Chicago Blackhawks Be a GM

Keenan · 12-23-2012, 07:12 AM

After seeing Barkov's thread about his Sabres be a GM, I thought it would be fun to do something similar. I've done this in the past, both using a pre-existing team and drafting a team, and it's a boatload of fun. So without further ado, I give you the Chicago Blackhawks.

PS Once this is done I hope to do one for each league (NFL, MLB, NFL, NBA)

Current Lines

Frolik(86/SNP)-Toews(90/PLY)-Kane(89/SNP)
Neal(83/PWF)-Ikonen(83/SNP)-Chartrand(82/PWF)
Bourke(80/TWF)-Walch(83/PWF)-Vachovec(83/TWF)
Brewer(79/SNP)-Loiseau(81/PLY)-Pirnes(TWF/76)

Keith(88/OFD)-Morrow(85/OFD)
Siemens(82/DFD)-Wardley(84/DFD)
Modano(83/OFD)-Tursumbayev(78/DFD)

Johnsson (83)
Weller (79)

Injuries: NONE

Results
---------
2012-2013: 49-27-6 (104)
2013-2014: 38-33-11 (87)
2014-2015: 41-35-6 (88)
2015-2016: 49-27-6 (104)
2016-2017: 40-34-8 (88)
2017-2018: 44-32-6 (94)
2018-2019: 36-32-14 (86)
2019-2020: 46-25-11 (103)
2020-2021: 47-24-11 (105)
2021-2022: 52-19-11 (115)

PS Once I'm done with this, I'll link to a spreadsheet with season by season results, career numbers, and similar stats.

Keenan · 12-23-2012, 07:12 AM

After seeing Barkov's thread about his Sabres be a GM, I thought it would be fun to do something similar. I've done this in the past, both using a pre-existing team and drafting a team, and it's a boatload of fun. So without further ado, I give you the Chicago Blackhawks.

PS Once this is done I hope to do one for each league (NFL, MLB, NFL, NBA)

Current Lines

Frolik(86/SNP)-Toews(90/PLY)-Kane(89/SNP)
Neal(83/PWF)-Ikonen(83/SNP)-Chartrand(82/PWF)
Bourke(80/TWF)-Walch(83/PWF)-Vachovec(83/TWF)
Brewer(79/SNP)-Loiseau(81/PLY)-Pirnes(TWF/76)

Keith(88/OFD)-Morrow(85/OFD)
Siemens(82/DFD)-Wardley(84/DFD)
Modano(83/OFD)-Tursumbayev(78/DFD)

Johnsson (83)
Weller (79)

Injuries: NONE

Results
---------
2012-2013: 49-27-6 (104)
2013-2014: 38-33-11 (87)
2014-2015: 41-35-6 (88)
2015-2016: 49-27-6 (104)
2016-2017: 40-34-8 (88)
2017-2018: 44-32-6 (94)
2018-2019: 36-32-14 (86)
2019-2020: 46-25-11 (103)
2020-2021: 47-24-11 (105)
2021-2022: 52-19-11 (115)

PS Once I'm done with this, I'll link to a spreadsheet with season by season results, career numbers, and similar stats.

Keenan · 12-23-2012, 07:23 AM

I started the season on draft day, and without roster updates, as if I had taken over the team at the end of the 2011-2012 season. With that, I continued on to the draft:

1 (18): Evan Wardley, D
2 (48): Erik Thorell, LW
3 (78): Adam Pelech, D
4 (108): Michal Vachovec, RW

The rest of the draft consisted of guys ** and under and will therefore not be mentioned since they will probably never make the team.

I was glad to get 4 guys over **, so I felt it to be a successful draft. After the draft came the resign phase. I released UFA's Sami Lepisto, Andrew Brunette, Brendan Morrison, Sean O'Donnell, Jamal Mayers, and Ray Emery, signed my first four draft picks and RFA G Mac Carruth, I noticed I was running out of roster space and went to Free Agency without making any more moves. Once in free agency I felt my team was more or less good to go for the season with the exception of the backup goalie spot. Now, I could've resigned Emery, but I decided to shake things up because after last season, we really needed a better performance from both goaltenders, after signing FA goalie Martin Biron, I felt ready for the season.

SUMMARY:
- Drafted Evan Wardley 18th Overall
- Drafted Erik Thorell 48th Overall
- Drafted Adam Pelech 78th Overall
- Drafted Michal Vachovec 108th Overall
- Drafted Ty Rimmer 138th Overall
- Drafted Taylor Carnevale 168th Overall
- Drafted Philippe Maillet 198th Overall
- Released Sami Lepisto, Andrew Brunette, Brendan Morrison, Sean O'Donnell, Jamal Mayers, and Ray Emery.
- Signed Evan Wardley, Erik Thorell, Adam Pelech, and Michal Vachovec to entry level contracts.
- Resigned Mac Carruth (3 yr/$.6M)
- Signed G Martin Biron to 1 yr/$1.6 M deal.

First half of first season will be posted in the evening, with such juicy updates as injuries, cap floor, and trades.

Keenan · 12-23-2012, 07:23 AM

I started the season on draft day, and without roster updates, as if I had taken over the team at the end of the 2011-2012 season. With that, I continued on to the draft:

1 (18): Evan Wardley, D
2 (48): Erik Thorell, LW
3 (78): Adam Pelech, D
4 (108): Michal Vachovec, RW

The rest of the draft consisted of guys ** and under and will therefore not be mentioned since they will probably never make the team.

I was glad to get 4 guys over **, so I felt it to be a successful draft. After the draft came the resign phase. I released UFA's Sami Lepisto, Andrew Brunette, Brendan Morrison, Sean O'Donnell, Jamal Mayers, and Ray Emery, signed my first four draft picks and RFA G Mac Carruth, I noticed I was running out of roster space and went to Free Agency without making any more moves. Once in free agency I felt my team was more or less good to go for the season with the exception of the backup goalie spot. Now, I could've resigned Emery, but I decided to shake things up because after last season, we really needed a better performance from both goaltenders, after signing FA goalie Martin Biron, I felt ready for the season.

SUMMARY:
- Drafted Evan Wardley 18th Overall
- Drafted Erik Thorell 48th Overall
- Drafted Adam Pelech 78th Overall
- Drafted Michal Vachovec 108th Overall
- Drafted Ty Rimmer 138th Overall
- Drafted Taylor Carnevale 168th Overall
- Drafted Philippe Maillet 198th Overall
- Released Sami Lepisto, Andrew Brunette, Brendan Morrison, Sean O'Donnell, Jamal Mayers, and Ray Emery.
- Signed Evan Wardley, Erik Thorell, Adam Pelech, and Michal Vachovec to entry level contracts.
- Resigned Mac Carruth (3 yr/$.6M)
- Signed G Martin Biron to 1 yr/$1.6 M deal.

First half of first season will be posted in the evening, with such juicy updates as injuries, cap floor, and trades.

Keenan · 12-23-2012, 07:14 PM

First half of the season is now done, and the Blackhawks sit at 28-14-5, the 61 points tying them for first in the conference with Vancouver and tied for third overall behind Carolina and Buffalo.(I'm making the day before the All-Star Game the halfway point), which is really good given the injuries that have plagued the team: Hjalmarsson has been hurt twice, missing 13 games combined, Kane has missed 38, Bickell 11, Seabrook 6, Crawford 3, and Stalberg 2. Even injury replacements Dylan Olsen (2 weeks) and Kyle Beach (2 months) have got hurt. While Kane was out, Hossa took his place on the first line with Frolik moving up to the second line and performed well enough for me to keep him there for a while, moving Stalberg down to the third line. Now onto moves aside from bringing players up and down (including bringing up Rostistlav Olesz to be above the cap floor, since when a lot of guys were injured, I fell below the floor). The first deal was sent to me by the CPU:

TO CHI
--------
D, Mark Streit

TO NYI
--------
LW, Erik Thorell

I essentially got Streit, who slots in the second pairing with Hjalmarsson, for my second rounder in the draft. I felt like this was too good to pass up and it made my defense very strong. Streit does become a UFA next season, so I'm probably going to go all in this season. Since the deal now gave me seven defensemen for six spots I decided to move the piece I perceived to be most useless on the team:

TO CHI
--------
2013 MTL 2nd

TO MTL
--------
D, Steve Montador

In all honesty I was surprised that Monty matched so many trade blocks, but many teams were at capacity so they could not add another player without subtracting anyone and Montador's value was not enough to get me a nice player in return so I just took the 2nd rounder which in itself was a surprise as I had assumed no one would give up more than a third for him.

With most of the team healthy now, we head into the allstar break looking to stay hot and possibly swing a few more deals to make the team ready for the playoffs.

LEADERS:
Goals: Dave Bolland, 21
Assists: Jonathan Toews, 36
Points: Jonathan Toews, 49
+/-: Jonathan Toews, 10
PIMS: Daniel Carcillo, 80
W: Corey Crawford, 22
SV%: Corey Crawford, .932
GAA: Corey Crawford, 2.08
SO: Corey Crawford, 5

Summary:
- Traded LW Erik Thorell to New York (Islanders) for D Mark Streit.
- Traded D Steve Montador to Montreal for their 2013 2nd round pick.
- Currently tied with Vancouver for first in the conference.

Next time allstar game, trade deadline, and playoffs?

Keenan · 12-23-2012, 07:14 PM

First half of the season is now done, and the Blackhawks sit at 28-14-5, the 61 points tying them for first in the conference with Vancouver and tied for third overall behind Carolina and Buffalo.(I'm making the day before the All-Star Game the halfway point), which is really good given the injuries that have plagued the team: Hjalmarsson has been hurt twice, missing 13 games combined, Kane has missed 38, Bickell 11, Seabrook 6, Crawford 3, and Stalberg 2. Even injury replacements Dylan Olsen (2 weeks) and Kyle Beach (2 months) have got hurt. While Kane was out, Hossa took his place on the first line with Frolik moving up to the second line and performed well enough for me to keep him there for a while, moving Stalberg down to the third line. Now onto moves aside from bringing players up and down (including bringing up Rostistlav Olesz to be above the cap floor, since when a lot of guys were injured, I fell below the floor). The first deal was sent to me by the CPU:

TO CHI
--------
D, Mark Streit

TO NYI
--------
LW, Erik Thorell

I essentially got Streit, who slots in the second pairing with Hjalmarsson, for my second rounder in the draft. I felt like this was too good to pass up and it made my defense very strong. Streit does become a UFA next season, so I'm probably going to go all in this season. Since the deal now gave me seven defensemen for six spots I decided to move the piece I perceived to be most useless on the team:

TO CHI
--------
2013 MTL 2nd

TO MTL
--------
D, Steve Montador

In all honesty I was surprised that Monty matched so many trade blocks, but many teams were at capacity so they could not add another player without subtracting anyone and Montador's value was not enough to get me a nice player in return so I just took the 2nd rounder which in itself was a surprise as I had assumed no one would give up more than a third for him.

With most of the team healthy now, we head into the allstar break looking to stay hot and possibly swing a few more deals to make the team ready for the playoffs.

LEADERS:
Goals: Dave Bolland, 21
Assists: Jonathan Toews, 36
Points: Jonathan Toews, 49
+/-: Jonathan Toews, 10
PIMS: Daniel Carcillo, 80
W: Corey Crawford, 22
SV%: Corey Crawford, .932
GAA: Corey Crawford, 2.08
SO: Corey Crawford, 5

Summary:
- Traded LW Erik Thorell to New York (Islanders) for D Mark Streit.
- Traded D Steve Montador to Montreal for their 2013 2nd round pick.
- Currently tied with Vancouver for first in the conference.

Next time allstar game, trade deadline, and playoffs?

Keenan · 12-23-2012, 09:44 PM

The season is now over, before we get to that, however I will go over what led to the end of the season.

The Blackhawks had two representatives in the allstar game, Jonathan Toews and Corey Crawford. A few days after the allstar game, I swung another deal to bring a veteran to the team for the playoff run.

TO PHX
--------
RW, Viktor Stalberg
G, Ty Rimmer

TO CHI
--------
RW, Shane Doan

I figured I could get rid of Stalberg who's contract was up after the end of the year for a year and a half of Doan, who is a better PWF anyway. Rimmer was my 5th round pick in the 2012 draft, who was unsigned.

It was soon after this that injuries started coming up again Brent Seabrook went down for a week along with a couple of days without Hjalmasson. About a week after Seabrook was back, Doan was injured for 3 weeks. Then came the trade deadline:

TO DAL
--------
MTL 2013 2nd
C, Byron Froese

TO CHI
--------
RW, Michael Ryder

Another trade that the computer offered to me that I felt I couldn't pass up. Ryder is relatively young and coming off of a good season. Froese is just a prospect with 2.5 star potential, I felt I have a deep enough system where I wouldn't miss him and the pick was what I got for Monty, so I never even had the pick initially. The deal boils down to Montador and Froses for Ryder, who will be on my third line.

Unable to move anyone else during the deadline (I wanted to move an AHL goalie or two along with Olesz and possibly even Ryder if the right deal came along.) I finished simming the rest of the season (Crawford got injured for 5 weeks in early April, playoffs now look scary), results are as follows.

Team Stats
------------
Record: 49-27-6 (104 points)
Standings: 4th Overall, 2nd Conference, 1st Division

Skater Stats
-------------
Player Name/Pos/GP/G/A/Pts/PIM/ +/-

Kyle Beach/LW/13/1/2/3/2-6
Bryan Bickell/LW/71/11/6/17/34/1
Dave Bolland/C/82/26/27/53/40/7
Daniel Carcillo/LW/82/7/17/24/105/6
Shane Doan/RW/29/7/3/10/16/5
Michael Frolik/RW/82/14/26/40/4/2
Jimmy Hayes/RW/71/6/6/12/14/-8
Niklas Hjalmarsson/D/66/4/14/18/64/11
Marian Hossa/RW/82/24/46/70/12/10
Patrick Kane/C/44/26/27/53/12/17
Duncan Keith/D/82/9/21/30/16/4
Marcus Kruger/C/80/5/12/17/10/2
Shawn Lalonde/D/18/2/0/2/2/-3
Nick Leddy/D/79/10/19/29/6/15
Steve Montador/D/25/0/1/1/46/3
Johnny Oduya/D/82/0/14/14/43/9
Rostislav Olesz/LW/9/0/1/1/2/0
Dylan Olsen/D/27/0/3/3/2/-3
Brandon Pirri/C/73/5/9/14/6/-6
Michael Ryder/RW/19/2/9/11/12/6
Brent Seabrook/D/72/3/17/20/85/6
Patrick Sharp/LW/81/32/31/63/16/22
Andrew Shaw/RW/38/1/8/9/38/-7
Viktor Stalberg/RW/45/8/13/21/14/5
Mark Streit/D/39/10/14/24/12/7
Jonathan Toews/C/82/19/68/87/72/25

Goalie Stats
-------------
Name/GP/W/L/OTL/GAA/SV%/SO

Martin Biron/23/12/7/1/2.43/.920/2
Corey Crawford/63/36/20/5/2.34/.920/5
Carter Hutton/1/1/0/0/3.00/.885/0

Next time: Playoffs, awards, 2013-2014 draft, and free agency!!!

Keenan · 12-23-2012, 09:44 PM

The season is now over, before we get to that, however I will go over what led to the end of the season.

The Blackhawks had two representatives in the allstar game, Jonathan Toews and Corey Crawford. A few days after the allstar game, I swung another deal to bring a veteran to the team for the playoff run.

TO PHX
--------
RW, Viktor Stalberg
G, Ty Rimmer

TO CHI
--------
RW, Shane Doan

I figured I could get rid of Stalberg who's contract was up after the end of the year for a year and a half of Doan, who is a better PWF anyway. Rimmer was my 5th round pick in the 2012 draft, who was unsigned.

It was soon after this that injuries started coming up again Brent Seabrook went down for a week along with a couple of days without Hjalmasson. About a week after Seabrook was back, Doan was injured for 3 weeks. Then came the trade deadline:

TO DAL
--------
MTL 2013 2nd
C, Byron Froese

TO CHI
--------
RW, Michael Ryder

Another trade that the computer offered to me that I felt I couldn't pass up. Ryder is relatively young and coming off of a good season. Froese is just a prospect with 2.5 star potential, I felt I have a deep enough system where I wouldn't miss him and the pick was what I got for Monty, so I never even had the pick initially. The deal boils down to Montador and Froses for Ryder, who will be on my third line.

Unable to move anyone else during the deadline (I wanted to move an AHL goalie or two along with Olesz and possibly even Ryder if the right deal came along.) I finished simming the rest of the season (Crawford got injured for 5 weeks in early April, playoffs now look scary), results are as follows.

Team Stats
------------
Record: 49-27-6 (104 points)
Standings: 4th Overall, 2nd Conference, 1st Division

Skater Stats
-------------
Player Name/Pos/GP/G/A/Pts/PIM/ +/-

Kyle Beach/LW/13/1/2/3/2-6
Bryan Bickell/LW/71/11/6/17/34/1
Dave Bolland/C/82/26/27/53/40/7
Daniel Carcillo/LW/82/7/17/24/105/6
Shane Doan/RW/29/7/3/10/16/5
Michael Frolik/RW/82/14/26/40/4/2
Jimmy Hayes/RW/71/6/6/12/14/-8
Niklas Hjalmarsson/D/66/4/14/18/64/11
Marian Hossa/RW/82/24/46/70/12/10
Patrick Kane/C/44/26/27/53/12/17
Duncan Keith/D/82/9/21/30/16/4
Marcus Kruger/C/80/5/12/17/10/2
Shawn Lalonde/D/18/2/0/2/2/-3
Nick Leddy/D/79/10/19/29/6/15
Steve Montador/D/25/0/1/1/46/3
Johnny Oduya/D/82/0/14/14/43/9
Rostislav Olesz/LW/9/0/1/1/2/0
Dylan Olsen/D/27/0/3/3/2/-3
Brandon Pirri/C/73/5/9/14/6/-6
Michael Ryder/RW/19/2/9/11/12/6
Brent Seabrook/D/72/3/17/20/85/6
Patrick Sharp/LW/81/32/31/63/16/22
Andrew Shaw/RW/38/1/8/9/38/-7
Viktor Stalberg/RW/45/8/13/21/14/5
Mark Streit/D/39/10/14/24/12/7
Jonathan Toews/C/82/19/68/87/72/25

Goalie Stats
-------------
Name/GP/W/L/OTL/GAA/SV%/SO

Martin Biron/23/12/7/1/2.43/.920/2
Corey Crawford/63/36/20/5/2.34/.920/5
Carter Hutton/1/1/0/0/3.00/.885/0

Next time: Playoffs, awards, 2013-2014 draft, and free agency!!!

Keenan · 12-24-2012, 01:28 AM

Playoff time, however since my starting goalie is hurt we will enter the playoffs with Martin Biron between the pipes.

First Round, vs Los Angeles Kings

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

No doubt we were hurting without our starting goaltender. During the series Marcus Kruger got hurt for a week and Brandon Pirri went down for five weeks. We were eliminated much too early, I feel with a healthy Crawford we would've went much further. Anyway Pittsburgh won the cup.

The next thing to do was to enter the draft, before making my first round selection I was able to swing a trade:

TO CHI
--------
C, Vincent Trocheck

TO FLA
--------
LW, Rostislav Olesz

I feel like the salary relief alone was enough to make this a decent deal. Olesz was stuck behind my forward depth (many of whom, such as Frolik had grown much better in the offseason). Initially the computer offered this deal with a 23 year old winger instead, when I countered with Trocheck, a 19 year old center, I was very happy with the deal when it was accepted.

Round 1 (23): C, Aleksander Barkov

Easily the best available player, not only is he young (17) but 3.5 POT is good.

Round 4 (113): D, Slater Koekkoek
Round 5 (143): RW, Connor Brown
Round 6 (173): D, Kyle Hope
Round 7 (203): LW, Dominik Volek

None of these guys will be difference makers for the team, Koekkoek was drafted on name alone and the other three were simply the best listed players.

The resign phase and free agency were then set to begin.

But first progression, this is how my players progressed (and regressed):

Patrick Kane: 86 -> 87
Brent Seabrook: 86 -> 85
Michael Frolik: 79 -> 84
Niklas Hjalmarsson: 84 -> 83
Nick Leddy: 79 -> 82
Shane Doan: 82 -> 81
Marcus Kruger: 74 -> 76
Mark McNeill also increased from whatever he was in the AHL to 73.

I released goaltender Alexander Salak, hopefully clearing up the logjam of goalies I had in the minors, defenseman Joe Lavin, left wing Brandon Bollig, winger Michael Ryder, winger Bryan Bickell, and defenseman Mark Streit (I regret that, I wasn't sure how good the defensive FA crop would be, which as it turns out wasn't that good. I tried to resign him but he chose elsewhere). After that I signed some important players: goalie Corey Crawford, defenseman Nick Leddy, center Marcus Kruger, winger Kyle Beach, winger Ben Smith, defensemen Shawn Lalonde and Ryan Stanton and goalie Martin Biron. First round pick Aleksander Barkov was also signed to an entry level deal.

This was another quiet free agency period. After losing out on Mark Streit, I signed defenseman Marek Zidlicky to replace him.

The final thing to do before next season was to plan my lines.

LINE 1:Frolik/Toews/Kane.

Having the two snipers play alongside a playmaker (Toews) will hopefully fuel the offense. With this line being so young (25/25/24) if everything holds up this can be my main line for years to come.

LINE 2: Sharp/Bolland/Hossa

I moved Sharpie down to the second line and now he is in the same boat as Hossa, being better overall than the player above them in the depth chart, but serving a better purpose on a lower line. In this case the whole line is made up of TWFs. I hope this line serves as my defensive line but they also have the potential to be extremely deadly offensively too.

LINE 3: Carcillo/McNeill/Doan

My PWF line and although Carcillo is a GRN I think he still fits in nicely with this line. Hopefully McNeill meshes well with the older guys and will be a big producer next season at age 21. I don't expect major offense from this line, although 20-25 points each should be attainable.

LINE 4: Beach/Kruger/Hayes

This is my line of younger guys, since I think my other three lines look very good I won't mix and match these guys in other spots unless someone starts struggling really badly. Hopefully they play well enough to bump their OVRs slightly and maybe play a bigger role in the future.

D PAIR 1: Keith/Seabrook

The go to D-Pair for the Hawks will remain the same with Keith being solid offensively and Seabrook, although a DFD will be able to chip in offensively as well.

D PAIR 2: Hjalmarsson/Oduya

Although Oduya is my worst top 6 D-Man in terms of overall, I think it will help chemistry to have the two DFD on a pair together and the 2 OFD on a pair together. Hjalmarsson still has room to grow, and both players put in double digit points last year. All I'm asking of this pair is to be strong defensively, we have enough offense on the rest of the team.

D PAIR 3: Leddy/Zidlicky

Two OFD, Leddy is still 22 and with **** POT should hopefully grow even more this season, possibly moving to a spot on the second pairing next season.

GOALIES: Crawford/Biron

Same as last year. Both are on two year deals and hopefully by the time their contracts are up Kent Simpson will be ready to be a starter in the NHL.

SUMMARY:
- Eliminated in the 1st round of the playoffs by the Kings.
- Traded LW Rostislav Olesz to the Florida Panthers for C Vincent Trocheck.
- Drafted C Aleksander Barkov at 23rd Overall.
- Drafted D Slater Koekkoek at 113th Overall.
- Drafted RW Connor Brown at 143rd Overall.
- Drafted D Kyle Hope at 173rd Overall.
- Drafted LW Dominik Volek at 203rd Overall.
- Released G Alexander Salak, D Joe Lavin, LW Brandon Bollig, RW Michael Ryder, LW Bryan Bickell, and D Mark Streit.
- Resigned G Corey Crawford (4.365M/2yr)
- Resigned D Nick Leddy (1.65M/2yr)
- Resigned C Marcus Kruger (1.095M/1yr)
- Resigned LW Kyle Beach (1.33M/2yr)
- Resigned RW Ben Smith (.74M/1yr)
- Resigned D Shawn Lalonde (.595M/2yr)
- Resigned D Ryan Stanton (.535M/2yr)
- Resigned G Martin Biron (1.335M/2yr)
- Signed C Aleksander Barkov to entry level contract.
- Signed D Marek Zidlicky (2.85M/2yr)

2013-2014 season will be updated tomorrow.

Keenan · 12-24-2012, 01:28 AM

Playoff time, however since my starting goalie is hurt we will enter the playoffs with Martin Biron between the pipes.

First Round, vs Los Angeles Kings

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

No doubt we were hurting without our starting goaltender. During the series Marcus Kruger got hurt for a week and Brandon Pirri went down for five weeks. We were eliminated much too early, I feel with a healthy Crawford we would've went much further. Anyway Pittsburgh won the cup.

The next thing to do was to enter the draft, before making my first round selection I was able to swing a trade:

TO CHI
--------
C, Vincent Trocheck

TO FLA
--------
LW, Rostislav Olesz

I feel like the salary relief alone was enough to make this a decent deal. Olesz was stuck behind my forward depth (many of whom, such as Frolik had grown much better in the offseason). Initially the computer offered this deal with a 23 year old winger instead, when I countered with Trocheck, a 19 year old center, I was very happy with the deal when it was accepted.

Round 1 (23): C, Aleksander Barkov

Easily the best available player, not only is he young (17) but 3.5 POT is good.

Round 4 (113): D, Slater Koekkoek
Round 5 (143): RW, Connor Brown
Round 6 (173): D, Kyle Hope
Round 7 (203): LW, Dominik Volek

None of these guys will be difference makers for the team, Koekkoek was drafted on name alone and the other three were simply the best listed players.

The resign phase and free agency were then set to begin.

But first progression, this is how my players progressed (and regressed):

Patrick Kane: 86 -> 87
Brent Seabrook: 86 -> 85
Michael Frolik: 79 -> 84
Niklas Hjalmarsson: 84 -> 83
Nick Leddy: 79 -> 82
Shane Doan: 82 -> 81
Marcus Kruger: 74 -> 76
Mark McNeill also increased from whatever he was in the AHL to 73.

I released goaltender Alexander Salak, hopefully clearing up the logjam of goalies I had in the minors, defenseman Joe Lavin, left wing Brandon Bollig, winger Michael Ryder, winger Bryan Bickell, and defenseman Mark Streit (I regret that, I wasn't sure how good the defensive FA crop would be, which as it turns out wasn't that good. I tried to resign him but he chose elsewhere). After that I signed some important players: goalie Corey Crawford, defenseman Nick Leddy, center Marcus Kruger, winger Kyle Beach, winger Ben Smith, defensemen Shawn Lalonde and Ryan Stanton and goalie Martin Biron. First round pick Aleksander Barkov was also signed to an entry level deal.

This was another quiet free agency period. After losing out on Mark Streit, I signed defenseman Marek Zidlicky to replace him.

The final thing to do before next season was to plan my lines.

LINE 1:Frolik/Toews/Kane.

Having the two snipers play alongside a playmaker (Toews) will hopefully fuel the offense. With this line being so young (25/25/24) if everything holds up this can be my main line for years to come.

LINE 2: Sharp/Bolland/Hossa

I moved Sharpie down to the second line and now he is in the same boat as Hossa, being better overall than the player above them in the depth chart, but serving a better purpose on a lower line. In this case the whole line is made up of TWFs. I hope this line serves as my defensive line but they also have the potential to be extremely deadly offensively too.

LINE 3: Carcillo/McNeill/Doan

My PWF line and although Carcillo is a GRN I think he still fits in nicely with this line. Hopefully McNeill meshes well with the older guys and will be a big producer next season at age 21. I don't expect major offense from this line, although 20-25 points each should be attainable.

LINE 4: Beach/Kruger/Hayes

This is my line of younger guys, since I think my other three lines look very good I won't mix and match these guys in other spots unless someone starts struggling really badly. Hopefully they play well enough to bump their OVRs slightly and maybe play a bigger role in the future.

D PAIR 1: Keith/Seabrook

The go to D-Pair for the Hawks will remain the same with Keith being solid offensively and Seabrook, although a DFD will be able to chip in offensively as well.

D PAIR 2: Hjalmarsson/Oduya

Although Oduya is my worst top 6 D-Man in terms of overall, I think it will help chemistry to have the two DFD on a pair together and the 2 OFD on a pair together. Hjalmarsson still has room to grow, and both players put in double digit points last year. All I'm asking of this pair is to be strong defensively, we have enough offense on the rest of the team.

D PAIR 3: Leddy/Zidlicky

Two OFD, Leddy is still 22 and with **** POT should hopefully grow even more this season, possibly moving to a spot on the second pairing next season.

GOALIES: Crawford/Biron

Same as last year. Both are on two year deals and hopefully by the time their contracts are up Kent Simpson will be ready to be a starter in the NHL.

SUMMARY:
- Eliminated in the 1st round of the playoffs by the Kings.
- Traded LW Rostislav Olesz to the Florida Panthers for C Vincent Trocheck.
- Drafted C Aleksander Barkov at 23rd Overall.
- Drafted D Slater Koekkoek at 113th Overall.
- Drafted RW Connor Brown at 143rd Overall.
- Drafted D Kyle Hope at 173rd Overall.
- Drafted LW Dominik Volek at 203rd Overall.
- Released G Alexander Salak, D Joe Lavin, LW Brandon Bollig, RW Michael Ryder, LW Bryan Bickell, and D Mark Streit.
- Resigned G Corey Crawford (4.365M/2yr)
- Resigned D Nick Leddy (1.65M/2yr)
- Resigned C Marcus Kruger (1.095M/1yr)
- Resigned LW Kyle Beach (1.33M/2yr)
- Resigned RW Ben Smith (.74M/1yr)
- Resigned D Shawn Lalonde (.595M/2yr)
- Resigned D Ryan Stanton (.535M/2yr)
- Resigned G Martin Biron (1.335M/2yr)
- Signed C Aleksander Barkov to entry level contract.
- Signed D Marek Zidlicky (2.85M/2yr)

2013-2014 season will be updated tomorrow.

Keenan · 12-25-2012, 02:42 AM

I'm now at the day before the allstar game, the Blackhawks sit at 25-17-9, good for 5th in the conference. It seems like history is repeating itself with tons of injuries impacting the team again. Frolik went down for 8 weeks while Hjalmarsson was hurt for 3 weeks. So far Daniel Carcillo has been injured twice for a total of 9 weeks.

I honestly like the team I've put together, there's really no moves I can see myself making as I don't expect to make a major push in the playoffs but I don't want to rebuild, I feel like right now the best thing to do is let my guys mature. That said this deadline if anyone is moving it'll probably be Shane Doan with Carcillo, Oduya, and Zidlicky being dark horses. I've made one move thus far, which was proposed to me by the computer:

TO CHI
--------
2014 3rd

TO TOR
--------
C, Taylor Carnevale

Carnevale was my 6th round pick in the 2012 draft and he didn't even have a contract with me, this was an easy deal for me to pull the trigger on, Toronto is currently third in the East so I may end up trading the pick as part of a package deal, but I guess we'll have to wait for that.

Surprisingly there haven't been many waiver opportunities for me, so the only player I've really added is Ben Smith from the Ice Hogs, I initially called him up to replace Frolik when he was hurt, but I feel he did well enough to warrant time on the fourth line since he is doing better than most of the young guys that were up to start the season.

SUMMARY
-----------
- Traded C Taylor Carnevale to the Toronto Maple Leafs for their 3rd round pick in the 2014 draft.

Second half of the season will be up soon.

Keenan · 12-25-2012, 02:42 AM

I'm now at the day before the allstar game, the Blackhawks sit at 25-17-9, good for 5th in the conference. It seems like history is repeating itself with tons of injuries impacting the team again. Frolik went down for 8 weeks while Hjalmarsson was hurt for 3 weeks. So far Daniel Carcillo has been injured twice for a total of 9 weeks.

I honestly like the team I've put together, there's really no moves I can see myself making as I don't expect to make a major push in the playoffs but I don't want to rebuild, I feel like right now the best thing to do is let my guys mature. That said this deadline if anyone is moving it'll probably be Shane Doan with Carcillo, Oduya, and Zidlicky being dark horses. I've made one move thus far, which was proposed to me by the computer:

TO CHI
--------
2014 3rd

TO TOR
--------
C, Taylor Carnevale

Carnevale was my 6th round pick in the 2012 draft and he didn't even have a contract with me, this was an easy deal for me to pull the trigger on, Toronto is currently third in the East so I may end up trading the pick as part of a package deal, but I guess we'll have to wait for that.

Surprisingly there haven't been many waiver opportunities for me, so the only player I've really added is Ben Smith from the Ice Hogs, I initially called him up to replace Frolik when he was hurt, but I feel he did well enough to warrant time on the fourth line since he is doing better than most of the young guys that were up to start the season.

SUMMARY
-----------
- Traded C Taylor Carnevale to the Toronto Maple Leafs for their 3rd round pick in the 2014 draft.

Second half of the season will be up soon.

Keenan · 12-25-2012, 04:05 AM

The second half of the season started with the allstar game, again I had two representatives: Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa. I also noticed that Mark Streit made the team <_< , if I didn't regret not signing him before, I really did now.

I made a trade soon after the allstar game, partially to keep this interesting and partially since my first half record was only decent I decided to let my young guys develop this year while shipping off some guys who wouldn't be around in the future.

TO CHI
--------
D, Joseph Morrow

TO PIT
--------
RW, Shane Doan

My contract with Doan was up this season and I didn't see myself resigning him. Now I was also able to give Jimmy Hayes third line minutes. Morrow is a solid prospect, I believe he has **** POT and while his OVR isn't at a good level yet, I can put him in the AHL and hopefully he can be in the NHL in a season or two.

After that trade I tidied up my trade block which listed Oduya, Zidlicky and Carcillo.

A week or so later I got an offer from Dallas that I felt was too good to resist:

TO CHI
---------
G, Richard Bachman

TO DAL
--------
LW, Daniel Carcillo
2014 3rd (CHI)
2014 3rd (DAL)

I got a starter who was equal to Crawford in terms of overall, but unlike Crawford still has room to grow. Carcillo was never going to be in my future plans and shipping off two third rounders in a draft that my head scout said would be weaker than usual made all the sense in the world to me. After that I added Crawford to my trading block. I also lost Martin Biron to waivers, although his services were no longer needed with two NHL caliber goalies.

The days rolled by and Zidlicky got hurt for 12 weeks. Leading to the trade deadline I was hoping to move at least one of the three players on the block. Unfortunately amongst the teams that wanted one of the three, the ones that had the pieces I wanted didn't have the cap room and the ones with the cap room didn't offer the pieces I wanted. I left the trade deadline with no new pieces.

Then the season ended: a bad second half left me at 38-33-11, my 87 points not good enough for a playoff spot. I ended up tied for 18th overall, tied for 9th in my conference, and tied for third in the division. Although I missed the playoff, I feel like this year is a big step towards having the best team possible. Most of my players eligible for progression should see increases, and with the addition of Morrow and with a pick in the first half of the first round I should be able to get a sweet prospect in the draft. I will try to move Crawford and one of Oduya/Zidlicky at the draft, which will hopefully only make my team deeper.

Here's the end of the season stats:

SKATER STATS:
Name/Pos/GP/G/A/Pts/PIM/ +/-

Kyle Beach/LW/62/5/12/17/37/-2
Dave Bolland/C/80/21/31/52/34/4
Daniel Carcillo/LW/21/3/4/7/38/-1
Shane Doan/RW/41/2/10/12/18/-2
Michael Frolik/RW/61/12/30/42/6/3
Jimmy Hayes/RW/72/10/5/15/19/-6
Niklas Hjalmarsson/D/59/4/12/16/38/-1
Marian Hossa/RW/82/26/41/67/19/7
Patrick Kane/C/82/26/32/58/6/-4
Duncan Keith/D/82/14/15/29/8/-2
Marcus Kruger/C/82/8/18/26/8/-3
Shawn Lalonde/D/3/0/0/0/0/-1
Nick Leddy/D/82/5/19/24/4/-12
Mark McNeill/C/82/10/12/22/6/-8
Joseph Morrow/D/5/0/0/0/0/-1
Johnny Oduya/D/80/2/10/12/34/8
Dylan Olsen/D/32/1/1/2/6/1
Brandon Pirri/C/33/1/7/8/0/1
Brent Seabrook/D/82/6/23/29/124/-2
Patrick Sharp/LW/80/21/22/43/16/13
Andrew Shaw/RW/62/5/5/10/28/-11
Ben Smith/RW/57/7/4/11/2/-9
Jonathan Toews/C/82/21/47/68/46/4
Marek Zidlicky/D/72/5/15/20/8/8

GOALIE STATS
-----------------
Name/GP/W/L/OTL/GAA/SV%/SO

Richard Bachman/29/12/15/2/2.81/.909/3
Martin Biron/9/5/4/0/2.65/.911/0
Corey Crawford/44/20/14/9/2.30/.923/3

SUMMARY:
- Traded RW Shane Doan to the Pittsburgh Penguins for D Joseph Morrow.
- Traded LW Daniel Carcillo, Montreal's 3rd round pick in 2014, and Chicago's 3rd round pick in 2014 to the Dallas Stars for G Richard Bachman.
- Missed Playoffs :(

So not that good of a year for the present, but great for the future. Next time will be offseason (draft, progression, signings).

Keenan · 12-25-2012, 04:05 AM

The second half of the season started with the allstar game, again I had two representatives: Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa. I also noticed that Mark Streit made the team <_< , if I didn't regret not signing him before, I really did now.

I made a trade soon after the allstar game, partially to keep this interesting and partially since my first half record was only decent I decided to let my young guys develop this year while shipping off some guys who wouldn't be around in the future.

TO CHI
--------
D, Joseph Morrow

TO PIT
--------
RW, Shane Doan

My contract with Doan was up this season and I didn't see myself resigning him. Now I was also able to give Jimmy Hayes third line minutes. Morrow is a solid prospect, I believe he has **** POT and while his OVR isn't at a good level yet, I can put him in the AHL and hopefully he can be in the NHL in a season or two.

After that trade I tidied up my trade block which listed Oduya, Zidlicky and Carcillo.

A week or so later I got an offer from Dallas that I felt was too good to resist:

TO CHI
---------
G, Richard Bachman

TO DAL
--------
LW, Daniel Carcillo
2014 3rd (CHI)
2014 3rd (DAL)

I got a starter who was equal to Crawford in terms of overall, but unlike Crawford still has room to grow. Carcillo was never going to be in my future plans and shipping off two third rounders in a draft that my head scout said would be weaker than usual made all the sense in the world to me. After that I added Crawford to my trading block. I also lost Martin Biron to waivers, although his services were no longer needed with two NHL caliber goalies.

The days rolled by and Zidlicky got hurt for 12 weeks. Leading to the trade deadline I was hoping to move at least one of the three players on the block. Unfortunately amongst the teams that wanted one of the three, the ones that had the pieces I wanted didn't have the cap room and the ones with the cap room didn't offer the pieces I wanted. I left the trade deadline with no new pieces.

Then the season ended: a bad second half left me at 38-33-11, my 87 points not good enough for a playoff spot. I ended up tied for 18th overall, tied for 9th in my conference, and tied for third in the division. Although I missed the playoff, I feel like this year is a big step towards having the best team possible. Most of my players eligible for progression should see increases, and with the addition of Morrow and with a pick in the first half of the first round I should be able to get a sweet prospect in the draft. I will try to move Crawford and one of Oduya/Zidlicky at the draft, which will hopefully only make my team deeper.

Here's the end of the season stats:

SKATER STATS:
Name/Pos/GP/G/A/Pts/PIM/ +/-

Kyle Beach/LW/62/5/12/17/37/-2
Dave Bolland/C/80/21/31/52/34/4
Daniel Carcillo/LW/21/3/4/7/38/-1
Shane Doan/RW/41/2/10/12/18/-2
Michael Frolik/RW/61/12/30/42/6/3
Jimmy Hayes/RW/72/10/5/15/19/-6
Niklas Hjalmarsson/D/59/4/12/16/38/-1
Marian Hossa/RW/82/26/41/67/19/7
Patrick Kane/C/82/26/32/58/6/-4
Duncan Keith/D/82/14/15/29/8/-2
Marcus Kruger/C/82/8/18/26/8/-3
Shawn Lalonde/D/3/0/0/0/0/-1
Nick Leddy/D/82/5/19/24/4/-12
Mark McNeill/C/82/10/12/22/6/-8
Joseph Morrow/D/5/0/0/0/0/-1
Johnny Oduya/D/80/2/10/12/34/8
Dylan Olsen/D/32/1/1/2/6/1
Brandon Pirri/C/33/1/7/8/0/1
Brent Seabrook/D/82/6/23/29/124/-2
Patrick Sharp/LW/80/21/22/43/16/13
Andrew Shaw/RW/62/5/5/10/28/-11
Ben Smith/RW/57/7/4/11/2/-9
Jonathan Toews/C/82/21/47/68/46/4
Marek Zidlicky/D/72/5/15/20/8/8

GOALIE STATS
-----------------
Name/GP/W/L/OTL/GAA/SV%/SO

Richard Bachman/29/12/15/2/2.81/.909/3
Martin Biron/9/5/4/0/2.65/.911/0
Corey Crawford/44/20/14/9/2.30/.923/3

SUMMARY:
- Traded RW Shane Doan to the Pittsburgh Penguins for D Joseph Morrow.
- Traded LW Daniel Carcillo, Montreal's 3rd round pick in 2014, and Chicago's 3rd round pick in 2014 to the Dallas Stars for G Richard Bachman.
- Missed Playoffs :(

So not that good of a year for the present, but great for the future. Next time will be offseason (draft, progression, signings).

JNH · 12-25-2012, 04:11 AM

Solid trade getting morrow Smile

~~Bleak~~ · 12-25-2012, 04:18 AM

Really good stuff Keenan.

#1Keenan fan

This is a very cool idea, I might so something similar :D

~~Bleak~~ · 12-25-2012, 04:18 AM

Really good stuff Keenan.

#1Keenan fan

This is a very cool idea, I might so something similar :D

Keenan · 12-25-2012, 07:44 AM

Quote:Originally posted by JmanPens19@Dec 25 2012, 02:11 AM
Solid trade getting morrow

Thanks buddy, I like the youth movement you've got going on in STL.

Keenan · 12-25-2012, 07:44 AM

Quote:Originally posted by JmanPens19@Dec 25 2012, 02:11 AM
Solid trade getting morrow

Thanks buddy, I like the youth movement you've got going on in STL.

Keenan · 12-25-2012, 07:45 AM

Quote:Originally posted by Bleak@Dec 25 2012, 02:18 AM
Really good stuff Keenan.

#1Keenan fan

This is a very cool idea, I might so something similar :D

Thanks man, I appreciate it.

You should totally do something like this. This is probably the tenth I've done, I have one where I started with a draft, and recorded everything I did like in this, but in a spreadsheet instead. I'm probably about 12 years in.

Keenan · 12-25-2012, 07:45 AM

Quote:Originally posted by Bleak@Dec 25 2012, 02:18 AM
Really good stuff Keenan.

#1Keenan fan

This is a very cool idea, I might so something similar :D

Thanks man, I appreciate it.

You should totally do something like this. This is probably the tenth I've done, I have one where I started with a draft, and recorded everything I did like in this, but in a spreadsheet instead. I'm probably about 12 years in.

Keenan · 12-26-2012, 10:07 PM

The season is now over, your 2013 Stanley Cup champions are the San Jose Sharks.

Before draft day I got the news that Marek Zidlicky had retired. Back to being one Dman short. Once draft day had hit, I tried my damnedest to move Crawford either for a pick or prospect, but most teams at that point were filled at the goalie position, I figured I'd try again once free agency opened up and went about my draft as normal.

1 (11): Vladimir Glebov, D
2 (41): Brandon Hope, G
4 (101): Sergej Tulupov, C
5 (131): Coda Gordon, LW
6 (161): Nicolan Petan, C
7 (191): Joey Dube, D

I feel like if I had kept my third rounder I would've been able to pick up a better prospect in round 2. Hope was projected to go 3rd/4th round, but he was one of the only high potential goalies left in the second round and I didn't want to pass him up. Decent draft though Glebov is 18 and has **** POT, plus he starts with 65 OVR.

On to progression/regression I suppose.

Patrick Kane: 87 -> 89
Marcus Kruger: 76 -> 79
Mark McNeill: 73 -> 79
Patrick Sharp: 87 -> 85
Kyle Beach: 72 -> 73
Marian Hossa: 89 -> 88
Jimmy Hayes: 74 -> 78
Ben Smith: 73 -> 75
Andrew Shaw: 73 -> 74
Brent Seabrook: 85 -> 86
Nick Leddy: 82 -> 81
Johnny Oduya: 80 -> 79

After the draft was over it was time to resign my players. I cut D Johnny Oduya, G Carter Hutton, C David Gilbert, C Rob Flick, and W Phillipe Paradis while resigning C Dave Bolland, C Marcus Kruger, RW Michael Frolik, RW Jimmy Hayes, RW Ben Smith, RW Andrew Shaw, D Niklas Hjalmarsson, G Richard Bachman, C Brandon Pirri, LW Jeremy Morin, D Dylan Olsen, and Glebov and Hope to entry level contracts.

I entered free agency hoping to find two D-Men to fill out my top 6, my top 4 was set with Keith, Seabrook, Hjalmarsson, and Leddy, but after them my next two would be Shawn Lalonde and Dylan Olsen, with overalls of 73 and 72 respectively. I felt they could use more seasoning in Rockford. I'd also be in the market for a backup goaltender if I was able to trade Corey Crawford.

Well, the offseason had its ups and downs. I was able to sign my two defensemen in Brooks Orpik and Joonas Lehtivouri. With no one biting on Crawford I had one last move before I entered the season:

TO CHI
--------
NYI 2015 4th

TO NYI
--------
G Mac Carruth

Carruth really didn't have a future with the team. Bachman seems to be the goalie for the next few years until Simpson is ready to take the team over. I figured I should take whatever I could get for him. The pick will probably end up being used as a throw in for a trade.

SUMMARY:
- D Marek Zidlicky retires.
- Drafted D Vladimir Glebov with the 11th overall pick.
- Drafted G Brandon Hope with the 41st overall pick.
- Drafted C Sergej Tulupov with the 101st overall pick.
- Drafted LW Coda Gordon with the 131st overall pick.
- Drafted C Nicolas Petan with the 161st overall pick.
- Drafted D Joey Dube with the 191st overall pick.
- Released D Johnny Oduya, G Carter Hutton, C David Gilbert, C David Gilbert, C Rob Flick, and W Philippe Paradis.
- Resigned C Dave Bolland (4.59M/4yr)
- Resigned C Marcus Kruger (1.715M/1yr)
- Resigned RW Michael Frolik (6.055M/8yr)
- Resigned RW Jimmy Hayes (2.115M/3yr)
- Resigned RW Ben Smith (845k/2yr)
- Resigned RW Andrew Shaw (720k/1yr)
- Resigned D Niklas Hjalmarsson (4.705M/2yr)
- Resigned G Richard Bachman (1.755M/1yr)
- Resigned C Brandon Pirri (580k/1yr)
- Resigned LW Jeremy Morin (580k/1yr)
- Resigned D Dylan Olsen (625k/2yr)
- Signed D Vladimir Glebov to entry level contract.
- Signed G Brandon Hope to entry level contract.
- Signed free agent D Brooks Orpik (3.9M/3yr)
- Signed free agent D Joonas Lehtivuori (2.1M/3yr)
- Traded G Mac Carruth to the New York Islanders for their 4th round selection in the 2015 draft.

Keenan · 12-26-2012, 10:07 PM

The season is now over, your 2013 Stanley Cup champions are the San Jose Sharks.

Before draft day I got the news that Marek Zidlicky had retired. Back to being one Dman short. Once draft day had hit, I tried my damnedest to move Crawford either for a pick or prospect, but most teams at that point were filled at the goalie position, I figured I'd try again once free agency opened up and went about my draft as normal.

1 (11): Vladimir Glebov, D
2 (41): Brandon Hope, G
4 (101): Sergej Tulupov, C
5 (131): Coda Gordon, LW
6 (161): Nicolan Petan, C
7 (191): Joey Dube, D

I feel like if I had kept my third rounder I would've been able to pick up a better prospect in round 2. Hope was projected to go 3rd/4th round, but he was one of the only high potential goalies left in the second round and I didn't want to pass him up. Decent draft though Glebov is 18 and has **** POT, plus he starts with 65 OVR.

On to progression/regression I suppose.

Patrick Kane: 87 -> 89
Marcus Kruger: 76 -> 79
Mark McNeill: 73 -> 79
Patrick Sharp: 87 -> 85
Kyle Beach: 72 -> 73
Marian Hossa: 89 -> 88
Jimmy Hayes: 74 -> 78
Ben Smith: 73 -> 75
Andrew Shaw: 73 -> 74
Brent Seabrook: 85 -> 86
Nick Leddy: 82 -> 81
Johnny Oduya: 80 -> 79

After the draft was over it was time to resign my players. I cut D Johnny Oduya, G Carter Hutton, C David Gilbert, C Rob Flick, and W Phillipe Paradis while resigning C Dave Bolland, C Marcus Kruger, RW Michael Frolik, RW Jimmy Hayes, RW Ben Smith, RW Andrew Shaw, D Niklas Hjalmarsson, G Richard Bachman, C Brandon Pirri, LW Jeremy Morin, D Dylan Olsen, and Glebov and Hope to entry level contracts.

I entered free agency hoping to find two D-Men to fill out my top 6, my top 4 was set with Keith, Seabrook, Hjalmarsson, and Leddy, but after them my next two would be Shawn Lalonde and Dylan Olsen, with overalls of 73 and 72 respectively. I felt they could use more seasoning in Rockford. I'd also be in the market for a backup goaltender if I was able to trade Corey Crawford.

Well, the offseason had its ups and downs. I was able to sign my two defensemen in Brooks Orpik and Joonas Lehtivouri. With no one biting on Crawford I had one last move before I entered the season:

TO CHI
--------
NYI 2015 4th

TO NYI
--------
G Mac Carruth

Carruth really didn't have a future with the team. Bachman seems to be the goalie for the next few years until Simpson is ready to take the team over. I figured I should take whatever I could get for him. The pick will probably end up being used as a throw in for a trade.

SUMMARY:
- D Marek Zidlicky retires.
- Drafted D Vladimir Glebov with the 11th overall pick.
- Drafted G Brandon Hope with the 41st overall pick.
- Drafted C Sergej Tulupov with the 101st overall pick.
- Drafted LW Coda Gordon with the 131st overall pick.
- Drafted C Nicolas Petan with the 161st overall pick.
- Drafted D Joey Dube with the 191st overall pick.
- Released D Johnny Oduya, G Carter Hutton, C David Gilbert, C David Gilbert, C Rob Flick, and W Philippe Paradis.
- Resigned C Dave Bolland (4.59M/4yr)
- Resigned C Marcus Kruger (1.715M/1yr)
- Resigned RW Michael Frolik (6.055M/8yr)
- Resigned RW Jimmy Hayes (2.115M/3yr)
- Resigned RW Ben Smith (845k/2yr)
- Resigned RW Andrew Shaw (720k/1yr)
- Resigned D Niklas Hjalmarsson (4.705M/2yr)
- Resigned G Richard Bachman (1.755M/1yr)
- Resigned C Brandon Pirri (580k/1yr)
- Resigned LW Jeremy Morin (580k/1yr)
- Resigned D Dylan Olsen (625k/2yr)
- Signed D Vladimir Glebov to entry level contract.
- Signed G Brandon Hope to entry level contract.
- Signed free agent D Brooks Orpik (3.9M/3yr)
- Signed free agent D Joonas Lehtivuori (2.1M/3yr)
- Traded G Mac Carruth to the New York Islanders for their 4th round selection in the 2015 draft.

Keenan · 12-26-2012, 10:17 PM

Also in the interest of not making posts any longer than they currently are, I will now be posting four times a season. 1st half, 2nd half, playoffs/offseason, and lines. Therefore this will be my first "lines" update, I did it last season as part of the offseason post so it will basically be listing my lines and explaining them.

LINE 1: FROLIK/TOEWS/KANE

Same reasoning as last year, can't beat SNP/PLY/SNP.

LINE 2: SHARP/BOLLAND/HOSSA

Again same as last year, a solid TWF line that can put the puck in the net easily.

LINE 3: SMITH/MCNEILL/HAYES

One of two lines (well really three) full of younger guys. I kind of wish that I had more veterans but right now it's a youth movement in Chicago. Anyway McNeill grew greatly between last year and now and putting him with another PWF in Hayes and the SNP Smith will breed favorable results (I hope)

LINE 4: BEACH/KRUGER/SHAW

That's what it is right now at least but with 4 of my bottom 6 being PWFs I may look to move one during the season, especially if we seem poised for a playoff run. Kruger is older than McNeill and has less potential so I'd rather have McNeill have the third line spot and keep Kruger on the fourth.

D-PAIR 1: KEITH/SEABROOK

Top 2 by far, I may consider trying Keith with one of the OFDs but right now I'm going to keep these two together.

D-PAIR 2: HJALMARSSON/ORPIK

The DFD pair are also the next 2 in OVR.

D-PAIR 3: LEDDY/LEHTIVUORI

The OFD pair, both still have room to grow and hopefully they do.

GOALIES: BACHMAN/CRAWFORD

Bachman is ahead of Crawford because he still has potential to grow more plain and simple.

Keenan · 12-26-2012, 10:17 PM

Also in the interest of not making posts any longer than they currently are, I will now be posting four times a season. 1st half, 2nd half, playoffs/offseason, and lines. Therefore this will be my first "lines" update, I did it last season as part of the offseason post so it will basically be listing my lines and explaining them.

LINE 1: FROLIK/TOEWS/KANE

Same reasoning as last year, can't beat SNP/PLY/SNP.

LINE 2: SHARP/BOLLAND/HOSSA

Again same as last year, a solid TWF line that can put the puck in the net easily.

LINE 3: SMITH/MCNEILL/HAYES

One of two lines (well really three) full of younger guys. I kind of wish that I had more veterans but right now it's a youth movement in Chicago. Anyway McNeill grew greatly between last year and now and putting him with another PWF in Hayes and the SNP Smith will breed favorable results (I hope)

LINE 4: BEACH/KRUGER/SHAW

That's what it is right now at least but with 4 of my bottom 6 being PWFs I may look to move one during the season, especially if we seem poised for a playoff run. Kruger is older than McNeill and has less potential so I'd rather have McNeill have the third line spot and keep Kruger on the fourth.

D-PAIR 1: KEITH/SEABROOK

Top 2 by far, I may consider trying Keith with one of the OFDs but right now I'm going to keep these two together.

D-PAIR 2: HJALMARSSON/ORPIK

The DFD pair are also the next 2 in OVR.

D-PAIR 3: LEDDY/LEHTIVUORI

The OFD pair, both still have room to grow and hopefully they do.

GOALIES: BACHMAN/CRAWFORD

Bachman is ahead of Crawford because he still has potential to grow more plain and simple.

Keenan · 12-28-2012, 10:20 PM

First half of the season is done. We sit 23-23-5 tied for 9th in the conference. Nothing much has happened in regards to player movement, so this will be a very short update. I've had some injuries (same thing as every season) the biggest being losing Hayes for 10 weeks and Kane and Smith for 9 weeks.

Leaders at the half:
-------------------
G: Kane 24
A: Toews: 41
+/-: Toews 18
PIMS: Orpik 95
W: Bachman 20

SUMMARY:
None, my next update will be longer hopefully.

Keenan · 12-28-2012, 10:20 PM

First half of the season is done. We sit 23-23-5 tied for 9th in the conference. Nothing much has happened in regards to player movement, so this will be a very short update. I've had some injuries (same thing as every season) the biggest being losing Hayes for 10 weeks and Kane and Smith for 9 weeks.

Leaders at the half:
-------------------
G: Kane 24
A: Toews: 41
+/-: Toews 18
PIMS: Orpik 95
W: Bachman 20

SUMMARY:
None, my next update will be longer hopefully.

O4L · 12-28-2012, 10:24 PM

Great read Smile

"“HA HA! THIS GAME WILL NEVER END! I POSSESS THE SOUL OF EVERY GOALIE ON TEAM B!! CREW 4 LIFE!! SIGN WITH EDMONTON FOR THE CUP!!!” cackled Belial as he placed a Fedora on his head."
SMJHL Commisioner S17-S26
Calgary Dragons GM S14-S23

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