NHL 20 GM Mode Logs & Conversation

[GAMO1992]

Thanks for this.

I didn't realize player roles could change during the season. I wonder if this is why some players have stagnated. I always thought that it only happened during the off-season.

Question - I have a 20 year old Dman with Medium Elite potential, but he's still only 58 overall. He has huge trade value, but he's about to turn 21 and hasn't even hit 60 overall yet (I drafted him as a 19 year old).

I'm tempted to look at him and conclude that he's growing too old to really develop into anything, and I really want to cut bait with him to maximize his value. Would the correct decision be to cut bait? That's what my gut is telling me.

yeah they added that in 19. it was a surprise to me as well.

If he hasn't hit 60 overall by the time he's ALMOST 21, then yeah I'd cut bait with him. Maximize value while he has it. You never really know, but, chances are he's not gonna amount to much if his overall is that low at that age.

 

[Serac]

Thanks for this.

I didn't realize player roles could change during the season. I wonder if this is why some players have stagnated. I always thought that it only happened during the off-season.

Question - I have a 20 year old Dman with Medium Elite potential, but he's still only 58 overall. He has huge trade value, but he's about to turn 21 and hasn't even hit 60 overall yet (I drafted him as a 19 year old).

I'm tempted to look at him and conclude that he's growing too old to really develop into anything, and I really want to cut bait with him to maximize his value. Would the correct decision be to cut bait? That's what my gut is telling me.

Medium Elite guys are always tough to decide on when to drop them. At that overall and age, it's probably a safe bet that he won't become anything special. That being said, I think it is around 23-24 years old when the trade value starts to drop if you Really want to hold out hope.

Defenseman for me so far have been a more difficult to develop, personally.

 

[MarkusKetterer]

Thanks for this.

I didn't realize player roles could change during the season. I wonder if this is why some players have stagnated. I always thought that it only happened during the off-season.

Question - I have a 20 year old Dman with Medium Elite potential, but he's still only 58 overall. He has huge trade value, but he's about to turn 21 and hasn't even hit 60 overall yet (I drafted him as a 19 year old).

I'm tempted to look at him and conclude that he's growing too old to really develop into anything, and I really want to cut bait with him to maximize his value. Would the correct decision be to cut bait? That's what my gut is telling me.

Keep him and then trade him during the next season at the TDL for either help at your NHL level or (alternately) sign him before the draft and then trade him off for picks or a different prospect.

 

[CharlestownChiefsESC]

Cant seem to win in the playoffs with my Rangers dynasty. @ presidents trophies in a row and what looks to be 2 first round exits in a row. any tips to win in the playoffs, or how firing a coach works.

 

[East Coast Icestyle]

Cant seem to win in the playoffs with my Rangers dynasty. @ presidents trophies in a row and what looks to be 2 first round exits in a row. any tips to win in the playoffs, or how firing a coach works.

Poise wins cups.

 

[Tak7]

Poise wins cups.

Is this true?

 

[East Coast Icestyle]

Is this true?

It affects how well they play under pressure

 

[Tak7]

It affects how well they play under pressure

Interesting. Always wondered what the hell poise meant.

So, could poise be a big reason why great teams always seem to fail in the playoffs when I build them?

 

[East Coast Icestyle]

Interesting. Always wondered what the hell poise meant.

So, could poise be a big reason why great teams always seem to fail in the playoffs when I build them?

Probably. People milk the young age OP players without thinking about real life roster building

 

[MarkusKetterer]

Interesting. Always wondered what the hell poise meant.

So, could poise be a big reason why great teams always seem to fail in the playoffs when I build them?

There’s three things I really only pay attention to when trading for a player or signing them: poise, defensive ability, and skating. Goalies I pay attention to poise and quickness.

Everything else really is unimportant if you can roll 4 solid lines and everyone can play anywhere (even if it means you have to stick a forward on D because of injuries).

 

[Tak7]

Probably. People milk the young age OP players without thinking about real life roster building

I've noticed that too - some very unrealistic roster constructions.

When I did my Seattle Expansion Draft, I made sure to keep it realistic - all players that were exposed that typically wouldn't be (Muzzin in Toronto, Giordano in Calgary, etc), I would select and then trade them back to their teams for some sort of draft pick return, similar to what Vegas did.

 

[MarkusKetterer]

One month into the 2021-22 NHL season, the Buffalo Sabres are showing why they're considered Stanley Cup contenders after a productive off-season. This team is one of the deepest teams in the league, and getting ravaged by early season injuries has shown that. After contract discussions with RHD Colin Miller broke down and they couldn't come to an agreement, he was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes for RHD Dougie Hamilton whose contract was more in line with what they wanted to pay in the future. This team is tied for third in the league, 2 points back of the top two teams in the league, who are also in the same division (Toronto and Boston). It's gonna be a playoff atmosphere up until game 82 in the Atlantic Division. All 3 teams are in top three for goals for (Buffalo - 75, Toronto - 62, Boston - 56), whereas the Sabres lead the league in being stingy, giving up only 27 goals (21 at EVS).

In other league news, C Mat Barzal (87 TWF), C P. Bergeron (86 TWF), D M. Giordano (86 TWD), C J. Toews (87 TWF), RW B. Gallagher (87 TWF), C S. Couturier (88 TWF), and D B. Burns (85 OFD) are the notable names on the trading block (almost all are for salary cap reasons).

The Sabres have ended the C Morgan Tan experiment, sending him to the AHL after 6 games, once he healed from his knee injury.

Sabres team stats:

J. Eichel	13	11	10	21	+14	0
M. Volkov	13	5	13	18	+13	19
R. Dahlin	13	4	12	16	+22	0
A. Ovechkin	13	8	6	14	+10	21
V. Olofsson	13	5	7	12	+6	0
G. Vallati	13	4	8	12	+14	0
T. Thompson	13	7	4	11	+14	5
Z. Girgensons	12	5	5	10	+11	7
K. Dach	13	3	7	10	+8	14
D. Hamilton	13	2	7	9	+11	2
D. Byfuglien	13	4	3	7	+13	11
D. Kahun	13	3	4	7	+4	0
P. Stastny	11	2	5	7	+8	0
I. Mikheyev	10	3	3	6	+13	12
A. Lowry	13	2	4	6	+12	7
H. Jokiharju	11	3	2	5	+11	0
J. Edmundson	13	0	5	5	+22	11
R. Asplund*	1	1	2	3	+4	0
L. Pilut	2	1	1	2	+3	5
C. Twarynski*	5	1	1	2	+5	0
M. Tan*	6	1	1	2
C. Bunnaman*	7	0	2	2	+6	2
U. Luukkonen	4	0	1	1	+0	0
L. Ullmark	9	0	0	0	+0	0
		W	L	SV%	GAA	SO
L. Ullmark	9	6	3	.914	1.90	0
U. Luukkonen	4	3	1	.870	2.50	1

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[CharlestownChiefsESC]

Anyone know how to adjust budget to hire coaches???

 

[MarkusKetterer]

Anyone know how to adjust budget to hire coaches???

Operations Budget

 

[Mal Reynolds]

In a shocking development, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced today that the Seattle expansion franchise fell through and that instead the Hartford Whalers would make a comeback.... to accomodate the newest franchise, Columbus would shift over to the Central Division in the West and Buffalo to the Metropolitan....

Hartford drops from #3 to #6 in the lottery

Expansion Draft Selections

Anaheim: Derek Grant (C/79)
Arizona: Jordan Oesterle (D/79)
*receives ARI '20 2nd rounder for not taking certain Coyotes*
Boston: John Moore (D/80)
*receives D Jakub Zboril (73, Top 4 Med) for not taking certain Bruins*
Buffalo: Marco Scandella (D/81)
Calgary: Derek Ryan (C/80)
*receives D Oliver Kylington (77, Top 4 Med) for not taking certain Flames*
Carolina: Roland McKeown (D/76)
Chicago: Erik Gustafsson (D/81)
Colorado: Matt Nieto (LW/78)
Columbus: Boone Jenner (F/80)
Dallas: Martin Hanzal (C/74)
*received DAL '21 2nd rounder for taking*
Detroit: Alex Biega (D/79)
Edmonton: Matt Benning (D/78)
Florida: Colton Sceviour (RW/78)
Los Angeles: Jack Campbell (G/81)
Minnesota: Jonas Brodin (D/84)
Montreal: Matthew Peca (C/76)
Nashville: Miikka Salomaki (LW/77)
*received NSH '20 2nd rounder for not taking certain Preds*
New Jersey: John Hayden (RW/77)
NY Islanders: Thomas Greiss (G/84)
NY Rangers: Boo Nieves (C/76)
Ottawa: Tyler Ennis (LW/79)
Philadelphia: Shayne Gostisbehere (D/83)
Pittsburgh: Dominik Simon (LW/79)
San Jose: Brenden Dillon (D/82)
St Louis: Jake Allen (G/81)
*received RW Klim Kostin (74, Elite Low) and STL '21 2nd rounder for not taking certain Blues*
Tampa Bay: Tyler Johnson (F/83)
*received RW Taylor Raddysh (69, Top 6 Med) and rights to G Hugo Alnefelt (66, Starter Med) for taking*
Toronto: Kasperi Kapanen (RW/82)
Vancouver: Sven Baertschi (LW/79)
*received VAN 2019 first rounder (11th overall) for taking*
Washington: Richard Panik (RW/81)
Winnipeg: Adam Lowry (C/80)

Salaries wound up around $66mil after the dust settled (but more on that at a moment). Planning to treat Hartford 2.0 as a smaller market budget team (though with hypothetical deeper pockets once more competitive).... anticipating some growing pains, so will keep budget in check for now

2019 NHL Entry Draft

1/6: Viktor Sergeyev (C/64/Top 6 Med)
1/11: Darren McGillis (RW/64/Top 6 Med)
2/35: Jaxon Bellamy (D/58/Top 6 Med)
3/67: Janis Jerome Moser (D/50/Top 6 Med)
4/99: Kirill Tursumbayev (G/47/Fringe Starter Med)
5/131: Viktor Semin (RW/60/Bottom 6 Low)
6/163: Tate Harris (C/48/Bottom 6 Med)
7/195: Tim Fleischer (C/56/Top 9 Low)

Sometimes the draft is fairly well stocked, not so much in this particular save. No matter, added some pieces that could contribute down the road (fingers crossed)

Other Transactions

Traded Campbell/Biega to Toronto for Michael Hutchinson (G/78), Kenny Agostino (LW/75), '20 3rd rounder and '21 4th rounder

Traded Scandella to Boston for a '21 2nd rounder

Agreed to take on David Backes (F/78) in exchange for Boston's 2020 1st rounder

Deal 1 was to accumulate some assets, get more of a true 3rd string goalie and add some depth on the farm. I also had a surplus of defensemen.

Deal 2 cleared some salary, but was more about accumulating assets and moving out another D.

Deal 3's pretty self explanatory but Backes also brings character and leadership, which makes him an ideal fit even if he's a cap dump.

***

Will do free agency next to fill out my farm team (and perhaps some competition for the lower lines at the NHL level) but I anticipate my opening night lineup looking something like this....

Simon/Johnson 'A'/Panik
Jenner 'A'/Ryan/Kapanen
Ennis/Lowry/Sceviour
Nieto/Grant/Backes
Hayden/Baertschi

Brodin 'A'/Gostisbehere
Dillon/Gustafsson
Moore/Oesterle
Benning

Greiss/Allen

....till next time.....

 

[Mal Reynolds]

Through the first half, the Whalers have managed a 19-17-5 record, good for 4th in our division (shockingly, Tampa is 5th and sits below .500). Hanging around the playoff picture, in a 3 way tie for 8th. 19th overall in the NHL.

8-9-2 Home record/11-9-3 Away
2.54 GFPG/3.02 GAPG/11.5% PP (28th)/82.7% PK (17th)

Leading Scorers (GP/G/A/PTS):
Kapanen 39/11/12/23
Johnson 36/6/16/22
Simon 32/6/15/21
Panik 41/10/9/19
...
Gostisbehere 41/6/9/15

Greiss 10-11-5, 2.74GAA, .910SP%
Allen 8-10, 3.33GAA, .885SP%

Buoyed by strong goaltending, I was 4 or 5 games above .500 through the first quarter.... as you can see, it wasn't sustainable... Allen, in particular, ooof. Greiss just got hurt too, so if he's out for any period of time, we could very well drop like a rock in the standings

Goal scoring is a huge concern, but I may have stumbled into a semi respectable top line since putting together Johnson, Kapanen and Simon (my biggest surprise and beneficiary of a 3yr, $6M extension that could prove a bargain). Derek Ryan has been a HUGE disappointment with just 11 points, and is a woeful -18. Most of my role players are playing as well as can be expected, with reclamation project Baertschi being perhaps one of the best of the lot with 17 in 31 appearances.

On D, Ghost has been a little disappointing, but I suppose it's hard to produce much with such a popgun offense. Dillon has been awesome, popping in 4 GWG to put up a nice 5-9-14 statline through 37 games. He's also just -1 on a team with not very many plus players. He'll either be a nice rental, or quite possibly retained. Oesterle has been the other bright light, with 12 points.

I've only made one trade, selling off Ennis (12pts in 31) to Columbus for Scott Harrington and a 4th. Jackets have struggled so that will hopefully be a higher pick, and my D keeps getting banged up so Harrington adds some depth. His contract also makes him a perfect 7/8, taxiing between the big club and the farm

Speaking of selling, looks like that's what I'll be doing as we get closer to the deadline, especially if we go in the tank without Greiss. Not really trending in the right direction as is

 

[Hockey Rush]

I have a 66 OA Elite goaltender drafted in the third round 1 year ago. I played him as my AHL backup last season and he posted good results a .926 SV% in 29 some odd games. He grew from a 57 to 66. He is now a 66 OA as mentioned above here. He has posted insane AHL numbers in 5 games played a .965 SV% and a .80 GAA with 2 shutouts. I decided to put in an experience AHL backup because I was worried for his development. He has grown 3 attribute points in 5 games. Should I be worried about playing him as a backup when he is listed as an "other goalie". The kid is a stud but his progression point totals were considerably lower than some of his teammates.

Curious of someone can share some guidance on this one. My AHL club is 21-5-1 so its a good AHL team. I have him signed tho - it feels like he's wasting away as the 3rd string tender.

 

[Tak7]

I have a 66 OA Elite goaltender drafted in the third round 1 year ago. I played him as my AHL backup last season and he posted good results a .926 SV% in 29 some odd games. He grew from a 57 to 66. He is now a 66 OA as mentioned above here. He has posted insane AHL numbers in 5 games played a .965 SV% and a .80 GAA with 2 shutouts. I decided to put in an experience AHL backup because I was worried for his development. He has grown 3 attribute points in 5 games. Should I be worried about playing him as a backup when he is listed as an "other goalie". The kid is a stud but his progression point totals were considerably lower than some of his teammates.

Curious of someone can share some guidance on this one. My AHL club is 21-5-1 so its a good AHL team. I have him signed tho - it feels like he's wasting away as the 3rd string tender.

Nope - keep playing him. I've played 65 OA "OTHER" goalies as starters in the AHL, and they've developed into studs.

 

[Tak7]

What dictates whether a player wants an extension or not.

I've built a juggernaut (5 presidents trophies in a row, 7 conference finals in a row, 4 Stanley cups), and none of my players ever want extensions - whether they are stars, or young players earning good ice time, they never want one.

Tje only guys that ever want an extension, are the veteran lifer AHL guys that I sign to help support my prospects in the minors.

I dont get it

 

[Mal Reynolds]

What dictates whether a player wants an extension or not.

I've built a juggernaut (5 presidents trophies in a row, 7 conference finals in a row, 4 Stanley cups), and none of my players ever want extensions - whether they are stars, or young players earning good ice time, they never want one.

Tje only guys that ever want an extension, are the veteran lifer AHL guys that I sign to help support my prospects in the minors.

I dont get it

It seems totally arbitrary tbh. When you're a trash team, guys are willing to stay and when you're good, they wanna test free agency

Plus in my experience, sometimes if you go back to a previous save point (say before the season) and reload, they'll be singing a different tune

Can sometimes use it to your advantage though. Sometimes they actually ask for less on the open market than when you were talking extension

Could squawk about good ol EA but I choose not to

 

[Tak7]

It seems totally arbitrary tbh. When you're a trash team, guys are willing to stay and when you're good, they wanna test free agency

Plus in my experience, sometimes if you go back to a previous save point (say before the season) and reload, they'll be singing a different tune

Can sometimes use it to your advantage though. Sometimes they actually ask for less on the open market than when you were talking extension

Could squawk about good ol EA but I choose not to

Yeah, I totally game the system by Qualifying all my RFAs who don't want a contract, and then low-balling them on the first day of free agency.

Kind of ridiculous that they don't want to sign unless you pay them $1M+ above their asking price during the resign phase, but in the span of 24 hours they're willing to sign for sometimes $2M cheaper than their ask "yesterday".

It's a silly system that I hope gets some finesse and love in NHL 21, but it appears as though most of their energy and focus will have gone into Be a Pro

 

[SergeiYzerman]

My two year turn-around for Detroit:

So I replicated the season Detroit had this year by keeping literally every prospect in the minors and going out of my way to start fights with Anthony Mantha to get him injured for parts of the year. Somehow halfway through simming that year they were in the playoffs, which doesn't make any sense, even without injuries the Wings are awful. But anyway, I had to play most of the games going forward on Superstar just to the point that I'd get way behind and lose. It worked, and I won a lottery pick, but decided to keep it fairly realistic on that end and drafted likely pick Cole Perfetti. Well I also drafted an Elite winger (EA generated?) in the 2nd round. Drated a Medium Elite D-man as well, who made it in 2 years.

Next season, signed Chara and Spezza to 1 year deals and signed Craig Anderson to pair with Jonathan Bernier. Perfetti wasn't ready, but my elite EA winger was already at an 84, so he played on line 2 with Zadina and Michael Rasmussen. I played most of the games that year and did so on All-Star, but the dude's speed is through the roof so he ended up netting about 35 goals and 20 assists. Nuts.

Team squeaked into a Wild Card spot and lost in the EC Finals that next year.

Well next season Larkin and Mantha are both at 90 OA, and Elite EA Winger is an 89. Wanted to move up to take Carson Lambos in the 2021 draft, so I traded a pick and my pick to move up 5-6 spots where Lambos was projected, and missed him by 1 pick. Grabbed a good player anyway, but it's infuriating.

Anyway, next season things start off terrible and we're at the bottom of the league. Goalies are letting in 5 goals per game, no one that should be producing is, and all of my top line is asking for more minutes. Not great. So I gutted the entire coaching staff mid-season, and made the AHL head coach my new coach, and he's a better fit for the team and costs me $5 million/year less. So I hired 3 other excellent Associate, Assistant, and Goalie coaches that all have excellent chemistry, and then hired NHL level coaches with great teaching and coach influence that I overpaid to coach in the AHL, so my prospects are growing like crazy.

I end up moving my 2022 1st, Calvin Pickard, and another prospect to the Blackhawks for Jonathan Toews, traded a 3rd and another prospect to Pittsburgh for Tristan Jarry to make Bernier the backup, so now my lines look like this.

EA Winger (draft gen) - Larkin - Mantha

Bertuzzi - Toews - Zadina

Fabbri - Veleno - Hirose

Rasmussen - Spezza - Timashov


Chara - Seider

DeKeyser - Hronek

Cholowski - Lindstrom

Jarry
Bernier

The team wins like 11-12 in a row in blowout fashion, and ends up taking the top spot in the division on the last day of the season. Get down in the first round 3-1 to Buffalo, and manage to come back and win 3 in a row to move on. We eliminate the Leafs in 6, and move on the CF with Philadelphia, and that's over in 5. We get to the Cup Final against Nashville, and apparently Toews, Larkin, and Hirose are leading the team in scoring. We get up on Nashville 3-1. Great, this is amazing. Well I get 26 seconds away from winning the Cup in game 5, in a 1-0 game and Nashville scores, goes to OT, and wins the game. They take the next two as well. I'm like oh sh*t at this point. So I play the Game 7, and we get up on Nashville 3-0 in the 1st, but they come back to make it 3-2, and we end up winning it 5-2 on two EN goals. So we win the Cup in a two year build-out.

Chara and Spezza retire and I don't bring back DDK, so I've got some holes to fill. Well my Elite potential expansion entry draft pickup is now an 85 OA, and has great chem with Seider so I put them on the top pair together. Elite pot 2nd rounder from 2020 is an 80 now, so he fills out my 3rd pair. Perfetti jumps from a 76 to an 85 in one year, and he becomes my 2nd line center. I can't resign Larkin without parting ways with Toews, so he goes back to Chicago for my original 1st back, along with a 6th. So I just gave up Pickard and a no name prospect for Toews, essentially.

You can really notice the difference without the vets on your team though, they're kind of struggling without Chara and Spezza. I guess Poise is the Cup winning attribute. Coaching chemistry and team fit are super important.

 

[ETTHAKING67]

What will be your first Franchise in NHL21 ?

Mine will be Arizona,
- they have a really old team (Especially on D)
- I'll make sure I don't have a 1st and 3rd (since they have to forfeit it).
- Kessel, one of the G, OEL and Stepan can be important piece traded for futur (Picks/Prospects)
- Hayton, Keller, Soderstrom are a young core you can build around, with Dvorak, Schmaltz, Crouse and Garland being a good supporting cast for the first couple of years.

 

[Mal Reynolds]

What will be your first Franchise in NHL21 ?

Mine will be Arizona,
- they have a really old team (Especially on D)
- I'll make sure I don't have a 1st and 3rd (since they have to forfeit it).
- Kessel, one of the G, OEL and Stepan can be important piece traded for futur (Picks/Prospects)
- Hayton, Keller, Soderstrom are a young core you can build around, with Dvorak, Schmaltz, Crouse and Garland being a good supporting cast for the first couple of years.

Solid choice, be a challenge for sure

Probably muck around with an expansion team first (be awesome if they had the Kraken name/logo/colors in it but I'm skeptical).... enjoy trying to build a team from scratch

Probably will hold off buying till the price drops however, so I'll content myself with 20 till then (in the middle of yet another ratings overhaul atm)

 

[Cor]

What will be your first Franchise in NHL21 ?

Mine will be Arizona,
- they have a really old team (Especially on D)
- I'll make sure I don't have a 1st and 3rd (since they have to forfeit it).
- Kessel, one of the G, OEL and Stepan can be important piece traded for futur (Picks/Prospects)
- Hayton, Keller, Soderstrom are a young core you can build around, with Dvorak, Schmaltz, Crouse and Garland being a good supporting cast for the first couple of years.

Unfortunately there is so much to be done before I can even do a serious one.

- The overall bug. In the main menu, when you go through rosters, the overalls listed are sometimes as much as 3-4 overalls off what the players actual overall is when you go in to edit them. It’s super bizarre
- Auto-Scouting needs to be fixed. Not sure what the hell happened with it.
- This isn’t really their fault, but we need the free agency and draft update. I am going to assume that could come out Friday with the “full release” of the game.
- Secondary position fixes. A lot of primary wingers are listed as primary centres. Even worse than previous versions. Any winger who has any sort of Center experience got listed as a primary Center
- Potential fixes. Admittedly, from what I’ve seen, the potentials don’t seem too bad. There’s a few prospects that need to be reduced. I find EA is slow at reducing a players overall more than anything.
- Player Ratings. Other than the issue mentioned above it’s...... a lot. I think it’s the worse state ever in terms of overalls. The goalies are all over the place. Mainly the backup range goalies (though a guy like Holtby is a couple overalls high). The d-man are awful. Brett Pesce is again a 83 and Slavin is like a 86, and Hamilton a 85, when I have Pesce at a 86 and Hamilton/Slavin at a 89ish. Awful defensively forwards have high ass defensive awareness stats just to boost their overall.


I dream of an NHL game with no overall stat. Just individual stats and performance stats to make decisions on.

I am hoping a lot of the bugs and the draft update are fixed in a update on Friday and then I can start my roster overhaul. The REALLY need to allow us to move draft picks within the player movement area in the main menu. Also need the “merge rosters” control to be a bit deeper. All it does is move created players to the new roster update. Let me choose, to only for created players to merge, but also attributes to merge as well.

Or, if there are players added to the game in the January roster update for whatever reason, let me merge them into my custom roster file, so I can delete my created versions of them.

————

When I do start, I think I am leaning one of a couple options;
1. Winnipeg: This once promising team has sort of stalled in progress. Laine seems like a certainty to move, if not this off-season, than next. So that would be a cool situation to control where Laine is traded.
2. Anaheim: I think managing to get Jamie Drysdale should launch Anaheim into spending the next 2-3 years to get a true young core to build with. Guys like Silfverberg, Fowler, & Manson need to be moved. Probably need to just part ways with Getzlaf when his deal is up. Really start gearing up towards the next core with Steel, Comtois, Lundestrom, Drysdale with guys like Gibson and Lindholm being the new veterans and leaders of the team.
3. Carolina: Just a fun team. A quick (hopefully) to get this team a cup.


Thinking about it, definitely leaning Anaheim.