Spartan

@Acydburn skipped, @NSG is up

@N0HBDY skipped, @KaleebtheMighty on the clock

Won't be expansion, nor does it seem to be raising the cap, for now.

Well one of us has to lose a finals here.....nose goes

Well we'd think the active free agents without a home would care, since any immediate rule change was geared towards them. But genuinely speaking, let's say we raise the cap by a nice happy 45 million from 42 million. Moscow would basically retain Harkat Mulds, an IA defenseman, instead of allowing him to go to IA FA. We'd also call up Ilya Bryzgalov (whose cap hit I definitely didn't miscalculate as 2.5 instead of 2 before trading him away) and he'd serve as our backup goalie. So we basically just get an extra 441 TPA defenseman to finish up our 6-4-2 vs our current 6-3-1, and the actives in FA looking for a home get nothing. Especially since almost all the actives in FA were forwards. Also regarding parity, personally I don't care if there's more of a gap between competing teams and rebuilding teams. As you mentioned in your post, Moscow has been competitive for like 8 seasons in a row due to decent management. I'd say it's because of my focus on constant replenishment of our team and drafting replacements to aging players. Wallace for Seabasstard, AK92 for Markinson, Murdock for Papa, Sogaard for Idaho, etc. Even adding in Voss and Pearce via trade helped. Us moving folks like Idaho, Atreides, Moreau was because we overloaded our team the way you're asking for. We had what, 6-7 5.5 million players on the team? If we do follow your suggestion and gave Moscow an extra 5-6 million in cap space, I'd happily go and keep adding 5.5 players in FA or via trade. I doubt we'd have an issue with running into cap hell since I'd just keep managing it as I have been with a 42 million cap. But because I know that it's very easy to overload teams and also maintain those teams, it makes no sense to change our cap situation to enable it. It feels like teams like Davos, New York, Helsinki and Los Angeles haven't even sniffed a significant playoff run since I've joined the league. I really don't think enabling those teams to ruin their futures by selling their assets for 1-2 seasons of mismanaged competitiveness is worth it. And as a final thought without oversharing too much of other people's work - I've seen some folks' analysis over the seasons of how teams should be rated/ranked using various STHS attributes and weighting of what people consider important. Even with a 40 and 42 million cap, there are very clear rebuilding teams, very clear competing teams, and very clear "stuck in the mid" teams. STHS can be a bitch sometimes and make some absurd results, but teams also remain active during the season. We saw around 9-10 mid-season trades last season to shake up the competitive field, and one of those active teams (Vancouver) went on to win the cup. I think parity exists in the league to the degree there aren't superteams that can dominate for seasons in a row, and that's about it. But maybe I'm biased from being one of the constantly competitive GM's, dunno. Good article and I love discussion-provoking stuff like this. 10/10.

Edited and fixed, ty

@Greg_Di is skipped, @FrostBeard is up

@Banackock is skipped, @Acydburn is up

Adding in current FA's and their cap hits so there's no confusion preventing a signing: Active Free Agents Player Position TPE TPA Cap Hit Freddy Freeze G 475 445 2.5 Budnik Mcdangle C 472 467 2.5 Hayden Rain RW 446 446 2.5 Joey Coaster C 419 419 2.5 Gus Bentley RW 482 477 2.5 Christopher Young LW 502 400 3 Also the list of IA skaters in the league: Inactive Rostered Players Player Team Position TPE TPA Cap Hit Bob Chicoine HSK LW 455 455 2.5 Noodles Marconi DAV RW 519 514 3 Alessio Simeoni TOR C 472 472 2.5 Cameron Elsby CHI D 407 405 2.5 Harry Hagel TOR D 518 513 3 Juan Sano III HSK C 497 400 2.5 PJ Daniels CHI LW 717 717 4 James glove dropper RIG LW 584 584 3.5 Cobalt Burns MAL LW 581 581 3 Weenuk Warrior NYA RW 633 615 3.5 Astro Singh LON LW 439 439 2

Big numbers bad, save TPE, skip the E

I don't read text that flashbangs me

Jeez, you couldn't just pull it up on a laptop and go over it with your old man at the dinner table??

F - Molly the Cat D - AirRig GoodBrandSun @Johnny_HX

D - AK92 Wit da Hoodie F - Perry Laperriere F - Igor Molotov @Webberj

Shut up

I generally avoid naming GM/AGM players as captains since we're already in management. Otherwise would have definitely included Sogaard over Lavelle due to tenure, could have arguably been captain too.

The start of this off-season felt like it went by like a rush, but we're at the point now where we're just snoozing and waiting for the S87 season to start. There's no better time to announce next season's leadership group! We've seen some change with our last leadership group with Sergey Preobrazhensky sent to Vancouver midseason where he won the Continental Cup, so we'll have a new face amongst the group for the next season. First Alternate - Ronan Lavelle - @Arce The newest member of the Menace finds his way as the newest alternate captain of the team due to his extensive league experience and credentials. In just 4 seasons with the D.C. Dragons, Lavelle has won a Dustin Funk Trophy - Most Improved, a Daisuke Kanou Trophy - Playoff MVP, and a Continental Cup while also receiving the honor of being named Captain in his final season there. He's been a star on the ice, with 3 90+ point seasons in a row, and has already freshened up the locker room since his arrival. He will play a large role in Moscow's success this next season, both on and off the ice. Second Alternate - Hammar Voss - @BOOM Voss returns for a second season with the "A" on his chest, continuing to be one of the leaders on defense alongside youngster AK92 Wit da Hoodie and veteran Flynn Remy. Despite not displaying the stats of a true top pairing defenseman last season, we're understanding in that Voss was joining his 3rd team in as many seasons. We've seen Voss continue to grow and push himself to new heights after the struggles of S86, and rumors out of camp are that Voss has been showing flashes of legendary Moscow defenseman Hard Markinson, one of the top defensemen in Moscow history. We're very confident in a bounce back season for Voss, and feel he will remain critical to Moscow's success next season. Captain - Kyosti Karjalainen - @UnkemptCL4PTP Returning to his role as Captain, Kyosti remains the most veteran member of the Menace squad, and also the most consistent player on the roster. Despite the general struggles of the Moscow offense in S86, Kyosti found himself hitting a new career high in points with 69 (nice), marking his 5th straight season of recording 60 points or more. He's always attentive to the goings-on of the locker room, and is willing to pitch in ideas whenever he feels one is needed. We're appreciative of his loyalty and his contributions to the team, and are extremely happy to have him back on the team as the captain yet again. Congrats to all! Looking forward to a great S87! MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW

He's still picking unless he misses this pick, then it'll be a DQ.

@Phil is skipped, @Gustav on the clock

@ThatCasual is skipped again, but since these are back to back picks skipped in 24 hours, I'll be a little flexible and allow until your next pick to make up your missed picks. If you haven't picked by then, you'll unfortunately be DQ'd. @UnknownMinion is up

Confirm

@Moon is skipped, @Jubis is on the clock

It was a back to back that he missed so I'll be a bit flexible this time and let him continue at 50%. If he misses another pick though, it'll be a DQ D - Bo Johansson D - Brian Payne

@ThatCasual is skipped, @Brandon is up for 2 picks

Maybe if you stopped dreaming and woke up, you wouldn't be so mid