I don't think the off season focus conversations are cheese, there is always a chance that the boost does not apply. It lets you control your player's growth based on your preferences, for example, you could ask eiserman to focus on defense or skating based on what you think he's missing. I think you should talk to everyone
Hey man just wanted to give you a shoutout for producing the best NHL Franchise Mode content on UA-cam. It was your vids that taught me how to scout properly a couple years ago, forever grateful for that lol. Cheers
Hey Ash thanks so much! That's really kind of you to say and it means a lot :) I'm glad that the videos (especially on scouting) have been helpful for you! Much love and thanks again ❤️
Brutal season. I would definitely be looking to move on from Varlamov to see what assets can be acquired in the draft. At the draft, the #1 pick should be on the Elite OFD, no debate required. I think your logic on moving on from Pelech when his NMC expires is sound, and we would have a homegrown player ready to step into his spot in the lineup. Another thing to consider is that Barzal, Horvat, and Nelson can all play C. Would giving each of them their own line to drive be something to consider? Is a player as offensively creative as Barzal being stifled playing on the wing? Bringing back Nelson (our leading scorer) as our 3C for 2-3 years would make sense from a stability standpoint. That would allow us to focus on developing our wingers like Lysell and Eiserman and have them playing next to a strong center no matter where in the lineup they end up. It makes no sense to bring back an old Palmieri at his age and term ask, even though it's great to see him at an 85. Is it time to move on from Lee or do we keep the captain for one more year? He's making way too much money. Is he too slow to be a center? We also have Eiserman, Lysell, Tsyplakov at LW that we'd prefer to develop more. I am in favor of exploring a Robertson trade again because i think he'd flourish with more ice time. In the Data administration we no longer have to be loyal to Lamoriello holdouts like Lee and Palmieri (although Lee does have a franchise legacy to consider) These moves are going to help us get younger, faster, and more flexible financially, so I'd like to see our fwd lines looking something like this: Tsyplakov Barzal Boeser Eiserman Horvat Robertson Lysell Nelson Duclair Cizikas Foudy Anderson Defensively, I wouldn't change a thing until we find our new coach, other than slot our new 8 overall OFD into the 3rd pair next to Mayfield ( I'd like to see Mayfield's defensive attributes- I suspect they are very strong) Ultimately I think we'll see better results next year regardless now that weve moved on from that garbage head coach and our defensive minded interim coach.
Hey Pilon! Brutal indeed haha but I'm very excited for what year #2 will have in store. Varlamov moving may be coming soon but, unless he waives his NTC at the draft, the soonest we'd be moving him is July 1st. For who we take with our 1st, I think the Med ELITE OFD is the slam dunk option BUT, I have to admit that I've been having some second thoughts. Taking a generated player who could be a difference maker as soon as next season in the year 1 draft feels as if it goes against the spirit of the challenge with having taken over the Islanders. Any other year I'd be all over Fasth but, with guys like Martone, McQueen, and Misa also available, I wonder if it would hold more true to the challenge by drafting and developing them. For the centres, we had Barzal RW1 because he's C/RW, has a lower face-off rating, and has been playing there in the real world. But, if Bo stays as an 87 and Nelson begins to regress, I could definitely see them being our top 9 Cs. For Palmieri, he really wants to be here and almost hit 30 goals so I wouldn't say he's a guaranteed goodbye, but we'd have to make sure he has a spot in he lineup before committing to him. I know we don't have to hold to the same loyalty, but his production on the third line would be enticing. For Lee, it'd be hard to move or even buy-out the captain but I'd consider it if the money was a must (ex. to get a big FA like Boeser?). Robertson is a tempting idea but we'd need the trade value to acquire him and I'm not sure Nelson would leave the top 6 just yet. My ideal lineup for next season might be more like: Boeser Horvat Barzal Eiserman Nelson Tsyplakov Lysell Cizikas Duclair (or he waives his NTC and Palmieri stays?) Lee Foudy Anderson (or Anderson gets sent down to save a bit on $$) Now, does this work with the cap? I think probably not which is where decisions on Lee, Anderson, Varlamov, etc. come into play. I think that does it for my reply but feel free to follow up! I'll be recording in a little under 24 hours from this reply so let me know if anything comes to mind. Thanks for this and talk soon :)
Great video, I liked and support the moves you made they made sense in my opinion. I’m going to say what I believe we should do and then go crazy. I’m not sure if acquiring a top-top line level winger is so necessary. Eiserman is going to be that guy soon and we acquired Lysell who in my opinion would play very well on the first line pairing with Barzal’s speed. Lysell-Eiserman could be our top left wingers next year, so our top 6 would be Lysell-Horvat-Barzal Eiserman-Nelson-Palmieri The islanders are known for their bottom six being tough to play against, so I think we need to add a center to play on either the third or fourth line. Lee can be 4th line LW, Duclair can be on the third with Tsyplakov. If we really want an upgrade and get someone who scores goals, I do agree asking Duclair to waive could be the move. I know he just signed, but Lou signed him not us! Honestly, I would also included Lysell if it meant getting a top six sniper. Now for my crazy take; Seattle is a tweener team like us and James Hagens is a DREAM FIT. If we wanted to go crazy crazy, we could entertain throwing for that pick. We could even just start kind of fresh and gear more towards rebuilding, send Barzal to Seattle (close to his home in Vancouver?) it’s something to think about…
Hey James! Thanks for the love and support, always means a lot ❤️ I hear what you're saying. Boeser is just so tempting 😭 There's a few ways we can go with this lineup and it's just all bouncing around in my head. If Boeser came in and bumped down Palmieri, it'd make a third line of Tsyplakov/Palmieri/Duclair but none of those three can play centre. The only way to fix that would be putting Nelson 3C, moving Horvat to 2C, Barzal to 1C, and then having the wings freed up to look like a top 9 of something like: Lysell Barzal Boeser Eiserman Horvat Palmieri Tsyplakov Nelson Duclair Thoughts on that? Basically it comes down to Boeser in + Nelson 3C + Palmieri/Duclair out (and probably Cizikas or someone new as you said at 3C because I agree that Lee has to be LW4 now), or stay the course with the top 6 and add a brand new 3C. That seems to be the question. For your crazy take, I took a peek just for fun and Barzal + pick 8 isn't enough to get pick 1 from Seattle so that'd sadly be a no go 😂 Thanks for all of your thoughts and hope to hear from you soon! I'll be recording the next episode in about 21 hours from this reply haha
@ I love this. You’re the GM!!! Sounds like a phenomenal plan. Really like pairing the two Calder candidates of 2017 together with the speed of Lysell, and that middle six is TOUGH let’s go data
I’d try to have conversations with young upcoming NHLers or those who will be here long term. I’d go for a center and then do what you can to get Schaefer if he actually falls towards the end of round 1. Two elite players are better than a crop of maybes.
Hey data. That season was pretty rough to watch but I think you handled the “soft sell” well and made the best of the situation. Now this offseason is where we really have to make some moves because we can’t keep the same lines after last years poor showing. That being said, I still think we have a strong core here on Long Island, and I would not go out and sell right away knowing that the offseason might wake up the AI brains of barzal, dobson, horvat, sorokin, etc. and make them realize that they’re hockey players again. If we play our cards right we can give ourselves a chance at contention next year while also building for the future. The blueline is where we really need to make a stand this offseason. For dobson it seems like we will be forced to do a short term deal, and maybe that’s not a bad thing because he has not proven to me yet that he can be a #1 D on a Stanley cup team. Pelech is also a guy where we could consider capitalizing on his value. He’s not old, but by the time we will likely be really hitting our stride as true contenders, he will be 34-36. Maybe he’s the major piece in a move for a young sniper. For the forwards I think it would be smart to mostly keep status quo, and for extensions we should keep them short. Also clauses are great to keep the cap lower, but reminder the mess that Lou left us in with all of these NTCs. I also am intrigued by the idea of ehlers or boeser at the draft, although we need to make sure we leave enough room for dobson, palmeri and nelson. And finally for the draft. Like you said it will be tough to find value to grab two med elites in the 11-14 range. If we could get lucky and duclair, varlamov, etc. all waive their clauses it’s worth a try, but it’s okay if we just stay at our draft position as well. i It also feels a bit cheese going for schaefer because that draft position makes no sense. I think we should definitely draft Fasth though. He should hopefully give us a #1 OFD to use down the road if dobson doesn’t stay for whatever reason. Great episode data and I’ll see you at the draft! Go isles ❤
Hey Gaben! Glad that you approved of the approach for year one. As frustrating as the season was, I'm glad that it showed us what needs to change for year 2 😂 Agreed that we're not going to rebuild the core, but the supporting cast (namely the blue line) needs and will get a boost. Speaking of the blue line, Dobson for one year makes perfect sense with his performance + his ridiculous asking price right now. For Pelech, he and his 5-star defense has to wake up or else we'll be taking advantage of his M-NTC starting July 1st. Roger that on the forward thoughts. For the draft, you're right that another top 15 pick would be hard to swing unless players start waiving NTCs. We can always explore the idea, especially if a team has a pick on the block, but we don't need to make that an absolute. Agreed on Fasth, but I'm having a hard time staying away from Schaefer 😭 You're right that it would seem cheese, but maybe we can reconcile it by selecting him at a higher position if we haven't already traded up? Ex. trading for 20 and taking Schaefer if we weren't able to get to 12 for on of the other guys. We'll see what unfolds at the draft! Thanks for all of your thoughts and we'll see you on the floor :)
Bumpy ride for sure smart moves in moving out big contracts and acquiring picks and prospects but most importantly great episode like always ! All right lets dive into this ! Firstly for off season discussions i would ask Eiserman to work on in Def awareness because it was at a 70 rating at the start of episode one not sure if it grew or not but 70 isn’t nhl ready def awareness. Same thing for Lysell work on D awareness. If you plan to keep Duclair maybe ask gim to shoot more you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Now for the draft Fasth is a no brainer you said it yourself elite OFD are just to valuable and they can flip a franchise from bad to great should definitely help the low powerplay and scoring %. The Pelech moves make a lot of sense you could grab a lower overall top 4D man with either pick or/and prospects just need to find the perfect team to do so ! Maybe moving up for Matthew Schaefer could be interesting such at low pick with high value you should look into that could either become a great piece for the team or a super cheesy trade piece for the future, Varlamov might be the piece that could land you the low first round pick. It think thats all for me can’t wait for the next episode (like always). Ravioli Ravioli give us the formuoli !
Hey Louis! Glad that you liked the moves we made so far. For the offseason discussions we'll definitely target Eiserman but I want to be careful with his defensive awareness. Part of the challenge with Eiserman is that his defensive play is horrible haha so, although we want and expect it to increase over time, if the game is promising a +5 to def awareness or something entering his rookie season, I wouldn't want that to happen yet if that makes sense. We'll see what the game offers us! Same on Lysell and Duclair. Agreed on Fasth at the draft. I just wonder if that takes away from Dobson long-term as the PP1 QB? Just something to keep in mind. Pelech moving out might also become a necessity if he's going to continue being a defensive fraud 😂 Just gotta wait until July 1st for him and Varlamov, though, as the NTCs will become modified after the draft. Schaefer is also a target for sure. Love the thoughts bello, thanks for leaving them! See you at the draft and I'll save you a plate of ravioli at the table! ;)
@ for Varlamov if you ask him 2 or 3 times he will waive is clause because he figures that you really want him of the team I tested that in my own franchise mode but it does feel cheesy 😅
@@Data782 also before you make the same mistake as me don’t give any promises when negociating with a player because when they get injured and come back with a playable injury they will me mad you scratched them… witch is I believe counterintuitive since you want them to make a full recovery… they loose 10 management morale per promise broken…
Wow, I thought I did a good job scouting and when I got to my first draft it was a crapshoot with the potential. I always use 18 scouts in amateur leagues and only use potential/comparison scouting… guess I’ll have to watch your scouting video!
For contracts, I think you should sign Tsyplakov to a 4-year deal < $3.250M, Bolduc to a 2-year deal < $2M, and qualify, wait, and see on Dobson. Let go of Nelson and Palmieri. For trades, trade Lee and Pelech for current/future picks and young roster players/prospects. Our current picks are 8, 40, 54, 72, 105, 138, 170, and 204. My targets are Fasth (CS 11), Schaefer (CS 28), Haines (CS 45), Nikitin (CS 126), and Priessing, Raffle, Perezhogin, and Piispanen (CS 164, 165, 167, and 168, respectively). With your 1st round pick, draft Fasth. With your early 2nd round pick, draft Haines. Use your late 2nd round pick to trade up to 25 or so to draft Schaefer. Probably use your 3rd in that trade-up as well. With your 4th round pick, draft Niktin. Trade down with your 5th round pick to the late 150s-early 160s to draft one of the targets in that area. Trade your 6th round pick and Nelson's or Palmieri's UFA's rights for another pick in that area to get another one of those targets. The other two picks in the 160s can probably be acquired in the trading out of Lee and Pelech. With your 7th round pick, either trade up with it, trade it for a future pick, or use it to trade for Boeser's UFA rights. In free agency, sign one or two young roster players in the bottom 6, and a depth forward. I think the lines could look like this next season: 1st F: Boeser-Barzal-Lysell 2nd F: Duclair-Horvat-Eiserman 3rd F: FA/TA-Cizikas-Tsyplakov 4th F: FA/TA-FA/TA-Anderson Depth F: FA 1st D: Romanov-Dobson 2nd D: Fasth-Pulock 3rd D: Bolduc-Mayfield Depth D: Xhekaj G: Sorokin-Varlamov Depth G: Skarek
Hey GenZ thanks for your thoughts! I'm on board for the contracts, I'm just not sure what our money situation will look like exactly if we were to bring in a top 6 winger. Contract decisions will probably start on July 1st once we get a better idea of Dobson's ask when qualified. For Nelson and Palmieri, I'm not sure we can let them both go (as much as that would make sense from an outside point of view). He led the team in points and many have said Nelson leaving would cause riots, but he also has to be affordable. Palmieri is a question mark because I wouldn't mind a $2M 25-goal veteran being the LW3 instead of spending more on someone in FA, even if we know he'll start regressing. Same idea with Lee and Pelech. Pelech I could see gone more easily if needed but a $7M 35-year old? Even if he weren't captain, I don't think Lee gets traded unless the deal REALLY makes sense for the team acquiring him. On top of the fact that we want to try and win with as much of the inherited team as possible, moving out Pageau, Engvall, Lee, Nelson, Palmieri, and Pelech within 9 months of taking over would be hard to swallow for fans. I'll pin your draft targets! Thanks for taking the time to write out your game plan 🙌 Much love and see you for what should be a very exciting offseason ahead! :)
SPOILER WARNING So, first things first. It's nice to see you going back to your roots as the 2nd-ever trade under GM Data782 (back in Montreal '18 series) was with NYI. Much smaller scale trade as it was Episode 1 and the regular season hadn't yet begun, but a nice wholesome moment for sure. I believe the Xhekaj claim was fine. We can't predict the AI's peanut-sized brain that sends Xhekaj through waivers instead of Pierre "Is It Too Late To Say Sorry" Engvall. If Montreal is going to make a braindead move such as this, then us capitalizing is no issue. Like you said, if we don't claim him someone else will. Imagine if that other team was an Atlantic Division rival? I think Montreal prefers he come here instead of seeing him 10 times a year and possibly more with playoffs. After all, maybe in a show of good faith we trade him back later for less than he's worth. (i.e. instead of Xhekaj for 3rd being even, we trade a 4th). Building GM relationships is part of the business side anyways. Even though we're communicating with braindead AI we're trying to keep the realism. As I'm keeping track of things, I noticed for Dobson, we offered $8.75M/4 with final 2 years as M-NTC of 29 teams when his ASK was $10.7M/2. The day AFTER he rejects the offer his ask increased $500K to $11.25M/2. In what world do you increase your ask when a differently tweaked contract is offered? If he wants that, he has to earn it. I vote no contract, let him join the expiring club and we'll revisit him at the draft or day one of RSP. Furthermore at episode's end, Dobson's new ask has dropped ever-so-slightly by $100K. I'm starting to dislike Dobson. If you'll allow me to pitch something (of course you will because this is just a suggestion and you take every single one into account), Dobson and his agent are playing contract games. Dobson does not want a contract extension. Even as we fiddle with M-NTCs and such, the needle isn't easy to move. I vote we jettison him out in the escape pod on draft day. And let's say at #8 (or lower if traded away) we draft LD Robert Fasth OFD Med Elite guy, I don't think that one guy is going to entice Dobson to stay. I think we ditch Dobson and acquire as much assets as possible. I get he was drafted here, played better part of 6 seasons so far, 7 maybe, but you had an off-year last year after reaching 70 pts in 71 GP the year prior. And you still want upwards of $10M. Doing this will allow other extensions to get done without being as restricted. Also moving Dobson could allow you to get a high draft pick if you wanted 2 of those Med Elite guys (i.e. Fasth & Misa, or Fasth & Martone). For the draft we pick 8th, 40th, 54th (MTL), 72nd, 104th, 136th, 168th, and 202nd (PHI). Assuming we use #8 for the aforementioned Fasth, I'd like to see screenshots of the draft class around these spots to better see who I would recommend we pick up. If there's no one interesting around 40th, maybe we can trade our 2nd up to end of 1st round for LD/RD Matthew Schaefer. In my experience multi-position D-men are a hot commodity, and to find one with elite potential and NHL ready at the draft? Pfft, the stars are aligning over Long Island. D'Aigle, if we go that route, sounds like trade bait. LD/RD Kashawn Aitcheson around 44th looks great too, TWD, Top 4 potential. G Jack Ivankovic, not 100% scouted but trending in the elite-potential range in the 73rd overall zone. Later, into the late 100s (160-175) there is LW Ralf Preissing, RD Igor Perezhogin, and RW Tero Piispanen. All elite potential. Any one of these at this part of the draft is a steal IMO. Some other late depth defence in this draft is LD C. Silvester TWD 4-bar Low Top 4, and RD C. Girard OFD also 4-bar Low Top 4 projected past 200th overall. Don't need to see anyone specifically but again maybe some screenshots for around our picks (72, 104, 136, 168, 202); this is in case if who we want is no longer available and we're not scrambling to figure out a new target in a minute and a half. And for FA, very little to say here: Two targets, just one of which, I'd like to see come to NYI; Boeser or Ehlers. And to cap off this lengthy comment...I may have a bold ask. Before I've just let it go. I've brought it up once and never since. But now I'm digging the hole that I will lie in. I understand EA just drops in too many back-to-backs (this past season was 12), but I think that's where we have to reign it in. I don't recall any NHL team putting in the same goalie on back-to-back nights. When I see that many back-to-backs it tells me that there are 12 games our starter doesn't take just like there's 12 games our backup gets guaranteed. Just to keep realism I think we make sure our goalies are properly rested and not overworked. Sure, this is EA but that's what where our fight is right? Re-working their work so that it's realistic. So really all I'm asking is to stop full calendar sims at the back-to-backs making sure the same goalie doesn't play back-to-back. Of those 12 back-to-backs here is our record: (L-W / W-L / L-L / W-OTW / SOW-L / L-L / L-L / OTW-W / W-L / W-L / W-L / L-L). So over those 24 games we went 10-14 with 3 post-regulation wins meaning we could've easily been 7-17 in those back-to-backs. We as an organization must be diligent and take accountability for not doing everything in our power to finish with a good record. Not that we have to do this next season but if the back-to-back results are similar or worse I'll bring this back up again. As per usual another wonderful video! Thank you for keeping us entertained! Looking forward to the next one! LETS GO ISLES (P.S. Thank you to whomever brought up Robertson as a trade target! Absolutely! With the full year in the top 6 we could see Robertson break out to high-80s. He wants out of Toronto, let's get him in here without overpaying!) AGM MightyJoeMaple signing off.
Mighty Bello!! Glad I could finally get to this ❤️ It's getting late and I'm trying to finish up the comments before recording tomorrow (a day behind schedule), but I'll work through your thoughts! Love that callback to NHL 18! Only you could do such a thing so thank you for that. Good points on Xhekaj. I'm not disagreeing with anything you're saying on Dobson because I'm starting to get annoyed now too haha, BUT I think your suggestion is just 3-12 months in advance. I think at the very least we need to see what qualifying him does and how his longterm demand looks on July 1st. If he changes his tune, I'm more than happy to commit to him longterm but, if he still wants ridiculous money, we'll start looking at trade options as soon as the episode after next which will allow for as many AGMs as possible to get trade ideas in. Will get you screenshots on Discord. And roger that for FA: Boeser or Ehlers 🫡 You know what, you raise a very good point about the back-to-backs. I'll be honest that I always notice them but, when we have auto-goalie rotate turned off, my frustration with the speed of the sim or even just the sim itself often has me just say "forget it" and allow for that goalie to play both. Moving forward, especially with more to play for starting in year 2, I'll be better about that. Not a bold ask at all - you're doing your job! ;) And finally, for Robertson, I love the idea of him but the wings in the top 6 will be getting pretty full - especially if we bring in Boeser/Ehlers. I think we have to consider him as a consolation if we get neither instead of a target in and of himself. Acquiring him in addition to Boeser/Ehlers might mean Lysell being moved out/buried a little and we brought him here to free him from Boston doing that. We'll keep an eye on Robo! Thank you for all of these wonderful thoughts and much love to you, bello! See you at the draft for what should be an exciting offseason ahead :)
Sim is so far accurate. Islanders can't score even in real life. But let's try to fix them here Since Noah Dobson is asking for ridiculous price, I think we should trade him for some first round pick. There are many great players in top 16 and I think if we trade Noah Dobson for first and some other prospect, we could use that prospect and our early second to acquire another first. Our prospect pool is miserable so it doesn't matter much who we take. I would use it take that LD OFD and if we can, then Martone since he is NHL ready and with out cap situation he could get into NHL with even 78ish rating. I would love to draft Adam Benák, he is criminally underated in sim and real life as well, but we can't have everything Great episode and see you in next one
Haha true that! It's been a rough start for the Islanders in the real world so they need success in the Dataverse more than ever. Dobson being traded is sadly looking more and more likely. I think we have to do our due diligence by qualifying him and seeing what his demands look like on July 1st but, if his longterm ask is still crazy, I'd lean a one year contract and then decide in the episode after this next one so that the AGMs can really craft the best possible package. Or, you never know, maybe his longterm ask becomes reasonable and we sign him this offseason. We'll see! For the draft, Martone seems to be a favourite but, as I explained in the Discord server, and in some other comments here, we may stay away from high-end generated players exclusively in year 1 so as to hold to the Islanders challenge as well as possible. And I'll keep note of Benák if possible ;) Thank you very much for leaving your thoughts and we'll see you at the draft!
I say Eiserman and Horvat should get the offseason goals. Definitely look to trade down I found some of the late first round D prospects sim and grow pretty well. Schaefer especially worked well in my Stars franchise! Here’s hoping for a quick retool/turn around rather than a full on rebuild!
The off season focus convos are not OP or broken and I’ve seen first hand how they can legitimately sometimes do nothing. One sim I did I asked an elite power forward to increase his speed 3 different off seasons… It never even went up 1 point. I understand that certain player types can’t develop some skills as well as others. However if a playmaker for example has a horrible passing stat you could tell them to improve it and they would be more likely to focus it during the off season. Generally I keep it simple if he’s a big or defensive guy ask him to improve defensively or physically. If it’s a skill player tell them to improve their speed, puck skills, ETC. You can still ask a sniper for example to improve defensively but I find most of the time it does nothing to certain role players. It’s still worth seeing if players can grow certain stats but it’s very rare for stats “outside of their role”.
Fair enough thanks for noting that! I haven't done a ton of experimentation with offseason goals yet so I appreciate your insight and observations. We'll see how they work for our squad!
Spoilers Hi Data, Thank you for another episode, which gives us some hope indeed and I am sure we are in better situation than last year. I had a list of things we should do in the off-season, but after those awful results you did the most important moves already and you did even better than I though we could. There have been some really good moves in this episode and I liked them a lot. What I had on the list was also getting rid of Lee - if every goal from him cost us 700k then something is very, very wrong. That's not captaincy if you ask me... If we can use him as a trade bait in this draft, or trade for future picks. I don't care, which it would be. All I know is if we want to see successful team, it would not be with him in the line-up. I am not happy with our star forwards, either. However I think we should get both Barzal and Horvat one more season to see, if they can be paid what they are paid. Nelson was actually one of very few who performed well and I would try to get him 2 year deal, not much more...he has a lot of interest in the organization, so would little bit less money with 16 teams no trade list interest him? I am on PS4 and I am not familiar with those new features yet, but is there an option to promise him captaincy in those re-sign negotiations? If he asks for too much anyway, then let him go and get Boeser, or anyone who can score. If you can sign Palmieri also for 2 years and I think we can go up to 2.25M, then we should be ok. If we can sign one of those two, I would not mind, but I would get higher priority to Nelson, if I had to pick one of them. Then I was thinking about Pelech, but I will get there later... As we spoke at the beginning, we are paying too much for goalies and there is no guarantee of anything. As you say, we would like to ask Sorokin, if we could move him...I don't see it working, but should try...if not than we should probably move Varlamov to free up some cap space and keep Halak as backup. As for scoring I was curious about the options in the draft and I did not see any pure sniper very high in top 15 ranked players. There might be one among those PWF and I would check that, too. However, after seeing the options I would prefer to get some OFD instead, who can be future face of the franchise on the blue line. I am talking about Fasth and even his strengths are really good combination and as we know D from Sweden are usually good. And we are not forced to get him to NHL right now as he can grow nicely in one of the best leagues in Europe and in one year from now we can get him time on the second pair and trade Pelech out. Romanov can play on the first line until Fasth is ready to take what is supposed to be his spot for years and years to come. But let's keep an eye on his situation, if he gets his ice time in Sweden and if he is growing in SHL. I almost forgot about your question about off-season goals. If I was supposed to get growth from three players, I would like that especially from Eiserman, Lysell and Romanov - the last one of them because we probably need to get more from him, when/if he would temporary get first line minutes in the season 26-27 with Fasth on the second line and Pelech out. However, I would adjust that if you draft someone else, of course... I might come with some more ideas, or more detail later, but these are the most important ideas I had after seeing this episode. Go Data! Go Isles!
Hi Steven! Thank YOU for another AGM comment :) I'm glad that you've liked the moves so far! Lee is a tough one 😂 I know his goal scoring value is low, but as a player on the last year of a $7M contract I would prefer to just play him LW4 and let it run out instead of having to pay a third round pick to dump him (not to mention his place in franchise history as captain). If we NEED to move him to make a move, we can think about it then but I'm not desperate. Agreed on Horvat/Barzal, as well as two years on Nelson. Yes I could promise him the captaincy in negotiations, but I believe that would only raise his organizational interest which I think is already high enough if I recall correctly so no need. I'd also like to keep Palmieri but if it means having to trade a 3rd to dump Lee, he may have to walk. For the goalies, you know I wouldn't mind trading Sorokin haha but that would be a big move and I'd want to hear trade scenarios from the AGMs first. Maybe we can just ask him to waive for now and, if he says yes, then we can plan for a future move. Fasth is a really tough one because, in theory, he is absolutely the guy we should draft. My only hesitation is that, if we want to make our NYI challenge as realistic as possible, players like Martone/McQueen/Misa would be available with a top-10 pick in 2025 but Fasth would not. To get a player as good as him just three episodes into the series would almost make me feel guilty of not holding to the challenge 😂 And thanks for your thoughts for the offseason conversations. Phew a lot to think about headed into this draft! I feel the weight as GM haha but I'm confident that the AGMs have set me in the right direction. Looking forward to seeing you for what should be an exciting offseason and thanks again for taking the time to leave your suggestions! :)
@@Data782 Thank you for your reply. I think we should not feel guilty for drafting Fasth, because this new system of re-signings and negotiations doesn't give us as much chances to cheese it with long term deals and as you see from Dobson, elite D still ask too much money. However, there are more reasons, why I incline to Fasth. Martone has C skating and Fasth has almost everything A, or A- with exception for defense, where he is B-, if we can trust our scouts. McQueen has some weakness and he is one year away. He has also worse skill-set than Fasth. If there was a value we can spend, even future picks, we might have a chance to get two of them and then I would take Fasth and one of the guys you mentioned. This option was suggested by CheetingHeal and someone else as well among these comments. I like the idea more I think about it. Anyway, I am sure you will do the best. Good luck with the draft and all the off-season moves.
We did what we could Data. This team has been in a spiral losing their identity over the last few years. We need to rekindle the winning mentality. That being said you always make the best of a bad situation so great episode. Starting with the draft I think we should get one of McQueen or Martone. PWF seem to sim well and in my experience more like snipers. If we get lucky and acquire another 1st rnd pick go for Fasth as well. (But if we have the value for another 1st why not swing for the fences with the first overall) During resign I suggest trade Lee if possible or buy him out. Also I agree money makes a long term deal for Dobson difficult but maybe qualify and see if it drops after July first or beginning of season. I still believe in him and think he should b on this team long term. With that in mind the conversation tool could work for us and not b cheese bc in the opening you mentioned how players love to stay on the island and the game can't really account for that loyalty. if we use it to get his team interest back up and then pay him a realistic amount, even if it looks like an over pay by his new request. With wanting to improve and give younger players spots we need to move out contracts. I think duclair was a nice try but underwhelming. if we want to resign Nelson and Palmieri in lesser roles we can't have foudy McLean wahlstrom and the others holding spots too. I'm for Nelson over Palmieri if we can only get one. Strictly bc he's a home grown talent . I also think this d core should have a do over. The Ufa options seem lateral in improvement in my opinion. Boeser! Boeser! Boeser! I think it would help any of him, bo, or barzy break out in points if not all three having him on top pair. As far as conversations to boost overall horvat definitely deserves one and why not tsyplokov if we are going to try to keep him. We all agree he's a little low anyway. Other than that great episode look forward to the next one and thanks for reading
Agreed! Thank Alfred :) I hear you on Martone and McQueen. I wonder if a real PWF would sim in the same sniper-ish way as a generated PWF does, but your point most certainly still remains. As great as Fasth would be, I'm personally still wrestling if it would accelerate our timeline too much by drafting him since we know how overpowered a strong OFD can be. Gonna have to keep thinking about that. For contracts, I'd love to have Lee finish his contract/career in the bottom 6, but we have to have the money to allow that to happen. As crazy as it would be, I don't think we can let a guy like Boeser not come to Long Island because we need our 35-year old captain to play one more year. We'll see what becomes necessary in the offseason. And yeah for Dobson we'll definitely explore what his demand looks like on July 1st/if a conversation would be helpful for his organizational interest. Agreed on Nelson over Palmieri if necessary but I think we can roll both. I doubt that Wahlstrom/Foudy/MacLean will be holding full-time spots. And fingers crossed on the Boeser option! Thanks for leaving your thoughts and looking forward to an exciting offseason! :)
I personally would try and wave any no-movement clauses try to trade what might be worth it and hopefully turn that into draft picks and see if you can retain 50% of sorkoin. I would also give Bo Horvat the captaincy.
There's so many possibilities for us this offseason. I'll start with the draft. I probably would go for Martone or Fasth at #8. We either want a top pair dman (especially if we end up having to trade Dobson next season if his long term demands aren't coming down after extending him for 1 year) or someone to play alongside Barzal. In an ideal world, we trade for another top 10 pick and get both, just not sure what we'd trade to make that happen but, if we can somehow make it work, I would definitively look into it. Maybe we add our 1st pick in 2-3 years and hope we're a much better team by then? If we can lock 2 big peices of our future right away, it might be worth it and I doubt we end up drafting in the top 10 again if we get both of them + we revamp a bit our top 6 in the offseason so it's a gamble that could pay off big time. Trading up from 40th to late 20s to get Schaefer could be something we look into although, I'm quite ok to pass on late 1st round nhl ready players... we know how this usually turns up and, with how depleted our prospect pool is, I'd prefer to keep all picks so I'd only think about doing this if we trade our 2nd pick + a player we do not intend to keep; I wouldn't do, lets say, both of our 2nd round picks for a late 1st. If we don't move up for Shaefer, I'd probably go with Aitcheson as we have to replenish our dmen pool, especially with how much $ dmen are asking for. We need cheap options coming over asap. As far as contract goes, I think we need to limit as much as we can the amount of ntc we give players; we're already handcuff with the clauses we have, let's not give too many of these (at least, not a lot that are 50%+ teams restrictions). We also might want to wait until the resigning phase or until July 1st to extend anyone. As I mentioned in my comment last time, I'm not in a rush to extend our players with the way they simmed last season and, until we know who we can get as upgrades and how much they will cost, we need to keep wiggle room. If Rantanen ever drops to ufa, I think we need to go all-in; he'd cost more than Ehlers or Boeser would but he should produce a lot more than either of them and would be a perfect fit for Barzal. Signing him would mean letting Nelson walk and we'd probably need to trade Lee which, to be honest, I wouldn't mind. These 2 alone would pay for Rantanen's salary and he'd probably give us more than both combined as far as production goes. I don't think we can afford not to do this if this ends up being on the table. Either way, I wouldn't bring back a 33yo Nelson who's asking for 6m$ per year. If it's not Rantanen, I'd use that $ on one of Ehlers or Boeser (probably Ehlers). I also wouldn't go 2 years on Palmieri; at 34yo, he's bound to regress before the end of that contract. I'm on the fence about Tsyplakov; I don't think he'd be anything more than a 3rd liner for us so maybe we use his trade value right away? I'd trade Pelech if we can for sure, probably Mayfield too as I'd be ok with Bolduc and Xhekaj on the 3rd pair and trading both of these would give us an extra 9m$ of cap space. Pelech can probably be replaced short term by one of Lingren or Gavrikov on a short term deal or we draft and bring Fasth right away. I'd also look at trading Varlamov as, again, he has decent trade value and we can replace him easily. I get that he has a decent contract but, what's the worth of that good contract if performance is subpar? Might as well use the value on something that might actually help us. I'm not sure how much of a boost these discussions / goals have. Looking at what we tried with Horvat, it's not looking like it had much impact but, if we do use them, we should probably focus on some of the prospects we want to see growth from (Lysell, Eiserman). I'm not sure it's worth using on 30yo ish players as they probably already are what they are going to be, I doubt it will impact them a lot. There's an easy soft reset available to us here where we can get rid of a ton of cap space and upgrade with REAL top 6 players via ufa for similar money and there are also decent options on defense. Getting a 2nd top 10 pick would also go a long way into ensuring we're very competitive within a window of 2 years while having great options to replace some of our over 30yo players. This should be our #1 focus if there are available picks for trade. Looking a couple of years down the road, a top 6 or Barzal, Martone, Horvat, Lysell, Eiserman and one of Rantanen or Ehlers isn't half bad. Add a top pair of Fasth and Dobson (or whomever we trade him for if we can't extend him long term as we'd have to get a young top dman back in any trade we do) and you have the building blocks of a winning team. If Sorokin can get his **** together and we find decent options to take over for our aging defensive core in a couple of years, this could be our core for the next 6 or 7 seasons before we then have to cycle out Barzal, Horvat and Rantanen/Ehlers, giving us plenty of time to win and find suitable replacements for them. This off season is probably already the most important one of our tenure and will go a long way into molding this team for the rest of our stay at the helm of the franchise so we need to ensure we take the proper steps to make this team a contender for years to come. Trying to do short term patching could end up delaying us bringing back this franchise to it's former glory by quite some time. Lets rip off the band-aid so the healing can speed up! Looking forward to the offseason buddy!
Sooo many possibilities! I'm on the same page with you for our pick at #8. I think we go Martone or Fasth and that's it in round 1 unless there's a pick on the block that really makes sense for us value-wise to get Schaefer. My issue then would be getting a real world top 5 prospect at like 30th overall haha but I could see us taking him at 15-20 and saying he had a draft year injury if the value really works. Also, for Fasth, taking a generated prospect that high in the 2025 draft doesn't sit suuuuuper well with me when we know he could join the team as soon as year #2. That's why taking a guy like Martone and then moving on from round 1 may be what ends up happening. For Rantanen, I won't dive too deep into that possibility unless he drops to FA but, if he does, we'll very seriously look at making a strong bid for him. I do see a guy like Boeser being a solid consolation, and it would likely allow us to keep Nelson who is probably retiring with us. Palmieri is the one who's more of a question mark, I think. For Tsyplakov, I'm curious to see if he can maintain his 83 OVR or even increase over the offseason (although that'd mean more $$ longterm) and, for Pelech, if we need money, I could definitely see him going. For the conversations, I think it could impact older players just as much! What we did with Horvat previously was give him a goal but offseason focus is a different thing. We'll soon find out more. In theory, you're 100% right as Nelson, Palmieri, Lee, Pelech, and Varlamov could all be out this offseason to clear way for FA and overall manoeuvrability. Keeping with the challenge we've given ourselves in this series, I don't think we can do anything that drastic at this time. That doesn't mean moves won't be made because we are EXPECTING to compete in year #2, but I just want to be careful to respect the confines of the challenge through all of our moves. I agree that this offseason may be the most important in terms of molding our team of the future. As much as possible, let's avoid the patchwork and rip that bandaid off while still trying to get as much of the original core as possible a Cup. It's not an easy balance to strike! Thanks for all of your thoughts and we'll see you at the draft! :)
I would try to get both Fasth and Martone. If not I think Fasth could be a good one to play with Dobson or argument to trade Dobson as you could use him as remplacement.
1st time doing anything like this, so hopefully none of my suggestions are too crazy as I did a ton of research for this. Also apologies for the length, just kept typing and typing. Anyway, I've tried looking at this offseason from as many possible different scenarios as possible with a focus on maximizing Barzel and Horvat's primes and have come up with many suggestions and ideas to look at (along with my opinion on what's best which honestly doesn't mean a lot in this.) Good luck getting through this, it's gonna take a while Resigning Noah Dobson: Unfortunately I don't feel like those number will drop to a reasonable amount (Even assuming you can drop 3-4 million with either time or a NTC, is Dobson worth Draisaitl level money in the long term (Genuinely asking, dont know if he will develop to that level) If we can get him back to 10-12 mil then maybe a long term deal makes sense but I feel like the best move is to trade him this offseason while he still has a year of RFA eligibility left to give his new team plenty of time to sign him to a new deal Brock Nelson: I understand the concern about his age, however unless we are rebuilding, it feels wrong to let our points leader from this season walk. That said, I would only sign him to a 2 year deal at most as he will slowly fall out of the top 6 as younger forwards such as Eiserman and Lysell develop and we don't want to be paying 6 mil+ into their contract extensions (it would also match up perfectly with Anderson's contract, opening up a significant chunk of salary cap for 2027) Kyle Palamari: GONE! He's looking like he's hit his final peak before permanent declining and despite his cheap contract demands we have to many high end forwards to worry about anyway. The only reason we should resign him is if we intend to play Eiserman on the fourth line which seems unlikely due to you counting him as a top 9 forward in the offseason preview (Plus a conversation with him or Lysall may bump them up to true top line contention.) (Continued in comments)
Trades If we were wanting to get a second lottery pick, I think trying to return to the Buffalo Sabres trade would be a good idea but trying to get their 2026 first round pick instead of Jack Quinn could work. Of course this would have more value so in return you could send a forward to up the value. If Duclair were to waive his no-trade clause to them he would make sense as they are about to potentially lose Jason Zucker to free agency and he would be a good replacement while they wait for their young left wingers in Rosen and Kulich develop into middle six forwards. Alternatively (and more likely due to the NTC) you could send Tsyplakov in the deal which would also sense long term as the money used to resign Dobson by Buffalo could potentially price them out of resigning Alex Tuch (who is supposed to be a free agent after the 2025-26 season) so Tsyplakov would allow them to still have a strong top 3 on the right side as Peterka and Quinn move up in lines. I assume a couple of mid to low picks would be required as well. As for Buffalo giving up their 1st next year, the justification would be the idea that having a natural top 4 RHD and a more developed forward core (plus a little desperation due to their long-standing playoff drought they thought they were going to break for the last couple of seasons) would hopefully push them into a playoff spot in 2026 (which if it wasn't for the fact they are in the Atlantic would be an unfair statement IMO) Following this, you could reroute the Sabres pick to Detroit for the 12th Overall Pick which would hopefully put you in the perfect place to choose between Martone, McQueen or Misa (assuming the draft order stays the same.) Detroit could potentially claim that this makes sense as Buffalo finished with a worse record than them in the standings so they could be tempted to kick the can down the road for a potentially higher pick next year. However, if they were to want something that would help them win now, they are at risk of losing two of their goalies in free agency in Lyon and Husso, which could make them a suitor for Varlamov (again, assuming his NTC wouldn't block it) in exchange for a mid round pick recouping some of what you gave to Buffalo. This would set up a 3-Team Trade that would look like this: To Buffalo: Noah Dobson + Anthony Duclair/Maxim Tsyplakov + Pick(s) To Detroit: To Detroit: 2026 Sabres 1st Round Pick (+ Semyon Varlemov?) To New York: Bowan Byram & 2025 Red Wings 1st Round Pick (+ Pick(s)?) Again, this is justifiable due that at the Trade Deadline, Buffalo and Detroit made a deal that sent J.T. Comphier and picks to Buffalo for Connor Clifton and picks so they already have a recent history of negotiating with each other. Adam Pelech is the next big piece on the block. Before we trade him, is there a chance we could convince him to play on the right side using conversations? I know it's possible in the regular season but not sure about the offseason. If not I feel like we should let free agency play out first (first 2-3 weeks) before moving on from him so we can see our team needs. From there, I have three ideas. 1. Trade for a second pair RHD (I feel like the right guy could be in free agency (mentioned later) but if he either doesn't make it to free agency or goes with another team, this might be a necessity) 2. Trade for a top 6 forward, (Assuming we miss out on both Boeser and Ehlers) 3. My preferred option, assuming we don't need to one of the other two. Trade for a 3rd line center (so we can play Cizikas on the fourth line again and have constant strong play in the middle of the ice.) and some mid level picks. (The first name that came to mind after rewatching the video for research was Nicholas Robertson due to your trade block, but also justifiable due to his recent trade demands and the acquisition of Lucius at the deadline.) Finally, Anders Lee. A long time Islander who has only ever played for them but has lost a step. Luckily, the previous regime set the example of what a cap dump trade would look like when they traded Josh Bailey along with their 2026 2nd Round Pick to Chicago for future considerations. Now, Chicago isn't likely to be interested in repeating such a deal since they just made the playoffs with 91 points, but San Jose (who just had the worst record in the league for the second year in a row) or another team at the bottom might be (all determined by Lee's M-NTC of course). Now, Lee scored 8 more points than Bailey did in his final season (33-25) so you might be able to knock it down to a 3rd. As for future considerations, according to most things I've seen about such a thing (mostly Steve Dangle's Trade Tree videos to be honest) it usually turns out to be a late round pick. So a potential trade would look something like this: To New York: Future Considerations (basically the latest 6th or 7th round pick possible) To San Jose: Anders Lee + 2028 Islanders 3rd Round Pick
Draft It feels like no matter what happens Fasth is the guy we take with our pick due to how valuable OFD's are (I think anyway, my main basis for this is your videos.) If we were to get a second lottery pick from the previously mentioned trade I would go for either Martone or McQueen as they feel like they fit the Islanders more defensive minded style of play (once again, this is not my strong suit.) Apart from that, the only opinion is that we need a long term goalie prospect with higher than fringe starter potential. I understand not wanting D'Aigle but I would really want Jack Ivankovic (3 Bar Medium Elite) in the 3rd round if he's still available (not sure if he's worth a late second round overdraft or not.) Apart from, no clue about the rest of the draft
Free Agency (All this is done under the assumption that no drafted players will be signed to immediately play in the NHL and will all either be in the Minors or unsigned) Forwards Assuming we are able to trade for the rights of Boeser or Ehlers and sign them, that would give us a top 6 of them, Horvart, Barzel, Nelson, Dulclair/Tsyplakov and Eiserman/Lysall and a bottom 6 of Anderson, Cizikas, Gauthier, Eiserman/Lysall, Lee (assuming he's not traded) and a ??? at 4th line C based off current roster construction. Unfortunately, we didn't see the bottom 6 forwards but I would be looking for a fourth line C and a fourth line LW as even if their role is filled by someone else via trades, there is a chance they would still be a better 13th forward than Foudy or Wahlstrom. Defenseman Assuming we trade Pelech, we are going to need a top 4 defenseman to replace him. If we trade Dobson, it feels like the main target should be Neal Pionk, who provides a stable presence on the right side that fits Barzel and Horvat's timeline. If we don't trade Dobson, Jake McCabe for a year on the 2nd pair before dropping to the third upon the arrival of Fasth makes sense for playoff contention. Eitherwise Proverov or Lindgren also fit Barzel and Horvat's timeline and a shutdown partner next to Dobson, but due to their younger age I'm a little concerned about their salary demands. The bottom pair and seventh D are already sorted with Bolduc, Mayfield and Xhekaj so no need to look for replacements (yet, Mayfield is definitely a player to keep an eye on due to his age. Goalies I feel like the most likely outcome is that Varlamov is still backup goalie on opening night, but if he were to be traded, I would like to see Karel Vejmelka become the new backup as he is the youngest of the four backup goalies shown to be available in free agency (everyone above him feels too good to be backing up Sorokin) Results This would leave with a depth chart (with all potential moves added plus what if the current roster construction remained (with everyone resigned)) looking like: 1st Line: Horvart/Nelson/Ehlers - Barzel/Horvart - Barzel/Boeser 2nd Line: Duclair/Eiserman/Lysall - Horvart/Nelson - Duclair/Palamari (UNLIKELY, BUT STILL)/Tsyplakov 3rd Line: Eiserman/Lysall - Cizikas/Robertson/??? - Anderson 4th Line: Eiserman/Lee/??? - Cizikas/Robertson/??? - Gauthier 13th Forward: Foudy/Wahlstrom/??? Top Pair: Bryam/Lindgren/Pelech/Proverov/Romanov - Dobson/Pulock Second Pair: McCabe/Romanov - Pelech(?)/Pionk/Pulock Bottom Pair: Bolduc - Mayfield 7th D: Xhekaj Goalie 1: Sorokin Goalie 2: Varlamov/Vejmelka Seems confusing but hopefully something helps.
P.S. Don't know if this comment is longer than CheatingHeel's or not, but it has given me a major appreciation for him doing something similar on every video. Props to you man.
Hey there Mr. TC! Wow this is incredible! Thank you so much not only for your suggestions and research, but the time it took to write all of that down! Rest assured that every word is read and taken into consideration. Now, let's see what I can reply to! Re-signings: Yeah, even best case scenario, if Dobson's ask is still like $18M for a longterm contract, we won't be able to get it down more than a few million. I'd be looking at the 8x$10M range or so, so his ask once qualified on July 1st will have to be very different if we're going to keep him. I agree on aiming for a two-year deal with Nelson. For Palmieri, although regression is a certainty, I'm not sure anyone else could fill a L3 veteran 20+ goal kind of role for $2M. He isn't a lock, but I COULD see him back on the third line depending on other offseason moves. Trades: Wow! I love the three team idea! We've done a couple of those in the past and they're always fun to work out. You may be about 3-12 months early, though, because I think we have to first do our due diligence on Dobson and see if a longterm contract is a possibility. If not, we'll be thinking of trade scenarios as soon as the episode after this next one. So hold those thoughts! Same for Pelech as him moving out would likely be a part of the falling dominoes that starts with a Dobson decision. You're right that a new 3C is likely needed, though, unless maybe Nelson fills that role? It may depend on if he sees any regression over the offseason. For Lee, I wouldn't mind keeping him as LW4 so that we don't need to trade away a draft pick to dump him on the final year of his contract, but we'll keep that idea in mind of it becomes a necessity. Draft: You're 100% right that Fasth is likely the guy, but I may shy away from him as a generated player in the year 1 draft. I want to keep this series as challenging and as somewhat reflective of the real world as possible so drafting and putting Fasth into the lineup by 2025 might take away from that. Just thinking out loud. And agreed on Ivankovich! Free Agency: Noted for all positions! I like the lineup that that would leave us with! Again, just so many maybes in there which is why there are so many slashes and question marks haha but I like our position headed into year #2. And I'm even more confident with AGMs like you on our side! I know it's a lot of work to write all of that out so I really appreciate it. Never any pressure to have to beat CheatingHeel! 😂 Much love to you and looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the offseason ahead!
Hey data great vid, I have a feel ideas I think Dobson is a good player but He’s not really seeming to loyal he’s asking for way to much in my opinion I think there’s two options we can try the 1 year deal or we can try to trade him if we were to trade him now idk if he has like a no trade list or anything but I think there is two teams that make sense the kings and the flyers due to them both missing the playoffs and the storylines that could come in to play. The kings players are getting older it might be time for them to look for there new number defence men and I think Dobson could totally fits that he’s still only 24 and he has proved he can play at a top level over the past years, there could be a few players we could be interested in getting back from them such as Mikey Anderson, Brandt Clarke or Alex Laferriere. On the other side if we decide to trade him to the flyers I think getting Drysdale and Bobby brink could help the team: Drysdale is only about 22-23 years old and still has room to grow as a defence men at 83 overall he could be a solid player for us in the future and I think getting Bobby brink could help the offensive he’s 21 years old I think and 82-83 overall so could be a interesting player to watch grow and I think this trade would also help out the flyers, when you look at there defence there’s not really to much that’s stands out so getting a player like Dobson could really help them out. That’s just my thought on what we could do with Dobson, for free agents I think that Jakob Chychrun could be a good defence men to go after he’s a 86 overall and at 27 still had some good years left in him he can also play on the left or right side a good player to cause he can pretty much play wherever we need him to be as for the forwards I do think boeser would be nice to pick up for a few years. I still think Robertson would be a good player to go after if we could find a trade that works for both teams. Those are just some ideas, great video can wait for part 3
Hey Pug thank you kindly! Great ideas, thanks for all of those suggestions. I fear that we may be looking at a Dobson trade in the near future but, for next episode, I think we'll aim to get him signed for one year and go from there. Unless his longterm demand really comes down on July 1st, we'll be considering trade partners as soon as the episode after this next one. The Kings, Flyers, and even as some others said the Sabres could all make sense! Nick Robertson is also an idea depending on what happens with our look at Boeser/Ehlers (or even Rantanen if he were to fall to free agency). Thanks again and see you at the draft! :)
I think you trade all the way back for Schaefer. Medium elite NHL ready left hand defenseman with the ability to play on the ride side. Trading back that far could could give you some great assets moving forward.
In theory you're 100% right! But in EA Land where draft pick trading is ridiculous, this is how our options really look: Option A: Draft a MED Elite at 8, trade a 2nd and a 3rd to draft Schaefer. Option B: Trade down to draft Schaefer, gain a 3rd or a B prospect. So, with that in mind, I think we attempt to go for both! Trading down to recoup value would work well in the real world, but just sadly not as much in Franchise Mode. Thanks for adding your thoughts!
lysell, eiserman, and Barzal should get off-season goals. hot take but get what you can for Dobson. if that Buffalo deal is still on the table take it and run. at pick 8 i think we actually trade down for Porter Martone.
Thanks Landon! We'll know more on Dobson as soon as he reveals his extension ask. I wouldn't want to move him until we at least see that, but if it's still like $18M then trade options will be the #1 priority
Hi Landon, is there any chance to convince you we should pick someone else in this draft? I was also thinking we need a pure sniper, but with rare opportunity to get OFD LD Fasth I would take him. There are 3 arguments for Fasth: 1. Fasth can be No.1 D of our organization, who can be here for many years to come and these LD OFD are rarely available as high as this year. When you draft them later even with the same potential, they are usually bums. 2. Martone has C skating and Fasth has no skill lower than B- (that is his defense and everything else is A- or better). 3. I don't think Martone is that sniper we need, he has much more assists than goals. If I did go for forward, I would be looking for goal-scoring.
@@StevenY.Sk.19 1. I want Martone mostly because he’s my favorite prospect irl in this draft 2. The trade i want to do with Dobson so to send him to the Sabres for Bowen Byram and Jack Quinn. Byram could be that long term 1LD and Quinn is a sniper as well.
@@landon___- Thank you for your reply. I was really curious because I usually agree with you on almost everything, but this time we see different paths. I still think we have an opportunity you get only once in 20 years if the formula, which we used to see in the previous versions of the game, has not changed for NHL 25.
Sorry, I know this isn’t the proper video for this question but Do you know how to delete slider presets? I have like 10 of them and almost before every franchise game you have to load the correct one! So frustrating 😢
No problem! I don't play around with slider presets too much but, to the best of my knowledge, you can save over the presets but not actually delete them. Have you tried going into the "saved data" of NHL 25 and looking there?
@@Data782 Thank you very much for the reply. I might have to delete all data from the game and just start over 😢 Can’t wait for the everything franchise video
I wish the game devs could fix the weird points, High scoring and Medium shot frequency makes all my players get 30 points and my good players 60. With only 5 or 7 getting over 100 somehow the sim is worse than last year personally.
I don't think the off season focus conversations are cheese, there is always a chance that the boost does not apply. It lets you control your player's growth based on your preferences, for example, you could ask eiserman to focus on defense or skating based on what you think he's missing.
I think you should talk to everyone
Fair enough! We can always dial it back in the future if we think that we need to for whatever reason. Thanks Zach 🤙
Hey man just wanted to give you a shoutout for producing the best NHL Franchise Mode content on UA-cam. It was your vids that taught me how to scout properly a couple years ago, forever grateful for that lol. Cheers
Hey Ash thanks so much! That's really kind of you to say and it means a lot :) I'm glad that the videos (especially on scouting) have been helpful for you! Much love and thanks again ❤️
Brutal season.
I would definitely be looking to move on from Varlamov to see what assets can be acquired in the draft.
At the draft, the #1 pick should be on the Elite OFD, no debate required. I think your logic on moving on from Pelech when his NMC expires is sound, and we would have a homegrown player ready to step into his spot in the lineup.
Another thing to consider is that Barzal, Horvat, and Nelson can all play C. Would giving each of them their own line to drive be something to consider? Is a player as offensively creative as Barzal being stifled playing on the wing?
Bringing back Nelson (our leading scorer) as our 3C for 2-3 years would make sense from a stability standpoint. That would allow us to focus on developing our wingers like Lysell and Eiserman and have them playing next to a strong center no matter where in the lineup they end up.
It makes no sense to bring back an old Palmieri at his age and term ask, even though it's great to see him at an 85.
Is it time to move on from Lee or do we keep the captain for one more year? He's making way too much money. Is he too slow to be a center? We also have Eiserman, Lysell, Tsyplakov at LW that we'd prefer to develop more.
I am in favor of exploring a Robertson trade again because i think he'd flourish with more ice time.
In the Data administration we no longer have to be loyal to Lamoriello holdouts like Lee and Palmieri (although Lee does have a franchise legacy to consider)
These moves are going to help us get younger, faster, and more flexible financially, so I'd like to see our fwd lines looking something like this:
Tsyplakov Barzal Boeser
Eiserman Horvat Robertson
Lysell Nelson Duclair
Cizikas Foudy Anderson
Defensively, I wouldn't change a thing until we find our new coach, other than slot our new 8 overall OFD into the 3rd pair next to Mayfield ( I'd like to see Mayfield's defensive attributes- I suspect they are very strong)
Ultimately I think we'll see better results next year regardless now that weve moved on from that garbage head coach and our defensive minded interim coach.
Hey Pilon! Brutal indeed haha but I'm very excited for what year #2 will have in store.
Varlamov moving may be coming soon but, unless he waives his NTC at the draft, the soonest we'd be moving him is July 1st. For who we take with our 1st, I think the Med ELITE OFD is the slam dunk option BUT, I have to admit that I've been having some second thoughts. Taking a generated player who could be a difference maker as soon as next season in the year 1 draft feels as if it goes against the spirit of the challenge with having taken over the Islanders. Any other year I'd be all over Fasth but, with guys like Martone, McQueen, and Misa also available, I wonder if it would hold more true to the challenge by drafting and developing them.
For the centres, we had Barzal RW1 because he's C/RW, has a lower face-off rating, and has been playing there in the real world. But, if Bo stays as an 87 and Nelson begins to regress, I could definitely see them being our top 9 Cs. For Palmieri, he really wants to be here and almost hit 30 goals so I wouldn't say he's a guaranteed goodbye, but we'd have to make sure he has a spot in he lineup before committing to him. I know we don't have to hold to the same loyalty, but his production on the third line would be enticing. For Lee, it'd be hard to move or even buy-out the captain but I'd consider it if the money was a must (ex. to get a big FA like Boeser?). Robertson is a tempting idea but we'd need the trade value to acquire him and I'm not sure Nelson would leave the top 6 just yet. My ideal lineup for next season might be more like:
Boeser Horvat Barzal
Eiserman Nelson Tsyplakov
Lysell Cizikas Duclair (or he waives his NTC and Palmieri stays?)
Lee Foudy Anderson (or Anderson gets sent down to save a bit on $$)
Now, does this work with the cap? I think probably not which is where decisions on Lee, Anderson, Varlamov, etc. come into play.
I think that does it for my reply but feel free to follow up! I'll be recording in a little under 24 hours from this reply so let me know if anything comes to mind. Thanks for this and talk soon :)
The sim might be accurate Palmieri is leading the islanders in real life with a 58 point pace 😭😭
It wouldn't be the first time that a sim comes to life! 😭
Great video, I liked and support the moves you made they made sense in my opinion. I’m going to say what I believe we should do and then go crazy.
I’m not sure if acquiring a top-top line level winger is so necessary. Eiserman is going to be that guy soon and we acquired Lysell who in my opinion would play very well on the first line pairing with Barzal’s speed. Lysell-Eiserman could be our top left wingers next year, so our top 6 would be
Lysell-Horvat-Barzal
Eiserman-Nelson-Palmieri
The islanders are known for their bottom six being tough to play against, so I think we need to add a center to play on either the third or fourth line. Lee can be 4th line LW, Duclair can be on the third with Tsyplakov. If we really want an upgrade and get someone who scores goals, I do agree asking Duclair to waive could be the move. I know he just signed, but Lou signed him not us! Honestly, I would also included Lysell if it meant getting a top six sniper.
Now for my crazy take; Seattle is a tweener team like us and James Hagens is a DREAM FIT. If we wanted to go crazy crazy, we could entertain throwing for that pick. We could even just start kind of fresh and gear more towards rebuilding, send Barzal to Seattle (close to his home in Vancouver?) it’s something to think about…
Hey James! Thanks for the love and support, always means a lot ❤️
I hear what you're saying. Boeser is just so tempting 😭 There's a few ways we can go with this lineup and it's just all bouncing around in my head. If Boeser came in and bumped down Palmieri, it'd make a third line of Tsyplakov/Palmieri/Duclair but none of those three can play centre. The only way to fix that would be putting Nelson 3C, moving Horvat to 2C, Barzal to 1C, and then having the wings freed up to look like a top 9 of something like:
Lysell Barzal Boeser
Eiserman Horvat Palmieri
Tsyplakov Nelson Duclair
Thoughts on that? Basically it comes down to Boeser in + Nelson 3C + Palmieri/Duclair out (and probably Cizikas or someone new as you said at 3C because I agree that Lee has to be LW4 now), or stay the course with the top 6 and add a brand new 3C. That seems to be the question.
For your crazy take, I took a peek just for fun and Barzal + pick 8 isn't enough to get pick 1 from Seattle so that'd sadly be a no go 😂 Thanks for all of your thoughts and hope to hear from you soon! I'll be recording the next episode in about 21 hours from this reply haha
@ I love this. You’re the GM!!! Sounds like a phenomenal plan. Really like pairing the two Calder candidates of 2017 together with the speed of Lysell, and that middle six is TOUGH let’s go data
I’d try to have conversations with young upcoming NHLers or those who will be here long term.
I’d go for a center and then do what you can to get Schaefer if he actually falls towards the end of round 1.
Two elite players are better than a crop of maybes.
Roger that! Thanks for leaving your thoughts! 🫡
Hey data. That season was pretty rough to watch but I think you handled the “soft sell” well and made the best of the situation. Now this offseason is where we really have to make some moves because we can’t keep the same lines after last years poor showing. That being said, I still think we have a strong core here on Long Island, and I would not go out and sell right away knowing that the offseason might wake up the AI brains of barzal, dobson, horvat, sorokin, etc. and make them realize that they’re hockey players again. If we play our cards right we can give ourselves a chance at contention next year while also building for the future.
The blueline is where we really need to make a stand this offseason. For dobson it seems like we will be forced to do a short term deal, and maybe that’s not a bad thing because he has not proven to me yet that he can be a #1 D on a Stanley cup team. Pelech is also a guy where we could consider capitalizing on his value. He’s not old, but by the time we will likely be really hitting our stride as true contenders, he will be 34-36. Maybe he’s the major piece in a move for a young sniper.
For the forwards I think it would be smart to mostly keep status quo, and for extensions we should keep them short. Also clauses are great to keep the cap lower, but reminder the mess that Lou left us in with all of these NTCs. I also am intrigued by the idea of ehlers or boeser at the draft, although we need to make sure we leave enough room for dobson, palmeri and nelson.
And finally for the draft. Like you said it will be tough to find value to grab two med elites in the 11-14 range. If we could get lucky and duclair, varlamov, etc. all waive their clauses it’s worth a try, but it’s okay if we just stay at our draft position as well. i
It also feels a bit cheese going for schaefer because that draft position makes no sense. I think we should definitely draft Fasth though. He should hopefully give us a #1 OFD to use down the road if dobson doesn’t stay for whatever reason.
Great episode data and I’ll see you at the draft! Go isles ❤
Hey Gaben! Glad that you approved of the approach for year one. As frustrating as the season was, I'm glad that it showed us what needs to change for year 2 😂 Agreed that we're not going to rebuild the core, but the supporting cast (namely the blue line) needs and will get a boost.
Speaking of the blue line, Dobson for one year makes perfect sense with his performance + his ridiculous asking price right now. For Pelech, he and his 5-star defense has to wake up or else we'll be taking advantage of his M-NTC starting July 1st. Roger that on the forward thoughts.
For the draft, you're right that another top 15 pick would be hard to swing unless players start waiving NTCs. We can always explore the idea, especially if a team has a pick on the block, but we don't need to make that an absolute. Agreed on Fasth, but I'm having a hard time staying away from Schaefer 😭 You're right that it would seem cheese, but maybe we can reconcile it by selecting him at a higher position if we haven't already traded up? Ex. trading for 20 and taking Schaefer if we weren't able to get to 12 for on of the other guys. We'll see what unfolds at the draft! Thanks for all of your thoughts and we'll see you on the floor :)
Bumpy ride for sure smart moves in moving out big contracts and acquiring picks and prospects but most importantly great episode like always ! All right lets dive into this ! Firstly for off season discussions i would ask Eiserman to work on in Def awareness because it was at a 70 rating at the start of episode one not sure if it grew or not but 70 isn’t nhl ready def awareness. Same thing for Lysell work on D awareness. If you plan to keep Duclair maybe ask gim to shoot more you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Now for the draft Fasth is a no brainer you said it yourself elite OFD are just to valuable and they can flip a franchise from bad to great should definitely help the low powerplay and scoring %. The Pelech moves make a lot of sense you could grab a lower overall top 4D man with either pick or/and prospects just need to find the perfect team to do so ! Maybe moving up for Matthew Schaefer could be interesting such at low pick with high value you should look into that could either become a great piece for the team or a super cheesy trade piece for the future, Varlamov might be the piece that could land you the low first round pick. It think thats all for me can’t wait for the next episode (like always).
Ravioli Ravioli give us the formuoli !
Hey Louis! Glad that you liked the moves we made so far. For the offseason discussions we'll definitely target Eiserman but I want to be careful with his defensive awareness. Part of the challenge with Eiserman is that his defensive play is horrible haha so, although we want and expect it to increase over time, if the game is promising a +5 to def awareness or something entering his rookie season, I wouldn't want that to happen yet if that makes sense. We'll see what the game offers us! Same on Lysell and Duclair.
Agreed on Fasth at the draft. I just wonder if that takes away from Dobson long-term as the PP1 QB? Just something to keep in mind. Pelech moving out might also become a necessity if he's going to continue being a defensive fraud 😂 Just gotta wait until July 1st for him and Varlamov, though, as the NTCs will become modified after the draft. Schaefer is also a target for sure.
Love the thoughts bello, thanks for leaving them! See you at the draft and I'll save you a plate of ravioli at the table! ;)
@ for Varlamov if you ask him 2 or 3 times he will waive is clause because he figures that you really want him of the team I tested that in my own franchise mode but it does feel cheesy 😅
@louismallard9811 🤣🤣 Noted!
@@Data782 also before you make the same mistake as me don’t give any promises when negociating with a player because when they get injured and come back with a playable injury they will me mad you scratched them… witch is I believe counterintuitive since you want them to make a full recovery… they loose 10 management morale per promise broken…
@louismallard9811 I've heard about this! Glad I know 🤦
Wow, I thought I did a good job scouting and when I got to my first draft it was a crapshoot with the potential. I always use 18 scouts in amateur leagues and only use potential/comparison scouting… guess I’ll have to watch your scouting video!
Haha absolutely! Here's the link below. I hope that it will be helpful for you! ua-cam.com/video/0XISQQxMWuE/v-deo.html
1:01:19 A NHL-ready defenseman in the late first. Why do I feel like we've been down this road 5000000 times before?
Haha I promise the only reason I gave him the time of day was because he isn't a generated prospect!
For contracts, I think you should sign Tsyplakov to a 4-year deal < $3.250M, Bolduc to a 2-year deal < $2M, and qualify, wait, and see on Dobson. Let go of Nelson and Palmieri.
For trades, trade Lee and Pelech for current/future picks and young roster players/prospects.
Our current picks are 8, 40, 54, 72, 105, 138, 170, and 204. My targets are Fasth (CS 11), Schaefer (CS 28), Haines (CS 45), Nikitin (CS 126), and Priessing, Raffle, Perezhogin, and Piispanen (CS 164, 165, 167, and 168, respectively).
With your 1st round pick, draft Fasth. With your early 2nd round pick, draft Haines. Use your late 2nd round pick to trade up to 25 or so to draft Schaefer. Probably use your 3rd in that trade-up as well. With your 4th round pick, draft Niktin. Trade down with your 5th round pick to the late 150s-early 160s to draft one of the targets in that area. Trade your 6th round pick and Nelson's or Palmieri's UFA's rights for another pick in that area to get another one of those targets. The other two picks in the 160s can probably be acquired in the trading out of Lee and Pelech. With your 7th round pick, either trade up with it, trade it for a future pick, or use it to trade for Boeser's UFA rights.
In free agency, sign one or two young roster players in the bottom 6, and a depth forward.
I think the lines could look like this next season:
1st F: Boeser-Barzal-Lysell
2nd F: Duclair-Horvat-Eiserman
3rd F: FA/TA-Cizikas-Tsyplakov
4th F: FA/TA-FA/TA-Anderson
Depth F: FA
1st D: Romanov-Dobson
2nd D: Fasth-Pulock
3rd D: Bolduc-Mayfield
Depth D: Xhekaj
G: Sorokin-Varlamov
Depth G: Skarek
Hey GenZ thanks for your thoughts!
I'm on board for the contracts, I'm just not sure what our money situation will look like exactly if we were to bring in a top 6 winger. Contract decisions will probably start on July 1st once we get a better idea of Dobson's ask when qualified. For Nelson and Palmieri, I'm not sure we can let them both go (as much as that would make sense from an outside point of view). He led the team in points and many have said Nelson leaving would cause riots, but he also has to be affordable. Palmieri is a question mark because I wouldn't mind a $2M 25-goal veteran being the LW3 instead of spending more on someone in FA, even if we know he'll start regressing.
Same idea with Lee and Pelech. Pelech I could see gone more easily if needed but a $7M 35-year old? Even if he weren't captain, I don't think Lee gets traded unless the deal REALLY makes sense for the team acquiring him. On top of the fact that we want to try and win with as much of the inherited team as possible, moving out Pageau, Engvall, Lee, Nelson, Palmieri, and Pelech within 9 months of taking over would be hard to swallow for fans.
I'll pin your draft targets! Thanks for taking the time to write out your game plan 🙌 Much love and see you for what should be a very exciting offseason ahead! :)
SPOILER WARNING
So, first things first. It's nice to see you going back to your roots as the 2nd-ever trade under GM Data782 (back in Montreal '18 series) was with NYI. Much smaller scale trade as it was Episode 1 and the regular season hadn't yet begun, but a nice wholesome moment for sure.
I believe the Xhekaj claim was fine. We can't predict the AI's peanut-sized brain that sends Xhekaj through waivers instead of Pierre "Is It Too Late To Say Sorry" Engvall. If Montreal is going to make a braindead move such as this, then us capitalizing is no issue. Like you said, if we don't claim him someone else will. Imagine if that other team was an Atlantic Division rival? I think Montreal prefers he come here instead of seeing him 10 times a year and possibly more with playoffs. After all, maybe in a show of good faith we trade him back later for less than he's worth. (i.e. instead of Xhekaj for 3rd being even, we trade a 4th). Building GM relationships is part of the business side anyways. Even though we're communicating with braindead AI we're trying to keep the realism.
As I'm keeping track of things, I noticed for Dobson, we offered $8.75M/4 with final 2 years as M-NTC of 29 teams when his ASK was $10.7M/2. The day AFTER he rejects the offer his ask increased $500K to $11.25M/2. In what world do you increase your ask when a differently tweaked contract is offered? If he wants that, he has to earn it. I vote no contract, let him join the expiring club and we'll revisit him at the draft or day one of RSP. Furthermore at episode's end, Dobson's new ask has dropped ever-so-slightly by $100K. I'm starting to dislike Dobson. If you'll allow me to pitch something (of course you will because this is just a suggestion and you take every single one into account), Dobson and his agent are playing contract games. Dobson does not want a contract extension. Even as we fiddle with M-NTCs and such, the needle isn't easy to move. I vote we jettison him out in the escape pod on draft day. And let's say at #8 (or lower if traded away) we draft LD Robert Fasth OFD Med Elite guy, I don't think that one guy is going to entice Dobson to stay. I think we ditch Dobson and acquire as much assets as possible. I get he was drafted here, played better part of 6 seasons so far, 7 maybe, but you had an off-year last year after reaching 70 pts in 71 GP the year prior. And you still want upwards of $10M. Doing this will allow other extensions to get done without being as restricted. Also moving Dobson could allow you to get a high draft pick if you wanted 2 of those Med Elite guys (i.e. Fasth & Misa, or Fasth & Martone).
For the draft we pick 8th, 40th, 54th (MTL), 72nd, 104th, 136th, 168th, and 202nd (PHI). Assuming we use #8 for the aforementioned Fasth, I'd like to see screenshots of the draft class around these spots to better see who I would recommend we pick up. If there's no one interesting around 40th, maybe we can trade our 2nd up to end of 1st round for LD/RD Matthew Schaefer. In my experience multi-position D-men are a hot commodity, and to find one with elite potential and NHL ready at the draft? Pfft, the stars are aligning over Long Island. D'Aigle, if we go that route, sounds like trade bait. LD/RD Kashawn Aitcheson around 44th looks great too, TWD, Top 4 potential. G Jack Ivankovic, not 100% scouted but trending in the elite-potential range in the 73rd overall zone. Later, into the late 100s (160-175) there is LW Ralf Preissing, RD Igor Perezhogin, and RW Tero Piispanen. All elite potential. Any one of these at this part of the draft is a steal IMO. Some other late depth defence in this draft is LD C. Silvester TWD 4-bar Low Top 4, and RD C. Girard OFD also 4-bar Low Top 4 projected past 200th overall. Don't need to see anyone specifically but again maybe some screenshots for around our picks (72, 104, 136, 168, 202); this is in case if who we want is no longer available and we're not scrambling to figure out a new target in a minute and a half.
And for FA, very little to say here: Two targets, just one of which, I'd like to see come to NYI; Boeser or Ehlers.
And to cap off this lengthy comment...I may have a bold ask. Before I've just let it go. I've brought it up once and never since. But now I'm digging the hole that I will lie in. I understand EA just drops in too many back-to-backs (this past season was 12), but I think that's where we have to reign it in. I don't recall any NHL team putting in the same goalie on back-to-back nights. When I see that many back-to-backs it tells me that there are 12 games our starter doesn't take just like there's 12 games our backup gets guaranteed. Just to keep realism I think we make sure our goalies are properly rested and not overworked. Sure, this is EA but that's what where our fight is right? Re-working their work so that it's realistic. So really all I'm asking is to stop full calendar sims at the back-to-backs making sure the same goalie doesn't play back-to-back. Of those 12 back-to-backs here is our record: (L-W / W-L / L-L / W-OTW / SOW-L / L-L / L-L / OTW-W / W-L / W-L / W-L / L-L). So over those 24 games we went 10-14 with 3 post-regulation wins meaning we could've easily been 7-17 in those back-to-backs. We as an organization must be diligent and take accountability for not doing everything in our power to finish with a good record. Not that we have to do this next season but if the back-to-back results are similar or worse I'll bring this back up again.
As per usual another wonderful video! Thank you for keeping us entertained! Looking forward to the next one!
LETS
GO
ISLES
(P.S. Thank you to whomever brought up Robertson as a trade target! Absolutely! With the full year in the top 6 we could see Robertson break out to high-80s. He wants out of Toronto, let's get him in here without overpaying!)
AGM MightyJoeMaple signing off.
Mighty Bello!! Glad I could finally get to this ❤️ It's getting late and I'm trying to finish up the comments before recording tomorrow (a day behind schedule), but I'll work through your thoughts!
Love that callback to NHL 18! Only you could do such a thing so thank you for that.
Good points on Xhekaj.
I'm not disagreeing with anything you're saying on Dobson because I'm starting to get annoyed now too haha, BUT I think your suggestion is just 3-12 months in advance. I think at the very least we need to see what qualifying him does and how his longterm demand looks on July 1st. If he changes his tune, I'm more than happy to commit to him longterm but, if he still wants ridiculous money, we'll start looking at trade options as soon as the episode after next which will allow for as many AGMs as possible to get trade ideas in.
Will get you screenshots on Discord. And roger that for FA: Boeser or Ehlers 🫡
You know what, you raise a very good point about the back-to-backs. I'll be honest that I always notice them but, when we have auto-goalie rotate turned off, my frustration with the speed of the sim or even just the sim itself often has me just say "forget it" and allow for that goalie to play both. Moving forward, especially with more to play for starting in year 2, I'll be better about that. Not a bold ask at all - you're doing your job! ;)
And finally, for Robertson, I love the idea of him but the wings in the top 6 will be getting pretty full - especially if we bring in Boeser/Ehlers. I think we have to consider him as a consolation if we get neither instead of a target in and of himself. Acquiring him in addition to Boeser/Ehlers might mean Lysell being moved out/buried a little and we brought him here to free him from Boston doing that. We'll keep an eye on Robo!
Thank you for all of these wonderful thoughts and much love to you, bello! See you at the draft for what should be an exciting offseason ahead :)
Sim is so far accurate. Islanders can't score even in real life. But let's try to fix them here
Since Noah Dobson is asking for ridiculous price, I think we should trade him for some first round pick. There are many great players in top 16 and I think if we trade Noah Dobson for first and some other prospect, we could use that prospect and our early second to acquire another first.
Our prospect pool is miserable so it doesn't matter much who we take. I would use it take that LD OFD and if we can, then Martone since he is NHL ready and with out cap situation he could get into NHL with even 78ish rating.
I would love to draft Adam Benák, he is criminally underated in sim and real life as well, but we can't have everything
Great episode and see you in next one
Haha true that! It's been a rough start for the Islanders in the real world so they need success in the Dataverse more than ever.
Dobson being traded is sadly looking more and more likely. I think we have to do our due diligence by qualifying him and seeing what his demands look like on July 1st but, if his longterm ask is still crazy, I'd lean a one year contract and then decide in the episode after this next one so that the AGMs can really craft the best possible package. Or, you never know, maybe his longterm ask becomes reasonable and we sign him this offseason. We'll see!
For the draft, Martone seems to be a favourite but, as I explained in the Discord server, and in some other comments here, we may stay away from high-end generated players exclusively in year 1 so as to hold to the Islanders challenge as well as possible. And I'll keep note of Benák if possible ;)
Thank you very much for leaving your thoughts and we'll see you at the draft!
I say Eiserman and Horvat should get the offseason goals. Definitely look to trade down I found some of the late first round D prospects sim and grow pretty well. Schaefer especially worked well in my Stars franchise! Here’s hoping for a quick retool/turn around rather than a full on rebuild!
Roger that! Thanks Bruno! 🫡
The off season focus convos are not OP or broken and I’ve seen first hand how they can legitimately sometimes do nothing. One sim I did I asked an elite power forward to increase his speed 3 different off seasons… It never even went up 1 point. I understand that certain player types can’t develop some skills as well as others. However if a playmaker for example has a horrible passing stat you could tell them to improve it and they would be more likely to focus it during the off season.
Generally I keep it simple if he’s a big or defensive guy ask him to improve defensively or physically. If it’s a skill player tell them to improve their speed, puck skills, ETC. You can still ask a sniper for example to improve defensively but I find most of the time it does nothing to certain role players. It’s still worth seeing if players can grow certain stats but it’s very rare for stats “outside of their role”.
Fair enough thanks for noting that! I haven't done a ton of experimentation with offseason goals yet so I appreciate your insight and observations. We'll see how they work for our squad!
Spoilers
Hi Data,
Thank you for another episode, which gives us some hope indeed and I am sure we are in better situation than last year.
I had a list of things we should do in the off-season, but after those awful results you did the most important moves already and you did even better than I though we could. There have been some really good moves in this episode and I liked them a lot.
What I had on the list was also getting rid of Lee - if every goal from him cost us 700k then something is very, very wrong. That's not captaincy if you ask me... If we can use him as a trade bait in this draft, or trade for future picks. I don't care, which it would be. All I know is if we want to see successful team, it would not be with him in the line-up.
I am not happy with our star forwards, either. However I think we should get both Barzal and Horvat one more season to see, if they can be paid what they are paid.
Nelson was actually one of very few who performed well and I would try to get him 2 year deal, not much more...he has a lot of interest in the organization, so would little bit less money with 16 teams no trade list interest him? I am on PS4 and I am not familiar with those new features yet, but is there an option to promise him captaincy in those re-sign negotiations? If he asks for too much anyway, then let him go and get Boeser, or anyone who can score.
If you can sign Palmieri also for 2 years and I think we can go up to 2.25M, then we should be ok. If we can sign one of those two, I would not mind, but I would get higher priority to Nelson, if I had to pick one of them.
Then I was thinking about Pelech, but I will get there later...
As we spoke at the beginning, we are paying too much for goalies and there is no guarantee of anything. As you say, we would like to ask Sorokin, if we could move him...I don't see it working, but should try...if not than we should probably move Varlamov to free up some cap space and keep Halak as backup.
As for scoring I was curious about the options in the draft and I did not see any pure sniper very high in top 15 ranked players. There might be one among those PWF and I would check that, too. However, after seeing the options I would prefer to get some OFD instead, who can be future face of the franchise on the blue line. I am talking about Fasth and even his strengths are really good combination and as we know D from Sweden are usually good. And we are not forced to get him to NHL right now as he can grow nicely in one of the best leagues in Europe and in one year from now we can get him time on the second pair and trade Pelech out. Romanov can play on the first line until Fasth is ready to take what is supposed to be his spot for years and years to come. But let's keep an eye on his situation, if he gets his ice time in Sweden and if he is growing in SHL.
I almost forgot about your question about off-season goals. If I was supposed to get growth from three players, I would like that especially from Eiserman, Lysell and Romanov - the last one of them because we probably need to get more from him, when/if he would temporary get first line minutes in the season 26-27 with Fasth on the second line and Pelech out. However, I would adjust that if you draft someone else, of course...
I might come with some more ideas, or more detail later, but these are the most important ideas I had after seeing this episode.
Go Data! Go Isles!
Hi Steven! Thank YOU for another AGM comment :) I'm glad that you've liked the moves so far!
Lee is a tough one 😂 I know his goal scoring value is low, but as a player on the last year of a $7M contract I would prefer to just play him LW4 and let it run out instead of having to pay a third round pick to dump him (not to mention his place in franchise history as captain). If we NEED to move him to make a move, we can think about it then but I'm not desperate.
Agreed on Horvat/Barzal, as well as two years on Nelson. Yes I could promise him the captaincy in negotiations, but I believe that would only raise his organizational interest which I think is already high enough if I recall correctly so no need. I'd also like to keep Palmieri but if it means having to trade a 3rd to dump Lee, he may have to walk. For the goalies, you know I wouldn't mind trading Sorokin haha but that would be a big move and I'd want to hear trade scenarios from the AGMs first. Maybe we can just ask him to waive for now and, if he says yes, then we can plan for a future move.
Fasth is a really tough one because, in theory, he is absolutely the guy we should draft. My only hesitation is that, if we want to make our NYI challenge as realistic as possible, players like Martone/McQueen/Misa would be available with a top-10 pick in 2025 but Fasth would not. To get a player as good as him just three episodes into the series would almost make me feel guilty of not holding to the challenge 😂 And thanks for your thoughts for the offseason conversations.
Phew a lot to think about headed into this draft! I feel the weight as GM haha but I'm confident that the AGMs have set me in the right direction. Looking forward to seeing you for what should be an exciting offseason and thanks again for taking the time to leave your suggestions! :)
@@Data782 Thank you for your reply. I think we should not feel guilty for drafting Fasth, because this new system of re-signings and negotiations doesn't give us as much chances to cheese it with long term deals and as you see from Dobson, elite D still ask too much money. However, there are more reasons, why I incline to Fasth. Martone has C skating and Fasth has almost everything A, or A- with exception for defense, where he is B-, if we can trust our scouts. McQueen has some weakness and he is one year away. He has also worse skill-set than Fasth. If there was a value we can spend, even future picks, we might have a chance to get two of them and then I would take Fasth and one of the guys you mentioned. This option was suggested by CheetingHeal and someone else as well among these comments. I like the idea more I think about it. Anyway, I am sure you will do the best. Good luck with the draft and all the off-season moves.
We did what we could Data. This team has been in a spiral losing their identity over the last few years. We need to rekindle the winning mentality.
That being said you always make the best of a bad situation so great episode.
Starting with the draft I think we should get one of McQueen or Martone. PWF seem to sim well and in my experience more like snipers.
If we get lucky and acquire another 1st rnd pick go for Fasth as well. (But if we have the value for another 1st why not swing for the fences with the first overall)
During resign I suggest trade Lee if possible or buy him out.
Also I agree money makes a long term deal for Dobson difficult but maybe qualify and see if it drops after July first or beginning of season. I still believe in him and think he should b on this team long term.
With that in mind the conversation tool could work for us and not b cheese bc in the opening you mentioned how players love to stay on the island and the game can't really account for that loyalty. if we use it to get his team interest back up and then pay him a realistic amount, even if it looks like an over pay by his new request.
With wanting to improve and give younger players spots we need to move out contracts. I think duclair was a nice try but underwhelming. if we want to resign Nelson and Palmieri in lesser roles we can't have foudy McLean wahlstrom and the others holding spots too.
I'm for Nelson over Palmieri if we can only get one. Strictly bc he's a home grown talent .
I also think this d core should have a do over. The Ufa options seem lateral in improvement in my opinion.
Boeser! Boeser! Boeser!
I think it would help any of him, bo, or barzy break out in points if not all three having him on top pair.
As far as conversations to boost overall horvat definitely deserves one and why not tsyplokov if we are going to try to keep him. We all agree he's a little low anyway.
Other than that great episode look forward to the next one and thanks for reading
Agreed! Thank Alfred :)
I hear you on Martone and McQueen. I wonder if a real PWF would sim in the same sniper-ish way as a generated PWF does, but your point most certainly still remains. As great as Fasth would be, I'm personally still wrestling if it would accelerate our timeline too much by drafting him since we know how overpowered a strong OFD can be. Gonna have to keep thinking about that.
For contracts, I'd love to have Lee finish his contract/career in the bottom 6, but we have to have the money to allow that to happen. As crazy as it would be, I don't think we can let a guy like Boeser not come to Long Island because we need our 35-year old captain to play one more year. We'll see what becomes necessary in the offseason. And yeah for Dobson we'll definitely explore what his demand looks like on July 1st/if a conversation would be helpful for his organizational interest.
Agreed on Nelson over Palmieri if necessary but I think we can roll both. I doubt that Wahlstrom/Foudy/MacLean will be holding full-time spots. And fingers crossed on the Boeser option! Thanks for leaving your thoughts and looking forward to an exciting offseason! :)
I personally would try and wave any no-movement clauses try to trade what might be worth it and hopefully turn that into draft picks and see if you can retain 50% of sorkoin. I would also give Bo Horvat the captaincy.
Thanks for your thoughts! We'll see what we can do at the draft :)
There's so many possibilities for us this offseason.
I'll start with the draft.
I probably would go for Martone or Fasth at #8. We either want a top pair dman (especially if we end up having to trade Dobson next season if his long term demands aren't coming down after extending him for 1 year) or someone to play alongside Barzal. In an ideal world, we trade for another top 10 pick and get both, just not sure what we'd trade to make that happen but, if we can somehow make it work, I would definitively look into it. Maybe we add our 1st pick in 2-3 years and hope we're a much better team by then? If we can lock 2 big peices of our future right away, it might be worth it and I doubt we end up drafting in the top 10 again if we get both of them + we revamp a bit our top 6 in the offseason so it's a gamble that could pay off big time. Trading up from 40th to late 20s to get Schaefer could be something we look into although, I'm quite ok to pass on late 1st round nhl ready players... we know how this usually turns up and, with how depleted our prospect pool is, I'd prefer to keep all picks so I'd only think about doing this if we trade our 2nd pick + a player we do not intend to keep; I wouldn't do, lets say, both of our 2nd round picks for a late 1st. If we don't move up for Shaefer, I'd probably go with Aitcheson as we have to replenish our dmen pool, especially with how much $ dmen are asking for. We need cheap options coming over asap.
As far as contract goes, I think we need to limit as much as we can the amount of ntc we give players; we're already handcuff with the clauses we have, let's not give too many of these (at least, not a lot that are 50%+ teams restrictions). We also might want to wait until the resigning phase or until July 1st to extend anyone. As I mentioned in my comment last time, I'm not in a rush to extend our players with the way they simmed last season and, until we know who we can get as upgrades and how much they will cost, we need to keep wiggle room. If Rantanen ever drops to ufa, I think we need to go all-in; he'd cost more than Ehlers or Boeser would but he should produce a lot more than either of them and would be a perfect fit for Barzal. Signing him would mean letting Nelson walk and we'd probably need to trade Lee which, to be honest, I wouldn't mind. These 2 alone would pay for Rantanen's salary and he'd probably give us more than both combined as far as production goes. I don't think we can afford not to do this if this ends up being on the table. Either way, I wouldn't bring back a 33yo Nelson who's asking for 6m$ per year. If it's not Rantanen, I'd use that $ on one of Ehlers or Boeser (probably Ehlers). I also wouldn't go 2 years on Palmieri; at 34yo, he's bound to regress before the end of that contract. I'm on the fence about Tsyplakov; I don't think he'd be anything more than a 3rd liner for us so maybe we use his trade value right away? I'd trade Pelech if we can for sure, probably Mayfield too as I'd be ok with Bolduc and Xhekaj on the 3rd pair and trading both of these would give us an extra 9m$ of cap space. Pelech can probably be replaced short term by one of Lingren or Gavrikov on a short term deal or we draft and bring Fasth right away. I'd also look at trading Varlamov as, again, he has decent trade value and we can replace him easily. I get that he has a decent contract but, what's the worth of that good contract if performance is subpar? Might as well use the value on something that might actually help us.
I'm not sure how much of a boost these discussions / goals have. Looking at what we tried with Horvat, it's not looking like it had much impact but, if we do use them, we should probably focus on some of the prospects we want to see growth from (Lysell, Eiserman). I'm not sure it's worth using on 30yo ish players as they probably already are what they are going to be, I doubt it will impact them a lot.
There's an easy soft reset available to us here where we can get rid of a ton of cap space and upgrade with REAL top 6 players via ufa for similar money and there are also decent options on defense. Getting a 2nd top 10 pick would also go a long way into ensuring we're very competitive within a window of 2 years while having great options to replace some of our over 30yo players. This should be our #1 focus if there are available picks for trade. Looking a couple of years down the road, a top 6 or Barzal, Martone, Horvat, Lysell, Eiserman and one of Rantanen or Ehlers isn't half bad. Add a top pair of Fasth and Dobson (or whomever we trade him for if we can't extend him long term as we'd have to get a young top dman back in any trade we do) and you have the building blocks of a winning team. If Sorokin can get his **** together and we find decent options to take over for our aging defensive core in a couple of years, this could be our core for the next 6 or 7 seasons before we then have to cycle out Barzal, Horvat and Rantanen/Ehlers, giving us plenty of time to win and find suitable replacements for them.
This off season is probably already the most important one of our tenure and will go a long way into molding this team for the rest of our stay at the helm of the franchise so we need to ensure we take the proper steps to make this team a contender for years to come. Trying to do short term patching could end up delaying us bringing back this franchise to it's former glory by quite some time. Lets rip off the band-aid so the healing can speed up!
Looking forward to the offseason buddy!
Sooo many possibilities!
I'm on the same page with you for our pick at #8. I think we go Martone or Fasth and that's it in round 1 unless there's a pick on the block that really makes sense for us value-wise to get Schaefer. My issue then would be getting a real world top 5 prospect at like 30th overall haha but I could see us taking him at 15-20 and saying he had a draft year injury if the value really works. Also, for Fasth, taking a generated prospect that high in the 2025 draft doesn't sit suuuuuper well with me when we know he could join the team as soon as year #2. That's why taking a guy like Martone and then moving on from round 1 may be what ends up happening.
For Rantanen, I won't dive too deep into that possibility unless he drops to FA but, if he does, we'll very seriously look at making a strong bid for him. I do see a guy like Boeser being a solid consolation, and it would likely allow us to keep Nelson who is probably retiring with us. Palmieri is the one who's more of a question mark, I think. For Tsyplakov, I'm curious to see if he can maintain his 83 OVR or even increase over the offseason (although that'd mean more $$ longterm) and, for Pelech, if we need money, I could definitely see him going.
For the conversations, I think it could impact older players just as much! What we did with Horvat previously was give him a goal but offseason focus is a different thing. We'll soon find out more.
In theory, you're 100% right as Nelson, Palmieri, Lee, Pelech, and Varlamov could all be out this offseason to clear way for FA and overall manoeuvrability. Keeping with the challenge we've given ourselves in this series, I don't think we can do anything that drastic at this time. That doesn't mean moves won't be made because we are EXPECTING to compete in year #2, but I just want to be careful to respect the confines of the challenge through all of our moves. I agree that this offseason may be the most important in terms of molding our team of the future. As much as possible, let's avoid the patchwork and rip that bandaid off while still trying to get as much of the original core as possible a Cup. It's not an easy balance to strike! Thanks for all of your thoughts and we'll see you at the draft! :)
TABK TANK TANK TANK SELL
🗣️🗣️🗣️!!
I would go for the OFD and Martone or Mcqueen
Noted! 🫡
I would try to get both Fasth and Martone. If not I think Fasth could be a good one to play with Dobson or argument to trade Dobson as you could use him as remplacement.
Fair point! Thanks for adding your thoughts! 🫡
1st time doing anything like this, so hopefully none of my suggestions are too crazy as I did a ton of research for this. Also apologies for the length, just kept typing and typing. Anyway, I've tried looking at this offseason from as many possible different scenarios as possible with a focus on maximizing Barzel and Horvat's primes and have come up with many suggestions and ideas to look at (along with my opinion on what's best which honestly doesn't mean a lot in this.) Good luck getting through this, it's gonna take a while
Resigning
Noah Dobson: Unfortunately I don't feel like those number will drop to a reasonable amount (Even assuming you can drop 3-4 million with either time or a NTC, is Dobson worth Draisaitl level money in the long term (Genuinely asking, dont know if he will develop to that level) If we can get him back to 10-12 mil then maybe a long term deal makes sense but I feel like the best move is to trade him this offseason while he still has a year of RFA eligibility left to give his new team plenty of time to sign him to a new deal
Brock Nelson: I understand the concern about his age, however unless we are rebuilding, it feels wrong to let our points leader from this season walk. That said, I would only sign him to a 2 year deal at most as he will slowly fall out of the top 6 as younger forwards such as Eiserman and Lysell develop and we don't want to be paying 6 mil+ into their contract extensions (it would also match up perfectly with Anderson's contract, opening up a significant chunk of salary cap for 2027)
Kyle Palamari: GONE! He's looking like he's hit his final peak before permanent declining and despite his cheap contract demands we have to many high end forwards to worry about anyway. The only reason we should resign him is if we intend to play Eiserman on the fourth line which seems unlikely due to you counting him as a top 9 forward in the offseason preview (Plus a conversation with him or Lysall may bump them up to true top line contention.)
(Continued in comments)
Trades
If we were wanting to get a second lottery pick, I think trying to return to the Buffalo Sabres trade would be a good idea but trying to get their 2026 first round pick instead of Jack Quinn could work. Of course this would have more value so in return you could send a forward to up the value. If Duclair were to waive his no-trade clause to them he would make sense as they are about to potentially lose Jason Zucker to free agency and he would be a good replacement while they wait for their young left wingers in Rosen and Kulich develop into middle six forwards. Alternatively (and more likely due to the NTC) you could send Tsyplakov in the deal which would also sense long term as the money used to resign Dobson by Buffalo could potentially price them out of resigning Alex Tuch (who is supposed to be a free agent after the 2025-26 season) so Tsyplakov would allow them to still have a strong top 3 on the right side as Peterka and Quinn move up in lines. I assume a couple of mid to low picks would be required as well. As for Buffalo giving up their 1st next year, the justification would be the idea that having a natural top 4 RHD and a more developed forward core (plus a little desperation due to their long-standing playoff drought they thought they were going to break for the last couple of seasons) would hopefully push them into a playoff spot in 2026 (which if it wasn't for the fact they are in the Atlantic would be an unfair statement IMO)
Following this, you could reroute the Sabres pick to Detroit for the 12th Overall Pick which would hopefully put you in the perfect place to choose between Martone, McQueen or Misa (assuming the draft order stays the same.) Detroit could potentially claim that this makes sense as Buffalo finished with a worse record than them in the standings so they could be tempted to kick the can down the road for a potentially higher pick next year. However, if they were to want something that would help them win now, they are at risk of losing two of their goalies in free agency in Lyon and Husso, which could make them a suitor for Varlamov (again, assuming his NTC wouldn't block it) in exchange for a mid round pick recouping some of what you gave to Buffalo.
This would set up a 3-Team Trade that would look like this:
To Buffalo: Noah Dobson + Anthony Duclair/Maxim Tsyplakov + Pick(s)
To Detroit: To Detroit: 2026 Sabres 1st Round Pick (+ Semyon Varlemov?)
To New York: Bowan Byram & 2025 Red Wings 1st Round Pick (+ Pick(s)?)
Again, this is justifiable due that at the Trade Deadline, Buffalo and Detroit made a deal that sent J.T. Comphier and picks to Buffalo for Connor Clifton and picks so they already have a recent history of negotiating with each other.
Adam Pelech is the next big piece on the block. Before we trade him, is there a chance we could convince him to play on the right side using conversations? I know it's possible in the regular season but not sure about the offseason. If not I feel like we should let free agency play out first (first 2-3 weeks) before moving on from him so we can see our team needs. From there, I have three ideas.
1. Trade for a second pair RHD (I feel like the right guy could be in free agency (mentioned later) but if he either doesn't make it to free agency or goes with another team, this might be a necessity)
2. Trade for a top 6 forward, (Assuming we miss out on both Boeser and Ehlers)
3. My preferred option, assuming we don't need to one of the other two. Trade for a 3rd line center (so we can play Cizikas on the fourth line again and have constant strong play in the middle of the ice.) and some mid level picks. (The first name that came to mind after rewatching the video for research was Nicholas Robertson due to your trade block, but also justifiable due to his recent trade demands and the acquisition of Lucius at the deadline.)
Finally, Anders Lee. A long time Islander who has only ever played for them but has lost a step. Luckily, the previous regime set the example of what a cap dump trade would look like when they traded Josh Bailey along with their 2026 2nd Round Pick to Chicago for future considerations. Now, Chicago isn't likely to be interested in repeating such a deal since they just made the playoffs with 91 points, but San Jose (who just had the worst record in the league for the second year in a row) or another team at the bottom might be (all determined by Lee's M-NTC of course). Now, Lee scored 8 more points than Bailey did in his final season (33-25) so you might be able to knock it down to a 3rd. As for future considerations, according to most things I've seen about such a thing (mostly Steve Dangle's Trade Tree videos to be honest) it usually turns out to be a late round pick. So a potential trade would look something like this:
To New York: Future Considerations (basically the latest 6th or 7th round pick possible)
To San Jose: Anders Lee + 2028 Islanders 3rd Round Pick
Draft
It feels like no matter what happens Fasth is the guy we take with our pick due to how valuable OFD's are (I think anyway, my main basis for this is your videos.) If we were to get a second lottery pick from the previously mentioned trade I would go for either Martone or McQueen as they feel like they fit the Islanders more defensive minded style of play (once again, this is not my strong suit.) Apart from that, the only opinion is that we need a long term goalie prospect with higher than fringe starter potential. I understand not wanting D'Aigle but I would really want Jack Ivankovic (3 Bar Medium Elite) in the 3rd round if he's still available (not sure if he's worth a late second round overdraft or not.) Apart from, no clue about the rest of the draft
Free Agency
(All this is done under the assumption that no drafted players will be signed to immediately play in the NHL and will all either be in the Minors or unsigned)
Forwards
Assuming we are able to trade for the rights of Boeser or Ehlers and sign them, that would give us a top 6 of them, Horvart, Barzel, Nelson, Dulclair/Tsyplakov and Eiserman/Lysall and a bottom 6 of Anderson, Cizikas, Gauthier, Eiserman/Lysall, Lee (assuming he's not traded) and a ??? at 4th line C based off current roster construction. Unfortunately, we didn't see the bottom 6 forwards but I would be looking for a fourth line C and a fourth line LW as even if their role is filled by someone else via trades, there is a chance they would still be a better 13th forward than Foudy or Wahlstrom.
Defenseman
Assuming we trade Pelech, we are going to need a top 4 defenseman to replace him. If we trade Dobson, it feels like the main target should be Neal Pionk, who provides a stable presence on the right side that fits Barzel and Horvat's timeline. If we don't trade Dobson, Jake McCabe for a year on the 2nd pair before dropping to the third upon the arrival of Fasth makes sense for playoff contention. Eitherwise Proverov or Lindgren also fit Barzel and Horvat's timeline and a shutdown partner next to Dobson, but due to their younger age I'm a little concerned about their salary demands. The bottom pair and seventh D are already sorted with Bolduc, Mayfield and Xhekaj so no need to look for replacements (yet, Mayfield is definitely a player to keep an eye on due to his age.
Goalies
I feel like the most likely outcome is that Varlamov is still backup goalie on opening night, but if he were to be traded, I would like to see Karel Vejmelka become the new backup as he is the youngest of the four backup goalies shown to be available in free agency (everyone above him feels too good to be backing up Sorokin)
Results
This would leave with a depth chart (with all potential moves added plus what if the current roster construction remained (with everyone resigned)) looking like:
1st Line: Horvart/Nelson/Ehlers - Barzel/Horvart - Barzel/Boeser
2nd Line: Duclair/Eiserman/Lysall - Horvart/Nelson - Duclair/Palamari (UNLIKELY, BUT STILL)/Tsyplakov
3rd Line: Eiserman/Lysall - Cizikas/Robertson/??? - Anderson
4th Line: Eiserman/Lee/??? - Cizikas/Robertson/??? - Gauthier
13th Forward: Foudy/Wahlstrom/???
Top Pair: Bryam/Lindgren/Pelech/Proverov/Romanov - Dobson/Pulock
Second Pair: McCabe/Romanov - Pelech(?)/Pionk/Pulock
Bottom Pair: Bolduc - Mayfield
7th D: Xhekaj
Goalie 1: Sorokin
Goalie 2: Varlamov/Vejmelka
Seems confusing but hopefully something helps.
P.S. Don't know if this comment is longer than CheatingHeel's or not, but it has given me a major appreciation for him doing something similar on every video. Props to you man.
Hey there Mr. TC! Wow this is incredible! Thank you so much not only for your suggestions and research, but the time it took to write all of that down! Rest assured that every word is read and taken into consideration. Now, let's see what I can reply to!
Re-signings: Yeah, even best case scenario, if Dobson's ask is still like $18M for a longterm contract, we won't be able to get it down more than a few million. I'd be looking at the 8x$10M range or so, so his ask once qualified on July 1st will have to be very different if we're going to keep him. I agree on aiming for a two-year deal with Nelson. For Palmieri, although regression is a certainty, I'm not sure anyone else could fill a L3 veteran 20+ goal kind of role for $2M. He isn't a lock, but I COULD see him back on the third line depending on other offseason moves.
Trades: Wow! I love the three team idea! We've done a couple of those in the past and they're always fun to work out. You may be about 3-12 months early, though, because I think we have to first do our due diligence on Dobson and see if a longterm contract is a possibility. If not, we'll be thinking of trade scenarios as soon as the episode after this next one. So hold those thoughts! Same for Pelech as him moving out would likely be a part of the falling dominoes that starts with a Dobson decision. You're right that a new 3C is likely needed, though, unless maybe Nelson fills that role? It may depend on if he sees any regression over the offseason. For Lee, I wouldn't mind keeping him as LW4 so that we don't need to trade away a draft pick to dump him on the final year of his contract, but we'll keep that idea in mind of it becomes a necessity.
Draft: You're 100% right that Fasth is likely the guy, but I may shy away from him as a generated player in the year 1 draft. I want to keep this series as challenging and as somewhat reflective of the real world as possible so drafting and putting Fasth into the lineup by 2025 might take away from that. Just thinking out loud. And agreed on Ivankovich!
Free Agency: Noted for all positions!
I like the lineup that that would leave us with! Again, just so many maybes in there which is why there are so many slashes and question marks haha but I like our position headed into year #2. And I'm even more confident with AGMs like you on our side! I know it's a lot of work to write all of that out so I really appreciate it. Never any pressure to have to beat CheatingHeel! 😂 Much love to you and looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the offseason ahead!
Hey data great vid, I have a feel ideas I think Dobson is a good player but He’s not really seeming to loyal he’s asking for way to much in my opinion I think there’s two options we can try the 1 year deal or we can try to trade him if we were to trade him now idk if he has like a no trade list or anything but I think there is two teams that make sense the kings and the flyers due to them both missing the playoffs and the storylines that could come in to play. The kings players are getting older it might be time for them to look for there new number defence men and I think Dobson could totally fits that he’s still only 24 and he has proved he can play at a top level over the past years, there could be a few players we could be interested in getting back from them such as Mikey Anderson, Brandt Clarke or Alex Laferriere. On the other side if we decide to trade him to the flyers I think getting Drysdale and Bobby brink could help the team: Drysdale is only about 22-23 years old and still has room to grow as a defence men at 83 overall he could be a solid player for us in the future and I think getting Bobby brink could help the offensive he’s 21 years old I think and 82-83 overall so could be a interesting player to watch grow and I think this trade would also help out the flyers, when you look at there defence there’s not really to much that’s stands out so getting a player like Dobson could really help them out. That’s just my thought on what we could do with Dobson, for free agents I think that Jakob Chychrun could be a good defence men to go after he’s a 86 overall and at 27 still had some good years left in him he can also play on the left or right side a good player to cause he can pretty much play wherever we need him to be as for the forwards I do think boeser would be nice to pick up for a few years. I still think Robertson would be a good player to go after if we could find a trade that works for both teams. Those are just some ideas, great video can wait for part 3
Hey Pug thank you kindly! Great ideas, thanks for all of those suggestions. I fear that we may be looking at a Dobson trade in the near future but, for next episode, I think we'll aim to get him signed for one year and go from there. Unless his longterm demand really comes down on July 1st, we'll be considering trade partners as soon as the episode after this next one. The Kings, Flyers, and even as some others said the Sabres could all make sense! Nick Robertson is also an idea depending on what happens with our look at Boeser/Ehlers (or even Rantanen if he were to fall to free agency). Thanks again and see you at the draft! :)
I think you trade all the way back for Schaefer. Medium elite NHL ready left hand defenseman with the ability to play on the ride side. Trading back that far could could give you some great assets moving forward.
In theory you're 100% right! But in EA Land where draft pick trading is ridiculous, this is how our options really look:
Option A: Draft a MED Elite at 8, trade a 2nd and a 3rd to draft Schaefer.
Option B: Trade down to draft Schaefer, gain a 3rd or a B prospect.
So, with that in mind, I think we attempt to go for both! Trading down to recoup value would work well in the real world, but just sadly not as much in Franchise Mode. Thanks for adding your thoughts!
If you’re drafting a D-man, you draft Swedish. I think that’s basically law, right?
That IS true.. 👀
Maybe increasing the organizational interest for Dobson can increase the contract interest?
It's worth a shot! We'll open up the conversation and see if that's of any help if the numbers are still ridiculous once he's qualified on July 1st
lysell, eiserman, and Barzal should get off-season goals.
hot take but get what you can for Dobson. if that Buffalo deal is still on the table take it and run.
at pick 8 i think we actually trade down for Porter Martone.
also trade up from the 2nd for Schaefer
Thanks Landon! We'll know more on Dobson as soon as he reveals his extension ask. I wouldn't want to move him until we at least see that, but if it's still like $18M then trade options will be the #1 priority
Hi Landon, is there any chance to convince you we should pick someone else in this draft? I was also thinking we need a pure sniper, but with rare opportunity to get OFD LD Fasth I would take him.
There are 3 arguments for Fasth:
1. Fasth can be No.1 D of our organization, who can be here for many years to come and these LD OFD are rarely available as high as this year. When you draft them later even with the same potential, they are usually bums.
2. Martone has C skating and Fasth has no skill lower than B- (that is his defense and everything else is A- or better).
3. I don't think Martone is that sniper we need, he has much more assists than goals. If I did go for forward, I would be looking for goal-scoring.
@@StevenY.Sk.19
1. I want Martone mostly because he’s my favorite prospect irl in this draft
2. The trade i want to do with Dobson so to send him to the Sabres for Bowen Byram and Jack Quinn. Byram could be that long term 1LD and Quinn is a sniper as well.
@@landon___- Thank you for your reply. I was really curious because I usually agree with you on almost everything, but this time we see different paths. I still think we have an opportunity you get only once in 20 years if the formula, which we used to see in the previous versions of the game, has not changed for NHL 25.
Sorry, I know this isn’t the proper video for this question but
Do you know how to delete slider presets?
I have like 10 of them and almost before every franchise game you have to load the correct one!
So frustrating 😢
No problem! I don't play around with slider presets too much but, to the best of my knowledge, you can save over the presets but not actually delete them. Have you tried going into the "saved data" of NHL 25 and looking there?
@@Data782 Thank you very much for the reply.
I might have to delete all data from the game and just start over 😢
Can’t wait for the everything franchise video
Rant SZN loading
I'm ready!! 😤
I wish the game devs could fix the weird points, High scoring and Medium shot frequency makes all my players get 30 points and my good players 60. With only 5 or 7 getting over 100 somehow the sim is worse than last year personally.
Incredible 😭😂