EHM The Blue Line

History

So. I picked up a game I created a long time ago with the New York Rangers. This season, the 2010/11 season is just finished and I won the 5th straight Stanley Cup, with Mikhail Grabovsky(acquired at the deadline together with Rhett Warrener for Kari Rämö) winning the Conn Smythe Trophy. Now, I collected up a lot of assets to secure the top draft picks. And so I traded for them and got the top three draft picks of this years draft(I also have two picks in the second round, 38th and 40th). And this is what I payed for them.

1st pick overall from the Coyotes
Rights to Patrice Thomas(three stars)
1st round pick 2011(NYR)
1st round pick 2013(NYR)
2nd round pick 2012 (LA)
2nd round pick 2014(NYR)

2nd pick overall from the Islanders
Nikolai Lukyanchikov
1st round pick 2012(NYR)
2nd round pick 2011(NYR)
2nd round pick 2015(NYR)
3rd round pick 2012(NYR)

3rd pick overall from the Panthers
Greg Moore
Rights to David Jelinek(three stars)
Rights to Steeve Cote(three stars)
1st round pick 2015(NYR)
3rd round pick 2011(WSH)
4th round pick 2011(MIN)


Draft Pick Order
http://img220.imageshack.us/f/draftorder.jpg/


So, now. I wanted to do an "experiment". I want to see who you would chose among them. So, here is the top 30 list and the top goalies list. And further down is a photos of my players, lineup and signed prospects. I didn't bother taking photos of the unsigned ones, but there are maybe three guys who might have a small chance of being signed.


NHL Entry Draft:
1.Leo Toews
2.Denis Cruz
3.Lewis Schneider
4.Jaylan Couturier
5.Devin Chafe
6.George Mitchell
7.Dallas Bartley
8.Grant Forrest
9.Leon Ryan
10.Brett Cook
11.Dave MacInnis
12.Benoit Lenière
13.Jason Clarke
14.Pete Chabot
15.Raymond Sheridan
16.Adam Stephens
17.Pierre Coccimiglio
18.Viliam Novák
19.Charles-Philippe Reaney
20.Cédric Aubin
21.Cary Earl
22.Brendan Guerin
23.Richard Hunchak
24.Pierre-Edouard Labrecque
25.Larry Brown
26.Jaromir Havel
27.Nolan Conway
28.Vinnie Bergen
29.Nate Reynolds
30.Shamil Makarov

Top five goalies

40.Pierre-Yves Periard
42.Francois Weiss
53.Grady Rachon
85.Jan Salonen
123.Marc Hall

Now, as said. I have the top three picks and the 38th and 40th.


This is my team, my lineup and my signed prospects.


Rangers

- Of these players, Kyle Quincey and Eric Fehr have expiring contracts in 14 days. The rest have one or several years left.


Jose Theodore
Henrik Lundqvist

Brian Campbell
Denis Kulyash
Marc Staal
Brad Stuart
Rhett Warrener
Ryan Wilson
Kyle Quincey

Peter Forsberg
Dany Heatley
Josef Vasicek
Chris Dury
Nigel Dawes
Maxim Afinogenov
Mikhail Grabovsky
Chris Higgins
Patrick Sharp
Johan Bergqvist
Chris Kelly
Eric Fehr
Pascal Dupuis
Ville Leino
Landon Wilson

My usual lineup:
Lineup

My Signed Prospects:

- Of these players, only Janne Lahti have expiring contract in 14 days.

AHL

Mauro Zürcher

Arne Eriksson
Tyrell Mason
Albert Polinin

Dan Carcillo
Denis Hascak
Nikita Klyukin
Janne Lahti
Mike Neal
Mickey Renaud
Viktor Tikhonov

ECHL

Aleksandr Taverov


Now What would you do as a GM?

- Who would you draft?
- How would you lineup your squad?
- What are the weak points on the roster/lineup?

Tell me what YOU think!

I posted it like this at this moment to hopefully get responses, but MOD might move it to draft-thread later on. If you want the savegame to actually play, if you see this game as interesting? I could upload it somewhere if you find a site for me(must be easy to use).

I'm going through all of the screenshots right now, but the one thing I really need to make decisions is the scouting reports. It's hard to draft based on attributes alone. I know that you put a lot of time and effort into this thread, but the scouting reports (from your best scout) would really help me make some decisions.

I usually draft the BPA (Best Player Available), even if I need another position because by the time my pick is NHL ready my needs may have changed.

Yeah, Timmy is right. You need the scouting reports. And I almost always go BPA. Just looking at their attributes, I like those two centers ranked #1 and #2. The #3 pick is where is gets tricky. I'm not liking something about each of the other guys in the top 10. Jason Clarke at #13 is looking okay but not really a third overall. Beyond that, I got bored of clicking screenshots. I did check out the first two goalies too. If you wanted to go with a goalie, Weiss looks better than Periard.

Well. Usually I scout pretty hard, because I have low picks or several picks in the 2nd/3rd/4th round. This season I decided to not scout so hard. So, I had some scouting reports during the season and then when the playoffs were. I sent scouts out to scout for each position. So, the players have mainly just brief scouting-reports, and some have more: Christer Rockström is my main scout.


1.Leo Toews - overview, Leo Toews - reportcard
2.Denis Cruz - overview, 2.Denis Cruz - reportcard
3.Lewis Schneider - overview, Lewis Schneider - reportcard
4.Jaylan Couturier, Jaylan Couturier - reportcard
5.Devin Chafe - overview, 5.Devin Chafe - reportcard

6.George Mitchell - overview, George Mitchell - reportcard
7.Dallas Bartley - overview, Dallas Bartley - reportcard
8.Grant Forest - overview, Grant Forest - reportcard
9.Leon Ryan - overview, Leon Ryan - reportcard
10.Brett Cook - No report

11.Dave MacInnis - overview, Dave MacInnis - reportcard
12.Benoit Lenière - overview, Benoit Lenière - reportcard
13.Jason Clarke - overview, Jason Clarke - reportcard
14.Pete Chabot - overview, Pete Chabot - reportcard
15.Raymond Sheridan - overview, Raymond Sheridan - reportcard

16.Adam Stephens - overview, Adam Stephens - reportcard
17.Pierre Coccimiglio - overview, Pierre Coccimiglio - reportcard
18.Viliam Novák - No report
19.Charles-Philippe Reaney - overview, Charles-Philippe Reaney - reportcard
20.Cédric Aubin - overview, Cédric Aubin - reportcard

21.Cary Earl - overview, Cary Earl - reportcard
22.Brendan Guerin - overview, Brendan Guerin - reportcard
23.Richard Hunchak - overview, Richard Hunchak - reportcard
24.Pierre-Edouard Labrecque - overview, Pierre-Edouard Labrecque - reportcard
25.Larry Brown - No report

26.Jaromir Havel - overview, Jaromir Havel - reportcard
27.Nolan Conway - overview, Nolan Conway - reportcard
28.Vinnie Bergen - overview, Vinnie Bergen - reportcard
29.Nate Reynolds - No report
30.Shamil Makarov - overview, Shamil Makarov - reportcard

Top five goalies

40.Pierre-Yves Periard - overview, Pierre-Yves Periard - reportcard
42.Francois Weiss - overview, Francois Weiss - reportcard
53.Grady Rachon - overview, Grady Rachon - reportcard
85.Jan Salonen - overview, Jan Salonen - reportcard
123.Marc Hall - overview, Marc Hall - reportcard


I myself like these players:

1. Leo Toews (C)
2. Denis Cruz (C)
3. Lewis Schneider (RW)
4. Jaylan Couturier (LD)
20. Cédric Aubin (C)
26. Jaromir Havel (RW)
29. Nate Reynolds (RD/LD)
42. Francois Weiss (G)
53. Grady Rochon (G)
123. Marc Hall (G)


The question is, can you get one of the goalies at 38th or 40th? It should be possible.

UPDATE!


So, I drafted:

1. Leo Toews(1)
2. Denis Cruz(2)
3. Cédric Aubin (20)
38. Peter Markkanen - Not on the top 30-list. 18-year old on Espoo Blues
40. Marc Hall(123)
And five other guys not on this list.

And then I traded to ok prospects(who might or might not pan out) for Francois Weiss(42) who was draftet 24.overall.


Then Peter Forsberg retired...

I signed Nicklas Lidström(41 year old) to a two-year deal, value is about 900k I think. He had been with the Red Wings the entire time, but they were rebuilding and he wasn't re-signed, and I guess he wanted to play for a contender. Were planning on having him as 7/8 d-man and/or on PP.

Then I managed to sign Alexander Semin for a very low price(it wasn't the usual bug), don't know why. But I'll take it.

Had to waive Lidström because of roster issues(too many guys), and guess what...Islanders(ranked 30th) snatched him

Traded away Pascal Dupuis for Bruno Gervais and a 7th round pick.


Then I signed Leo Toews, Denis Cruz, Francois Weiss and another goalie prospect. Going to sign Cédric Aubin possible after this season.

In the practice-games. Leo Toews played different places(winger, but will play center from now on) on a couple of lines(mainly second line), getting 2 points, -3 in 3 games. Denis Cruz played 1st.line RW, getting 7 points, +5 in 2 games.

First game of the season was sick!

http://img813.imageshack.us/i/111cgu.jpg/

http://img90.imageshack.us/i/1112x.jpg/

Fourth line with +5, and I scored 5 goals in 3 mins and 33 seconds in the middle of the third period.

Leo Toews looks like he could be a Perennial Selke winner.