Challenge #35 - New Jersey Devils Discussion Thread

[bruins72]

Yup. Those are both legit. I just noticed that I had Pulkkinen on the list twice, once as a B and again as a C. My mistake. Still, your deal is a B for B deal.

Some deals definitely feel like a steal and then you come across others where you feel they should accept but want so much more.

[Peter_Doherty]

Okey, good Definitely feel like i robbed them though.. Suddenly my C-core looks nasty... Henrique-Bjugstad-Zajac is really good

On another note i struck out in the UFA market to balance it out i guess, Zuke, Duby etc all chose to not play for me so i only signed Brodziak so far

So i don't have a RW for the top-6 to take Jagrs place in the lineup, might have to switch Elias over to the right and give one of the kids the spot, or make a trade where i send one of the good kids and get a legit top-6 RW...

Edit: Now i also sent Josefson to Chicago for Dennis Rasmussen and Ruutu to Oilers for a 2nd rounder.

Edit2: Tried finding a good fit for my RW but havent been able to find one so im either switching Cammalleri over to the right and playing Henrique as a winger or just filling the wings with kids playing with more balanced lanes to make use of my strong C. Guess i will decide at camp.

[bruins72]

So the season preview news item came up and this season they've got me ranked 26th! Seriously? I was ranked higher last season with the senior citizen team. Oh and according to that new item, Vitale is the key new face. Not Armia. Not Klingberg. Okay...

[Peter_Doherty]

Well, Armia and Klingberg are prospects and probably has a way to go until they reach their full potential while Vitalie probably reached his ceiling. The game probably just goes on CA for that and Vitale just has a higher CA right now then them. That will likely change in a season or two though.

[bruins72]

I think it's based on reputation. I'm not sure though.

[Peter_Doherty]

I think it's based on reputation. I'm not sure though.

Aight, guess that makes sense, it's basically the same anyway in this instance 2 young kids should have a lower reputation then a veteranish player

[Apollo]

Season 1 was off to a rough start so I tried tanking in Q3 ( I guess its not really that frowned upon reading everyone else) but then Q4 I started winning, finished second to last but drafted McFranchise so all is well.

And that's when the trades started in first week of offseason

Quenneville & Helgeson to Blackhawks for Blake Wheeler
Mike Cammallier to Blues for Jori Lehtera
Martin Havlat and Stephen Gionta to Islanders for Kyle Okposo
1st round pick to Maple Leafs for van Riemsdyk
Jacob Josefson & 4th round pick to Bruins for Nikolai Zherdev
Michael Ryder to Ducks for 2nd round pick
Zidlicky to predators for 4th round pick

January trades
Merrill to Coyotes for Luke Schenn
4th round pick to Predators for Matt Greene

btw I struck out in FA so I signed Winnik (blah)

So far I have been dominating for the most part but my PK was lowest in the league, hence the two D trades in January

edit for lineup
van Riemsdyk-Zajack-Okposo
Zherdev-Henrique-Wheeler
Ruutu-Lehtera-Clowe
Zubrus-Gaustad-Winnik

Gelinas-Larsson
Greene-Severson (HG)
Urbom-Schenn

[Peter_Doherty]

That's some pretty badass trades

I struck out aswell and got Brodziak...

I like the new rules but i think there should be some kind of cap for trades, infinite trades makes it a bit too easy to rebuild the squad completely... Maybe cap it at 5ish or something, still keeps it more open then before, i dont know, just spitballing

[Apollo]

I was thinking the same about caps as I was doing it, I basically just targeted teams over the cap to get good players

[Peter_Doherty]

Yeah, it was nothing against you, you did some great trades Was just a thought... with this setup you can revamp your whole squad (apart from the core) in 1 season.

[bruins72]

I think you may be right about the trades. While I wanted to open up trading a bit because it was too restrictive in the past, I think I might have gone to the opposite extreme. I do like the flexibility of being able to make different kinds of trades and not being as limited as we were before but I think we might still need some limits. I'll have to address this in the next challenge.

[Peter_Doherty]

Sounds good, i must say that i still like this better then the old rules which were too restrictive...

Tough decision for me at the end of camp season 2. Both Matteau and Severson deserves to stay up, but if i let both play this season then i will either have to stress Werenski to be my season 3 HG or have a lesser HG for season 3... decisions decisions.... I might just make a trade and let one of Matteau and Severson play another year in AHL.

[bruins72]

So I'm just about done with the pre-season. It's funny to see that so many of the players I traded back in July are now being waived or shopped around.

Gionta - waived and sent to ECHL
Janssen - waived and sent to ECHL
Sislo - released, UFA
Timmins - still in AHL
Kelly - released, UFA
McPherson - in ECHL
Josefson - being shopped around
Tootoo - waived and sent to AHL

The only players I traded that are currently on NHL rosters are Ryder and Havlat. Oh and out of all of the players I didn't re-sign and let go to UFA only one got an NHL contract. For some reason, the Penguins signed Gomez. Jagr, Zidlicky, Clemmensen, and Salvador are still sitting around looking for jobs.

[Peter_Doherty]

Decided to go with Matteau as my HG, Severson is still in the lineup for now, will evaluate when he gets close to 25 NHL games which wont be too long since he played some games last season.

[bruins72]

So six games into the second season, Elias has lost his spot in the lineup. Because of his age, I was playing him on the 4th line and 1st PP unit. When I did that, I wasn't really giving Matteau enough ice time. The worst part was, Elias was just stinking up the joint. He had a goal and was a -1 with a 6.17 average rating while still getting 14:52 ATOI. In those same 6 games, Matteau had only 11:46 ATOI playing only on the 1st or 2nd line. He managed to put up 3 points (2G 1A) and an 8.00 average rating. Elias has now been sat! Cammalleri has been great so far and has found a home as the 1st line LW. Matteau is now 2nd line LW and 2nd PP LW. I was also able to snag Anders Lee off waivers after the Bruins tried sending him down. His contract is a bit pricey for his role ($1.5M per season) on the 4th line but he's huge and adds even more to my team toughness. Zubrus missed a couple games due to an minor injury but since coming back, he's been moved to the 4th line. Vitale was excellent when moved up to the 3rd line.

[Peter_Doherty]

Yeah, Elias regressed real fast during the spring+summer... He looks done for me aswell.

[Peter_Doherty]

10 Games into season 2 and my lineup has set itself, both Severson and Matteau will stay up because they have earned it Traded Helgeson for John Klingberg who will stay in AHL this season and get some callups. Season started very rocky, think i was 2-12 in my first 2 games then it steadied up. My lineup is this.

Matteau-Henrique-Havlat
Cammalleri-Zajac-Pulkkinen
Rasmussen-Bjugstad-Clowe
Lapierre-Brodziak-Bernier

Gelinas-Larsson
Greene-Fraser/Urbom
Merrill/Urbom-Severson

Where Bjugstad plays on the PP instead of Matteau.

Edit: Made a trade to create some depth down in Albany, sent Boucher to Tampa for Paquette and Ikonen.

[bruins72]

I think you and I play at the same pace. I just got to 10 games into season 2 as well.

We're actually performing quite well. I struggled a bit during the first few games but after shuffling some lines and removing Elias from the lineup, we're looking good. Picking up Anders Lee off waivers has been a brilliant move! So at first I had him pegged as a 4th liner and overpaid but a nice addition. Not long after he joined the team, we had an injury to Ruutu, my 3rd line LW. So Lee got moved up into that spot. I had just moved Vitale up to center that line because he had been performing better than Zubrus. Now that line is on fire! Lee, Vitale, and Klingberg really click! Lee has 4G and 4A in 4 games! He just won offensive player of the week. Lee has been a stud. I know he can't keep up this same production but I'd be thrilled with him producing even half as much points.

Here's how my lines have shaken out at this point...

Cammalleri - Henrique - Armia
Matteau - Zajac - Holloway
Lee - Vitale - Klingberg
Ruutuu/Sutter - Zubrus - Garbutt

Gelinas - Larsson
Green - Fraser
Tindori - Merrill

[Peter_Doherty]

My team has really gotten going, started out 2-3-1 ended Q1 at 13-5-2. My entire top-6 + Bjugstad is scoring alot, i have a very balanced scoring and at the same time my bottom-6 is pitching in aswell. im rotating Merrill, Fraser and Urbom some and they are all doing fine. Matteau who has very limited PP-time but is on the first line is at +12, very happy with him

[Apollo]

Lost in Stanley cup final to the Kings in 4 games, Zajac and Okposo got injured in game 1

No real trades in offseason, signed Andrew Ladd after striking out on others. Really need a #1 Dman but couldn't sign or trade for one.

Picking my HG for S3 was a real pain. I wanted McDavid as he was looking good but center is my deepest position, then I looked at Lazarev and saw how good he got! Thought about adding both but then I would be hurt on HG going forward. Ended up going with Lazarev and he has 18 points in 18 games! (injured for last 2 at end of Q1)

[Peter_Doherty]

Managing HGs is proving a challenge, i took a gamble and am playing with both Severson and Matteau season 2... Hopefully in fine going forward

[Apollo]

beat the Avalanceh to win the cup in season 3, made a good choice on Lazareve who won rookie of the year with 68 points in 71 games and 23 points in 22 playoff games!

[bruins72]

Don't forget to post your screenshots! I see only a few people have done this so far.

[Peter_Doherty]

More then halfway in im doing great, im hopping between 2nd and 4th in the conference and every line is contributing... Only real negative so far is that Kinkaid has been horrible...

[bruins72]

Kincaid hasn't been as good for me in season 2 as he was in season 1. I've only got 31 games logged in season 2 but my team is looking pretty good. We've been in 3rd or 4th place most of the time lately. I absolutely LOVE my 3rd line. Lee - Vitale - Klingberg are such a tough line! Lee and Klingberg hit everything in site! Vitale hits too and blocks shots. Due to their hard work and physical game, they contribute offensively too. Klingberg won November's Rookie of the Month. Lee has 16 points in 25 games. He's a +11 and has a 8.52 average rating. Klingberg has 15 points in 31 games. He's a +2 and has a 8.03 average rating. Vitale has 11 points in 31 games. He's a +7 and has a 7.45 average rating. This is pretty impressive for a 3rd line! I've been rolling 4 lines equally for most of the season and just recently started matching lines, with my 3rd going againsts 1sts and my 4th going against 2nds.