This is the best entry yet from one of the best of the new generation of ATD GMs. I always wanted to win the ATD with a firewagon team, and I think this is about as close as one can get to that model in the ATD and still ice a real contender, which this team absolutely is. One of this year's elite franchises from a talent perspective.
Forwards:
The top line is pretty much the hammer of Thor, and will win a lot of games by itself against teams that don't have the gear to check them effectively, which is quite a few teams. Not much to say about the individual players that hasn't already been said, other than that Andy Bathgate is probably better offensively than we thought before, which is saying something because we already thought he was great. He was pretty weak defensively as far as I know, however, and if the line has a weakness, it will be against opposing lines that can counterattack with speed up the wings, as Olmstead is also lacking in footspeed. It's sort of a pick your poison, though, as there are very few lines which will be able to effectively check this unit, and mount a strong counterattack.
The 2nd line is a quite talented unit, though it is soft and fairly one-dimensional. I like Morris more as a RW simply because the scoringline talent there is thinner (although with guys like Gaborik and Amonte popping up late, that may not really be true anymore), but he's still about average as a 2nd line center - probably a bit above average offensively, but lacking in intangibles. Schriner was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the VsX project, and I think deservedly so. His offensive record has been underrated in the ATD. His intangibles are hard to get a grip on. That quote comparing him to Busher Jackson looks like fluff, in my opinion. The thing that is actually most puzzling about Schriner is how badly he got creamed by Jackson in the all-star voting in the couple of seasons when both were at their peaks.
1934-35:
Jackson: 44 points / (33-0) AST - 1st
Schriner: 40 points / (0-3) AST - T-4th
1935-36:
This is a bad year for Jackson (22 points...injured?) and Schriner walks away with the 1st team all-star nod.
1936-37:
Jackson: 40 points / (15-4) AST - 1st
Schriner: 46 points / (3-8) AST - 2nd
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The 1934-35 results can maybe be dismissed because Schriner was a rookie and they tend to not get a lot of all-star love, but the 1936-37 results are curious. Schriner outscored Jackson by 15% (that's only 6 points, but this was a lot back then) and was already an established star, and yet Jackson crushed him in the all-star voting. So what is going on here?
I have some insider information from Reen that hasn't been put into an updated bio yet (because I hate doing them, and Reen is back so he should do it himself...I guess I'll do it later this weekend if he isn't around...sigh) which indicates that Jackson was an aggressive physical player, which shouldn't really surprise us given his size and strength and what we know about his personality. So this is probably the main difference between the two. I don't know about Jackson's defensive reputation (I assume it is neutral?), but I get the impression that Schriner was something of a floater, so that may be part of the discrepancy, as well. At any rate, Schriner seems to be on pretty much the same level as Jackson as a scorer, which makes him an absolutely elite offensive 2nd liner, but I think he's only a scorer, in spite of the nice things his manager said about him in that press clip. [/schriner]
Larmer is a strong 2nd line glue guy to round out the unit, though TDMM is right that he is lacking in physicality, which you really could have used on this line. As it is, this unit should be deadly in transition - likely among the best 2nd lines in the draft in this area - and will really punish teams that lack footspeed among their second unit defesemen. I don't see this line being much of a cycling unit, though, so if it's not scoring in transition, it may not produce a whole lot. A very talented unit, but not extremely well-balanced, in my opinion.
The third line is an interesting unit. I like Colville as a two-way 3rd line center in the ATD. He doesn't seem to have had much defensive value other than penalty-killing as a forward, but I think he has to be credited for his good years on the blueline, and so ends up being a solid two-way center in the end. Colville also had some jam to his game, and generally seems to have been a strong, well-rounded player. The wings, I'm a little bit less in love with here. Berenson's scoring feats have to be taken in context, given that his Blues played 3/4 of their games against other expansion teams during Red's best years. The description of him as a "defensive specialist" in Montreal is pretty much a throwaway, as every young forward who came up in that system had to start off in a defensive role, and the fact that Berenson didn't stick with the Habs suggests that he wasn't all that great at it. I think he's ok as an offensive 3rd liner, but nothing special, and I'm not impressed by his intangibles. Pappin is a guy who I think is an excellent 4th liner in the ATD, and a viable, if low-end 3rd liner. He gives you some physicality and defensive play, and was also a pretty good goalscorer for a while there, especially in the playoffs. This looks like basically a 3rd scoringline, with enough two-way play between Colville and Pappin to be decent defensively.
The 4th line I like a lot. Thomas Steen is a guy who I think would actually be a pretty good two-way 3rd liner, but he keeps getting mistreated by ATD GMs for whatever reason and is underrated here, just as he was in real life. Jimmy Ward is another guy who I think is really a solid two-way 3rd liner here, so having him on your 4th line is something of a luxury. Walter is a fine 4th liner who will give you pretty good defense and physicality, though nothing special. Overall, it is a very good 4th line that I'd look to give a regular shift throughout the season.
Defense:
Leetch is a below-average, but viable #1, and Kasatonov is an above-average #2. Together, they are I think maybe a tick below the average, but not by much. I think both Stapleton and Beck are good as the #3 and #4, so it ends up being a strong, balanced 2nd pairing. Mitchell and Patrick are ok as a bottom pairing - well balanced, neither particluarly good nor bad, in my opinion. I'm not going to say a whole lot about your defense because there's not too much to say about it. It is an unspectacular group that manages to be roughly average, though it is maybe a little bit soft, with Beck the only real physical player in the group. It is somewhat remarkable that the defense manages to be average with such a talented set of forwards, so me calling it that is actually a compliment.
Other:
Cecil Hart is a good second-tier offensive coach in the ATD, and I think he'll like managing this team. You've got good offensive depth at both forward and on defense, so this looks like a team that will be able to maintain the fast-skating, transition-heavy firewagon style that Hart's teams favored. Hart really liked his puckmoving defensemen, and I like that you have given him a good one on each pairing. One thing that concerns me a bit is that Hart's Habs actually had a good deal more two-way play from their forwards than you've got on this team, both on the top unit (Joliat and Morenz) and on the 2nd unit, where Pit Lepine was one of the elite checking centers of his generation. I think Hart's teams could play defensively when protecting a lead, and I'm not sure how well this team can, so...full speed ahead. This is pretty similar to the setup of my ATD#10 championship team, which was also managed by Cecil Hart, although my team was definitely more defensive than this one. If you take the title this year, it will be Cecil Hart's third ATD championship, which would be kind of cool given the generally defensive bent of the draft.
Rayner is obviously the team's biggest weakness. At 32 teams, none of the starting goalies is going to be sorry, so having a low-end netminder is a perfectly viable tactic. I don't entirely agree with Rayner's placement in the top-40 goalies project. I definitely don't have him ahead of Tom Barrasso, at the least, and I think Holmes is questionable. Rayner is in my bottom-3 of ATD goalies, but like I said, none of these guys are terrible, and you've got a team that will control the play against a lot of opponents, so Rayner shouldn't be overworked.
The first unit powerplay is extremely strong, and will punish teams without high-end penalty-killers. The second unit is average to above-average. Schriner is a great weapon there and the points are pretty good, but Colville and Larmer are unspectacular.
The penalty kill looks like it may be something of an issue. I am not a fan of Red Berenson on an ATD penalty kill, nevermind a 1st unit. I really don't know what he's doing there. This is where the other weakness of this team (besides goaltending) gets exposed a bit, and that is a lack of defensive centers. You need someone to take draws on both PK units, but who? Berenson, Walter and Colville are your only real options here, as Steen was a poor faceoff man, and none of them are guys I'd want on a 1st unit PK. Larmer is ok as a 1st pairing PK wing, but you're really lacking that defensive center to take your draws and cover the points at a high level on the 1st unit PK, and I think your team is going to spend a lot of time running around in its own zone as a result. The defensemen are below average here, as well. Both are legit 1st pairing PKers, but at this level, I think both would be better as the 2nd best PKer on the unit, not the top guy. The defensemen aren't that bad, but with the issues at center and Rayner in goal, this is likely one of the weaker penalty kills in the league.
The 2nd unit PK is better relative to the competition, but it's not particularly strong.
Overall, this is a team that will really test opposing defenses. It has offensive strength all over the place, with an elite 1st line, good puckmoving on the blueline, and depth all the way down to the 4th unit. There's not much checking from the forwards, but this is a puck control team par excellence with a defense that is good enough not to give up a lot of quick goals. The best defense is a good offense, and many opponents will not see enough of the puck to keep up with the way this team will score. But there are teams with the gear to possess the puck even against this group's skill, and Pittsburgh's weak penalty kill, inability to sit on a lead, and relative dependence on transition offense will surely be put to the test. This is maybe the most exciting team in the draft, and I think one of the top contenders to take it all. Well done, BBS.
