Iceland continues retooling - part 3

 Welcome back sports fans. We continue our analysis of the in season moves made by the Icecats, and getting insight into their logic through discussions with GM Saouaf. Over two weeks passed before the Icecats made additional deals. In a pair of moves, the Cats traded and acquired a dman. Leaving is veteran dman Rasmus Ristolainen for prospect Cameron Schmidt and arriving was dman Olli Maatta. Those moves were curious and we asked GM Saouaf about them. “Well, since Savard had cemented a spot in our lineup, Risto was forced to be an injury replacement. Risto wanted to play and we found a place to get him some minutes, sending him to Denver. We still needed a veteran dman to be a substitute, so we acquired Maatta. We were pleased to get Maatta and a talented prospect in Schmidt.”

 

Would the Icecats now stand still after so many trades, nope. GM Saouaf continued his hard work in building a solid prospect pipeline, sending away two young goalies in Joel Hofer and Colten Ellis and acquiring uber talented Vaclav Nestrasil and also Xavier Bourgault. Nestrasil is off to a great start in the NCAA.

 

Never one to rest, GM Saouaf once again connected with Fort Erie to trade another long time Icecat, Colton Parayko. Colton was a staple in the top 2 defensive lines for the Icecats. Replacing him would be hard, but the Icecats acquired a solid replacement in Martin Fehervary. Fehervary is a few years younger and  provides some salary relief. Iceland also stocked their draft capital with a 2027 1st. The final touch, for now, was a trade with Amos to send Jordan Staal for JG Pageau’s second stint in Iceland and defensive prospect, Jacob Rombach. 

 

It’s been a whirlwind start to the season for the Icecats this season. Time will tell if GM Saouaf is done or will continue to adjust his roster. As always, stay tuned sports fans!

Icecats continue retooling - part 2

 Hello again, sports fans. Today, we will continue to look at the roster reshaping of the Iceland Icecats this season. In the last blog, we saw the Icecats ship in a few veterans and ship out some veterans and youth. Let’s continue looking at GM Silvio Saouaf’s in season moves.

 

After acquiring Jordan Staal, Iceland center Ted Blueger found himself with limited ice time and requested a trade. GM Saouaf found a willing trade partner in New Mexico, shipping the disgruntled center for a 3rd round pick. Through this trade, Erik Haula cemented his role as the 4th line center and 2nd line penalty killer. The roster “seemed” set. 

 

One player that struggled to find consistent offense was Swiss Army knife player, Mark Stone. As such, GM Saouaf facilitated a trade with defending champions, Fort Erie, to give the winger a fresh start. Here is what GM Saouaf had to say. “Mark struggled to find chemistry on the top two lines. We felt it was in his best interest to see if we could find him a better opportunity elsewhere. With Fort Erie looking for a winger, I traded Mark to GM Young for center JG Pageau, a 1st and talented prospect, Cole Reschny. We hated dealing the long time Icecat, but the return was too enticing.”

 

Unfortunately, Pageau’s time in Iceland was short lived. A week later, GM Saouaf kept on wheeling and dealing, acquiring more futures by dealing Pageau to Amos for Reilly Smith and 2 prospects. Would GM Saouaf continue shaking up the roster or give the team time to gel? Stay tuned, sports fans!

Icecats continue retooling - part 1

 Hello again sports fans. Today we review some recent transactions of the Icecats and get some behind the scenes discussions with GM Silvio Saouaf on his logic. In the offseason, Iceland made a significant transition in acquiring veteran center Jordan Staal from Springfield for 3 draft picks. It appeared that GM Saouaf had a plan. Here is what he had to say. “With the additional positions that Aho and Suzuki could play, we saw an opportunity to pair one of them with Connor. As such, we needed someone reliable to be our 3rd line center and anchor our penalty kill. Staal was the perfect solution. Negotiations with Springfield were smooth and we got a deal done quickly.” 

 

Iceland then appeared to once again go all in with the acquisition of defender Rasmus Ristolainen from  Chippawa for 2 prospects. It was not clear what role Risto would play as the Icecats signed veteran defender David Savard in the offseason. “Risto was acquired to be a sold depth dman, providing solid defense and veteran leadership, should we need him. Early on, it looked like Savard was struggling so Risto gave us some options.”

 

Having acquired Staal, GM Saouaf decided to deal veteran and all around great player, Ryan Nugent Hopkins for youth and futures from Amos. It was tough to see Nuge go but the youth coming up provided that flexibility. Young players like Aliaksei Protas, Dylan Holloway, Dimitry Voronkov and Martin Pospisil demanded ice time. In return for Nuge, Iceland also traded young dman Mason Lohrei, given their depth at D. Iceland acquired another solid young and talented winger, Zach Benson, along with 3 picks. Iceland had previously struggled to phase in young and talented wingers and now they seem to have a surplus.

 

The Icecats roster was not set and we will continue looking at their transformation in the next blog. Stay tuned, sports fans!

Fort Erie First Half of the season team awards!

 Welcome to the Fort Erie Falcons HALFWAY AWARDS — the midseason celebration where some players earn glory, others earn shame, and everyone earns content.

No speeches will be cut short. No feelings will be spared.
Let’s dim the lights, raise the curtain, and hand out some deeply questionable hardware.

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🏆 THE HALFWAY AWARDS

Presented by FOR Hockey & Poor Decision-Making

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🥇 The “I Carried This Team Like It Was a Costco Haul” Award

Winner: Sam Reinhart

54 points in 39 games.
Honestly, if he slows down, so does your entire offensive ecosystem. He is your sun, moon, and reasonably priced power-play merchant.

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🥇 The “Scoring on Elite Difficulty” Award

Winner: Jake Walman (FOR)

21.62% TOT SH% / 15.38% FOR SH%
This man is shooting like he found NHL 24 sliders and quietly turned accuracy to 99. Defenseman by position; sniper by lifestyle.

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🥇 The “Hit Everything That Moves (And Some Things That Don’t)” Award

Winner: Vincent Trocheck

97 hits and still producing.
Trocheck plays like every opponent owes him money.

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🥇 The “Conscientious Objector to Shot Blocking” Award

Winner: Leon Draisaitl

2 shot blocks.
He looked at the bench and said, “You want me to block that? I’m a playmaker, not a mattress.”

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🥇 The “Surprisingly Elite Defensive Dad Energy” Award

Winner: Adam Fox

44 blocks with that injury history?
That’s grit, or a medical bill waiting to happen. Either way — respect.

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🥇 The “Most Courageous Avoidance of All Physical Contact” Award

Winner: Roope Hintz (FOR)

12 hits in 11 games.
Man is 6’3”, fast as hell, and hits like a tax accountant.

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🥇 The “Not Sure He Played But The Spreadsheet Says He Did” Award

Winner: Casey Cizikas

3 GP. 0 points. 8 minutes a night.
He’s like a cameo from a celebrity you vaguely remember.

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🥇 The “I Do Everything But Score” Award

Winner: Jaccob Slavin

5.88% shooting, elite defense, endless minutes.
He shoots only to remind his stick it still has a purpose.

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🥇 The “Power Play? Never Heard of Her.” Award

Winner: Brandon Hagel

0 PPG, 0 PPA, 0 PPP.
He’s on the top six but treats the power play like a union-mandated break.

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🥇 The “Big Man, Small Hitting Energy” Award

Winner: Owen Power

21 hits for a 6’6” defenseman.
He is quite literally too nice.

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🥇 The “Did You Even Try to Score?” Award

Winner: Colton Parayko (FOR)

0.00% shooting.
Not low. Zero. He is boycotting goals until further notice.

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🥇 The “I Only Play Six Minutes But I Still Matter” Award

Winner: JJ Peterka (FOR)

6.21 minutes per game.
That’s not a shift — that’s an internship.

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🥇 The “Still Elite, Just Too Tired to Show It” Award

Winner: Mark Stone (FOR)

10 points in 24 games, 9 giveaways, 39 blocks.
He’s playing like his back is one sneeze away from retirement but he refuses to stop being useful.

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🥇 The “Old Man Still Stealing Lunch Money” Award

Winner: Alex Pietrangelo (FOR)

36 takeaways.
He plays like he’s collecting pucks for a charity auction.

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🥅 GOALIE AWARDS

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🥇 The “Winning Ugly Is Still Winning” Award

Winner: Mackenzie Blackwood

24–4–3 record with a .903.
He is the dictionary definition of “don’t ask how, ask how many.”

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🥇 The “Finally Playing Like He’s Not Being Held Hostage” Award

Winner: John Gibson (FOR)

4–0–0, 1 shutout, .910, perfect shootout.
He escaped HFX and immediately remembered how to goalie.

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🎤 THE CLOSER: Team MVP (Midseason Edition)

Winner: Sam Reinhart

No drama. No debate.
Just pure, relentless point production.
He IS your franchise right now.

What Every Team Should Be Proud Of — and One Thing They Can Laugh About Too

 A hockey season is a wild ride — full of highs, lows, overtime losses that age you ten years, and victories that feel like divine intervention. But no matter where your squad sits in the standings, there’s always something worth celebrating… and always something worth laughing at.

Here’s one real point of pride for every team — and one lighthearted, humorous “win” to keep the vibes positive.

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1. Fort Erie Falcons

Proud Of: The most dominant record in the league. A .808 winning percentage is just unfair.
Humorous Win: You’ve scored so much that your goal horn is filing a workplace grievance.

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2. Las Vegas Aces

Proud Of: A twelve-game winning streak. Nuclear-level momentum.
Humorous Win: At this point, Vegas casinos are offering a “Bet the Aces, Win Your Mortgage” promo.

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3. Fergus Flapping Kilts

Proud Of: A +26 goal differential and elite road play.
Humorous Win: Opponents spend half the game trying not to get distracted by the kilts. Advantage: Fergus.

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4. Denver Spurs

Proud Of: Winning tight games with a tiny goal differential.
Humorous Win: No fanbase in the league burns more calories pacing during third periods.

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5. Capeside Loons

Proud Of: 158 goals — your offense is pure chaos in the best way.
Humorous Win: The Loons are legally required to buy new nets every month due to overuse.

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6. Iceland Icecats

Proud Of: A dominant 14–5–0 record at home.
Humorous Win: Visiting teams spend more time complaining about the cold than defending.

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7. Calgary Chinook

Proud Of: A steady offense that shows up every night.
Humorous Win: Chinook games have so many lead changes that fans get vertigo.

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8. Amos Comets

Proud Of: An 8–2–0 surge shows your ceiling is high.
Humorous Win: Comets games feature more streaks than a nudist beach.

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9. New Mexico Scorpions

Proud Of: One of the most explosive offenses in the league.
Humorous Win: Your games are basically sponsored by defibrillators. Goals = heart attacks.

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10. Victoria Ronin

Proud Of: Consistent defensive clutch play.
Humorous Win: Nobody in Victoria remembers what a “normal, low-stress game” feels like.

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11. Halifax Norsemen

Proud Of: Staying competitive despite getting outscored overall.
Humorous Win: The Norsemen are single-handedly keeping the league’s supply of moral victories afloat.

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12. Wisborg Donuts

Proud Of: A stellar 13–5–1 record at home.
Humorous Win: Opponents are distracted wondering why a team named “Donuts” hits so hard.

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13. Parry Sound Orrsmen

Proud Of: A strong late-season push at 7–3–0.
Humorous Win: The team’s new tactic: lull opponents into a false sense of security, then explode.

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14. Seattle Reign

Proud Of: A solid recent stretch that’s pulled them back to .500.
Humorous Win: Seattle somehow has the league lead in “almost heart attack” games.

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15. Niagara Falls Thunder

Proud Of: A respectable road record for a mid-pack team.
Humorous Win: Thunder games guarantee at least one goal that makes physics walk out.

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16. Senneterre Beavers

Proud Of: Better-than-expected road numbers — 10–8–1 is no joke.
Humorous Win: Beavers block more shots than half the league’s goalies.

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17. Chippawa Crackerjacks

Proud Of: A promising recent stretch with real improvement.
Humorous Win: You might not win every game, but you definitely win every vibe check.

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18. Georgetown Millers

Proud Of: A sneaky offense that still pumps goals despite the record.
Humorous Win: The Millers’ breaks often last longer than their defensive-zone shifts.

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19. Chattahoochee Crawdads

Proud Of: A solid .500 home record — fans get a real effort every night.
Humorous Win: Crawdads players lead the league in “Well… that was almost a great play.”

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20. Willowdale Rush

Proud Of: Pushing games to OT — this team never dies easily.
Humorous Win: Rush fans have developed elite meditation habits to survive all the tight finishes.

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21. Val-d'Or Nuggets

Proud Of: Forces games into extra time with pure stubbornness.
Humorous Win: Nuggets players are experts at keeping things interesting… even when nobody asked them to.

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22. Springfield Isotopes

Proud Of: Consistently keeping games from blowing out of control.
Humorous Win: They hold the league record for “most near-comebacks that made the other team sweat.”

Miller's Musings

 Another week full of losses and roster churn…

(11/22/25) GEO signs D. O’Connor to a 2 yr., $2.5M contract…

Georgetown signs the speedy bottom 6 forward with an eye towards contributing next season, but the team’s current struggles will likely see him getting a look on the 4th line and PK sooner rather than later. 

(11/23/25) GEO waives T. Brodie...(waiver expiration date 11/26/25)…

Acquired in the big trade with Fergus, the veteran D was looked at as little more than a depth option and after making one appearance for the Millers, was waived and subsequently cleared. 

(11/23/25) CHP trades D. Cozens & J. Schwartz to GEO for J. McCann & J. Drysdale…

The focus of the aforementioned trade with FEK was Drysdale, moved onto Chippewa along with Jared McCann for Dylan Cozens and Jaden Schwartz. 

McCann wasn’t working as the 2nd line C, so as much as he’s liked by Georgetown’s management, he was sent back to CHP to get a natural C in Cozens and a scoring winger in Schwartz. GEO is hopeful that Cozens can lock down the 2nd line C spot for the next several years. 

(11/28/25) GEO signs J. Van Riemsdyk to a 1yr., $1M contract…

The veteran winger is a depth signing, and could get a look as a PP specialist if the club decides to move out scoring forwards as part of a re-tool.

(11/28/25) AMO trades D. Toews & W. Foegele to GEO for T. Sanheim & A. Copp…

After a fast start Sanheim had not found chemistry with any partners and was dispatched for what the club hopes will be an answer to their recent scoring woes, trading in the sturdy defensive-minded blue liner for a puck-moving (yet still strong defensively) D in Toews and a middle 6 scoring winger in Foegele.

Millers management plans on letting these new additions gel and gain some chemistry before deciding their next move. There are some depth players who were floated on the trade block but the response was tepid. Although it’s difficult to project the lineups while things are in flux, this is a best guess as to how the team shapes up for the next few weeks. 

Forwards:

Larkin-Kasper-Necas

Cozens-Schwartz-Guenther

Gourde-Foegele-Moore

McCarron-Johansson-Mikheyev

The club want to give Marco Kasper every chance to find his game, but in case the rookie can’t expect Martinook to re-enter the lineup on the 4th line and a winger to move up. O’Connor, Rasmussen and Robinson may make the odd appearance. JVR is expected to act more as a mentor then an on-ice contributor, at least for the time being. Joseph is highly unlikely to see the ice until next season. 

Defense:

Toews-Roy

LaCombe-Edmundson

Chatfield-Marino

Gustafsson will act as the 7th D barring a trade. Shea is 8th. Matinpalo would only play in an emergency. 

Goal:

Dostal

Allen

Grubauer

No changes here. The club is happy with Dostal’s performance.

From the office of the Finance Guru ; the magic of the Payroll Page

Before taking over the finances for the league the only real use I had for the payroll page was during trade talks to match up salaries. But this year thanks to a certain CCHL team, I find myself spending a lot more time on it learning the ins and outs. Last night while processing a minor transaction I noticed a multiple teams were in some cases well over the roster limit. But worse - a lot of teams do not seem to have a handle on the rules.

In my opinion what makes the CCHL great is the investment we all make in the league, anyone can sign up for a yahoo league and let yahoo run the league for them. The CCHL is our league and with that comes a lot of work and a lot of reward. When I took over the lowly Ottawa Barracuda 7 years ago I was overwhelmed with all the procedures in the CCHL and of that is the case for you I would like to remind you that you can email me at any time and I will do my best to help. But in case you are worried that I may try and suck you into long drawn out trade negotiations around your star American player I’ll post some free advice here.

Each team is allowed to have up to 30 players on their rosters. Reserve and M-designated players do not count towards your 30 active players.
- A reserve player is one that did not play in enough NHL games the previous year and is not allowed to play in any CCHL games for the year. A skaters needs to have played in at least 11 NHL games and 5 for a goalie to be “disc eligible”.
- a M-designated player is a rookie that did play enough NHL games the previous year and has become disc eligible for the first time. Often their ratings stink and are unusable so to help with that tou are allowed to place a M-designation on them prior to the season . This allows you to maintain a roster of more than 30 players. You are able to use these rookie players in CCHL games if you get into a pickle , but once they play their 11th CCHL game they lose their M-designated exemption and become an active roster player thus counting against your 30 man roster. If this is confusing it may be better explained in section C of the CCHL rules.

So when you look at your team’s payroll page you will see all your players listed. The first group will have the term “on roster” to the right. You need to make sure you have 30 or less of these “on roster” at all times.
After those your M- designated players are listed. They are ins a light blue font and have the term “minors” next to them. There are no limits to how many you have but they must have been submitted to the league during g the appropriate time in the off season.
After your rookies come your Reserve players. Again there are no limits on these but they can never be used in a CCHL game .
Following your reserves are players that have been traded, waived, released or bought out and are no longer a part of your team .

Hopefully you are still paying attention and this has helped you if you were previously lost. And while I have you I need to remind everyone that there are reasons why we are so strict on how we format communications to the league. This league is hopefully fun for you and it’s why you’re here reading a blog about a league that if you are lucky enough to win (I never have) your reward for your hard work is a digital banner on top of the website. Don’t worry if and when I do win I will be going out and buying myself a trophy that I will display prominently in my house! But I’m getting off track, the CCHL as I mentioned is not yahoo or espn or fantrax we run it ourselves with our own time and out of the kindness of our hearts. Matt has much more of a life then I do and has a lot more work between simming the games, updating the website and making sure all the rules are being followed . It’s a ton of work, we ask you submit in a certain format so that as these transactions come in at all hours from different time zones they can just be copied and pasted. It may not seem like a big deal but there are sooooo many transactions and it would be insane to constantly be having to retype everyone’s .

When I started I made myself a little cheat sheet with the different formats so I wouldn’t get scolded and have to be on a phone call for 2 hours with a person 20 years older then me that I didn’t know - so be glad you’re just reading a blog lol. All formats can be found by scrolling through the transaction page but here are some common ones

SIGNINGS
CAP signs T. Czepiel to a 2 yr., $500K contract…
(Please abbreviate the word year to yr and use K for thousands and M for millions )

WAIVING
CAP waives T. Czepiel (waiver expiration date 11/26/25)…
(The waiver date is always 3 days from your submission date )

TRADING
CAP trades T. Czepiel, Hank Czepiel-p, CAP 1st-26 & $1.75M to CGY for B. Tkachuk…

*in a trade always list active players then prospects then draft picks (try and place them in order by pick and then by year, then cash
** active players have first initial . Last name (T. Czepiel)
*** prospects are ones that are still located on your prospect page , full first name last name -p (Trevor Czepiel-p)
****draft picks ie 1st-26 or 4th-27 and so on

I hope all this helps , please remember this league is hopefully fun for everyone that loves hockey. None of us want to be hard asses over small things and remember if there is something you don’t know and you can’t figure it out in the rules email me and I’ll try not to guilt you into trading me one of your upcoming American players I promise!

State of the Loons; How Wahlstrom Broke Capeside's Heart

 

Trevor Czepiel	10:33 AM (21 minutes ago)
to me

The year was 2009, it was a chilly October night and a 28 year old me was spending some quality time with my grandfather watching the Bruins. Back then between the first and second periods the Bruins would show a taped competition called mini one on one. This was a long standing Bruins tv tradition that while I was a kid was called mini 3 on 3 but once the NHL did away with ties and moved to penalty shots in 2005 so did Bruins intermission tv. But on that October night I watched this 9 year old pull off the first lacrosse style goal that I ever saw and was blown away. 16 years later I am still failing at even being able to pick the puck up off the ice in a beer league game to even attempt it let alone as a 9 year old on tv. This is how Oliver Wahlstrom came into my life.

Fast forward 9 years to 2018. 38 year old me just finished another losing seasons as the owner of the Capeside Minutemen in the BRL baseball league, when its commissioner emailed me a random question of it I was a hockey fan. Does a bear shit in the woods? I bled black and gold! Corfield informed me that there was a failing organization that was looking for new ownership and I was given the opportunity to seize control of the Ottawa Barracudas. After liquidating a bunch of assets I purchased the team and moved the team from Ottawa to Capeside. After gutting the team in order to make the roster my own I was able to own the 4th, 5th and 6th picks in the 2018 draft. Prior to the CCHL coming into my life my hockey knowledge was limited to the Bruins, not the AHL providence Bruins not the NCAA Minutemen, Terriers or Eagles. Strictly the Bruins. Oliver Wahlstrom had fallen off of my radar but thanks to the CCHL he was back in my life as a top prospect in the 18 draft. My mind and heart were set - I was going to do whatever it took to make Wahlstrom the Loons first ever draft selection. 

Corfield once again came calling, he was interested in the 4th overall pick. As "good" as the offer was I refused cause I could not risk losing Wahlstrom. I informed Commisioner Corfield that I would trade the 5th but not 4. Nope, he needed the 4th and promised me that he would not select Wahlstrom with it and the deal was made. A few days later Corfield emailed me saying sorry but he was trading away that 4th overall pick and could no longer keep his word that Wahlstrom would not be taken at 4. I won't get into the details but it was no longer a friendly relationship between Dayton and Capeside. After days of tension I allowed Corfield to extort me for the 5th pick along with a 2nd rounder for the return of the 4th overall with a late 3rd rounder. But once again it would be all worth it because Wahlstrom was going to lead the Loons to multiple Kehler Cups. 

As the draft grew closer I still owned the 4th and 6th overall picks til another owner took advantage of a naive me sending over 3 lousy prospects (Husso, Lind & Dahlen) with a 2nd rounder for the 6th and a 2019 first. Well maybe Wahlstrom would lead us to one Kehler Cup still. 

Draft day came a few months later and now being in the CCHL for a few months my knowledge grew and names like Tkachuk and Hughes were more prevalent to me. I failed in my attempts to get my picks back (7 years later things havent changed I guess) and I was torn between the 3. But ultimately it had to be a sign that Wahlstrom came into my life back while spending time with my Grampy so Wahlstrom was the pick. He was a cant miss goal scoring threat and was going to be a lifelong Loon building block.

Maybe I should have realized things were not going to work out when he went awol from BC when things werent going well. But I stuck by him. I stuck by him while he failed in Long Island and turned down all CCHL offers for him. And then last year the clouds parted and everything made sense again as Oliver was back where he belonged in the Boston Garden wearing the black and gold! 

Well that was a fun for the few weeks before he was sent down to Providence and then released by the Bruins during the off season. Oliver is now struggling without a NHL deal in the AHL for the Sharks. The Loons are still without a Kehler cup while Calgary and Victoria hold Brady Tkachuk and Quinn Hughes hostage from me and their rightful homes in Black and Neon Green.

Dont worry, no matter how much Oliver hurts me and I have to see Brady score hat tricks against me or Quinn put up a 100 assists I will stay loyal to Wahlstrom because he will always be that 9 year old who could skate circles around 45 year old me.

ChatGPT evaluates trades and more!

 With the ever-evolving world of AI making life more interesting, I have been doing a lot of things with it over the last month.  

I did something at work with it that allowed my team to set new records in terms of freight volume moved.  I did some consulting work where I utilized it to have a company compare products and save a quarter of a million dollars in purchasing the next year.  

I'm also working on an initiative with it to do something else that will benefit the CCHL going forward.  More on that later, as I'm about 60-70% done but have more work to do.  The encouraging part is that the hard part of the work is done, and it's refining and setting things up to function how we need them to function.  This will be a fun initiative for our league, and I'm excited to make it work!  

Another thing that's fun is that ChatGPT enjoys evaluating and providing opinions on our trades.  Let's see what it has to say about the last bunch of trades in the CCHL.  

Now, keep in mind, ChatGPT doesn't take into account salary or CCHL contracts at all in it's evaluation, just pure value of the players.  

Without further ado, I give you their evaluations!  

TRADE-BY-TRADE BREAKDOWN

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(11/15/25) CHP ↔ HFX

CHP gets:

• J. Markstrom

• T. Hertl

• R. Sandin

• Oliver Moore-p

HFX gets:

• I. Shesterkin

• A. Lundell

Winner: HFX (Fairly Clearly)

Why:

• Shesterkin is the single best asset in the deal—franchise-level goalie in fantasy.

• Lundell is a strong young C with real upside.

• Markstrom is declining; Hertl is still solid but not a needle-mover; Sandin is decent but not premium; Moore is long-term speculative.

CHP traded the star and got quantity over quality.
Unless CHP desperately needed depth, this is a net loss.

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(11/15/25) GEO ↔ CHP

GEO gets:

• M. Johansson

• J. Edmundson

CHP gets:

• J. Oleksiak

• S. Kuraly

Winner: GEO (Slight Edge)

Why:

• Oleksiak vs Edwinson: Oleksiak hits/blocks but doesn’t score; Edmundson similar but usually carries less fantasy utility.

• Kuraly is fringe depth.

• Johansson is easily the best upside player here—young, skilled, trending upward.

GEO gets the only meaningful offensive potential.

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(11/12/25) FOR ↔ SEN

FOR gets:

• S. Stamkos

SEN gets:

• C. Verhaeghe

• CGY 4th-26

Winner: FOR (But Context-Dependent)

Why:

• Stamkos is aging but still a high-end power-play producer when healthy.

• Verhaeghe is a strong multi-category winger with stability and no major downside.

Verdict:

• Win-now team → FOR wins big.

• Long-term build → SEN did fine, but they didn’t get enough for a name like Stamkos.

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(11/11/25) CHP ↔ WIS

CHP gets:

• R. Pulock

• I. Shesterkin

WIS gets:

• U. Luukkonen

• L. Reichel

• K. Stenlund

• Max Psenicka-p

• AMO 4th-26

Winner: CHP (By a Lot)

Why:

• Shesterkin is elite top-3 goalie value.

• Pulock is still a solid, reliable defenseman.

WIS receives a grab-bag of mid-tier prospects and depth pieces.
No asset comes close to Shesterkin.
Clear win for CHP.

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(11/10/25) FOR ↔ SPR

FOR gets:

• R. Hintz

SPR gets:

• M. Michkov

• T. Toffoli

• CHP 3rd-26

Winner: SPR (Long-Term) / FOR (Short-Term Contender)

This one depends heavily on league timeline.

• Hintz is a star C/RW, prime age, excellent category coverage.

• Michkov is a mega-ceiling franchise winger but still developing.

• Toffoli + 3rd is nice but not huge.

If FOR is trying to win the championship in the next 1–2 years → FOR wins.
If any long-term value matters at all → SPR wins thanks to Michkov’s upside.

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(11/09/25) CHP ↔ DEN

CHP gets:

• L. Reichel

• Matt Savoie-p

• Jacob Rombach-p

• Max Psenicka-p

• AMO 4th-26

DEN gets:

• R. Rakell

• S. Gostisbehere

Winner: DEN (Short-Term) / CHP (If Rebuilding)

• Rakell + Gostisbehere still have meaningful fantasy value right now.

• CHP received almost entirely futures, the only near-term roster piece being Reichel.

If CHP is selling for the future, this is reasonable.
If CHP expected competitive assets, this is a loss.

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SUMMARY OF WINNERS

Trade Date	Winner
11/15/25 CHP–HFX	HFX
11/15/25 GEO–CHP	GEO
11/12/25 FOR–SEN	FOR (win-now)
11/11/25 CHP–WIS	CHP
11/10/25 FOR–SPR	SPR (future) / FOR (win-now)
11/09/25 CHP–DEN	DEN (short-term)

Millers Musings 11.16

 The UFA dump trade has been a disaster. How to fix things? Make another trade with Chippewa, of course!

(11/15/25) GEO trades J. Oleksiak & S. Kuraly to CHP for M. Johansson & Joel Edmundson…

Oleksiak and Kuraly were acquired over the summer from the Chippewas. Oleksiak has arguably been the Millers most consistent defenseman, which says all you need to know about how this season has gone. Kuraly was brought in as a 4th line C and PK asset and hasn’t been terribly effective, being in and out of the lineup quite a bit. 

Edmundson replaces Oleksiak as the designated giant on skates on Georgetown’s blue line. He’s about 85% of the player Oleksiak is, and moving out Oleksiak gives Jamie Drysdale a chance to show the club he was worth acquiring as the centerpiece of the deal that moved out Theodore, Kopitar and Huberdeau. Edmundson will likely start out as the 7th defender. It’s quite likely the club attempts to move the pending UFA to another club later this season. 

Johansson is a veteran middle 6 winger who can contribute on both special teams, typically on the 2nd unit of each. He’ll start out on the Millers 3rd line. His $800,000 contract runs through next year and gives the club reliable depth scoring at a bargain-basement price for next season, as well as this year. He’s a very good skater and a pass-first attacker, so there is hope he may help unlock Marco Kasper’s offense as the young C only has 1 goal on his first 23 shots. 

Falcons Fly Early, Hold Off Donuts for Ninth Home Win In Their Last Ten Games

 FORT ERIE — The Fort Erie Falcons came out firing on all cylinders Friday night, burying three goals in a span of just under four minutes in the first period and never looking back en route to a 5–2 win over the visiting Wisborg Donuts.

The Falcons, who outshot Wisborg 48–24, dominated the opening twenty minutes, forcing Donuts goaltender Filip Gustavsson into a barrage of early saves. Fort Erie finally broke through on a power play at 12:03 when Sam Reinhart tipped home his 18th of the year off a slick feed from Dylan Strome.

Just nine seconds later, Mark Stone doubled the lead, jumping on a rebound from Jake Walman’s point shot. The crowd at the Fort Erie Arena had barely settled when Valeri Nichushkin made it 3–0 at 15:59, finishing a beautiful passing play with Vincent Trocheck and Thomas Harley.

Wisborg managed to stem the bleeding late in the period when Adrian Kempe scored on the power play, blasting a one-timer off a David Pastrnak feed at 16:20 to cut the deficit to 3–1.

The Donuts showed more life in the second period, outshooting Fort Erie 14–9, but the Falcons’ top guns answered every push. Owen Power scored his third of the season with a seeing-eye wrister through traffic at 9:01, and Leon Draisaitl added a power-play marker at 12:26, rifling a shot over Gustavsson’s glove to make it 5–1.

Pastrnak would strike back at 16:59, finishing a smooth passing sequence with Kempe and Ryan McDonagh, but that was as close as Wisborg would get. Despite several power-play chances in the third period, the Donuts couldn’t solve Mackenzie Blackwood, who finished with 22 saves for his 19th win of the year.

Gustavsson was under siege all night, stopping 43 of 48 shots in the loss, dropping his record to 10–5–1.

Three Stars:

1. Leon Draisaitl (FOR) – 1 G, 1 A, commanding presence on special teams

2. Sam Reinhart (FOR) – 1 G, 1 A, opened the scoring and led the charge

3. David Pastrnak (WIS) – 1 G, 1 A, spark for Wisborg’s attack

Notable Stat:
Fort Erie fired 25 shots in the first period alone — more than Wisborg managed all game.

Millers Musings

 A free agent signing and a huge trade highlight the past week for the Millers. 

(11/04/25) GEO signs R. Shea to a 2 year, 900k contract…

Shea is off to a tremendous start in the NHL, and the Millers inked him to a deal with an eye towards him providing solid depth or perhaps grabbing a bottom-pairing spot next season. Barring a lot of injuries or a sell-off of the team’s current Dmen, he’s unlikely to see any ice time this season. 

Speaking of sell-offs:

(11/07/2025) GEO trades J. Huberdeau, A. Kopitar, S. Theodore & $7M to FEK for T. Brodie, J. Drysdale, Y. Gourde, & M. McCarron…

Despite the Millers recent solid play (7-3-0 in their last 10) their performances have been inconsistent and the special teams have been particularly bad. There were also rumors coming from the dressing room concerning the plethora of upcoming star-level unrestricted free agents causing tension as about half the roster was questioning their futures. 

To change up the dynamic, the 3 main upcoming UFAs were dealt to Fergus for a return that on the surface should improve the bottom 6 and penalty kill, but the headliner is D Jamie Drysdale. 

Gourde returns to the franchise for his 4th go-around; his most recent was last season where he failed to mesh with his teammates and found himself scratched and ultimately moved out. The club hopes a lesser role in the bottom 6 and some occasional power play duties on the 2nd unit allow him to settle in better. 

McCarron was brought in specifically to prop up the penalty kill and to bring some toughness to the 4th line. 

Brodie was a salary make-weight and is no higher than 8th on the D depth chart. 

All 3 of the veterans acquired are pending UFAs. 

Drysdale is the prize, a 22 year-old puck moving Dman that has been in the league a few years but seems to be breaking out. Although not the offensive force that Theodore was, he should routinely put up point totals in the 30 to 40 point range at minimum while playing respectable defense on the 2nd pair. He may not have a role right away with the Millers as Jalen Chatfield will get first dibs at the lineup spot left open by the Theodore trade, but if the team struggles to generate chances he’ll find his way in eventually. He is a lock for a top 4 spot next season. 

This deal leaves the Millers a little light in their top 6, with Jared McCann expected to take over 2nd line C duties. The club is hoping to address that spot using their defensive depth; Jamie Oleksiak or John Marino could be moved out to facilitate that and it’s not beyond belief that offseason’s UFA signings Matt Roy or Jalen Chatfield could also be moved. 

The dealing is not done in the bluegrass.