Now it is time for my favorite part of Be A GM modes: the offseason. In this part, we will go through the amateur draft, re-sign players, bid for new ones and set up the team for season 2. Enjoy!
First off, our AHL team did make the playoffs, but lost in the first round in 7 games to the Ice Caps. Next, the NHL took to the ice for the playoffs, which saw the Detroit Red Wings lift another Stanley Cup, beating Ryan Getzlaf and the Anaheim Ducks in an epic 7 game series. Here is a list of the awards for the season:
Stanley Cup: Detroit Red Wings
Presidents' Trophy: Chicago Blackhawks
Maurice Richard: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburg Penguins
Art Ross: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburg Penguins
Ted Lindsay: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburg Penguins
Frank J. Selke: Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks
Bill Masterton: Zach Bogosian, Winnipeg Jets
William M. Jennings: Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers
Vezina: Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers
Conn Smythe: Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
Calder: Mike Hoffman, Ottawa Senators
Lady Byng: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburg Penguins
James Norris: Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators
Hart: Sidney Crrosby, Pittsburg Penguins
A good night for Sid the Kid, as he pulled in 5 awards, despite the Penguins falling in the very first round to the Detroit Red Wings. I had no idea who Mike Hoffman was, so I checked him out. Nothing special, 25 years old, 81 overall playmaker. He put up 50 points with a plus 6, so he definitely overachieved.
Next up was the players retiring. We lost Ray Whitney, which we expected. Around the league, Jaromir Jagr, Martin St. Louis and Shane Doan all hung up their skates.
We came into the draft with one first round pick, two thirds, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth and two sevenths. We were draftng ninth overall in the first round, which is a fairly good pick. The top five picks were Connor McDavid to the Jets, Yan to the Bruins, Oliver Kylington to the Panthers, Verhelst to the Maple Leafs and Flodell to the Blue Jackets. With our pick, we chose between Nicolas Meloche, a defenseman, and Travis Konecny, a center playmaker. We decided to take Meloche to help our defensive core. We traded our early third for this year and our third from 2017 for Nashville's second round pick, 23rd overall. Here is a list of our picks through all rounds:
First Round: Nicholas Meloche, defenseman, 17 years old, 61 overall, 4 green star potential
Second Round: Stephen Templeton, defenseman, 18 years old, 50 overall, 4 yellow star potential
Third Round: Nick Merkley, center, 18 years old, 64 overall, 4 red star potential
Fourth Round: Olivier Galipeau, defenseman, 18 years old, 56 overall, 4 red star potential
Fifth Round: Ivan Provorov, defenseman, 18 years old, 61 overall, 4 1/2 red star potential
Sixth Round: Steven Lorentz, center, 19 years old, 64 overall, 3 1/2 red star potential
Seventh Round: Nathan Todd, right wing, 19 years old, 60 overall, 3 1/2 red star potential
Seventh Round: Garrett McFadden, defenseman, 17 years old, 57 overall, 3 yellow star potential
A quick note on potential: potential ranges in half stars from 1 star to 5 stars, with 5 being the best and 1 being the worst. Each full or half star is then graded in quality, green being the best, yellow being neutral, and red being the worst. However, 4 1/2 red stars is still better than 4 green stars and so on.
I was pretty happy with all of our picks, and it will be interesting to see these players develop. Next up was the resigning phase. I did not include 2-way deals, as they don't count towards the cap and most players got their contract renewed. Here is the list of those we resigned and those we didn't.
Resigned:
Michael Del Zotto, 3 years, 3.915 million dollars(annual)
Filip Forsberg, 3 years, 3.650 million dollars
Jason LaBarbera, 1 year, 1.2 million dollars
Did Not Resign:
Kimmo Timonen, 40 years old, 83 overall
Ryan White, 27 years old, 80 overall
I unloaded some players for late round picks to free up roster spots, The main one was rookie Garrett McFadden, who got me a fifth from Buffalo, talk about good value. The main roster spots we were looking for was a third line right winger and another top 4 defenseman.
We signed:
Cody Franson, offensive defenseman, 27 years old, 85 overall, 3 years, 5.7 million dollars
Eric Fehr, right wing power forward, 29 years old, 81 overall, 3 years, 2 million dollars
We really overspent on Franson, but we have money so I figured he was worth it. I like the look of Fehr, and the contract was too good to pass up. The big free agent was Frans Nielsen, who signed with the Arizona Coyotes for 4.865 million dollars over 3 years. Also signing was Brad Richards, who joined the Calgary Flames for 6 million dollars for just one year.
I took a look at the team, and decided Brayden Schenn had to go. After offseason progression, he and Sean Couturier were the same overall, but Schenn is 2 years older, even though he had a great year last year. I traded Schenn and Nicklas Grossmann for Mikkel Boedker, who fills the second line sniper role. Here is a look at our new lineup:
Forwards:
Voracek(90)-Giroux(90)-Forsberg(86)
Boedker(86)-Couturier(84)-Simmons(86)
Duclair(80)-Laughton(81)-Raffl(82)
Rinaldo(78)-Tyrell(78)-Fehr(81)
Defensemen
Del Zotto(85)-Franson(85)
MacDonald(85)-Vatanen(85)
Hagg(80)-Schenn(82)
Goalies
Mason(85)
LaBarbera(79)
A lot of our lines are interchangeable, and our d-core still needs some work. However, once I can find a good combination for everyone, I think the team will be better than last year. It's also good to see Anthony Duclair and Robert Hagg, two of our best prospects, both cracking the lineup. That's all from me, stay tuned for the new season.
-Henry
First off, our AHL team did make the playoffs, but lost in the first round in 7 games to the Ice Caps. Next, the NHL took to the ice for the playoffs, which saw the Detroit Red Wings lift another Stanley Cup, beating Ryan Getzlaf and the Anaheim Ducks in an epic 7 game series. Here is a list of the awards for the season:
Stanley Cup: Detroit Red Wings
Presidents' Trophy: Chicago Blackhawks
Maurice Richard: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburg Penguins
Art Ross: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburg Penguins
Ted Lindsay: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburg Penguins
Frank J. Selke: Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks
Bill Masterton: Zach Bogosian, Winnipeg Jets
William M. Jennings: Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers
Vezina: Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers
Conn Smythe: Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
Calder: Mike Hoffman, Ottawa Senators
Lady Byng: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburg Penguins
James Norris: Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators
Hart: Sidney Crrosby, Pittsburg Penguins
A good night for Sid the Kid, as he pulled in 5 awards, despite the Penguins falling in the very first round to the Detroit Red Wings. I had no idea who Mike Hoffman was, so I checked him out. Nothing special, 25 years old, 81 overall playmaker. He put up 50 points with a plus 6, so he definitely overachieved.
Next up was the players retiring. We lost Ray Whitney, which we expected. Around the league, Jaromir Jagr, Martin St. Louis and Shane Doan all hung up their skates.
We came into the draft with one first round pick, two thirds, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth and two sevenths. We were draftng ninth overall in the first round, which is a fairly good pick. The top five picks were Connor McDavid to the Jets, Yan to the Bruins, Oliver Kylington to the Panthers, Verhelst to the Maple Leafs and Flodell to the Blue Jackets. With our pick, we chose between Nicolas Meloche, a defenseman, and Travis Konecny, a center playmaker. We decided to take Meloche to help our defensive core. We traded our early third for this year and our third from 2017 for Nashville's second round pick, 23rd overall. Here is a list of our picks through all rounds:
First Round: Nicholas Meloche, defenseman, 17 years old, 61 overall, 4 green star potential
Second Round: Stephen Templeton, defenseman, 18 years old, 50 overall, 4 yellow star potential
Third Round: Nick Merkley, center, 18 years old, 64 overall, 4 red star potential
Fourth Round: Olivier Galipeau, defenseman, 18 years old, 56 overall, 4 red star potential
Fifth Round: Ivan Provorov, defenseman, 18 years old, 61 overall, 4 1/2 red star potential
Sixth Round: Steven Lorentz, center, 19 years old, 64 overall, 3 1/2 red star potential
Seventh Round: Nathan Todd, right wing, 19 years old, 60 overall, 3 1/2 red star potential
Seventh Round: Garrett McFadden, defenseman, 17 years old, 57 overall, 3 yellow star potential
A quick note on potential: potential ranges in half stars from 1 star to 5 stars, with 5 being the best and 1 being the worst. Each full or half star is then graded in quality, green being the best, yellow being neutral, and red being the worst. However, 4 1/2 red stars is still better than 4 green stars and so on.
I was pretty happy with all of our picks, and it will be interesting to see these players develop. Next up was the resigning phase. I did not include 2-way deals, as they don't count towards the cap and most players got their contract renewed. Here is the list of those we resigned and those we didn't.
Resigned:
Michael Del Zotto, 3 years, 3.915 million dollars(annual)
Filip Forsberg, 3 years, 3.650 million dollars
Jason LaBarbera, 1 year, 1.2 million dollars
Did Not Resign:
Kimmo Timonen, 40 years old, 83 overall
Ryan White, 27 years old, 80 overall
I unloaded some players for late round picks to free up roster spots, The main one was rookie Garrett McFadden, who got me a fifth from Buffalo, talk about good value. The main roster spots we were looking for was a third line right winger and another top 4 defenseman.
We signed:
Cody Franson, offensive defenseman, 27 years old, 85 overall, 3 years, 5.7 million dollars
Eric Fehr, right wing power forward, 29 years old, 81 overall, 3 years, 2 million dollars
We really overspent on Franson, but we have money so I figured he was worth it. I like the look of Fehr, and the contract was too good to pass up. The big free agent was Frans Nielsen, who signed with the Arizona Coyotes for 4.865 million dollars over 3 years. Also signing was Brad Richards, who joined the Calgary Flames for 6 million dollars for just one year.
I took a look at the team, and decided Brayden Schenn had to go. After offseason progression, he and Sean Couturier were the same overall, but Schenn is 2 years older, even though he had a great year last year. I traded Schenn and Nicklas Grossmann for Mikkel Boedker, who fills the second line sniper role. Here is a look at our new lineup:
Forwards:
Voracek(90)-Giroux(90)-Forsberg(86)
Boedker(86)-Couturier(84)-Simmons(86)
Duclair(80)-Laughton(81)-Raffl(82)
Rinaldo(78)-Tyrell(78)-Fehr(81)
Defensemen
Del Zotto(85)-Franson(85)
MacDonald(85)-Vatanen(85)
Hagg(80)-Schenn(82)
Goalies
Mason(85)
LaBarbera(79)
A lot of our lines are interchangeable, and our d-core still needs some work. However, once I can find a good combination for everyone, I think the team will be better than last year. It's also good to see Anthony Duclair and Robert Hagg, two of our best prospects, both cracking the lineup. That's all from me, stay tuned for the new season.
-Henry
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