4/17/2026
2026 FUNHL STANDNGS FINAL
SEVERED HEADS WIN THEIR 5TH PREDATOR CUP TYING THE GW, ONE BACK OF BL WITH 6
CHALLENGE CUP TOP 4
PV
BL
HL
SC
PV SWEEP SC IN SEMI 1
BL SWEEP HL IN SEMI 2
BL SWEPT PV 2-0 TO CLAIM THE CHALLENGE CUP
OMNIVORE GOES TO THE SHADOWMEN WITH +99.72, THEIR 7TH! AND THEY WERE LAST AT WD
FINAL STANDINGS
1. SH 1142.17
2. GW 1141.44
3. BL 1105.11
4. PV 1056.88
5. RAM 993.30
6. SHADY 989.23
7. SC 988.77
8. KT 957.91
9. WOLF 950.69
10.EDGE 914.37
11.HL 911.10
12.MWK 876.66
CONGRATS TO ALL THE WINNERS AND TO EVERY GM WHO MADE THIS POSSIBLE AS WELL AS THE SPIRIT OF GOOD FUN IN THE POOL!!!
Cheers
bob-LMD
4/18/2025
4/17/2025
4/06/2025
Prospect History from Cameron from 2008
First I have to say a HUGE ‘THANKS’ to Brian and Rob who provided me with the historical docs I needed to create this database. I believe we should be able to upload this all to our archive on google docs should anyone want to review it again.
I will endeavour to take all the docs you have graciously supplied to me and collect them for Craig to post in our Archive.
Ok, for better or worse, here is my ‘revised’ prospects history, this time with team break downs, a few mea culpa, and the occasional ‘I bloody told ya’ .
For obvious reasons I’ve included Richard/Mike B in Craig’s team history, but I will endeavour to treat it separately for the right-up except for context.
The Blade Runners
FP’s drafted: 4: Subban, MacKinnon, Vasilevskiy, Bouchard.
Pattern: Alternating feast or famine. He has several years (08, 12, 14, 16, 20,…) where there are no hits at all (because,and I can’t stress this enough, prospect drafts are hard)
Best Year: 2015; Vasilevskiy, Morrissey-D Wpg, Hellybuck-G WPg, Connor-L Wpg, Point-C TBay, and Barzal-C NYI.
Two cornerstone goalies, a top of the scoring charts all-offense winger, a #1 PPG D, and a pair of PPG C’s. We have a couple of drafts where GMs picked two FPs (Darrell and I both in 17), but aside from them, this has to be the best all-time performance at the draft table.
Worst Year: Take your pick of the list above. He had at least two drafts without a pick, and half a dozen without hits at all.
Best Pick. Vasilevskiy. He’s already a certified HOF’er.
Scouting department has a pronounced inexplicable addiction to: The Jets, and Svechnikov the lesser. Despite being a draft/release by the ‘Heads, Brian drafted the Det winger Evgeni Svechnikov in 16, and apparently thrilled with how that felt, they decided to make him a three time prospect and do it again in 17. No I don’t really have a clue why.
Their head scout pretty obviously began getting kickbacks from the Jets, first in 15 (Connor, Hellybuyck, Morrissey) and then again less successfullly in 18 to take the guys (Vesealainen, Roslovic, Niku). Fortunately for Brian, some of those guys in 15 were pretty pretty pretty good.
Lineup of prospects:
L: Robertson, Landeskog, Connor
C: MacKinnon, Point, Hischier
R: Pacioretty, Corronato, Meier
D: Bouchard, Subban, Morrissey, Hamilton, Harley
G: Vasilevskiy, Hellybuyck
I mean, holy shit Brian.
The Great Whites
FP’s Drafted: 3; McDavid, Rantanen, Hughes.J
Pattern: In baseball terms, he consistently hits for contact. Dan is making a small number of picks in almost every draft (save 17), and is walking away with ‘something’ in every year except 14.
Best Year: He had a couple of contenders (15, 18) but 2013; McDavid FP, Nylander, is by far the best.
Worst Year: 17? Five franchise players go in the 2017 prospect draft, along with heavy hitters like Necas, Hischier, and Heiskanen. And the Great Whites don’t make any picks.
Best Pick: McDavid.
Scouting department has a pronounced inexplicable addiction too; mediocrity, at least since 18. The 19, 20, and 21 drafts are ‘mmmmmmeh’ outside of Caufield, and 22 with Nemec and Quinn is starting to slide into miss territory as well. 23 and 24 look MUCH stronger, so the crisis may be over.
Lineup of prospects:
L: Buchnevich, Baertschi, Denisenko
C: McDavid, Hughes.J, Celebrini
R: Rantanen, Nylander, Stone
D: Doughty, Chabot, Ristolainen, Provorov, Broberg
G: Ullmark, Campbell
Formidable!
The Ramapithicines
Look, I gotta warn you, after seeing what Brian, Dan, and others have been doing… this isn’t going to be pretty.
FPs drafted: None
Pattern: Alternating years of making a large number of picks in order to perhaps find one support player (Anders Lee ‘COME ON DOWN!’), with years where a very small number of picks are used to avoid finding any talent at all.
Best year: 2020. Sorokin is the one true top of the line talent the knuckledraggers have selected in the prospect draft in the last 17 years, and he backed it up with Rossi who looks to be at least replacement level or close to it if you squint hard.
Worst Year: Ha! It’s funny because (by my insanely biased metrics) they are ALL the worst years! Between 2009 and 2019 Corey drafted 37 times and the best five picks are Kyrou, Saros, Lee, Lehner, and The Real Deal James Neal.
Best Pick: Sorokin. Maybe Saros is in the conversation.
Scouting department has a pronounced inexplicable addiction too: Stefan Elliott-D Col. Corey’s personal heroin (Corey went to this drug three separate times over 5 years) Elliott has the greatest mediocre hockey db entry ever; 87 games over tiny pieces of 7 different NHL seasons, 8 goals 25 points. Corey also has a thing for redrafts in general; Tolvanen, Burmistrov, Couturier (2x), Frost, Kaako…all guys someone else, occasionally even himself, weirdly let go. Scouting shmouting.
Lineup of prospects:
L: Lee, Vesey, Pelletier
C: Rossi, Gagner.S, Namestnikov
R: Kyrou, Neal, Williams
D: Montour, Weber, Sandin, Larsson, Elliott
G: Sorokin, Saros
Worth noting that this is actually worse than it looks, as Montour’s good seasons happened for Collin on Montour’s third redraft, and Weber had maybe one half a season where he was dressable - and those are easily his best D. Not a joke, Elliot and his 25 points over 7 years makes this D on merit.
The Highlanders
FPs Drafted: 4; Hedman, Barkov, Matthews, Aho
Pattern: Two strong years and a down year. Sorta.
Best Year: 2015 with Auston Mathews
His strongest drafts were also his shortest. Hedman, Barkov and Mathews were the only picks he made in the years they were picked.
The one exception of length over strength is 18, where Doug sniped Thomas, Suzuki and Lafrenière for what is his deepest most consistent draft.
Worst Year: 2010, Doug emptied the clip making five selections and managed to not hit a damn thing.
Best Pick: Hedman. He was picked in 2008 and is in the top 10 defenseman for scoring again this year. Strong case for Mathews to be considered, a conjectural one for McKenna, and none for Hart.
Scouting department has a pronounced inexplicable addiction to: conservative long term planning. The team that built for more than a decade around prospect Crosby is about to do so again with McKenna and Makar. More than maybe any other GM Doug takes a small number of very targeted very heavy swings.
Lineup of prospects:
L: Lafrenière, Grabner, Stankoven
C: Mathews, Barkov, Aho
R: Raymond, Radulov, Niederreitter
D: Hedman, Sanderson, Heiskanen, Klefbom, Maata
G: Schneider, Askarov,
Stankoven is switched from R to L to make the roster fill out, if you prefer to excise him for purity of comparison reasons, be my guest. A strong deep team (with 3 first overall NHL picks no less) with weaknesses in net and at LW.
The Edge
FPs Drafted: 3; Zibenejad, Pettersson, and Bedard
If you are squeamish about giving him full credit for ZiB as an FP, I think that is fair, but he should probably also get credit for Panarin whose numbers are so stupid he really should have been an FP
Pattern: Collin tends to do better in ‘short+sweet’ drafts where he gets the guy he wants early, and then stops.
Best Year: All three most recent seasons he drafted an FP calibre guy are in contention (11, 18, 21), but I lean towards 21 as the best in part because I project Bedard better than Petey (or Zibenejad), but also because his 2nd pick Guenther is an absolute animal at RW. (Pettersson/Demko is still really nice though)
Worst year: Collin smashed solo picks Ehlers and Panarin out of the park in back to back years (14-15) but then in 16 took four swings and missed on everything except the soul deadening horror of adding the mediocre and always injured Valimaki.
Best pick: re-drafting Montour for his one-off psychotic break from reality PPG Norris worthy season in Florida is pretty fucking sweet, and Bedard seems like an obvious choice, but I think his best pick might actually be Tim Stutzle.
Scouting department has a pronounced inexplicable addiction to: Brandon Montour would be the obvious choice except it isn’t inexplicable when he actually freaks out and over-performs. Maybe leave Cody Glass alone now though.
Lineup of prospects:
L: Panarin, Ehlers, Slafkovsky
C: Bedard, Pettersson, Zibenejad
R: Guenther, Perron, Aberg
D: Montour, Shattenkirk, Dumba, Murphy, Beaulieu
G: Wolf, Markstrom
That defense corps scares nobody but the GM, coach, and his own team’s goaltenders. However, a deep set of pivots (studs like Stutzle and Duchene didn’t even make the cut) that will absolutely run your show, and goaltending (Demko and Neuwirth on the bench) is a real strength.
*Was Matt Duchene ever an FP? I feel like he was, and if so, that would boost Collin to 4.
Married with Kittens
Holy fuck Craig has owned a team for 8 years! Nice!
FPs: none
Pattern: still remains to be established.
Best Year: 2020, getting Powers and Hughes in the same draft is a nice piece of work.
Worst Year: 2012. You see the Barbarians made zero picks in 11, and would make zero picks again in 13, but in 12, they made 8 picks to rebuild the farm team, and not one of them were even remotely decent. This repugnant draft included not one, but two veteran goaltenders who were totally spent (Holtby and a 50 year old Tim fucking Thomas) the worlds greatest fourth line C (Mark Jankowski!), and not one but two tiny AHL stars in religious fanatic Rocco Grimaldi, the re-draft Linus ‘rhymes with Penis’ Omark, and a WHL kid who almost immediately vanished. Just a bonkers bad draft. (After making zero picks in 13 Mike B would essentially double down again in 2014 taking 7 guys including Jankowski again!, and again not one was a contributor). Now if we are talking what is Craig’s worst year? Probably 2017, three picks and not much came out of it (though Cody Glass is still bouncing around somewhere), and he’s obviously gotten better since (Batherson, Beniers, Hughes, Kochetckov, etc.)
Best Pick: I think Luke Hughes has legit FP potential, but Kochetkov is one of those picks a draftnik nerd like me respects a ton.
Scouting department has a pronounced inexplicable addiction to: incompetence - prior to Craig. After Craig takes over things normalize pretty quickly, though maybe stop with the fiction that the Golden Knights are ever going to develop a prospect.
Lineup of prospects:
L: Knies, Benson, Puljujarvi
C: Seguin, Beniers, Kadri
R: Batherson, Vilardi, Meier
D: Hughes.L, Powers, Vaakaaninen, Zaitsev, Shaw
G: Kochetkov, (Hill) Lehner
Aside from Seguin, all the good stuff above is Craig’s work.
”One of Us! One of Us!”
Note: I am pretty sure (positive) that at some point Craig drafted or inherited Aiden Hill as a prospect goaltender - but I cannot determine the origin as he appears lost in the records I have. I am sure there are other situations like this, and I hope to get them resolved with Brian’s assistance.
Note 2: It is also pretty obvious to me that Mike B (and Corey, and maybe Darrell and others) are not pursuing the prospect draft with the same goals I or Brian or Collin, do, and that is a very fair point, they don’t. However, once we decide to evaluate the prospect drafts, whatever criteria we might want to use to do that evaluation pretty quickly comes back with ‘He might be a good GM, but Breakenridge was an utter freaking disaster at the prospect draft’.
Personal Vendetta
FPs: 2: Kaprizov and Makar
Worth noting he picked those guys IN THE SAME PROSPECT DRAFT.
Pattern: 2 seasons in 17 without a pick, but otherwise he’s adding a player of some contributing quality in every draft. Also, Darrell maybe more than anyone has the habit of ‘drafting to play’ rather than looking for the highest upside. Darrell is the guy who takes the steady thing over the speculation - like, drafting Moritz Seider in Detroit over WHL uber-teen Connor Bedard. He gets five years of Seider as a ‘free’ #2 defenseman vs Collin getting one mediocre year of Bedard before he is franchised. Personally I would take Bedard 100x out of 100, but it is insane not to concede Darrell has a point.
Tomas Plekanec (and then later Michael Backlund) was a fixture on the team for YEARS as the injury sub of choice at center, Darrell is just built different that way.
Best Year: 2017, he made four picks and drafted two future FPs
Worst Year: 2009, Darrell goes ‘Maximum Bob’ and makes 8 picks to refill the prospect pool, including permanent FUNHL 4th liner Plekanec, and the best of them was Atlanta’s Evander Kane. Which, you know, meh.
Best Pick: Cale Makar. Kaprizov is awesome, but Makar is something else entirely.
Scouting department has a pronounced inexplicable addiction to: Tomas Plekanec (and his clones). Has anyone ever been addicted to injury replacement level C’s like Darrell is?
Lineup of Prospects:
L: Kaprizov, Forsberg, Boldy
C: Larkin, Zegras, Schwartz
R: Okposo, Vrana, Duclair
D: Makar, Seider, Byram, Bogosian, Nurse
G: Samsonov, Dostal
A little thin at center, that is not a great RW, and the goaltending is…a question.
The Knights Templar
FPs drafted: 1: Hughes.Q-D VCR
Pattern: Very hit and miss, Mike will have 5 picks, whiff on them all, and then the next draft have two and nail both - the Knights are just random like that.
Best Year: 2018, Quinn Hughes
Worst Year: 2017 was a dark time with 5 picks, and the best might be noted 4th liner Mark Jankowski. And if you are saying to yourself ‘Gosh, Mark Jankowski appears to get drafted a lot’, yes, he sure does. Why is 17 so bad to miss on? So many high quality guys went in 17 (see Darrell and Cameron’s 17 draft) that it’s criminal he didn’t land even one useful guy.
Best Pick: It’s Quinn Hughes, but he also deserves some love for his astute pick of Theodore-D Ana, a nifty selection who would end up going to Vegas in a trade at the expansion draft.
Scouting department has a pronounced inexplicable addiction to: oversized Russian power wingers with questionable footspeed (Maltsev, Marchenko)! As addictions go, this one I totally get. I’ll be fighting with him over the But-R Arz kid at some point.
Lineup of Prospects
L: Burakowsky, Mangiapane, Ferland
C: Hintz, Ericksson-Ek, Henrique
R: Marchenko, Zuccarello, McGroarty
D: Hughes.Q, Pieterangelo, Theodore, Ekblad, Ceci
G: Anderson, Johnasson
Fantastic top four D, but otherwise they could be in serious trouble scoring goals.
The Wolves
FPs Drafted: Marner-R. Tor
Pattern: Aside from Brian has the starkest ‘on off’ draft switch in the league. Either he’s picking well, or terrible, with little in between. Unfortunately when you add in the years he makes no picks at all, it tilts away from there being a steady stream of talent, to being a patchwork.
Best Year: 2015. Rob snagged Marner a future FP, a PPG D-man in Werenski, and then added the solid if unspectacular Jeff Chychrun for good measure.
Worst Year: No picks at all in 09 or 10 (and only a re-draft of Wheeler in 11) makes for a very poor flowing talent pipeline for three years. That can leave a mark.
Best Pick: Has to be Marner
Scouting department has a pronounced inexplicable addiction to: Blake Wheeler. Rob drafted him as a prospect twice, and then I believe again as a player several times more. To be fair, Wheeler eventually ended up being very good.
Lineup of Prospects:
L: Greenway, Dupuis, Honzek
C: Horvat, Schenn, Carlson.L
R: Marner, Wheeler, Hoglander
D: Werenski, Dobson, Jones.S, Chychrun, Schultz,
G: Kahkonen, Kincaid
Not great (especially at G, C, and L, yikes), but the D is pretty nice, and I believe overall it will look better once Leo Carlson and Honzek start producing. His last couple of draft classes have some very interesting talent (Smith, Dickinson, Yakemchuk) and this team may look a lot different in a few years. Maybe hire somebody who knows how to scout goaltenders though.
The Scourge
FPs Drafted: 1; Draisaitl
Pattern: The machine. With only a couple of exceptions Chris is getting value out of the draft, period. It might just be a depth defender (Ellis), or a truculent but skilled C (Dubois), or a PPG+ all star (Eichel) but he is getting SOMETHING.
Best Year: 2014; Draisaitl, Eichel
Not a hard choice given how awesome the two picks he made are.
Worst Year: in 08 Chris made four picks that were all flops, and in 2018 he had just the one pick and blew it on noted Islanders sniper and USNTDP grad, Oliver Wahlstrom. But that’s it. Aside from those two drafts a decade apart, Chris just doesn’t miss. (Note: I have a can of coke that says he also just blew it in 2024, but the jury is out)
Best Pick: Draisaitl
The only competition is Eichel the guy he took ahead of Draisaitl.
Scouting department has a pronounced inexplicable addiction to: Jeff Skinner. His addiction to the defensively challenged gunner starts in 2010, and then gets renewed in 2015.
Lineup of Prospects:
L: Svechnikov, Skinner, Kuzmenko
C: Draisaitl, Eichel, Schiefle
R: Reinhart, Nichushkin, Necas
D: Fowler, Ellis, Gudbranson, Hickey
G:
So we have our first ‘incomplete’ roster, I am simply unable to fill it out with drafted players because Chris keeps drafting C’s ahead of everything else. He hasn’t taken a defenseman in the prospect draft since 2009, and he has never, ever, drafted a goaltender prospect.
Which just highlights the fact that teams do not draft to fill out a roster, but to address specific needs of their teams and seasons, and this whole exercise is pointless. Or something.
The Shadowmen
FPs Drafted: 5; Tkachuk.M, Tkachuk.B, Reilly, Tarasenko, Benn
Pattern: “Chaos is a ladder”, since 2009 Bob has on no fewer than 8 different occasions drafted an entire new farm team (8 players), and he has done drafts of 7 and 6 as well. Continuity is for pussies.
Best Year: 2010, He’s got a bunch of candidate seasons to consider, but in most of his FP drafting seasons they are the only player who panned out. The exception is 2010 when along with the high scoring Tarasenko he nabbed useful wingers Tatar and Nyqvist and a starting goalie in Schneider. That is a very decent haul!
Worst Year: 2022 isn’t looking too good, 8 guys picked, and only Arturi Lehkonen is as yet even a replacement level player. It could be 2023 though if neither of Nasar or Kasper can crack an NHL lineup and contribute. Or it could be way back in 2008 when he made four picks and the best of them was the extremely disappointing Cody Hodgson. But that is it really, despite all the chaos Bob manages to find stuff every year, and his scouts trip over FPs more often than anyone else.
Scouting department has a pronounced inexplicable addiction to: tossing away their ADHD meds. I had mentioned that between 2009-2019 Corey drafted 37 players, meanwhile, over the same time span Bob drafted 78.
Lineup of Prospects:
L: Benn, Tkachuk.M, Nyqvist
C: Hertl, Konecny, Kempe
R: Tarasenko, Tkachuk.B, Toffoli
D: Reilly, Hanifin, Orlov, Montour, Matheson
G: Schneider, Gibson
Thin at C, decent goaltending, and a deep set of high scoring and physically abusive wingers. Team Donut!
Also, we have yet another Brandon Montour (and Matheson!) sighting.
Severed Heads
FPs Drafted: 5, Hall, Karlsson, Kuznetsov, Dahlin, Fox
Pattern: Typically hits on something 2 out of 3 drafts, making 2-5 selections a year. Lots of D, lots of underagers with high ceilings.
Best Year: 08, and 17 both landed two FPs. 08 also landed a useful player in Ville Leino, but his value is anlmost imperceptible.
Worst Year: 2013 the Heads had one pick and wasted it on Brendan Smith-D Det. In 18 and 19 he had 3 picks in each and managed to elude finding any talent whatsoever by chasing after the mirages of Puljujarvi, Mittlestadt and Byfield, and getting lost in the dessert.
Scouting department has a pronounced inexplicable addiction to: teenagers toiling in foreign leagues, and high-skill defensemen.
Lineup of Prospects
L: Forsberg, Laine, Puljujarvi
C: Kuznetsov, Nugent-Hopkins, Lindholm.E
R: Hall, Michkov, Demidov
D: Karlsson, Dahlin, Fox, McAvoy, Hutson
G: Knight, Nabokov
Not the best team (that would Brian), but I’ll suggest my drafted D prospects are the best in the league, and I am pretty good with that. Also, very nearly could not complete the roster (ala Chris) as I needed Nabokov from this years draft to finish off goaltending, and while Demidov hasn’t done anything yet, he is still no doubt better than Sprong currently is, so I made Demidov my last RW.
Our Favourite Prospects
Stefan Elliot 3x
Paajarvi-Svenson 3x
Brandon Montour 3x
Mark Jankowski 3x
David Perron 3x
Please let me know if you find errors in any of this, and my apologies to Corey I had no idea it was that bad when I started and my greatest joy was finding out Mike B was even worse.
4/23/2024
2024 VICTORY FOR THE PV HIS 4TH PREDATOR, SCOURGE WINS THE CHALLENGE , AND HERBY TO THE SEVERED HEADS, AND THE 6TH OMNIVORE THE SHADOWMEN WITH 127PTS
1
Personal Vendetta
19.8 1102.7
2
Scourge
18.8 1101.5
3
Edge
23 1098.7
4
Wolves
15.8 1094.1
5
Bladerunners
15.6 1083.4
6
Highlanders
13.8 1048.8
7
Shadowmen
20.8 1011.7
8
Great Whites
13.8 928.8
9
Knights Templar
21 900
10
Married with Kittens
13.5 894.7
11
Ramapithicines
22.4 889.9
12
Severed Heads
18.8 874.4
7/13/2023
5/03/2022
BLADERUNNERS TAKE THEIR 6TH PREDATOR, 2 MORE THAN ANY OTHER TEAM; SEVERED HEADS WIN THE CHALLENGE CUP AND OMNIVORE FOR 2022
12/14/2021
week 10 rosters
also please see fantrax
its a month of birthdays
doug sent in that pic i think
9 days to 50y for myself
regardless see below and fantrax week 10 for your lineup
i sent out the week roster summary a tad late
ergo errors
see below
10/12/2021
WEEK ONE ROSTER
Team Roster Chart
2021-2022 NHL FUNHL!
Bladerunners
Edge
Great Whites
Highlanders
Knights Templar
Married with Kittens
Personal Vendetta
Show Icons
Standard
Fantasy
C
LW
RW
D
Enf
PP
PK
G
A Kopitar
C McDavid
J Drouin
J Robertson
J Farabee
J Guentzel
B Marchand
O Bjorkstrand
B Rust
E Tolvanen
T Konecny
E Dadonov
J Roslovic
A Boqvist
J Carlson
J Drysdale
F Hronek
R Josi
J Bean
J Brodin
M Grzelcyk
T Harley
J Benn
S Bennett
J Allen
T Jarry
S Bobrovsky
P Francouz
C
LW
RW
D
Enf
PP
PK
G
W Karlsson
S Monahan
M Scheifele
C Glass
K Hayes
T Stutzle
P Tomasino
C Giroux
Z Hyman
A Ovechkin
D Guenther
D Dube
J Eberle
P Kane
T Teravainen
C Bedard
R Rakell
J Donskoi
T Terry
T Krug
J Morrissey
J Schultz
R Ellis
A Romanov
J Valimaki
M Giordano
T Myers
T Demko
C Hellebuyck
J Reimer
C
LW
RW
D
Enf
PP
PK
G
N MacKinnon
J Staal
A Matthews
A Newhook
J Marchessault
J Miller
T Toffoli
A Copp
C Caufield
J Pavelski
M Stone
E Kane
V Arvidsson
V Podkolzin
B Burns
T Chabot
N Leddy
J Petry
P Broberg
T Brodie
B Clarke
J Edmundson
Z Jones
R Merkley
M Dumba
N Kadri
D Kuemper
L Ullmark
J Oettinger
C
LW
RW
D
Enf
PP
PK
G
P Bergeron
L Couture
J Toews
S Crosby
A Lundell
C Zary
A Killorn
D Kubalik
M Pacioretty
D Holloway
A Lafreniere
C Verhaeghe
P Buchnevich
K Fiala
A Radulov
T Tatar
A Holtz
B Lambert
D Hamilton
C Makar
R Suter
N Beaudin
J Slavin
T Smith
J Spurgeon
T DeAngelo
C Soucy
R Lehner
C Talbot
C Hart
C
LW
RW
D
Enf
PP
PK
G
M Barzal
V Trocheck
R Kupari
C Sillinger
A Turcotte
J Eriksson Ek
A DeBrincat
J Schwartz
A Svechnikov
M Maltsev
G Nyquist
C Garland
T Oshie
D Pastrnak
A Kaliyev
K Lind
K Marchenko
M Tkachuk
D Keith
B Pesce
R Ristolainen
M Weegar
J Faulk
N Lundkvist
P Subban
B Chiarot
M Domi
F Andersen
J Campbell
A Hill
C
LW
RW
D
Enf
PP
PK
G
S Aho
B Nelson
M Zibanejad
M Beniers
K Dach
T Hertl
N Ehlers
R Nugent-Hopkins
V Olofsson
I Ratcliffe
M Hoffman
C Kreider
S Poulin
D Batherson
K Kapanen
S Reinhart
P Dubois
B Gallagher
K Yamamoto
V Dunn
A Fox
R Pulock
C Parayko
O Power
M Ekholm
J Chychrun
J Muzzin
P Grubauer
M Smith
C Price
C
LW
RW
D
Enf
PP
PK
G
J Norris
B Point
R Strome
H Lapierre
N Hischier
T Zegras
K Connor
T Hall
O Palat
M Boldy
J Berggren
C Keller
N Kucherov
D Perron
A Duclair
O Wahlstrom
E Brannstrom
C Fowler
V Hedman
I Provorov
B Byram
R Graves
N Hanifin
M Seider
D Nurse
T Wilson
J Gibson
I Samsonov
L Dostal
V Vanecek
Enter Note:
Save Note
Scourge
Severed Heads
Shadowmen
Wolves
Ramapithicines
C
LW
RW
D
Enf
PP
PK
G
C Dvorak
R O'Reilly
J Tavares
J Kotkaniemi
E Malkin
M Rossi
T Bertuzzi
F Forsberg
J Huberdeau
M Comtois
A Iafallo
J Vrana
J Bailey
P Kessel
J Voracek
J Kyrou
F Zadina
T Barrie
R Dahlin
M Rielly
B Montour
D Orlov
D Severson
A Ekblad
N Pionk
E Merzlikins
P Mrazek
J Binnington
T Rask
I Sorokin
C
LW
RW
D
Enf
PP
PK
G
S Couturier
D Cozens
J Eichel
J Hughes
C McMichael
M McTavish
C Perfetti
M Granlund
J McCann
T Meier
W Eklund
G Denisenko
B Hayton
B Tkachuk
K Kakko
M Necas
M Rantanen
S Jarvis
Y Sharangovich
Q Hughes
J Klingberg
A Pietrangelo
Z Werenski
O Ekman-Larsson
E Karlsson
D Larkin
J Trouba
J Markstrom
I Shesterkin
M Blackwood
C
LW
RW
D
Enf
PP
PK
G
A Barkov
B Schenn
T Seguin
Q Byfield
Y Gourde
R Hintz
A Burakovsky
A Mantha
J Greenway
J Pelletier
W Nylander
J Puljujarvi
V Tarasenko
C Atkinson
M Michkov
A Tuch
R Andersson
C McAvoy
M Sergachev
S Theodore
D Fabbro
S Gostisbehere
L Hughes
C York
R Gudas
G Landeskog
M Fleury
A Vasilevskiy
S Knight
A Raanta
C
LW
RW
D
Enf
PP
PK
G
E Kuznetsov
E Lindholm
E Pettersson
J Carter
R Thomas
A Beauvillier
J Gaudreau
A Lee
O Olausson
J Zucker
P Laine
S Stamkos
B Wheeler
F Lysell
D Gurianov
V Kravtsov
R Smith
D Doughty
S Jones
K Yandle
J Rathbone
R Sandin
N Schmidt
D Toews
E Cernak
B Dillon
A Khudobin
J Saros
K Lankinen
S Varlamov
C
LW
RW
D
Enf
PP
PK
G
L Draisaitl
B Horvat
N Suzuki
N Backstrom
P Krebs
S Pinto
N Hoglander
K Kaprizov
A Panarin
B Coleman
J van Riemsdyk
C Brown
A Mangiapane
M Marner
L Raymond
B Boeser
S Girard
M Heiskanen
A Martinez
C Addison
N Dobson
J Marino
M Reilly
N Hague
K Letang
K Kahkonen
C Petersen
A Nedeljkovic
J Swayman
Cam's Draft Review and FP/Prospect Review
This year sees our league divided roughly in two (7-5),
those who kept their FPs and those who used a first to take new ones.
The 7 should be contenders, whereas the 5 should be pretenders, but you
never know....
The Bladerunners
The good news: McDavid is still the king, and Marchand had another exceptional year in his late prime.
The
bad news: Not much else is going great. The top 2 on D look good but
the remainder is a dog’s breakfast of 3rd pair guys, and the
Bladerunners right wing looks like its missing both its first and second
liners with Bjorkstrand and Konecny playing above their station. The
other big hole is in net, where Tristan Jarry is nobody’s idea of a top 5
netminder and Goalie-Bob nobody’s idea of a reliable #2. Last but not
least, their may be some help on the farm in the form of Bouchard and
Farabee. Bouchard shouldn’t have trouble beating out someone for a top 4
role, but Farabee isn’t obviously better than the dreck at RW, so while
he has a shot its damning him with faint praise.
Stupid Movie Reference: Missing In Action 2 (with Chuck Norris!) - because clearly the Bladerunners need more right wing.
The verdict: LW=A-, C=A, RW=D, D=C+, G=D+
The Wolves
The
good news: Exceptional top 2 lines; Draisaitl, Marner, Kaprizov,
Panarin, Boeser, Backstrom are a lethal core for the Wolves to contend
with. Shane Wright is arguably the league’s most valuable long term
prospect. Prospects: Krebs, Hoglander, and Raymond have outside chances
at contributing from the wings, and if Kahkonen can produce a heartbeat
he is almost a lock to take over in net at some point.
The
bad news: An average to below average defense is headlined by the
extremely injury prone Letang, there is lack of 3rd line depth (which to
be fair is normal for a contending team not yet through a WD), and then
in what is clearly the biggest weakness, there is a total horror-show
in net. Peterson, Swayman, Nedjelkovic are 3 guys who have never started
the season as #1 for their teams before, and they are dressing for
teams that either aren’t good (LA, Det) or who have other goalie options
(Boston’s Ullmark is expected to seize the day over the journeyman
Swayman).
Stupid Movie
Reference: I was going to go with Star Wars: A New Hope, because ‘These
are not the goaltenders you are looking for”, but settled on
‘Striptease’ because this team is just so ridiculously top-heavy.
The verdict: LW=A, C=A, RW=A, D=C, G=F
The Shadowmen
The
good news: Bob took a different tack than many this year and did NOT
replace an FP! The result is he has a pretty excellent RW in Stamkos,
Wheeler, Laine, and Smith. The D-corps is also very solid this year,
with Jones, Doughty, Toews, Yandle being a very fine top 4. However, the
teams best position might actually be in net where Juuse Saros and
Sergei Varlamov are two top 10 (and Saros top 3) goalies. On the farm
Gurianov should rise up to claim a spot on the wing, while Thomas bides
his time for an opening to appear at 3rd line C (sooner rather than
later is my guess). Lankinen adds to the teams depth in net. Pettersson
is a lock to assume 1st or 2nd line duties at C.
The
bad news: Gaudreau leads a LW that is otherwise thin to the point of
life threatening anorexia. Lindholm is miscast as a #1, and while
Pettersson has a ton of promise, he has yet to put up 1st line numbers.
Those two are followed by FP reject *single nostril snort* Kuznetsov,
and Penguins third line C Jeff Carter, so it’s... not good.
Stupid
Movie Reference: Not a movie in this case, just the scene from Loki at
Pompei screaming “Do whatever you like! Nothing matters!” as the volcano
blows, because the chances of this roster resembling anything like what
it will be by the end of the year is exactly zero.
The verdict: LW=C+, C=C+, RW=A-, D=B-, G=A
The Highlanders
The
good news: Cale Makar topped just about everybody’s list of potential
FP replacements and the Highlanders pulled off a massive trade to
acquire the electrifying defender just prior to the draft. While Makar
is the crown jewel, the team boasts depth and talent throughout the blue
- Hamilton would be #1 on most teams, while DeAngelo, Spurgeon and even
Suter punch well above their roster slot. Crosby and Bergeron are
graybearded but can still drive the Highlanders set of pivots to be
above average, and the teams goaltending is solid if unspectacular.
The
bad news: You can see the effects of the FP swap when you look at RW.
Kevin Fiala would be #3 (or worse) on most teams but yet is somehow this
teams top starboard gunner, followed by Pavel Buchnevich - a player
whose breakout offensive season was so unexpected it earned him a trade
dump to St Louis. Tatar and Radulov are very solid depth pieces, but
unless one of them finds the fountain of youth is unlikely to spike the
teams scoring. Pacioretty leads an otherwise miserable collection of LW,
none of whom aside from Max should survive the WD. Lafrenierre should
be of assistance at LW immediately, but there has to be a concern that
the former #1 overall is now described as ‘lacking burst’ and having
‘average’ skating.
Stupid
Movie Reference: The Highlanders are Tilda Swinton at the end of
‘Constantine’, she may be damned, but she still looks good even with her
wings pulled off.
The verdict: L=C+, C=B, R=D, D=A+, G=B
The Great Whites
The
good news: centre continues to look totally awesome, with Kadri being a
nice addition to round out the all-star 1-2 punch of Mackinnon and
Mathews. D is also a strength as Chabot, Petry, Burns, may not be the
league’s best top 3, but is nevertheless solid, and the GWs have depth
through their top 5. Goaltending is also at least average, but with a
real possibility of being great if any one of the following bets pays
off; Ullmark is a true #1 goalie, Oettinger outcompetes 4 other goalies
for the job in Dallas, Kuemper beats out Varlamov in Colorado. RW has
Stone as the top dog, and should feature farmhand Caulfield as a
secondary sniper in short order, and that should translate into above
average production for the position
The
bad news: Left wing is just not as strong as RW, lacking both the
high-end of Stone, as well as the promise of a Caufield (or even a
Podkolzin). Defense should be ok, but aside from Chabot lacks any upside
star power. It’s possible one or more of the bets in net pay-off, but
its also possible none of them do, and that the team struggles to stop
the puck.
Stupid
Movie Reference: ‘The Net’ because *gestures at GW goaltending depth
chart*. Remember when the whole internet could fit on one floppy disk?
Good times.
The verdict: L=B-, C=A+, R=B+, D=B-, G=C-
The Ramapithicines
The
good news: Defense! And then...more defense! Arguably the best D in the
league top (Morgan Riley) to bottom (prospect Brandon Montour). Left
wing is also a strength behind the scoring wizardry of Jonathon
Huberdeau and the steady production of Filip Forsberg. Center is solidly
above average as Tavares has settled firmly into the ‘1b’ role in
Toronto, and O’Rielly backs him up as a high scoring Selke candidate,
but there is room for further growth with prospect Marco Rossi a
waterbug type of distributor who could make an impact longer term, along
with the ongoing development of two-way pivot Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
The
bad news: the right wing is a smoking crater once you get beyond the
well-passed-his-prime Voracek. Tavares’ role as a scoring C also seems
to be gradually diminishing, and his impact may start to fall off as
well. Goaltending is weak, unless Binnington recaptures his
Steve-Penny-on-a-bender magic, or Elvis enters the building and decides
to stick around. Also, at the most trivial level, I object to Pionk as
an UFA pick ahead of Dahlin - everything about that situation made me
angry.
Stupid Movie
Reference: ‘A Few Good Men’ - because those soldiers may have been
guilty and lost, but they got the absolute best defence. Also because I
really just want to scream “You want the truth? You cant handle the
truth!”
The verdict: L=B+, C=B-, R=C+, D=A+, G=C-
The Edge
The
good news: Average or better everywhere, with good balance across the
entire roster. Added a platinum chip prospect in Connor Bedard, a player
so deliriously good he will either bring a king’s ransom at the
deadline for Cup run, or, serve as the foundation for the post Ovechkin
world that is rapidly approaching. This might be the best Edge team I
can recall, and its primed to take a run at the title if things break
right.
The bad news: There
isn’t a single position they can claim to be the best at, and both FPs
are solidly into the back 9 of their HOF careers. They also have the
most active roster players from the expansion Kraken (1 or 2)
and....well that can’t be good.
Stupid Movie Reference: ‘Serpico’, because its the single greatest movie about “a cop...on the edge”
The verdict: L=A-, C=B+, R=B+, D=B-, G:B+
Married With Kittens
The
good news: Added fresh talent in the form of surprise FP centerman
Sebastian Aho, who along with Zibenejad should form the core of the
Kittens attack moving forward. Defense is also a positive position as it
starts with the reigning Norris winner Adam Fox, and then adds in
category stuffer Jeff Chychrun and the unexpectedly productive Mathias
Ekholm for additional punch behind him. Solid depth as well with Muzzin,
Parayko, and Dunn who were all high upside selections late in the
draft.
The bad news: The
wings aren’t...bad?, but they both lack a high end guy at the top of the
position to drive offense and to push Ehlers and Reinhart into more
appropriate #2 roles. More importantly, goaltending is ‘very bad’,
bordering on ‘awful’, and within spitting distance of ‘apocalyptic’. The
starting netminder is Grubauer who is going to man the pipes for a
Seattle expansion team destined to get crushed night after night. The
only relief for him comes in the form of Mike Smith who is now
approximately 58 years old, and Carey Price, a guy battling;
expectations, mental health issues, and old age. It could get really
ugly, really fast for the Kittens. Also, I gotta say, if it were me, I’d
have matched on Saros as my new FP instead of taking Aho (or Fox), but
thats a tough tactical decision any way you cut it, and Bob is the
absolute master of forcing GMs to make tough tactical decisions.
Stupid
Movie Reference: An odd numbered Star Trek movie. You know you’ll like
it just fine, but you also know its fatally flawed, and that the next
one should be much better.
The verdict: L=B, C=B+, R=B, D=B+, G=F
Personal Vendetta
The
good news: is loaded with Bolts from TBay, has offensive dynamo
Kucherov returning after another lengthy cup run, and Hall starting
afresh in Boston. The wings should be fine with their FP contributors at
the top. The defense is above average with Hedman at the top, and a
serious multi-category contributor in Nurse as the #2 banana. Provorov
should bounce back to his usual self, and Hanifin and the rest are all
average for their depth chart position or better.
The
bad news: Aside from Point who will lead the attack at C, the PV are
shy of offensive centermen, and could get caved in if Strome isn’t a
legit option, or if Point is hurt or struggles. There is some hope that
Zegras will be ready for #3C or better, but thats a promise more than a
lock. Goaltending is going to be a serious challenge for the PV, because
between Vanacek and Samsonov there should be a #1 goalie in there
somewhere - but its one or the other. Unfortunately, Gibson isn’t likely
to help out much unless Anaheim can time warp their D corps back to
Pronger/Niedermayer and Co. I am pleased to report that Darrell did not
simply beat us all at the draft table this year. So, yeah, I guess I’m
saying there is a chance.
Stupid
Movie Reference: ‘Raise the Titanic’, look, last year Kucherov was a
zero, Hall was little better, and the whole team hit an iceberg and sank
to the bottom, so if Herbivore level performance is any guide it was pretty
much the definition of a ‘Titanic’ situation . This year though, the
vets are back and healthy, there is some new youth to be served, and the
arrows are pointing ‘up’. Now, ‘Titanic’ was a great film, but ‘Raise
the Titanic’ not so much, but it was a lot more hopeful, and after what
the PV just went through, thats probably enough.
The verdict: L=B+, C=B-, R=B+, D=B+, G=C-
The Knights Templar
The
good news: Well they should have the best RW in the league given the
presence of super-sniper Pastrnak, and the freshly drafted two-way
belligerence of Mathew Tkachuk. LW is also pretty nice as it features
young sharpshooters DeBrincat and ‘Meeeeeeeeestaaaaaah Svechnikov’ along
with capable vets Schwartz and Nyqvist. Goaltending is ok, which means
neither a strength nor a liability.
The
bad news: Team donut is going to get pushed around down the middle, as
Barzal and Trochek are both overmatched for the roles they are in
because the FP replacement essentially robbed them of a 1st line C. And
then there is the defense, which, I believe is the worst in the league.
Mackenzie Weegar is a really nice #4 D-man, he gets decent ice-time
which leads to some ok points, he’s tough so there are some PIM to
collect, and he’s on Florida which happens to be a powerhouse so his +/-
is a possibility, all together a nice multi-category threat. On this
team though, he’s the clear #1, and that spells all kinds of trouble.
Beyond even that though, there are three defenders on my list who
because their reputation far outstrips their production, I have specific
‘Do Not Draft’ orders for; Ristolainen, Subban, and Keith, and the KT
picked all three of them. Could one or more pan out? Sure, but its far
from enough to move the needle.
Stupid
Movie Reference: ‘Baby Driver’, the first half of which is utterly
fantastic, but the back half of the movie has so many ‘WTF’ moments that
you wonder if the same guy could possibly have directed it.
The verdict: L=B+, C=C, R=A-, D=F, G=C+
The Scourge
The
good news: The way Chris maneuvered things to both replace, and yet
also hold on to Jack Eichel, was a superior piece of gamesmanship. The
defense corps is one of, if not the best in the league with Klingberg
and Hughes at the top end, backed up by reliable vets Pieterangelo,
Werenski, and ex-FP Karlsson. Goaltending should be above average with
reliable starter Markstrom in the #1 role, and Igor Shesterkin as a good
bet to win out over Georgiev for the lion’s share of starter minutes in
New York in the 2nd spot. New FP Rantanen leads an ok group of RWrs
that includes youngsters Sharangovich and Kaako who while light on any
actual history of production, still have immense upside.
The
bad news: Left wing is arguably worst in the league with only medium
grade scorer/face-puncher and noted crocs enthusiast Brady Tkachuk
flashing any numbers around average. Center is unfortunately, not much
better, as with Eichel gone for the foreseeable future, the scoring
slack will fall on to Couturier, a guy better known for his two-way
play, and Larkin and Cozens, two players with much promise, but who have
yet to produce even average numbers.
Stupid
Movie Reference: ‘The Kingsman’, because it obviously leans to the
right, isn’t very good, and yet manages to be both clever and
entertaining.
The verdict: L=D, C=D, R=B, D=A, G=B
The Severed Heads
The
good news: the team is relatively well balanced. Dominates at
goaltending with Vezina winner Fleury arguably a top 10 starter in his
own right backing up Vasilevskiy, and Spencer Knight an elite
goaltending prospect about to claim the starter spot in Florida.
The
bad news: Teams scoring depth dependent on Seguin and Tarasenko both
returning to form. Defense lacks a high-end #1, as does RW. There is a
Malkin sized hole in the heart of the GM.
Stupid Movie Reference: Contact - “I’m good to go”
FP's and Prospects:
Bladerunners
Brian didn’t swap out any FP’s, and only selected two prospects;
-
Harley-D Dal: Big mobile, two-way defender should eventually anchor the
second pair. Downside is Harley is in tough for powerplay and offensive
minutes with both Heiskenen and Klingberg blocking him.
-
Francouz-G Col: I guess when you run out of ideas you draft a high end
backup? He’s a perfectly cromulent goaltender with, aside from an
unfortunate bus crash, no path to starting minutes.
The Wolves
Rob didn’t swap out any FPs and made three prospect selections;
- Pinto-C Ott: Part of the upcoming youth movement in Ottawa, Pinto has 3rd line upside if he hits.
- Addison-D Min: I assume he’s a defensman in Minnesota. Your mileage may vary.
-
Kahkonen-G Min: A late blooming goaltender (25), Kahkonen came in and
stole the starting role for much of last year. His competition is
healthy now so he won’t get ice-time so easily, but if he slays the camp
battle dragons (Cam Talbot et al) he could be a starter in year one of
his prospect contract.
The Shadowmen
Bob did not replace an FP (?!), but did make his usual 31 selections at the prospect draft.
-
Olausson-L Col: depth scoring forward on a team loaded with them.
Eventually the Burakovsky’s become too expensive and the Olausson’s of
the world can step in. Eventually.
-
Thomas-C StL: High skill center was expected to be featured by the
Blues last season but fell off the path. Has very high upside, but is
probably not a future #1 C like the Blues initially thought.
- Lysell-R Bos: Honestly have never heard of him. He should be good for 50 goals and 60 assists if things break right.
-
Rathbone-D Vcr: Slightly built offensive defenseman has strong passing
ability, and projects as a 2nd unit PP QB. The downside is he isn’t
great at defending, which for a defenseman is supposed to be a thing.
-
Lankinen-G Chi: Came out of nowhere last season to surprise in Chicago,
but he’ll have to steal time from Fleury now, so if he can hold the
backup role for a season or two he might be the successor in net.
The Highlanders
Doug drafted RFA defenseman Cale Makar to be his new FP after acquiring him via (expensive) trade with the Wolves.
-
Makar-D Col: Is the closest thing to Erik Karlsson in his prime you’ll
see that isn’t just video of Erik Karlsson in his prime. Would have a
pair of Norris trophies if he could have stayed healthy either of the
last two years. Which says everything, the guy is an absolute
thunderbolt of offense from the blue, but he is built like a sick-kid’s
hospital mascot.
Doug also drafted 5 prospects at this years prospect draft;
- Brad Lambert-R Fin: highly regarded wing prospect is slated to go top 5 next years draft.
-
Holloway-C Edm: Top of the Oilers prospect heap is this dynamic pivot.
Has real offense, but may get converted to the wing to play with higher
talent Cs.
- Lundell-C
Fla: ‘What is the Matrix’? Lundell is. Which is to say, is he a scoring
C? A two-way winger with flash? We don’t really know. What is real
anyway? That’s Lundell.
-
Zary-C Cgy: Slick, a little undersized, very smart. Was injured in
training camp and got cut to be re-drafted. Has a ton of upside but a
blocked path to a roster spot.
-
Holtz-R NJ: Another reclamation project, Holtz is a one-shot scorer
with good wheels. Figuring out where he fits with the precocious Devils
prospects may take a while.
The Great Whites
Dan did not replace an FP, but he did draft four new prospects;
-
N.Robertson-L Tor: Its tough drafting prospects from the Leafs as they
tend to be so overhyped (Rasmus Sandin anyone?) that I usually avoid
them. Robertson has some nice scoring touch, and is cheap so he may get a
shot, but he seems destined to be packaged in a deal to somewhere
else.
- Clarke-D LA: I
have to say this is my kind of prospect. He’s got a terrific offensive
toolkit, but is also the most knock-kneed skater I’ve ever seen, and
that kind of cognitive dissonance I am here for. I had him ranked as a
top ten target.
- Z.Jones-D NYR: Oh look, a defenseman named Jones. I got nothing.
-
Merkley-D SJ: A drop-redraft Merkley has outstanding offensive skills
but cannot defend a lick inside his own blue. Might take over from one
of the ancient defensemen who own/run/play in SJ. I mean, it could
happen.
The Ramapithicines
Corey did not draft a new FP, but he did select 5 new prospects;
-Vrana-R Det: Someone has to score in Detroit, right?
-Kotkaniemi-C
Mtl: Can’t really argue with taking a centre drafted in the first round
as a prospect. I mean, the world needs more Manny Malhotra’s.
-Zadina-R Det: Another re-draft if I’m not mistaken. Also, someone has to score in Detroit, right?
-
Montour-D Fla: journeyman D has bounced around, but can help out a PP,
and carry 2nd unit minutes in a pinch. A safe, bottom of the active
roster prospect with almost no upside for more.
-Rask-G Bos: Just...c’mon, no.
The Edge
Collin only selected two prospects at the draft;
-
Bedard-C WHL: Received permission to play in the WHL as a 15 year old
exceptional player. Has dynamic speed and offensive skills, and is a
mortal lock to be an FP at some date in the future. Lands somewhere
below McDavid, but higher than contemporary Shane Wright.
- Guenther-R Ari: Power winger who scores goals. Biggest issue is that he is in Arizona a place prospects go to die.
Married With Kittens
And
here is where shit gets interesting. In the late off-season the Kittens
made a deal to get Adam Fox, presumptively to match on him as a new FP.
However, at the table the Kittens flipped the script and went outside
the box to select Sebastian Aho as their new FP behind Zibenejad.
-
Aho-C Car: If you had told me five years ago that of Puljujarvi, Laine,
and Aho, it would be Aho who is the franchise player I would not have
believed it, but here we are. The facts are straight forward, Aho is a
ppg or better pivot with great playmaking instincts, strong two-way
play, and a sneaky wrist shot.
If
nothing else, the way Craig has set up his team he won’t have to spend
much time putting together a centre list prior to the draft.
Craig also selected one prospect at the draft;
Beniers-C
Sea: A do-everything pivot in the Ryan O’Reilly mold, Benier is a
foundational piece for the Kraken. He may not spike as high offensively
as other #2 overalls, but thats because he has a defensive conscience to
go with his excellent skill-set.
There is a joke about Star Trek librarian Mr Atoz, (get it? Mr A to Z?) revolving around Aho to Zibenejad but I can’t find it.
Personal Vendetta
Darrell drafted himself 5 new prospects;
-Beggren-L Det: Who? I guess someone has to score in Detroit, right?
-Boldy-L
Min: Boldy is what you get if you genetically designed your prospects.
Huge body-builder frame, fast, and strong. If the skill is also there he
might impress, but even if not, he’s one of those guys who ‘looks’ the
part even when the offense is dry.
-Laperriere-C Wsh: Kuzentsov can’t live forever, and Connor McMichael is only one guy.
-Seider-D
Det: Ok, so Darrell had the chance to take Connor Bedard here instead
(assuming Bedard was even on the radar for Darrell) and selected Seider -
which while not the pick I’d have made, is nevertheless defensible.
Seider is a big fast train with great wheels and lots of skill, and he’s
going to be a fixture in Detroit for a decade, both on the PP but also
in the last minutes of a close game. He’s a stud, and Darrell might get 5
solid years of production from him as a prospect. Is he a future FP? I
doubt it, but it’s possible, and for a 1st overall pick Seider is pretty
solid.
- Dostal-G Ana: Now you are just making up names.
The Knights Templar
Mike added a new FP in Mathew Tkachuk and drafted 5 new prospects.
-Tkachuk-R
Cgy: Is Tkachuk over Svechnikov a bigger surprise than Aho over Fox?
Maybe, but probably shouldn’t be. Tkachuk’s TG role puts him into that
unique Brad Marchand territory of a guy with FP level offense AND
primary TG PIM to go with it. I suspect that at least two other GMs were
looking side-eye at Mike for selecting their favourite player to be a
new FP. The truth is, he’s a beast, and there may be even more offense
to the kids game forthcoming.
When
it comes to prospects drafted this year, Mike was clearly in my head,
as a number of guys I’ve been tracking got scooped up by the Templar;
- Maltsev-L Col: a big Russian power winger who scores goals and blows up defensemen. Just as god intended.
-
Marchenko-R Clb: a big Russian power winger who scores goals and blows
up defensemen. Just as god intended. Actually, Marchenko is not quite as
big as Maltsev, being only 6’2”, 180lbs, instead of 6’3”, 205, but you
get the point. Seriously, these guys are my crack cocaine when I make my
lists, and I have to talk myself out of them every year.
-
Kupari-C LA: Part of the collection of super-skilled prospects
marinating in LA, (the KT already have Turcotte and Kaliyev as well)
he’s amongst the more talented though, so if LA pops, expect Kupari to
be in the middle of things.
-
Sillinger-C Bos: Mike’s kid, Cole has lots of the same kind of stuff
going on as his dad did as he’s not big, but is fast and skilled. He
might have 30goals in his stick one year.
-Lind-R
Sea: Former Canuck 2nd rounder has 2nd line skill, but couldn’t crack
the Vcr roster after four tries, and has landed in a situation where
ice-time will be heaped on him if he can produce. A very solid pickup.
The Scourge
Chris replaced Jack Eichel with Mikko Rantanen, and drafted two new prospects.
Its
not just that he replaced Eichel though, he managed to do so, AND to
then draft Eichel at the top of the RFA rounds to preserve his contract
to the following year. It was nice work that only depended on 5 GMs not
being interested in Eichel+surgery as a future FP.
-Rantanen-R
Col: Along with the sorcery of preserving Eichel on his roster, Chris
added a 6’4” power winger who scores goals in buckets, and rides shotgun
for the leauge’s most dynamic pivot. Nice.
Along with Rantanen, Chris added two prospects;
-Eklund-R SJ: Big smooth skating winger with offense, has 30 goal upside.
-
MacTavish-C Ana: If ‘Animal’ from the Muppets band were an NHL player,
he’d be Mason MacTavish. A power pivot he’ll be groomed to handle duties
behind Zegras as the teams future #2C.
The Severed Heads
The Heads drafted Alexander Barkov to be their new FP C, and added two prospects.
-
Barkov-C Fla: A big power pivot who puts up over a PPG, runs the PP,
and handles all the major offensive duties, at 26 he’s in his prime.
After
16 years with his name pencilled in at the top of the lineup, the Heads
said goodbye and Godspeed to Evgeni Malkin, and replaced his presence
with a player of similar build and skills. Can Barkov ever capture the
teams heart the way Malkin did? Win the Heads a cup and its all good.
-Michkov-W KHL: a 5’10” scoring dynamo from Russia, he’s expected to challenge Bedard as top prospect in 2023
-
York-D Pha: A finesse offensive defender York once had 33 points in 28
games for the USNTDP. If he can defend well enough to stick, the former
1st rounder’s offense should translate.
Alright, now for some highly specious awards! Wooo-Hooo!
Best Prospect Pick:
Connor Bedard, the Edge
The ‘Exploded in a hail of Goo’ award for worst prospect drafted:
It
was going to be Brian and Francouz, or with ‘Dostal’ whatever that is,
in Anaheim, but the soon-to-be-retired Tuuka Rask being selected by the
Ramapithicines takes the prize. I would add that this award goes back
almost two decades now as it was originally a reference to Corey
drafting AHL standout Randy Robitaille in the first round of a prospect
draft. Who you say? Exactly, welcome again to the hail of goo.
6/18/2021
New header photo
Congrats to the Wolves on the Predator Cup. Welcome to Draisaitl and Marner as the new headline players on the Blog!
3/29/2021
MISSED WEEK 10 AND 11; HOWEVER, WEEK 12
HERE!
WEEK 12 LINEUPS
TGS +/- PLAYERS
FANTRAX
THE CHALLENGE CUP SEMI-FINAL GAME STATS WEEK 12...6 WEEKS REMAIN AND TIL SEASON END
FUNHLTRADE DEADLINE IN 3 WEEKS AFTER SEMIS END!
MATCH-UPS – upon league confirmation:
MATCH-UP A: Wolves (1st) vs Ramapithicines (4th)
MATCH-UP B: Scourge (2nd) vs Great Whites (3rd)
HIGH DRAMA
i forgot
THE CHALLENGE UP SEMIFINALS BEGIN WITH A DRAMATIC 4 WAY TIE TO SEE WHO WILL UP THE WOLVE IN RND 1
BL
RAM
PV
SH
ALL TIED 5-5-1
BUT IT CAME DN TO PT DIFF, AND THAT
BL BEAT PV
BUT
SH BEAT BL
HOWEVER RAM BEAT SH
FOR TIE BREAK
EXCELLENT WORK BY BRIAN
GOOD LUCK AND REMEMBER FORTUNE FAVORS THE BOLD
3/08/2021
WEEK 9 POST WD
3/01/2021
WEEK 8 FUNHL PRE-WAIVER DRAFT - PLEASE SUBMIT FIINA;L DROPS BY FRIDAY AT 6PMMST
2/22/2021
2/15/2021
2/08/2021
WEEK 5 FUNHL ROSTERS
2/03/2021
1/25/2021
FUNHL WEEK 3 LINEUPS DUE 9:59 PM EST
1/18/2021
FUNHL WEEK TWO
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