Capitals to purchase CapFriendly website (upd: deal finalized, site has been shut down)

[Dave92]

The NHL are such hacks

 

[SEALBound]

PuckPedia is probably going to be the successor.

They already have all the data that Capfriendly had and they shouldn't have any issues getting connections since they already do extensive work with agents. They're developing a "GM Mode" version of Capfriendly's "Armchair GM" too.

Their "one stop shop, all the information you need in one spot" philosophy is a bit of an information overload eye sore to me, but people will get used to it.

Yeah, they seem like the one in a "better" position than most. They just need to refine the aesthetics of the site. Exactly what CapFriendly had to do when CapGeek went down.

 

[Fantomas]

I work as a Software Engineer for a living, the kind of work done on a site like CapFriendly is actually massive. Doing something of that magnitude and doing it well is a big deal.

Just look at the website. It's much better and more feature complete than the alternatives.

Sure, I like the website very much. But are you guys saying that a comparable replacement will not be developed in the coming months? I bet it will be. CapGeek wasn't irreplaceable. Others stepped in.

I think what happened is that they hired the key person or persons behind the website and acquired the website as well, because the person(s) would only be working for them. This still leads me to wonder what are those special skills offered by those persons that the Caps were coveting. It's not like Capfriendly provided completely unique information no one else could offer. There weren't any trade secrets on there.

 

[SEALBound]

I work as a Software Engineer for a living, the kind of work done on a site like CapFriendly is actually massive. Doing something of that magnitude and doing it well is a big deal.

I always think, "The poor bottom-of-the-totem-pole guy that has to go in and update all of the stats on a regular basis."...woof.

 

[Cyclones Rock]

The Caps aren't Fan Friendly.

Happy for the site owners for monatizing their work. They deserve it. But blank the Caps for taking away such a valuable tool for many of us fans.

 

[Djp]

Won’t CapFriendly’s non-public sources dry up now that they officially work for one NHL team? It’s one thing for an agent or league official to leak information to a journalist, it’s another to leak to an employee of an NHL team.

Agents will just to which one will be replace it and share info

 

[trick9]

Perhaps, but what's so unique and special about their skills?

They built and ran a brilliant site for years?

Why do you think people are mad about it?

 

[Raistlin]

looks like Lawrence Gilman can start the next evolution of Capfriendly.

 

[SuperScript29]

Sure, I like the website very much. But are you guys saying that a comparable replacement will not be developed in the coming months? I bet it will be. CapGeek wasn't irreplaceable. Others stepped in.

Whether a comparable site gets developed anytime soon or not remains to be seen. What I'm saying is the kind of work involved is massive, so to do this kind of job and do it well requires talent, skill, and hard work. Of course someone out there can do it, but the effort is not a walk in the park, I can tell you that much.

I always think, "The poor bottom-of-the-totem-pole guy that has to go in and update all of the stats on a regular basis."...woof.

Yea that part sucks, though I hope they developed enough nifty tools and methods to make their job easier rather than rely on the old school data entry method.

 

[Fantomas]

Whether a comparable site gets developed anytime soon or not remains to be seen. What I'm saying is the kind of work involved is massive, so to do this kind of job and do it well requires talent, skill, and hard work. Of course someone out there can do it, but the effort is not a walk in the park, I can tell you that much.

So the Caps needed someone to build a website for them?

I'm not doubting the effort involved to built Cap Friendly. It's just not clear to me why the Caps needed to hire their staff.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

You don't have to worry. Someone will take their place.

Capfriendly is the third "#1" cap site to go down. It seems like most people have forgot that General Fanager was a lot more popular than Capfriendly back after Capgeek went down until Vegas bought it.

You also had sites like HockeysCap. They were the ones who created the "Armchair GM" tool that eventually ended up on Capfriendly.

if contacts and sources all dry up things will never go back to how they were. NHL is trying to stop us from seeing NHL contracts.

 

[McDNicks17]

if contacts and sources all dry up things will never go back to how they were. NHL is trying to stop us from seeing NHL contracts.

Why would they dry up now? It's not like agents only talked to Capfriendly. Check out Puckpedia. They have more inside information than Capfriendly.

 

[sxvnert]

f*** off

So now fans will have nothing

Spotrac has a pretty similar layout to capfriendly.

2024-25 NHL Team Salary Cap Tracker

A real-time look at the 2024-25 salary cap totals for each NHL team, including estimated cap space.

www.spotrac.com

The page layout of puckpedia drives me up the wall.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Why would they dry up now? It's not like agents only talked to Capfriendly. Check out Puckpedia. They have more inside information than Capfriendly.

the nhl is trying to shut this down, dont want fans to know this info. there might be a major trickle effect,

 

[Egghead1999]

I don’t actually know how league or team offices work but I wonder to what extent each team has their own models or software stood up for this and to the extent they do have them, they may have just been running something on top of the data that comes from CapFriendly, so their tools or models may just be obsolete now

their tools should be fine once they find a new data source. The teams in trouble will be the ones who heavily use CapFriendly's DB as their "only" data source.

 

[Dotter]

Where are you getting all the access to contract details from?

How does CF? Start by building a platform and extracting all the data off Capfriendly.

 

[x-bob]

the nhl is trying to shut this down, dont want fans to know this info. there might be a major trickle effect,

I think we’d all enjoy hockey more if we didnt know how much players were paid

 

[SuperScript29]

So the Caps needed someone to build a website for them?

I'm not doubting the effort involved to built Cap Friendly. It's just not clear to me why the Caps needed to hire their staff.

Because this group has clearly demonstrated that they can get the job done effectively.

 

[Fantomas]

Because this group has clearly demonstrated that they can get the job done effectively.

What job? What aspect of the CapFriendly "job" was so valuable that the Caps needed to hire this staff and get rid of the site? Nobody has been able to clearly articulate why the Caps made this hire.

The Capitals' statement basically says that they wanted CF's "tools and functions" to help them better analyze data. But CF doesn't analyze anything. It's just a website that conveniently houses publicly available info, no? I understand when teams invest in analytics, but I don't get the value add here.

Maybe the CF guys have skills beyond what we see on CF. I can't think of any other explanation.

the nhl is trying to shut this down, dont want fans to know this info.

This theory doesn't really make sense. So NHL clubs are going to come gunning after other such websites as well, and they will do it by giving jobs to their contributors?

 

[SuperScript29]

What job? What aspect of the CapFriendly "job" was so valuable that the Caps needed to hire this staff and get rid of the site? Nobody has been able to clearly articulate why the Caps made this hire.

The Capitals' statement basically says that they wanted CF's "tools and functions" to help them better analyze data. But CF doesn't analyze anything. It's just a website that conveniently houses publicly available info, no? I understand when teams invest in analytics, but I don't get the value add here.

Maybe the CF guys have skills beyond what we see on CF. I can't think of any other explanation.

It's easy for non-technical people to look at this and say it's just a "website". I guess Facebook, Youtube, Reddit, etc are just websites as well, nothing special.

 

[CanadienShark]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1800166919787659428

If HFSharks posters get banning rights, I'm going after @Bear of Bad News.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

What job? What aspect of the CapFriendly "job" was so valuable that the Caps needed to hire this staff and get rid of the site? Nobody has been able to clearly articulate why the Caps made this hire.

The Capitals' statement basically says that they wanted CF's "tools and functions" to help them better analyze data. But CF doesn't analyze anything. It's just a website that conveniently houses publicly available info, no? I understand when teams invest in analytics, but I don't get the value add here.

Maybe the CF guys have skills beyond what we see on CF. I can't think of any other explanation.



This theory doesn't really make sense. So NHL clubs are going to come gunning after other such websites as well, and they will do it by giving jobs to their contributors?

dont need to if the contract info is never leaked, only reason I can think of that makes sense to me is they dont want players to have comparables, save money on player contracts. cause I really dont understand the benefit of shutting down sites like capfriendly but apparently Bettman doesnt think fans should know this info

 

[Bear of Bad News]

If HFSharks posters get banning rights, I'm going after @Bear of Bad News.

Can I leave now or do I need to stay through the end of my shift?

 

[CanadienShark]

Can I leave now or do I need to stay through the end of my shift?

Your reign of terror is over. Mine has only just begun.

 

[hangman005]

Your reign of terror is over. Mine has only just begun.

Can I leave with him