Well, I finished as the 8th seed, even after trading quite a few of my players, including 2 top 6 forwards. The surprised didn't end there, now onto my first series against #1 seeded Phoneix.

Series 1: vs Phoenix

Game 1: W 4-2
Game 2: L 4-0
Game 3: W 2-0
Game 4: W 3-2
Game 5: W 2-1

Alright! My first playoff series win as a GM, and it was in a year that I had least expected. Well on to round 2:

Series 2: vs Calgary

Game 1: W 4-2
Game 2: L 3-2
Game 3: L 5-3
Game 4: W 4-1
Game 5: L 4-2
Game 6: W 4-3
Game 7: W 4-1

Wow, another one, lets just get right to round 3:

Series 3: vs Nashville

Game 1: W 4-3
Game 2: W 3-2
Game 3: W 3-1
Game 4: W 2-1

Nice, first playoff series sweep and we're on to the cup!

Stanley Cup: vs Philadelphia

Game 1: L 5-3
Game 2: L 2-1
Game 3: W 2-1
Game 4: L 3-2
Game 5: L 6-2

Well, it was about time that our magic ran out, I couldn't be happier for our team and I hope this is a big step forward for us. On to the awards, I have also won a team award and had a player win an individual award for the first time in my tenure as GM. We won the Campbell Bowl (Western Conference Stanley Cup representatives) and G Kent Simpson won the Calder (Rookie of the Year).

On to the draft, before making my first round selections, I made one more trade.

TO CHI
--------
2017 1st (5th OVR)

TO ANH
---------
D Niklas Hjalmarsson
2017 2nd
C Justin Dowling

Good trade, at least I think so. I had a logjam at defense between my established guys (Keith, Seabs, Hjal, Leddy) and my prospects (Morrow, Wardley, Semiens, Glebov) so I figured getting rid of one of my established players for a good prospect . The 2nd rounder not only was the second to last pick in the round, but I'm essentially just trading up 55 picks anyway. Dowling was my "big" free agent acquisition last season, and with as many serviceable and up and coming centermen I have he was easy to cut loose as well. 5th overall is a great place to be picking and it was the highest pick on the block, glad I got it.

After that, here's how the draft went:

1(5) Frederick Konowalchuk LW
1 (6) Rocky Brewer LW
1 (17) Mikko Lehtinen C
1 (20) Mats Stalberg D
1 (29) Gilbert DuPont LW
4 (119) Danny Faksa C
5 (149) Grant Godard D
6 (179) Edgar Abid LW
7 (209) Joel Kolanos RW

I'm very happy with how this draft turned out. I was able to get three strong LW prospects, a position I don't really have much depth at, along with a D and C prospect. After my first rounders though, the other guys are just footnotes and will more than likely never play a game in the NHL.

Before the resign phase, here's how everyone progressed:

Walch 81 -> 83
Frolik 85 -> 84
Hayes 81 -> 82
Shaw 77 -> 78
Leddy 83 -> 85
Keith 90 -> 88
Seabrook 86 -> 85
Glebov 77 -> 79
Simpson 77 -> 81

I began the resign season by releasing RW Aaron Voros and G Dan Ellis. I then resigned a bunch of players: D Duncan Keith, D Nick Leddy, D Vladimir Glebov, D Duncan Siemens, D Joseph Morrow, G Kent Simpson, G Brandon Hope, RW Jimmy Hayes, RW Andrew Shaw, RW Michal Vachovec, LW Brandon Saad, C Ryan Strome, C Alexis Loiseau, C Brend Schauer, C Aleksander Barkov, D Morgan Reilly, D Adam Pelech, D Evan Wardley, and D Jamie Oleksiak. I also signed all of my first round picks from this year to entry level contracts.

I then went into free agency, my most obvious needs being a second line winger and a backup goaltender. I was able to sign the top available winger and one of the best goalies available (it was a bad year for free agent goalies) in TJ Oshie and Libor Kasik.

One final thing before the season starts, for the first time since I've taken over there will be a new assistant captain (It's been C: Toews and A: Keith Sharp since I've started) since I dealt Sharp. The new assistant captain is Mark McNeill beating out Brent Seabrook and Patrick Kane. Since I already have Toews and Keith wearing letters I wanted someone with more grit to wear the final one. Had this been a few years ago I would have probably given it to Seabrook, but I don't know if I'm going to extend him when his contract is up with all of my defensive prospects coming up. Kane was third because the fans like him, but I personally think that he gets in too much trouble to represent our team. Another thing about McNeill is that he worked his way from the AHL to the second line center.

SUMMARY:
- Beat Phoenix in the first round of the playoffs in 5 games.
- Beat Calgary in the second round of the playoffs in 7 games.
- Beat Nashville in the third round of the playoffs in 4 games.
- Lost to Philadelphia in the Stanley Cup finals in 5 games.
- Won the Campbell Bowl.
- G Kent Simpson won the Calder Trophy.
- Traded D Niklas Hjalmarsson, Chicago's 2017 2nd round pick, and C Justin Dowling to the Anaheim Ducks for their 2017 1st round pick (5th overall).
- Drafted (draft results above).
- Released RW Aaron Voros and G Dan Ellis.
- Resigned D Duncan Keith (7.93M/6yr)
- Resigned D Nick Leddy (5.905M/2yr)
- Resigned D Vladimir Glebov (1.365M/3yr)
- Resigned D Duncan Siemens (2.585M/3yr)
- Resigned D Joseph Morrow (755k/1yr)
- Resigned G Kent Simpson (1.39M/1yr)
- Resigned G Brandon Hope (570k/1yr)
- Resigned RW Jimmy Hayes (3.355M/2yr)
- Resigned RW Andrew Shaw (2.015M/3yr)
- Resigned RW Michal Vachovec (1.76M/2yr)
- Resigned LW Brandon Saad (585k/2yr)
- Resigned C Ryan Strome (770k/1yr)
- Resigned C Alexis Loiseau (680k/2yr)
- Resigned C Brend Schauer (580k/2yr)
- Resigned C Aleksander Barkov (585k/2yr)
- Resigned D Morgan Reilly (535k/2yr)
- Resigned D Adam Pelech (545k/2yr)
- Resigned D Evan Wardley (555k/1yr)
- Resigned D Jamie Oleksiak (600k/1yr)
- Signed all 1st rounders to entry level contracts.
- Signed FA RW TJ Oshie (5.4M/4yr)
- Signed FA G Libor Kasik (850k/1yr)