My first pre-NHL hockey season is two-thirds complete, so this seems as good a time as any to impose a transaction deadline. After this point, the teams will not be able to make any personnel changes (unless a player is injured) until the league has crowned its first champion.
The Vics and Bulldogs appear to be in good shape, so I focused instead on the Comets and Thistles. They had the option to cut players and sign free agents (after creating four full teams, I had a few players left over who can fill in as needed) and/or make trades. As it turned out, no free agents could provide any sort of meaningful upgrade, so instead I thought about trade opportunities to address the needs of both teams. The Comets, despite having solid offensive talent, have struggled mightily on the power play; through eight games, they're sitting dead last at 9.52% (the Vics are tops at an astounding 33.33% success rate with the man advantage). The Thistles, meanwhile, have an atrocious penalty kill -- at 59.09%, they're more than 20 percentage points lower than the next-lowest team (the Bulldogs at 80%). For both teams, their critical flaw may be bad luck that would resolve itself through simple regression to the mean, but...why not a trade to shake things up?!
Our deadline deal here in Season 1 involved the Thistles sending talented but underperforming winger Billy Gilmour to the Comets in exchange for defensive forward Harry Westwick. I had reservations about the fairness of the trade -- Westwick has way better numbers than Gilmour so far this season -- but the underlying game stats suggest that Gilmour has a lot of untapped potential. He didn't have a good niche in the Thistles' lineup, but on the Comets he'll slot in nicely on the wing alongside offensive stud Frank McGee and two-way winger Blair Russell, and his solid shooting percentages will make him a huge asset on the power play. The Thistles, in turn, are getting one of the league's top defensive forwards -- a guy who can provide an immediate impact on the penalty kill. Westwick is also a puck-possession demon who can jump-start the team's moribund second line.
Who wins this trade? Only time will tell!
The Vics and Bulldogs appear to be in good shape, so I focused instead on the Comets and Thistles. They had the option to cut players and sign free agents (after creating four full teams, I had a few players left over who can fill in as needed) and/or make trades. As it turned out, no free agents could provide any sort of meaningful upgrade, so instead I thought about trade opportunities to address the needs of both teams. The Comets, despite having solid offensive talent, have struggled mightily on the power play; through eight games, they're sitting dead last at 9.52% (the Vics are tops at an astounding 33.33% success rate with the man advantage). The Thistles, meanwhile, have an atrocious penalty kill -- at 59.09%, they're more than 20 percentage points lower than the next-lowest team (the Bulldogs at 80%). For both teams, their critical flaw may be bad luck that would resolve itself through simple regression to the mean, but...why not a trade to shake things up?!
Our deadline deal here in Season 1 involved the Thistles sending talented but underperforming winger Billy Gilmour to the Comets in exchange for defensive forward Harry Westwick. I had reservations about the fairness of the trade -- Westwick has way better numbers than Gilmour so far this season -- but the underlying game stats suggest that Gilmour has a lot of untapped potential. He didn't have a good niche in the Thistles' lineup, but on the Comets he'll slot in nicely on the wing alongside offensive stud Frank McGee and two-way winger Blair Russell, and his solid shooting percentages will make him a huge asset on the power play. The Thistles, in turn, are getting one of the league's top defensive forwards -- a guy who can provide an immediate impact on the penalty kill. Westwick is also a puck-possession demon who can jump-start the team's moribund second line.
Who wins this trade? Only time will tell!
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