State of the Loons; UFA thoughts

 I need to start this riveting blog out with and disclaimer  - I am not smart enough to understand how Matt does the financial numbers in order to make the CCHL stay as realistic as it is. Each year he takes the time to analyze the NHL salary cap and with that comes up with some rocket science esque equation in order to alter the revenues to keep teams out of bankruptcy while staying realistic. So this is not to overstep but just one owners attempt to hit their 10th blog and make another $500,000.

What I am smart enough to see is that only 4 CCHL teams finished in the black this past year. Hopefully we will never have a dispersal draft again but contraction will even make this harder as with less teams there will be more high priced players to go around. With UFA bidding on the horizon it got me thinking. One of the best things to come out of covid was the CCHL entry draft occurred prior to the NHL. I might be one of the few psychos, but I liked having to create my own list and do my own research instead of just relying on the NHL. So if we are smart enough to pretend to be hockey scouts I bet we are smart enough to pretend to be hockey GMs. So how about if we do away with the current NHL salary as the starting point? This often leads to teams going well above in order to outbid one another to get that over the hill star that will hopefully lead them to the Kehler Cup. What if we decided what a player was worth?  Again maybe I am missing the importance of why we start with the NHL salary but if a player has any value at all I would imagine bids would always be around that NHL mark anyways. Maybe this will keep a player like John Carlson from costing a team $13m and there can be more strategy when it comes to placing bids instead of who can afford to overpay the most.

Please feel free to let me know what you think

State of the Loons; Time for the offseason

 Its time to turn the page and start looking ahead to the 2025/26 season. At the time of this blog next year's ratings are still unknown but we have followed our guys all year and have a pretty decent idea of who will rise and who will fall. Cole Caufield has improved each year and will likely replace Capt. Kreider on the top line, joining Eichel and Boldy. After multiple attempts to find Brock Nelson a new home he appears to be back centering Kreider and Vatrano on the second line. Kreider is likely to see a slight rating drop after difficult, injury filled year with the Rangers. The third line is where things get tricky. A lot of the Loons success last year came from our depth, but with the tragic death of Johnny Hockey, a down year from Coyle, more injuries from Zegras and a mediocre year out of Beniers our third line has a lot to be desired. Coyle has started to put up some points with Colorado as of late and with ratings being based on the last two years we are hoping his ratings stay close and he can anchor the third line. Who will join Coyle is anyone's guess and there does not seem to be any solutions in upcoming free agency.

On the blue line only Werenski took a step forward, a big step! McAvoy fell prey to a combination of a historically bad Bruins team and a clown show Minnesota medical staff. Hanifin and Faber were solid but their ratings will be anyone's guess. There are always defensive options in free agency but I'm not sure if Capeside will be willing to pay the price it will take for a 5 and 6 defenseman. 

After the best year in Loon history we are expecting to take a step back this year while we wait for the kids (Nazar, Smith, Leonard, Buium and Snuggerud) to be ready to contribute. Rumors have been out there of a package around Snuggerud, Nazar and a 2026 2nd being offered for a established top 6 forward but it seems like a lot of gms have Capeside's number blocked. We are expecting to make the playoffs as a mid seed and with lower expectations the hope will be to continue to build up out revenue reserves.