Season in Review: The Bladerunners

The Bladerunners finished the season in second place, a great season but one that leaves a bad taste in the mouth for the defending Predator Cup and Challenge Cup champions. The final week of the season was a +/- disaster and cost them almost over 25pts, not enough to change the final rankings but the difference between being an 1100pt team or not. The good news is that a chance for redemption begins in October.

FPs: The season began with the Bladerunners sporting two high-end FPs in right winger M.Hossa (100pts) and goaltender R.Luongo (128.33pts). Hossa had a great season in Atlanta and was the number two ranked right winger in the league, only 2pts back of M.St.Louis. Luongo was even better, with a performance that made him not only the number two ranked goaltender in the league but the number two ranked player, regardless of position, behind M.Brodeur (142.13pt) . With FPs like this, its little wonder the Bladerunners were able to lead the league for a combined 9 weeks, a third of the season.

Draft: The Bladerunners had an excellent team coming out of the draft. Their Omnivore baseline of 1050.83pts was fourth best in the pool and only 16pts behind the Highlanders. With two solid FPs and three prospects who would end up making the Omnivore baseline, the team's strength could be anticipated but what was really surprising was how strong the team was in light of some let down in the entry draft itself. The Bladerunners' first four selections: S.Gagne (68pts), S.Zubov (54pts), S.Sullivan (60pts) and Justin Williams (67pts) all ended up with fewer points in 2006/07 than in the season before and yet overall, the team had remarkable success.

K.Jonsson (22pts) was the only defenseman in the top six to record less than 25pts. B.Campbell (48pts) improved on his career season the year before. Up front, the strength of the Bladerunner prospects meant that even though the first two centers drafted by the team, S.Rucchin (21pts) and M.Handzus (8pts), were horrible flops they never missed a beat. The best pick-up was probably S.Avery matched in the 5th round. Avery had 48pts on offense and another 43.5pts for being offensive.

Moving forward: The Bladerunners need to pick themselves up, dust themselves off and go make another run. The core of the team is still surprisingly strong given the assets traded off to make their run and good drafting could, again, make the Bladerunners one of the top teams next season.

FPs: The Bladerunners enter the off season with one returning FP, Hossa, and one newcomer in J.Iginla (94pts). Hossa and Iginla provide a potent combination on right wing with Hossa the #2 ranked right winger last season and Iginla the #4. Had Iginla not lost any time to injury, his pace would have had him getting 110 pts! Both of these players are young, at the top of their game and among the best in the league regardless of position, there is no need to trade either of them unless management has any concerns about overweighting one position - and they shouldn't. I would say that the Bladerunner FPs are set for years to come except that they believe they have a prospect that they may want to promote soon, E.Staal (70pts), which may necessitate a trade to create an opening.

Prospects: As mentioned, the Bladerunners have p4 c E.Staal (70pts) as part of the picture not only for next season, where he should be drafted onto the squad as an RFA, but also, potentially, as a new Bladerunner FP next season. Eric is only one season removed from his 100pt breakout year and should be capable of returning to similar heights down the road. If so, an eventual FP promotion is not unreasonable for the team to consider but regardless, no decision on that point has to be made now. Eric's "little" brother, Jordan Staal (42pts), is a p2 c and was an absolute revelation for everyone. There was no doubt that he had the talent (and the genes) but that he would be able to put them on display so quickly given his age and the number of young Penguins already in the system speaks to his potential. This season only scratched the surface and the Bladerunners are eagerly awaiting the next chapter.

Last season's prospect draft also produced a trio of other players who, though not all originally Bladerunner property, form the basis of the Bladerunner's future. On left there is p2 J.Skille in Chicago who will be with the Blackhawks next year. The Islanders can't wait for right winger p2 K.Okposo's power game, and neither can the Bladerunners while between the pipes p2 goalie J.Howard should also soon get a chance to show his wares at the NHL level. All three will be held on to by the Bladerunners and will likely figure in their plans either to fill slots on the roster or as the key futures in trades to get back on top.

Two p2s who probably will not figure in the Bladerunner plans are A.Kaigorodov (1pt) and I.Griegorenko (0pts). Perhaps Kaigorodov will get a shot in Phoenix but he may have soured on the whole North American experiment just as NHL GMs are beginning to sour on his attitude. A different problem awaits Griegorenko and that is the issue of whether his horrific car crash has broken his relentless drives for the net in the same way it broke his legs. I don't think that the Bladerunners will keep both and may make their decision based on how they are performing in September - and whether they are performing in Russia or here. The other question marks on the prospect front is what to do with L.Krajicek (16pts) p4 defensman in Vancouver. Unfortunately his offensive production has really underwhelmed but defenseman take more time to develop and you would hate to drop a promising prospect just on the cusp of his breakout year. It's a tough call but I expect the Bladerunners to take a gamble on him as a final round rfa promotion and see if he can impress as a number 8 defenseman.

Prospect Draft: The Bladerunners do not have a first round selection in the prospect draft, a casualty of their run for the cup, but they do have the Personal Vendetta and Wolves' 2nd round picks (17th and 18th overall) as well as the Vendetta, Great White and their own 3rd round picks. Not a top-end selection but a solid draft. Depending on which prospects they chose to keep they may feel the need to use most of these picks though preferabley, if they feel like keeping all of their returning p2s (6 of them) then they may package the picks together in the hopes of moving up for the selections that they do want to make.

RFAs: The Bladerunners enter the off-season with three rfas. The two defensemen, A.Zhitnik (38pts + 23 tg pts) and S.Salo (37pts) are both solid, if low-end, offensive contributers. Zhitnik's production really took off in Atlanta and he may be undervalued by some GMs should he remain with the Thrashers and while his toughness is not the best available, its a nice bonuns to add to the package if the price is right. Salo is also a little undervalued having lost some time to injury and projects out to being a 45pt defenseman. Neither is going to win you the pool but both could make significant contributions if you can get them for the right price.

The real rfa "prize" on the Bladerunners is Calgary port-sider, K.Huselius (77pts). In his fifth season, Huselius simply exploded. His previous career best was the 47pts he had the previous season - a 30pt increase. At 29 he is still in his prime but this late bloomer may even have more to offer as he had an awful October (as everyone in Calgary did) and was pacing over a ppg until he tapperd off a bit in the last few weeks. The real question is how early will he have to match another GMs' bid for his services - given that with over half the pool still centered in Flames Country its unlikely the Swede went unnoticed.

Overall: The Bladerunners are a fantastic team that made a valiant attempt to win it all this season and make history by winning back-to-back championships. The run for the hardware exacted a high price, p3 E.Malkin (85pts), and the aftershocks of trading the big Russian will be felt for years to come but ultimately the Bladerunners felt they had no choice but to go for it when the prize was so close - a situation 10 other GMs would have loved to have been in. They made their call and right or wrong, its done. The good news is that with Hossa, Iginla and the Staal brothers, the future still looks pretty good for the team. Do not be surprised to see them in the thick of things in the final weeks next season.