Help! I need advice for my team/roster (Official Thread)

[pantsukki]

I'm managing the Ducks, and it's now the second season. I've Andersen signed to a 4 year contract (cap hit 4,265) and Gibson is still a RFA in the middle of November as he's demanding too much money. I finally made the decision to get rid of him (sadly), and have the following trades available:

-To EDM, get Nurse in return
-To PHI, get Laughton and 2017 2nd and 4th round picks (Philly is doing badly, so the second rounder should be pretty low)
-To WIN, get Petan and Sprong in return
-To STL, get three 2nd rounders (from STL, DAL and LA, so probably not so low picks) for 2017 and STL's 2018 1st round pick

So which trade to make? I'm kinda leaning on Edmonton, or Winnipeg, as Nurse has still two years of his entry contract left, and could become a key defender. Petan and Sprong could possibly develop into good offensive forwards, although Petan is quite small and had a bad first season with the Jets (36 GP, 1+6, 6.50. Despite only one 3 week injury in Sep -15, he played just 2 games in the AHL in addition to those 36). The haul of picks from STL is impressive, but picks of course are always a lottery, and those don't project to be early picks either. Furthermore, I already have two 1st rounders, two 2nds and three 3rd round picks for this year's draft.

[ShrimpQQ]

I would say sign Gibson and try to trade away Andersen or at least offer him out to see what you can get for him.
If that doesn´t bear fruit I would probably go with the Jets offer seeing as Duck already have a strong D-line and would say that they need to reinforce their offense before their defence.

[CJ]

I'd go with Winnipeg. If you need players for those positions.
If you have a good depth on the team, St.Louis trade would be a good one!

[axepig]

So I was kicking tires on Provorov and I got a decent offer... I'm really not sure what to do they want my #1 RH OFD for their #1 RH OFD.

Here's mine: https://i.imgur.com/RGnU9UE.jpg and stats https://i.imgur.com/axhUzWU.jpg

Provorov: https://i.imgur.com/k8B3wRW.jpg and stats https://i.imgur.com/Bw9oRZi.jpg

Addison has better stats and better workrate but Provorov destroys him in attributes, Addison is also a bit younger and their contracts are very similar. Addison is paid 300k more but it's one year longer. Who would you pick?

Edit: I'm the Sharks and just won the cup

[StormCloudsGathering]

Provorov. Just, provorov.

[philou21]

This post is not only about my team but I still decided to post this here because I haven't seen a Major Junior thread somewhere. Sorry if I missed it.

I started my 4th season with North Bay and we are maybe halfway through the season and my team still plays around .500 and we go up and down between the 5th or 7th spot. It's has been like this since my second season. The team is always inconsistent, taking the lead by 3 goals and blow it up or coming back from 3-4 goals and win. Sometimes when I think we are going to have a good season the team starts to choke. For example last year at one point we were something like 21-13-3 and the team went with a nice 2-8 in the next 10 games.

I'm trying to do my best to keep my line-up fresh too as I know that it goes pretty fast at those levels in term of come and go for the players but nobody seems to perform that well, except my first line of course. When I watch the other teams stats the all have average players (less attributes than mine for example) that perform really well compared to mine and I don't really understand why. Is this only a question of chemistry or their potential in the DB?

I have drafted decently too and despise finishing dead last in my first season I'm still 4 years later in the average of the league while the other teams who were at the bottom with me are already at the top in the league right now, which is absolutely normal in Major Junior. Maybe I'm doing something wrong somewhere but I don't know what. I have good coaches, a good line-up, I'm drafting well enough IMO and I'm agressive on the trade market to try and improve my team but there's no improvements at all or barely. Anyone played enough Major Junior to give their opinion on that?

[smokey]

This post is not only about my team but I still decided to post this here because I haven't seen a Major Junior thread somewhere. Sorry if I missed it.

I started my 4th season with North Bay and we are maybe halfway through the season and my team still plays around .500 and we go up and down between the 5th or 7th spot. It's has been like this since my second season. The team is always inconsistent, taking the lead by 3 goals and blow it up or coming back from 3-4 goals and win. Sometimes when I think we are going to have a good season the team starts to choke. For example last year at one point we were something like 21-13-3 and the team went with a nice 2-8 in the next 10 games.

I've spent a good deal playing in the CHL, and from what I've gathered there seems to be a connection between reg season conditioning/skating training and giving up a bunch of goals late in a game. When going through longer streches with with either (or both) set to low, the players had more energy at the end of the game, finishing stronger than when having both put on medium (or high for that matter). In the NHL I always have conditioning and skating on medium, through most of the reg season, but in the juniors, the players start to show severe signs of fatigue if both cond and skating training is put on medium while having other areas on intense. There's one thing to notice however, putting both physical and skating on light for extended periods of time, might result in the players playing with less intensity the first two periods, so I usually vary between both on medium and con=medium ska=light for most if not all of the regular season, keeping an eye on the players con within games. So far this is the only thing I've experienced to directly influence those last minute collapses along with the det attribute, whereas tweaking your lineup/tactic would influence the overall trend of results (keeping a rotation going to combat complacency, putting forwards on intense D training to lower amount of goals against etc). I've yet to see any team (good or bad) perform the same throughout a season, meaning there will be win streaks and mid-season slumps no matter what. Just keep an eye on the condition of your young players within and throughout games, try to anticipate any looming problems with fatigue/complacency etc in a proactive way, ie. before you've gone 20 games straight without changing anything. If you think you've found a winning formula that only works up until the very last minutes of any given night, try to keep said changes as cometic as possible (try a diff training regime for a week or two, bring a bottom six to your pp squad for a couple games etc) and don't kill your youngsters with intensive physical training as all that should be left in the off-season.

P.S Like many other things about this game all of the above is based on intuition and a strong gut feeling resulting from years of playing EHM. I can't prove any of this to be true or 100% accurate and if none of my suggestions seem to help in any way, I'm sure this forum is filled with people who have their own perception of what relates to what and what influences what in the game.

[philou21]

I did managed in my time in the OHL to control the conditionning of my players. Especially with those 3 straight days with a game. Normally putting them all summer long onintensive seems to have work for me. I barely had players tired after three straight games into the season BUT I was also putting everyone on rest for those days and back to training the next morning.

Do you find drafting hard after a while? Seems like after 2-3 seasons there's only midgets and skinny guys all over the place with no det and work rate. It's hard to build a decent team with those guys IMO.

[smokey]

I did managed in my time in the OHL to control the conditionning of my players. Especially with those 3 straight days with a game. Normally putting them all summer long onintensive seems to have work for me. I barely had players tired after three straight games into the season BUT I was also putting everyone on rest for those days and back to training the next morning.

Do you find drafting hard after a while? Seems like after 2-3 seasons there's only midgets and skinny guys all over the place with no det and work rate. It's hard to build a decent team with those guys IMO.

Check to see their cond during games, not in between. That's the key here. I find some of the players getting the most icetime being worn down late in the 3rd if cond and skat put on medium for lengthy stretches. A nights rest can get them back in shape after a tough match or two, but ultimately wont resolve those epic meltdowns late in the game.

Drafting in the juniors is a bit tricky. And yes, finidng prospects with good mentals is always a challenge. I usually favor players with better mental atts over players with tech atts, unless they've performed well in the minor juniors and recommended by any scout worth listening to. The first draft or two should set apart the scouts with a real eye for talent, over those who just go with what everyone else is saying, regardless of their scouting atts. With retro rosters its easier, whoever favors future nhl players over similar non nhl talent clearly knows his Adam Oates.

Also worth noting; The general skill level in the juniors is so low that, for instance, a player with good physical atts can do quite a bit of damage, even if his tech atts are in the 1-5 region. Usually a team with 5 players with good tech/mental/physical atts should be able to battle for a po spot or even win a po series or two. And that's excluding any first round nhl'ers and with the rest of the team just having the physique to grind through a long season. Meaning, you can easily fill your roster with unranked players if you find guys with good size/mental atts/physical atts.

[philou21]

That was I was trying to do to find players with a big shape since I know it helps them perform a bit better sometimes.

Also, that's why I found junior to be interesting, their low atts! It's totally another game comparing to the NHL to find players because someone with a 10 or 11 (which is low in the NHL) is considered good down there.

As for the conditionning thanks for the tips. I started a new game and if I end up again in the CHL I'll try to check closer if my players are getting tired late in-game.

[Shindigs]

Playing in a lot of euro leagues and the CHL has a fair bit in common (since my euro teams are all 16-20 years old anyways). I've only played 2 seasons in the CHL (WHL to be precise) but I did win the Memorial with Everett in our 2nd year, while letting the AI coach. I pretty much just did the same thing I do in Swe-2. Play 4 lines of stupidly quick finesse/skill forwards with either Relaxed, Strong Character or some mention of temperament in their scout report and no mention of needing to improve consistency. At that low level you really can get away with very low technicals. A player with 7 in shooting and one with 11 in shooting generally will be capable of similar point production. It's all about the speed and temperament when dealing with low attribute leagues in my experience. Since a lot of the dmen in the CHL are about as fast and agile as your average refrigerator; speedy players will draw so many penalties. If you manage to get a team with essentially all forwards with at least one of Acceleration or Speed at 17 (which I know is hard in the CHL) you won't be chocked to have an average of upwards of 20 minutes of PP per game. Which totally ruins your conditioning management. But it also makes you just win regardless, in my experience. Also if a player has sub 7 stamina or work rate he's just never going to play on my team ever. That just won't work. And a lot of CHLers have some pretty abysmal mentals and physicals.

Oh and speaking of the CHL. Did Riz fix that thing where your bantam draftees would instantly sign for a AAA team when their bantam contract ends (as in during the load screen when it ends) for 3 years so you can't touch them until they're over 18? I haven't dared touch the CHL since that happened 2 seasons in a row. It was somewhat infuriating. This was early last year though.

[SirWroom]

Advice for your roster?

1. Find out what kind of "style" of hockey you want to play. If it's hard and you're new to the game? Just make some beta games and try different things to see what works for you in terms of style, what works within the league you play in & to get to know the game or the league you're in.

2. When building a team. Find out what you're core is! Or what you want as your core. Maybe you don't have those players right away, maybe it takes awhile to collect them through draft, free agent marked and trades.
My core?
- Top goaltender
- At least three high quality d-men
- Two best centers you can find for your top six forwards
- Two best wingers you can find for your top six forwards
- 4 pacy all-round wingers to build your middle six forwards
- All-round solid bottom six centers

Now it sounds like half your team, because it is! You can complement that with the rest of the players.

3. Don't be afraid to trade (a lot of) pieces to get the best man in the trade (or the 1st overall draft pick), or the best man in the position you are looking for!
Because in the end, it's about icing the best roster.

4. Don't be afraid to sign "too many" middle six forwards or defensemen for okay salaries (or top quality guys for that matter), give those you can a two-way deal and if you end up with plenty of players, you can always trade them away for picks, or bundle (with picks or prospects) for a better player in a bigger trade. That's how you gain back assets lost in trading for better players. Besides, with a winning team, we're not drafting high anyway.

5. Don't be afraid of sacrificing players down the road in trades. That's how the cap goes, at some point a top six-winger probably has to go. Or the 3rd-line center-man. However you sacrifice, it's sometimes rough, but it needs to be done to keep the rest of the core (although, if you are able to within reason and conscious for your long-term playing core, let the older guy walk as a UFA or by trade if it's more reasonable to keep a younger guy).

6. Always try avoiding giving No-trading clauses. It just gives you more wiggle room regardless.

7. Send scouts out early for an intensive period for the NHL Entry Draft. Hire as many as possible. Send them out again in January or so.

8. Don't blindly trust any of your scouts during the Entry draft. Sort the players by correct abilities and remember to look at the scouting reports. Always have players in all positions as prospects and in the AHL, but also remember in the draft to draft the best available player if needed.

9. I live by the rule of always fixing your offense first within the game. So, kind of the opposite of a lot of mindsets in real life. But, the goalie is always a top priority in addition to offense.

10. Don't get too frustrated while building your team! Remember, it takes pain to gain.

[TurboJ]

455 hours of EHM behind me so I have some grasp about how things work, but there is one particular problem I can't seem to figure out.

How to have effective centers in third and fourth line. No matter what I do, these players always seem to lose morale and play really badly. The limited TOI is an issue of course, but there should be players out there who would be professional enough to deal with a less glamorous role?

The problem is with centers especially. Nobody seems to want to play 3rd or 4rd line, even if their skill level and experience warrants just that. D-men, wingers, no problem whatsoever. Centers however, I try to choose them carefully for the role and make sure they have the right mentals, but they all seem to tend towards 6.2 - 6.5 avg rating and terrible +/- stats along with terrible morale.

My third line is always very defensive, set to play the opponent's first line whenever possible so this is one thing to consider. BUT, D-men and wingers have no problem with this - centers do.

If I assign my better centers to 3rd and 4th they start losing morale too and decline severely.

So the question is, how to find the right centers for bottom six?

FWIW I play a very offense-oriented strategy, but I have set the bottom six to a more conservative stance, especially the 3rd which is the defense line.

[PixieSin]

I'm curious if anyone else has played as the 18-19 Coyotes. How did you deal with starting so far under the salary floor?

[TurboJ]

Still wondering why the third line center is always naff and unhappy. I can make every other roster spot work but not the third line center.

I've not been using line matching for a long time now, so it's not that. AI could be using line matching and maybe they have their first lines play against my third, that would kinda explain why my #3 center is suffering.

For some reason the #3 center is always prone to low morale and poor play. I believe it's poor results -> loss of morale -> even poorer results and so on. But why this one spot is so difficult? (third line wingers still do fine)

For the first two lines, my #1 and #2 centers are usually my best overall players, Crosby/Malkin ideology. Both lines built for scoring and it works every time. Even cheap wingers do if they have the right skill set and one rookie straight out of the draft is allowed in top six. No problems. On line #3, I try to have some defense and some scoring, and always a center who has high faceoff skill. But ALL #3 centers have always gotten depressed for me, often to the point of not agreeing to re-sign at any price. Giving them PP time only helps if their morale stays high-ish and it doesn't so only short stints to PP for boosted morale offer short term relief. Soon enough the bad karma starts rolling and the PP will stop working too so it's a downward spiral. This genuinely feels like a sacrificial position, and one that requires disposable fodder for it

Fourth line is usually just scraps for me, but I make a point to have a cheap but really veteran C in there. More often than not, no struggles. Can often get 30 points for less than a million per out of the #4C and morale is easy to manage.

Should I just ignore the third line...? Nothing seems to work, since if I go for a full offensive build their +/- is horrid and they're a complete liability. If I go for defensive build, the point production is just so low that they lose morale this way too. And if if put a very skilled center on there, like 8 million dollars skilled, he can handle it but it's surely a waste (and he'll never ever re-sign because of the small role).

All wingers I can always manage. D-men I can always manage. Three centers I can almost always manage. Heck, even goalies seem to be easy compared to this. So how do you guys deal with it? Fix or forget?

[TurboJ]

After much testing, I find the best remedy is to just focus on offense for third line also.The AI does often play their first line against it, but if you have strong scoring potential on this line, then the end result is usually still better in the long run than if you try to focus on containing the opposing team's stars defensively. That's my 2 cents. Naturally you need some skill on these players, and speed is very useful. And good faceoff skill for the C. But this seems to work best for me at least.