EHM The Blue Line

Hey everyone.
I just completed my second season as the GM of the Edmonton Oilers. In the first season we barely squeaked into the playoffs but were very handily beaten in the first round by Calgary in 5 games. A long summer of rebuilding and I played through the second season after picking up a couple big names. At the end of the second season we ranked 4th in the west, but again were blown out of the first round, this time by the San Jose Sharks, in 5 games.

Zetterberg Stoll Hossa are my first line, and Grabovsky, Schremp(Calder winner, haha), Hemsky as my second line.
I have very good players all around going into this season, and a great lineup of draft picks for the coming draft.

My question is, how does the "Pre Season Team Rankings" system really work? At least, what is your experience with it?

Before this season started I was updated with the "Pre Season Team Rankings" which indicated that the front runners for the Cup this year would be the Edmonton Oilers! I was completely shocked. I made very few acquisitions over the summer, I actually gave away a bunch of mediocre players I couldn't afford to keep (freakin' Dustin Penner and his ridiculous contract) for more draft picks... and made no major changes at the trade deadline this past season. On top of that my team ranked extremely low in the goals for (22nd), and low for goals against (15th) in the last season... my PK and PP%'s were also among the lowest in the league. My only players who ranks in the "top 10" of any category for the pre-season player rankings are Hossa at RW and Pitkanen on Defence.

Really there was nothing that stood out as "great" about my team. How exactly did I just become the top contender for the Cup??

Thanks,

I dont put too much stock into the pre-season rankings.
Two seasons ago with my Portland winterhawks, I was picked to finish last, when in fact I won the WHL and the Mem Cup.
Also, this past season I was picked to finish second last and I went the WHL final where i was eliminated in 7 games only because the ECHL signed my entire second line. lol

So I dont think you should worry.

From my experience the game looks pretty much at the top players
of each team and each category (defence, offence, goalie).

You have Pitkanen and he is a star in ehm on defence.
Then you have Hossa, who is one of the best forwards and Zetterberg.
And finally your goalie is probably either a top one or played
a good last season and therefore high reputated. Who is your goalie?

The game would sum these top players uo and give the whole team credit.

(just a sidenote: i wouldn't put Stoll on the first line, his bad anticipation weakens the first line,
try to put him on the second)

I realize the "predictions" on the preview are not entirely accurate, I was just trying to figure out how they end up coming out that way.

You could be right selne... my goaltender is Toskala, who seems to do pretty well in EHM as well. so that gives me a pretty good setup for top players. My 2nd defenceman is Derek Morris and I also have Staal (he's still developing... a little mroe slowly than i expected!

Thank you for the input selne about my lines selne.

I will see about moving Stoll down. Do you think Schremp will be okay at first line center? or should i be looking for a replacement?

I would really looking for a replacement. Maybe you could trade for Gomez?
Schremp wouldn't fit there.(his potential is about 140 if i remember correctly)

A good playmaker at the first center position really can setup for good scoring chances
and decent wingers can become top scorers playing with such a center.

He would also add more flexibility to your team. Because if one first line winger
gets injured you can replace him by a second liner and still the first line should produce.

I find that Gomez is very expensive to keep around. I did consider him for a while. My trouble is that I am riding the salary cap already. In order to make any room for a player like Gomez I would have to lose Hemsky Pitkanen or Hossa. I could deal with losing Hemsky, I have plenty of strength up the right side... I wonder if anyone would take him in exchange for a good strong center.

The other centers on my team currently (that I have the rights to)

Stamkos is in the playing for his team in the minors, as is Couture, as I had to create space and they weren't quite ready to slip into the line-up.
Kyle Brodziak is in the AHL.

Blair Betts and Yannik Perrault are my 3rd and 4th line centers.

Again, thanks for the input.

It's difficult to trade for a top center.
You could try to get one from free agent market, but to bring on to Edmonton
is not easy and you would probably need to overpay him.
Also this Franchise won't give you much money to spend.

Centers above the age of 28 with big contracts or in the last year
of their contract are worth to trade for.
Because in most cases you can give them a long term contract with a lower
cap hit. (to me long term contracts are one of the most interesting challenges of the game)

You have Hossa as a joker because he will score many goals and make his
linemates better. If you let Stoll and Hemsky on the first both should bring
good numbers to the table and then you could trade them for a top center
and a pick in february.

Stamkos could develop in a top playmaker. Keep an eye on him and his stats.
Often you can read a player's development by his creativity and anticipation
attributes. If these attributes don't increase by one point after a year and a half
that should be a first warn signal.

Malkin was available on the free agent market for quite a while but I was unable to afford him, salary cap wise. I will have to take a far more detailed look at everything when i get home and see what I can figure out for a power center.

I'll keep a very close eye on Stamkos, thanks!

Again thank you for all your input. I hope my team can live up to the expectations that have been put on them by this "team season preview" hah.

The rankings are based on reputation. That goes for individual players and teams.

Just a quick little update. It is now the middle of January and the Oilers are sitting in 4th place in the West, again. The breakdown is such that if division leaders didn't automatically get placed in the top 3, I would be in 2nd place in the West, though.

We are doing very well overall, and we have been lucky to avoid any major injuries this year.

5 of my players are in the top 10 for points production. Hossa is #1 (no shock there) and Schremp is #3... Zetterberg is #4. Stoll and Hemsky are #7 and #9.

The biggest surprise for me has been that Schremp has been able to stick right up there with Hossa, and actually has more Goals. If my first line stays healthy then Schremp could very well win the scoring race in his 2nd year in the league.

I guess the preview rankings, even if they are only based on reputations, is fairly accurate. To the Cup baby!

hmm, they got it right with me, they picked my St. Lowsy Blues to come dead last, and they were dead accurate