Challenge #31 - Future Boston Bruins - Discussion Thread

[batdad]

Still widdled I missed. I ummm...re signed Brouwer when he scored his 30th goal. But then he got 2 in his last 18 games or something stupid, and his skating went from 8 to 6. PLEASE RETIRE> But it does not matter, as have so much room under the cap.

[batdad]

I think.... that this is the first time I have ever missed the playoffs in any EHM game I have ever played. Wow. Reason I think that, I just got a ton of messages of guys going to World Championships. I do not recall getting those ever before.

Can-Schenn, Brouwer, Severson
Finland-Riekkinen
Sweden-Erickson
Germany-Liebsch
Switzerland-Haas
Latvia-Skudra

[Loner]

Hi, first time I'm doing those challenge and it's very fun. I was actually looking for something different to do in EHM.

My draft went like this with a focus on wings, size and speed.
1- Herman Dicks. 4 games in the NHL with 3 points but a rating of 6.5. In kootenay he's developing very well with a rating of 8.11 and 96 points in 55 games
2- Dru Williamson, doing well for Windsor with 56 points in 61 games but with only a 6.95 rating. He still improving from his last years
3 - Milos Prikryl. Nice technical attributes and a 6.9 rating for Sparta, not bad but I'll bring to NA next year
4 - Hans Berggren. Very nice attributes overall but with a bad rating of 6.56 in SWE-2. My scouts still rate him as a first line forward bigger version of Ivan Nikolishin
4 - Marty Thocker. A big second line enforcer. I like drafting defensing forward since they are rare in EHM. His only drawback its that he's playing in the US
5 - Whitney Moodie. Another big winger with average stats for a fifth rounder. Not doing that good in the OHL and show regression compare to last year
7 - Gerard Jaensson. A defensive forward with some size and speed. Will ideally play on my third line in a couple of years.

So far I've play 67 games. The first 40 were very good and I was third in the conference for a while. After 40 games I had a lot of injuries everywhere and I was not able to maintain the performance. I sit now at 8 and battling for a spot for the playoff and my board is very angry.

Defensemen on this team is pretty average and my best so far is Beausoleil with a 7.4 rating. My right side is very small with Berthet and Riekkinen, the former is under-performing but their's a limit on how well small player performs in ehm. Offensively this is hard. I don't score a lot of goal and they're coming in bunch. There are some good young players though. Jacobson is doing very well with a 8.02 rating and 52 points in 50 games. His stats are also increasing well. Owens has been a surprise, 7.82 rating and 62 points in 67 games. He is now on my first line since the beginning of the season. Khomutov is also doing well with a 7.57 rating and 46 points in 67 games playing on the second line left wings. Fahas and Skudra are also doing their job. the later has impressive size and was able to maintain a 7.52 rating and 26 points playing 10 minutes a game on the fourth line. Vendersteen was playing a lot better before his injuries and lost his spot to Owens. He is now struggling with a 6.95 rating playing second line right wings.

Overall I think that my strategy to go for huge and sometime fast players has paid well in the beginning of the season but the lack of talent is starting to hurt. Brouwer and Eriksson are really done.

[batdad]

3 guys in common with my draft. Dicks, Pikryl, Thocker.

[batdad]

You know it is a messed up challenge when the Stanley Cup Final is Leafs-Jets, and the Leafs set an NHL record for wins in a season (60) and pts in a season (123). Ugh.

[rancer890]

Seems like I got the worst Dicks of the bunch.

The only players in common are Dicks and Pikryl. I don't even remember looking at the names you drafted.

I still got 10 games left in the season and only 5 points separate between 25th and 30th. It's the first time I've gotten out of last all season, 3 points ahead of Columbus. Florida are 1 point ahead (we have a game in hand), and Dallas and Detroit are 2 points ahead and we all have the same number of games played. This is a pretty awkward position considering that on one hand, I want to end the season on a high, but on the other hand, there's a player I want to draft and I don't want to lose him because I 'won' 26th or 27th in the league standings...

Imagine if we won our games instead of losing in the shootout. We have lost 7 or 8 games via shootout and the other 2 in normal overtime.

[bruins72]

I got Thocker too!

[batdad]

2025 Draft sucks

I picked 14th

Here are my selections

1. Tristan Gould LW/RW 6'3 178. Slight but strong, what I like is his playoff performance was better than reg season. Steps up.

2. Korey Bourque RW 6'3 207. 16 fights, won 13 of them for Everett. Scored 15 goals. Best of a sad lot.
3. Lyle Cote RD 60 178, just an okay Dman
4. Dan Hatcher C/LW/RW 6'0 185. Pansy, but what the heck 9.25 rating in a rubbish league, 43-80-123 58 games. committed to Providence so easy to scout.
5. Aaron Hansen LW/C 6'2 205. Drafted solely on size and Lidstrom reccomendation. Strong, but lots of naff technicals. Skates well.
5. Dany Meichtry RD 6'0 174 older by a year than most draft picks. Looks okay for what is left. Scouts say could be 3-4 guy.Really a Swiss scrub.
6. Carl Blundon LD 5'11 216. Fat guy or brick layer? Not sure....looks like Mario from Nintendo. 40 points, 111 PIMs for Med Hat, no fights. Tough kid. Another 06 born player.
7. Stu Ward LD/RD 6'3 183. Another 06 born and there was diddly squat left.


That is all. Maybe 1 of those guys plays for the Bruins. BRutal draft.

Off to find a couple of real players through trade and FA.

[rancer890]

Bernier injured, Khomotov injured (our 3rd partially torn ACL of the season.. ) . Brilliant.

Also got news that Stephane Noble left Brown to sign with South Carolina. He has 2 assists in 7 games.

6 games to go, the reverse standings:

30th - Columbus - 57 pts (6 GR)
29th - Detroit - 60 pts (7 GR)
28th - Florida - 61 pts (6 GR)
27th - Boston - 62 pts (6 GR)
26th - Dallas - 62 pts (6 GR)

25th - St. Louis - 68 pts (6 GR)

There are maybe 3-4 players I like at the top and I hope to pick one of them...

[rancer890]

We pretty much sputtered to the finish line without Bernier. We still did okay though with a 10-10-2 record, finishing 14th in the conference and 28th overall.

[batdad]

Phew. Almost did not get my UFA.

offered deals to Sam Bennett, Jake Virtanen (who was the one i wanted) and Anton Karlsson. All 3 mill deals, all over what they were asking.

During the time I was waiting to see who they would choose, went with a second option as well and offered deals for under $2 mill total to Jonathon Drouin (who wanted 725--I offered 1 mill) and Carl Hagelin who wanted 500 (again 1 mill offer)

Our rep in Boston is not very good.

Virtanen signed for 1.9 in Vancouver
Karlsson signed for 1.405 in Nashville
Drouin signed for $600 in Montreal
Hagelin signed for $575 in Vancouver.

Bennett reject, reject reject. All the way into August, kept offering him the $3 mil. Because he is injured with a UCL tear until Sept 20 or so noone else offering. REject. Finally in August I thought I was done for...

because Carolina, Buffalo, and Pitt offered him deals. Thought no way do I get him


August 21 (real life Batdad birthday) Sam Bennett signs with the Boston Bruins.

3 years, 3 mill per.

PHEW

[rancer890]

I've never spent so long doing a draft in EHM before, but I finished it..

Rd 1 (3rd overall) - C/RW Ted Schroeder (Moose Jaw) - 5'10", 158 lbs - I don't really like how tiny he is, but he was the best guy at #3 and the entire front office wanted to pick him. He's not even 18 until Sept 9 so he will stay in Junior. He had 51 points (16 G - 35 A) in 49 games, with a 7.49 rating.

Rd 2 (33rd) - C/RW Hans Downing (Sioux Falls/Michigan Tech) - 5'11", 165 lbs - A guy not afraid to hit and a good team players, as well as good defensive instincts for a 17 year old. Could develop into a solid two-way player if he reaches his potential.

Rd 3 (63rd) - C Felix Allard (Rouyn-Noranda) - 6', 187 lbs - Defense isn't his strong suit, but he offers good size and speed. Good teammate and a hard worker as well. He had 29 points (12 G, 17 A) in 65 games, to go along with 211 hits.

Rd 4 (93rd) - LD Jerome Roussel (Sherbrooke) - 6'1", 165 lbs - An offensive defenseman, Roussel had 23 points (7-16) in 61 games and a 6.56 rating. He only had 44 hits but he has a decent report card. Not much talent at this stage.

Rd 5 (123rd) - LD/RD Felix-Antoine Manson (Saskatoon) - 6', 160 lbs - Scouts say he's nothing better than a 7th defenseman, but I'm seeing a lot of green physical attributes, and that's good enough for me. 18 points (5-13) in 42 games and a 6.93 rating.

Rd 5 (125th) - G Jimmy Astrom (No team) - 6'1", 167 lbs - He last played for the Almtuna J18's, with 33-3-2 record, and a 1.60 GAA and 8.92 rating. I mainly drafted him because I need a goalie in South Carolina.

Rd 6 (153rd) - RD Robin Mille (Val d'Or) - 5'10", 194 lbs - Another offensive defenseman. He doesn't have a lot of attributes or stats that stand out, but he's turning 20 at the end of August and he's improved each year in Juniors. In 68 games, he scored 57 points (14-43), as well as 209 hits and 86 shots blocked. He'll be South Carolina bound in September.

Rd 7 (183rd) - LD Vadim Bykov (Rubin) - 5'11", 187 lbs - Young blueliner with potential to be a 5-6th pairing. Scouts say he already looks like a depth player on the Bruins. The soon-to-be 20 year old (June 30 bday) had 45 points (20-25) in 50 games to along with 225 hits and a rating of 8.56. He's not very quick, but technically sound and a hard worker. Not sure whether to sign him now or keep him in Russia for another year (I'm at my contracted reserve limit).

I took a lot of risks. I think half these guys weren't in the ISS top 200. I was also close to drafting Dan Hatcher in the 7th, but then Morrison recommended Bykov, and well...he looked better than all the d-men I drafted before him. Hatcher was not drafted in my save.

[Peter_Doherty]

I feel like the biggest challenge with this team is to balance size and skill, we have some smallish skilled guys and some not so skilled big buys. Finding the balance there is the key for success i think, and of course getting some good UFA's and draft well.

[batdad]

No getting rid of all the little guys is the key. And I am actually being serious here. I hate playing EHM with the Habs in Bruins jerseys.

[Peter_Doherty]

some of the smaller guys score alot though for me, Åberg, Zhakharov, Vandersteen are my top scorers after 40 games. And Carrier started playing worse when i moved Berthet away from his D-pair. So Berthet probably does better then his rating says? It's hard though.

[rancer890]

Offered out some contracts...

Option 1 (1 player with $3 mil cap hit)

C/RW WIlliam Nylander - Choice 1A. He's only 29, and has scored 30+ goals in the past 3 seasons with the Jets and 300 points.
LW/C Jake Virtanen - Choice 1B. One year younger at 28, Virtanen has scored 148 goals and 300 points over the past 3 seasons with the Leafs.
LW/C Samuel Bennett - Choice 2. Another top player who's only 29. Doesn't have the offensive numbers as Nylander and Virtanen, but he can give you close to 40 goals and is a point per game player and can be a difference maker.
LW/RW

Option 2 (2 players with $2 mil combined cap hit)

RD Taylor Aronson, 33 years old - $1,000,000, 2 years ($700,000 per year and $600,000 signing bonus). He's old, but he's someone I think I can sign. And our defense last year was horrible. If I can't get option A and sign him, it probably means one of my existing D-men will go on waivers or be in one of my allocated trades this season. He wanted league min.
W Marian Hegyi - 27 years old - $1,000,000, 2 years ($900,000 per year and $200,000 signing bonus). Not very big at 5 foot 9, 178 lbs, but he plays bigger than that. He has scored 49 goals and 95 points over the past 2 seasons in Phoenix. He wanted league min.
RW/LW Sebastian Collberg - 31 years old - $1,000,000, 2 years ($800,000 per year and $400,000 signing bonus). Breakout season with the Flyers. Not a huge guy but we need all the options we can get.
LW/C Jonathan Drouin - 30 years old - $1,000,000, 2 years ($775,000 per year and $450,000 signing bonus). Another offensive forward who has scored 25 goals in two of the past 3 seasons.
F Kamil Horava - 27 years old - $1,000,000, 2 years ($975,000 per year and $50,000 signing bonus). A vet and former Bruin. Doesn't really have the offensive numbers but he's someone who can fit in the bottom 6.
D David Musil - $1,000,000, 2 years ($975,000 a year and $50k bonus). Just another dependable vet. We need a defenseman who can play good defense and has good size, because we definitely don't have one on our team afaik. I don't need him for points.

Priority is Option 1 so I will delay the Option 2 signings until I strike out on all 3 option 1 targets. If we strike out on everyone then we're looking at another top 3 pick haha.

EDIT: Paul Coffey retired. Well there goes my head coach!.

[rancer890]

Great off-season:

Player Signings:

UFA -
LW Jake Virtanen - A two year contract with a base salary of $2.9 million a season and he got a $200,000 signing bonus. His cap hit is $3 million.

Prospects (all signed to the standard 3 year ELC) -
C Stephane Noble, 21 - 2022 5th Round Pick
G Jimme Astrom, 17 - 2025 5th Round Pick
LD Vadim Bykov, 20 - 2025 7th Round Pick
RD Zech MacKinnon, 19 - 2024 2nd Round Pick
Woody Kaufman, 20 - 2024 5th Round Pick

Coaches -
Jeff Kealty released. (June 30)
Paul Coffey retired.
Jean-Claude Morin has been promoted to Head Coach from Assistant Coach. He has signed a two year contract extension until June 30, 2028.
Radek Dvorak has been signed as an Assistant Coach from Usti (Czech First Division).
Cory Clouston has been signed as an Assistant Coach from Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL).

Scouts -
Nyle Groulx fired.
Pierre Leach fired.
Samuel Bergin signed from Heibronn (German 2.Bundesliga)
Markus Wieland signed from Nitra (Slovakian Extraliga)

[bruins72]

some of the smaller guys score alot though for me, Åberg, Zhakharov, Vandersteen are my top scorers after 40 games. And Carrier started playing worse when i moved Berthet away from his D-pair. So Berthet probably does better then his rating says? It's hard though.

I can't get Berthet to do anything for me. He looks great on paper but he's so tiny that he just doesn't get anything done for us. He seems to do okay in the AHL though. Aberg does well on one of the top line wings and Vandersteen is the man for us. Vandersteen isn't tiny though. He's just not big. Same with Aberg. Vandersteen has decent strength at least though. Zakharov is just too weak though. I think guys with strength in the red are useless.

[Peter_Doherty]

I agree about Berthet, but he did seem to make Carrier play better. Might just have been a coincident though. Zakharov is doing really well for me actually, his physique is really bad, but he is scoring alot of points for me from the 2nd line.

Gotta say though that this challenge is excellent, just seeing how different everybodys lineups look means it's a great challenge.

[batdad]

Year 2 roster

Bennett-Vandersteen-Aberg
Jacobsen-Owens-Fahas
Khomutov-Schenn-Groleau
Skoda-Skudra-Petterson
Brouwer-that college kid whose name starts with an N.

Carrier-Riekkinen
Severson - Berthet
The German-Rouleau
The big kid whose name starts with C

Bernier
Haas


Trade will be for a big d man. Thinking about McIlrath out of Philly. They like Reinainnene or what's his name Woodcroft.

We shall see.


Started with a hell of a comeback vs Philly. Down 5-1 and down 2 with 30 sec left. Won 7-6 in OT. Game. 4 beat the Blues 11-2.

After 9 games 5-4. So way better start but still not good enough for me.

Groleau Skoda Bennett Owens Vandersteen are awesome for me.

[batdad]

Uh oh. No Schenn and No Owens for 10 days.

[batdad]

Vandersteen goes down for two months. Ugh.

So...made a deal right afterwards...

Former Kootenay ICE and #1 draft pick in 2024 of the Boston Bruins Herman Dicks is dealt to the Buffalo Sabres, for another former Kootenay ICE star.

Hmm...who would that be?

[batdad]

Uh oh. Fans and board are NOT HAPPY with the trade. In spite of the fact that Dicks was stinking it up in Providence.

[Peter_Doherty]

So, they don't like Reinhart?

I'm 63 games into the first season now sitting at 7th place with 7 points down to 9th so it's looking like i might make the playoffs. Jacobsen-Vandersteen-Åberg is proving to be a solid first line, Jacobsen with 33 goals so far. Loui is finally back from his knee injury which had him miss over 30 games now, his return gives the team some stability because depth was a very big issue for me. 3rd line with Khomutov-Skudra-Fahas is playing really well for me. Overall consistency is a problem but it's looking alot better then i thought it would be. I sent Dicks back to Juniors after about 20 games and he's doing well down there. Not lighting it up but doing well.

[batdad]

No the clowns loved their future 3rd line RW. Ugh.