Claimed:Memoirs of a General Manager, Part 1

[Victor 10,940]

Memoirs of a General Manager



Stepping down as VHL General Manager provides many benefits including, if you are David Knight, Jardy Bunclewirth, or myself, the ability to write up a multi-part, self-assessing GM history. The time has come at last for me after an almost five-season reign in charge of the HC Davos Dynamo and what perfect timing too, as with my prolonged leave of absence this summer, I need to pump out lots of articles in advance anyway. As such, without further ado, as the word count on these will inevitably be excessive regardless, here is the first of an unknown amount of parts, in chronological order, of my thoughts and reasoning behind my GM moves.

Season 34: The Firesale

The Skinny

As commissioner David Knight lingered in semi-activity for a large part of the time after Davos' Cup victory in Season 31, rumour had it he was seeking a replacement with no volunteers internally. Who knows how things would have played out if I hadn't contacted him but I did as I wanted to get back into the GM business some 17 seasons since stepping down the first time and thankfully, David accepted my proposal. As I felt bad for New York, where GM Chris Miller wanted to win a cup before rebuilding, I tried to make amends by swapping my retiring center Alexander Chershenko for two retiring forwards Phil Rafter and David Smalling. You'd have to think New York got the better deal with two Hall of Famers for the price of one, but I did end up defeating them in the playoffs as a rental with Calgary.

I didn't know at the time that I would end up in Calgary but I knew trades had to take place. Three players (Chershenko, goaltender Satan, and depth defenceman Kraphf Dringus) were retiring at the end of Season 37 and the future of the team was confined to S33 first overall pick Wesley Kellinger, two S34 first-round picks, and the minimum amount of picks for future drafts. That was something to build a team from no doubt but various factors persuaded me for a more extreme option.

The Trades

To
(S27) C - Phil Rafter
(S27) LW - David Smalling

To
(S27) C - Alexander Chershenko
(S30) LW - Henrik Larsson
S34 TOR 2nd (RW Aelred Leskowsky)
S35 COL 3rd (LW `Reficul 1134)

This was discussed briefly above and most of the negotiations still went on between David and Chris for a fair deal for both sides. I don't know, nor is there any point in speculating, what I could have acquired in more natural circumstances for Rafter and Smalling but I did feel I might have got a steal with that second-round pick of Aelred Leskowsky. Sadly, despite showing promising signs, Leskowsky has been confided to VHLM superstardom with a solid 100 or so TPE and was no re-signed after the completion of his entry-level deal. Same applies to 'Reficul 1134 who hasn't even delivered at VHLM level while Chershenko and Larsson never played a single game for the Dynamo.

To
(S29) D - Brandon Merritt
S34 DAV 1st (LW Mikey Blade)
S34 HSK 1st (D Gabrial Johnson)
S34 DAV 2nd (RW Anderson Pooper)

To
S35 SEA 1st (RW Tony Stark)
S34 VAS 2nd (RW Matteo Gallo)

In the early part of the off-season, just before the draft, I was still contemplating hanging on to Kellinger as the piece to build the franchise around. I was hoping promising center Davey Jones would fall to fifth overall but Cologne picked him up one pick before and I was left with a choice of Mikey Blade or a significantly worse prospect to draft. Due to past history, Blade and Kellinger in the same locker room was never going to work so I needed to work my way out of this predicament. Fortunately, Seattle's Greg Harbinson was accommodating with an intriguing draft pick swap which I felt I had every chance of winning due to acquiring a Season 35 lottery selection.

That lottery pick didn't really work out and Tony Stark now finds himself as a defenceman in New York, though he was a part of the trade which did eventually bring Jones to Davos in Season 36. I ended up giving the best player in the deal though there is a certain sense of vindication in the fact that Blade ended up effectively forcing his way out of Seattle and remains a divisive character (though I bear no ill will to the player or agent with whom I have crossed paths in the past). Gallo, in the meantime, could have been a steal and was the Davos captain for a season before going inactive and was a part of the Season 36 Cup-winning team before being traded off in one of my all-time favourite deals. Overall, not a huge success but a good debut.

To
(S33) C - Wesley Kellinger

To
(S31) C - Steven Stamkos
S35 QUE 1st (C Frédérik Ernst)
S36 QUE 1st (D David Januzaj)
S35 QUE 2nd (C Cam Rivers)
S36 QUE 2nd (RW Tihon Kalstad)
S35 QUE 3rd (Pass)
S36 QUE 3rd (D LaMichael Charmander)

As you may know, I ultimately changed my mind on keeping Kellinger and this is largely why. Though the amount of picks is misleading and as you can see, none of them really worked out (granted, the only one I eventually drafted was Cam Rivers), it was still an excellent return for one player. In addition, this sealed Quebec's free agency coup in signing Skylar Rift and Yuri Grigorenko, thus opening up an excellent trade opportunity for my retiring players and in particular Satan.

The pieces acquired by Davos here ended up being used in numerous trades in the near future and the flexibility provided by owning all these assets was something I wanted as opposed to the rigid limits of the initial situation. On the whole, I see myself as a wheeler and dealer and a terrible drafter, so the more opportunities I have to avoid making mistakes at the draft, the better. Seeing as Quebec and Davos ultimately won Continental Cups in back-to-back seasons, I'd say both sides ended up quite pleased with this trade.

To
(S27) C - Alexander Chershenko
(S27) G - Satan
(S27) D - Kraphf Dringus
(S30) LW - Henrik Larsson

To
S35 CGY 1st (LW Earl Parker)
S35 CGY 2nd (RW Carter Deaton)
S36 CGY 2nd (LW Johan Hallstrom)

Finally, as alluded to above, Rift's departure opened up a trade partner in Calgary. I had an offer lined up with Riga for Chershenko and Satan which would take place midway through Season 34 and although I don't recall the details, I believe it was in raw terms, a superior offer. However, several factors pushed me towards Calgary. Firstly, selfishness, as Chershenko's season would have gone to waste on a terrible team in Davos. Secondly, having first-round picks from three of five North American teams increased the chances of having as many as three lottery selections. Thirdly, not having Chershenko and Satan on the Dynamo increased chances of a last place finish and finally, I wasn't sure I wouldn't be away from the league around the trade deadline and I wanted to avoid an awkward situation.

I only ended up having two lottery picks as Toronto joined Seattle outside of the playoffs, but the return was still decent from Calgary, although again only one draft pick (Parker) remains in Davos by draft time. Chershenko led the league in scoring during the regular season and playoffs and with the Wranglers ended up coming within one game of another championship. The season on the whole became much more interesting for me, even if I missed a part of it and the future of the Dynamo wasn't jeopardised either.

The Season

Predictably, while Chershenko enjoyed his return to Calgary, Davos was really bad. Not as bad as some teams in the next few seasons, but bad enough for last place in the league and eventually, the selection of franchise goaltender Lennox Moher first overall. This was also aided by having taken Calgary out of the rebuilding picture (even if it was largely because GM Jason had guarantees that he would be able to compete in Season 35 too), who were the only other team interested in a young goalie. This allowed me to freely create a defenceman in Matt Bentley, scrub that he is.

Steven Stamkos and free agent signing Jack Mason led the team in scoring and other S34 alumni included greats such as Blake Burks, Cicero Mortem, and Paul Eriksson. Veteran Pekka Svenson started in net before the legendary Rock Star had a blip of activity and was signed instead, starting the remaining 52 games in the season. All in all, a terrible season but the Dynamo were set up to be a major player in the following off-season and boy did I make the most of my time in the spotlight.

[Will 4,660]

Wheelin n dealin

Also if you plan on stockpiling a bunch of articles before you go, I can put them up for you as needed.

[Molholt 2,185]

Content: 3/3 - Yes, this is really great. I love history pieces like this, we should have a section (different than 30/30, etc.) where we house articles like this that give detailed glimpses of VHL history.

Grammar: 2/2 - Everything looked good to me.

Appearance: .99/1 - Yup, looked good. Not giving you a 6, so it can stay open

Overall: 5.99/6

[Victor 10,940]

Wheelin n dealin

Also if you plan on stockpiling a bunch of articles before you go, I can put them up for you as needed.

Could be an option. That'll be next week though. My usual procedure is to put out 3-4 of them and graders can grade straight away and I claim when I'm back.

[Corco 1,237]

Chershenko, Satan, and Dringus retired at the end of S37? 0/6

 

 

 

[Victor 10,940]

Chershenko, Satan, and Dringus retired at the end of S37? 0/6

All the seasons morph into one with age.

Also these are memoirs, I can make shit up.

[Higgins 3,618]

Well that took no time at all o_O and Kellinger was traded for so much randomness in the end.

 

I wanted to do something similar, but there is still so many draft picks I traded for that are unused

[Kesler 1,514]

The majority of those picks turned into nothing lol.

[Frank 5,209]

Claimed