INTRODUCING MEDIA BOIS Bringing LGNHL media to you and your family for s38, our first post is a set of four power rankings for each division in LGNHL. In these rankings, you will see a synopsis of each team describing the team's structure heading into the season and our expectations for s38 as well as some superlatives and grades. MEDIA BoiS: @Gilbzey @JC Enterprise @Dangs92 @Miike Scott EAST METROPOLITAN 1. Columbus Blue Jackets Notes: The Blue Jackets enter season 38 with the amalgamation of two disappointing stories from s37. @DDW-_- who was unable to make the playoffs despite having one of the best lines in LG and is joined by @S4KIC who was a surprise 1st round bounce. They came into bidding with a strong fleet of talent on roster with @Toxic Deke (via trade), @Tjhdp11, @Gilbzey @Slimeism (via trade) and @Kopi. They didn't miss during their bidding and got every person they wanted including SAK's s37 gm @Karmuh x 86 for 8mil, Joordan and Wes as well as a few smart, low cost contracts with CalderCubs14 and Krejci46. Columbus is one of the deeper teams across the league and have two of the best centers running the top two lines. As long as these two chokers don't choke, they should run coast to coast with this division.: Best Contract: @Gilbzey ($500k) Worst Contract: @l Letang l58l ($4M) X Factor: @Joorrdan / Not sucking in the 1st round. FWD Grade: A DEF Grade: A- GOALIE Grade: C+ 2. Washington Capitals Notes: After a management debacle with DAN - NO DAN - BANNED WAYNE - NO WAYNE - YES WAYNE - NO PARKSY - YES PARKSY, the Capitals finally landed with Parksy as owner, an appealed Wayne as GM and CoreyMac27 as their PAGM. A good management trio who went into bidding with some nice contracts including trading Shaunahldinho for the esports legend, Regs84. In bidding, the bulk of their free cap landed in MarcoGoes5Hole's pocket who made the switch to center for s38 and was welcomed with an $11M winning bid. Trying to fortify their defense, they also brought in Sleemn for 9.5 to join a decent D core. I understand Parksy and Regs will play together and Coreymac will be joined by Marco. I love the addition of Pier Talent and Wickie 71 for $3M total and the squad went with a couple of veterans in net with THop and clutchcolbs. With a mixture of chemistry and premiere talent, Washington should be in the mix for a division title and a high playoff position. Best Contract: @PieR Talent ($1.5M) Worst Contract: @MarcoGoes5H0LE ($11M) X Factor: @Regs84 FWD Grade: B+ DEF Grade: B+ GOALIE Grade: B 3. New York Rangers Notes: After barely missing the playoffs last season, the Rangers get a new look and an elite owner in Rocket. Rocket is joined by Olympia teammate Gabseh to form what may be the strongest free contract duo in LG that has some heavy hitters: Gileh/Sitful, Hendry/Fisher, Jakoo/Joey, PTP/Mark, Rippin/Odie. Returning contracts included some cheaper gems like Nym, Levachkin and even Dimitri (compared to s38 Dmen pricing) and they only needed 8 bodies thru bidding. In bidding, they built upon the new Olympia empire by dropping 12mil on Grim creating a terrifying three headed monster (Grim, Rocket, Gabseh) in any potential G7 match ups. They also added the always consistent Lorenzo x 24 and CrazyJoeDavola. This team has infinite potential and will mostly depend on how much these esports biggies prioritize LG for the next few months. Best Contract: @NymmyBackpack ($2M) Worst Contract: N/A X Factor: @Lorenzo x 24 / Caring in the regular season FWD Grade: B+ DEF Grade: A- GOALIE Grade: D+ 4. Carolina Hurricanes Notes: To no ones surprise, another one of those scary management duos is my next pick to (at minimum) make the playoffs. Owner PTP10 is coming off of a Sharks Pacific Cup win with a big part in thanks to his domination at LW. His Composure teammate OfficialMark jumps ship from the Maple Leafs and joins PTP in Carolina where they are looking to turn the page after an awful s37 performance for the Canes. They didn't have a ton of returning contracts but there were a few nice pieces: Moran19, Hedxmann, canuckftw, Ginger. In bidding, they picked up two giant pieces. PTP and Mark's Composure linemate Tendy at RW and a dominant PSN LW in Class Act 27 who was one of my favorite forwards in bidding. The rest of the roster looks a lot deeper than last seasons Hurricanes with guys like NYIsles3, Big Tony and Murray 6. With maybe the exception of Vaynx, I believe the Canes got the best goalie in bidding with Th4 x W4ll who is impossible to score on. The Hurricanes are poised to be apart of the debate for a division title but it will be a battle. Best Contract: @Class Act 27 ($8M) Worst Contract: N/A X Factor: Forward Depth - 3rd line getting wins. FWD Grade: B+ DEF Grade: C+ GOALIE Grade: A- 5. Pittsburgh Penguins Notes: The Penguins are the only team in the Metro with the same returning management team in Kovy, Beaudy and Farfadet. This squad was able to squeak into the playoffs last season but were knocked out by the Devils in the first round. Taking that momentum, the Penguins came into s38 with only a few returning faces (Bureee, Klashy and Dolbec) and had to get most of their roster thru bidding. The Pens decided to use most of their cash on the one and only John Bri who went for over $13mil and then spread the wealth across the rest of the roster. One of my favorite pickups, St Michel, is a monster at all 6 positions and will be incredibly important to the Penguins success and ability to crack a playoff spot. On defense, Pittsburgh picked up two former top 5 picks in Forbz Eh and Oakua who will look to make the best of their 2nd professional contracts. The Penguins are relatively deep but I fear their top end talent won't be a match for the teams above them on this list. At this point, their best path looks like competing for one of the two wild card spots and improving the team as much as possible between now and the trade deadline. Best Contract: @I St Michel I ($3.25M) Worst Contract: @John Bri I 7 I ($13.5M) X Factor: @John Bri I 7 I (Needs to carry) FWD Grade: B+ DEF Grade: C+ GOALIE Grade: C+ 6. Philadelphia Flyers Notes: The Flyers were an unmitigated disaster last season in the hands of Sejje and SJUSoccer despite Welsh 16 coming in during the last few weeks and winning the Bill Masterson Award for his efforts after taking over as Owner. This season, the boys from Ground N Pound run the asylum. Owner Kovalchuk17 was joined by former #3 pick Delta Slays coming off of his DP contract. The roster is the former Avalanche roster so they were left with a few nice contracts in Manning76, Chowder71, Allo9915 via trade and #5 overall pick Gatineau Jiss87. In bidding, the Flyers completed their GNP management trio with (Goalie??) NBD Karma and went to work using their cap to build a strong roster 1 to 17. Their big ticket forward in bidding was YungReapx and were able to find some nice cheap contracts like Malkine, MeatMagician, Friser x 10 and Berulev. They also added a #1 Goalie in oSmitty. This team will rely on what looks like 3 very solid forward lines and likely some help from their goalies. There is a lot of potential on this roster so I wouldn't be surprised to see them floating in the playoff race for a majority of the season. Best Contract: @MaIkine ($1.5M) Worst Contract: @Luusky ($3.25M) X Factor: @o S m i i t t y FWD Grade: B- DEF Grade: C+ GOALIE Grade: B 7. New York Islanders Notes: Moving over from Calgary, A1Freak13 returns as owner and will look to get back into the mix after a tough up and down season. His GM choice was....sus with the addition of the lunatic MOVESLIKEJAGR but to each their own. This team had a TON of returning contracts, 8 to be exact (AgentSookra, xPro Baky, ka2good, BOSS of BOSSES, Desmarais x5, King Almighty, Lebb 01 and svg 11) with many coming via off-season trades. Totaling $12.25M with 10 players on the roster, the Isles had a lot of wiggle room heading into bidding but I fear they didn't make the best of a decent situation. Dumping a ton of their cap into a few Dmen with short resumes, the Isles failed to get a couple big time forwards to help them score. A1Freak went back and got his Vezina candidate goalie StamToast but the roster overall leaves a lot to be desired. I understand a player or two will be called up from this last draft but I don't see anyone that would make a significant impact. I like this teams D core and Goalie duo but I don't think they have enough juice to make any noise in the East playoff race, sadly. Best Contract: @StamToast ($1.75M) *Compared to the other goalie prices Worst Contract: @JTF2x X Factor: All 9 of their forwards - If they can build some chem, this team has a chance. FWD Grade: C- DEF Grade: B GOALIE Grade: B 8. New Jersey Devils Notes: SHEESH. The Devils managed a way to go from the legend TheHeroicDuck to a fella named Game Seven W. With another 'sus' GM choice, the Devils managed to enter bidding with zero contracts in hand despite having a ton of draft capital to get a few solid pieces. This team will hope and pray on their CHL Drakkar draft picks as well as Deezle and Rogers 4 from this part draft. In bidding, it appears that Game Seven drew most of his scouting from the ELO Rankings in the Drafts Discord when he chucked 6mil on JerseyDevil and added others like Byfuglien. I honestly don't hate a few of the pieces New Jersey added included a great two way forward in ASAP Jiren, a returning NHLer in McPluggles and some solid Dmen and goalies (glex, chyeet, Darcy). Despite a few signs of life, this team is in for a world of hurt from the jump. I don't see a game 7 player on the roster or more than a couple long-time LG veterans. The youngins will have to go sicko mode for the Devils to even sniff the #8 playoff spot. May the odds be ever in your favor. Over/Under amount of $ Tris earns from ban buyouts is set at $249. Best Contract: @Toronify ($4.5M) Worst Contract: @JerseyDevils 27 ($6M) X Factor: Heart. Hope. FWD Grade: C DEF Grade: C+ GOALIE Grade: B-
