2018-19 Division Review - Central Division

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DevilsGM

2018-19 Division Review - Central Division

Post by DevilsGM »

Greetings everyone! And welcome to the central division review. Over the coming days I'll be doing a state of the franchise for each team alphabetically in the division. This initial post will be introducing you to my methodology in obtaining the scores so you understand where I am coming from so questions are kept to a minimum.

Scoring will be out of 10 and be relative to the predicted usage. Ex: A player with 1st line talent playing on the 3rd line is gonna get a 10/10, and a 3rd liner playing on the 2nd will get a 3/10. I'm also going to be lenient towards switching line 1 vs line 2, etc.

10 = Best of the Best
6 = Average ability for usage
3 = 1 Level below (backup as starter or 2nd line center as 1st line center)
0 = Several levels below

One thing you will notice in my rankings is the "Pos Rank" column, or "Positional Rankings". I calculate a value similar to OVE for each player. Don't take this value all too seriously, its just a simple value to help gauge where they generally fall alongside their peers (Goalies/Defenders/Wngers/Centers) in terms of best ability. This kind of rankings tends to favour players who have specialized abilities rather than general across the board good stats (ex: A HAG player with 99 HI and 99 SR will be viewed very favourably) so keep that in mind. This kind of rankings also doesn't give information as to the difference between say a 2nd and 3rd liner is so I will be using my own personal judgement :roll: .
DevilsGM

Re: 2018-19 Division Review - Central Division

Post by DevilsGM »

Chicago Blackhawks

Free Agency Aquisitions
Maxim Berezin (D)
Joe Pavelski (W/C)
Mark Stuart (D)
Jarret Stoll (C)
Logan MacMillan (W)
Ben Bishop (G)
Chris Vande Velde (C/W)..in Pittsburgh?

Main Off-season Moves
Ovechkin for Kempe + Eberle

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Name			H	W	Pos	Apos	Salary		Y	FI	SH	PL	ST	CH	PO	HI	SK	EN	PE	FA	LE	SR	POT	CON	 Pos Rank 
Alexander Ovechkin	74	212	RW	LW	 $8,400,000 	2	39	99	88	90	87	74	87	91	96	66	83	73	80	91	86	1.00
Jordan Eberle		70	173	RW	C	 $5,400,000 	4	41	97	94	81	71	77	57	81	75	75	82	54	81	81	73	2.23
Adrian Kempe		74	187	C	LW	 $3,560,000 	3	69	89	72	74	82	71	79	78	71	79	85	70	74	75	87	2.47
Analysis: In a cap neutral trade the Blackhawks pick up one of the, if not the, best wingers in the game for a top 6 HAG center and top 6 PP centre. Its a win now move given the ages of the players involved, and defeinelty a win in the short term.


Roster

HAG1: Vanek - Beach - Ovechkin
PP1: Kostitsy - Krejci - Tarasenko
HAG2: Pavelski - Stoll - Keil
PP2: MacMillan - Zajac - Eller

HAG1: Ranger - Weber
PP1: Girardi - Berezin
HAG2: Stuart - Sauve

Ben Bishop
Bernhard Starkbaum

Player Attributes

Goalies

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Name			H	W	Pos	Apos	Salary		Y	FI	SH	PL	ST	CH	PO	HI	SK	EN	PE	FA	LE	SR	POT	CON	 Pos Rank 
Ben Bishop		77	205	G	None	 $900,000 	2	46	74	74	74	74	74	74	74	77	76	76	62	74	74	88	2.13
Bernhard Starkbaum	73	196	G	None	 $544,000 	1	42	69	70	70	70	69	70	69	69	85	70	79	69	68	86	3.80
Defense

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Name		H	W	Pos	Apos	Salary		Y	FI	SH	PL	ST	CH	PO	HI	SK	EN	PE	FA	LE	SR	POT	CON	 Pos Rank 
Shea Weber	75	208	D	None	 $5,680,000 	3	56	86	92	68	82	87	85	87	80	62	88	66	84	87	80	1.02
Mark Stuart	74	212	D	None	 $1,200,000 	1	40	61	54	60	76	77	99	75	55	59	71	76	78	76	84	1.83
Paul Ranger	75	215	D	None	 $3,520,000 	1	47	70	65	65	78	78	99	74	80	64	78	70	78	78	68	2.43
Dan Girardi	74	205	D	None	 $2,150,000 	1	57	59	87	55	76	76	75	76	94	63	77	71	76	76	74	3.70
Maxim Berezin	75	206	D	None	 $1,000,000 	1	40	59	86	70	70	69	75	69	76	84	62	59	70	68	78	4.65
Yann Sauve	75	220	D	None	 $600,000 	2	51	40	40	46	76	70	93	76	82	61	77	55	76	76	67	5.83
Forward

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Pos	Name			H	W	Pos	Apos	Salary		Y	FI	SH	PL	ST	CH	PO	HI	SK	EN	PE	FA	LE	SR	POT	CON	 Pos Rank 
W	Alexander Ovechkin	74	212	RW	LW	 $8,400,000 	2	39	99	88	90	87	74	87	91	96	66	83	73	80	91	86	1.00
W	Vladimir Tarasenko	72	197	RW	LW	 $3,400,000 	3	36	99	87	93	83	73	64	90	92	76	92	55	76	91	60	1.23
W	David Krejci		71	176	LW	C	 $6,520,000 	4	30	99	91	82	82	77	58	78	83	78	71	64	84	82	72	1.23
W	Andrei Kostitsyn	72	205	LW	RW	 $5,440,000 	3	30	98	79	83	74	83	75	83	92	72	82	64	78	83	67	1.33
C	Travis Zajac		74	205	C	RW	 $5,040,000 	6	43	73	94	75	75	75	76	75	76	80	91	69	75	75	83	2.23
W	Thomas Vanek		74	208	RW	LW	 $5,200,000 	5	40	98	71	81	69	78	99	81	57	77	82	59	77	81	71	1.58
W	Joe Pavelski		71	194	LW	C	 $1,600,000 	1	29	75	99	76	73	76	67	76	71	74	77	64	76	76	73	2.08
W	Logan MacMillan		73	184	LW	C	 $1,000,000 	1	39	94	53	75	75	75	68	75	71	75	65	58	71	75	76	2.72
C	Jarret Stoll		73	209	C	RW	 $600,000 	1	35	75	70	75	75	75	70	75	74	65	88	77	76	75	77	4.30
C	Kyle Beach		75	180	C	RW	 $4,000,000 	6	68	69	89	77	77	81	89	70	76	51	85	58	78	84	60	5.03
C	Lars Eller		73	200	RW	C	 $600,000 	1	56	72	75	78	73	83	63	72	78	73	84	56	75	83	70	5.03
W	Bernhard Keil		72	200	RW	LW	 $480,000 	3	40	71	84	73	73	73	66	73	69	61	74	56	73	73	76	3.67
Player Ratings

Ben Bishop: 4/10
Bernhard Starkbaum: 0/10

Shea Weber: 10/10 - One of the best defenders in the game with the production to back that up, and signed to a great contract :lol: (oh the irony)
Paul Ranger: 4 /10 - I have his general ability ranked lower than Stuart but he's been able to produce decently so I'm going to give him the nod for the 1st pairing.
Dan Girardi: 5/10 - Ranked as a 3rd pairing guy in my rankings, but has produced despite a lack of specialization. He is still below what I have ranked as a 2nd pairing guy, but certainly doesn't appear to produce as bad as a 3rd pairing guy.
Maxim Berezin: 3/10 - Another guy who's abilities are generally lacking in the defensive end (Girardi). On some teams he's produced well while others his lack of defensive abilities has resulted in less than favourable GF/GA ratios. Likely an underrated 3rd pairing option.
Mark Stuart: 7/10 - His hitting ability and consistency drive him up the rankings, but the guy has failed to produce constantly at the NHL level so I have him filling out the 3rd pairing as a steady presence.
Yann Sauve: 0/10 - His production isn't there, and my rankings have him as an AHLer. He's out of his depth.

Alexander Ovechkin: 10/10 - Generational talent until he retires.
Vladimir Tarasenko: 10/10 - Is ovechkin without hitting ability.
David Krejci: 7/10 - Isn't your ideal center given the lack of faceoff ability but has everything else you could want.
Andrei Kostitsyn: 10/10 Jesus he has a lot of good wingers with 94+ shot.
Thomas Vanek: 8/10 - More an overage 1st line winger, but given his 99 HI I'll give him a bit of a boost.
Travis Zajac: 10/10 - If Krejci is moved over to wing, Zajac can step in on that 2nd line and not look out of place.
Joe Pavelski: 6/10 - Is borderline 1st line material, but will likely need to be used as a HAGer when he lack high end HI capabilities.
Logan MacMillan: 10/10 - Could setp up in the lineup if needed.
Kyle Beach: 3/10 - He''s the only reasonable option for that top HAG unit, but I don't think his constiancy does him any good. Looking at his production he doesn't quite produce like a top line guy either and could hold that line back. The alternative though is having a sub 75 HI guy running your HAG line.
Jarret Stoll: 6/10 - General all around ok dude, nothing special.
Bernhard Keil: 6/10 - Ditto to above, perfect fill in for the bottom 6 with all the expensive contracts.
Lars Eller: 5/10 - Not necessarily a great NHL center but can fill in on the wing just fine.


Roster Scores

Goalie Rating: 3/10. Ben Bishop is a great backup given his level of constancy but doesn't have the oompf to be a starter in this league. Starting 3/4 of the games he shouldn't kill the team by any means, but Starkbaum doesn't help them in terms of providing support.

Defense Rating: 5/10. There are some good pieces here, but attributee wise a lot of them leave a lot to be desired. With that said I think a Girardi - Berezin pairing could surprise. The defence isn't good, but it is certainly not terrible (thanks Weber for saving it).

Forward Rating: 8.5/10 - Great winger depth, and some great superstar power. A simple upgrade at top HAG C would probably cement the team at a nice 5/7.

Best Prospects
Goaltending: None
Defense: None
Forward: Jack Drury (53rd OA in 2018) - Not dynamic offensively but has some great defensive attributes which should result in him being a decent NZT #3/4 center with a role on the PK.

Conclusions
You look at their forward group and can understand how they got to the conference finals. I'm not sure who their goalie was previously but with Holtby in net you could see why they wouldn't make it further than that this year. This coming season could be a turning point and if Chicago isn't high in the standings I wouldn't be surprised if Berny decided to blow it up given the lack of a pipeline and picks and a core that is in their early/mid 30s.
Last edited by DevilsGM on Wed Sep 26, 2018 9:07 pm, edited 2 times in total.
DevilsGM

Re: 2018-19 Division Review - Central Division

Post by DevilsGM »

Detroit Redwings

Free Agency Aquisitions
Alex Tanguay
Shawn Horcoff
Rene Sweete
David Steckel (D)
Cam Ward (G)

Main Off-season Moves
2nd out, Demko & Fischer in.

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Name			H	W	Pos	Apos	Salary		Y	FI	SH	PL	ST	CH	PO	HI	SK	EN	PE	FA	LE	SR	POT	CON	 Pos Rank 
Thatcher Demko	76	192	G	None	 $1,450,000 	1	40	77	76	76	78	78	78	76	84	84	77	56	69	76	80	2.13
David Fischer	75	190	D	None	 $1,960,000 	1	40	40	46	47	76	76	99	67	77	67	78	52	76	76	81	3.70
Analysis: In a cap neutral trade the Blackhawks pick up one of the, if not the, best wingers in the game for a top 6 HAG center and top 6 PP centre. Its a win now move given the ages of the players involved, and defeinelty a win in the short term.


Roster

PP1: Nicklas Bäckström - Jonathan Toews - Scott Glennie
PP2: Pierre-Marc Bouchard - Ryan Spooner - Alex Tanguay
HAG1: Guillaume Latendresse - Shawn Horcoff - Taylor Beck
PP3: Sven Baertschi - Joey Hishon - Michal Repík

PP1: Drew Doughty - Mike Green
PP2: Ian Cole - Tim Erixon
HAG1: Erik Gudbranson - David Fischer

Cam Ward
Thatcher Demko


Player Attributes

Goalies

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Name	H	W	Pos	Apos	Salary	Y	FI	SH	PL	ST	CH	PO	HI	SK	EN	PE	FA	LE	SR	POT	CON	 Pos Rank 
Cam Ward	73	200	G	None	 $1,600,000 	1	40	81	81	81	80	80	82	80	88	79	81	71	80	80	74	1.63
Thatcher Demko	76	192	G	None	 $1,450,000 	1	40	77	76	76	78	78	78	76	84	84	77	56	69	76	80	2.13
Defense

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Name	H	W	Pos	Apos	Salary	Y	FI	SH	PL	ST	CH	PO	HI	SK	EN	PE	FA	LE	SR	POT	CON	 Pos Rank 
Drew Doughty	73	219	D	None	 $6,120,000 	4	45	80	80	71	88	88	71	88	82	68	99	55	83	88	78	1.10
Mike Green	73	198	D	None	 $7,150,000 	4	37	97	89	83	79	75	71	83	86	66	77	61	80	88	75	1.32
Erik Gudbranson	75	215	D	None	 $4,640,000 	6	43	65	70	65	90	85	94	74	67	70	39	61	81	81	76	1.32
Ian Cole	73	215	D	None	 $2,640,000 	4	40	65	96	56	76	76	69	76	70	62	77	64	76	76	75	2.72
Tim Erixon	74	190	D	None	 $860,000 	1	52	63	63	64	76	72	73	78	91	71	79	56	78	78	80	3.18
David Fischer	75	190	D	None	 $1,960,000 	1	40	40	46	47	76	76	99	67	77	67	78	52	76	76	81	3.70
Forward

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True Pos	Name	H	W	Pos	Apos	Salary	Y	FI	SH	PL	ST	CH	PO	HI	SK	EN	PE	FA	LE	SR	POT	CON	 Pos Rank 
W	Jonathan Toews	73	195	LW	C	 $6,200,000 	6	30	99	89	83	68	78	63	82	74	72	74	74	82	83	86	1.10
W	Nicklas Bäckström	73	210	LW	C	 $4,320,000 	1	79	67	99	82	78	73	66	82	73	72	69	60	78	82	77	1.58
C	Ryan Spooner	69	164	C	LW	 $1,250,000 	2	42	81	67	79	78	76	57	76	80	84	99	54	81	81	70	3.87
W	Pierre-Marc Bouchard	70	172	LW	RW	 $4,680,000 	2	41	83	96	82	66	79	58	82	89	80	77	60	70	82	65	2.38
W	Scott Glennie	73	177	RW	C	 $2,000,000 	4	46	98	61	80	63	72	49	81	71	75	77	52	75	81	71	2.72
W	Alex Tanguay	73	190	RW	LW	 $600,000 	1	25	68	78	80	79	81	52	82	82	82	64	82	79	80	75	2.72
W	Sven Baertschi	70	175	LW	RW	 $1,920,000 	1	54	77	76	76	76	72	54	73	81	72	73	53	76	76	77	3.67
C	Shawn Horcoff	73	202	C	LW	 $600,000 	2	34	70	69	66	74	77	63	81	98	72	85	84	78	76	75	5.57
W	Taylor Beck	74	205	RW	LW	 $2,800,000 	2	71	99	61	74	60	67	84	63	84	70	64	55	74	74	76	3.67
W	Michal Repík	71	175	LW	RW	 $800,000 	1	59	68	83	79	63	77	56	77	79	70	63	52	78	78	72	3.67
C	Joey Hishon	71	168	C	LW	 $800,000 	4	39	68	67	78	84	80	55	78	69	74	79	60	69	78	70	6.00
W	Guillaume Latendresse	74	229	RW	LW	 $1,800,000 	3	81	65	67	74	74	73	99	61	79	67	75	61	74	74	64	4.80

Player Ratings

Cam Ward: 6/10 - A blue-collar goalie.
Thatcher Demko: 9/10 - Solid backup who can step up if there is an injruy.

Drew Doughty: 10/10 - Top of the line defenseman, what do you want from me.
Mike Green: 9/10 - If you want offense, he's got offense. Not bad defensewise eitehr.
Erik Gudbranson: 10/10 - If they can secure enough talent to put up a top 6 HAG line then Gudbranson will anchor it.
Ian Cole: 6/10 - Rounds out the top 4 decently well.
Tim Erixon: 4/10 - Playing above his station but nothing they can do without more HAG talent.
David Fischer: 4/10 - Is an NHLer, meh performance on 3rd pairings.

Jonathan Toews: 7/10 - Similar situation to Krejci in Chicago. Would lprefer him on the wing, but lacking center depth pushes him to center.
Nicklas Bäckström: 7/10 - Top line center. Would prefer more shooting ability from a winger, but I could you could flip Toews backstrom and have better synergy if you wished.
Ryan Spooner: 4/10 - My algorithms don't like him, and he hasn't really produced.
Pierre-Marc Bouchard: 10/10 - The guy does nothing but produce. Is a perfect fit for the 2nd line putting up near a point a game most seasons.
Scott Glennie: 2/10 - his shot is tantellizing, should be a powerplay specialist but hasn't really produced. Not really any other option.
Alex Tanguay: 6/10 - Can do everything well except hit, so good match for passing plays unit. Has played well everywhere not named Arizona.
Sven Baertschi: 8/10 - Lesser version of Tanguay
Shawn Horcoff: 0/10 - Is playing center HAG because there is literally nobody better for it. He's not only out of his depths tacticially but he barely looks like NHL center material to me and hsould be on the wing.
Taylor Beck: 6/10 - Should help solidify the HAG line. He produces well but takes a lot of penalties.
Michal Repík: 6/10 - OK depth.
Joey Hishon: 3/10 - Another guy who is skilled enough for the NHL just not at center in my opinion
Guillaume Latendresse: 4/10 - Good hitter, but little scoring potential.


Roster Scores

Goalie Rating: 7/10 - Solid all around goaltending.
Defense Rating: 7.5/10 - Great talent at the top. Missing 1 HAG top 4 option.
Forward Rating: 4/10 - There is some great talent at the top for the passing plays unit but missing a top 6 HAG unit really cuts their rating deep.

Best Prospects
Goaltending: Thatcher Demko (Aquired from Kings)
Defense: Adam Boqvist (Selected 18th OA in 2018) - Top pairing passing plays dman.
Forward: None

Conclusions
I think they are definetly a playoff team, but without a HAG unit it is hard to label them as a contender. Their aging core also isn't about to make leaps and bounds and they don't have much coming in the way of prospects that they dont' have already. Some serious moves or tanking will be required to become a serious contender.
DevilsGM

Re: 2018-19 Division Review - Central Division

Post by DevilsGM »

Nashville Predators

Free Agency Aquisitions
Joachim Nermark

Main Off-season Moves
Trading away Ladd for Poehling & Pasternak

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Name		H	W	Pos	Apos	Salary	Y	FI	SH	PL	ST	CH	PO	HI	SK	EN	PE	FA	LE	SR	POT	CON	 Pos Rank 	 Pos Rank2 
Ryan Poehling	74	185	C	LW	 $1,400,000 	2	48	77	70	72	74	75	82	75	69	74	74	63	55	72	81	5.57	3.27
Andrew Ladd	74	200	RW	LW	 $5,040,000 	5	60	99	55	74	72	74	89	74	62	68	64	63	74	74	80	2.08	2.38
David Pastrnak	72	167	RW	LW	 $1,200,000 	1	40	78	78	80	60	76	59	76	80	70	61	45	60	81	66	4.80	3.13
To make some capspace Nashville moved a good 2nd line HAG winger and was able to recoup a future middle 6 HAG center. I think he did good on this trade in getting Poehling back, as if he wanted to convert him to a winger in the future he could fill most of the hole that Ladd left behind.

*NOTE: Pos Rank2 is the rank when all players hit their full development


Roster

Jhonas Enroth
Jaroslav Halak

HAG1: Adam Larsson - Keith Yandle
PAP1: Robert Hagg - Kyle Copobianco
HAG2: Chris Summers - Carl Sneep

HAG1: Pavel Zacha - Brock Boeser - Colin White
PAP1: Mikael Salmivirta - Mitch Marner - Evgeni Kuznetsov
HAG2: Ryan Poehling - Steven Shipley - Jean-Francois Jacques
PAP2: Pavel Buchnevich - Joachim Nermark - Nathan Noel

Player Attributes

Goalies

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Name		H	W	Pos	Apos	Salary		Y	FI	SH	PL	ST	CH	PO	HI	SK	EN	PE	FA	LE	SR	POT	CON	 Pos Rank 
Jhonas Enroth	71	174	G	None	 $600,000 	1	40	79	80	78	78	80	80	78	71	75	79	53	78	78	74	1.87
Jaroslav Halak	71	180	G	None	 $800,000 	1	36	79	80	78	78	80	78	76	82	76	78	58	79	78	76	1.87
Defense

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Name		H	W	Pos	Apos	Salary		Y	FI	SH	PL	ST	CH	PO	HI	SK	EN	PE	FA	LE	SR	POT	CON	 Pos Rank 
Adam Larsson	75	200	D	None	 $7,200,000 	6	67	83	80	79	85	84	88	84	99	85	90	51	80	83	88	1.02
Chris Summers	74	185	D	None	 $2,700,000 	1	38	39	54	46	83	76	99	76	66	66	77	52	76	76	80	2.72
Keith Yandle	74	195	D	None	 $3,150,000 	2	37	64	67	73	78	75	96	74	75	67	77	56	78	78	63	3.18
Carl Sneep	76	210	D	None	 $2,360,000 	1	40	63	63	78	78	73	99	78	60	67	79	58	78	78	60	3.18
Robert Hagg	74	193	D	None	 $1,850,000 	3	40	76	77	76	89	63	76	60	71	77	74	68	75	75	67	4.07
Kyle Capobianco	73	178	D	None	 $1,350,000 	3	40	79	72	78	69	71	80	82	79	62	75	51	78	88	58	4.65
Forward

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T.Pos	Name			H	W	Pos	Apos	Salary		Y	FI	SH	PL	ST	CH	PO	HI	SK	EN	PE	FA	LE	SR	POT	CON	 Pos Rank 
W	Mikael Salmivirta	72	179	C	LW	 $1,000,000 	1	42	77	80	69	72	84	68	87	76	75	70	54	72	75	86	1.58
C	Mitchell Marner		71	164	C	RW	 $4,400,000 	4	32	81	91	88	79	87	58	90	81	68	77	62	56	82	71	2.47
W	Brock Boeser		73	187	RW	C	 $4,400,000 	4	36	94	85	86	65	65	73	82	85	80	77	47	55	81	72	1.78
W	Evgeny Kuznetsov	72	177	LW	RW	 $5,300,000 	2	42	88	99	80	86	67	68	92	77	74	84	66	73	83	61	1.78
C	Colin White		72	183	C	RW	 $3,400,000 	4	42	79	86	87	67	72	76	87	83	71	80	64	71	83	69	3.87
C	Pavel Zacha		75	210	LW	C	 $3,900,000 	4	35	87	83	82	75	80	81	92	78	60	78	59	75	83	59	3.87
W	Pavel Buchnevich	73	161	LW	C	 $1,450,000 	3	44	74	86	78	68	72	71	79	86	52	49	40	74	78	75	2.72
W	Steven Shipley		74	210	C	LW	 $5,600,000 	4	61	99	61	87	61	77	99	62	67	71	75	51	69	74	70	2.72
C	Nathan Noel		74	170	C	RW	 $3,250,000 	4	71	79	78	81	73	72	81	78	87	72	88	62	51	75	72	4.30
C	Ryan Poehling		74	185	C	LW	 $1,400,000 	2	48	77	70	72	74	75	82	75	69	74	74	63	55	72	81	5.57
C	Joachim Nermark		73	187	LW	C	 $750,000 	1	62	78	77	78	80	79	64	75	78	68	78	64	82	91	61	5.57
W	Jean-Franįois Jacques	76	217	RW	LW	 $4,360,000 	2	61	99	60	74	74	74	89	74	70	47	76	51	74	74	52	4.80
Player Ratings
Jhonas Enroth - 5/10 Low end starter
Jaroslav Halak - 7/10 Low end starter in backup position. Feel free to reverse Enroth/Halak.

Adam Larsson: 10/10 - Top echilon of defenders attributewise. Larsson doesn't really have a weakness. Would be nice to see a better boxscore stats.
Keith Yandle: 5/10 - Stats go beyond his attributes. Would be better suited for 2nd pairing minutes still.
Robert Hagg: 3/10 - Will have to play above his weight class due to lack of other options.
Kyle Capobianco: 5/10 - I'm going to give him the benefits of the doubt, he's 21, and has 2nd pairing potential in my eyes and could get there very quickly.
Chris Summers: 5/10 - Is a 3rd pairing dman on the 3rd pairing
Carl Sneep: 5/10 - ditto

Pavel Zacha: 6/10 - Capable but lacks constancy. Could play center.
Brock Boeser: 6/10 - Supbar hitting for HAG line but he's the best top line talent availble for it.
Colin White: 6/10 - Tops off an offensively dynamic HAG line (although they are all rather weak)
Mikael Salmivirta: 6/10 - A bit overrated due to constancy rather than ability. Can produce at a decent level.
Mitchell Marner: 6/10 - Get that man a Gatorade.
Evgeny Kuznetsov: 8/10 - A top line winger playing the winger position for once.
Ryan Poehling: 4/10 - Lags behind the competition in terms of center ability but the only way to learn FA is to take faceoffs.
Steven Shipley: 8/10 - A HAG line is the only logical place for him, and love the depth to have him on the 3rd line.
Jean-Franįois Jacques: 6/10 - Attributewise he looks more like a 4th liner but the boxscore speaks volumes and he's been screaming goal celebrations for the last several years.
Pavel Buchnevich: 10/10 - Having him on the 4th line is a crime, Would probably switch with Salmvirta if I hadn't already written his rating out.
Joachim Nermark: 5/10 - Beutiful pickup. High end potential which Nashville may hope to help continue have him overdevelop throughout the year. He's done ok throughout his career so far despite a low consistancy, so we'll see if that continues with Nashville.
Nathan Noel: 6/10 - I'd like to see him on the HAG line but its full already so unless Shpley/Jacques and their 4M+ contracts get moved its tough seeing being used there.


Roster Scores

Goalie Rating: 6/10 - They have satisfactory goaltending all around.
Defense Rating: 5/10 - They have 1 star defender, but otherwise are relatively weak attribute wise.
Forward Rating: 6.5/10 - Has a lot of good pieces but the synergy between them seems to be absolute hell.

Best Prospects
Goaltending: Michael DiPietro - Potential Backup.
Defense: Kyle Copiobianco (Potential 2nd Pairing HAG), & Cam Dineen (Potential 2nd Pairing Passing Plays)
Forward: My cutoff for prospect was 23 and under. Marner, Boewser, White, Zacha, and Noel, all technically fit this description and are likely parts of their rosters this season, with all having top 6 potential or current ability. Poehline, Pastnark, and Wilkie I'd say also project to be top 9 forwards.

Conclusions
I view this as a bubble team, which is what they've been the last two years. My major issue is the lack of synergy upfront. I think if Nashville could flip one of Shipley/Jacques for a comparable defenseman the roster would mesh much better. They have enough depth to replace those guys internally witht Noel/Poehling.
Calgary.Flames

Re: 2018-19 Division Review - Central Division

Post by Calgary.Flames »

Interesting pieces, man! Keep it up.
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Dallas Stars GM
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Re: 2018-19 Division Review - Central Division

Post by Dallas Stars GM »

So much fun reading it. You did a great job. We could do some articles on a monthly basis. I will do Atlantic tomorrow or on Saturday. :)
STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS 2020, 2022
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Bernyhawks
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Re: 2018-19 Division Review - Central Division

Post by Bernyhawks »

Always fun to have someone else’s thoughts on my team! Great read. And, no there will not be a blowout, this D will surprise and I will win my 3rd cup!!! :mrgreen:
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