EHM The Blue Line

I always try to get Derek Roy but he's usually too expensive. In my latest game he's a 'franchise forward', with Drury, Malkin, and Lundqvist already on the payroll I can't afford another superstar.

Ryan Shannon, most scouts say potential 3rd liner, 36 goals and 72 points for me, playing partially alongside Bergeron and a part of the season with Ricci (late season rental to bolster the squad with some experience for the playoffs). 4g 7a in the playoffs so far in 11 games, second overall in rookie scoring just behind Kessel, 2nd best in GWG on the team during the regular season with 7.

I picked up Chris Dingman off of waivers once because of his good defensive attributes. He played well on the checking line along with the PK. He also for some reason had a decent scoring touch, nothing outstanding put for a guy like him, he had something like 15 goals in only 50 some games. He's a FA at the beginning of the game, you can usually get him for the minimum.

Joe wrote:I picked up Chris Dingman off of waivers once because of his good defensive attributes. He played well on the checking line along with the PK. He also for some reason had a decent scoring touch, nothing outstanding put for a guy like him, he had something like 15 goals in only 50 some games. He's a FA at the beginning of the game, you can usually get him for the minimum.

Dingman is great in shuting down RWs in my game (especially S.Gagne, Iginla, M.Hossa). I was even lucky enough to lock him for 5 yrs.- $450KX2,475, 500X2. He plays with Sutherby and Ortmeyer/Hollweg in my checking line +PK. And you can forget about losing him on waivers, somehow teams always pass on him.
Fantastic!

I have never really posted in this thread before, but I feel if you start a new game and you decide to go into the NHL and you want to do a draft to mix things up, then you should always try to get a hold of Niittymaki.

You can easily get him all the way into the 3rd round. I will usually put myself going last or first in the game when the draft happens.

I usually pick up Lundqvist and Niittymaki as my pair.

Nuclear blast! . I had'em both. ...absolutely fantastic... However, in a couple of years Nytti will ask you for $3-4M and you still have Henrik as your starter - it means to spend 20% of your budget on 2 goalies..

I have noticed that Niittymaki will do that, but it is well worth it if you can get him playing right.

I just came across a player that I never really knew about and never had on one of my teams. He looks like he could be a good 4th line winger (plays both sides) on some of the teams I'll play in the future. The player is Evgeni Artukhin. He was an early 3rd round pick of Tampa's in 2001. I got him off waivers early in the 07-08 season. Right now he's 24 and while not incredibly skilled, he can really take the other team off their game. He's big (6'4" 213 lbs), strong (19), and can skate very well (Acc, Agi, & Spd all 16+). He's also very determined (16) and aggressive (17). He's hits nice (17) and has decent defensive skills. He doesn't really have much of a shot but he's a decent passer (14).

I'd suggest giving him a shot. Right now he's great as a 4th liner but my latest scouting report on him says he could be a 2nd line power forward someday. They compared him to Erik Cole with a bigger frame. He had A's and B's for everything but leadership and scoring.

I have him at age of 27. In my game he looks very much as a 4th liner (G.Laraque, power forward). He has all the skills you've mentioned above, but his determination and consistency are really bad It seems like you're more lucky in that department! I left him for one more year to play in Russia. I'm going to sign him in June only to use him as a trade bait (you know, from one star* to three *** stars in negotiations with potential suitors).
IMO, with a right developement, he might be a 2nd liner eventually. Reminds me one of my former player - B.J.Crombeen

CrockerNHL wrote:Reminds me one of my former player - B.J.Crombeen

It took me 5 years to develop Crombeen as a nice 2nd liner

He stashed 2 years and a half in AHL an then 1 year on my 4th line and then he moved up pairing with Brenden Morrow and Rastislav Konecny, a very effective all-around 2nd line

Same to me. The only difference it took 4 years (3 of them in AHL) to develop him and he was solid playing alongside Kopitar and Ladd/McArdle. Actually, I wasn't given an opportunity to enjoy his services since Panthers wanted him badly. Acting quickly, I was able to land N.Horton (on IR, 4 months). I feel privileged to have one of the game's great two-way forwards play for me.

How many of you have tried to use Ari Ahonen?

I usually try to pick that guy up in the draft before I actually start my game. He is a good player to have if you need a quick backup and plus, you can easily develope him into something great for your team.

Easily becomes a backup very quickly, but give him about 3 to 4 years and he will be a good starter.

I usually end up with Brian Sutherby, Leland Irving and Johan Holmqvist.

Sutherby is a great two-way center who can centre both the checking-line as well as the second scoring-line. He usually plays great with a sniper and speedster. Usually very easy to trade for...

Irving is a talented goaltender who will turn out to be a fantastic backup goalie or a reliable starting goalie. He needs about four seasons in the mix before he is ready to take on the NHL as a starter. Not so highly regarded in Calgary as he should be, usually four stars but that doesn't mean you have to give away the store for him. Just be ready to sacrifice a couple of three-star prospects.

Holmqvist is a superb backup goaltender with the skill to backstop you to the Stanley Cup finals. I have had him as backup to Lundqvist in New York and he always delivers. I traded him for Valiquette and one of the russian prospects I had on my Rangers team.

I like to aquire Mikko Jokela, a Canuck property in Europe. He comes cheap and is a solid all around D-man. Signs for cheap and usually he appears on my roster immediately, don't have to wait for the international window.

I always try for Mika Wiikman (free agent G)but never sign him and have never aquired him to see how he pans out.

I usually try to get Peter Budaj from Colorado. Often times in my game they put him up on the block in the second or third season so I get him cheaply (5th or 6th round pick)

Budaj is an extremely good trade-bait... I tend to trade for him early on and then use him to put the icing on the cake, so to speak, when the trade deadline approaches in late February!

white knight wrote:Budaj is an extremely good trade-bait... I tend to trade for him early on and then use him to put the icing on the cake, so to speak, when the trade deadline approaches in late February!

Heck hes my #1. His stats are mostly in the high 90s and hes only 27. Without any Sure-thing prospect in my system at the moment I have to work with what I got.

Heck hes my #1. His stats are mostly in the high 90s and hes only 27. Without any Sure-thing prospect in my system at the moment I have to work with what I got.

Interesting... I haven't had him log any serious amount of ice-time yet so I doesn't have any comprehensive insight into his actual abilities on my games... But sure, if you look at his skills he 's a very competen goaltender...

Few other players to grab for your team could possibly be Jeff Carter and Mike Richards from the Flyers. Those two are cheap when you first get them and they stay that way for awhile, but really become superstars in no time at all.

As for a few others, getting Jimmy Howard and Al Montoya as goaltenders aren't too bad either. You really have to work with Montoya for awhile and as for Howard, he is good to work with also. They both just need time to grow into something great. I know that Montoya will come up quicker than Howard, but Howard ends up with better attributes.

Major Habs wrote:As for a few others, getting Jimmy Howard and Al Montoya as goaltenders aren't too bad either. You really have to work with Montoya for awhile and as for Howard, he is good to work with also. They both just need time to grow into something great. I know that Montoya will come up quicker than Howard, but Howard ends up with better attributes.

I almost always play as the Wings, and I've never seen Howard develop into anything special. It's kinda disappointing because IRL, hes suppose to be the Wings' future #1.

Major Habs wrote: As for a few others, getting Jimmy Howard and Al Montoya as goaltenders aren't too bad either. You really have to work with Montoya for awhile and as for Howard, he is good to work with also. They both just need time to grow into something great. I know that Montoya will come up quicker than Howard, but Howard ends up with better attributes.

Yeah, and despite already having Lundeqvist the Rangers are setting Montoya as a Franchise Goaltender and asking for a LOT in all my games.

Howard will become a good solid goaltender by the time he is about 29, but you have to work with the guy. Don't give him too much playing time and keep him in the AHL for a little bit longer than usual. Also, make sure that you have great goaltending coaches, that will help the problem.

As for Montoya, he is very easy to get ready in the game. He just takes time and effort as well.

Montoya is a sublime goaltender. On one of my games, I had him as a starter in NY while Henk was out for 6 months with a torn ACL. Montoya won the Vezina, sure he had a fantastic defense but still...

His attributes are spread out pretty well on him and needless to say, you can only go up from there with what he has to offer your team.

Like I said, give him time to grow and get him great coaching and he will be just fine for years to come and he's cheap too!

I found Maxime Ouellete (goalie) as a free agent at the start of one of my games. He's only 25 and has some pretty solid attributes. He makes a solid back up for the league minimum.