Audit My Team

[Shoeless]

Okay, so Staal's salary isn't an issue at all.

I think your other forwards present reasonable value for their cap hit and I would keep them. Each should produce at least a point per 100,000K in salary with potential for upside - and as Pengwin suggests that is a useful benchmark to work from. I don't see how you can work around the goaltending you have and it might be very good next season for the price - with each team in the league looking to roster 3 starting goalies, you don't go messing around with the 2 starters you do have and their contracts are pretty good for the cap you have in this league.

So it really comes down to what can you do with your D for cap relief. I don't see how you can keep Yandle and Goligoski before the draft. This will leave you with about 13.35M to draft a F and 2D guys. I think again as Pengwin suggests, you want to be able to spend more on higher production forwards if you can and then hope to come close to replacing the D production you are letting go at a lower cost. The worst case scenario is you luck out on drafting a cheap high producing forward and you go back to one of Yandle and Goligoski in the draft because you can afford to - they are a little pricey for their production in this league so I don't think they get snapped up.

[SeaDawg]

Okay, so Staal's salary isn't an issue at all.

I think your other forwards present reasonable value for their cap hit and I would keep them. Each should produce at least a point per 100,000K in salary with potential for upside - and as Pengwin suggests that is a useful benchmark to work from. I don't see how you can work around the goaltending you have and it might be very good next season for the price - with each team in the league looking to roster 3 starting goalies, you don't go messing around with the 2 starters you do have and their contracts are pretty good for the cap you have in this league.

So it really comes down to what can you do with your D for cap relief. I don't see how you can keep Yandle and Goligoski before the draft. This will leave you with about 13.35M to draft a F and 2D guys. I think again as Pengwin suggests, you want to be able to spend more on higher production forwards if you can and then hope to come close to replacing the D production you are letting go at a lower cost. The worst case scenario is you luck out on drafting a cheap high producing forward and you go back to one of Yandle and Goligoski in the draft because you can afford to - they are a little pricey for their production in this league so I don't think they get snapped up.

Thanks for this, Shoeless.

Staal's salary doesn't really matter, but if I move him, Semin can be my franchise player, freeing up $7 million in cap space. Plus, Staal has probably the most trade value on my team after Hall and Anderson. I don't want to move him, but I may be forced to do that if I can't find another option.

I agree with what you and most on here are saying. My first course of action is to free up some cash with my defense. I'm working on some deals to move one or two of my high-priced dmen, but the market isn't very good right now. Worse-case scenario, I release one or two of them for nothing and find cheaper options at the draft. There won't be many good dmen available, though. The best free-agent dmen in our league this year were: Beauchemin, J-Bo, Ehrhoff, and Tyutin. Still, all the IR dmen will be released, so I might find a low-priced sleeper in there somewhere.

[Shoeless]

Well no you don't free up 7M in cap space because you are taking a player back for Staal - what you free up for cap space is the difference between Semin's salary and the player you get back in the deal. The issue I would have with moving Staal is are you going to get enough replacement production for the cost saving? I wouldn't consider moving him at this point.

Because you are only required to play each guy a minimum of 5 weeks in the season, I would think you want to look at picking up a young gun D guy that can give you some production this season, who is cheap for a couple of seasons to free up cap space - Gardiner comes to mind as an example or perhaps Adam Larsson.

[SeaDawg]

Well no you don't free up 7M in cap space because you are taking a player back for Staal - what you free up for cap space is the difference between Semin's salary and the player you get back in the deal. The issue I would have with moving Staal is are you going to get enough replacement production for the cost saving? I wouldn't consider moving him at this point.

This is absolutely correct

Because you are only required to play each guy a minimum of 5 weeks in the season, I would think you want to look at picking up a young gun D guy that can give you some production this season, who is cheap for a couple of seasons to free up cap space - Gardiner comes to mind as an example or perhaps Adam Larsson.

Historically, this has been my strategy in previous years. I usually go very cheap with my 4th dman. This past season, it was Spurgeon (at $540,000). He is the dman I essentially dropped when I acquired Voynov.

Larsson, Gardiner, Faulk, S. Elliott, Barrie, and Brodin should all be available in next year's draft. I don't expect crazy numbers from any of them, but anything approaching 30 pts would make them worthwhile owning and playing the minimum 5 weeks.

[Shoeless]

There ya go - just so you know - my man is Elliott - he is coming baby.

[SeaDawg]

I've got lots of offers out there, and although everyone seems "interested", no one has yet to accept any of my offers. Traditionally, people in this league don't get serious about preparing their squad for the upcoming season until September, but I'm trying.

So, I thought I'd ask for some feedback on my offers.

#1 Shattenkirk for Huberdeau ($925,000)

#2 Shattenkirk for Neal ($5 million for 4 more years)

#3 Shattenkirk for Seguin ($4.5 next year, signed long-term maxing out at $6 million)

#4 Shattenkirk for Kadri (unsigned RFA...I assume around $3 million next year)

#5 Shattenkirk for E. Kane ($4.5 mill next year and then $6 mill for two years after that)

#6 Shattenkirk and E. Staal for Duchene and Pavelski (I hate giving up Staal, but this completes my forward roster and leaves me short a dman only, which I can easily get at the draft)

I've tried moving Goligoski instead of Shatts, but that seems to be a non-starter.

Anyway, do any of these jump out at you in a positive or negative way for me? Should I be pulling any of them off the table or pursuing any of them more aggressively?

[Pengwin7]

They are all good returns on Shattenkirk.

No surprise that people haven't accepted or seem interested.
There was a debate a while back about starting trade talks.

Shattenkirk really isn't a sexy name in trade talks.
As good as he is, he's still a 2nd best D on his team... and those rarely spark enough interest.

Did you try offering him to the AP owner?
Fantasy GMs love having players on the same team, same line, etc... collecting...

I'd start there.

[SeaDawg]

Did you try offering him to the AP owner?
Fantasy GMs love having players on the same team, same line, etc... collecting...

I'd start there.

I've had talks with the AP owner, but not involving Shattenkirk. In this league, with H2H weekly starts and small lineups (3F, 2D, 1G) per week, I don't actually think it is a good idea to have two players on the same team. For example, I had Semin and Staal this past season and it was boom or bust every week. If Carolina (and in particular that line) was on fire, I won. If they were not playing many games in a week, I was forced to sit two of my best forwards, and if they played, but didn't score, I surely lost the week. If one of my 3 forwards has an "off" week, I can still manage a win if the other two pick up the slack. But if 2 of my forwards have an off week, I'm toast.

The same is true with dmen, except that it is more amplified because we only start 2 each week. If St. Louis has an off week, there is no other dman to pick up the slack.

[SeaDawg]

so I was able to get Neal for Shattenkirk (had to throw in a pick swap and a prospect).

My roster now:

Staal
Semin
Hall
Neal
Benn
Voracek

Yandle
Goligoski
Voynov
???

Smith
Anderson

I'm still quite a bit over the cap, but landing Neal gives me the freedom to drop Semin (if I can't deal him) and draft a cheap forward.

I'm still working on a couple of other deals though, so I might get under the cap yet.

[Pengwin7]

Nice trade.

I normally advocate having teammates (all eggs in one basket) but your team looks very strong and in H2H... you just have to be strong enough to win a 1-on-1 match-up... not necessarily to be better than 9 other teams, just one-at-a-time.

Thus, dropping Semin (at $7m per) is a decent move.
No reason to NEED a doubling of E.Staal (your franchise player) production.

[SeaDawg]

well, instead of dropping Semin for nothing, I was finally able to deal him to someone for Silfverberg. I seriously offered Semin to every team in my league and most were not interested at all and the ones that were did not want to give up much. Landing an elite prospect like Silfverberg is better than nothing.

My team now looks like this:

Staal
Hall
Benn
Neal
Voracek
Silfverberg

Yandle
Goligoski
Voynov
???

Smith
Anderson

I have one roster spot left to fill (my 4th dman) with almost $2 million available to spend on him. I will have no trouble grabbing one at that price during the draft.

Thanks again everyone for the help.

[SeaDawg]

Another update...I was recently able to trade Yandle for OEL and Parenteau. I love this deal for me because OEL is cheaper and Parenteau is a significant upgrade on Silfverberg.

My team now:

E. Staal
Hall
Benn
Neal
Voracek
Parenteau (drop Silfverberg)

Goligoski
Ekman-Larsson (instead of Yandle)
Voynov
??? (to be drafted)

Smith
Anderson

I like Yandle more than Ekman-Larsson, but Yandle/Silfverberg is not as nice as OEL/Parenteau.

[Pengwin7]

Parenteau is a nice addition.
OEL's $3.5m and $4m next two actual salary years are pretty solid.
When his contract kicks up to $6m, you'll probably just cut him.

I wonder if the OEL owner was only looking at his cap hit?

Nice return.

[Luffy D Monkey]

Id look at trying to move Semin and failing that move E Staal.

Semin might be owned in my salary cap pool next season but I doubt it as 7 million is just too steep for what he brings (60 point player basically).

Staal wont be owned in my pool next season, he's simply too expensive. I understand in a 12 team pool you have limited options but you'll just have to get cheaper somehow.

edit: Follow up, I really like the moves you made. "Papa" is awesome value in salary leagues right now and OEL shouldnt be too much of a downgrade from Yandle.

[SeaDawg]

Parenteau is a nice addition.
OEL's $3.5m and $4m next two actual salary years are pretty solid.
When his contract kicks up to $6m, you'll probably just cut him.

I wonder if the OEL owner was only looking at his cap hit?

Nice return.

It is worth noting that the other person did not have space for Parenteau, so he was an outright drop. For him, the deal was essentially OEL for Yandle and he has more than enough cap space to take on the salary difference.

I also think the previous OEL owner was a bit worried that OEL might assume a role similar to Doughty in LA...meaning, he is just so good defensively that the "softer" minutes and power play time might be given to other dmen. I could see someone like Rundblad (now on a one-way deal) getting some of OEL's PP time to rest him for the tougher minutes.

To be honest, I'm a bit concerned about that as well, but Parenteau is a huge upgrade for me as my last forward, so I am more than willing to assume the risk.