Post by Philadelphia Flyers on Oct 4, 2016 21:53:36 GMT -5
After another successful season that saw the team make it to the Stanley Cup Finals it was time to re-position the roster to make another run this year. The East is looking tougher and tougher with a few teams on the rise.
Summer trading began early when the 1st round pick (29th overall) was dealt to Toronto for Oliver Bjorkstrand. It was a trade not everyone thought highly of but Bjorkstrand is an NHL ready prospect coming off a playoff MVP run for the Calder Cup champions. I probably could have nabbed a similar prospect 29th overall but it's a long wait to have the 29th overall develop.
Up next was a pre-draft trade with the Panthers thst saw Chris Bigras come to town with a pick for Oliver Kylington and Nikita Trymakin. Once again this was about getting a more NHL ready prospect in Bigras. Kylington may end up being a better player but is a couple years away from making an impact. He could Flame out completely as well. Trymakin being included goes against my philosophy of acquieing NHL ready prospects here but he doesn't fit the mold as a top 4 defender in the NHL so I took a third and moved on.
During the draft the 41st overall pick was moved to AnA along with two future 3rds, Matt Neito and Niklas Jensen for the 50th overall and Zach Senyshyn.
Senyshyn, like Bjorkstrand, is a prospect who has continuously impressed since being drafted. He is a solid bet to become a top 6 goal scorer in the NHL. A lot of pieces went the other way but hopefully Senyshyn is the best player in this deal a year from now.
Next up was a Canada Day deal with the Jets involving Brandon Dubinsky. I love Brandon Dubinsky and really didn't want to move him but he is in a new expensive contract and top 6 roles on the team are competitive. Getting a player in hope to be his clone in Curtis Lazar and a solid Defenceman in Klefbom as well as a future 2nd made the deal palatable.
Another draft day swap saw the 50th overall moved to BUF for the 63rd overall, a future 2nd and a future 3rd. The move down made me miss quite a few players I was targeting but the value was simply too good to pass up. I was hoping at least one would fall to 63rd but it didn't happen that way.
After all those deals it was time to draft. Samuel Girard and Wouter Peters joined the team through the draft.
Then came a sneaky deal with the Jets. The Jets needed to dump cap and I capitalized by getting a 2nd rounder to take Ryan Miller's contract a day before the buyout deadline. Miller was promptly bought out so a 2nd rounder for free.
Next was another deal with TOR this time for Francois Beauchemin. A 2017 1st and 2nd and Girard went back. Beauchemin has incredible ratings in the SIM and will settle nicely into the second pairing.
Next came a swap of top 6 options with the Penguins. Lucic out, Brassard in. Brassard brings more of a scoring bent at the expense of defense and hitting. Overall I am happy with it since Lucic is a piece of shit.
One of my favorite summer trading partners came back for another deal as Joey Laleggia was acquired from WPG for Alex Lintuniemi. Both are probably nothing prospecta but WPG is a big fan of Lintuniemi so what the hell. Let him cheer for a player he likes.
Sebastian Aho and Joel Erickson Ek were the next Flyers on the move. They got packaged to the Rangers along with Phoenix Copley for Elias Lindholm, Nikita Scherbak, Carter Hutton and a 2nd round pick. Aho is a top ranked prospect and was tough to part with. Lindholm is young already an NHL player and hopefully will play alongside Aho. Their fortunes should rise together and I got a higher floor player. It could go very badly if Aho leaves Lindholm in his star trail but it is a reasonable gamble to make. Ek is a former 1st round pick who has disappointed since getting drafted. Swapping him for Scherbak is an even swap in my eyes given the risk Scherbak carries. I didn't care about the goalies though Copley has some upside still. The 2nd rounder swayed the deal in my favour so I took it.
Lastly came my piece of the Dallas rebuild. Getting JVR and Letestu for Scherbak,and a trio of 2nd rounders, two early one late. JvR is a good consolation prize in the sell-off as he is an in his prime top 6 winger who should get better as his NHL team improves. Not a star by any means but a solid top 6 asset. Letestu is a great 4th line centre on a reasonable contract. He can do a bit of everything and instantly became my top penalty killer.
The Flyers are poised for another deep playoff run and still have some solid prospects in the pipeline should more needs emerge.
Summer trading began early when the 1st round pick (29th overall) was dealt to Toronto for Oliver Bjorkstrand. It was a trade not everyone thought highly of but Bjorkstrand is an NHL ready prospect coming off a playoff MVP run for the Calder Cup champions. I probably could have nabbed a similar prospect 29th overall but it's a long wait to have the 29th overall develop.
Up next was a pre-draft trade with the Panthers thst saw Chris Bigras come to town with a pick for Oliver Kylington and Nikita Trymakin. Once again this was about getting a more NHL ready prospect in Bigras. Kylington may end up being a better player but is a couple years away from making an impact. He could Flame out completely as well. Trymakin being included goes against my philosophy of acquieing NHL ready prospects here but he doesn't fit the mold as a top 4 defender in the NHL so I took a third and moved on.
During the draft the 41st overall pick was moved to AnA along with two future 3rds, Matt Neito and Niklas Jensen for the 50th overall and Zach Senyshyn.
Senyshyn, like Bjorkstrand, is a prospect who has continuously impressed since being drafted. He is a solid bet to become a top 6 goal scorer in the NHL. A lot of pieces went the other way but hopefully Senyshyn is the best player in this deal a year from now.
Next up was a Canada Day deal with the Jets involving Brandon Dubinsky. I love Brandon Dubinsky and really didn't want to move him but he is in a new expensive contract and top 6 roles on the team are competitive. Getting a player in hope to be his clone in Curtis Lazar and a solid Defenceman in Klefbom as well as a future 2nd made the deal palatable.
Another draft day swap saw the 50th overall moved to BUF for the 63rd overall, a future 2nd and a future 3rd. The move down made me miss quite a few players I was targeting but the value was simply too good to pass up. I was hoping at least one would fall to 63rd but it didn't happen that way.
After all those deals it was time to draft. Samuel Girard and Wouter Peters joined the team through the draft.
Then came a sneaky deal with the Jets. The Jets needed to dump cap and I capitalized by getting a 2nd rounder to take Ryan Miller's contract a day before the buyout deadline. Miller was promptly bought out so a 2nd rounder for free.
Next was another deal with TOR this time for Francois Beauchemin. A 2017 1st and 2nd and Girard went back. Beauchemin has incredible ratings in the SIM and will settle nicely into the second pairing.
Next came a swap of top 6 options with the Penguins. Lucic out, Brassard in. Brassard brings more of a scoring bent at the expense of defense and hitting. Overall I am happy with it since Lucic is a piece of shit.
One of my favorite summer trading partners came back for another deal as Joey Laleggia was acquired from WPG for Alex Lintuniemi. Both are probably nothing prospecta but WPG is a big fan of Lintuniemi so what the hell. Let him cheer for a player he likes.
Sebastian Aho and Joel Erickson Ek were the next Flyers on the move. They got packaged to the Rangers along with Phoenix Copley for Elias Lindholm, Nikita Scherbak, Carter Hutton and a 2nd round pick. Aho is a top ranked prospect and was tough to part with. Lindholm is young already an NHL player and hopefully will play alongside Aho. Their fortunes should rise together and I got a higher floor player. It could go very badly if Aho leaves Lindholm in his star trail but it is a reasonable gamble to make. Ek is a former 1st round pick who has disappointed since getting drafted. Swapping him for Scherbak is an even swap in my eyes given the risk Scherbak carries. I didn't care about the goalies though Copley has some upside still. The 2nd rounder swayed the deal in my favour so I took it.
Lastly came my piece of the Dallas rebuild. Getting JVR and Letestu for Scherbak,and a trio of 2nd rounders, two early one late. JvR is a good consolation prize in the sell-off as he is an in his prime top 6 winger who should get better as his NHL team improves. Not a star by any means but a solid top 6 asset. Letestu is a great 4th line centre on a reasonable contract. He can do a bit of everything and instantly became my top penalty killer.
The Flyers are poised for another deep playoff run and still have some solid prospects in the pipeline should more needs emerge.
