With 2.1 playing the Leafs. Have reached the Xmas break and have spent most of the year between 6th and 13th place. Toskala and gustavsson have both been pretty amazing (both have save percentages north of 920, I'm playing them both more or less equally). I'm not sure what do with Toskala, trade him somewhere or resign him for 1 or 2 years. Grabovski's 3rd in rookie scoring, Kessel is 5th. Main problems so far have been injuries. I lost Blake for 5 months for a torn groin, which pretty much blows any chance I'll trade him before the deadline, Kaberle and Stajan have spent a lot of time in the infirmary.
Another problem has been losing a lot of faceoffs. So far I've acquired Stephane Yelle, Todd MArchant and Paul Gaustad to help in that format and I've seen some improvement. My PK has also improved a lot as a result. Still getting outshot a lot, losing a lot of board battles. I tried to acquire Trent Hunter but lost out to Philly. Another problem has been secondary scoring, my first line is Pony-Grabs-Kessell and they're alright but other than that, the well dries up. Stempniak was doing alright but I traded him to get Gaustad. So I signed Zherdev as a UFA but he's not goign to help this year.
I'm hoping I can get a second rounder at the deadline, I know teams are interested in Komisarek and Van Ryn. Getting rid of Komi's cap hit would be a great help, not just for cap reasons but for letting the board loosen the purse strings come UFA time. I've got all the young guys (Tlusty, Kulemin, Stalberg, Schenn) playing in the juniors and minors, I figure their development will be better as a result. A lot of teams are interested in those guys. I'll probably hang onto them but if I get offered a 1st, I'll take it. So far I'm being proven rights as both Tlusty and Kulemin are among the AHL scoring leaders although I don't think Stalberg's an NHLer.
I really hate being right up against the reserve list. THere's a bunch of guys I'm not going to resign. I managed to get rid of Exelby for Colin Stewart and a 6th rounder. Orr's playing in the minors, I'd love to dump his contract. I can't believe Bozak's contract is 3 million$. I also hate not having any draft picks
The marlies are doing alright. 3rd in the division.