State of the Loons - post free agency edition

It was thought that Czepiel would look to keep his payroll down and avoid getting involved in the free agency bidding, but we were wrong. We asked Czepiel why he changed his mind and raised his payroll by roughly $25 million for next year alone.

 “ One of my main goals when bringing the former Barracudas to New England was to lower our payroll by cutting the fat. We worked hard to rid ourselves of the contracts of players like Spezza, Moulson and Stastny whose production was not matching their high salaries. We also made difficult decisions to move on from productive players like our former captain Chara or younger players like Wennberg, Barrie and Toffoli. Those moves helped us rebuild our depleted prospect pool while giving us financial flexibility. We are still left with some bad contracts in Ryan, Bieksa, Cammalleri, Gaborik and Gorges that we are still trying desperately to rid ourselves of. However, the bright side is they all expire after the 2018-19 season.”

 “As a new franchise in a new market we still need to put a product on the ice that our new fan base will pay to come see. With no previous experience in UFA, I didn’t think that there would be as many talented players available as there were. So plans changed. We were able to sign a number one defenseman in Niskanen, a second line center in Kreici, and a starting goalie in Halak. We also brought in young players like Morrow, Yakupov and Pulkkinen that have a lot of talent. We are hoping that a change of scenery can help them whether it be in New England or Russia.”

“ I do realize that $25 million is a lot, but being a new franchise and having the reputation of a GM with an itchy trigger finger, we were in a position of having to overpay in order to have free agents choose New England. We didn’t have the luxury of Happy Jacks to seal the deal. But our payroll is currently about $77 million ($942,000 a game) which when u add in our advertising on twitter and in Around the CCHL, we are in a position to make a little money this year. Next year even with the likely resigning of Matt Niskanen we are going to lower our payroll by over $40 million just by shedding bad contracts. The Loons are in a much better shape now then when a fish was on the sweater.”

With free agency over, Czepiel and his scouts have turned their attention completely to the upcoming entry draft. It’s no secret who Czepiel is obsessed with and has made many controversial moves in order to put himself in a great position to grab the local phenom. There are rumors of Czepiel trying to trade up from the 23rd spot in order to grab one of the second tier defenseman that are available. To the disgust of many of the Loon fans, Dahlen and Puljujarvi’s names have been rumored as possible trade bait in his attempts. I guess that is why Czepiel has the reputation that he does.

Miners shift focus from free agency and make two trades.

Miners shift focus from free agency and make two trades.

CANADIAN PRESS (Sudbury, ON):

General Manager Terry James, fresh off his two free agent signings in Antoine Vermette and Mike Fisher, was again working the phones late Monday night, and as a result was able to announce two separate trades on Tuesday evening.

The first deal was made late Monday night, as the Sudbury Miners and Siberia IceCats made a move with an eye for the future. The Miners sent prospects Merrick Madsen and Jonathan Ang to Siberia, in exchange for prospects Dan O’Regan and Spencer Martin.

“O’Regan is a skilled player who plays a strong two-way game and is a good playmaker," said James. "We have had our eye on him for a while and he will give us some good depth at center while we wait for other prospects to develop. Martin is a big goalie, almost 6’ 4” I think. He is technically sound and has that never quit attitude and battles adversity to try and make every save. We are happy with the deal and we look forward to watching both players progress and work towards carving out good pro careers here in Sudbury."

The second deal was made late Tuesday afternoon and involved a swapping of draft picks with the New England Loons.

The deal breaks down as follows: to New England, Sudbury sends Las Vegas’ 1^st round pick in 2019 along with Fort Erie’s 3^rd round pick in 2019. In return, Sudbury receives Reyjkavik’s 1^st round pick, Springfield’s 1^st round pick and Victoria’s 2^nd round pick – all 2019 – from New England.

With this latest transaction, Sudbury will pick 14 times in the first two rounds of the 2019 CCHL Entry Draft, including 8 in the first round alone. As it stands right now, Sudbury is slated to pick 29 times in the 2019 Entry Draft.

Isotopes whiff in first round of UFA Bidding...

It’s oh so quiet….shhh shhh shhh in Springfield.

Things have been quiet in Springfield lately.  The feeling around the Isotopes is that the team is fairly set and that is why there have been no UFA signings yet.  Apparently, that is far from the truth.  The Isotopes have tried to entice free agents to sign with the team but it has not worked out yet.

“It was a SWING and a MISS, a SWING and a MISS, a SWING and a MISS, a SWING and a MISS, and finally a SWING and a MISS in the first round of UFA”, joked GM Stacey, “If baseball even allowed for 5 strikes we would still be out!”

Springfield was thought to have targeted J. Pavelski but that has not been confirmed, either way, they were outbid by multiple teams before he landed with (ugh) the Falcons.

“You have to try to get players that can improve our team, there are not many out there that we believe can help but we tried and missed a few already.  I am obviously not going to give names of those we targeted or those we are targeting in the future but rest assured we are still trying to round out the team roster”, said Stacey.

Currently, the team has plenty of roster space to add players and with the recently bought-out Kruger, there is a bit more money as well.  The team is looking pretty full up on high-end talent with the much-expected breakout of MacKinnon, however, with a new sim on the horizon it is not known how injuries will play out and the team is hoping to find some players to either warm the bench or take some injury minutes where needed.


Springfield Times

Miners address an area of need on Day 1 of CCHL Free Agency

Miners address an area of need on Day 1 of CCHL Free Agency

CANADIAN PRESS (Sudbury, ON):

While some will argue that the notion that the Sudbury Miners got a little bit faster and better defensively, there is no doubt that they definitely got older on the first day of CCHL free agent shopping.

Sudbury signed two veterans, on the back nine of their careers: centre Antoine Vermette from the Kehler Cup champion Calgary Chinook and centre Mike Fisher, formerly of the Georgetown Millers, both to one-year contracts.

Vermette, who turns 36 in July, notched just a pair of goals and added 3 assists in just 9 games with the Calgary Chinook last season. While Vermette has excellent two-way instincts, great wheels and tenacity, he has had trouble scoring consistently in the CCHL. Having said that, he is very effective on face-offs, he can play any role on a team, usually as a penalty killer and face-off specialist.

Fisher, who turns 38 in June, played in 75 games this past season with the Georgetown Millers scoring 21 goals and adding 15 assists. While capable of scoring, Fisher is not a top playmaker or a go-to guy on offense. His forte is his excellent two-way ability and leadership. He is very good on the forecheck and can kill penalties with his speed and rambunctious style but this has also has led to injuries over the course of his CCHL career.

“We do not have a salary problem,” General Manager Terry James said. “And we have plenty of room, but you don’t look at that because you have to spend money. Whenever we make additions, it has to be for a reason.”

“We’ve signed both Vermette and Fisher to add to our depth at centre. Vermette is coming off his Cup win and is someone we think can really help our young players here. Both him and Fisher are veterans and have had success in this league, no matter where they have been in terms of playing with offensive players. So, we feel both will come up into our line-up and serve a purpose” stated James.

While James would not comment on the record, it is widely speculated that Vermette and Fisher will battle for the fourth line spot in Sudbury this upcoming season.

Fort Erie Falcons Free Agents Fun!

The first day of free agency has come and gone in the CCHL with the Fort Erie Falcons walking away with arguably the best forward available. 

The Falcons were able to come to terms with forward Joe Pavelski on a monster contract that is four years in length and totaling a massive $42 million dollars. 

We knew that Pavelski came away impressed with his visit to Fort Erie last week during the five-day window in which teams can talk to players before offering a contract. 

Pavelski was shown around some of the neighborhoods in Fort Erie where his now teammates live, the arena, practice facility and was treated to lunch at the prestigious "Happy Jack's" Chinese food restaurant. 

At the end of the day, Pavelski chose Fort Erie over Portland because of Happy Jacks. 

"Listen, the team is great that we will have in Fort Erie.  $42 million dollars is a generous offer as well and I'm thankful for it.  At the end of the day though, my wife just loved Fort Erie and could not imagine going through life without being that close to Happy Jack's going forward.  It became a really easy decision for us," said an elated Pavelski on Saturday night. 

Fort Erie General Manager Matt Young was pleased to nab Pavelski. 

"I had a feeling he was going to sign with us.  If I didn't I would not have traded Patrice yesterday.  He liked the offer, the team, his teammates and of course Happy Jack's certainly helped.  $42 million dollars is going to buy his family a lot of chicken balls, folks" said Young. 

While the team was also the high bidder on Henrik Zetterberg, the organization has chosen to walk away from that offer per league rules. 

"We love Hank but with Pavelski, Mika and Dvorak on board, we don't have the time available for Hank that he deserves.  He can check out things with Las Vegas now to see if there is a fit there.  We appreciate his interest and wish him well in his career," added Young on the negotiation. 

While it remains to be seen what happens in round two, Young has vowed that he isn't done just yet. 

"I think we're looking at another player or two.  We'll see.  We're hoping Elisha Cuthbert likes Happy Jack's as much as Mrs. Pavelski did." 

Trader Sam - April 10th Edition...

Hello, nurse and welcome to another edition of the greatest trade review blog in the CCHL.

While I admit that it is the only trade review blog in the league and the competition is non-existent, I will believe what I want to believe.

With that being said, let's get to the reason you are here.  It's the trades!  Aside from that, the sooner I get this review done, the sooner I can get back to the beach and all those beach shooters!

(04/08/18) FOR trades J. Fast & CGY 11th-18 to REK for REK 3rd-18... 
Well, this one has Fort Erie moving Fast to the Puffin in exchange for a third-round pick.  It's good value for both teams as Fast was not going to play on a Falcons team loaded with ten players with over 20 goals and the Puffin have plenty of available spots given their organizations mass exodus via free agency.  Good trade for both teams and it gets the Trader Sam seal of approval!

(04/09/18) DAY trades GIL 8th-18 & CGY 8th-18 to MIN for $1.73M... 
This is just a case of Dayton moving some extra picks for some much-needed cash, money son!  Minnesota does not have a lot of picks either so it at least allows them to participate in the draft; although I'm not sure what they will get with those picks given how late they are.

(04/07/18) DAY trades VIC 1st-18 & FOR 3rd-18 to NEW for DRT 1st-18 & SIB 2nd-18... 
Dayton picks up a 2nd round pick for moving down a spot while giving up a third.  If Dayton can get the player they want in this spot (answer they can't be given they moved the pick in a later transaction) then it's all worth it to move up a full round.  It just means that New England really wants a guy that they feel will be gone at five or are paranoid about it enough to move down a round in the draft.

(04/07/18) NEW trades Tristan Jarry-p & VIC 3rd-19 to VIC for SPR 1st-19 & REK 1st-19... 
Well, New England set the bar high on a return for Jarry and Sam here did not think that they would get it.  Sam was wrong.

Victoria must really believe Jarry is something because that's one heck of a price to pay to give up for a goaltender that appears to have limited games for the next few years.  It's risky but maybe Victoria knows something Sam doesn't know.  It wouldn't be the first time somebody knew more than Sam!

(04/06/18) DRT trades DRT 7th-18 & $1,000,000 to SIB for Michael Downing-p, Dysin Mayo-p, Brycen Martin-p & Cole Ully-p... 

DRT trades a little cash and a mid-round pick to gamble on four prospects that are unlikely to make an impact in the CCHL.  I guess if you like your prospect numbers to be high this is a trade for you otherwise it's just one man's hopes and prayers for another man's hopes and prayers.  Nobody wins and it's just a transaction at this point and likely in the future.

Well, that's all for this week's edition of Trader Sam's most excellent and bodacious trade reviews!  Until next time, take care of yourselves and each other.

CCHL and NHL 18 – Part 2

I don’t know if it is the NHL team creation options or if it is something about me but many of the teams have some pretty psychedelic looking jerseys.  Hopefully I can find a way to get some pictures up.

All teams were completed yesterday; here is a breakdown of the scoring given to the team by EA Sports and my own score and commentary based on the difficulty in creating the team.

NHL 18 Team Creation:

Calgary Chinook O- 99 D- 99 G- 96

Points for having the city name but not really a good option for logos.  What would a Chinook look like in a logo anyway?

Dayton Musicmen O-80 D- 86 G- 88

No points for a city and not a good option for logos.  There was an old St.Louis jersey but that wasn’t available.

Dartmouth Lakers O- 89 D- 89 G- 92

No points for city but was kind of able to figure out things for Lakers.

Fort Erie Falcons O- 95 D- 93 G- 92

No Fort but we have an Erie, and so many falcon options!

Fonthill FlyinSquirls O- 93 D- 92 G- 90

No points for the city and the logo options are limited….if you squint maybe a tiger can look like an aggressive squirrel.

Gillam Sharks O- 92 D- 92 G- 90

Clearly a lack of city options but oh we have sharks covered.

Georgetown Millers O- 94 D- 93 G- 85

No city and some limited options for Millers.

Hamilton Tigers O- 94 D- 96 G- 93

Good city and many tigers.  This place should be in the NHL.

Las Vegas Aces O- 91 D- 91 G- 88

Got a city and some options on logos but kind of a stretch.

 Long Island Express O- 94 D- 91 G- 93

Got the city covered but nothing in reference to express available in logos….a fast rabbit?

 Minnesota Norsemen O- 94 D- 91 G- 92

Got a location and some of Norsemen options.

New England Loons O- 86 D- 88 G- 85

No location name and the only loon in logos is for another state, limited abilities to change that in NHL but it looks….ok.

Niagara Falls Thunder O- 93 D- 92 G- 90

Got the location and stole a logo from a minor league team.

Parry Sound Orrsmen O- 89 D- 92 G- 86

No city and some difficulty matching up the logo.

Portland Owls O- 92 D- 93 G- 85

Got a city! But surprisingly no Owl logos.

Rejkjavik Puffin O- 93 D- 96 G- 94

As a person with Icelandic heritage, it is embarrassing that no city option, the logo was difficult too, results are based on weird penguins.

Seattle Reign O- 90 D- 88 G- 91

Good city name (NHL soon?) and lots of options for Reign…also used a pun with ‘rain’ for the nickname.

Siberia Icecats O- 95 D- 95 G- 92

No city but we do have some interesting cat options.

Springfield Isotopes O- 96 D- 93 G- 95

Got a city and because I spent more time on this one I could get some interesting logos.

Sudbury Miners O- 91 D- 93 G- 88

Got a city but Miners was kind of tough to match, a hammer looks like a pickaxe right?

Victoria Ronin O- 93 D- 92 G- 84

Good city and a google search allowed me to match up with the Ronin.  Ninjas are not Ronin but pretty close.

Wisborg Donuts O- 92 D- 94 G- 93

No city and tough to match the logos, went with food.

 My first attempt at creating a league was a demo to understand the process.  I am using the WHL which has 22 teams! The conference alignment was all wrong but it ended with Calgary winning after coming back from 3-1 down to defeat Siberia.

Vasilevskiy led the league with 39 wins (only 72 games for each team).  Patrick Kane led with 78 points, Laine was second with 76, and Malkin was third with 73.

One problem going forward is that the conferences in the WHL are split 10-12 teams instead of 11-11 teams.  It should still make for some interesting comparisons.

I am thinking of sims for: Trades ON/OFF, Injuries ON/OFF, Goalie rotation ON/OFF.

I am really interested to see what the computers do for trades.  Does a team with less than ideal goaltending make a move?

Updates coming!

Springfield

CCHL and NHL 18 – Part 1

In the last few years, I ran a couple of games for Springfield vs. Fort Erie in EA Sports NHL.  It was mostly to show how much better a GM and person I am than Matt Young.  It did lead to the thought of using NHL to sim some CCHL games and see what the differences would be between different sim engines.  I started with the idea of doing the top 3 teams from each conference (well the top 2 and Springfield from Canosa anyway).  I then expanded it to try with every team.

Creating teams in NHL 18 is both fun and tedious at the same time, as you have to name the team (city and team name) and make the jersey’s, logos and mascots.  Then create the team roster….which is when it gets really annoying.

The ordering of players in the roster setup is by NHL 18’s overall rank and I don’t know what the team rosters are sorted by in CCHL but they clearly don’t match up.  Finding players is also annoying, I feel like I know many players and where they play but over the course of the year you may miss a trade or whatnot or have players stuck in your head as being on another team (A. Ladd for example, I completely forgot he was in NYI as I thought he was a Jet).

Anyway, this is day 2.  I have created 14/22 teams so far, and I am sure I have made mistakes but it should be pretty close.  The logos and the jerseys are likely less close than desired but here is hoping it all works out.

NHL Tidbit: Calgary currently ranks first with a 98 Overall. Dayton currently ranks last with an 84

Another Tidbit: I am working with the Team Rosters so not including players coming in as prospects, this also means that those teams that have not completed their signings may include players that will not be on their roster going forward.