Tanking vs. Rebuilding

[TurdFerguson]

I have had this conversation with a few people, but given the nature and number of posts on this forum recently I’d like to get the conversation out in the open so everyone can partake and anyone with concerns can voice them.

I am doing a total franchise rebuild. What does that mean? It means I have ripped down anything that resembles established talent in exchange for multiple pieces that have what I hope to be future value. My goal since I started this in December of 2011 has been to amass legitimate prospect depth at the ECHL and AHL levels and then to let that talent mature into a budding CPHL team. If this works then I will be able to sell off the excess to feed back into the development process (rinse and repeat). Basically, I’m trying to restart the Dallas “system” starting from the ECHL and working my way up to the CPHL. I think it has been pretty clear over the past year that I am willing to move any player with CPHL value if I feel I am improving the high-end depth of my system or my depth of quality draft picks to feed my system down the road. What this also means is that the immediate success (this season) of my CPHL team has not been a priority for me. To be clear this is very different from tanking in that I am not purposely throwing games, nor am I treating one team better or worse than another, I am merely approaching every decision for my team from the angle of “what makes me better in the long-term”. That means:

- I’m maximizing my roster at all levels by filling it with as many prospects as I can.
- I am only acquiring rated players if they are young, fit my direction and the price makes sense (I am not into buying players yet although OEL and Myers are the exceptions).
- I would much rather use a roster spot on a prospect then an old UFA placeholder just to appear competitive in a season that for the most part has been planned as a write-off since last December. I don’t feel that a sprinkle of players that help me finish 10th instead of 13th is really worth giving up the roster spot on a player that has long-term value for me.

Currently my team is amongst the worst in the CPHL, clearly that benefits me in that I have my own draft pick but you would be foolish to think that I have spent the last year and the remainder of this season making my CPHL team suck so I can acquire 1 top rated draft pick. Would a top-end pick help my process – absolutely, it’s one of the few perks that I get for enduring a year plus of losing but that is not my motivation.

I could go on and on about this but I’ll leave it here for now. If anyone has any specific questions or concerns about what I am doing and how it affects the integrity of the game then let’s hear them. I’m not trying to undermine the game, but clearly I am taking a long road that most don’t seem to.

[Sec218]

one question, Nathan or Seth?

[TurdFerguson]

If i had to make the call - Forward. Always.

[Cheese]

Turd.

<wipe>
<wipe again>

Never been a fan of the rebuild. Its a free game with moving pieces that can get you challenging every year. Just have to be there when the piece you need is available.
Monopoly.

[Knut]

Rebuilding - dealing for the future and making smart moves.

Tanking = deliberately playing crappy players and not fielding the best roster you can.

[MJK]

I hear ya Turd but even with a complete overhaul there is no reason not to field the best possible team you can.

Just looking at your stats, why did your highest rated goalie sit in your ECHL all year? You not only consistently played a 49OV goalie but you played him 12 times. Can you explain that?

[TurdFerguson]

Salary. Bernier has a 2.5m contract and Svedberg has a .75m contract. That is 2 prospects worth of cap difference. Once I cleared cap (through the release of kubina) bernier was recalled. Svedberg gas played so much because markstrom get fatigued easily given his rating and the fact that I give up the most shots in the league.

Does that make sense?

[TurdFerguson]

I'd also add that I've played he most games in the league thus far.

[Swayze11]

Originally Posted by TurdFerguson

If i had to make the call - Forward. Always.

Why? cause the D-man is black?

[droopydrew19]

I also am not a fan of a full rebuild yet I do have a number of high end prospects. My team is still augmented with a number of veterans as well.

The key to my growth is timing. If you have the cap money, why not grab some free agents?

If you can underpay for a bloated contract top 6 forward because you have cap space, then why not?

A pick is only 1 player. You need more than one player to compete. There is no point in tanking.

[TurdFerguson]

Originally Posted by droopydrew19

I also am not a fan of a full rebuild yet I do have a number of high end prospects. My team is still augmented with a number of veterans as well.

The key to my growth is timing. If you have the cap money, why not grab some free agents. If you can underpay for a bloated contract top 6 forward because you have cap space, then why not?

A pick is only 1 player. You need more than one player to compete. There is no point in tanking.

Agree. I was actually one of the big winners on UFA day but i dealt most of those players for picks and prospects which fit my plan better. For example, i turned Phillips and Beauchemin into

1. Stralman, Anton (D)
2. Orlov, Dmitri (D)
3. Etem, Emerson (C)
4. Oleksiak, Jamie (D)
5. Lucia, Mario (LW)
6. Jurco, Tomas (RW)
7. Heard, Mitchell (LW)
8. 2013 2nd Round Draft Choice (sj)
9. 2014 2nd Round Draft Choice (sj)

[TurdFerguson]

Originally Posted by Swayze11

Why? cause the D-man is black?

Jones is actually from the Dallas area I believe, so no pat, it's not because he is black. It may have something to do with his mother rejecting my repeated advances though. Guess we'll never know

[Swayze11]

To be honest, I don't think we have enough teams rebuilding.

I know its painfully slow, but how else are contenders supposed to get good rated players for picks/prospects? It is very rare for a team to only want picks/prospects.

[JiriHrdina]

Just to be clear, the recent announcement by the league regarding the draft lottery isn't because we think Turdy is tanking. He and I had discussions in the last week or so about his strategy and I get it - including not wanting to waste roster spots on guys that aren't going to help him long term.

That being said, every year this comes up in some manner - the worst example being when we had a GM scratching highly rated players in favor of scrubs to tank. So we think the draft lottery helps solve that.

Turd is a good GM and we don't have any concerns about him.

[droopydrew19]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

Turd is a good GM and we don't have any concerns about him.

Turd Stinks!!!