A few AI related things

#4BobbyOrr · 10-26-2024, 04:08 AM

I noticed some interesting things, mostly weird AI decisions after simming a couple of years in a standard save.

Firstly, there is a huge amount of GM movement now. A few examples - Briesbois was hired as the Tampa GM on Sep 27 2024 (which is weird because he should have already been Tampa GM), fired on Oct 17 '24 and then hired as the Dallas GM on Nov 29 '24. Boston went through three GMs in their first year and Florida had fired Zito by Nov 8th. Also worth noting that the GM hires are normally mediocre GMs with attributes that struggle to be above 10 in most areas. Tony Gasparini seemed to be a popular hire to replace established GMs, he was hired at least twice in the first year to replace others.

Trade/Waiver logic is a bit off. Colton Sissons was traded to the Lightning for a 2nd round pick on Sep 7th. On Sep 20th he was traded again from Tampa to Boston for a 3rd round pick and then Boston placed him on waivers and sent him down. Luostarinen was traded to the Devils for a 4th then sent down. Lyon was traded from Detroit to FLA then back to Det on the same day (once for a 4th then for a 5th) and then sent down to the minors.

Some other weird deals - Lindell and Harley were both traded for 3rd round picks and Romanov a 6th round pick (and he was then waived) where as Adam Boqvist and Dylan Gambrell both managed to yield 1st round picks and John Hayden was traded for a 2nd.

AI peronnel decisions on the PP seem to be even more far fetched than they already were. I've got multiple examples but the most odd ones were Carson Meyer being on the top unit in Anaheim, Tkachuk being on the second unit in FLA behind Rodrigues, Martinez on the top unit in Chicago, Barre-Boulet on the top unit in Mtl, Brodzinski on the top unit in NY over Panarin, Derek Ryan was traded to Tampa and was on the top unit, Marner was on the second unit in Tor and Connor was on the second unit in Winnipeg (with Barron being the LW on the first unit).

Defensive dmen are still undervalued by AI teams and end up on waivers and in the minors far more often than offensive minded dmen with lower overall current abilities.

Goalie usage is still extreme. In year one Skinner led the league with 78 games and Ingram was 10th place with 71 games.

Contracts for elite players seem to be quite low compared to low to mid range players. Of the higher end players Marner and Rantanen both signed long term extensions in the $8.5 - $9m range then in July the next year Konecny, Slavin and Chychrun only received contracts in the $6.7 - $7.2m range (for 5, 3 and 4 years respectively). In comparison Pezzetta got $4m per year for 3 years, Gryzelck got $4.6m x 2, Faska $4.5m x 2 and then in '26 free agency Blueger coming off 18 points got $5.6m x 2

And on one other note, McDavid is still a cheat code when it comes to winning the Hart trophy. in 25/26 he had 29g and 103 points (which I don't believe even finished top 5 in scoring) and missed the playoffs. He won the Hart over Svechnikov who scored 63 goals 120 points but also missed playoffs and MacKinnon who had 33 G and 103 Points but the Avs had 52 wins and were one of the top teams.

SilentFox · 10-27-2024, 05:02 PM

I would like to bump this to piggyback off of it to say I also see extremely one-sided Goalie usage by the AI. The better rated starter would hog all the starts and never rotate with settings on default

BlueLemming · 10-27-2024, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilentFox

I would like to bump this to piggyback off of it to say I also see extremely one-sided Goalie usage by the AI. The better rated starter would hog all the starts and never rotate with settings on default

Seeing this too. Oettinger has played minimum 70 games every year so far

tomkmb · 10-27-2024, 06:41 PM

We've come full circle, used to be complaints that the starter never played, now it's that the backup isn't playing enough! (I'm not detracting from these observations, they're all valid, I just never thought I would live to see the day!)

JeffR · 10-28-2024, 08:55 AM

Yeah, the goalie starts have gotten a little high in some cases, going to take another look at it.

10-26-2024, 04:08 AM	#1
#4BobbyOrr Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2015 Posts: 163	A few AI related things I noticed some interesting things, mostly weird AI decisions after simming a couple of years in a standard save. Firstly, there is a huge amount of GM movement now. A few examples - Briesbois was hired as the Tampa GM on Sep 27 2024 (which is weird because he should have already been Tampa GM), fired on Oct 17 '24 and then hired as the Dallas GM on Nov 29 '24. Boston went through three GMs in their first year and Florida had fired Zito by Nov 8th. Also worth noting that the GM hires are normally mediocre GMs with attributes that struggle to be above 10 in most areas. Tony Gasparini seemed to be a popular hire to replace established GMs, he was hired at least twice in the first year to replace others. Trade/Waiver logic is a bit off. Colton Sissons was traded to the Lightning for a 2nd round pick on Sep 7th. On Sep 20th he was traded again from Tampa to Boston for a 3rd round pick and then Boston placed him on waivers and sent him down. Luostarinen was traded to the Devils for a 4th then sent down. Lyon was traded from Detroit to FLA then back to Det on the same day (once for a 4th then for a 5th) and then sent down to the minors. Some other weird deals - Lindell and Harley were both traded for 3rd round picks and Romanov a 6th round pick (and he was then waived) where as Adam Boqvist and Dylan Gambrell both managed to yield 1st round picks and John Hayden was traded for a 2nd. AI peronnel decisions on the PP seem to be even more far fetched than they already were. I've got multiple examples but the most odd ones were Carson Meyer being on the top unit in Anaheim, Tkachuk being on the second unit in FLA behind Rodrigues, Martinez on the top unit in Chicago, Barre-Boulet on the top unit in Mtl, Brodzinski on the top unit in NY over Panarin, Derek Ryan was traded to Tampa and was on the top unit, Marner was on the second unit in Tor and Connor was on the second unit in Winnipeg (with Barron being the LW on the first unit). Defensive dmen are still undervalued by AI teams and end up on waivers and in the minors far more often than offensive minded dmen with lower overall current abilities. Goalie usage is still extreme. In year one Skinner led the league with 78 games and Ingram was 10th place with 71 games. Contracts for elite players seem to be quite low compared to low to mid range players. Of the higher end players Marner and Rantanen both signed long term extensions in the $8.5 - $9m range then in July the next year Konecny, Slavin and Chychrun only received contracts in the $6.7 - $7.2m range (for 5, 3 and 4 years respectively). In comparison Pezzetta got $4m per year for 3 years, Gryzelck got $4.6m x 2, Faska $4.5m x 2 and then in '26 free agency Blueger coming off 18 points got $5.6m x 2 And on one other note, McDavid is still a cheat code when it comes to winning the Hart trophy. in 25/26 he had 29g and 103 points (which I don't believe even finished top 5 in scoring) and missed the playoffs. He won the Hart over Svechnikov who scored 63 goals 120 points but also missed playoffs and MacKinnon who had 33 G and 103 Points but the Avs had 52 wins and were one of the top teams. Last edited by #4BobbyOrr; 10-26-2024 at 03:26 PM.

10-27-2024, 05:02 PM	#2
SilentFox Minors (Single A) Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Naguabo, Puerto Rico, Formerly Miami, Florida Posts: 63	I would like to bump this to piggyback off of it to say I also see extremely one-sided Goalie usage by the AI. The better rated starter would hog all the starts and never rotate with settings on default

10-27-2024, 06:41 PM	#4
tomkmb All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2021 Posts: 1,650	We've come full circle, used to be complaints that the starter never played, now it's that the backup isn't playing enough! (I'm not detracting from these observations, they're all valid, I just never thought I would live to see the day!)

10-28-2024, 08:55 AM	#5
JeffR FHM Producer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Kelowna, BC Posts: 17,425	Yeah, the goalie starts have gotten a little high in some cases, going to take another look at it.