Challenge 16: Edmonton Oilers (Discussion Thread)

Post by **visualdarkness** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 2:18 pm

outdooral wrote:3.04 GA and 89.99%

I would kill for those stats!

outdooral · Post by **outdooral** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 2:04 am

Really ?? who do you have in net ??

After waiting until after july 1, osullivan signed for 1.9/season for 2 years.This after he turned down 2.9 the week before.
Im pretty happy.we'll see how he goes or if he's trade material.
Im signing no FA's for season 3,maybe we'll pick up someone on waivers,but Ive got some young guys coming up.MPS tore up the Ahl in his first season,(121 points and 3 or 4 awards) hes getting a good look for this year and Riley Nash looks like he can develop into something as well.
Off to training camp we go.

Flying_Buffalo26 · Post by **Flying_Buffalo26** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 2:44 am

outdooral wrote: Not sure what to do now with O'sullivan, he was 20g ,40a,-16,7.27 and got lots of ice PP,Pk and 2nd line.he a group 2 RFA,he doesnt want to negotiate but Im thinking of making him an offer just over 3 million.
Im also tempted just to let him sit out and save some money.

If I am allowed to give you an advice: DON'T trade O'Sullivan! He's is a great 1st liner with great speed and huge scoring abbilities... I'm paying 4.5M for him and he's is clearly worth it, he has 100p/season potential and doesn't completly fall in the defensive end of the ice....

O'Sullivan 5th season

some stats are lower than they really are after the playoffs, I would really try to keep him....

outdooral · Post by **outdooral** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 3:20 am

He looks pretty good ,thanks.Ive got him signed for the next 2 years,as long as his morale stays up and he produces he'll be staying.

Flying_Buffalo26 · Post by **Flying_Buffalo26** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 3:48 am

After 1 week without internet (that's really tough, didn't know HOW hard to be without it

) I brought in my 5th season: I managed to win the Western conference with 116 points and the 2nd SC in 5 years as well...

Altough my tactics are not the best ones, in the playoffs they seem to work, we swept the first round against Colorado and went with a 4-2 against the Canucks into the conference finals, where we destroyed the Flames in 4 straight games only allowing 2 goals in the last 3 games of the series (--> Calgary is simply not the same team since Iginla left them a year ago, if they are down by two they are not able to turn around a game, that's leadership in this game I think)

In the SC final we met the Toronto Maple Leafs, we only played 2 games in the past 5 years against them and we manged to get a 3-0 lead in the series.... In the fourth game we were trailing after 2 periods by 1-2 and got the one goal lead early back into the 3rd period, just about over 120 seconds left on the clock and Giguere is pulled, they didn't get a single shot on goal, but 12 seconds before we could celebrate the 2nd consecutive SC Ponikarovsky scored and OT should decide that game...... Smid got penalized for crosschecking and Kessel scored the game winning goal.
Toronto got another impressive 6-3 at home, but in game six in front of a full rexall palace the only thing they got was the first goal game of the night, Penner scored twice immediatly afterwards and Taylor Hall closed the game with the 5-1....

Altough my Oilers are a pretty young team they made a good figure throughout the whole playoffs and deserved to claim the victory once again. Penner got MVP of the playoffs but it could have been his last season in Edmonton due to his huge 5.5M contract....

I just finished the draft and got some really nice guys in the 2011 draft I think:

Nielsson McNamara - #30, I am quite sure he is the Brett Hull regen, just look at his stats, awesome guy!

Glen Anderson #60 C, very fast Power Fowrward, strong in both ends - a more talented P. Stastny

Miloslav Martinec - #90 This guy must be a regen of Lubo Visnovsky, altough he has not so good stats I couldn't resist to draft a young version of Lubo after trading away his older one a few years ago - more talented Markov

Blaine Johansen #120 LW another fast power forward, 2nd line potential - a better Dan Fritsche

Connor Mason #150 C a great player but lacking some creativity and other mental stats, 1st line potential - more talented Henrik Sedin!

Graydon Gagnon #180 allround RW, 2nd line pot. - like Martin Havlat

Geoff Thurston #210 C/LW, pretty good offensively, 2nd line pot. - like Mike Ribeiro

I am pretty happy with that draft, a lot of great talents and some depth guys....

I have two other regens that I think I know who they are without using the save-game editor:

Dusan Hrivik - Robert Svehla regen #30 2010 - there can be no other slovakian defensemen with these impressive stats at the 2010 draft, a really nice guy, will get some icetime in the 6th season...

John Burström - Forsberg regen #21 2009 - This must be him, he gets injured after every 3-5 games and is out for at least a week

and altough he has awesome mental stats the lack of creativity disturbs a little bit, but the main problem is that he is darn slow, I really hate to play with slow players and I have no idea how to handle him!? An advice would be great

Well, what else... Smid had his breakthrough season on the point in PP1 with over 8 AVR during the season and 49 points, 8.25 AVR in the playoffs; Fowler almost reached 7.5 AVR and had 30 points during the season, Hall played well too with 7.75 AVR and 69 points in 80 games playing mostly 2nd or 3rd line sometimes 1st. O'Sully had career high 95 points, +47 and 8.07 AVR. Malkin and Stastny were solid this season with 101 and 103 P, but had no chance to win Art Ross (Kovalchuck 125p)......

I hope that I will get in another season, even if there are no other 3 that do so, but I am really enjoying that challenge and hoping that it will NEVER end

Another interesting fact: There are about 10 UFA star players and the Sabres couldn't sign any of their key-players: Roy left last year, Miller, Vanek, Heatley and Pominville this year, their cap hit is at 27M (!)... I hope that they will resign some of them or they will be battling for the last spot with the Yotes or Columbus......
Good games guys and good night

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 2:47 pm

Interesting draft! That Hull regen looks really good but I'd be a bit concerned with his extremely low Aggression and Hitting. Could Burstrom really be Forsberg with such a low Creativity? I really like the looks of Hrivik. He looks like a player I could use on my team!

Post by **Manimal** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 3:29 pm

Flying_Buffalo26 wrote: Glen Anderson #60 C, very fast Power Fowrward, strong in both ends - a more talented P. Stastny

One less n, but a great name to be drafted by the Oilers!

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 3:41 pm

Manimal wrote:
Flying_Buffalo26 wrote: Glen Anderson #60 C, very fast Power Fowrward, strong in both ends - a more talented P. Stastny

One less n, but a great name to be drafted by the Oilers!

LOL! Yeah, I don't see how you could pass this guy over if he was available to you. It's just good karma to pick him.

Flying_Buffalo26 · Post by **Flying_Buffalo26** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 3:41 pm

Manimal wrote:
Flying_Buffalo26 wrote: Glen Anderson #60 C, very fast Power Fowrward, strong in both ends - a more talented P. Stastny

One less n, but a great name to be drafted by the Oilers!

Ohhh I didn't know him to tell the truth, I am not so familiar with old star players, but he definetly has the potential to match some of his 100p seasons he had in the 80s

... another funny coincidence

Post by **visualdarkness** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:24 pm

outdooral wrote:Really ?? who do you have in net ??

After waiting until after july 1, osullivan signed for 1.9/season for 2 years.This after he turned down 2.9 the week before.
Im pretty happy.we'll see how he goes or if he's trade material.
Im signing no FA's for season 3,maybe we'll pick up someone on waivers,but Ive got some young guys coming up.MPS tore up the Ahl in his first season,(121 points and 3 or 4 awards) hes getting a good look for this year and Riley Nash looks like he can develop into something as well.
Off to training camp we go.

I never get any decent stats for my goalies as my super-offensive tactics usually allows few shots against and huge numbers for, I can't play good defense from my goalies perspective. Jonas Gustavsson landed on 0.885sv% and 3.31GAA, pretty good for me. He actually got his first ever SO in the first game of the play-off's in season three!

Post by **visualdarkness** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:26 pm

If I ever get a Vezina nominee I promise to dance on the table...

Post by **visualdarkness** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 12:05 am

Something really must be wrong with Gustavsson, he actually recorded his second SO in a row! He is destroying the 'hawks in the first round:

2-0 (35 saves)
8-0 (27 saves)

Bad news is that I lost my second best d-man in Gilbert for 3 weeks.

Flying_Buffalo26 · Post by **Flying_Buffalo26** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 12:12 am

As there is some interest regarding my #60 pick of the 2011 draft here comes a screenshot, I hope you will have a good laugh with that one....

Glen(n) Anderson

He's pretty mature for his age, nice beard

Post by **visualdarkness** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 12:16 am

Flying_Buffalo26 wrote:As there is some interest regarding my #60 pick of the 2011 draft here comes a screenshot, I hope you will have a good laugh with that one....

Glen(n) Anderson

He's pretty mature for his age, nice beard

Gleeeeeen!

A true Oiler!

Post by **visualdarkness** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 3:39 am

Surprising choice of HC for the USA national team:
http://img210.imageshack.us/g/screenshot161.gif/

Post by **batdad** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 4:32 pm

visualdarkness wrote:If I ever get a Vezina nominee I promise to dance on the table...

Please don't.

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 4:44 pm

So I'm in my third season (08-09) and Souray's contract is due to expire after the season. He's 35 years old and wants a 3 year deal worth $5.85M, which isn't too much of an increase on his current deal in terms of dollars. The troubling part is the number of years (3) and the fact that he wants a No Trade Clause. I seriously don't want to commit that kind of money to a 35 year old for that long, especially with an NTC. I've tried offering him a 1 year deal for that kind of money and no NTC but he's just not having it. I'm going to offer him 1 year at $5.85M and the NTC. If he doesn't take that deal, I'm just going to have to walk away.

outdooral · Post by **outdooral** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 5:55 pm

2 games into season 3 and I like where we are going.I was ranked 12th in pre season predictions despite making no roster moves.Moreau and Hemsky are both out for a few weeks,but we've managed to win our first 2 games.Including a playoff rematch with Vancouver.We were outshot 34-20 but managed a 2-1 win with Horcoff scoring both goals on the PP and Conklin shutting the door.
I just added Carcillo from waivers,and will now look to make a trade to move Comrie and Brule,both who are underperforming every game.

outdooral · Post by **outdooral** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 5:58 pm

Hey Bruins, have you made your trade yet.?.Sourays got to be worth something at the deadline.Im also thinking about moving one of the high price Dmen on this team before their contract expires.

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 5:58 pm

I hate Brule. He's getting moved after my current season.

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 6:00 pm

outdooral wrote:Hey Bruins, have you made your trade yet.?.Sourays got to be worth something at the deadline.Im also thinking about moving one of the high price Dmen on this team before their contract expires.

I did make my trade earlier in the season. I traded Eberle and Pouliot to the Sharks for Couture and Petrecki. I'm really pleased with Petrecki so far. Couture is still in the AHL.

I couldn't trade Souray anyhow. He's got an NTC.

Flying_Buffalo26 · Post by **Flying_Buffalo26** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 3:14 am

bruins72 wrote: I did make my trade earlier in the season. I traded Eberle and Pouliot to the Sharks for Couture and Petrecki. I'm really pleased with Petrecki so far. Couture is still in the AHL.

I couldn't trade Souray anyhow. He's got an NTC.

Hmmm.... Eberle an and Pouliot are still on my roster in the 2011/12 season but I would love to trade them for good substitutes as well! Souray and Moreau left at the age of 36 (?) and 37 the Oilers in 2010 for Hall and Bryan Little in my game...
Hall turns to be out a great player but Little just cleared waivers becauses of a massive 1.6 - 1.7M contract....

I also finished my trade for the 6th season on the 2nd of July:

Pennner + Grebeshkov for Bobby Ryan + Colin Wilson....

I simply couldn't resist, but I had to sign Ryan for the next 2 years to a huge 6.25M contract, so it's possible that this will be his first and last season with us

...

My lines heading into the 6th season with some defensive troubles like the years before.....

Smid - Gilbert
Shattenkirk - Fowler
Johns - Hrivik (screenshot some posts before)

O'Sully - Stastny - B. Ryan
Hall - Malkin - Gagner
Cogliano - C. Wilson - MPS
Gaustad - T. Kennedy - Artyukhin

I have not signed any UFAs because there was no real need, I would have loved to sign a good LD but no one wanted o sign with me, anyways I think I have more than enough potential down in Springfield, I'm pretty sure that we are able to get another 50-60 wins this season and play an important role in the playoffs this year......

outdooral · Post by **outdooral** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 2:46 pm

I am trying to move Comrie and Brule together and have got a few good replies.
To Ottawa for Antoine Vermette
To Toronto for Wayne Primeau and John Mitchell
To Columbus for Patrick Sharp.

Any opinions ? Im leaning towards Vermette.

Marsac · Post by **Marsac** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 9:07 pm

Season three ended with another cup win, can we do three in a row after losing our captain? There's a distinct lack of leadership on the squad now and it will be even worse after next season with Moreau gone. It will be interesting to see what kind of impact it has on the team results.

Awards:
QMJHL Guy Lafleur Trophy - Olivier Roy
Bill Masterton - Souray
Conn Smythe - Penner, Horcoff 2nd
Selke - Moreau 2nd
Jack Adams - Renney
Vezina - Lehtonen (0.914/2.55 regular season, 0.938/1.87 playoffs)
First All-Star - Souray, Penner
Second All-Star - Lehtonen

Overall the individuals were weaker but the team stronger this season. No one was close to the Norris for example, offense was evenly spread beween my top four defensemen: Gilbert 39P, Grebeshkov 37P, Visnovsky 40P and Souray 43P. Spreading stats around is probably not a good strategy if you want to win challenges, I know... What can I say, I love seeing my depth guys put up points.

Draft:
#30(31) C/LW Fredrik Hallberg, a bigger, better version of Patrice Bergeron
#60(87) G Max Leino, a bigger, better version of Curtis Sanford
#90(96) C Luca Winkler, like Jason Arnott with a smaller frame
#120(N/A) C Teppo Levänen, like a defensive-minded Dainius Zubrus
#150(167) C/LW/RW Christoffer Rauch, like Antoine Vermette
#180(128) C Ola Söderholm, like Mikko Koivu with a smaller frame
#210(N/A) G Thomas Hofer, a poor man's Rick DiPietro

So last draft I got mostly RWs and this time I got only centers and goalies... My depth chart is now stupidly unbalanced, go me.

I just couldn't pass up reaching for Levänen at #120, his physical attributes are 19/19/20/19/18/20, he reads the game well, he is an excellent playmaker, he has 18 determination and he's captain material. I can't figure out why he wasn't ranked. He does play for an unknown Finnish fifith division club so maybe the game is acctually sort of realistic that way, allowing those players to slip under the radar.

The final pick was similar, I was clicking through my scout rankings trying to find someone that had atleast a unanimous two-star ranking when I stumbled upon this four star gem who had only been seen by one of my scouts. His positioning (9) and reflexes (11) need some work but everything else is already at the NHL level. Again, this guy played for an unknown club in "Sui JW" but he has now been signed by Harvard.

We let Souray go in the offseason to allow some players to get big raises (Gagner 4.74M for four years, Penner 6M for two years, O'Sullivan 4.5M for three years etc). Here's the tentative lineup for season four pending camp performances and final cap hit (currently estimated 2.2M above cap but I'm planning to waive Pisani's 2.5M hit if needed):

Lehtonen
Deslauriers

Gilbert-Visnovsky
Grebeshkov-Smid
Petry-Plante

Mikhnov-Gagner-Penner
MPS-Horcoff-O'Sullivan
Moreau-Stone-Nilsson
Cogliano-Potulny-Armstrong

OR (going to try varying the lineup when I switch tactics, see what happens)

Penner-Gagner-O'Sullivan
Cogliano-Horcoff-Nilsson
MPS-Stone-Mikhnov
Moreau-Potulny-Armstrong

Spares: Koci, Pisani

I can't really fit Lander anywhere except at fourth line C after I decided to bring back Mikhnov. He's probably better off in the AHL for one more season before replacing Moreau.

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 9:16 pm

I was just reading something today suggesting that Linus Omark has left the KHL. He might actually be heading to the Oilers. The real life team might accomplish something none of us were able to pull off in the challenge.