In Which Gustav Takes Over Your Team

[Gustav 6,140]

I posted a status update before the season started about how I'd gotten about 1,000 words into an article and had to deal with the forum deleting it, because I'm too stubborn to write an article outside of the forums. That's because I'm a boomer I don't like re-formatting everything and I put way too many things in italics, or otherwise, to take care of it all again. It's a stupid choice, but what do you expect? Here I am doing it again.

 

At the time, preseason trades weren't open and I meant to talk about one deal each team could make to help either their future or their present. I continue to like that idea, but I think it might be harder to write that article now that all the preseason dust has settled and some of the league's more obvious needs have been met.

 

But, since I'm a stubborn little bitch, I'm going to write it anyway and speculate on what each team could do at some point between now and the trade deadline. Who knows--with the introduction of S88 picks to the pool, maybe I'll be able to pull some things out of the air that I wouldn't have been able to before...and I don't have to do the math on cap stuff either.

 

Here goes nothing!

 

 

 CALGARY WRANGLERS 

CGY RECEIVES:

Papa Emeritus

 

MOS RECEIVES:

S88 CGY 2nd

Ben Dahl

 

*at trade deadline

 

It's always going to be a simple joy of mine to use the derphorse logo even though I know the new one is also available as a forum emote. I love the way this team is built up now, with their one shortcoming being in net, and I think that gives them a justifiable excuse to go for a rental when they're able to fit one under the cap. After all, they've got a hopeful future plan in Karl Pedersen, and Moscow might be inclined to let Matt Murdock have his chance if they aren't right on top of the league later on in the season. That remains to be seen, but if this goes through, Calgary is arguably the best team on paper in the league.

 

 

 CHICAGO PHOENIX 

 

CHI RECEIVES:

S87 LAS 2nd

S88 LAS 1st

DB III

James glove dropper

 

LAS receives:

The Board Game Clue on Skates

 

Hear me out. I don't think there's any way Chicago goes for this if they seriously intend to compete this season, but I did my best to come up with something that I feel satisfies a major need for the Phoenix if they intend to keep things going in a few seasons and avoid tanking not long after they came back to relevance. It's true that this team managed to turn things around faster than I (or most others) anticipated, but with a S79, a S80, and no one younger than S83 on an already-incomplete active roster, as well as just-average draft capital in the seasons to come and next to no prospect pool, it's clear that they're still feeling the effects of their early-S80s implosion despite the roster itself looking solid. They're going to need picks for the future, and they're going to need players to take up bot space in the lines for now.

 

Here, I've got LA, currently running 7 forwards with a need for a solid top end, going for Chicago's top forward and sending a solid package the other way. If the Phoenix could be talked into it, the deal makes sense for the Stars as well--the NA conference is stacked and they're going to need to do something to hang with the rest.

 

 

 DC DRAGONS 

 

DCD RECEIVES:

Sergey Preobrozhensky

 

MOS RECEIVES:

S87 DCD 3rd

S88 DCD 1st

Jonathan Ori

 

This is a nice little alternate "what if Moscow doesn't decide to sell this season" type of deal that's still kind of hinting at Moscow selling, but not really (or at least not yet). These players are close in TPE, with a big difference coming in Ori's impending retirement. Let's say Moscow does decide to take next season to restructure a bit--not that they necessarily will--but chooses to make this season one to shoot for the moon. They're effectively competing this season and selling off a forward for next season, gaining a couple picks while DC avoids an immediate threat of retirement and keeps the potential for winning going forward a bit. Just like the first deal, this all depends on what Moscow is planning, but could be a decent win for both sides.

 

 

 HC DAVOS DYNAMO 

 

PART 1 (ASAP):

DAV RECEIVES:

S87 WAR 4th

S88 WAR 4th

 

WAR RECEIVES:

Maxwell Mathias

 

PART 2 (AT TRADE DEADLINE):

HSK RECEIVES:

S87 WAR 4th

 

DAV RECEIVES:

Jonathan Young

 

This might fall under the category of "much ado about nothing" at first glance, but Davos is in the unique position of having too much on defense and not enough at forward. It's a complicated process to resolve this, but let's consider the effects of not resolving it--one forward out of the equation means up to 30 minutes of ice time per game going to your bots, and you never want that to happen no matter how good the rest of your team is. Warsaw solves the same type of issue by getting Mathias--part of the reason why they're willing to give up a bit extra--while Davos is able to profit a tiny bit draft-wise as presumably no one else is interested in buying inactive Young from the Titans.

 

 

 HELSINKI TITANS 

 

HSK RECEIVES:

S87 CHI 3rd

 

CHI RECEIVES:

Thomas Price

George Sanderson

 

The Titans have no one older worth selling for anything significant, and they aren't in a place where buying things is justified. The only trades that make sense to me during this season involve taking cap dumps and making little fluke trades like this one and the one above that involve giving teams the roster filler that they want. In this case, I've got inactive Sanderson--the roster filler--moving out to Chicago, but I particularly like this deal for clearing out Thomas Price in a time when moving a goaler is about to get tough. Chicago doesn't need Price, but Helsinki doesn't either and they've got to make room for Fuukka Rask eventually. It's a 2-for-1 with some return, and it's perfectly symbolic of the perfectly uneventful season that's about to go down in Finland.

 

 

 LONDON UNITED 

 

LDN RECEIVES:

Florida Man

Alessandro Nano

S87 SEA 1st

 

SEA RECEIVES:

Ivan Retoslav

Jerome Reinhart

S87 LDN 3rd

 

This one was really hard to decide on because London is right up against the cap this season. I'm not saying this necessarily makes sense for either side, but it's at least somewhat justifiable for London, as they lack some power up front. By getting a bit weaker on defense, and taking a bit of a hit in sending off a career-signed forward, they get the scoring power they need up front and avoid retirement this season on D. There would be a good deal of future consideration for the United here--which is why picks-wise, it's so much more in their favor--but it makes success in this season's weaker EU conference a bit more reachable.

 

 

 LOS ANGELES STARS 

 

LAS RECEIVES:

Igor Molotov

 

MAL RECEIVES:

Todd Cooke

James glove dropper

S88 LAS 1st

S87 LAS 3rd

 

LA has the same needs as London, but with a little bit more cap freedom to work with. Malmo has good players, but they're also severely lacking up front and I think it's possible that they'd sell if that leads to things not going great this season. All in all, Cooke is a very usable player, and I think this deal gives up enough to justify taking it, but it just comes down to whether either team is willing to make the commitment involved.

 

 

 MALMO NIGHTHAWKS 

 

MAL RECEIVES:

Poopy Peepants

S88 LAS 1st

 

LAS RECEIVES:

Max Torq

 

Yes, it's true that I got this idea while looking over the last trade. And while it remains true that I think Malmo is likely bound to sell at some point, there's a way they could sell and try to compete this season by pulling off this one. Torq is younger than Poopy, and it's an added bonus that @JardyB10 himself speculated on the possibility of signing with the Nighthawks this season were it not for Torq taking away his #1 defenseman spot. And it's true that this isn't doing much to help Malmo's forward situation--they'd have to do a lot to get that into "good" territory for this season--but if that's really the goal, the 1st here could be used to flip into some more scoring power from whoever's willing to sell it.

 

 

 MOSCOW MENACE 

 

MOS RECEIVES:

Mo Probert

S87 MOS 2nd

 

MAL RECEIVES:

Flynn Remy

S87 MOS 1st

 

Oh look, I've got Malmo selling again! It would be really weird if they proved me wrong, wouldn't it? Moscow is another team with no cap to spare, so we've got to be careful--oh wait, here comes someone at the same position and in the same salary bracket who's younger and more active. Problem solved! Contrary to the "Moscow could sell" of earlier in this article, here we've got Moscow delaying their aging process and giving themselves an upgrade at the same time in a deal that I personally really like for both sides. Of course, this all comes down to whether or not Malmo decides to sell, but if they do they certainly have options.

 

 

 NEW YORK AMERICANS 

 

NYA RECEIVES:

Jason Argos

S87 LAS 2nd

 

LAS RECEIVES:

Taylor Mourning

 

Let's face it--the NA conference is stacked, and New York just doesn't have the same firepower as other teams (much less those with Art Vandelay). Mourning is going to retire after this season, and while I'm about 99% sure @scoop would like to do it in New York (and I'm also 99% sure that would be respected, especially given Mourning's no-trade clause), this makes more sense than anything else I could come up with. The team doesn't have the cap room to justify going all in (and I wouldn't support that in their situation anyway), but I don't think selling is the way to go either because they have plenty of good stuff that will still be good stuff (or could turn into good stuff) a couple seasons down the road. Objectively, I think it makes sense to move out a rental to a team that can afford it, but if not, I'd like to see where Mourning can take the Americans on the farewell tour.

 

 

 PRAGUE PHANTOMS 

 

PRG RECEIVES:

Hunor Solyom

S88 CGY 3rd*

*conditional

 

HSK RECEIVES:

Halvar Torbjorn

 

Prague has a fairly well put-together roster, and I'm not sure exactly how to make it much better while staying within the cap as they're also very young (and I tried to rent Jokinen elsewhere, but it didn't make much sense anywhere I haven't covered yet. The Malmo-LA deal with Torq/Poopy would also be perfectly doable in this case). Here, Prague gets a defensive prospect--which they could use--and Helsinki gets their own GM's player for cheap. To make that last part fair, I'm thinking there could be a condition on that pick that could make it more valuable if Torbjorn hits a certain TPE level by a certain date.

 

 

 RIGA REIGN 

 

RIG RECEIVES:

S87 CHI 3rd

 

CHI RECEIVES:

Gus Bentley

 

Under-500-TPE forwards are a dime a dozen in the VHL (and what Riga really needs is defense, but I couldn't find an easy way out where that's concerned). That isn't stopping this from being a win-win deal, though, as Riga squeezes a little bit of value out of a player who likely won't factor into any future competitive plans and Chicago fills out their forward lines without giving much up. We all know that Riga will have to just eat this season and look forward to the future, but every little bit counts and a 3rd could be a steal.

 

 

 SEATTLE BEARS 

 

SEA RECEIVES:

Girts Galvins

 

WAR RECEIVES:

S87 LDN 1st

S87 SEA 3rd

Phoebe Bridgers

 

Warsaw is a team that I haven't really mentioned yet in terms of selling (in part because I've spent much of this article familiarizing myself with every other team first), but it's definitely possible despite their roster looking good for the moment. Should they choose to do so, Seattle has cap space available for a purchase and could easily make one with one of their three first-round choices in the coming draft. So, we'll see what happens--regardless of what Warsaw decides, I don't think the Bears are done yet.

 

 

 TORONTO LEGION 

 

TOR RECEIVES:

Boris Tsezar

S87 MOS 2nd

 

MAL RECEIVES:

Oskar Lindbergh

 

This is a better deal than the numbers suggest for Malmo, but I'm going to do some adjustment for the current cheap value of goalers. I'm feeling a bit guilty about saying that the Nighthawks are going to sell for this entire article, so I might as well give them a deal that goes the other way as they upgrade a bit in net. Tsezar will be around a season longer, and agent @Doomsday recently gave up his post in Toronto (raising some questions as to Lindbergh's future), but Lindbergh's contending days with the Legion are likely over and Malmo could certainly sneak into the EU playoff pool with a good deal or two. 

 

 

 VANCOUVER WOLVES 

 

VAN RECEIVES:

Brian Payne

S87 LDN 2nd

 

WAR RECEIVES:

Biggie Cheese

S88 VAN 1st

S87 VAN 4th

S87 PRG 4th

S87 MAL 4th

 

Here's another "players in the same bracket get traded for each other" deal, and I'm making this mostly because Vancouver is awesome this season. With no real way to buy or sell straight-up, I've got the Wolves getting a season younger on defense (and also breaking up a lot of S81s on the team at the same time, which can be a concern with multiple players getting old/retiring at once down the road), and I've got the Predators picking up some more assets with a player they'll still be able to use for a while down the road if they still decide to compete. The 4ths get Vancouver out of this season's draft and save some time in scouting, while also giving Warsaw a few small chances to hit on a pick and help make sure they can keep things going.

 

 

 WARSAW PREDATORS 

 

WAR RECEIVES:

Maximus Decimus Meridius

S87 NYA 1st

S87 NYA 3rd

 

NYA RECEIVES:

Vasile Lamb

 

*at deadline

 

We looked at "what if New York sells", but now it's time to look at "what if New York buys" and explore the Warsaw-blowing-up narrative a little bit further. That's really all I have to say about that--and whether either team does either thing is up to them--but it's important to note that Warsaw also really needs defense and can flip MDM's position there if they want to.

 

 

 

 

And here's the part where I wait for people to tell me I'm a piece of human garbage for underrating their team or their particular asset. I like to think I've put fair prices on things, and I'm interested in hearing what you think and whether your team should do the thing in question!

 

 

2,534 words and my first Gustav article in a minute! See you in a month.

[Dil 1,745]

something something how dare you something something get a life something something we should hold hands

[JardyB10 4,836]

18 minutes ago, Gustav said:

 NEW YORK AMERICANS 

 

NYA RECEIVES:

Jason Argos

S87 LAS 2nd

 

LAS RECEIVES:

Taylor Mourning

It would be appropriate for Mourning to play ANOTHER season with Peepants.

[Nykonax 1,550]

explains a lot

[Dom 1,441]

Gus is officially tempering me into joining LA! 

[Enorama 1,980]

boring dc trade tbh

 

at least have me ship off lavelle for a bag of pucks or smth

[Berocka 2,210]

3 hours ago, Dom said:

Gus is officially tempering me

Are you chocolate 

[Daniel Janser 1,983]

6 minutes ago, Berocka said:

Are you chocolate 

or steel?

[Arce 742]

7 hours ago, Enorama said:

boring dc trade tbh

 

at least have me ship off lavelle for a bag of pucks or smth

 

[Dom 1,441]

8 hours ago, Enorama said:

boring dc trade tbh

 

at least have me ship off lavelle for a bag of pucks or smth

Overpaid

[Arce 742]

9 hours ago, Dom said:

Overpaid

[Gustav 6,140]

Week 2

[nurx 914]

On 11/14/2022 at 9:53 PM, Gustav said:

and taking a bit of a hit in sending off a career-signed forward,

it is interesting how pretty much every forward on that roster signed career contracts

[Gustav 6,140]

Week 3

[Gustav 6,140]

Week 4 (interrupted by theme week stuff)