Challenge #48 - Los Angeles Kings - Discussion Thread

kenbauer · Post by **kenbauer** » Mon May 13, 2019 12:41 am

Manimal wrote: Sun May 12, 2019 10:08 pm 7.5 Instead choosing one of the UFA signing tiers, you may sign one player from waivers at any point during the year and without restriction as to annual salary. If you take this approach, you will not be able to sign any UFAs during that season.

Oh yes, I read that awhile back and then forgot when I was searching specifically for the waiver rule. Thanks!

OldGregg · Post by **OldGregg** » Tue May 14, 2019 7:37 pm

Had a great 1st season, finished 2nd in the conference and eventually got swept by 1st place Colorado in the 3rd round. It took about 20 games for Turcotte to adjust and for me to figure out the right way to use him but he had a great season overall and with Kempe and Thomas/Kupari developing my lineup was really strong for the 2nd half. Defense is still weak but it was adequate with a Soderstrom - Martinez top pair. Quick wasn't spectacular but he was fine, better than I expected given his attributes don't look great.

Kovalchuk - Turcotte - Toffoli turned out to be a really strong 1st line overall and Iafallo + Brown worked pretty well as a 2nd line with a rotation of Kempe/Thomas/Kupari. Guys like Luff and Rempal were nice depth too and added some depth scoring. I shifted Carter to 3rd line RW, I just don't think he has the atts for center and I'd rather use my younger guys there anyway. I'm overall really happy with the forwards with how good Turcotte is and I still have Anderson-Dolan, Grundstrom, and Podkolzin + my other 2019 draftees that could contribute next season. Defense isn't great but between Martinez, Soderstrom, and Clague there's an alright core there and it should be good enough with the quality forwards.

Going into season 2 I'm looking to use my moves to upgrade in goal or on D. Hopefully I can find a good 1 for 1 deal for a star goalie and then add a 3M defenseman in UFA. If the UFA pool doesn't look good enough I might just save my move and try to claim a defenseman from waivers instead because cap isn't going to be an issue. I could also try to trade for a top pair Dman but I think a goalie is more important in the long term, I'm nervous about Quick declining and there's nothing in the prospect pool while I think Soderstrom is a pretty safe bet as a long term top pair guy.

kenbauer · Post by **kenbauer** » Thu May 16, 2019 1:12 pm

Okay, I hope that I am doing this right. I keep going back to that list of rules to make sure I am not breaking any.

Finished dead last in the first season while keeping my draft picks in Ontario who just missed the AHL playoffs.
Onwards and upwards.
The Winnipeg Jets won the cup in a final versus the Penguins.

Ottawa won the lottery 1st and I took 2nd pick for this 2020 Draft and picked up:

1st round: Alexis Lafrenière

2nd round: Karel Klikorka

3rd round: Samuel Knazko

4th round: Ozzy Wiesblatt and Valery Yefimov

5th round: Jake Sanderson

6th round: Austen Swankler

7th round: Cole Schwindt

After the draft, I went to work on what I can do with the roster for season 2.

Of this class, I immediately signed Lafrenière and Klikorka to entry contracts.

The Jets put Bryan Little on the block so I traded for him on July 7 for a 3rd round pick. I put a bunch of offers out, others were turned down.

My backup goaltending was killing me in the first season so I used my free agent signing to bring Jimmy Howard onboard for 2.3 million for 2 years.

Holding onto my player-for-player pick to see if I can make a deal in-season.

Now at the end of August and gearing up for training camp.

Vasz · Post by **Vasz** » Thu May 16, 2019 9:07 pm

Season 2 is coming to an end and I lost against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup finals in 7 games. Game 7 went to OT3 and I managed to get 96 shots on net, but Murray was a [SNIP] wall and stopped 93 of those shots. Brown retired just before the season started while Kovalchuk and Carter will retire at the end of this season. I’m expecting to be way under the salary floor next season with all those veterans gone. I’ll probably end up trying to trade one of my good prospects for an established top 6 forward with a big salary.

Jack Hughes already looks like a franchise centerman only at 20 years old with almost 1 PPG. I’m expecting him to get over 85 points next season if he stays healthy. Kupari was quite impressive as he won the Calder with 66 points in 81 games playing most of the season with Thomas and Rempal on the second line. Soderstrom isn’t developing in the AHL like I would have wanted but it looks like Clague is ready to become the number one defence this team needed since Doughty is gone. My only concern for the next few seasons is at the goaltending position. Quick isn’t performing as much as I wanted at 35 years old and I have zero goalie prospect ready to replace him once he retires. I’ll try to snag a best goalie available in the 2021 NHL Draft, but drafting goalies is always a gamble.

I’m already excited for next season with all my new prospects coming up. I’m definitely trying to win the Stanley Cup next year, no exception.

ADMIN NOTE: Vasz please do not bypass the swear filter.

Post by **jesterx7769** » Sat May 18, 2019 2:14 am

Good season 2 beating my expecations. I feel a little bad w/my trades like I abandoned my draft picks, so thinking these rebuild challenges should be Homegrown rules

oh well

Going into season 2 center was my main focus

Traded Akil Thomas for Brian Little. I tried trading for every C int he league w/15 FO and Passing, and little was only one that worked.

Signed Erik Haula in free agency. Tried for Sam Rinehart but he signed somewehre else for 3.5M just over our budget

Hurricanes put Jordan Staal on block so traded a 2nd for him. Not a big fan of Defensive players in EHM, but I figured what better C could I get

Debating about whether to start my young guys and ended up doing so which worked out so well. Kakko finished 2nd in NHL in goals

Won game 7 inr ound 1, game 6 in round 2, game 7 in round 3, then things went bad in FInals as Kakko was playing garbage and needed a rest, Quick injury, LIttle injury, Clauge injury, Martinz injury

wasnt expecting to have a shot at cup in season 2 so wasnt really mad, but not fun to get that far and lose

Heading into season 3 I expect the team to compete for a cup and will like try to trade for some verteran D or maybe an aging C that would be improvement on Little

For most of season, Lines were

Kupari- Little- Toffoli
Parent- Haula- Kakko
Iafallo- Staal- Grundstrom
Kovalchuk- Kempe- Rempal

Clague- Martinez
Brickley- Durzi
Bjornfot- La Due

smdesroches · Post by **smdesroches** » Sun May 19, 2019 11:46 am

Update: August 1st, 2019

Took Control of Ontario Reign
Signed Ryan Walter as Head Coach (LA)
Added Assistant Coaches
Won Draft Lottery
Traded Doughty for Det picks (2-6)
Traded Kopitar for all NJ picks (2-7) <-- Thought I'd gamble on multiple 2nd & 3rd's instead of the 10th overall
Round 1: Jack Hughes (1), Tobias Björnfot (20)
Round 2: Toman (32), Beecher (36), Pelletier (38), Knight (43), Knyazev (47), Aguanno (58), Thrun (60)
Round 3: Ruotsalainen (63), Laaouan (69), Andersson (76), Poulin (81), Rees (88)
Round 4: Caulfield (94), Gajarský (100), Astashevskyy (105), Onyebuchi (117),
Round 5: Guskov (131), Zaruba (132), Gill (136), Topping (146)
Round 6: Gryaznov (156), Schmiemann (162), Teply (167)
Round 7: McMichael (187), Swankler (198)
Issues with 80+ Players (Lost Eyssimont on waivers, released Jenys, Ingham, Budaj retired)

Post by **jesterx7769** » Sun May 19, 2019 4:17 pm

Not a fun start to season 3...realized i took no screenshots of season 1 and 2

and also only won 10 games despite using 99% same lines and tactics. So season 3 should be fun...

OldGregg · Post by **OldGregg** » Fri May 24, 2019 4:22 pm

Into season 2 now, there wasn't much available below 3M in free agency so I decided not to sign anyone and gamble on finding someone better in waivers. Ended up getting Viktor Rask from waivers in November, he's been a perfect fit at 2C so far and I'm glad I waited instead of signing an older defenseman or something. Hoping to make some trades now, trying to move one of Martinez or Toffoli for a younger goalie and then grab a veteran with a 2nd at the deadline. Extended Kovalchuk for one year and Martinez for 4 years, Kovalchuk declined a ton between season 1 and 2 so he might be done by season 3 but there's nothing else to spend the money on and he's still PPG in season 2 so he might have another year left.

Edit: Ended up swapping Toffoli for Ilya Samsonov. Feels like an overpay and it's a gamble because Samsonov doesn't look amazing, but I really want a younger goalie since I don't trust a 35+ Quick. Was impossible to find any decent veterans for a 2nd so I just got Bozak for a 4th for some playoff injury depth.

Edit 2: Toffoli trade definitely backfired. Samsonov was terrible in the playoffs and I lost in 5 games to the 8 seed Canucks. Probably was a mistake to break up my top line since without Toffoli I was relying too heavily on Turcotte as the only true legitimate 1st line forward on the roster. Oh well, fingers crossed Samsonov and some forward prospects develop over the summer. Carter and Brown are also both retiring which is surprising since they both had good seasons and their physicals are only in the 10-11 range. A little disappointed since I think they would both be good for another year as 3rd line wingers.

Edit 3: Quick decided to retire in the 2021 offseason so I guess it was a good thing I got Samsonov. Decided not to wait for trades this time, sent a 3rd to Philadelphia for Alex Killorn to add some winger depth, and lucked into an Ekblad for Akil Thomas trade after I saw a news item about another team trying to trade for Ekblad. Signed Gavin Bayreuther for 3M and he looks great. Probably going to go Clague - Ekblad / Bayreuther - Martinez on defense and convert Soderstrom to RW as a Toffoli replacement.

30Tanner · Post by **30Tanner** » Tue May 28, 2019 3:18 am

Just opened up the file and am about to start setting things up, but I just want to take a second to make a suggestion for future challenges:

If you're having the save file start right before the draft, please have your scouts on the draft during the regular season. A lot of my drafting takes hidden attributes into account, and the only way to look at those (without "cheating" with the EHM Assistant) is through the scouting snippets.

That said, I'm excited to see a new challenge, and I'll check back in after the draft.

Post by **Manimal** » Tue May 28, 2019 11:08 am

30Tanner wrote: Tue May 28, 2019 3:18 am Just opened up the file and am about to start setting things up, but I just want to take a second to make a suggestion for future challenges:

If you're having the save file start right before the draft, please have your scouts on the draft during the regular season. A lot of my drafting takes hidden attributes into account, and the only way to look at those (without "cheating" with the EHM Assistant) is through the scouting snippets.

That said, I'm excited to see a new challenge, and I'll check back in after the draft.

There is still time for some scouting in this save.
I sent some scouts away for the shortest time possible and I also sent scouts to all ranked players and got info in time for the draft

Post by **jesterx7769** » Thu Jun 06, 2019 2:30 am

Well I keep meaning to post my update and keep forgetting.

Season 3: After my rough start and only real improvement of adding Shattenkirk on D (who isnt super great this game) I was hanging onto playoff spot and traded Kupari (sad) for old Malkin at the deadline, who ended up playing great and taking us to the cup!

Season 4: Was feeling good after winning cup and signed Tanev to the big $5M spend we get this season. However once again had a poor start for some reason as my centers once again all sucked. Traded Owen Lalonde (who was looking great) for Sam Reinhart who I missed out on signed before due to the other teams cap. Also traded 2nd round pick for Travis Harmonic to hopefully shore up the PK. I was cruising in the playoffs but lost tin game 7 of Western conference final to Avalanche who had the super duper Jack Hughes.

Season 5: Heading into 5 I traded 2nd round pick for Marcus Johanson who was on the block for cap purposes, I never really had a true establisehd LW so figured what the heck even though he's expensive and not elite. Didn't sign a free agent as didnt like anyone for the $3M and was going to grab someone off waivers instead but lost out on both guys I tried to claim

however the team finally has a hot start! Oh and both bryan little and jonathon quick retired during off season

Current lines through Q1 of Season 5:

Johansson- Reinhart- Kakko
Nizhnikov- Malkin- Toffoli
Parent- Cozens- Wilkman
Foote- Haula- Gajarsky

Clague- Tanev
Bjornfot- Shattenkirk
Martinez- Hamonic

Knight- Campbell

mustardstew · Post by **mustardstew** » Fri Jun 07, 2019 7:00 pm

Joining this Challenge late - 48? Wow I've been away a while! I like the twist in this one!
Ryan Walter is also my Head Coach. Hired 2 assistants and fired one. I'll lose 2 more next year. Some sort of roleplay aspect I guess haha.

Getting ready for the draft now. Wow, re-learning curve!!

mustardstew · Post by **mustardstew** » Fri Jun 07, 2019 11:58 pm

kenbauer wrote: Thu May 09, 2019 3:25 am My big issue is that I am under the cap floor. I'm thinking that I should have renewed a contract at a higher value to meet the floor since I cannot trade/acquire a player to get cap on the roster.
We'll see what happens.

What did you do/what happened with the cap floor problem?

kenbauer · Post by **kenbauer** » Wed Jun 19, 2019 10:56 pm

mustardstew wrote: Fri Jun 07, 2019 11:58 pm
kenbauer wrote: Thu May 09, 2019 3:25 am My big issue is that I am under the cap floor. I'm thinking that I should have renewed a contract at a higher value to meet the floor since I cannot trade/acquire a player to get cap on the roster.
We'll see what happens.
What did you do/what happened with the cap floor problem?

I just kept paying a fine every week

Post by **jesterx7769** » Thu Jun 20, 2019 3:24 pm

mustardstew wrote: Fri Jun 07, 2019 11:58 pm
kenbauer wrote: Thu May 09, 2019 3:25 am My big issue is that I am under the cap floor. I'm thinking that I should have renewed a contract at a higher value to meet the floor since I cannot trade/acquire a player to get cap on the roster.
We'll see what happens.
What did you do/what happened with the cap floor problem?

I just got the fine each week. I wasnt that far under so the fines werent enough to piddle off the board. I didn't see any negative consequnces while playing from it, but will consider it next time if I do another twist (i.e. maybe grab an expensive guy off waivers to stick in minors and bump up your cap hit)

sao.phim · Post by **sao.phim** » Sun Jul 07, 2019 8:42 pm

Shame I noticed this new challenge so late, but here we go.

Traded Kopitar to Sabres for 10th OA
Traded Doughty to Red Wings for 3x2nd, 3rd, 4th, 2x 5th, 6th round picks

Unfortunately we fell to 3rd spot in lottery.

As I felt we were not deep on C in our prospect pool, I decided to address it during this draft.

1st round - Kakko (RW), Soderstrom(D), Broberg(D)
2nd round - Beecher(C), Cajkovic(RW), Toman(C), Zaitsev(C)
3rd round - I. Andersson(C), Poulin(LW), Toporowski(LW),
4th round - Miftakhov(G), Khabarov(D), Guskov(C)
5th round - Simoneau(C),Topping(C),Warren(D)
6th round - Crete-Belzille(D),Rowe(G),Swankler(C)

Altogether, 19 picks, so hopefully we are set for years to come. Immediately, I signed all 3 picks from 1st round to ELC.

Refreshed our staff and approaching first training camp now..

sao.phim · Post by **sao.phim** » Tue Jul 30, 2019 5:13 pm

Can you extend this challenge?

Post by **archibalduk** » Fri Aug 02, 2019 10:20 pm

sao.phim wrote: Tue Jul 30, 2019 5:13 pm Can you extend this challenge?

I was going to setup the new Challenge this weekend. How much more time do you need?

sao.phim · Post by **sao.phim** » Sat Aug 03, 2019 8:34 am

Nevermind, no need to extend the old one then.. I will jump into new challenge from the start.

Post by **archibalduk** » Sat Aug 03, 2019 2:10 pm

Ok sure. I'm pretty flexible, so if you needed another week then that would have been fine.