** FCHL's Toronto Rocket - Official Thread **

[MapleLeafpoker 1,462]

Probably because I wasn't bidding on any of them. I could have easily paid the $28.25 for OV (I heard the highest was $28 someone would have gone) but what does that do for me? I guess trade bait but I wanted pieces I could afford to sign after the season to 5 years and put together some kind of core before I go crazy in 12/13. I am probably doing it all wrong but meh, I am having a shit ton of fun.

yeah, I guess thats the dilemna. Do you get Ovechkin and trade him for a keeper, or do you hope to draft a few keepers and hope they get better.I kinda played it both ways. I like Phaneuf at $6 for a few years, but Alfie+Gagne will prob be on the block, as will anyone else not functionable in 12-13.

[strategy 4]

how in the f did you two not get a deadline deal going last year? I mean, honestly. steve was playoff-bound if you guys made that happen.

[MapleLeafpoker 1,462]

how in the f did you two not get a deadline deal going last year? I mean, honestly. steve was playoff-bound if you guys made that happen.

sorry, is this at me, or Zach+Steve?

[SBriand 4]

how in the f did you two not get a deadline deal going last year? I mean, honestly. steve was playoff-bound if you guys made that happen.

trouble is that I am not willing to give up pieces like Ennis and Schroeder for a first round (second round if ridic lucky)exit out of the playoffs. If I can get there with those pieces intact then I am more than happy but at this point, I am just having fun until 12/13 when I hope to go all "biatch" like and put together a one year run.

[Zach6668 513]

Hmm. I think I will name that The Lyle OverPAID award.kidding, it was actually a decent get.Id rather have Alfredsson, Gagne and Phaneuf instead of just him, but what do I know.

Yeah, I was pretty surprised at how low the big studs went. If I had known they'd go so low, in turn making guys like St. Louis go for $13, I would have definitely tried to go that route and gotten a guy like St. Louis and a guy like Gonchar or whatever. Oh well.

Probably because I wasn't bidding on any of them. I could have easily paid the $28.25 for OV (I heard the highest was $28 someone would have gone) but what does that do for me? I guess trade bait but I wanted pieces I could afford to sign after the season to 5 years and put together some kind of core before I go crazy in 12/13. I am probably doing it all wrong but meh, I am having a shit ton of fun.

Yeah, I mean, at the very least, make people spend their god damn cap, Steve. Push them until they get up there, lol. Ovechkin could have gone for almost $30 if someone was willing to bid on him. The only reason he didn't go any higher was that me and Arp ran out of cap, lol.

[strategy 4]

in steve's defense, it IS rather risky to spend other people's cap for them when the player is $15+. it's much easier to fraudulently bid when the worst case scenario is a slightly overpriced niklas hjalmarssonon the bright side, I now have a hjalmarsson monopoly

[rinswun 6]

Yeah, I was pretty surprised at how low the big studs went. If I had known they'd go so low, in turn making guys like St. Louis go for $13, I would have definitely tried to go that route and gotten a guy like St. Louis and a guy like Gonchar or whatever. Oh well.

that was my strat precisely. i knew i was never gonna get a premium forward with my $12 so i figured i'd go after a top end d man and see if i could snag a 2nd tier forward which i felt i got. real pleased with what i got for what i had.

[Zach6668 513]

Yeah, I mean, I'm not at all unhappy with my draft. I got the 2nd best player available, when I expected to get about the 5th or 6th for close to the same amount. I also filled out the rest of my team with 5 scrub defensemen (all NHL regulars), and today I called up Nick Foligno to shore up my forwards. Should be a fun year.I think I have a shot at cracking the playoffs, maybe. With Hossa and Kovalchuk leading the way, a healthy and re-energized David Booth, I could potentially make a run. Outside of not really having top-end talent depth, the rest of my forward depth looks pretty good. Michael Ryder, JP Dumont, Jordan Staal, Matt Cullen, Alex Steen, Joffrey Lupul, Dainius Zubrus, Mike Comrie, David Jones, Mikael Samuelsson, and now Foligno. My defense is a lot weak, but it's led by a PP monster in Kurtis Foster, who should pick up tons of points playing with the young kids in Edmonton. The rest are solid, if unspectacular, guys who will get regular time in the NHL, at worst, and see some PP time.Goaltending is very solid, with the Vezina winner, and a decent Calgary team signed cheap and long-term.

[mrdannyg 274]

Yeah, I mean, at the very least, make people spend their god damn cap, Steve. Push them until they get up there, lol. Ovechkin could have gone for almost $30 if someone was willing to bid on him. The only reason he didn't go any higher was that me and Arp ran out of cap, lol.

Not sure how serious you are, but I think that'd be a terrible idea for Steve! I mean, we'd all love him to give a push or two of course, but that doesn't mean he should

[Zach6668 513]

Here's our current roster, as we head into the season. Obviously trades are still possible, and I'm looking to upgrade the defense a little, but this should be very close to the opening day roster. Stats are from last season, with points and PPG referring only to pool points and pool points per game.We've called up Nick Foligno for the upcoming season, which leaves our farm as follows:Green refers to guys who are very likely to start the season in the NHL, yellow means there's a chance they will. No colour means they've already been cut by their team, or are playing in other leagues.(Ages are current as of Dec. 31, 2010)

[Zach6668 513]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/florida...0,7893025.story

Panthers' GM Dale Tallon confirmed on Saturday that he intends to have Erik Gudbranson on his roster at the start of the season.Gudbranson has been impressive during the exhibition season and has clearly earned his spot with the team. "The kid deserves to be in the situation he's in," Coach Pete DeBoer said. "There's no doubt in my mind the kid separated himself from the pack." It would be unfair to expect too much from the young blueliner in his rookie season, but the Panthers' third overall pick definitely has a promising future.

[Zach6668 513]

Trade announcement:Ottawa Limidonks acquire:D Paul Martin - Pittsburgh $2.25 $2.25$1.75 in 2010/11 capLethbridge Golden Seals acquire:F Alex Steen - St. Louis $0.50 $0.50 $0.50=================This will help immensely in shoring up our defense, giving the Limidonks a 1-2 punch of Martin and PP specialist Kurtis Foster of the Oilers. All of a sudden, the team has an abundance of depth at the position, after agreeing to terms with Steve Montador, Roman Polak, Bryan Allen, Paul Mara, and Nick Boynton as part of the free agent frenzy on Thursday. They join Brett Clark, Kevin Klein, and Dennis Seidenberg, rounding out a deep, though unspectacular D-corps.Losing Steen is tough, as he was actually the 5th best forward on the roster, considering only last year's pool points per game, but our relative depth at his position made him expendable. We'll be lloking for Matt Cullen, Andrew Ladd, and Nick Foligno to step up and replace his output.

[mrdannyg 274]

For what it's worth, I told Dubey to take Michalek for Steen!

[Zach6668 513]

For what it's worth, I told Dubey to take Michalek for Steen!

Yeah, and he would have won that deal. He offered it and I rejected it. I like Steen, a lot. He broke out big time last year, and I expect more of the same. His only real problem is he'll have a really tough time cracking the top 6 in St. Louis, because he's so responsible defensively.He quickly countered with Martin for Steen, and I instantly took it. I think I won this trade, but the contract prices and length do help his side out a non-zero amount.

[Zach6668 513]

I went ahead and made some projections for my players, mostly off the top of my head, but also consulting their previous few seasons. While some are a little optimistic, I don't think any of them are well over the line or anything. I haven't picked up any of the fantasy guides this year either, and those are usually what I go by. Also, I just defaulted to 80 games, didn't really want to speculate on anyone's injury history. The only exceptions were Staal and Lupul, who are both out for fixed amounts of time at the start of the season.

[Zach6668 513]

Looks like Jan Mursak was finally sent down by the Wings. He had a killer camp, and made it until the last round of cuts. That's a pretty nice surprise for someone who I didn't even have ranked in my top 20 prospects a couple weeks ago. Hopefully he gets better this season and makes the jump next year.

[serge 904]

you are very high on Comrie..Should be interesting to see what he does..

[Zach6668 513]

you are very high on Comrie..Should be interesting to see what he does..

Yeah, you might be right. I think he'll score 20 for sure, assuming he stays healthy, but I went a little higher on him, given how well he's played with Malkin so far in the pre-season. It'll be interesting to see what happens when Staal gets back. The idea before Staal was going to miss time was Staal centering Malkin. So far, it's been Comrie centering him. He'll obviously benefit big time from that arrangement, if it sticks all season. On the other hand, if Comrie has proven he can be a solid top-6 player by the time Staal gets back, there could easily be an opening on Sid's wing, so he could find a home there as well. Basically I'm just pretty optimistic he'll be seeing time with one of the big two all season long.

[Zach6668 513]

Just made some preliminary lineups for the start of the season. Unless I missed a 6-game night that we're playing on, Kovalchuk plays in 6 of the first 6, Hossa 5 of the first 6. Should have a good chance to put a good start together.

[Dubey 1,035]

Going to defend my trade a little :)I had 3 pittsburgh D men, so I was ok with moving one. I would have rather moved Michalek, but I was ok with moving Martin as well. I think it is a fairly lateral trade. Steen will put up more points than Martin, but position scarcity probably makes martin a little more valuable. (fwiw, I think 40 points is a pretty generous projection for Martin, who's career high is 37 points)More importantly, it gives me a little bit of wiggle room against the cap next year, so I won't have to spend assets to acquire cap space. I had $64 committed for next season already with 4 players to sign, This brings me down to a more manageable $62.25 for next season. I also get Steen for an extra year, which is nice, since I have a LOT of expiring contracts in 12-13.

[serge 904]

Going to defend my trade a little :)I had 3 pittsburgh D men, so I was ok with moving one. I would have rather moved Michalek, but I was ok with moving Martin as well. I think it is a fairly lateral trade. Steen will put up more points than Martin, but position scarcity probably makes martin a little more valuable. (fwiw, I think 40 points is a pretty generous projection for Martin, who's career high is 37 points)More importantly, it gives me a little bit of wiggle room against the cap next year, so I won't have to spend assets to acquire cap space. I had $64 committed for next season already with 4 players to sign, This brings me down to a more manageable $62.25 for next season. I also get Steen for an extra year, which is nice, since I have a LOT of expiring contracts in 12-13.

I am an owner of Steen and i think he is poised to have a huge year..25 goals and 35 assists arent out of the question..Possibly more.

[Zach6668 513]

Going to defend my trade a little :)I had 3 pittsburgh D men, so I was ok with moving one. I would have rather moved Michalek, but I was ok with moving Martin as well. I think it is a fairly lateral trade. Steen will put up more points than Martin, but position scarcity probably makes martin a little more valuable. (fwiw, I think 40 points is a pretty generous projection for Martin, who's career high is 37 points)More importantly, it gives me a little bit of wiggle room against the cap next year, so I won't have to spend assets to acquire cap space. I had $64 committed for next season already with 4 players to sign, This brings me down to a more manageable $62.25 for next season. I also get Steen for an extra year, which is nice, since I have a LOT of expiring contracts in 12-13.

I think you're underrating the fact that defense points are super important, but that's natural for a newby. You'll figure out the nuances soon enough. There's only a handful of really good defensemen, but they take up 40% of our game day lineups.You'll also find that like 80% of the contracts in this league expire in 12-13, as it would be the 7th season... everyone signed all their guys from the 1st year for 5 years, so there'll be a huge turnover there.Martin's career high was 37 points with the trap-happy Devils. I think he'll easily get 40 this year, with a more up-tempo Pens team, who thrive when the D-man start the rush, and join the rush.Dunno though, I don't think it's awful on your end at all, the cap savings helps quite a bit, and the extra year is nice enough. Like I said, I like Steen, and I wouldn't have traded him for Michalek straight up. I think Michalek is probably more of a 25 point guy. I think Martin can do 40-50, depends on what the PP configuration looks like, I guess. You'll be a genius if it ends up being Letang and Goligoski, heh.

[mrdannyg 274]

Yeah, and he would have won that deal. He offered it and I rejected it. I like Steen, a lot. He broke out big time last year, and I expect more of the same. His only real problem is he'll have a really tough time cracking the top 6 in St. Louis, because he's so responsible defensively.He quickly countered with Martin for Steen, and I instantly took it. I think I won this trade, but the contract prices and length do help his side out a non-zero amount.

I think this deal looks good for Dubey. Guessing Martin for 40-50 points is generous. Not impossible, but we haven't really seen enough for that yet. And with his salary, he needs 40 to be worthwhile. Getting a roster spot filled cheaply with a guy with potential for 12/13 is a good snag.Verdict: Golden Seals.

[Zach6668 513]

Well, I'm only paying for 1 year of his salary, so it's not like he NEEDS to score any number for him to be worth it this season.

[Zach6668 513]

Projected lineups with options for October:Having Lupul and Staal on the IR really hurts our forward depth, losing Steen doesn't help either.The good news though:Kovalchuk 10/12Hossa 9/12And they play together on 9 of those games, so my lineup should be pretty top heavy, and hopefully able to put up a good score.9 games out of Paul Martin. Only 6 out of Foster, unfortunately.