EHM The Blue Line

Ok it could be my fault but here is the situation.

I'm in the playoffs for the current year right now but I started the year with the following lineup.

Ovechkin, Carter, Blake
Mike York, Connelly, Zubrus
Morrow, Madden, Chris Clark
Getzlaf, Halpern, Anthony Stewart.

My coaches are Jim Playfair, Robbie Ftorek, Andy Murray and Sam St. Laurent.

I realize I was too soft on the players since I generally used a 2 intensive, 2 medium and 2 light training program

BUT everyone except the older guys still made some improvement in stats except Getlaf who dropped in points.

Ovech gained 12, Carter 8, Blake 0
York gained 9, Connelly 10, Zubrus 4
Morrow gained 1, Madden 1, Clark 2
Getzlaf lost 5, Halpern 0, Stewart gained 12

Could I have done much better?
What do you do with Getzlaf?

I played him on the 2nd line and powerplay everytime there was an injury and his morale would go up but generally his form is usually a 6 in most games.

I currently have Ryan Holweg and Aaron Asham on Left and Right wing as backup for injuries and toughness in the playoffs as well.

I have currently sent Getzlaf to the minors while I'm playing Holweg or Asham and his morale and form are superb. Should I leave him there for the first part of next year?

Next year Bobby Ryan will be playing on Right Wing and I am looking to drop someone.

Who should I let go?

Any other thoughts are welcome

Generally, I find that for player development it's better to be a star in the AHL than a 4th-liner in the NHL. Guys like Stewart who have great determination and work rate may be an exception; I've never had Getzlaf in my team, so I don't remember his profile.

WHAT!!! are you crazy, Getzlafs should be on line 1, he's amazin!!! lol. i don't know if you can tell, but i think Getzlaf is amazing! Hockey's next best.

Getzlaf!!!

getzlaf15 wrote:WHAT!!! are you crazy, Getzlafs should be on line 1, he's amazin!!! lol. i don't know if you can tell, but i think Getzlaf is amazing! Hockey's next best.

Getzlaf!!!

Could it be that u are a bit biased with that message??

LOL, dont know.....just asking

Haha, sorry, but i think that may be true, however, i would play getzlaf a lot higher up on your lines in my Ducks season so far he has 14 goals and 18 assists in 37 games, and that's on line 2.

I would play this:-

Ovechkin, Getzlaf, Blake(i'm guessin that's jason)
Morrow, Connoly(although he's overrated), Zubrus
York, Carter, Anthony Stewart
Madden, Halpern, Chris Clark

Then trade Blake for a pick/prospect and play Bobby Ryan on your line 1.
Awesome!!!

Hey, dont get me wrong, I think Getzlaf will be one of the dominating players to come and I also would play him in the first line, but I found it funny to read it from a guy who's nickname is getzlaf15 ....but nothing wrong with it!!

haha, im glad i add a little fun to someones day

And how do i view how much my players have improved by? or do you find it out manually?

Thanks

getzlaf15 wrote:And how do i view how much my players have improved by? or do you find it out manually?

Thanks

Manually.

Ovechkin, Getzlaf, Blake(i'm guessin that's jason)
Morrow, Connoly(although he's overrated), Zubrus
York, Carter, Anthony Stewart
Madden, Halpern, Chris Clark

This is what you suggested. I might move Bobby Ryan to the 1 line Right wing as you recommended but I can't see playing John Madden on the 4th line. I could move him to left wing since he is accomplished there but at least on the third line. Here is an alternative

I'm going to put thier current grand total of all thier stats next to each player so you get a better idea.

Ovechkin 440, Connelly 404, Ryan 396
York 400, Carter 426, Blake 404
Madden 405, Getzlaf 366, Zubrus 396
B. Morrow 386 Halpern 385, Stewart 378

Chris Clark 387
Aaron Asham 377
Ryan Holweg 369

I've been keeping Blake and Connelly on seperate lines because they are such good playmakers so if I pull Blake off the number one line Connelly's going in. This balances the 1 and 2nd lines on scoring punch very nicely.

When I got Getzlaf he was at 376 so you can see why I'm so dissappointed. Jeff Cambell on my farm team has risin by 26 points and sits at 368 right now. How the heck can a guy like that lose 10 points and he was in the all star game in real life.

I'd love to squeeze another year of two out of Blake who is underated in the Real NHL but this year is getting some dues.
So the question remains if I play Getzlaf who should I trade. Halpern? Clark? Blake?

I need to sign Ovechkin and Carter this year but I have some room and could unload a defensmen or two if need be but I was even thinking of letting Madden go since he's my highest paid guy at 3.89 M

Cheers
Keep the suggestions coming

Woah, John Madden is overpayed!!!

i wud try to offload him and Blake, but getting someone that is actually interested in madden may well be difficult to find, who you have on defense?

I currently have

Pitkanen 410, D. Morris 391
Ohlund 397, B. Stuart 361
Matvichuk 369, N. Boynton 360

Vaananen 348, Lynch 352
Kulyash 378
Marc Staal 358
Khomitski 355

Plus some other right defensemen in the minors. Kulyash just arrived so I'm going to move him up for sure. Matvichuk was a late addition for the playoffs (can't recall who unloaded him) but he's 34 now and Vaananen is only 26. Vaananen is very good defensively so I was happy with him just thought in case of injury I'd add Matvichuk. Now I want to trade at least one maybe up to 3 guys. To make room for Kulyash, Staal and Lynch. Plus I was looking at getting Ryan Wilson in this years draft he plays on the Right side and is at 378 and is only 20 years old. Some of my scouts think he may have reached his potential already but who cares he could still replace Stuart or Boynton who get paid a lot more.

Thanks
Craig

getzlaf15 wrote:Haha, sorry, but i think that may be true, however, i would play getzlaf a lot higher up on your lines in my Ducks season so far he has 14 goals and 18 assists in 37 games, and that's on line 2.

I would play this:-

Ovechkin, Getzlaf, Blake(i'm guessin that's jason)
Morrow, Connoly(although he's overrated), Zubrus
York, Carter, Anthony Stewart
Madden, Halpern, Chris Clark

Then trade Blake for a pick/prospect and play Bobby Ryan on your line 1.
Awesome!!!

Connoly is not overrated. If he stays healthy he is a boss.

connolly isn't overrated at all, but even at his best i'd put carter ahead of him in a heartbeat (assuming that's jeff).

i was lucky one game half way thru first year flyers decided they only needed richards and i got jeff carter for a measly 4th round pick, went on to average 60 goals a season and 140 points a season for the next 7 seasons.

coincidentally i also had getzlaf on that team, so i played getzlaf first line C with carter on the wing cause he can play RW. was the most dominant line in that game with kostitsyn on the other wing and markov on D

I think putting York on 2nd line and Morrow on 4th is a crime...

Dude, before Tank jumped on this thread it was over 2 years old. I'm sure the original poster isn't still waiting for an answer.