Post by GoVoysGo on Nov 13, 2014 9:49:36 GMT -5
League Flips Upside Down; Goats, Blazers, Huskies Swap Teams, Sort Of: YGFHL Weekly (not really) Roundup
TFHN - Daniel Ronel, Nov. 13
Tacoma, WA • Dunkin' Donuts might not be the first place you would think of as a meeting spot, but a couple of anonymous customers confirmed to TFHN that sitting at a table — so late in the night it was already Thursday morning — sipping on coffee, were none other than Adam Stier (GR owner), Daniel Ronel (SEA owner/GM), Adam Sharvit (HAM owner), Sean Combardi (GR GM), Rod McLemon (SEA coach), and Jon Baloney (HAM GM). One person claims he saw them making for the door just as they arrived at the coffee shop; they stopped, shook hands, and left. At the time, nobody present knew what had just happened, or the impact it would make on the league.
Yes, it was a trade. A blockbuster trade. A three-way trade. And yes, I'm about to share the trade details. Don't worry.
TO GRAND RAPIDS
• Evgeni Malkin (SEA)
• Jeff Carter (SEA)
TO SEATTLE
• Steven Stamkos (GR)
• Max Pacioretty (HAM)
TO HAMILTON
• Gustav Nyquist (GR)
• Patrice Bergeron (SEA)
But why Tacoma, of all places? What were they possibly doing in the Seattle-area suburb?
According to Ronel, the six of them "were visiting some [of Ronel's] relatives [who live in Tacoma]." They started discussing business, before relocating to the Dunkin' Donuts.
What does this trade mean for the YGFHL heading forward? Here, TFSN experts Rob Dickenzie, Jones Duphie, Aaron Dutishin, Darren Word, Aaron Bang, and Jay Birarro look at the winners and losers from the trade.
GRAND RAPIDS
WINNERS
The Goats make out like gangbusters here. And there are so many reasons why.
First of all, they gained much needed depth in the deal. They've been looking for a two-for-one (plus one) deal involving Stamkos for a while now. As Stier tells us, "This was one of the many proposed deals I sent [Ronel's] way over the last two weeks. I actually sent it a few days ago and he didn't like it. All of a sudden, he brought it up again. I don't jump right away, but of course I'm going to do it. I tried for [Tanner] Pearson too, but it would have been too much for me to give up."
The original proposed deal, according to Stier, had Stamkos and Nyquist shipped over for Malkin and Carter. The deal breaker, as Ronel would reveal, was Nyquist; however, Sharvit would take him off of Seattle's hands for a price Ronel could agree on.
More importantly, Grand Rapids has been long overdue for a dual-position player (many of his current players are just waiting to gain a second eligibility and should happen any day now). Here, he gets two. This will help his positioning problems, giving the Goats more breathing room. They were suffering from position overload symptoms, sacrificing valuable points on the bench. This trade gives them much needed flexibility.
One important point here is that the Goats gain yet another Penguins player (without giving one up). Had they not dropped Dupuis, they would have five. On the one hand, the Penguins are the hottest real-life team right now, and the Goats are being rewarded handsomely for it. On the other hand, he is now relying more and more on a single team, which — as we know from experience — does not work.
SEATTLE
WINNERS
Hmmmm. A tough one to evaluate.
By far, the panel spent the most time dissecting and discussing Seattle's point of view.
In a long, overexplained comment, Ronel tells us the dilemma he faced, one that Stier faced as well. To summarize, he had only four LW eligible players, with Taylor Hall on the injured reserve. The Blazers faced the exact same position overload symptoms as Grand Rapids; while they had plenty of dual eligible players (four with C/RW eligibility, and one with LW/RW eligibility), they had eleven C eligible players, and — including Vanek, the player with LW/RW — only four LW eligible players. Although Stier may disagree, the Seattle owner maintains that his predicament was the worst in the league, costing him matchups "left, right, and centre." Of course, we know that this man loves to find excuses for the lack of success Seattle has found this season. His problem, however, was reduced, as Alexander Ovechkin (RW) was given LW eligibility around 8:00 last night. Sources near the Hamilton management claim that both the Blazers and Huskies were on board with a Bergeron-for-Jaden-Schwartz swap, as soon as Baloney could find a taker for Eric Staal. Ronel, desperate to hurry up the process, claims he contacted Glen Kolland of Red Deer. Kolland denies this, declining further comment. The deal fell through as soon as the Ovechkin news found its way to Ronel.
So, how does the blockbuster deal help Seattle?
First and foremost, Ronel has finally acquired Steven Stamkos, a player he's been desperately (albeit quietly) longing for since the league first started. He admits he only revived the offer because he and Baloney had already agreed on a Nyquist trade, should Ronel and Combardi pull the trigger. In the end, they filed a three way trade, simply because it meant less paperwork for them.
Another point to look at is strategy. As already stated, Seattle has been a victim of position overload. In this deal, they send two C/RW players for a C and a LW. They now have much more balance between the positions. And it wasn't like they couldn't afford to give up some of their huge surplus of dual players.
If Ronel is right, and the lack of positional balance was dragging him this far down, then this trade will help them immensely.
HAMILTON
LOSERS
This one is more subjective.
The panel could not agree on the value of Gustav Nyquist (ranging anywhere from 4.5 to 6 fantasy points per game). Four of the six experts could agree on a number below 5.2, which was enough to warrant a rating of LOSERS. Here is a picture of Bergeron from before November. However, he now looks like this. If he can keep this up — which he probably can't — Sharvit would look like the biggest winner of the three. While Nyquist and Bergeron form a solid depth package, Maximillion Pacioretty (yes, that's really his name; search it up!) is probably not worth it. Furthermore, Hamilton is a team that really shouldn't see a need for depth. The only player they have that might be considered droppable is Johnny Gaudreau, but he looks like this right now.
In addition, Hamilton may have just put themselves into a tricky situation; they now face the same situation that both Seattle and Grand Rapids used the trade to fix. That situation is something I like to call position overload. Sound familiar?
The Huskies now have six pure centres — five until Datsyuk returns. Yikes.
In other news, both Hamilton and the Dallas Diamonds are proving me wrong by playing some great hockey.
The Diamonds lead 151.5 - 100.9, and they're just getting started.
The Goats/Blizz game, on the other hand, has taken the "snoozefest" honour.
Milwaukee trails 102.1 - 86.8, sporting an offense that is producing like an overperforming Blazers squad.
As for the Blazers matchup with Red Deer?
If you blink, you might miss the lead change.
For now, Seattle has it at 128 - 125.8, with four days to play.