NJ Devils - Into the next era

[tdh23ab]

Instead of starting a BAGM thread with my favorite team (Montreal) I'm going to go with my least favorite team. Despite being the most successful pro team from my home state, I can't stand the Devils, I don't know why that's just how it is.

I'm going to sim the first season, so I get to more or less the present day. After that I will sim most of the games and then a monthly wrap-up but will do the occasional in-season full game report. I play every playoff game so they will all have write-ups.

Unfortunately since i want to use the latest roster, many teams are over the salary cap when I start a new season so the computer "fixes" several of the teams. This can lead to some interesting free agents but I won't be moving any players until next years draft.

Settings: 6 minute periods, All-Star skill level, GM Setting: Hard.

[tdh23ab]

Sim Results

As of June 4th, 2011 (in the NHL world)

Vancouver is up 3 games to 1 over Atlanta (Atlanta?!) in the Stanley Cup final.


Eastern Conference

Quarter Finals
(1) Atlanta defeats (8) NY Islanders in 6.
(7) Pittsburgh defeats (2) Montreal in 6.
(6) Tampa Bay defeat (3) NY Rangers in 7.
(4) Buffalo defeats (5) Carolina in 7.

Semi Finals
(1) Atlanta defeats (7) Pittsburgh in 5.
(4) Buffalo defeats (6) Tampa Bay in 5.

Finals
(1) Atlanta sweeps (4) Buffalo.

Western Conference

Quarter Finals
(1) San Jose defeats (8) Nashville in 7.
(7) Calgary defeats (2) Minnesota in 7.
(6) Vancouver defeats (3) Detroit in 7.
(5) Los Angeles defeats (4) Columbus in 5.

Semi Finals
(1) San Jose sweeps (7) Calgary.
(6) Vancouver defeats Los Angeles in 6.

Finals
(4) Vancouver defeats (1) San Jose in 7.

[tdh23ab]

Stanley Cup Champion: Vancouver Canucks

Presidents Trophy: Atlanta
Art Ross Trophy: Sidney Crosby
Hart Memorial Trophy: Kari Lehtonen
Norris Trophy: Joe Corvo
Lady Byng: Marian Gaborik
Calder Memorial: Ondrej Pavelec
Conn Smythe: Roberto Luongo
Vezina : Martin Brodeur
William Jennings: Antti Neimi
Selke: Pascal Dupuis
Richard: Marian Gaborik

Retirements
Teemu Selanne
Mark Recchi
Cory Stillman
Mike Modano
Nik Lidstrom
Todd Bertuzzi
Tomas Holmstrom
Hal Gill
Brian Rolston
Wade Redden
Daniel Alfredson
Ian Laperriere
Jason Arnott
Donald Brashear

[tdh23ab]

Big Changes for NJ Devils
June 10, 2011

An unexpected ownership change resulted in a shuffle of New Jersey front office. Mikhail Prokhorov, owner of the New Jersey Nets, has announced his purchase of the Devils for an undisclosed fee. Lou Lamoriello has agreed to stay on as the coach for the team while giving up his GM responsibilities. It is rumored that Lamoriello received a very generous pay raise for staying on as coach. Prokhorov has turned to his homeland for a new general manager, former star player, Igor Larionov. Larionov has spent time as the Director of Hockey Operations at SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL. It will be interesting to see how the new Russian front office affects the upcoming draft choices.

[tdh23ab]

Here is TSN's 5/24 Ranking, it will be interesting to see how this compares to the upcoming draft.

1. RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS C 6'0 170 L Apr. 12/93 Red Deer WHL
2. JONATHAN HUBERDEAU C 6'1 168 L June 4/93 Saint John QMJHL
3. GABRIEL LANDESKOG LW 6'0 207 L Nov. 23/92 Kitchener OHL
4. RYAN MURPHY D 5'10 176 R Mar. 31/93 Kitchener OHL
5. ADAM LARSSON D 6'3 200 R Nov. 12/92 Skelleftea SweE
6. MIKA ZIBANEJAD C 6'0 183 R Apr. 18/93 Djurgarden SJ18A
7. SEAN COUTURIER C 6'4 195 L Dec. 12/92 Drummondville QMJHL
8. NATHAN BEAULIEU D 6'1 176 L Dec. 5/92 Saint John QMJHL
9. RYAN STROME C 6'0 183 R July 11/93 Niagara OHL
10. JAMIESON OLEKSIAK D 6'7 244 L Dec. 21/92 Northeastern H.E,
11. DOUGIE HAMILTON D 6'4 193 R Jun. 17/93 Niagara OHL
12. SVEN BARTSCHI LW 5'11 175 L Oct. 5/92 Portland WHL
13. MATTHEW PUEMPEL LW 6'0 198 L Jan. 24/93 Peterborough OHL
14. MARK SCHEIFELE C 6'2 177 R Mar. 15/93 Barrie OHL
15. JONAS BRODIN D 6'1 165 L July 12/93 Farjestad Sweden
16. PHILLIP DANAULT LW 6'0 178 L Feb. 24/93 Victoriaville QMJHL
17. JOEL ARMIA RW 6'3 191 R May 31/93 Assat FinE
18. NIKITA KUCHEROV W 5'10 163 R June 17/93 CSKA 2 Russia-Jr.
19. BRANDON SAAD LW 6'1 208 L Oct. 27/92 Saginaw OHL
20. ZACK PHILLIPS C 6'1 181 R Oct. 28/92 Saint John QMJHL
21. TOMAS JURCO RW 6'2 193 L Dec. 28/92 Saint John QMJHL
22. OSCAR KLEFBLOM C 6'3 200 D July 20/93 Farjestad Sweden
23. VLADISLAV NAMESTNIKOV F 5'11 170 L Nov. 22/92 London OHL
24. TY RATTIE LW 5'11 170 R Feb. 5/93 Portland WHL
25. JOSEPH MORROW D 6'0 196 L Dec. 9/92 Portland WHL
26. CONNOR MURPHY D 6'2 185 R Mar. 26/93 USA U-18 USHL
27. NICKLAS JENSEN F 6'2 188 L Mar. 6/93 Oshawa OHL
28. JOHN GIBSON G 6'2 205 L Jul. 14/93 USA U-18 WHL
29. RICKARD RAKELL RW 6'0 191 R May 5/93 Plymouth OHL
30. JONATHAN MILLER C 6'2 205 L Mar. 14/93 USA U-18 USHL

[tdh23ab]

Looks like that draft list was pretty useless for this draft.

Nugent-Hopkins falls to 7th Overall
JUNE 23, 2011 - MINNESOTA

In an unbelievable first round, one of the big names going into the draft wasn't even on of the first 5 names to be called. Nugent-Hopkins, one of the most talked about players fell to 7th overall. When new GM Igor Larionov heard Phoenix select Sean Couturier, he breathed a huge sigh of relief. The top 10 selections are as follows

1. Toronto - A. LARSSON
2. Colorado - B. JENSEN
3. St. Louis - M. HOUSER
4. Dallas - R. GIOVANNINI
5. Boston - M. GAGNON
6. Phoenix - S. COUTURIER
7. New Jersey - R. NUGENT-HOPKINS
8. Anaheim - K. DACKELL
9. Chicago - D. CORRENTE
10. Edmonton - R. Steeves

Round 1 - 7th Overall: NUGENT-HOPKINS, Ryan - C - Red Deer, WHL

It's incredible that such a gifted hockey player fell into the Devil's lap at 7th overall. The playmaking center received a lot of hype leading up to the draft and may now have a chip on his shoulder from being passed over by several teams with needs down the middle. Excellent hands and passing ability coupled with good sense in both the offensive and defensive zone give Nugent-Hopkins the potential to be a star. One more year in junior should polish this gem to NHL standards.

Round 3 - 71st Overall: CONZ, Benjamin - G - Langnau, Swiss

Fans may be familiar with Conz due to his incredible performance in the 2010 World Juniors for Switzerland. He was named Best Goaltender for the tournament on his way to leading Switzerland for an impressive fourth place finish. While playing in a professional league has allowed Benjamin to be physically capable of taking on a starters workload, he will likely spend the year in the AHL adjusting his considerable skill set to the North American game. (in my last dynasty I got him one pick earlier)

Round 4 - 101st Overall: DAHLBECK, Klas - D - Linkopings HC, Elite

This big Swedish rearguard has a defensive mindset, but a good all-around game. Klas will use his speed and positioning as much just as often as he will size and force to neutralize opponents. After playing last year in a professional European league Dahlbeck is likely headed to the AHL to adapt to the North American game.

Round 5 - 131st Overall: SIEMENS, Duncan - D - Saskatoon, WHL

While Siemens is similar in build to Dahlbeck's, he plays a different game. Duncan has more of a nose for the net as well as an excellent slapshot, it is easy to imagine him anchoring a powerplay in the future. While he provides good offense from the postion he isn't a below average defender either. More of a project than the previous picks, look for him to spend several more years in junior developing his game.

Round 6 - 161st Overall: SKVORTSOV, Sergei - RW - Russia

Despite the new Russia influence in the front office, Sergei was the only Russian selected in the draft. A power forward with a decent shot, Skvorrtsov is another raw talent. He will need to develop his two-way play if he hopes to make an NHL roster. Several years in the minors may be necessary to develop his overall skills.

Round 7 - 191st Overall: FLEMINGTON, Kyle - D - Sarnia, OHL

The hulking defensemen is a huge physical presence and plays with a mean streak. Able to inflict devastating hits on the ice as well as with his fists. has good speed and athleticism for a big-man. Flemington projects to be a 3rd pair d-man and tough guy in the future. Another year in junior wouldn't hurt his development.

[tdh23ab]

June 25 - GM Larionov has about $12M in cap room to work with however it's a good bet that at least half of that will be going to UFA LW-Zach Parise. Other big name UFAs are D-Andy Greene, D-Rob Davison, C-Adam Mair, and D- Anssi Salmel. Several RFAs will also need to be taken care of including D-Mark Fraser, RW-Vladimir Zharzov, D-Matthew Corrente, and D-Tyler Eckford. Larionov will also have to make decisions about which recent draft picks to offer contracts to.

June 26 - Great news from Newark, Zach Parise has agreed to a 6 years deal for almost $5.9M per season. The GM is ecstatic to lock up the talented winger long-term and Parise is glad to stay with the team that drafted him. Defenseman Andy Green agreed to a 3-year deal for $1M per, and fellow veteran Adam Mair agreed to a 1-year deal. Anssi Salmela, Mark Fraser, and Vladimir Zharkov all agreed to 2-way deals. In other news the devils released defensemen Rob Davison, Jay Leach, Olivier Magnon, and Olivier Magnan, also released was forward Bradley Mills.

June 27 - The devils were unable to come to terms with UFA goalie Johan Hedberg and he will become a free agent. This news was offset by Ben Conz signing a 3-year entry level deal, Sergej Skvortsov was another recent pick that signed an entry level deal. RFA G-Jeff Frazee was tenderd a qualifying offer, offers were also given to RW-Nathan Perkovich, D-Tyler Eckford, D-Matthew Taormina, C-Steve Zalewski, D-Matthew Corrente, and LW-Alexander Vasyunov.

June 30th - Top draft pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkin signed an entry level deal, however he is unlikely to stick with the NHL club and will likely be sent back to major-junior. Finally 4th round selection Klas Dahlberg signed an entry level deal.