Now that the playoffs are now over, GM's have all had an opportunity to reflect on the 2013-14 season. There were highs and lows for everyone but as the offseason kicks into high gear, let's hear what your offseason philosophy is for your team. Not only will this be a good excersize for all GM's but it will also let other GM's know what you are trying to do which can ultimately directly impact potential trades.
I'll go first:
No one I ever untouchable in Columbus, that being said, we do have a plan and a vision for this team.
We are looking to shed some salary so that we will be in a good position for free agency. We will be happy to build around Patrice Bergeron and Ryan Miller moving forward. We are excited to be adding 6 top prospects to our ECHL following the draft and we don't anticipate moving them as we look toward the future. I have drafted high before and always trade the picks and usually regret it. We are going to try and focus a little more on selecting and developing bluechip prospects.
We are always looking to deal but we are also always looking to compete.
To a degree, burn it down but build it right back up. Been a solid team for the past 3 years just have to get over the hump. Very few players are untouchable.
Already fulfilled my late season and offseason goals in unloading salary and picking up a few value contracts. Always looking to continue in that direction before free agency but not much left.
As always I will listen to any offers and no one is 'untouchable' but offers for players like Okposo or Niskanen will have to be very very good to get me to consider.
-Change the mix - Clearly it wasn't good enough last season.
-some lateral moves but most moves will be sell for assets and the n rebuy.
-Drop 25M in contracts
-Figure out if I can acquire enough picks to make it worth attending the draft. If not, sell picks.
-probably drop in overall team ratings as some elf players make the jump (brodin, krieder zibanijad etc).
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All hockey players are bilingual. They know English and profanity - Gordie Howe
But I do want to try to get rid of a third round pick since it's my only one in the draft. My team has a lot of bottom six players, so I need to find a way to get some first/second liners. Pretty satisfied with my defensive lineup.
Avalanche really like their core but obviously they are the worst core in the league.
- Trade almost everyone in lateral moves for a different mix
- Get a better prospect pool
- Ideally get a better goalie because MAF has the confidence of a grade 9 teenager who plays the triangle in the school band
- Get 1 or more stay at home d-men. Basically all my d-men are puck movers, which clearly does not work.
- Increase veteran presence. I think my team is too young which doesnt work well in the sim.
I've got a good core with Getz, Pavelski, Filpulla, Crawford and some young up and comers, just need to see if i wanna trade from my prospect pool for some depth, or be patient and wait it out.
Lineup is looking like this
Edit: Updated with recent trades
Erik Cole - Mike Fisher - Marian Hossa
Brenden Morrow - ??? - Ryan Callahan
Alexandre Burrows - Marcel Goc - Rene Bourque
Jay McClement - Pierre Marc Bouchard - Chris Neil
Niklas Kronwall - Bryan Allen
Keaton Ellerby - Grant Clitsome
Brian Strait - Steve Eminger
Craig Andersson
Peter Budaj
Hopefully I can add some better centers through free agency but I have a few more guys I can bring up capable of playing 3rd/4th line NHL minutes buried in the AHL (Tanner Glass, Blair Jones, Adam Burish, Chuck Kobasew , Chris Bourque ) so if I need to move someone from my top 6 to get some decent centermen I will. But now I at least know what needs to be done. Got really busy with work during the sim playoffs so cphl took a back seat and I kind of forgot what I had to do.
Other than that rather major issue I'm feeling good about the team. If cap space allows I'd like to upgrade on one or two of my d-men as well
Sabres feel as long as we have Rask, we have a chance to compete (although maybe now regreting not flipping him for Price at the deadline LOL) but after going with a club for 2 years that was a strong SIM team- losing a tight series to the Isles in 2013 and having a top 3 finish last year; we really dont' have the depth or young players we need to keep pushing, so will look to retool in that regard, with names like Lupul, Enstrom, Gagner as potential to switch up. we will need to rebuild our blueline this offseason, but may do that via free agency
Focus is on improving the on-ice product. I obviously didn't have a lot of quality on the blueline and in the net, so improving there was something that I made a priority for this summer. I also entered this offseason with a ton of picks yet again, but wanted to go a different route this year ... after hoarding picks and using a scattergun approach in the draft for the past two summers, I decided to try to turn my picks into roster players that can help both in the short and in the long term. And lastly, I wanted to do business early and through the trade route rather than waiting for UFA season.
So with all these things in mind, so far I have brought in Mark Giordano, Andy Greene, Boyd Gordon, Viktor Stalberg, Antoine Roussel and Al Montoya through trade, while giving away Alex Killorn, Michael Hutchinson and a plethora of picks. Plus I had already added James Reimer and Barret Jackman at the deadline.
So right now, that leaves me with
Jiri Hudler - Tyler Johnson - Lee Stempniak
Carl Hagelin - Craig Smith - Michael Grabner
Antoine Roussel - Boyd Gordon - Viktor Stalberg
Matt Martin - Luke Glendening - Stephen Gionta Jarnkrok, Khokhlachev, Deslauriers, Cracknell
Mark Giordano - Andy Greene
Barret Jackman - Andrew MacDonald
Kyle Quincey - Kevan Miller Fraser, Almquist, Korobov
James Reimer - Al Montoya
that looks considerably better than some time ago, especially since guys like Johnson and Smith are due for some nice rating bumps. Was able to add some quality players to the blueline, and goaltending is about a million years younger than last season and has some potential. Can't wait for re-rates to finalize my plans. Probably done with trading away picks now, I still want to keep a few of them ... just because the draft is so much fun and I don't want to miss it completely.
So offseason has been a success so far. Still open for trades of course!
Quit being a farmer and only looking to the future
Too many times I moved out 1st line talent for prospects in the ECHL. While it took those players years (years) to finally get a respectable rating I've had the pleasure of watching the players moved out to continue to perform and push their teams to the post season.
It's not that they were good or bad trades, but more the time and damage those trades did to my team was more then a price I'm willing to continue doing. It's still good to have your sights still focused on the future but I want my feet planted firmly in the now and winning hockey games
That's my philosophy for the off season
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2022 OHL CHAMPIONS
What Is Your Off Season Philosophy?
