Hope for the Bottom Feeders

[dave1959]

in the IFFHL, Richmond RiverDogs was dead last in 2015/16.

Just won the League Championship.

[KapG]

in the IFFHL, Richmond RiverDogs was dead last in 2015/16.

Just won the League Championship.

Oh man, that’s amazing. Look at Matthew here too...not dead last recently by any means but he was definitely a rebuilder and now he’s going blow for blow with the champ.

Also...this may not be the case for everyone, but while rebuilding the last year and a half...two years, I’ve probably never had as much fun in the league lol. Whether it’s selling off my better pieces for younger unproven guys and futures or drafting and developing. Really looking forward to seeing if I can’t take that next step when the time is right

Hopefully this league is around for a couple more decades at least...I’m not as close with a lot of you as you are with each other but I really do love this place.

[Bruyns]

Hopefully this league is around for a couple more decades at least...I’m not as close with a lot of you as you are with each other but I really do love this place.

The quality of the GMs here is unmatched in other leagues as far as I'm concerned. GMs are what make the league and we are active enough so as long as we keep finding quality replacements the future looks stable.

[Shoalzie]

Sure you can improve your team by winning the lottery or picking top 5 for a few years in a row but I think the true strength of teams come from the ability to find good players in other rounds and to identify players in either the waiver draft or grab them as a free agent.

Matthew has had a knack for finding quality free agents. He signed Yanni Gourde in 2014 and he's gotten a lot of mileage out of Colin Blackwell from getting him in 2019.

You can't ignore the fact that Matthew is going a very good young defense built around Makar once Seider turns pro and Smith and Drysdale gets some games under their belt. He's also been to patient with his goaltending. Francouz got hurt but he luckily had Kahkonen and Swayman sitting in his prospect pool for several years and they've made an impact against Buffalo.

Win or lose in this final, he's done well building his roster.

[Shoalzie]

Teams that can draft well need to trust their drafts. I wish stayed patient because I probably could've built a solid roster on my own draft picks rather than moving them for veterans that don't have long-term value. That's mostly why I want to change my philosophy around and trust the players I can find in the draft. I can do a lot more by hanging onto my prospects and draft picks and let those guys develop.

Teams that are willing to be patient and trust their ability to identify talent will eventually get rewarded. If you want to get aggressive and trade for established players, you obviously need to find the right ones and do it when your team is ready to contend.

[DApolloS]

Teams that can draft well need to trust their drafts. I wish stayed patient because I probably could've built a solid roster on my own draft picks rather than moving them for veterans that don't have long-term value. That's mostly why I want to change my philosophy around and trust the players I can find in the draft. I can do a lot more by hanging onto my prospects and draft picks and let those guys develop.

Teams that are willing to be patient and trust their ability to identify talent will eventually get rewarded. If you want to get aggressive and trade for established players, you obviously need to find the right ones and do it when your team is ready to contend.

Yes. This is the lesson I learned last season. I moved on from 3 good young prospects because I had the chance to acquire decent NHL established players. Had I waited and been patient, I'd be better off. Lessons have been learned.

[Shoalzie]

I'm intrigued to see how you build this Seattle team from scratch. It's quite possible you can pick a veteran roster and be a playoff contender in year one or you can do a slow build and take some guys with upside.

The original Vegas GM came into this league and basically had a playoff team right away because of what was available and you can set yourself up with decent goaltending.

I'll get you your sheets this week so you can start scouting the other rosters.

[Da_Hawks]

I'm intrigued to see how you build this Seattle team from scratch. It's quite possible you can pick a veteran roster and be a playoff contender in year one or you can do a slow build and take some guys with upside.

The original Vegas GM came into this league and basically had a playoff team right away because of what was available and you can set yourself up with decent goaltending.

I'll get you your sheets this week so you can start scouting the other rosters.

That Vegas GM then realized it was a huge mistake and promptly started a rebuild.

The 2022 and 2023 drafts are supposed to have some real elite talent in the top 5. Should be a great couple of years for the rebuilders (and probably Mik as he swindles his way into the lottery every year).

[DApolloS]

I can't wait to see what I do with the draft either

[Shoalzie]

Mark, I agree with your take on the '22 and '23 drafts being impactful. If you include the fact Seattle will have an early pick this year also, I think I would opt for a younger roster out of the gate and hope you can add quality players through the draft for the next few years. Maybe you can draft a few veterans for the sole purpose of flipping them for futures.

As I've mentioned before, the "Western Conference" is going to be very tough when Seattle enters the league so I think starting from the bottom might be the most sensible choice.

He's going to draft 31 players...active roster are only 23 deep. You're either going to have to draft some waiver-exempt players that you can stash in the minors or as I mentioned, you pick a few veteran players just so you can flip them for value.

Since I've had a quick glance at who's potentially available in this draft...you can pick a decent pool of players in their mid-to-late 20s to start off with and while you're not going to compete right away...I think you can have them for a while as you work on drafting and building up a prospect pool.

I don't see much point in draft anyone over-30 if your immediate goal is to do a slow build to your roster. If you draft someone over-30, they better have value on the trade market and you move them for picks.

Also, it would be wise to not take on bad contracts with the cap situation being what it is.

[Matthew]

People underestimate the waiver draft and free agency, I think.

From the waiver draft I've gotten:
Barabanov (playing 1st line in sjs)
Pavel Francouz
Artyom Zub
Morgan Barron
Wyatt Kalynuk
John Leonard
Simon Benoit
and I've got more waiver guys like limoges, mat kessel, and Nick perbix on their way. If you do research into waiver guys (who are quite a bit older) you can usually tell who will succeed.

Free agency I've grabbed desmith, gourde, Sherwood, Blackwell where if you grab enough of these lotto tickets, you are bound to hit eventually.

That's 11 nhl pieces just from waiver/free agency. Obviously you need to hit on some of your high entry picks while rebuilding , but these other drafts can give u solid depth.

Barabanov - Gourde - Blackwell
Leonard - Barron

Zub - Kalynuk
Benoit

Desmith
Francouz

[Matthew]

On the other hand, if lots of teams leave guys over 30 who still put up a ton of stats available, he could probably have a team of stars that could compete for 2-3 years, and then tear it down. A 33 year old who puts up 60 points is still gonna count as much as a 23 year old who does.

[Matthew]

I'm intrigued to see how you build this Seattle team from scratch. It's quite possible you can pick a veteran roster and be a playoff contender in year one or you can do a slow build and take some guys with upside.

The original Vegas GM came into this league and basically had a playoff team right away because of what was available and you can set yourself up with decent goaltending.

I'll get you your sheets this week so you can start scouting the other rosters.

That Vegas GM then realized it was a huge mistake and promptly started a rebuild.

The 2022 and 2023 drafts are supposed to have some real elite talent in the top 5. Should be a great couple of years for the rebuilders (and probably Mik as he swindles his way into the lottery every year).

That Vegas gm sucked, so not sure him flip flopping is truly relevant.

[Shoalzie]

Yeah, I'm mad that Tim bailed shortly after the draft and he made trades. Jordan ran the team for several years but didn't get to do the fun stuff with taking over an expansion team from scratch.

[lightupdadarkness]

in the IFFHL, Richmond RiverDogs was dead last in 2015/16.

Just won the League Championship.

This was me and I’ve built Dallas into a yearly contender here I’m the best I get it thanks

Love you all especially the ones who said I didn’t know what I was doing

Xoxox

[Da_Hawks]

I'm intrigued to see how you build this Seattle team from scratch. It's quite possible you can pick a veteran roster and be a playoff contender in year one or you can do a slow build and take some guys with upside.

The original Vegas GM came into this league and basically had a playoff team right away because of what was available and you can set yourself up with decent goaltending.

I'll get you your sheets this week so you can start scouting the other rosters.

That Vegas GM then realized it was a huge mistake and promptly started a rebuild.

The 2022 and 2023 drafts are supposed to have some real elite talent in the top 5. Should be a great couple of years for the rebuilders (and probably Mik as he swindles his way into the lottery every year).

That Vegas gm sucked, so not sure him flip flopping is truly relevant.

Ah, I was not there at the time and can't recall when Jordan stepped in. Either way, it was a Kimmer level disaster that is now getting remedied.

[Bruyns]

in the IFFHL, Richmond RiverDogs was dead last in 2015/16.

Just won the League Championship.

This was me and I’ve built Dallas into a yearly contender here I’m the best I get it thanks

Love you all especially the ones who said I didn’t know what I was doing

Xoxox

I taught you all you know, without me as an advisor you wouldn’t have success.

Haha jk, you’ve had a great year including taking me out in nhldl to make the finals and win some $.

[CasperX22]

I'm intrigued to see how you build this Seattle team from scratch. It's quite possible you can pick a veteran roster and be a playoff contender in year one or you can do a slow build and take some guys with upside.

The original Vegas GM came into this league and basically had a playoff team right away because of what was available and you can set yourself up with decent goaltending.

I'll get you your sheets this week so you can start scouting the other rosters.

That Vegas GM then realized it was a huge mistake and promptly started a rebuild.

The 2022 and 2023 drafts are supposed to have some real elite talent in the top 5. Should be a great couple of years for the rebuilders (and probably Mik as he swindles his way into the lottery every year).

That Vegas gm sucked, so not sure him flip flopping is truly relevant.

Ah, I was not there at the time and can't recall when Jordan stepped in. Either way, it was a Kimmer level disaster that is now getting remedied.

TBD

[CasperX22]

Teams that can draft well need to trust their drafts. I wish stayed patient because I probably could've built a solid roster on my own draft picks rather than moving them for veterans that don't have long-term value. That's mostly why I want to change my philosophy around and trust the players I can find in the draft. I can do a lot more by hanging onto my prospects and draft picks and let those guys develop.

Teams that are willing to be patient and trust their ability to identify talent will eventually get rewarded. If you want to get aggressive and trade for established players, you obviously need to find the right ones and do it when your team is ready to contend.

Choosing the right players and timing is everything.