James

4.5 mil with inflation! still a pretty good deal...

Fun fact: @byz used to play on a beer league team called the Banana Hammocks

Just some clarification… The Trade Portal is actively in use for all leagues. Submitting a trade triggers the Capwise Bot (which Scotty alluded to) to immediately post it for the executive committee. And the committee now uses the new thumbs up/down reaction emojis to vote on trades. In fact, if you hover over those, you’ll see they say “approve” and “veto”. Apologies to anyone offended by the thumbs up 🤣 The Transaction Portal that Lance referred to has been in beta testing in the P since late last season, and has now been officially deployed in the PCFL only. We will test it there for a couple hundred transactions, and then probably roll it out to a few more leagues at a time. The goal being to have all Capwise leagues on it by the end of the season. If you’re interested to see the future of Capwise, definitely check out the demo video that’s linked from the podcast. There are some nifty benefits to it, most notably that you can see exactly how much cap space you’ll have before pulling the trigger on a move. Spoiler alert, but I’ll be joining a future episode and we’ll be sure to talk in depth about the future of Capwise, including the role this tool will play.

I’m Team Lee on this trophy argument. No reason to change those names. Doesn’t matter who Norris is… the Norris is for the best defenseman. That’s what matters. remember when people were suggesting to rename the divisions like Gretzky and Lemieux? It’s weird. Things shouldn’t be named after living people.

Ha yeahhhh… my campus job was doing that laundry haha. Thankfully we didn’t have a football team, but the rugby players would bring home some nasty gear. and yes, indeed, it explains the Brewpens. Vassar’s founder (Matthew Vassar) was a brewer, so when the college went coed in the 60s they adopted Brewers as the mascot to replace the traditional “Roses”

Ha yeah I probably should have specified… it is, indeed, my alma mater. thanks for the support!

I don't usually post things like this (although I have no problem when you all do!), but I'm rallying hard for a cause this year, so why not... NCAA Division III athletics played a huge part in my life -- I was a three-sport athlete in college (cross country, indoor track, outdoor track), and the support I got from the teams/coaches and lessons I learned on/off the track were significant in my development as a human. But, as you may or may not know, D3 sports receive significantly less funding from their institutions as compared to D1, especially at the more academically-oriented schools like Vassar College. As a result, the burden falls more directly to the athletes, who are already broke college students, to fund their own activities. This includes paying out of pocket for shoes. Did you know, the average college runner spends somewhere between $2000 and $3000 on shoes each year? Not having proper footwear (or wearing worn-out shoes) leads to injuries -- I've experienced this first-hand. Vassar's "Brewer Fund" is running it's annual one-day fundraising campaign today (through noon eastern on Friday). The number of donors counts almost as much as the number of dollars. If you're so inclined, giving even $5 would make a huge difference in their fundraising efforts, as they try to hit specific preset targets to unlock additional funding. Here is the link to donate: https://www.givecampus.com/schools/VassarCollege/vassar-athletics-day-of-giving If you donate, please direct your funds to either Cross Country or Track & Field (or both). Thanks for your consideration!

Yeah I’ve never really known how that works. I feel like juuso riikola played a few games at wing a couple years back, and I don’t think he got eligibility. But it’s almost always a natural defenseman playing up, so it’s not much of a value add. When it’s a natural forward playing back, it’s huge.

Hell of a thing for his fantasy value, though, if he gets D eligibility.

I used to do this on my beer league team. I’d put our best winger back on D if we were down. Got him more ice time, and generated a lot of offense. Plus his above average skating usually offset any defensive IQ deficiencies. Worked like a charm in the “lower bronze” division in harbor city, ca. I’m skeptical it translates to the pros…

I think more teams in the playoffs is a bad idea. Totally agree with lee (or was it Chris?) that below average teams (I.e. teams in the bottom half of the league) should not make the playoffs. If the sole argument is financial benefit for the team, that’s not good enough for me. also what impact would an expanded playoff have on the trade deadline? Wouldn’t we see less activity? No fun in that. I think 16 is probably just right. I would like to see them move to a 4 wild card option though (top 2 in each division plus next 4). The 8 teams with the best record should make it. Full stop. totally aside, I would argue that a winner take all play in makes MORE sense in hockey than in baseball. One ace and a weak rotation can still make it, but will easily be handled in the first round. You should have to prove your rotational (and bullpen) depth to advance.

Lee is hereby fined 5 million per league for talking shit about pittsburgh

yes. It’s been like 7 years since they finished worse than 3rd in the division. The team is potentially better this year than last year, if malkin and Zucker stay healthy for the whole year and rakell continues to be as solid as he was after the deadline last year. Petry vs matheson is the biggest question mark from last year, but I think that’s net neutral at worst. the other metro teams are getting better, sure. But Pitt is still better than the isles, flyers, caps, and probably devils, which leaves 4 teams competing for playoff spots. I like the pens chances. they could’ve gone deep last year if goaltending health wasn’t an issue. Even with it, they were a shot or two away from beating the rangers.

Yeah that’s probably fair. That was a hot take of my own. But holy shit that segment felt like the “let’s find out if James is still a listener” hour.

- Letang is not on the decline. - crosby is on the decline, but is still a selke candidate. - malkin is on the decline, but only in terms of durability. When he’s healthy he’s great. - rust is consistent and worth that money (at least in real life) - jarry is a great goalie - guentzel is the best player on the team - blueger will play plenty… three guys over 35 in front of him on the depth chart. - carter is due for a real bad year. Could end up on the wing (kapanen sucks). - the top 4 wingers will make or break the team. If they can produce like they should, the team will be great.

My goodness the Pittsburgh hot takes on this episode 🙄

I can almost guarantee that the people programming this stuff aren't thinking that deeply about star power, but I could be wrong. Fifteen years in the TV business, but I haven't really touched sports, so maybe things are different there. Generally speaking, though, it's about providing locally relevant content to the largest possible audience... because a 5 share in NY is worth a lot more than a 15 share in Pittsburgh.

I think it’s mostly about TV market size, and US-based audience for that team. Also wouldn’t be surprised if there are competing TV deals in Canada that are blockers. it would be interesting to know what percentage of these games include a team from NY, LA, Chicago, Philly or Dallas…. The top 5 TV markets in the US.

It’s definitely “kosh a nosh” or something to that effect. also Scotty confusing Dakota Johnson and Dakota Joshua is terrific.

Also you guys missed Boston among your best handcuffs. Under 6 mil, probably close to an even split in GP, and Boston won 50+ last year.

Ok so it’s not voydog. But for the record, I thought it was like Wojtek Wolski.

It's amazing how many times "goalies can't be overagers" has come up on this podcast. And how many times Lee has forgotten it. 🤣

That's a solid breaking bad reference. well done.

I say “H-U-E-L”

Career Info: Price 16 years 712 GP 2.51 9.17 361 wins (.507) 7x All-Star 1x Vezina (2x finalist) 1x Hart 1x Lindsay 1x Masterton 1x Jennings 1x Olympic Gold 1x World Cup Gold WJC18 Silver WJC Gold Lundqvist 16 years 887 GP 2.43 .918 459 wins (.517) 5x All Star 1x Vezina (4x finalist) 1x Hart Finalist 1x Olympic Gold 1x World Championship Gold (+2 silvers) WJC18 Bronze