scoop 3,281 Posted June 3, 2016 Share Posted June 3, 2016 This past off-season, we saw four teams trade away their first round draft pick in S50: Toronto, Cologne, Riga, and Seattle. Toronto and Cologne currently top their respective conferences, making their picks less valuable. Going into the season, it was pretty evident that these two teams would be making the playoffs, both with a good shot at making the finals. The season is turning out as expected for them. Seattle and Riga, on the other hand, may be losing their bets. The Bears hired a new GM this off-season, bringing in Blake Campbell, who had an incredible run as the GM of the Bratislava Watchmen in the VHLM. Despite the high level of competition in North America, Campbell felt confident enough in his new team to trade away his first round pick, expecting it would be a later pick in the first round. While he did acquire AK47, a decent prospect, he would not be worth the lottery pick that Seattle may have given up. Seattle is currently fourth in North America with 37 points, which would be enough to put them first in Europe, but that's irrelevant. The Bears sit 11 points behind third-place Quebec, but we have more than half of the season left to play. Seattle will need to win more games against those teams ahead of them in the standings if they hope to make the playoffs; they have a combined record of 3-8 against Toronto, New York, and Quebec. One thing that could potentially play out in their favor is the fact that those three teams ahead of them have not played against each other very much, so if one of the three struggles against the other two, it could make an opening on which Seattle can capitalize. The Bears have struggled mightily on offense compared to the teams above them. As for Riga, there was less of a risk involved in trading their first round pick for two reasons: the player they received in return was Pietro Maximoff, and Europe is a significantly weaker conference than North America. Looking at Maximoff, who had just been drafted fifth overall, we see a reliable player with somewhat limited potential. It's likely, yes, that the best players in the S50 draft will become bigger stars than Maximoff, but as far as a known quantity goes, Maximoff could certainly be better than the unknown quantity that is a draft pick. He is making steady improvement and will likely do so throughout his career. As far as Riga's position in Europe goes, they are currently last, but it is close; they sit one point behind Stockholm and five behind Helsinki. Even second-place Davos is within striking distance just nine points ahead of them. The Reign have played a relatively tough schedule thus far, having played (and lost) 13 games against the top three teams. They have a 6-3 record against the teams with which they are competing for a playoff spot (ignoring Cologne). If they can continue to win against these teams, Riga could easily end up as one of Europe's playoff teams. The teams that hold their draft picks are no doubt rooting against the successes of Seattle and Riga. Stockholm holds Seattle's first round pick, which, along with their own, could give them two lottery picks. Riga traded their pick to Cologne, who as find themselves with a chance to make some noise in the playoffs as Europe's strongest contender. The Express have done what they can to keep Riga down thus far, winning the three matches that the two teams have played thus far. There is plenty of time for things to change, but this season could demonstrate the risk that is involved with trading your first round pick as a fringe team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CowboyinAmerica 2,746 Posted June 3, 2016 Share Posted June 3, 2016 Going into the season I thought Toronto > Quebec > New York > Seattle, but the acquisition of Weinstein messes even that order up a bit. I am really interested to see what happens with New York, seeing as how they've played Toronto once, Quebec twice, and even Cologne only three times. Also, Sandro's playing nowhere near as well as last year for Seattle, which probably needs to turn around too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Victor 10,631 Posted June 3, 2016 Admin Share Posted June 3, 2016 3 hours ago, CowboyinAmerica said: Going into the season I thought Toronto > Quebec > New York > Seattle, but the acquisition of Weinstein messes even that order up a bit. I am really interested to see what happens with New York, seeing as how they've played Toronto once, Quebec twice, and even Cologne only three times. Also, Sandro's playing nowhere near as well as last year for Seattle, which probably needs to turn around too. does it though? He has the lowest TPE of all other top goalie contenders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CowboyinAmerica 2,746 Posted June 3, 2016 Share Posted June 3, 2016 14 minutes ago, Victor said: does it though? He has the lowest TPE of all other top goalie contenders. Was saying if Seattle wants to make it then it does. Don't think they have enough offense to make up the ground with him playing as is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Moderator Baozi 1,638 Posted June 3, 2016 Head Moderator Share Posted June 3, 2016 8 minutes ago, CowboyinAmerica said: Was saying if Seattle wants to make it then it does. Don't think they have enough offense to make up the ground with him playing as is. Think he was talking about Weistein. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Victor 10,631 Posted June 3, 2016 Admin Share Posted June 3, 2016 8 minutes ago, tfong said: Think he was talking about Weistein. No I was talking about my shitty brother @JardyB10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Moderator Baozi 1,638 Posted June 3, 2016 Head Moderator Share Posted June 3, 2016 Oh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Victor 10,631 Posted June 3, 2016 Admin Share Posted June 3, 2016 Just now, tfong said: Oh Yeah you better Oh for signing in Seattle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Moderator Baozi 1,638 Posted June 3, 2016 Head Moderator Share Posted June 3, 2016 4 minutes ago, Victor said: Yeah you better Oh for signing in Seattle. Thats more of a "meh". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluObieZ 1,125 Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 Riga has no chance in catching Davos if Covington has anything to say about it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toast 887 Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 6 hours ago, KingRobbie said: Riga has no chance in catching Davos if Covington has anything to say about it We'll see about that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CowboyinAmerica 2,746 Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 Claimed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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