Don't Look Away - The Plot In You

[Spartan 4,398]

Credits to @Dom for putting me on to this song!

 

Don't look (away) now, but Moscow is enjoying a strong start to the season. Depth has been the key to success this season, as 7 players are at or over a PPG pace (rip Leif Reingaard 1 point shy). The Menace sit 4th in GF and 4th in GA as well which is really nice to see, both sides of the ice are playing as top 5 units in the league. I'm not sure if Moscow can still be called a "young" team considering how many players are off their ELCs now, but with the amount of TPA still yet to be added to builds before the depreciation begins to loom, I think there's still a fair amount of growth to be seen in the future. Adding Grimgor Ironhide @FrostBeard has given us an immediate injection of physicality that Moscow had been lacking behind Jarmo Ruutu @jRuutu, and the team is starting to feel more like the older Moscow teams I ran in the S80's - dominant centers and strong defensemen with excellent complimentary wingers. The main area for improvement seems to be special teams, where Moscow ranks dead last in PK% and 6th in PP%. Will definitely be an area to focus on and try to improve on for the future.

 

Overall EU thoughts - WAR and PRG surprising with strong starts, most expected WAR to replicate their middling performance from last season considering they basically tried the same approach. Lachlan Summers definitely putting in work as usual. Prague running a 5-3-1 pulling an LA from a few seasons ago, curious to see how long that lasts. LDN/MAL/HSK all underperforming by a bit, but EU is always competitive so things can change at a moment's notice. HSK is especially concerning due to depth, running 4 forwards at/under 600 TPA. Curious to see if they take advantage of the seller's market depending on how sims go over the next week or so. They've got some fantastic assets that should both fetch a good price, and be eagerly snapped up.

 

League wide news is a bit lacking, not too much change appears to be on the horizon. Goalie changes were the main topic in the past and results are going to be re-evaluated at the end of the season. Frankly I think scoring went up but goalies are simming even better than before, which is pretty opposite of how our admittedly limited test sims went. With a large class of goalies facing retirement soon, it might be an opportune time to revisit adjusting the goalie update scale. I feel like goalies can hit around 1.1k TPA and max out their core attributes and get secondaries in a really good spot and just bank, which is pretty counter to how skaters operate right now. 1.1k TPA seems like the threshold for a superstar, with 1.2/1.3k being a true max earner's peak.

 

What else should be discussed in the BoG? Feel like we haven't opened up any channels for suggestions recently. Willing to take stuff into the back rooms if anyone has suggestions!