What are we competing for?

This year we had three full lawyers, six baby lawyers, and six students, paying $50, $35, and $20, respectively. The total pot was $480. When we are all lawyers or law dropouts, it will be $750, assuming we keep fees the same.

According to Schedule II of the Rules,

a) Prize money is distributed as follows:

i) 50% to first place;

ii) 20% to second place;

iii) 15% to third place;

iv) 15% to charity, with the tax receipt going to fourth place.

That means:

$240 to first;
$96 to second;
$72 to third;
$72 to charity.

Maybe that can provide a little more motivation as we head into the final stretch. You may also be happy to know I've lost my top defenceman in Edler for the season, and I'm still missing Getzlaf for another two weeks, so the Micahleks should not be on top for long. I'd be happy with top four.

PS: Congrats to us on our 50th post!

KL Week in Review: Week 15

So... how does everyone feel about playing for the Carmody Cup for the rest of their lives?

Just wondering.

I am afraid of the Krugars though. 

Transactions

Two trades to announce:


01/19/2011 TRADE

St. Jewish Blues to Milan Micahleks:
D Bryan McCabe

Milan Micahleks to St. Jewish Blues:
D Zach Bogosian

Milan Micahleks to G-Phil's Flyers
D Bryan McCabe
F Tim Connolly

G-Phil's Flyers to Milan Micaleks:
D Andrew MacDonald (in lieu of Kurtis Foster)
F Nikolai Zherdev

Analysis: SJ Blues get all-star prospect Bogosian. Micah sheds tear for Bogo, realizes he doesn't want Bryan McCabe, deals to G-Phil. G-Phil gets Connolly, gives almost nothing. Micah gets MacDonald. Micah likah the Islanders.


---------------------------------------


01/17/2011 TRADE

Powder Rangers to Schizzarks:
F Erik Cole
F Tomas Kopecky (in lieu of Mike Comrie)
F Teddy Purcell

 Schizzarks to Powder Rangers:
F Kyle Okposo (in lieu of Tomas Holmstrom)
F Jamie Langenbrunner
F Magnus Paajarvi
Conditional draft pick*

 *If Powder Rangers retain Okposo on their 2011 protected roster, the Schizzark's 5th round pick. If not, the Schizzark's 3rd round pick.

 Analysis: Those few GMs left in the running are proving willing to pay a hefty price for marginal scoring help, and Powder is taking full advantage. A support group has formed for GMs that feel they were taken advantage of. Also, Powder has made so many moves this year that when I click his name to expand his roster, it almost takes up my entire screen.

Transactions

01/16/2011 Free Agent pickup


Wittmen  Drop: Scottie Upshall (PHX).  Add: Brian Boyle (NYR)

Analysis: ...what is this I don't even...

KL Week in Review: Week 14

Instead of the usual bullshit about which teams and players were hot last week, I thought I would discuss which teams are buyers and which are sellers.

In the wake of a week that saw twenty players moved in trades, a few teams have made their priorities clear. The Claassics have moved five players, getting younger and hopefully better for next year. The Dicklas Lidstroms have thrown in the towel and traded for picks. The Powder Rangers admit to being finished, although with Evander Kane returning to the lineup already, they may not be as done as they thought. The Roos know they are done but have so far refused to make any trades to better their position for next year, despite offers being made. Same goes for the Moilers - not biting. Not that I am bitter or anything. The Preydators - has anyone heard from their GM recently? They still have two free agent pickups left.

The buyers are equally known: the darkhorse Teeyotes, the Wittmen and the Fylanders have all made it clear they want the money this year.

Less clear are the intentions of the Schizzarks, Micahleks, Mackhawks, Krugars (notably MIA from a managerial perspective this season), Blues and Flyers. By February 28, it should be very obvious.

Transactions

1/14/2011 TRADE

To the Powder Rangers:

F Evander Kane

D Jaro Spacek

F Peter Mueller
The Wittmen's 2011 3rd Round Pick

To the Wittmen:

F Johan Franzen

D Chris Pronger

F Brendan Morrison

Analysis: This brings the total number of players traded this week to twenty. Panic has set in. Everyone seems to have decided (too early in my opinion) whether they are a buyer or a seller this year. I would like to remind everyone that the trade deadline is more than a month away, and a lot of thing will change between now and then.


Powder is waving the white flag, but just made some very smart moves. He picks up two injured guys with very high potential, and a third round pick (because having his own and mine wasn't enough). I'd have to call him the early favourite for 2011. 

Stefan, I don't know how to put this.... I kind of hope you win this year because afterward I don't think you'll be winning for a while.

Transactions

1/13/2011 TRADE

Dicklas Lidstroms to Teeyotes:
F Patrice Bergeron (BOS)

Teeyotes to Dicklas Lidstroms:
F Steve Sullivan (NSH)
2011 1st round pick
2011 6th round pick

Analysis: My first take on this was that T is paying too high a price. Sullivan is due back at the end of the month and losing the first round pick will hurt, one day.

On the other hand, Teehan is clearly going for it this year, and why not? Sullivan, with 20 points so far, was 8th among the Teeyote's nine scoring roster forwards, so T is bolstering his team where they are weakest with a bona fide keeper in Bergeron. (Well, technically they are weakest at Andrew Cogliano.) And giving up that first round pick will sting less if it's the 15th overall.

Sullivan's chances of making Dickie's protected roster for next season have to be considered slim, so it really comes down to the draft picks. This will be an interesting trade to revisit next year and beyond.

Transactions

01/11/2011  FREE AGENT PICKUP 

G-Phil's Flyers drop F Blake Wheeler (BOS); add F Sergei Kostitsyn (NSH)


Analysis: Blake Wheeler had an incredible rookie season, a big sophomore slump, and hasn't had the kind of rebound season fans hoped for. Why does that sound so familiar?

Sergei Kostitsyn is allegedly only 23 years old. I was surprised by that. He's been around - despite this being his fourth year in the league, he spent 16 games last year in the AHL. This year, the Belarusian Belorussian guy from Belarus is on pace for 48 points.  He had been notably more productive lately, riding a six game, nine point streak until the night Greg picked him up.

Guidelines for Trades Involving Free Agents

Per rule 10 g), any GM can add a free agent for the purpose of completing a trade. This rule is potentially subject to abuse where one or both GMs involved in a trade attempt to acquire free agents, which are normally limited to two per year, while trading worthless players. Not that any of you would try that. Regardless, here are some guidelines to screen your own trades before you send them to the Commissioner for approval.

a) there must be at least one roster player moving in each direction.
b) there must be more roster players moving than free agents. Not an equal number... more.
c) both GMs must be aware of any free agents to be acquired before submitting the trade for approval.

Meeting all of these guidelines does not necessarily mean your trade will be approved. Failing to meet one of these guidelines very likely means your trade will be rejected. 

The trade and free agent pickup deadline is February 28. After that, we will revisit the issue.

Transactions

01/10/2011 TRADE

Winter Claassics to Fylanders:
D Shea Weber
D Zdeno Chara
F Matt D'Agostini (in lieu of Kristian Huselius)
F Mike Knuble

Fylanders to Winter Claassics:
D Michael Del Zotto
D Ryan Whitney
F Brandon Dubinsky
F Chris Kunitz

Analysis: The Winter Claassics continue to shake things up and look to rebuild for next year. There is a lot going on here. Possibly too much for me to comprehend. I think on defence, Fy benefits immediately because Ryan Whitney is out indefinitely. Claassen gets younger and, although Chara and Weber are big names, possibly better in terms of future point potential.

In terms of forwards, Claassen ditches some dead weight in Knuble and improves his outlook with Dubinsky. Other than that... shuffling the deck? Sending a message? Help me out boys.

 

KL Week in Review: Week 13

Thought I forgot, didn't you? I would never rob Teehan of the pleasure of seeing his name at the top for the third consecutive week. Congrats to him and to the Schizzarks who had a huge week.  The Schizzarks' Drew Stafford has been on fire and Patrick Sharp, maintaining a pace most thought impossible, is leaving teammates Toews and Kane in his dust.

In other news, I have been juggling three trade discussions this week and I know other GMs phones have been ringing off the hooks too. I will take this early opportunity to remind everyone that the trade deadline this year is February 28 - early, but still a long way away. No need to sell the farm just yet.

Transactions

01/03/2011   TRADE   

Winter Claassics to Mackhawks:
F Teemu Selanne (ANA)
G Ondrej Pavelec (ATL) [Free agent acquired under exception per email Jan 7]

Mackhawks to Winter Claassics:
F David Perron (STL)
G Cam Ward (CAR)

Analysis: The rebuilding Claassics get younger with Perron, a presently concussed 22 year old French Canadian who has yet to reach his potential. They also lock up a legitimate number one keeper for years in Ward, possibly signalling an end to the Brodeur era for the Claassics.

The Mackhawks are looking to lay claim to the MacKenzie Cup. An optimist would say they just added a former 76-goal scorer that can still put the puck in the net and today sits 23rd in scoring. A pessimist would say they got Teemu Selanne. Teemu Selanne is 40 years old. I think he's still got it, but my one concern is that with Selanne going into Perron's slot, he starts with just seven points, meaning it will be a while before Selanne cracks the scoring roster. 

Either way, with Jonathan Quick as their number one, the Mackhawks don't have to worry if Pavelec doesn't turn out to be a stand up guy (*yuk yuk).

The Case for Larger Scoring Rosters

Since I am so clearly being destroyed this year in the pool, I have been trying to figure out if it was a failure in strategy (partly), the unexpected enormous suckitude of my first two overall picks (largely), or a lack of appreciation of the way the scoring roster would affect things (somewhat).

My strategy was that high end defencemen and goaltending would separate me from the pack more quickly than the many many forwards who score between 40-60 points. This strategy has been exploited beautifully by Teehan who is in the top despite horrendous forward depth. I was confident that I would be able to be do a good job in the bottom half of the draft with my forwards, and have been largely successful in that regard. However, given the way the scoring roster works, that does not help you at all. So, I thought it would be interesting to look at how the standings would be if the scoring roster was 12 forwards, 5 defenceman and 1 goalie. Now, obviously I appreciate that people would have made different choices if this was the scoring roster system, but for the sake of interest, I've done it this way anyways. What I've done is added the three highest non-scoring forwards and highest non-scoring defenceman to each team's overall score:

Team	Rank	Points	Added Points	New Total	New Rank
Micahleks	T - 1	388	53	441	1
Teeyotes	T - 1	388	41	429	T - 6
Jewish Blues	3	384	48	432	4
Flyers	4	383	46	429	T - 6
Mackhawks	5	382	57	439	T - 2
Krugars	6	380	48	428	8
Wittmen	7	379	60	439	T - 2
Powder	8	377	34	411	10
Shizzarks	9	372	48	420	9
Fylanders	10	370	61	431	5
Lidstroms	11	360	29	389	T - 13
Moilers	12	352	57	409	11
Preydators	13	345	44	389	T - 13
Claassics	14	339	65	404	12
Roos	15	297	39	336	15

A couple things worth noting: This doesn't actually affect things quite as much as I had thought it would with some exceptions. Obviously, Fy, Stefan and I benefit the most as the result of a number of strong depth players. Powder and Dickie suffer from the complete lack of support on their benches and Roos continues to be awful.

I think that increasing the scoring roster is something that should be looked at in the future as it makes sense that if we're going to draft all these guys, more of them should count for something. This is particularly true given the currently small number of players who are going to be kept at the end of the year. There is a good chance that the lower scoring players will not count and will not be retained, so why pick them at all?

KL Week in Review: Week 12

The Mackhawks had 47 points with consistent production throughout the lineup - eleven out of fourteen Scoring Roster players netted at least three points. Ryan Clowe, with 34 points, was an outstanding 10th round pick.

The Powder Rangers had 46, riding Stamkos and Kopitar for 15 points. Another Shark, Logan Couture, was Powder's 16th round pick and is battling for the lead in rookie scoring with 27 points. He wasn't even on my radar during the draft.