Long overdue, but here it is. Won't be as oft-updated as that of my more interesting bretheren, but I needed somewhere to have everyone criticize me all in one place!

Updates will follow with past and current team history.

Currently making news in Moneyshots land is some sidebets based on this recent draft. The Moneyshots made a highly-criticized pick of Jared Cowen with the 72nd overall pick in this year's draft. So far side bets have included career points bet (FCHL scoring) versus Paul Postma, with future bets expected against Mac Bennett, Dmitri Orlov and Alex Grant. The stakes are an enormous $0.10 per point.

I will ask people hold their comments until after the bets are finalized!

All are encouraged to bring up any Moneyshots-related items for discussion.

The Moneyshots likely hold the record for the number of tier 1 players and first round draft picks traded. This seems to be the 1st year they have decided to actually make a concerted playoff push.

the moneyshots make the playoffs this year. that's a fact, jack.

Agree.

Gonna go ahead and point out that in the 3 year history of the FCHL, no championship team has ever created their own thread.

True, though no one in FCHL history who has created their own thread has ever lost a bet involving Jared Cowen, either.

Moneyshots current roster:

Forwards
Nash, Rick 11.5 11.5 11.5 11.5 FA
Gaborik, Marian 11.75 11.75 11.75 11.75 FA
Savard, Marc 8.75 9.5 10.25 11 FA
Bergeron, Patrice 6 6 6 6 6 FA
Sedin, Henrik 3.75 3.75 3.75 3.75 FA
Cammalleri, Mike 2.25 2.50 2.75 3.00 FA
Ruutu, Tuomo 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 FA
Vrbata, Radim 1 1 1 1 1 FA
Stempniak, Lee 1 1 1 1 FA
Plekanec, Tomas 1 1 1 1 FA
Latendresse, Guillaume 1 1 1 1 FA
Stastny, Paul 1.75 2 2.25 2.5 FA
Vermette, Antoine 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 FA
Kunitz, Chris 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.75 FA
Pominville, Jason 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.75 FA

Defence
Bergeron, Marc-Andre 2.25 2.50 2.75 3.00 FA
Niskala, Janne RFA
Girardi, Dan 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.25 FA
Wisniewski, James 1 1 1 1 1 FA
Jones, Randy 1 1 1 1 1 FA
Backman, Christian RFA
Salmela, Anssi RFA
Bieksa, Kevin 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.25 FA
Weber, Shea 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 FA
Vlasic, Marc-Edouard 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 FA
Edler, Alexander 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 FA
Seabrook, Brent 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.75 FA
Kuba, Filip 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.75 FA

Goalies
St. Louis Blues 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.25 FA
Colorado Avalanche 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 FA

Moneyshots management also believe they have assembled a playoff team, one that will compete for the championship. I expect to move Edler for a forward. Attempts to get fair value for Plekanec and Patrice Bergeron have failed, and Moneyshots expect to carry both onto their roster at the beginning of the season. Salmela will likely be signed as an RFA, Niskala likely not. Backman was part of a joke, and will not.

Moneyshots also hope to make a deal to upgrade their goaltending.

After several years of bottom-dwelling and building up just to tear down, this is a team that will not be torn down. I have high hopes for big seasons from Kunitz, Vermette and Pominville, enough depth on D led by Weber and a ton of firepower at forward.

The Moneyshots main strength is their contracts. With many star contracts running out this year, Moneyshots have 27 (max 28) players signed through 11/12. This roster will be kept mostly intact, and will likely be even more competitive in the next two years as well. With 15 teams now fighting for potential RFAs, and likely greater distribution in the coming years, Moneyshots believe they have the chance for deep playoff runs in the next two years.

2009 Draft:

15 - Calvin De Haan
52 - Nick Leddy
56 - Vyacheslav Voynov
57 - Cameron Gaunce
70 - Cody Goloubef
71 - Charles-Olivier Roussell
72 - Jared Cowen
74 - Francis Pare
75 - Ben Hanowski

Significant Moves:
None really, made several moves to acquire late picks in the draft. Mainly traded cap and future picks.
De Haan will almost certainly be included in another deal.

I was very happy to get Leddy and Voynov so late, and think Gaunce and Russell could easily be stars in the league. Goloubef was mainly a depth pick - I think he'll end up a starter in Columbus by default. Cowen has been the subject of much mockery, but that late in the draft I'll take 25 points a year. Pare may have been a mistake, as I've since been told he has almost no shot at the NHL. With his fantastic AHL stats I hope he earns a trade out of Detroit's glutted system. Hanowski is a flyer. A perfect late round pick who will likely never get a sniff, but could eventually be a star.

Everyone who has watched the Pens rookie camp has been pretty impressed with Hanowski so far. Long way to go for a guy fresh out of high school, though.

Ah, but which one would you rather win!

Excellent question. I'll leave that one to the philosophers. So here's a couple other offers, to consolidate previous ones.

Either Jared Cowen vs Dmitri Orlov ($0.10/point)
or
Cowen + Voynov vs Orlov + Grant ($0.12/point)

For trade history, I encourage anyone interested to check it out:
http://www.realfantasysports.net/fchl/completed_trades.php

I have been by far the most active trader as alluded to above. Sometimes I'm a genius, sometimes I am significantly less than genius. Bad trades have been numerous. In general, I spent the first few years trying to collect good contracts, but mainly just building up a farm system. This offseason I have turned it around, trading off assets into productive players. Unfortunately I didn't have the success Nell did, and did not develop anyone like Parise or Green. As such, I've had to deplete my farm more than I would've liked. However I believe I still have an average farm and set of future picks.

In the past I've been very active buying late picks for small amounts of cap. It will take some time to see if that was the brilliant strategy I think it was. I was often willing to pay much more for picks than others, and have been mocked accordingly. Also, I often underestimated the poorness of my team, and traded away high picks. Over three drafts I have made 4 first-round picked, owned at some point at least a dozen, and currently have none on my own picks on my farm team.

Without further ado, draft history:
11 - Angelo Esposito
12 - Jakub Kindl
13 - Jakub Voracek
25 - Bobby Hughes
39 - Karl Alzner
42 - Ty Wishart
44 - Logan Couture
56 - Jan Mursak
61 - Dave Bolland
65 - Jamie McGinn
71 - Tomas Zaborsky
73 - Kevin Quick
80 - Ruslan Bashkirov
81 - TJ Brennan
82 - Ivan Vishnevskiy

Notes: Esposito was not my choice - a deal was already arranged to deal him (and Boston Goaltending) for James Van Riemsdyk, Ottawa Goaltending and Giordano.
- Many rookie mistakes here, including Kindl, Hughes, Wishart. Some, like Bashkirov and Hughes are busts, though not necessarily bad picks. Vishnevskiy, Bolland, Mursak, McGinn, Voracek and Alzner were all traded for decent value

WORST PICK - Tough choice. Kindl could still pan out. Hughes is a mess, and was a mistake in the first place.
BEST PICK - OK, not really a pick. But Matt Niskanen was acquired during the draft for a late pick and $0.50.

2008:
32 - Jyri Niemi
45 - Mathieu Perreault
53 - Nicolas Deschamps
55 - MA Bourdon
58 - Jamie Benn

WORST PICK - Niemi did not have a good follow-up year.
BEST PICK - Jamie Benn. He is awesome! I'm stoked with this draft, and still have everyone except Benn on my roster. Perreault, Deschamps and Bourdon had great years, received pro deals, and could all be NHL'ers, though last year most people wouldn't have given them a great chance. Trading Benn was a necessary, as it was demanded as part of the Shea Weber deal.

CURRENT FARM TEAM:
Hughes, Ville Leino, Colin Wilson, Deschamps, Zaborsky, Perreault, Bashkirov, De Haan, Cody Franson, Niemi, Brennan, Quick, Niskanen, Bourdon, Wishart, Leddy, Voynov, Gaunce, Pare, Hanowski, Cowen, Goloubef, C-O Russell.

I believe my farm to be above-average, largely due to depth. Not one of the top couple teams with not many stars, but I should get several serviceable NHL'ers. Most of my 2009'ers are going to take several years to develop, but between Voynov, Gaunce, Hanowski and Russell, I think I have at least one star player.

Some potential news coming in Moneyshots-land! Moneyshots expected to make only one more deal this summer, a deal that had been completed months ago but was waiting on finalization. Rumours are flying though about that deal now getting worked up again, and possibly expanded. Rumours may even involve a third team, and the potential for a second deal in the later stages of negotiation.

Though the Moneyshots are comfortable with the current squad, the GM has shown he is always on the lookout for value, even if it means overloading one aspect, requiring future deals.

More news as it becomes available...

This pretty much says it all.





Gonna go ahead and bump this up too.

The times are a' changin my friend.

I know. Its bummin me out.

TRADE ANNOUNCEMENT:

Rinswun gets:
Chris Kunitz (0.75/0.75/0.75)
Cody Franson - Farm

DannyG gets:
Patrick Elias (7.5/7.5/7.5)
$7.50 09/10
$6.75 10/11

The Moneyshots are happy to welcome Patrick Elias to the team. This deal was a surprise, as I figured I was done with big acquisitions. I don't think I realized how good Elias was last year until I checked it out. He is up-and-down, but with Parise and Zajac, I think a couple good years are ahead. This deal was largely a Parise-hedge. With Nell's team looking very good, I figure Elias will mostly likely finish one tier behind Parise. If Parise is Tier-1, this is a good deal for a tier-2 player. If Parise doesn't kill like this year, I think I stand a good shot at Nellykins.

Kunitz was expendable due to my forward depth. A lucky trade to Pittsburgh brought up his value, so I wanted to cash out now. I'll look pretty silly if he scores 35 goals, but he did not look good next to Sid during the playoffs. Franson was a nice farmhand since he only had a $1 cap hit, but I no longer think he is a star in the making. Still could pan out, but I'm always wary of guys developing slower than expected. With Weber, Roussel and Franson, someone was expendable.

Moneyshots are quickly turning into the Blackhawks of the NHL. Acquisitons are not being fully thought-out, and cap is becoming a big issue. Another acquisiton is likely coming, and the team faces a cap shortage this year, with potentially significant shortages in the next two. It is yet to see what will happen. The current strategy is to rely on a resurgance by Patrice Bergeron to enhance his trade value.

The Penguins don't win the Cup without the contributions of Kunitz. Sure he "only" had 14 points in 24 games (only slightly below his career PPG average), but he was a game changer with the way he played. Didn't help that he had to face the Zetterberg line in the Detroit series. He was quite underrated in the first 3 rounds, nonetheless.

From a pure fantasy value, ok, maybe he wasn't fantastic in the playoffs, but to say he did not look good, well, that's just wrong.

He'll put up 20-30 goals next year, and 55-65 points. His playmaking is a bit underrated (as demonstrated in the playoffs), but he'll score too. He is more of a grinder than a sniper, though, although he's a legit top 6 forward.

Nonetheless, I like this deal for you. Elias' number surprised me a bit too.

I actually just meant he had a big nasty zit on his chin. Nastay.

lollerskates. I've read things saying he'll score 35 goals with Crosby, and I think people forget he had good linemates in Anaheim too. They weren't Sidney Crosby, but then again, they probably didn't beg for backrubs after games either. Homo.

I think Kunitz is a very good player, but I agree with your fantasy assessment.

I had a hard time finalizing this deal, as I didn't expect to trade any more farm. The deal worked out too well in terms of what it accomplished - traidng away a Nashville D, getting a Parise-hedge, etc. There's one more deal that's been in the mix for months, but I don't expect any other significant deals.

I do hope to do something about my goaltending before the draft.

Yeah, I think everyone over estimates what playing with Sid or Geno will do for your numbers. Like, it won't hurt you, but it's not going to make a 20 goal player a 35 goal player, etc. It'll help a bit, but people seem to think scrubs will all of a sudden be legit 1st liners. The NHL is way too competitive for any one player to have that much of an edge anymore. I don't think we'll ever see numbers as inflated as they were back when Mario and Wayne were turning scrubs like Rob Brown into 49 goal scorers.

I edited a few things into my post above, before I saw you replied, btw. Nothing too important, though.

Thanks for posting in my thread. It makes me look slightly less lame.

I don't like the nickname "Geno." Please have it changed.

its funny because for me, this deal is absolutely about getting a return on elias whilst his value is high and was more about acquiring franson than kunitz as i think he's a 10 goal 45 point d man down the line and obv Kunitz doubles me up in Pitts.

i strongly feel elias/kunitz will be a push this year in terms of points and here's why: Jacques Lemaire. In his 5 seasons coaching the Devils in the 90's, only once did a player on any of his teams top 65 points and only 7 players reached 60 points in any season during his whole tenure. No player on any of his teams has ever topped 85 points in his whole NHL coaching career and his 2001 Wild team (expansion though they were) saw no one top 40 points. This guy is a fantasy killer, i put the over/under on Elias' points this year at 64 and believe he'll start to decline from there. Thats why i put Elias on the available list in the first place and Danny's offer was the best of what i did receive.

Haha, these are the things I don't account for enough! I do think the NHL has changed a bit in the last few years, and both Elias and Parise are strong fantasy options. I do think Nell as a main competitor this year, and getting a big hedge to his best player was important.

Franson was definitely the lightning rod in this deal. I had several inquiries, with Elias being the most viable fantasy option. I think he'll be an NHL'er, but I think the risk has significantly increased over the last season or two.

Now I'm all nervous about Lemaire killing them.

Elias is still very much a fantasy option and without doubt a more talented player offensively but given the respective situations now i think you have to +10 to where you'd normally have Kunitz so i am pegging him for 25 goals and 55 points, and -10 to 15 for Elias so i have him at 28 goals 64 points. I also think you'll see Parises production fall by 5 to 10 points under Lemaire which is a shame.

Good points, Ollie. If you had your own thread, I'd suck up to you in it and tell you that I liked the trade from your side.

I definitely underestimated Franson, just because I don't know much about him.

He's one of those guys that will either see 30 games this year and play full-time next year, or could be labelled a bust this year and have a tough time ever being full-time. In my thoroughly uneducated opinion. I just think the Preds haven't demonstrated a lot of confidence in him, but maybe that's just leftover disappointment from drafting him so highly in 07. He could definitely be a 10/45 guy, but I'm not confident in that and Ollie was.

Then again, trading any defenceman to Ollie is usually a bad idea. He has shown unbelievable judgement so far.

I also forgot about the Lemaire factor.

Ollie, you should probably pick up Zubrus to replace Elias on your team. He's definitely available.

lol, my farm d looks pretty good. shame about my roster d lol. stay healthy EJ damn you.

i should never have traded zajac for drury, that was a bonehead move.

Parise for Erik Cole, yeah, I lose huge.

Im gonna totally side with Ollie on this one, and its not even close.

And its not even because of Lemaire. I think you guys are highly overvaluing last years production from Elias. Look at the last few years, and you get a more realistic snapshot of his ability. Once you bring down those projections for Elias, and realize even pre-Crosby Kunitz was generally a decent scorer, and you have quite the sawoff.

NOW, add Franson and the fact that in 11/12 Ollie has Kunitz for $.75 and Elias is $8?, and this deal just became one sided.

I wish I could make a deal like this for my guys.

lemaire is no longer the trap-happy guy we all know and love

arp, I think you're missing that dannyg got cap in the deal

it's really not as lopsided as everyone says, imo.

I PM'd you about Spezza! I'm not that hard to deal with! Just for Vinny LeCavalier...

unless im missing something, im pretty sure he only got cap for this year and next, and not the 11/12 season I was referring to.
So for this year and next, both are paid for equally, but not in the 3rd and final year of their contracts.

everyone thinks its lopsided? i only see me backing Ollie's side, unless there is a chat going on somewhere else.

Ill give you Spezza and the cap space for a player like Antropov and a farm player like Perron.

Thats the kind of deal I think Ollie just got.

oh snaps, I missed the 11/12 season.

I still don't think it's terrible. elias will put up more FCHL points and danny needs to be clearing out space in his farm. holy ****ing shit does he have a lot of defense.

the deal doesn't help his cap deficit, but look at his draft picks. he's stocked up and can clear whatever hurdles he's made for himself with the excess first rounders he's accumulated.

I think danny has built a team capable of winning a playoff round or two.

If I was getting 3 years of Spezza, then yeah, I'd probably do it. 3 years of Elias? I asked Ollie a couple times about him and after Danny made his offer, Ollie told me the range of players it would take to get him and I said I wouldn't even come close to matching it and he should jump on it.

For 3 years of LeCavalier I would do the above offer with a 1st thrown in and only ask for one year of cap. But you already know this.

I don't think Kunitz was much of a scorer pre-Crosby. He was 25/35/60 3 years ago. If he puts up 70-75 points, I probably made a bad deal, but I think 60 is more likely. I think Elias' projections, given the few years before last he wasn't playing with Parise, he's like good for a solid 70-75 points, with the potential for 35 goals not unlikely. Elias has had a lot of ups and downs though, so I'm definitely taking the risk.

If I'd known how much you loved Kunitz and Franson, I would've held out



Hey, no improving your team in my thread

Too bad you can't get points for this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtVWdYjNPts

Moneyshots are pleased to announce another deal today:

Kansas City Reserves receive:
Tomas Plekanec ($1 for 3 years)

Moneyshots receive:
2010 3rd
2010 4th

A backwards deal here, with the rebuilding team acquiring a player, and building team getting the picks!
Though neither picks are original Reserves picks, I expect them to fall about 33rd and 50th (sorry Steve.) I was happy to get 2 picks for Plekanec after Cammalleri made him useless. I also have Latendresse, and 3 forwards on the same team was not a good option. I'm sad to have had to trade Plekanec's value when it was at its lowest. I needed to though, and think we both made a good deal here.

A very long-awaited trade is expected to be accepted in the next day or two.

The Moneyshots do not plan on making any more significant deals in the offseason, but anything can happen!

I don't know what a potential 20-40-60 type player is worth now, but great 3rd and 4th round picks have to be somewhere north of that. in other words, if I weren't trying to limit my farm growth, I probably wouldn't have made the trade. so that must mean good things for the moneyshots' end of the deal.

I like plekanec, but his contract length means I'm shipping him out as soon as he becomes of some use to playoff participants. I imagine that will be sometime in the 10/11 season.

easiest negotiation with mdg ever?

lollerskates, I hope you're referring only to the last part, and not the first part too, when we haggled over half a pick for 6 PMs. Then again...

Moneyshots are proud to announce a long-lost deal with the Shaftsbury Wheat Ales:

Rmunro receives:
Alexander Elder ($0.25/3 years)
Calvin De Haan (prospect/$2)

Moneyshots receive:
Daniel Briere ($9.50/10.25/11)
$5.50 09/10
$4 10/11
$3 11/12

This deal was negotiated months ago, but only finally just put through for a boondoggle of reasons. Though not official until the playoffs, I believe I had implicitly committed to it in the regular season, when Edler only had about 6 goals 65-70 games in.

I actually regret the deal somewhat now. At the time, it didn't look like any top forwards would come available, so I had to overpay. I was able to acquire a few others, and would've insisted on much more cap to do the deal now. Still, with Bieksa on my roster and Vancouver's poor schedule, its not bad. The prospect loses value since he cost $2. Also, I was happy to read Briere got surgery in the offseason to correct his vision. Seems to have worked wonders for a couple baseball players.

The moneyshots have also received several inquiries about Edler between the deal being agreed to and now, and so while the above is still a positive deal, concerns about a better deal may have been available.

The moneyshots are now under water cap-wise, by $2.50 in 09/10, $11 in 10/11 and $9.50 in 11/12. It is legal to be overlimit until a certain deadline before the season, but $10 chunks are a ton to make up. The moneyshots may be forced to trade a recently-acquired superstar in an effort to save space, as few teams have shown a willingness to trade cap.

2009/10 Halifax Moneyshots: asdfjkl; 2.0

I think mdg is in better shape, but he still has to make a lot of cap appear out of nowhere.

I still think he could just sell a few draft picks to make up the difference. not suggesting anything... I am keeping my cap. but Steve or mike could get in on that shit.

I feel that way at times, but thus far all my guys are on 3-year deals. I think I am definitely competitive with Nell, Broadway, Jay and Arp this year, but have a distinct advantage over most of them for the next 2. I can see arguments for Nell or Jay being as good as me in the next 2, but I think I'm better.

More relevantly, I still have lots of picks over the next 3 years and several excellent farm guys.

Plus, I think my cap hit is lower than Nell's for the upcoming year



I'll be able to make up this year's, since it is only a couple bucks. Thus far, no one has been willing to budge for the next 2 years. Everyone seems to think they're a year or two away from competing. To be honest, I think it is a poor strategy, considering how many pieces short of competing with me, Nell or Jay even in 11/12 - better to trade those assets now and build for FCHL 2.0 - aka 2012/13.

That's my spiel. Hopefully I can convince a team that $20 over the next two years is worth the big batch of picks and farm I'll give up for it.

I have future cap space I can part with, let's talk.

Talks are progressing, and the Moneyshots hope to be able to announce another deal tomorrow!

As promised, the Moneyshots are pleased to announce yet another trade. This trade is dedicated to Jay, as it would never have come about if I didn't have my own FCP thread!

Lost Cause (ajs510) receive:
Anssi Salmela - $1 (eligible to resigned for 5 more years at $1)
Colorado Goaltending - $0.50 for 3 years
$6 12/13 cap
MA Bourdon - Farm ($0.50)
2012 1st (Moneyshots)

Moneyshots receive:
Paul Kariya - $8.25/8.25
Nashville Goaltending - $1.50 for 4 years
$9.25 09/10 cap
$15.00 10/11 cap
$11.50 11/12 cap

Breakdown:
Cap figures are inflated, as Kariya's cap was included. On top of cap differential, Moneyshots gain $5.75 in 10/11 cap and $10.50 in 11/12 cap.

I am very happy with how this deal looks. I was in danger of being in a very bad position cap-wise. While not totally resolved, this takes me a long way. I am now $2.50 underwater next year and $5.75 next year, with 27 players signed.

Though Salmela and Bourdon were personal favourites, I had to let them go. I think Adam gave appropriate value, which was more than anyone else would. I think both have the potential to be stars in the league. My 2012 1st will hopefully be 15th, so I was comfortable giving it up. The 12/13 cap hurt, but I've resigned myself to having to trade a big chunk of that to compete as I want to the next 3 years. Adam was the first to show reasonable interest in it.

I am very happy to resolve a big chunk of my cap issues without totally crippling me for 12/13, or giving up a prime asset. Kariya has 85-point potential this year, though I wouldn't bet on it! With my forward depth, injury-prone players are a good bet. Plus, I was hoping to add another Western Conference forward. I was also very glad to upgrade my goaltending performance and schedule-wise. Nashville will be a huge bargain in 12/13, and I think a good trading chip that year if they continue to improve as expected.

I now hope to make a goalie swap, as I have more missed games than I want right now. I should be able to swap St. Louis for an Eastern squad at reasonable equal value. I also have far more forwards than I need now, and hope to swap for a defenceman.