 points
4. Brett Pesce
65 games 19 points

9 forwards
1. Patrik Laine
82 games 70 points
2. Jack Eichel
67 games 64 points
3. Nikolaj Ehlers
82 games 60 points
4. Wayne Simmonds
75 games 46 points
5. Craig Smith
79 games 51 points
6. Max Domi
82 games 45 points
7. Mika Zibanejad
72 games 47 points
8. Bo Horvat
64 games 44 points
9. Jason Zucker
82 games 64 points
 

And here is who I'm letting go into the expansion draft (stats not included in this one):

RELEASE
Goaltender 1
1. Curtis McElhinney

Defensemen 6
1. Trevor Daley
2. Dan Hamhuis
3. Adam McQuaid
4. Dennis Wideman
5. Brendan Smith
6. Dion Phaneuf

Forwards 11
1. Jason Chimera
2. Joel Ward
3. Marcus Foligno
4. Jason Pominville
5. Nail Yakupov
6. Derek MacKenzie
7. Brandon Pirri
8. Marian Gaborik
9. Conor Sheary
10. Bryan Rust
11. Ryan Dzingel
12. Denis Malgin

So what does everyone think? Keep in mind this is Strat, so it takes into account how good a defender plays defense, so it's not just about goals and assists. Am I missing anything glaringly obvious? Any switches I should consider? Any input would be nice. 

[Draevyn]

Actually you look pretty good with the choices that you made. About the only thing I'd do differently is find a way to keep Connor Sheary but that's more personal preference over Zibanejad. He didn't quite have the year last year that he had two years ago, but he's still very young and I think he's going to be a top player in Pittsburgh with Guentzel for the next few years.

[Your Mom]

Did I jinx Vegas?  I don't generally watch Hockey but I've been watching like 5 minutes and the Capitals scored twice already

[Meacon Keaton]

Turn it off!

[Your Mom]

They scored again  I'll switch to Softball 

[Meacon Keaton]

On 03/06/2018 at 21:19, Col. Fork Parker said:

Actually you look pretty good with the choices that you made. About the only thing I'd do differently is find a way to keep Connor Sheary but that's more personal preference over Zibanejad. He didn't quite have the year last year that he had two years ago, but he's still very young and I think he's going to be a top player in Pittsburgh with Guentzel for the next few years.

Thanks, Forky. I can't tell if it's your Penguin fandom though. :p Honestly he was the last one I put in the unprotected list, because I think you're right. I think he has tremendous bounce back potential.

 @Ruki @Gabriel @Ms. Canadian Destroyer What do you guys think? Sheary for Zibanejad? Or someone else on my forward list? 

[Gabriel]

17 minutes ago, Meacon said:

Thanks, Forky. I can't tell if it's your Penguin fandom though. 😛 Honestly he was the last one I put in the unprotected list, because I think you're right. I think he has tremendous bounce back potential.

 @Ruki @Gabriel What do you guys think? Sheary for Zibanejad? Or someone else on my forward list? 

I would leave either Zibanejad or Wayne Simmons unprotected. Zibanejad is replaceable, and as much as I love Simmons, his style of play will see him regress as a point-producer at a faster rate than most of the guys you have. Sheary really should be kept away from your expansion draft. Basically anybody who plays for the Penguins is capable of having a massive season just because of who they get to play with and learn from.

[Meacon Keaton]

12 minutes ago, Gabriel said:

I would leave either Zibanejad or Wayne Simmons unprotected. Zibanejad is replaceable, and as much as I love Simmons, his style of play will see him regress as a point-producer at a faster rate than most of the guys you have. Sheary really should be kept away from your expansion draft. Basically anybody who plays for the Penguins is capable of having a massive season just because of who they get to play with and learn from.

If you had a team that you intended to keep together for the next five years, would you rather keep Simmonds and see how he fares or ride with Zibanejad? Zibby is only 25 but Simmonds is only 29 (Jesus, I feel like he should be 40. It feels like he's been in the league for decades...)

I've got pretty good youth what with Laine, Eichel, and Ehlers moving forward. I could potentially be a playoff team next year too, especially since I should have two expansion teams to beat up on...assuming they don't pull a Vegas. 

I should also mention that we play with real life salaries. Zibanejad is getting paid $5.35 million through 2022. Simmonds is making $3.975 million but will be a free agent after next season. So who knows how much and for how long he'll sign for as a real life free agent, but whatever it is, I'd be saddled with that contract if I keep him. 

[Gabriel]

2 minutes ago, Meacon said:

If you had a team that you intended to keep together for the next five years, would you rather keep Simmonds and see how he fares or ride with Zibanejad? Zibby is only 25 but Simmonds is only 29 (Jesus, I feel like he should be 40. It feels like he's been in the league for decades...)

I've got pretty good youth what with Laine, Eichel, and Ehlers moving forward. I could potentially be a playoff team next year too, especially since I should have two expansion teams to beat up on...assuming they don't pull a Vegas. 

I should also mention that we play with real life salaries. Zibanejad is getting paid $5.35 million through 2022. Simmonds is making $3.975 million but will be a free agent after next season. So who knows how much and for how long he'll sign for as a real life free agent, but whatever it is, I'd be saddled with that contract if I keep him. 

If you're using a salary cap, I'd protect Simmonds based on his lower hit. If he has a bad start, I'm sure you could ship him off to one of the expansion teams for a low cost player who might have good upside potential that they don't see. Or, if you guys are allowed to strike deals to keep the expansion teams from drafting specific players (or encourage them to), I would trade Zibanejad in exchange for them taking your shittiest player or worst contract. At his age, with the expectations that everybody had for him, it should be easy enough to convince a new player to take a chance on him, even with that albatross of a contract.

[The Buscher]

That Stanley Cup was a bit of a wet fart.  Really happy for Ovechkin, though.