Con's Crease -- S14 North Preseason Projections

Yo guys, what up, it’s ya boii, M. D. Con-to-the-Man. Welcome back to a long adjourned segment of Con’s Crease. Don’t forget to like, comment, share and subscribe! Punch that bell!!


We in this place doin’ some Preseason breakdowns and thoughts - this time on the Eastern North. Gonna be dropping the Eastern Atlantic shortly as well, so keep your eyes peeled on your notifications. If you haven’t already, don’t forget to follow the forums so you can check out all the new content as soon as it’s up!


Anyway.


Enough of that.


Just some quick thoughts on teams strengths and weaknesses headed into the start of the season, what/who I think is gonna make-or-break their playoff chances, and how far I think they’ll go/where I think they’ll finish.


I did not dig into stats and projected lines and preseason games, this is strictly my opinion from glancing at the rosters and impression of the management of each team.

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Belleville Baby Senators


GM - @Dxrk9ness (G)
AGM1 - @Lacasaroll (RW)

AGM2 - @blkpaladin1 (LD)


This team could very quickly make my projection look bad. Goalie GM’s are a serious handicap for any team (speaking as one myself) and really rely on their AGM to make up an excessive amount of Free Contract value. I don’t think that was achieved here, but I’ve definitely seen worse choices. This team really comes down to management’s ability to tweak the roster during the season and find steals. They have some pieces that could carry some weight in trades, but I just think the amount of things that would have to go right, the amount of trades for perceived trash that would have to play out in their favor, is just insurmountable for their management team.


Prove me wrong, and I will be very happy about it. It’s never fun to project who’s gonna be at the bottom, and Dxrk definitely talked some trash in management chat about how good his team was gonna be… so… the preseason roster is definitely a let down.


Division Projection - 7th
Playoff Prediction - Miss, at least 1 manager quits




Binghamton Baby Devils


GM - @OsamaBinSTABBIN (LW)

AGM1 - @OsamaBinBLAZZIN (RD)

AGM2 - N/A


I’ll be honest, there’s not a lot that blows me away about this team. They’ve got some nice pieces on forward, a couple okay Dmen, and a pretty high caliber goalie tandem (even if I think the one’s a little over hyped in net). The main redeeming qualities here are management who’ve been here before and a fairly well-rounded, though not overwhelming, roster.


I really don’t have a whole lot to say about them. They should probably finish 4th in the division assuming Utica or Laval don’t pan out, but I don’t see them going much further than that. They have decent enough depth if they can get the matchups they want down the line, but I just don’t think they’d be good enough currently to go far.


Best of luck figuring out how to improve from here, hopefully you got some decent assets on your TC or your NHL team helps you out.


Division Projection - 4th
Playoff Prediction - 1st Round exit




Cleveland Monsters


GM - @Kgrilli (RD)

AGM1 - @three_eleven07 (LW)

AGM2 - @A_Lucky_Pucker (RD)


This one might draw some heat, but honestly it comes down to 3 things:


1. Their entire offense relies on 3 people, and one of them is a Dman.

2. I don’t think all 3 of those people make it through the season.

3. I don’t know if this management team can change points 1 or 2.


Ultimately, I think this team just lacks an ability to compete with better teams in a 9 game week without completely throwing against everyone else. This will lead to a bad locker room situation with some not stable personalities. People will demand out or quit. Management possibly included. And thus will be the end of another LG team’s season.


Division Projection - 8th
Playoff Prediction - Miss, at least 1 manager quits




Laval Rocket


GM - @Dirty-Dietrich (C)

AGM1 - @ToMMy l28l (C)

AGM2 - N/A


I’ll just get this out of the way right off the bat, this team could go the completely other direction and kill it this season.


I personally question a lot of the choices on D, and most of their offense seems to be built around “let’s see if this guy’s still good” whether it’s from time away, or declining if not downright bad performance in the NHL. If those picks pan out, then probably throw these guys up to the top 2 in the division.


I’ve seen too many times where these kinds of guys don’t mesh with AHL hockey, though, and then they get an ego about their lack of success, blaming everyone but themselves. I’m not blown away by their goaltending either, so honestly there’s a ton of potential but at least as many question marks all the way up and down this roster.


Division Projection - 6th
Playoff Prediction - Miss




Rochester Americans


GM - @TKO_13__ (RW)

AGM1 - @xDeathx9 (LW)

AGM2 - N/A


If I were to pick one word to describe this roster, it would be “redemption”. TKO and Death went out and got a lot of good names, most of which will look to re-establish themselves in the AHL this season (be it from poor NHL performance, time away from LG, or what have you). I’m always a fan of a team that builds strong down the middle of the ice and leaves the wingers to more boom-or-bust offensive production, but they’ll definitely need to improve their backup G and possibly look to add a higher end forward or two if they want to make it past an early playoff exit.


Looking forward to see what @truedough28 can bring to the table for them in his first real season in the AHL, and getting a guy like @ZoGood for 500k is a coup. Their other dmen will have to prove their worth for the cap they’ve invested into them, or this team could find itself in more shootouts than they seem capable of winning to me.


Division Projection - 3rd
Playoff Prediction - 1st Round exit




Syracuse “Xbox” Crunch


GM - @Tibbernac (LD)

AGM1 - @AG7859 (RW)

AGM2 - @HoooFooo (RW)


Honestly this team’s pretty solid despite not looking that flashy. They got a lot of their guys from Xbox at good prices, throw in @DrFurryNips as an NHL send down and a weak division overall, and this team could get scary down the stretch if they pick up some assets from teams selling at the deadline.


Biggest weakness is really just rostering @The Gr8 Haxby at $10m. That’s a lot of money in the AHL, as evidenced by their current cap situation. They’re only over a little shy of $2m as of when I wrote this, but they don’t have a lot of expendable parts to cut to get under (currently need to lose 1 forward spot).


Legit, ran into them in club the other night and these guys know what they’re doing. Should be fun to play against them this season, but we’ll see if the depth holds up with this many guys on both consoles.


Division Projection - 1st
Playoff Prediction - 3rd Round exit




Toronto Marlies


GM - @Bailmoney95 (LD)

AGM1 - @Timmycdogg (LD)

AGM2 - @Topshotman53827 (LW)


Toronto running it back with Bail and Topshot, while adding Timmy to the mix to complete their management team. Honestly, I didn’t think too highly of this team even with a 4th place projection before, but that Toff trade really brings some top of the roster quality without breaking the bank like a team normally would without a forward on a free contract. GREAT move by them, Utica was really asleep at the wheel on this one.


The defense is interesting, they MASSIVELY overspent on @griznectar at RD, but with 2 free contracts on D and picking up a 1C for only $4m after bidding, in hindsight it doesn’t look as bad already. But it’s still bad. Nothing against Griz. Just not a guy that should be in that price range.


Overall pretty good setup. Great center depth, at least a couple good wings, enough good D, and some decent options at G. Would love to see this team rework their cap hit on D a little more though, but the division doesn’t look that great honestly so they might be fine.


Division Projection - 2nd (4th before Toff trade)
Playoff Prediction - 2nd Round exit




Utica Comets


GM - @Sunshine2644 (RW)

AGM1 - @Scrooge_McCuck_ (LW)

AGM2 - @Darkl79l (C)


(I have 2 takes on this team - before and after trading @Toeffoli)


BEFORE - This team is pretty stacked offensively, and decently balanced overall. Honestly my only concerns are: is the top end of the D good enough, and will their goalies hold up over the course of the season. They spent big on @Yobkuf, who has definitely played well in a tough division the past 2 seasons on the TBirds, but I don’t consider him anything above a good 2nd Dpair in the AHL and they spent $5m on my mans. This is a make-or-break contract for their team and I have to believe that they didn’t go into bidding planning on that being the case. Their goalies are coming off of each of their best seasons (in their last full seasons in the AHL) but those are also their only seasons they even looked worth rostering. So the question will be, are they good now? Or were those seasons just flukes.


(hot take alert)

AFTER - WOW! I mean… just WOW… if I’d known Yeet and Dark wanted to give Toff away for cheap I would’ve hit them up while Sunny was asleep for myself!! Hot damn!! Yob definitely still a make-or-break contract for them, but they literally swap a LOCK at the top of their roster in Toff (at only $4m) for a guy coming off his only above-average season in the CHL for barely any less of a cap hit… I’m sorry but the extra guys in this trade just do NOT make up for the lost value here. Team is suddenly a lot less of a surefire playoff spot IMHO, especially trading within their own division. They could still make this work for them, good managers can make bad decisions too, so don’t write them off completely. But MAN did they make things harder for themselves.


Division Projection - 5th (2nd before Toff trade)
Playoff Prediction - Miss, possibly someone in management quits?




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Projected Standings:


1. Syracuse

2. Toronto

3. Rochester

4. Binghamton

5. Utica

6. Laval

7. Belleville

8. Cleveland




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I’m sure people will disagree with me on this, and I’m positive I probably overlooked some really nice pieces that will make a difference for several of these teams. But it is what it is.


Appreciate feedback and comments, I always enjoy discussing what you think I should have considered!!


I’ll be doing the Eastern Atlantic in the morning/afternoon so keep your eyes peeled for that.

 

Aye, again thanks @MDConMan for helping out with these divisional write ups!

 

How does nobody know who WillRollTide is? The fuck lol.

 

Great write-up man, Me Tibby and AG go way back. Should be a fun season forsure!

 

I should be 10 mill

 

I couldn’t agree more

 

@GonzoArmstrong this guys is jokes man he does not know shit.

 

I do not know why I was traded, but love me some Timmy. And boy I make this logo look good.

 

I couldn't disagree more. Cleveland will be really good lol

 

Informative

 

Don’t take it to heart sweetheart

 

Definitely not an indictment of you as a player or anything, to be clear. Could come out this season and make me look like an idiot, go for it. But as it stands currently, the value gained is far lower than the value given up in my personal opinion.

 

lotta ahl teams looking like chl teams this season

 

This Aged Well @MDConMan

Cleveland Monsters


GM - @Kgrilli (RD)

AGM1 - @three_eleven07 (LW)

AGM2 - @A_Lucky_Pucker (RD)


This one might draw some heat, but honestly it comes down to 3 things:


1. Their entire offense relies on 3 people, and one of them is a Dman.

2. I don’t think all 3 of those people make it through the season.

3. I don’t know if this management team can change points 1 or 2.


Ultimately, I think this team just lacks an ability to compete with better teams in a 9 game week without completely throwing against everyone else. This will lead to a bad locker room situation with some not stable personalities. People will demand out or quit. Management possibly included. And thus will be the end of another LG team’s season.


Division Projection - 8th
Playoff Prediction - Miss, at least 1 manager quits

 

@A_Lucky_Pucker im always happy to be wrong when I didn’t think a team was gonna be good enough nice work so far!

 

The Brady Crunch

 

Yob is ELEET. And he's a good samaritan(is this even a word?), heard he already donated 1/3 of his salary to the local liquor stores.