Challenge #44 - Discussion Thread

[saberhagen83]

Made the playoffs in year 2 and went all the way to the final! The Pacific division was super tight and we came in 2nd with 101p. I thought we were out in the 1st round after going down 1-3 to Sharks, but a couple of line changes gave the team some life. Hanzal had been, well, not so great during the season...but he sparked to life in the playoffs on the 3rd line so I moved him to the 2nd. Rieder to 2nd and Read came into the 1st to add some defensive play. Worked alright! We cotinued beating Ducks and Hawks 4-2 each and then had a tough 7 rounder against Devils before we had to surrender. Hutchinson picked up a injury in game 6...so I blame that, as he has been playing better and better as the season and playoffs progressed.

Edging closer to the draft, my scouts and I have a few very interesting targets to go after! Unfortunatly I cannot trade anymore as I did my 3rd and final for the season, sending Goligoski to Predators for Petrovic and a 2nd. Made sense to me. I expected Goligoski to be a strong player in the playoffs, but he turned out to be our worst D-man. Petrovic was on the block and very low value. But I can do with a solid (I hope) RD that can play LD as well...DeAngelo has done fine for me, so I still like our D core. I am tempted to listen to what Leafs want for Yakupov who is also on the block...will have to wait a litte longer though. I think I could get him scoring again.

[nino33]

Hello to those participating in the current Challenge!

Just wondering for those that are through season one...were you able to sign free agents?
Has anyone successfully signed a free agent?

Seems kevistar is unable to (reported on TBL http://www.ehmtheblueline.com/forums/vi ... ar#p221273 and over at SI https://community.sigames.com/topic/393 ... -problemm/), thus my curiosity if others are experiencing the issue too

[dwillms]

I had the same issue on July 1 regarding not being able to sign anyone. Then I got a message on July 2 about a $10 million cash infusion by the board, and it was fine after that.

[m0fownz0r]

Hello to those participating in the current Challenge!

Just wondering for those that are through season one...were you able to sign free agents?
Has anyone successfully signed a free agent?

Seems kevistar is unable to (reported on TBL http://www.ehmtheblueline.com/forums/vi ... ar#p221273 and over at SI https://community.sigames.com/topic/393 ... -problemm/), thus my curiosity if others are experiencing the issue too

Hello to those participating in the current Challenge!

Just wondering for those that are through season one...were you able to sign free agents?
Has anyone successfully signed a free agent?

Seems kevistar is unable to (reported on TBL http://www.ehmtheblueline.com/forums/vi ... ar#p221273 and over at SI https://community.sigames.com/topic/393 ... -problemm/), thus my curiosity if others are experiencing the issue too

I haven't approached any. However, I just finished the draft so i can try just for teh sake of it.

PS. I'm in the second offseason. Is the issue related just to the initial season?

[nino33]

PS. I'm in the second offseason. Is the issue related just to the initial season?

I'm not sure, but kevistar's screenshots/two examples start with 2017-18 in the offered contracts so maybe...

I had the same issue on July 1 regarding not being able to sign anyone. Then I got a message on July 2 about a $10 million cash infusion by the board, and it was fine after that.

Interesting (the screenshots from kevistar's two examples don't show the ingame date)

[Khlu]

Hello to those participating in the current Challenge!

Just wondering for those that are through season one...were you able to sign free agents?
Has anyone successfully signed a free agent?

Seems kevistar is unable to (reported on TBL http://www.ehmtheblueline.com/forums/vi ... ar#p221273 and over at SI https://community.sigames.com/topic/393 ... -problemm/), thus my curiosity if others are experiencing the issue too

I was able to sign FA to a 1 year or multi-year contract all year long(even in july 1st 2017 before the cash injection!).the problem is with staff generated in year 1, they can't be singed for multi-year even after the first season,the only staff i was able to sign to a multi-year was either released by a club or retiring(unless it was intended to be like that?).

Edit: Ok, so I loaded a save form june 25th and after the "game data" update i was NOT able to sign FA http://i.imgur.com/IOIs92E.jpg ,after the cash injection(and a second "game data" update) it was fine http://i.imgur.com/HaMEDMu.jpg

Finances:
june 25th: http://i.imgur.com/jK1dg5X.jpg
june 30th: http://i.imgur.com/p7kuLGy.jpg
july 1st: http://i.imgur.com/r9fQmzr.jpg
july 2nd: http://i.imgur.com/E8IT2r3.jpg

Edit 2: So after simming 5 or 6 times i was able to sign FA on july 1st before the cash injection http://i.imgur.com/pXY4wVI.jpg

july 1st: http://i.imgur.com/r9fQmzr.jpg can't
http://i.imgur.com/BEj9cHR.jpg can sign FA
http://i.imgur.com/axmxu7N.jpg 3rd test, can't sign FA

same in 2018: http://i.imgur.com/1Z78VjL.jpg

probably june 30th data calculation problem?

[MWE]

I'm through 60 games in my second season with a record of 16 - 32 - 12

I drafted

1 - Timothy Liljegren
2 - Ivan Afanasayev
3 - Jonah Gadjovich
5 - David Farrance
7 - Nikita Kamalov

Then traded

Rieder for Palat
Duclair and Strome for Jake Allen

[CJ]

I'm through 60 games in my second season with a record of 16 - 32 - 12

I drafted

1 - Timothy Liljegren
2 - Ivan Afanasayev
3 - Jonah Gadjovich
5 - David Farrance
7 - Nikita Kamalov

Then traded

Rieder for Palat
Duclair and Strome for Jake Allen

Palat was a steal, or maybe Rieder has great PA in this save?! But sounds like St.Louis made a steal?!

[MWE]

Palat was on the block he has a contract of $6m per season think they were salary dumping, although he hasn't done much for me 27 points in 77 games.

[Canadian Passport]

I finally cleared some more time to play and just finished S1 Q1. Not bad so far, I'm in first place in the West with 26 points from 20 games...3 teams have 26 points but I'm listed first in the standings so I'll take it. Things were OK in the very beginning of the season but I was spending way too much time in my defensive zone so I switched to a more aggressive fore checking scheme and switched from Smith in goal to Domingue and we started playing really well after that. We'll see how we do when the mid-season slump hits.

[Modano]

I finished first season (I need still to upload screenshots tough ) San Jose Sharks has finally won the cup. My team definitely needs a new goalie. Mike Smith was awfully bad and I can't remember when I've had that bad goalie, he's average rating was 6,11. Domingue has had season-long injury and looks like waisted potential, but I drafted one goalie in 2nd round, so... that's my draft list. I hope I made good decisions
1- Nolan Patrick (I think I'll keep him in juniors this year)
31 - Olle Eriksson Ek
63 - David Farrance
91 - Owen Grant
121 - Jeffrey DeWitt
181 - Brandon Saigeon

Btw. I have question. May I sign Nikita Tryamkin? He plays for Magnitogorsk and none team in NHL rights to him for now. Or if I can I have to give him an offer less than 1 mln if I understand well?

[saberhagen83]

After a succesfull post-season the team seems to be on the right track. Having played 32 games into season 3 we sit 1st in West with a 22-8-2 record. Part of this is cause of a couple of trades I did in the summer. I sent Capobianco + 3rd to Nashville for David Desharnais. He was on the block and had not done much for them. Merkley is knocking on the door to take on that 2C role, so having Desharnais contract end after this season could be good and he has done well for us so far, with 20p in 32GP.

The next trade was Martinook + 7th to Colorado for Semyon Varlamov. Again a player on the block as Avs have Pickard as the starter and signed Lack as the backup. Domingue to Tucson and now Hutchinson will be the backup. Varlamov have started well for us, a clear upgrade and a big reason we are doing so well this season! Gonna save the 3rd trade for a potential deadline deal. My lineup:

Domi-Strome-Read
Dvorak-Desharnais-Rieder
Crouse/McGinn-Hanzal-Duclair
McGinn/Ross-Gaudet-Samuelsson

OEL-Murphy
Chychrun-Stone
Dahlbeck-DeAngelo/Petrovic

Varlamov/Hutchinson

Read has been really good on that 1st line. Tried to go with Rieder, but seems the balance is off then, work much better on the 2nd. Crouse was recently sent to Tucson as he had not been playing as well as last season. Might need to gain some confidence/morale I hope. I am hoping to see Merkley as the 2C soon and I drafted Ryan Brushett in 2017 in the 7th round and signed this off-season, hoping to turn him into a RW as he is a beast in C but we are a bit stocked and his defensive ability isn't too good at all. I think my scouts have found some real gems in the later rounds last couple of drafts...hoping some of them will pan out!

[Tupe]

So, I made playoffs in season one (8th in west) and lost 4-1 in the first round vs. LA Kings.

Season two was a hard one and I finished 11th in west. Lost Mike Smith for 6 months and Domigue had to carry too much load.

Made some trades during the season:

1) Ryan McInnis + Jarred Tinordi to Tampa for Valtteri Filppula
2) Valtteri Filppula + Chris Mueller to Maple Leafs for Jeremy Bracco
3) Christian Fischer to Jets for Bryan Little + 2nd rounder

Max Domi won Art Ross, Rocket Trophy and Hart Trophy with 57+45= 102 in 77 games played.

Now sitting 3rd in west after 20 games in season three. During july I traded Martin Hanzal + Luke Schenn to Leafs for Frederik Andersen.

Lines:

Domi - Strome - Rieder
Ekman-Larsson - Stone

Dvorak - Little - Duclair
Chychrun - Murphy

Crouse - Keller - Bracco
Goligoski - DeAngelo

McGinn - Gaudet - Samuelsson

Andersen - Domingue

Rotation: Dahlbeck + Sharp (FA 600k/y)

[saberhagen83]

Finished season 3 with a Stanley Cup victory and a President's Trophy to look even nicer next to it.

We finished with 115p and beat Calgary (4-3), Edmonton (4-0), Chicago (4-0) and finally Montreal (4-1)! Domi was the star of the season, winning the league in points with 105 (53+52), meaning he also had the most goals. Strome had a slow start but he was fantastic in the end with 77p in 70GP, both led this team in the playoffs along with Varlamov, the guy was a brick wall!

[dwillms]

Season 1: Finished 18-51-13, both goalies stunk so basically tanked the 2nd half of the season

Draft
#1: Nolan Patrick
#31: Zdeno Dornic
#69: Travis O'Reilly
#91: Brandon Saigeon
#121: Jordan Maher
#181: Sebastian Aho

Needed to upgrade in net badly, really wanted Matt Murray but he wouldn't re-sign with Pittsburgh before the season so couldn't trade for him.

Made my 3 trades:
1) Luke Schenn + Michael Bunting to CHI for Ville Pokka (was 3rd in Calder Trophy voting)
2) Brad Richardson to CAR for Viktor Rask
3) Tyler Gaudet + Brendan Perlini to WPG for Michael Hutchinson

Now halfway through Season 2, still not much better at 14-26-2. All 3 of my goalies are .880 or under in Sv%, so I'll have to find another goalie for next year.

[pforsbergfan9]

After finishing 29th in the league with Edmonton finishing last, the Lottery took a weird turn with the Ducks, Isles and Bruins selecting 1-3 overall. I took the following players:

Liljegren (5th)
DiPietro (32nd) *Really wanted Eriksson Ek*
DeWitt (75th)
Ian Scott (92nd)
Abrahamsson (122nd)
Aho (182nd)

I also made the following trades:

Lawson Crouse and Connor Murphy for Matthew Barzal and Travis Hamonic.
- Crouse was getting left behind and having offense from my backend wasnt a problem. I couldnt keep the puck out of the net. This solved that problem a bit and Barzal will fit nicely as my #3 Center for the year.

Jakob Chychrun and Nick Merkley for Olle Eriksson Ek (2017 Draftee that signed right out of the gate) and Timo Meier.
- This will give me a top goalie (hopefully) for a long time. With my defense being set for the next 3-5 years, I could afford to lose Chychrun and Merkley for the stability and Meier helps on the right side.

Lines:

Domingue
Smith

Ekman Larsson - Hamonic
Goligoski - Stone
Dahlbeck - Schenn
Tinordi

Domi - Hanzal - Rieder
Dvorak - Strome - Vrbata
Duclair - Barzal - Meier
Bunting - Richardson - McGinn

[Tupe]

Finished season 3

2nd in west with 50-20-12, 112 points. Finally got all four lines working or so.

Lost Ekman-Larsson, Andersen and Strome for ten to twenty games, but still things worked out. Domi led the team with 80 points (a far cry from last seasons 102) but I got contribution from all four lines. Rookies Bracco and Keller hit over 40 points. My "kid line" Crouse - Keller - Bracco all got over 40 (Crouse finishing with +28 and 25 goals).

Won Colorado 4-1 in the first round. Anaheim was a difficult one, made some changes and tweaked my lines and tactics (pulled down my puck pressure) and won the series 4-3 in OT2 of game seven. (Rieder scored a hatrick after hard times in the playoffs). Finally lost in round three to the Blackhawks in game seven.

Trades:

1) Martin Hanzal + Luke Schenn to Maple Leafs for Frederik Andersen
2) a 3rd rounder to Senators for Marc Method
3) Justin Peters + Michael Bunting to Bolts for Taylor Raddsih

Andersen was the runner up for Vezina Trophy, Jacob Chychrun for Calder Trophy, Tippet for Adams.

Ps. finished season three and Murray is playing in KHL, Penguins did not sign him even when Fleury was out for whole season.

[nino33]

Ps. finished season three and Murray is playing in KHL, Penguins did not sign him even when Fleury was out for whole season.

Because IRL they don't have an agreement with the NHL that allows for an NHL Release Clause, the KHL is different than all other Leagues...a KHL player's contract has to actually be expired (so they're a free agent) for an NHL team to even be able to attempt to sign them

[MWE]

Just finished my 3rd season

In my second draft i drafted

1 - Aapeli Nikko
3 - Ondrej Nejezchleb
4 - Christopher Dedeyan
5 - Shawn Guentzel
6 - Alexander Krief
7 - Ivo Cech

Didn't make any trades during the regular season

Finished up the season with a record of 35-36-11

[cecede123]

I'll give this one a try ! the team is actually not so bad, so I'll see !

[saberhagen83]

Finished season 4 with a President's Trophy and another Stanley Cup, beating Capitals in the final in a hard fought 7 game series.

Only one big trade (out of the 3) bringing Sceviour in from Canucks for Jordan Schroeder. I actually traded for Schroder around the draft after year 3, but Sceviour became availible and they accepted the deal straight up. I don't regret it at all as Sceviour alone seems to have upped our PK by at least 5-6%! Merkley had a full year as the 2C but wasn't that impressive...untill the playoffs to my surprise! Brushett and Duclair split the workload on the 2nd line as I was looking to ease Brushett in. Duclair had a great season and Brushett slowly got going and had a great playoffs. Hanzal had his best season for us, actually really good in last years playoffs too. Domi/Strome wasn't quite as dominant but great still obviously.

Domi-Strome-Rieder
Crouse-Merkley-Brushett/Duclair
Dvorak-Desharnais/Hanzal-Sceviour
Read/Cunningham-Hanzal/Desharnais/McInnis-Samuelsson

OEL-Murphy
Chychrun-Stone
Dahlbeck-Petrovic/DeAngelo

Varlamov/Hutchinson

[dwillms]

Season 1: Finished 18-51-13, both goalies stunk so basically tanked the 2nd half of the season

Draft
#1: Nolan Patrick
#31: Zdeno Dornic
#69: Travis O'Reilly
#91: Brandon Saigeon
#121: Jordan Maher
#181: Sebastian Aho

Needed to upgrade in net badly, really wanted Matt Murray but he wouldn't re-sign with Pittsburgh before the season so couldn't trade for him.

Made my 3 trades:
1) Luke Schenn + Michael Bunting to CHI for Ville Pokka (was 3rd in Calder Trophy voting)
2) Brad Richardson to CAR for Viktor Rask
3) Tyler Gaudet + Brendan Perlini to WPG for Michael Hutchinson

Now halfway through Season 2, still not much better at 14-26-2. All 3 of my goalies are .880 or under in Sv%, so I'll have to find another goalie for next year.

Season 2: Finished 25-48-9, last 20 I was something like 1-16-3.

2018 Draft:
#3: Rasmus Dahlin
#62: Anton Qvist
#92: Magnus Lindgren
#122: Keenan Reynolds
#152: Darren Simmons
#192: Nikita Shashkov

Finally starting to make some progress in Season 3 thanks to the 2 trades I've made so far:

1) Jordan Martinook to COL for Calvin Pickard
2) Lawson Crouse + Ville Pokka to TOR for Mitch Marner

Sitting 16-9-5 after 30 games so far, Marner is 15-15-30 in 25 GP.

[axepig]

So did nobody sign any UFA? there's none in the screenshots

[m0fownz0r]

So did nobody sign any UFA? there's none in the screenshots

I think at least one person did. However, there is really no need for it. The only glaring need this team has is goaltending, which you can hardly solve through FA. Other than that it's all luxery.

[MWE]

So did nobody sign any UFA? there's none in the screenshots

I'm 5 seasons in and I have not signed one yet.