An FHM Database - Ten Years In (DRAFT SOAK: BORING DATA)

[Ciccarelli]

NOTE: Apologies for the gigantic pictures in advance. Me no good at IMG editing...

One of my morbid fascinations with games like this is the aspects of player development and aging. It’s an interesting, inexact science that doesn’t have a pinpoint formula. My main gripe with EHM (as good as it was) was that player development was extremely uniform and cookie-cutter: Player fully develops all attributes by age 20-21 then goes on to have an extraordinarily long career before his physical attributes fall off a hypothetical cliff when he hits age 39-40.

No, I’m not doing this to join the “hate parade,” as some may call it. It’s more or less to help the developers improve their product. That and I have a bit of time on my hands. Why choose ten years? It’s enough time to for the game to “develop” players and for the AI to form their own rosters. I only got to 2021 (game crash), but I’ve noticed a few things:


- - The AI (in the NHL and KHL) seems to have a weird habit of signing their top prospects at age 18 and 19 and proceed to let them rot on the bench with occasional spot duty on the fourth line. Considering that playing time is critical in player development, it seems that the AI is unintentionally messing with, and possibly stalling, their prospects development. I mean, not everybody is Doug MacLean . They’re probably judging their future potential (good) but greatly overlooking their current ability when placing them on their rosters.


- - On that note, I’m seeing a good bit of 18 and 19 year old North Americans in the AHL and ECHL. Note that the minimum age to be in those leagues (for North Americans) is 20.


- - It may be just me, but there are also a decent amount of young North American players in the KHL (as in ages 18-22). I know it’s due to the KHL Draft rights, but it’s not like their being thrown a ton of money to be going overseas ($80,000/year).


- - The CHL leagues have an utter lack of talent over the age of 18. Most of this is due to the reasons mentioned above. Once players are drafted into the NHL, they are almost immediately signed to rookie contracts by their drafted teams, but rarely returned to them for the season.


- - It seems like some players just “vanish” from the database. They don’t even get an announcement that they’ve retired, but they just get wiped, even in past history. Take for example these goalie stats from the 2002-2003 New Jersey Devils:





Notice something missing?

- - Also when looking at the draft history, it has a strange habit of keeping the same draft classes that I had looked at. Minor, but kinda irritating. A minor request: is there any way we can look at their career stats for what league they were drafted in? It’s interesting to see if a player I passed on ends up being a superstar or a dud.




- - For player decline, it seems like their technical attributes stay the same (offensive and defensive) while their physical attributes gradually make them useless. Take, for example, Sidney Crosby.
-



- It seems like the only things that have declined have been his physical attributes (a good skater that has become a mediocre one just a few years past his prime). Just seems odd that nothing else has really fallen off either. And before you get started, I know that physical attributes are usually the first thing to start to decline. Maybe I’m just talking out my ass, but there should be a bit more variety in the ways a player declines (perhaps someone whose technical attributes take a nosedive while his physical attributes remain the same?)


- - On the other end of the spectrum, it seems like some players just don’t retire. I’ve noticed that during the first offseason, few players choose to retire. And those players, surprisingly, aren’t the one’s who probably would retire in the first place (ex. Teemu Selanne, Jaromir Jagr, Martin Brodeur, etc.). Speaking of Brodeur, I had a league where he was still playing at the NHL level at the age of 49 (after a few years in England, of all places), and he was still a decent goalie. I also got Daniel Alfredsson playing until the age of 46 and, 48-year-old Ville Peltonen still going strong in Germany. And yes, his physical attributes have fallen off a cliff while everything else is still intact.


-


- - When random leagues in Norway, Britain and France are playable, they have a tendency to sign extremely reputable players (past their prime, of course). Vinny Lecavalier in France, the British Elite League being home to players like Henrik Sedin, Trevor Daley, Devin Setoguchi, Cory Schneider, and so on. I think it has more to do with the leagues being playable, as the Ligue Magnus and GET Ligaen don’t sign these kind of players when they’re not selected as playable.


- Coaching staffs (at least in the NHL) have seen minimal turnover. There are new General Managers for most teams, but the coaches for the Pens have remained with Dan Bylsma, Tony Granato, Bill Guerin, Mike Bales and Todd Reirden. That team hasn't done very well in the past few seasons as well. Just odd, especially since the first thing to go when a team is bad are the coaches.



That’s all I’ve really got for now. As I’ve said, I’m not here to bitch, but to perhaps give some sort of useful information to the developers. Hope it does.

[Lukas Berger]

Very good information. Thanks for taking the time to post it.

[Ciccarelli]

Looks like Brodeur just showed up again and announced his retirement at the age of 50.



Just odd how he vanished from both free agency and the database for a year before he returns to announce his retirement. Also 49-year-old Martin Brodeur has been a constant in all of my simulations, for whatever reason. Guess he didn't want Chelios to outdo him.

[Mordrehl]

What I'm really curious about is how a player drafted in say the 1st round at the start your game developed over those 10 years ...

What are their stats?
There current ability and their potential? ie did they reach it by 28 years of age, or are they way off.

What kind of players were available in say the last 3 years of your draft? The top 3 guys and their potential? This to see how a random group of players was generated


Oh and the underage players in ECHL/AHL ... I found that bug and have exploited it myself
If you click on the player in ROSTER view, the only option is to send them back to Junior (as it should be)
If you go in to their profile however, and click Actions ... the option to send them to AHL/ECHL is there ... though ECHL won't accept anybody under 20 in my game.

Also, there's a problem sending them back to Junior

I sent McCarron back for Montreal in my second year, 1/2 way through the OHL season I checked on him to see if he was doing good ... and was shocked to see that he hadn't player a single game. I checked his history, no injuries. Checked his team and he was the highest current ability player of anyone on that team so by all rights should have been dressed.

[Smetana]

Not boring data at all, OP. A lot of insight, and a lot of troubling information as well. Reinforces the fact that this game has a long way to go to catch EHM.

Thank you for taking the time.

[tcblcommish]

Great post, good to see what happens years from the start

[ZBGuy]

That's actually kinda neat that a player can hold out that long, but it should obviously happen once a generation at most.

[yzerwing]

Originally Posted by Mordrehl

I sent McCarron back for Montreal in my second year, 1/2 way through the OHL season I checked on him to see if he was doing good ... and was shocked to see that he hadn't player a single game. I checked his history, no injuries. Checked his team and he was the highest current ability player of anyone on that team so by all rights should have been dressed.

I have noticed this in all builds so far, it seems if you have a junior player under contract to you, and then send them to junior, they sit in the press box in junior. So I used commissioner mode, and changed their contracts to the junior team, and put my NHL team with rights, and then they start playing games for the junior team.

Definitely needs to be fixed!

[Penfold75]

Excellent post Ciccarelli, thanks for taking the time to put it together. Highlights some quite worrying flaws in the game.

How did things like this slip the net. Really have to question what proper testing was done before this game was released.

Things just seem to have been rushed but you have to ask why? the release of the game was delayed a long time from late 2012/early 2013 to September 2013. That is a lot of extra time to get this game coded, tested and ready for release.

[Lukas Berger]

I haven't dug that deeply into FHM yet, but in OOTP there are modifiers to allow the user complete control of the speed of the aging process. I would guess FHM has something similar.

Ok, found it. Not as detailed as OOTP's options sadly, but if you go to game > setup options you can select from several choices for aging speed. It might be worth running a test to see if changing it from normal to fast or very fast makes a substantial difference.

It may be that the preset aging levels are less than correct and changing the setting can make a difference. Or it may be that the whole system needs an overhaul, idk. It should be worth trying to adjust the settings first though and see if that helps. Even if it doesn't then you'll at least have more info for the devs to take a look at.

[Ciccarelli]

Originally Posted by Mordrehl

What I'm really curious about is how a player drafted in say the 1st round at the start your game developed over those 10 years ...

What are their stats?
There current ability and their potential? ie did they reach it by 28 years of age, or are they way off.

What kind of players were available in say the last 3 years of your draft? The top 3 guys and their potential? This to see how a random group of players was generated

I'm actually going to do a draft in this soak to see who are the top prospects and how scouting plays a factor (in commish mode). I'll also be tracking some top prospects as well as mid rounders to see if there's a difference in draft placement. As it turns out, the crash wasn't a constant one and I'm able to sim past it.

And Lukas, I noticed the player development mods, but that implies uniform player development, which if you have ANY knowledge of prospects, is absolutely false. Way too many variables in terms of player position (forwards develop the fastest, defensemen develop slower then that and goalies are, in layman's terms, like a fabrige egg that takes a very long time to develop), quality of coaching, playing time, and a ton of other things that are complicated (how do you explain the career path of someone like Brian Rafalski, Martin St Louis, Olli Jokinen or Tim Thomas?)

But that's for another post.

[Alessandro]

Hey Dino, thanks for your test. The issue with Norwegian leagues and so is a well-known bug and hopefully it should be fixed soon.

[Ciccarelli]

Originally Posted by Alessandro

Hey Dino, thanks for your test. The issue with Norwegian leagues and so is a well-known bug and hopefully it should be fixed soon.

No problem. And I figured that the Norwegian and French leagues signing the likes of Lecavalier and Sedin was known by now. Thought I saw it on here already.

As for a little update, I'm just about to do the 2023 draft with the Pens (I wanted to join on June 1, but was unable to advance any further because they were below the salary floor. I resign and join them when the season ends). A few things I've noticed:

- Crosby seems to have fallen further off of the cliff. Some tech attributes have fallen (the physically dependent ones, like checking and hitting), but its mostly the physical attributes once again.



- It seems when a player doesn't develop as planned (due to the aforementioned rotting in the press box), his potential just falls off of a cliff. Meet Jesper Karlsson, a game-generated top prospect.



So if I'm assuming properly, if he develops to his full potential, he'll be a star first liner in the NHL. Unfortunately, our old friend AI has a few tricks up his sleeve in the form of letting him rot on the bench and fourth line (Note especially his stats during his age 18-19 years).



After some royal botching, here's what my scouts say about his ability and potential now:



There you have it: From first-line star to first liner in the SPHL. This is pretty disturbing since it's probably not just Mr. Karlsson that is getting this treatment.

- For ****s and giggles, an update on the ageless wonder Ville Peltonen... Still going at age 50.



With stats like that in the old DEL, he should be strugging to stay on the ice for 30 seconds at a time. Is that the case? Nope. Still producing top-six numbers for that league.



It's not that I have a problem with things like this happening (if they were more rare, they'd actually be pretty cool to see). The problem is how common they are in these games.

- I've also noticed that there is ZERO notification about the draft. It's mentioned in the simulating and in the GM "office" screen, but I get no updates about top prospects, scouting assignments (any overrated/underrated prospects, "hidden" prospects, etc.) or even a simple ISS ranking of the top prospects for the draft. It's like I'm going in blind.

Up next, the draft. Pray for me...

[Alessandro]

Hey Dino, can you have a look at some players:

Vladimir Tkachyov
Nikita Zaitsev
Andrei Vasilevsky
Yevgeni Svechnikov
Viktor Antipin

[johnhannibalsmith]

This is probably the most deliberately entertaining while also informative thread I've read on this forum in months. Keep up the good stuff!

[Ciccarelli]

Originally Posted by Alessandro

Hey Dino, can you have a look at some players:

Vladimir Tkachyov
Nikita Zaitsev
Andrei Vasilevsky
Yevgeni Svechnikov
Viktor Antipin

Done and done (I will spare your bandwidth from annoyingly large pics).

- Tkachyov was drafted high by Carolina (9th overall in 2015), but it looks like he never made the jump the western hemisphere. Only played in 2 games at age 19 and none at age 20 (was with Traktor Chelyabinsk), now a top-six forward with Traktor, but has obviously never achieved his true offensive potential. (Overall 6.0 / Potential 6.0)

- Zaitsev spent several years with CSKA before signing with the Carolina Hurricanes at age 26, where he has found a niche as a second-pairing defenseman, his physical attributes look like they're starting to decline (6 acceleration and agility, 11 speed, 10 balance and strength and 8 stamina), as he's spent a majority of this current year in the press box. A prime candidate to move back overseas in free agency. (Overall 6.0 / Potential 6.0)

- Vasilevsky has spent most of his time as a 1A goalie in Salavat Yulayev (except at age 20 where he was loaned to Metallurg and played four games there and five in the minors). He recently signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he's become a decent 1B goalie, playing 36 and 38 games in two seasons. (Overall 6.0/ Potential 6.0)

- Svechnikov was the epitome of world journeyman in his first few years in the database. Spends first year in YHL, putting up decent numbers, then proceeds to rot on what I'm assuming to be a KHL press box at age 18, gets drafted and signed by Florida (3rd overall in 2015), plays a whopping eight games in their minor league system before getting cut (I guess? Very odd) and bounces around for three German teams for the rest of the year. Eventually finds a spot with EHC in the German Elite League for several seasons putting up visible Cy Young numbers on the third line (one year putting up 28 points, 23 of them being goals) before making the trek to America to play for the prestigious Elmira Jackals in the ECHL for seven games at age 21. Then signs with Anaheim and spends a season in their minor league system, eventually earning a cup of coffee at the NHL level at age 22. Over the next several seasons, he develops and etches out a roster spot at the NHL level before fully breaking out at age 25, putting up an unbelievable 62 goals and 14 assists for the Ducks (Take that, Cy Young!). He put up 62 goals again this year, but with a more reasonable 21 assists. (Overall 7.0 / Potential 7.0)

Svechnikov's story pretty much proves that the AI absolutely ****s the bed when trying to "manage" prospects. It's surprising to me that he's able to go on and become a top scorer at the NHL level.

- Antipin has remained with Metallurg Magnitogorsk for the duration of his career, staying a core contributor with the club. Doubtful that he will make the move to the NHL, since he's making good money in his home country, and the utter lack of strength (1) and physicality (7 aggression and 3 hitting) will set him up to fail in the smaller North American surfaces. (Overall 6.0 / Potential 6.0)

[Alessandro]

Thank you. Bear in mind though that most of players are yet to be deeply rated so things might change (even if yes, probably the AI needs some adjustment)

[Ciccarelli]

And now for the event that no one was waiting for… the 2023 NHL Draft. For this, I will be following at least 15 players for their careers (or as long as I can run the game before it crashes): The top 10 picks plus the players I have selected in the draft (I might include the random player from a country that doesn’t produce quality hockey talent consistently as well, for the sake of novelty.

1. Colorado - Ernest Hilton, LW, Peterborough Petes (OHL) – (Overall 4.0 / Potential 9.0) - Looks like he could become an outstanding power forward at the NHL level if all goes according to plan. Had a down year compared to last year with 66 points in 66 games (compared to 93 points last year), but didn’t stop scouts from ogling at his potential.

2. Nashville – Igor Volchek, RD, Dynamo Moscow (KHL) – (Overall 4.0 / Potential 10.0) – Spent this past year shuttling between the YHL and KHL, where he didn’t look out of place in the latter league, putting up three points in 12 games.

3. Minnesota – Brad Baumgartner, LW, Kootenay Ice (WHL) – (Overall 4.0 / Potential 9.5) – Put up 66 points in 72 games with the team this year, but needs to develop his defensive attributes if wants to have a better shot at the NHL level. Scouts seem to think he can do it.

4. Philadelphia – William Ritter, LW, US High School (Overall 4.0 / Potential 9.5) – 32 points in 29 games for him at this level. The question is whether or not he goes to college to continue his development or is quickly signed at the NHL level (we probably know the answer to this, but I won’t say it to increase the suspense).

5. Calgary – Michael Marchment, LW, Portland Winterhawks (Overall 4.5 / Potential 9.5) – The fourth left winger taken in this draft in five picks. A banner year for the position. Not that great physically, but has a nice shot and good speed to counter. Looks like a top-six or bust pick.

6. San Jose – Colton Dallin, LW, Owen Sound Attack (OHL) – (Overall 5.5 / Potential 6.5) – Another left winder that seems to have the least upside of the group but is the most NHL ready, with physical ratings that rival even the best the world has to offer (all ratings except for fighting over 16). The question his can his hands catch up to his feet.

Yay now it’s my turn. Just wanted to add that even though I can see their ratings and potential, why am I unable to get a scout (or two)’s recommendation on who to pick or different scout’s ratings and opinions on players (something that I loved from EHM). Obviously not high on the to-do list, but something to consider for next year.

7. Pittsburgh – Olof Wahlin, RW, Northern Sweden U18 – (Overall 5.0 / Potential 8.5) – I was debating between a few players for this pick, but it looked like this guy had the best chance of success, with blazing speed (18) good determination to develop to his full potential (16) and having decent offensive stats (13 puckhandling and 12 accuracy), to become the greatest goal scorer this side of Cy Young .

8. New York Rangers – Pascal Ruppen, LD, Central Switzerland U18 (Overall 5.5 / Potential 8.0) – This was a guy I was looking at for my choice, but his utter dearth of offensive ability (9 passing, 8 puckhandling and 7 offensive read) is going to severely limit his ability to be the best he can be. However, he’s a stud defensively with outstanding pokechecking (17) and solid in shot blocking, positioning and hitting (14)

9. New York Islanders – Dorian Lynch, C, Peterborough Petes (OHL) – (Overall 4.0 / Potential 8.5) – What I’m assuming to be the linemate for the first pick in the draft. Has good physical attributes, but his offensive abilities need work if he is to become a top-six forward in the NHL (lots of 9’s and 10’s with an 11 in offensive read).


10. Tampa Bay Lightning - Dan Maryschak, C, Calgary Hitmen (WHL) – (Overall 5.5 / Potential 8.0) – This was the guy whom I was debating along with Wahlin for the Pens selection. He has all the makings of a two-way top six center with a mean streak (19 fighting, 18 strength and 19 aggression). Good speed and already has good offensive attributes (16 screening, 15 puckhandling, 14 shooting accuracy and 13 offensive read and passing). Needs to work on the defensive aspects of his game, however.


And now I’ll just scout the rest of my picks to see how I did in my first draft for the game.


- Round 2, Pick 37 – Oscar Andersson, C, Stockholm U18 – (Overall 5.0 / Potential 7.5)

- Round 3, Pick 67 – Gagik Theisen, RW, Charlottetown Islanders (QMJHL) – (Overall 5.0 / Potential 8.0)

- Round 4, Pick 97 – Aaron Jacina, RW, Oshawa Generals (OHL) – (Overall 4.5 / Potential 6.5)

- Round 5, Pick 127 – Patrik Hornacek, LD, HC’05 Banska Bystrica (EXL) – (Overall 4.5 / Potential 8.0) – Nothing really outstanding about this guy (guess that’s why he fell so far in the draft), but my scout seems to love him if he puts his potential up there.

- Round 6, Pick 157 – Mikhail Ushenin, LD, Dizel Penza (YHL) – (Overall 4.5 / Potential 7.5)

- Round 7, Pick 187 – Alexandre Bussieres, LW, Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) – (Overall 4.5 / Potential 6.5)

How did I do? Hopefully good… hopefully.

[Sebastian Palkowski]

Great thread, thanks for the hard work you put into it! I will follow it closely and take notes to improve the code.

Would you like to join the beta test team? You would still be allowed to post your findings to the public of course.

[Ciccarelli]

YEAR 1 UPDATE (AS OF JUNE 1, 2024) – Prepare for a massive wall of text…

1. Colorado - Ernest Hilton, LW (Overall 4.0 / Potential 9.0) – Now Overall 5.0/ Potential 9.0 – Spent the full season in Colorado, garnering 19 points in 69 games with a -15 (probable fourth liner). Screening, getting open and passing increase by 1-2 points; defensive attributes, shooting accuracy, puckhandling and shooting range do not change, speed and stamina decrease by one.

2. Nashville – Igor Volchek, RD (Overall 4.0 / Potential 10.0) – Now Overall 4.5/ Potential 10.0 – Spends year in Russia with Dynamo Moscow, shuttling between the KHL (5 points in 7 games) and the VHL (15 points in 39 games). Most attributes remain stagnant, except for bravery (increases by one). Checking, hitting and getting open all decrease by one.

3. Minnesota – Brad Baumgartner, LW (Overall 4.0 / Potential 9.5) – Now Overall 5.0/ Potential 10.5 – Spent the season with Kootenay at the WHL, not even sniffing the NHL level (STUNNING DEVELOPMENT). Stats decrease (28 goals and 49 points in 59 games), but looks to have seen the most improvement (all offensive attributes increase by one, checking, strength and balance decreases, but pokecheck, acceleration and agility increase (perhaps a differing scouts opinion?).

4. Philadelphia – William Ritter, LW (Overall 4.0 / Potential 9.5) – Now Overall 5.0/ Potential 10.5 – Spends the entire season in Philadelphia, but doesn’t seem to be out of place, getting 9 goals and 30 points in 82 games (3rd liner). Getting open, passing, puckhandling, positioning and offensive and defensive read all increase by 2, but screening decreases by 2 (Different scout or true change in abililty?).

5. Calgary – Michael Marchment, LW (Overall 4.5 / Potential 9.5) – Now Overall 5.5/ Potential 9.5 – Spends season in Calgary where he proceeds to be relegated to fourth-line grinder (8 points and -20 in 77 games). Screening and defensive read increase by 2, faceoffs, hitting and agility increase by 1, fighting and checking decrease by 2.

6. San Jose – Colton Dallin, LW (Overall 5.5 / Potential 6.5) – Now Overall 6.5/ Potential 7.5 – Spends the entire year at the NHL level, struggling massively in San Jose (posting a Neiderreiterian 2 points in 50 games) before being traded to Ottawa (for 25-year-old tweener Albert Lee and Cam Fowler. Not a bad trade, but just weird how they give up on the guy so quickly) and posting a more modest 10 points in 25 games. Puckhandling, shooting accuracy, hitting, pokechecking, defensive read, acceleration and fighting all increase by one.

7. Pittsburgh – Olof Wahlin, RW (Overall 5.0 / Potential 8.5) – Now Overall 5.5/ Potential 8.5 – Shuttles between Wilkes-Barre (8 goals and 20 points in 48 games) and Pittsburgh (7 goals and 12 points in 23 games) for the season. Screening, checking, positioning, offensive read, bravery, team player, agility, and strength increase by one; Acceleration increases by two.

8. New York Rangers – Pascal Ruppen, LD (Overall 5.5 / Potential 8.0) – Now Overall 5.5/ Potential 8.0 – Spends the whole year at the NHL level in New York, only putting up 8 points (no goals) and a -10 in 59 games. Seemed to hurt his technical development (only getting open and shot blocking increase by 1), but not his physical development (acceleration, agility, balance, and fighting increase by 1, speed increases by 2).

9. New York Islanders – Dorian Lynch, C (Overall 4.0 / Potential 8.5) – Now Overall 5.5/ Potential 9.5 – Has a very lackluster season in the NHL, scoring no goals and only four points (with a -7) in 34 games. Also plays four games for Bridgeport in the AHL. Despite the terrible season, it doesn’t stall his development, showing gains of at least 1 in many categories (except most mental attributes).

10. New Jersey Devils - Dan Maryschak, C (Overall 5.5 / Potential 8.0) – Now Overall 7.0/ Potential 8.5 – I messed up on the team that drafted him, since he got selected by New Jersey, not Tampa Bay. It matters a bit, because Maryschak made a very strong case for Rookie of the Year; potting 31 goals and 59 points with a +13 and 95 PIM in 82 games. If he keeps developing, I might have ended up making a big mistake (well, okay, not a BIG mistake, since Wahlin looks to be pretty decent himself). Getting open, offensive read, hitting, shot blocking, leadership, acceleration, agility and speed increase by 1; passing and stamina increase by 2.

Not going to go over development for my picks, but a brief mention on their careers:

- Round 2, Pick 37 – Oscar Andersson, C (Overall 5.0 / Potential 7.5) - Now Overall 5.5/ Potential 7.5 – Signs with Pittsburgh and spends year in Wilkes-Barre, only dressing for four games.

- Round 3, Pick 67 – Gagik Theisen, RW (Overall 5.0 / Potential 8.0) - Now Overall 5.5/ Potential 8.0 – Spends the year shuttling between the AHL (9 points in 47 games) and the NHL (9 points in 17 games). Only problem is that these stats are for Worcester and San Jose. Seems like he was signed by the Pens and then released, for whatever reason, as his transactions show that he was signed to a one-year contract by San Jose on August 8.

- Round 4, Pick 97 – Aaron Jacina, RW (Overall 4.5 / Potential 6.5) - Now Overall 5.5/ Potential 7.5 – Also shuttles between the AHL (18 goals and 27 points in 44 games) and NHL (16 goals and 21 points in 41 games), but it’s for Pittsburgh. Things are getting weird round here…

- Round 5, Pick 127 – Patrik Hornacek, LD (Overall 4.5 / Potential 8.0) –Now Overall 4.0/ Potential 8.0 – Is signed by the Pens to an entry-level deal (while the team pays a transfer fee of $240,000)… before being promptly released by the team on the same day (???). He then signs a deal with Dusseldorfer EHC a month later, shuttling between their main, minor league and U18 squads. He is then released by the team on March 6 to be quickly signed to a contract the same day… by Dusseldorfer EHC. He is then signed to a two-year contract extension (same salary) by the club six weeks later. Had an assist in ten games in the German Elite League and two points in six games in the Oberliga.

- Round 6, Pick 157 – Mikhail Ushenin, LD (Overall 4.5 / Potential 7.5) - Now Overall 4.5/ Potential 7.5 – Remains in Russia for the year with Dizel Penza, improving on his numbers in a big way (four goals and 20 points in 47 games).

- Round 7, Pick 187 – Alexandre Bussieres, LW (Overall 4.5 / Potential 6.5) - Now Overall 5.0/ Potential 6.5 – Improves on his numbers with Halifax (68 points in 68 games), but has the same amount of goals as last year. He was signed by the Pens from Halifax on August 21, only to be released by the team on the same day (?). The next day, Halifax resigns him.

So after one year, three of my picks’ rights are no longer controlled by the team that drafted them (due to some really odd signing-and-releasing of prospects by the AI). The one that really gets me is the Hornacek signing: Why would you pay a six-figure transfer fee only to release the player on the same day?

Other “juicy” tidbits/observations I’ve noticed:

- Our old friend Jesper Karlsson was given the final blow in Operation: Ruin Career when he was promptly released by the Pens in mid-august, for whatever reason (they also released their first round pick the previous year, Ben Butler, where he returned to his QMJHL team and proceeded to, you guessed it, rot on the bench, playing no games this year). Jesper spent the season with Medvescek Zagreb in the KHL, putting up 15 points in 45 games (getting less production than 48-year-old Jamie Langenbrunner). Will he ever be able to regain that lost potential? Who knows.

- PELTONEN WATCH:



The Half-Centenarian’s production declined a bit, but still managed to put up a respectable 27 points in 40 games (only 6 of those being goals). For comparison, here are his attributes from his age 48 season.



- I seem to have stumbled upon a challenger for best 50-year-old player in the game: Former Columbus Blue Jacket Fredrik Norrena.



He’s just a backup for Tappara Tampere in the Mestis League, but with this, I’ve noticed another disturbing trend: It seems like some attributes that should be declining are not. This is especially evident with guys like Peltonen (Physical attributes have been all but wiped out, passing and screening are declining while he still has a decent pokecheck, shot blocking abilities, positioning, shooting accuracy and puckhandling) and Norrena (1’s in blocker, glove and low shots and declining reflexes and recovery, but everything else is 14 or 13 [what I’m assuming to be his original attributes]).

I’m also noticing that every single veteran player (at least the one’s I’ve seen) has near perfect determination, team player, bravery and leadership attributes. I know it’s something that grows with experience, but for it to happen with all but a few veteran player, regardless of league, is borderline stereotypical.

Kinda disturbing stuff, imo…

UPDATE: While simming to the next NHL Draft, I discovered that William Ritter was cut by the Flyers on June 8. Asset management at its finest.

UPDATE #2: And Pittsburgh just cut their first round draft choice of this year several days after the draft (12th overall). They are also not the only team to do so (the 17th, 19th and 23rd overall picks and about 5-6 second round choices were released the days they were signed as well).

I've also noticed a few trades in the transactions log where nothing is given back (I'm going to assume that these are draft picks that aren't showing up in the log [at least I hope]), some of those players are being cut by the teams acquiring them the next day (one being Zach Hamill, acquired by the Pens on draft day to be cut by them the next).