Eastside Hockey Manager - Part X Patch 1.5 Edition! (Open Beta)

[xECK29x]

I've taken the new rosters for a spin and wanted to take on the Minnesota Wild challenge and try to win a Stanley Cup within the years they have the major cap penalty.

Surprise surprise won the cup first season, Game 7 against the Lightning. I use the infamous slapshot tactic so it took a bit of the shine off of my goals for this save, but added Phil Kessel at the deadline for three solid scoring lines and suddenly the real life Wild roster looked a whole lot more dangerous.

One thing I'm noticing with the database is the random number generator seemed to really favour the 2023 draft class as random generated players look super overpowered compared to 2022. Will be interested in tracking Michkov and Bedard as they look a lot less NHL ready than say Shane Wright - they might need a CA bump.

We haven't prepped the class yet, you can't OP guys too early or they will outpace their teams and drop to free agents or sign in Europe, it gets a little wacky. The development model improvements in 1.5 should produce more NHL ready guys by the time they hit 19-20.

 

[xECK29x]

Australia league is not a full playoff?

Maybe? It's BK's old structure really just include it for fun. None of the teams have been updated in a while.

One of the hard things it must be with NCAA is that the six conferences are not equal. Like the AHA should probably only ever get 1 playoff spot (the sim i just ran they got 4 and all had their asses handed to them in the tournament). But loading a tournament where there's more than one way to qualify doesn't seem like it's possible.

Is there a way to cut down on division schedule and get some crossover without playing everyone? i'm sure everyone having a different number of teams would make that most difficult.

i had northern michigan go 1-31-2

The game limitations really hurt making an authentic NCAA experience, athletic sports is not the same as pro sports, the game really doesn't support it. Same issues with making a playable high school league after the first few years you can control with the DB everything falls apart when the sim gets going, expectations have to be tampered. Those leagues being playable are really to assist the development of prospects, nothing more IMO.

@WhalerTurnedBruin55 helped me with those changes and we can see what is possible. The USPHL structure if you look at it is more like HockeyEttan, it's very complex and is scheduled more like mini regional "tournaments" so maybe we can follow that model in the next version of the structure. We want to do the same thing for NCAA DIII potentially down the line, though I think based on the low reps the playing experience may not be fun and it doesn't serve any value for prospect development.

Northern Michigan going 1-31-1 I can't really speak to, I'd have to see a save.

 

[GKJ]

Maybe? It's BK's old structure really just include it for fun. None of the teams have been updated in a while.



The game limitations really hurt making an authentic NCAA experience, athletic sports is not the same as pro sports, the game really doesn't support it. Same issues with making a playable high school league after the first few years you can control with the DB everything falls apart when the sim gets going, expectations have to be tampered. Those leagues being playable are really to assist the development of prospects, nothing more IMO.

@WhalerTurnedBruin55 helped me with those changes and we can see what is possible. The USPHL structure if you look at it is more like HockeyEttan, it's very complex and is scheduled more like mini regional "tournaments" so maybe we can follow that model in the next version of the structure. We want to do the same thing for NCAA DIII potentially down the line, though I think based on the low reps the playing experience may not be fun and it doesn't serve any value for prospect development.

Northern Michigan going 1-31-1 I can't really speak to, I'd have to see a save.

1-31-2 was merely an observation I just thought it was funny. I didn’t max out the player db running it I just wanted to see what these new leagues look like.
Are you doing anymore updates to league structures before the season or just rerates?

 

[PensFan101]

We haven't prepped the class yet, you can't OP guys too early or they will outpace their teams and drop to free agents or sign in Europe, it gets a little wacky. The development model improvements in 1.5 should produce more NHL ready guys by the time they hit 19-20.

I figured that was the case - the bigger balancing issue might be the mental attributes the immediate newgens are being pumped out with. I don't have the editor saavy to see if they have the high PA to match those mental attributes, but will keep an eye on their development. Can provide screenshots if needed.

The 2021 class and the pre-loaded draftees look fine, since it's only the top guys that jump straight to the show.

 

[xECK29x]

I figured that was the case - the bigger balancing issue might be the mental attributes the immediate newgens are being pumped out with. I don't have the editor saavy to see if they have the high PA to match those mental attributes, but will keep an eye on their development. Can provide screenshots if needed.

The 2021 class and the pre-loaded draftees look fine, since it's only the top guys that jump straight to the show.

We have noticed with 1.5 if you over power attributes to the point where you handed out too many points vs CA the game will nuke mentals first to balance things out. The preferred option for this scenario should be reducing skills that will grow based on that player role instead of cutting down mentals that don't. It's something Riz is aware of and should be easy enough to change that logic once he is back working on EHM.

 

[xECK29x]

1-31-2 was merely an observation I just thought it was funny. I didn’t max out the player db running it I just wanted to see what these new leagues look like.
Are you doing anymore updates to league structures before the season or just rerates?

Right now I'm trying to focus on getting as much NHL re-rates done as I can prior to the first TBL release (while also allowing me to spend time in D2:R ). I wish I could do some scraping to touch up details for the leagues in-progress and flesh out some empty rosters, but EP had a subtle site design change somewhere which broke the scraper.

 

[GKJ]

Right now I'm trying to focus on getting as much NHL re-rates done as I can prior to the first TBL release (while also allowing me to spend time in D2:R ). I wish I could do some scraping to touch up details for the leagues in-progress and flesh out some empty rosters, but EP had a subtle site design change somewhere which broke the scraper.

Ah, I was just asking if I decided to start a new save

 

[Hasbro]

What's the best database editor for the steam version?

 

[WhalerTurnedBruin55]

Maybe? It's BK's old structure really just include it for fun. None of the teams have been updated in a while.



The game limitations really hurt making an authentic NCAA experience, athletic sports is not the same as pro sports, the game really doesn't support it. Same issues with making a playable high school league after the first few years you can control with the DB everything falls apart when the sim gets going, expectations have to be tampered. Those leagues being playable are really to assist the development of prospects, nothing more IMO.

@WhalerTurnedBruin55 helped me with those changes and we can see what is possible. The USPHL structure if you look at it is more like HockeyEttan, it's very complex and is scheduled more like mini regional "tournaments" so maybe we can follow that model in the next version of the structure. We want to do the same thing for NCAA DIII potentially down the line, though I think based on the low reps the playing experience may not be fun and it doesn't serve any value for prospect development.

Northern Michigan going 1-31-1 I can't really speak to, I'd have to see a save.

Re: NCAA

I was definitely looking at options, I have/had a few different options testing, but overall, there's not an easy answer for NCAA. I really tried to keep the 16 team bracket as part of the set up, as that seems an important part of NCAA competitions (not just hockey). Finding the best way to populate those 16 teams was the part that gives us the most options, and none that would be 100% realistic to the actual team selection.

One option was to have each of the 6 divisions play a playoff series so there is only 1 winner per division, then only 6 teams enter a playoff seeding (or round) to eventually play a Frozen Four (similar to the old setup, just joined into a single league instead of 7 different club competitions). That would be easy to re-implement and does work. Doing a mock up of that wouldn't be hard, and would essentially behave very similar to the previous setup. There would be no 16 team bracket in this setup, but we would end up with a Frozen Four.

Another option, which I liked, but ultimately won't work as of now, I tried one way to split the teams up regionally for NCAA tournament (similar to the Swedish mechanics for divisions setting), which I had working for a season, but it breaks the game when you hit July 1st for the following season. It was definitely promising, but the game definitely doesn't like it rolling into the next season. This worked out with a fairly regional 16 team bracket, but doesn't work long term.

A separate option, is similar to the existing option, but I had another set up splitting the 6 conferences into 2 East/West Conferences, and that worked (but team number is uneven) and the same issue will likely arise that more teams from the weaker division will make the playoffs just due to point totals. This essentially behaves the same as the current setup, but the divisions are split into 2 conferences, and geographically conferences don't have an even number of teams. The bracket will work here.

If there were set amount of teams from each conference going into the NCAA 16 team bracket, we could force it to accept a certain number of teams per division and building the bracket that way, but it would always behave that way. Like x amount from AHA, y amount from Big Ten, z amount from Hockey East until 16 teams make it, and so on. This would build a division by division curated 16 team bracket, which could be closer to real-life, but ends up hard-coding the number of teams from each division.

Definitely room for improvement, so feedback or suggestions to improve that setup, I'm definitely willing to try stuff out, but we could definitely be limited by the mechanics of the game as of now.

 

[xECK29x]

What's the best database editor for the steam version?

There is only one Editor, the Assistant is an in-game "scout" if you will, it just dumps out all the data about a save while its running.

 

[GKJ]

Re: NCAA

I was definitely looking at options, I have/had a few different options testing, but overall, there's not an easy answer for NCAA. I really tried to keep the 16 team bracket as part of the set up, as that seems an important part of NCAA competitions (not just hockey). Finding the best way to populate those 16 teams was the part that gives us the most options, and none that would be 100% realistic to the actual team selection.

One option was to have each of the 6 divisions play a playoff series so there is only 1 winner per division, then only 6 teams enter a playoff seeding (or round) to eventually play a Frozen Four (similar to the old setup, just joined into a single league instead of 7 different club competitions). That would be easy to re-implement and does work. Doing a mock up of that wouldn't be hard, and would essentially behave very similar to the previous setup. There would be no 16 team bracket in this setup, but we would end up with a Frozen Four.

Another option, which I liked, but ultimately won't work as of now, I tried one way to split the teams up regionally for NCAA tournament (similar to the Swedish mechanics for divisions setting), which I had working for a season, but it breaks the game when you hit July 1st for the following season. It was definitely promising, but the game definitely doesn't like it rolling into the next season. This worked out with a fairly regional 16 team bracket, but doesn't work long term.

A separate option, is similar to the existing option, but I had another set up splitting the 6 conferences into 2 East/West Conferences, and that worked (but team number is uneven) and the same issue will likely arise that more teams from the weaker division will make the playoffs just due to point totals. This essentially behaves the same as the current setup, but the divisions are split into 2 conferences, and geographically conferences don't have an even number of teams. The bracket will work here.

If there were set amount of teams from each conference going into the NCAA 16 team bracket, we could force it to accept a certain number of teams per division and building the bracket that way, but it would always behave that way. Like x amount from AHA, y amount from Big Ten, z amount from Hockey East until 16 teams make it, and so on. This would build a division by division curated 16 team bracket, which could be closer to real-life, but ends up hard-coding the number of teams from each division.

Definitely room for improvement, so feedback or suggestions to improve that setup, I'm definitely willing to try stuff out, but we could definitely be limited by the mechanics of the game as of now.

I'm going to think out loud here and see if this gives you guys any ideas.

If there's a way to include non-conference games, the stronger teams should beat up on the AHA and mid-level ECAC teams and suppress their point totals quite easily, but the others should be relatively even. Big Ten only being 7 teams is a pain I bet, but I think those teams play 2H/2A in-conference. The same happens elsewhere but it's more varied whether it's 1H/1A or 2H/2A each season.

The way I interpret things, you're trying to get a program to account for human variables. A major issue really seems to be along the fact that there's two ways to qualify for the NCAA tournament - being 1 or 2 during the season, and winning the tournament(except AHA where you basically have to win the tournament) and there's no way to stop the same team from achieving both. And if one team can do both, theoretically there would be a different number of teams in the NCAA tournament from year to year. And then there's variables within each conference tournament.

Doing a tournament of only 3-x in those conferences is ostensibly an extension of the NCAA tournament. Including 1 and 2 would seem to force to make the tournament strictly peripheral with no connection to the NCAA. In the grand scheme of things, the conference tournaments aren't that important in the sense that this is hockey and the parity plays out whether it be conference or NCAA. The conference tournaments themselves are going to be a matter of how accurate you want it to be with some conferences doing best-of-3 before single elimination.

Another thought would be the expand the NCAA tournament, which they have discussed, but it's weighing predicting the future with making it more palatable for the game.

Or - can you link qualifying for NCAA tournament to being a semi-finalist or top 3/4 in the conference tournament and giving 1 (and 2?) a bye into the semifinal?

 

[BKarchitect]

NHLX 21-22 - Test Post 1.0

With the summer transaction period pretty much done and dusted, decided to do a little expansion draft for the 4 new clubs in NHLX this morning. The goal was not to make these teams "good" or even up to the standard of a typical expansion team but rather just to stock them with a roster that can be played with and molded while not too severely affecting existing teams. Seattle was exempt but Vegas was not. Major "new" summer acquisitions were also automatically protected - I wanted to see the actual major new moves reflected in real teams.

Here are the results. I may run through this test sim posting interesting results, stories and screen grabs as I go for fun. Keep in mind these reports are compiled by the Assistant GM so they don't always accurately reflect the truth

My hometown Kansas City Monarchs:
I like the upside of Georgiyev in goal. The defense has no stars obviously but is fairly solid 1-6. Hoping I can develop Steel into a breakout player up front. Linblom is a bit of a reclamation project at this point but also has upside. Hoping Benson and Marody can transfer some of their AHL chemsitry to the NHL. Tried to grab a few prospects with some scoing upside as well.

Houston Aeros:
The Aeros (in a new sleek black and gold look) grabbed a few established pieces like Bishop in net and Nyquist up front. Health would be a key concern for those particular vets. Some nice potential reclamation projects in Johnsson, Borgstrom and Lias Andersson.

Portland Rosebuds:
The Buds will also have a veteran goalie to lean on in Quick and some experienced defenders. Some speed up front with guys like Mikheyev, Compher and Gregor but the real key may be unlocking Debrusk who has struggled mightily the last couple season in Boston but is still fairly young and has proven upside.

Quebec Nordiques:
Quebec 2.0 starts with the ancient Mike Smith in net but there are two intriguing youngsters behind him in Husso and Berdin. The defense has a nice variety of styles. As with all these teams, center depth looks bad. Watson and Martin should provide some pugilistic entertainment. Barre-Boulet has the potential to grow into a jewel up front.

For the record, here's how this game is seeing the Kraken to start the year:

Some new looks for clubs in the league:

The Ducks bring back their classic "Mighty Ducks" look by popular demand. Though they will still simply be called the "Anaheim Ducks"

The Coyotes looking good back in their classic Kachina sweaters - matching their real-life move (woof...that depth chart though...ugly...good things they have 8 million picks in the up-coming '22 draft)

The Kings going with a retro-reverse set full time - an homage to their glorious "Forum Blue" original sweaters. A lovely bright look for a team with a really bright future:

I've already spoiled the Wild a while ago but they also will turn to their gorgeous RR set full-time. Kaprizov gonna look good (and rich):

The Blues are another team going full-time Retro Reverse though their change is more subtle:

The Sens back to their classic 2D logo and black sweaters to match real life:

 

[GKJ]

@xECK29x On this same sim I ran, looking like an issue in the AHL where a team (Iowa) that was 13th in the conference and 6th in the division made the playoffs

They also the 3 seed and played Henderson instead of Grand Rapids

 

[BKarchitect]

NHLX 21-22 - Test Post 1.1

- It's October 6, 2021 - opening day for the 21-22 NHL season. For the record I'm not actually controlling any teams as GM - I want to see what the simulation does with no interference. Good, fun or stupid

Transactions:
Pretty quiet on the signings front as very few players in the database were left un-signed. The Devils signed veteran free agent Jason Demers. The Predators signed Eric Staal. And Bobby Ryan got a 1-year deal from the Avs. The Habs made a quiet sneaky move grabbing goalie prospect Keith Petruzzelli from the AHL Marlies. Petruzzelli is the former Wings prospect who opted not to sign this summer and instead grabbed an AHL deal from the Marlies. But the Habs were free to offer him an NHL deal and did so.

A few trades of note prior to opening nights.
- The Sabres made two moves to bolster their ranks - grabbing two disgruntled players who may have some upside in a new situation. First they nabbed Dylan Strome from Chicago for 3rd and 4th round picks. Then they got Jonathan Drouin from Montreal for a future 4th rounder - essentially a dump by Montreal to get Drouin out of there. I like both these moves for the Sabres - if neither guy works out, they didn't give up much but clearly there is some upside here. - -
- The Sabres also sent Robert Hagg and a 3rd rounbd pick to New Jersey for Jonas Siegenthaler in a swap of blueliners while Boston added some blueline depth, picking up Ben Harpur from Nashville for a 2nd round pick and 5th round pick. Seems like a hefty price for a depth player but Harpur has made the Bruins opening night roster so they must see something there.

None of the big name disgruntled players (Eichel, Tarasenko, etc) have been moved yet and will at least start the season for their respective teams.

But BY FAR the biggest news in the lead-up to the puck dropping was the shock retirement announcement of superstar center Evgeni Malkin in Pittsburgh. Malkin was set to miss a few months to start the season with surgery but apparently the injury was far more serious than initially thought, with the legendary Russian deciding to call it a day. The Pens are absolutely reeling from this news and it really has shaken their plans this season.

Besides the LTIR guys we've known about (Weber, Seabrook, Little, Ferland, Boychuk, etc - all of whom are likely to announce official retirements at some point) and long-term injury battles we've known about (Price, Klefbom, etc), some new injury setbacks to start the year include Kirby Dach out 3 months for Chicago, Dougie Hamilton out 4 months for New Jersey (and really putting a damper on their spirit to start the year), Drake Batherson out 3 months for Ottawa and Evander Kane out indefinitely for the Sharks for being a dumb-arse.

Hamilton Injury a Bummer for Devils:

 

[BKarchitect]

NHLX 21-22 - Test Post 1.2

- Simmed through the month of October.

Eastern Conference Standings

Spoiler

- Expansion Teams: The Nordiques off to a pretty feisty start.
- The Good: A lot of teams we expected to be good from the jump are...the Leafs leading the way early. The Rangers, Jackets and Wings showing improvement from last year.
- The Bad: The Sabres are HORRIBLE as expected. The Pens have responded to the Malkin news by cratering. The Isles are off to a really bad start (EHM doesn't simulate the effects of good coaching and a good system very well, the Isles I can never get to be as good in real life). The Habs may be in a dogfight just to make the playoffs.

Western Conference Standings

Spoiler

- Expansion Teams: Seattle about where many predict them in real life...bad but not like terribly bad. The Aeros and Rosebuds showing some spunk but near the basement. The Monarchs look awful.
- The Good: Vancouver's offense looks amazing so far, the Oilers defense is still bad but they are still out-scoring teams and the Kings really look like they've taken the next step up in their rebuild.
- The Bad: The Sharks are a complete mess and the Coyotes are also awful as to be expected.

Scoring Leaders

Spoiler

- I legit had to do a double take with Tarasenko because he is on the Sens somehow. Apparently things got so bad with his relationship with the Blues front office that they waived him to simply shed his contract. The Sens picked him up for nothing and he's killing it. Unbelieveable. I had tweaked the DB to ensure guys like Tank and Eichel were unhappy with their current clubs but I did not realize it would get so bad that a guy with the stature of Tarasenko would get waived. Let's hope the Sabres aren't so dumb with Eichel.
- I can't say there are really any huge surprised early on statistically - but that Miller-Horvat-Boeser line for Vancouver is crushing it. Boeser looking like he wants a Rocket Trophy. Barkov looks like he's coming for the Hart Trophy this year. Kuemper looks amazing for the Avs in goal and should give them a shot to win it all.

Transactions
- Besides the bonkers Tarasenko move, there was one trade of note with the Devils sending OFD Damon Severson to the Predators for 3rd round and 4th round picks. Does not seem like the Devils got good value and with Hamilton already injured - are they waiving the white flag on the season already?

2022 Draft - Preliminary Rankings
- The 2022 Preliminary Rankings are out. No surprise with Wright at #1 but some are surprised that USNTDP defender Ryan Chesley is #2. Kid is a stud though. Miroshnichenko and Savoie check in at #3 and #4. Look at all those USNTDP players...a loaded draft for Americans:

 

[xECK29x]

the stronger teams should beat up on the AHA and mid-level ECAC teams and suppress their point totals quite easily,

There is no way to guarantee this outcome in the game.

 

[xECK29x]

@xECK29x On this same sim I ran, looking like an issue in the AHL where a team (Iowa) that was 13th in the conference and 6th in the division made the playoffs

View attachment 466410

They also the 3 seed and played Henderson instead of Grand Rapids

Can you post this on the Bugs forum, these saves need to be debugged by Riz: Eastside Hockey Manager Bugs Forum

 

[BKarchitect]

NHLX 21-22 - Test Post 1.3

- Simmed through the month of November.

Eastern Conference Standings

Spoiler

- Expansion Teams: The Nordiques are bad but not the worst...
- The Good: The Leafs continue to set the pace - is this the year they get over the hump? The Rangers look like they are for real. The Panthers and Capitals look like serious contenders.
- The Bad: No words for Buffalo. There are four shitty new teams in this league and yet the Sabres continue to be in last place in the entire NHL. The Isles better get going soon or they are toast. The Lightning aren't bad but it turns out losing your entire third line (arguably your second most important line) in one off-season can hurt...is a three-peat too much of a task this year?

Western Conference Standings

Spoiler

- Expansion Teams: The Kraken linger just outside the playoff spots. The Aeros continue to be the best of the other expansion teams.
- The Good: The Jets have taken over from Vancouver as the league's hottest team. Looks like Colorado and Vegas are right up there near the top as expected. The reconstructed Blackhawks have been very competitive.
- The Bad: I mean everybody in the West has a shot at doing something aside from the expansion teams and Arizona and San Jose, who continue to vie with Buffalo for the "Sad Sack" trophy among real NHL teams.

Scoring Leaders

Spoiler

- How about Martin Necas? The young Carolina star is the surprise of the year so far - a whopping 25 goals and 40 points in 29 games. On a tam loaded with offensive firepower, Necas is outshining everybody.
- Ovie continues to look timeless while McDavid is lingering and one hot stretch away from blowing by the field.
- Three goalies really standing out from the crowd this year so far - Vasilevsky, Kuemper and Hellebuyck.

Transactions
- One minor trade as the Avalanche send veteran Darren Helm to Seattle for defenseman Haydn Fleury. Great move by the Avs to bolster their defensive depth. Not sure I get the appeal for Seattle in taking a 34-year old 4th liner back.

KHL & ESL Update
- Let's take a quick look at the latest in the two big European leagues in the NHLX database, the streamlined KHL and the new Europa Super League (ESL):

KHL Standings

Spoiler

KHL Overview

Spoiler

ESL Standings

Spoiler

ESL Overview

Spoiler

 

[GKJ]

Can you post this on the Bugs forum, these saves need to be debugged by Riz: Eastside Hockey Manager Bugs Forum

Its not letting me attach the file of the game because it's too big? Is that a problem?

 

[xECK29x]

Its not letting me attach the file of the game because it's too big? Is that a problem?

See the thread to upload the file to SI Cloud, use that link and just reference the file name you uploaded in the post you made.

 

[GKJ]

should be in there

 

[ItWasJustified]

NHLX 21-22 - Test Post 1.3

Where did you get the logos from? I sometimes like to change the current NHL logos to retro ones, but the retro logo pack I downloaded years ago isn't exactly the same ''format'' at the smallest size as my regular logos.

 

[xECK29x]

Where did you get the logos from? I sometimes like to change the current NHL logos to retro ones, but the retro logo pack I downloaded years ago isn't exactly the same ''format'' at the smallest size as my regular logos.

He custom makes/assembles his own

 

[BKarchitect]

Where did you get the logos from? I sometimes like to change the current NHL logos to retro ones, but the retro logo pack I downloaded years ago isn't exactly the same ''format'' at the smallest size as my regular logos.

I'll release the whole pack at some point whenever I finally decide to release the database but here are all the NHL logos used in it - including the Retro Reverse logos:
NHLX NHL Logos.zip

 

[BKarchitect]

NHLX 21-22 - Test Post 1.4

- Simmed through the month of December.

Eastern Conference Standings

Spoiler

- Expansion Teams: The Nordiques are clearly the conference's second worse team but that's probably one spot better than they should be.
- The Good: The cream is rising to the top...the Leafs, Hurricanes, Panthers and Lightning were all expected to be excellent and are. The Predators are making a move in their new conference (with NHLX, they get moved out East) as well.
- The Bad: The Flyers have taken a tumble and are now sitting out of the playoff spots while the Devils are quickly plummeting to that same fate. And the Rangers are starting to slide as well although they remain firmly in the playoff zone after a hot start.

Western Conference Standings

Spoiler

- Expansion Teams: Not much change with Seattle looking decidedly competitive yet mediocre and the other three clubs battling for draft position with the Coyotes and Sharks.
- The Good: The Avalanche have zoomed to the top of the standings and look like clear Cup favorites. The Blackhawks and Stars are also on a tear and the Central reps 4 of the top 5 teams in the conference right now.
- The Bad: The Jets are still in 5th but had a rough month.

Scoring Leaders

Spoiler

- Well it had to happen - McDavid has taken over the scoring lead halfway thru the season and all common sense says he will only extend it. Necas still having a marvelous season though, 2nd in points and tied for 1st in goals. MacKinnon quietly getting hot and ascending as well.
- In net, looks like Shestyorkin is going to be a potential Vezina candidate. Sorokin could be a darkhorse as well - the Isles continue to struggle but he's been a bright spot.
- Not shown above but among defenseman, Seth Jones and John Carlson are tired for the scoring lead with 37 points. Morgan Rielly leads the league with 15 goals and an average rating of 8.24 while Cale Makar is among the league leaders in all categories.

Rookie Stats - with the season half over I thought it would be interesting to see what rookies are shining (sorted by rating not points):

Spoiler

- Right now the Calder looks like Nick Robertson's to lose. He is following in his brothers footsteps with a fabulous debut season and has made a place in the powerful Leafs' top six his own. Phil Tomasino from Nashville is probably his closest competition right now.
- A couple of standout rookie defenders who were never "top prospects" - both the Hawks' Wyatt Kalynuk and Canucks' Jack Rathbone have been exceptional players for teams who are surprising the pundits. Liljegren has also been terrific for Toronto.
- Among goalies, Lukas Dostal and Spencer Knight have been exceptional as backups for Anaheim and Florida respectively. A couple more Russian netminders are also starting to make their marks in Ivan Prosvetov with Arizona and Ilya Konovalov in Edmonton, both doing well in tough circumstances.

Transactions
- The biggest news this month is probably the official retirement announcement of Canadien's defender Shea Weber. The Hall of Famer had not played this year and this news was widely expected, unlike that of Malkin just prior to the season.
- A couple of trades this month: in an extremely minor move, the Flames sent veteran defensive forward Trevor Lewis to the Hurricanes and got back a 2nd round and 4th round pick. What is it with teams dealing really good picks for aging depth players? Anyways - obviously a steal for Calgary. In an interesting prospects swap, the Sharks sent D Santeri Hatakka and the rights to forward prospect Brandon Coe to Chicago for D Riley Stillman and the rights to forward prospect Landon Slaggert. Hatakka and Stillman were both immediately optioned to the AHL by their new teams. All four players look like decent enough prospects to crack the NHL as depth players and it was a D+F for D+F swap. Seems fair and rather interesting in how even it is.