Seattle expansion protects: is Kefka among them?

[diamond_ace 3,112]

Seattle is one of the teams with a lot of players to protect. Let's start with the guys who are absolutely locks to be protected. Given the statements of the Smarch agency and Kevin Low that indicate Low might not be protected, we'll assume any S67 player that's more developed than Low is a lock. That includes Rayz Funk, Hulk Hogan, Acyd Burn, Scott Greene, Henrik Zoiderberg, and Ambrose Stark. With Stark being the GM player, that fills 5 of the spots and the GM player, leaving 3 available.

 

Of the 3 remaining spots, let's see who could fill the spots, and we'll include Low among them:

S62 - Maxim Kovalchuk - 953 TPE

S66 - John Frostbeard - 464 TPE

S67 - Kevin Low - 375 TPE

S67 - Berocka Sundqvist - 320 TPE

S66 - Valeri Morozov - 312 TPE

S67 - Kefka Palazzo - 275 TPE

Low is easily the best TPE-season ratio among these, so it's a bit of a shock for him not to be protected, if he indeed is not protected. He would be a hell of an acquisition for an expansion team. There are a few guys on here who seem likely to lean in one or another direction - John Frostbeard, for example. It wouldn't make sense for Seattle to trade Joel Ylonen for him if they did not intend to protect him, so it's likely that we can assume he is one of the spots (he's also the next best TPE-season ratio). Maxim Kovalchuk, on the other hand, has a player option and could just as easily turn down a deal to an expansion, so he's unlikely to be protected as he could just come right back - same with Valeri Morozov, who just recently waived a clause, and would not have had to do so if he was likely to be protected. IF we assume a yes for Frostbeard and a no for Kovalchuk and Morozov, that leaves just the S67s remaining: Low, Sundqvist, and Kefka.

Realistically, Low and Sundqvist should be the protects out of the three, but if Low is right and he is not protected, then Kefka, it stands to reason, is. In either case Sundqvist appears to be safe.

[Gustav 6,407]

12 minutes ago, diamond_ace said:

In either case Sundqvist appears to be safe.

Also, @Banackock is legally obligated to keep Seattle the Hounds Alumni Society.