Well, here’s another one of these things I didn’t expect to do. All of these season previews are fantastic, but I can’t help but feel the slight bias in a lot of these things. This is ultimately what media is, but today I’m going to present the LGNHL S38 season with only stats, and more specifically, with my WIN Ratings. You’ve probably seen variants of my WIN Rating in previous posts, as seen here: https://www.leaguegaming.com/forums...-of-the-season-player-ratings-s34-nhl.301335/ This season EA introduced some new stats being tracked, which opened the door for me to revamp all of my statistics/rating systems for the upcoming seasons. Here’s how the system works: Spoiler: WIN Rating Explanation WIN Rating was designed as a one-in-all stat that can be used to determine a player’s performance strictly through stats. The rating uses many stats found in NHL and compares to how the player compares to the “average” player in said stat. Some comparisons/inspiration for the system could be WAR/GAR found in real life hockey, or HLTV Rating found in CSGO Esports. You may have seen variations of this in my “ELO Ratings” found on LeagueGaming previously. An average player will come out to a 1.00 rating in the system. A player performing above average will have a rating above 1.00 (1.01+), and a below average performance will be below a 1.00. (0.99-) The system is calculated as follows: Some stats are weighted heavier than others, with things like Scoring Factor and PTS/GM having more value than something like Shots/GM. Your individual performance may also be hindered by the level at which your team/line is playing at, but there will always be standouts on teams. The seasons used for these ratings are S36-37 for LGHL System, SJS Pacific Cup and Caps Gaming Showcase S2. Players who played in lower leagues (LGAHL/LGCHL) had an equivalency multiplier to make their rating on par with if it were NHL Competition. This isn’t perfect, but obviously works better than leaving it the same. Some players won’t have ANY stats, and their rating won’t impact the overall team rating. For every team, the order of ratings will be Forward Rating, Defense Rating, Goalie Rating, Overall Team Rating. Division Rank will be in parentheses. Atlantic Division The Atlantic division is headlined by the @PureRippin and @Odieeeeee duo of the Toronto Maple Leafs. not only do they have a lot of top-end talent with @Sbass19 and @F0G 19 up front, they also have a fairly formidable defense with guys like @TurboYuri and @Hriiz being potentially solid core pickups. @Perry x 88 will get a full season in the NHL after being arguably the best goaltender in the AHL last season before getting the call-up to the Leafs late in the season. This team has a good G7, good depth, as well as some players who could go off like Jensen, making them pretty dangerous going forward. The Sens management returns for S38 and builds another solid squad. They have a good mix of talent and chemistry at forward, and actually picked up some solid contracts on the backend. Guys like @DumouIin are expensive, but have pedigree to prove it, and when you have low risk high reward contracts like @Its a Full Send or @B L A M E x 67 , its easy to pay the premium for a solid top D pair. There ends up being a real log jam for the next few spots. Montreal has the Hidden Potential connection, and some good core pieces, but they will rely on some question marks like @TyLaC and @Mole11 to step up and prove they can be good depth players. I like their core, and have some nice chemistry pickups as well, which can have an impact when building lines from scratch. Detroit paid the premium for @LemeIin , who probably isn’t too much overpaid compared to the value he brings to your D core. This big price forces them to go budget on a lot of their roster, and a good chunk of the 500k/AHL army will need to make up the difference in salary against tougher competition to succeed. The Lightning have the opposite of the Wings, with a good array of depth, but not as much star power as the teams ahead of them. They’ll be competitive with every line they throw out, but will need some of the old Tampa boys like @Zilla7861 and @Barks l21l to continue to build on their great seasons in S37 to match the top line potential of other teams above them. While Boston may seem lacking here, they are probably a few pieces away from being contenders, and it all depends how their depth looks, and how AHL MVP @Lebang 58 translates to top pairing play. @Czop 418 is a great contract to have, and @trevwings has the ceiling to be a top caliber defensemen for only 4 Mil. This leaves the Panthers and the Sabres at the bottom. The Panthers get the edge over the Sabres as they have some actual top 6/top line players in their lineup, and only need some of their AHL graduates to buzz and could pose a threat to the teams above them. There’s a big difference between a 15 win season in the A and a 12 win season in the N however, and will be a tough hill to climb, especially with an inexperienced management trio in the big leagues. The Sabres only have 6 of their 17 players above a 1.00 Rating, and their trade and will need some bounce back seasons from pretty much everyone to get any traction going forward. With no first round pick either, things aren’t looking great. Metropolitan Division The Metro may have the tightest division race coming up, as a lot of these teams have the potential to do it. Columbus gets the edge as I think they have the best all around roster in perhaps the entire league. They don’t have potentially the same star power as other teams, but they invested in chemistry and depth to get them to the top (also doesn’t help to have a 63 goal scorer in @Gilbzey at 500k). Their defense is solid top to cubs and have some interesting newcomer goalies at 500k each. The Rangers are the polar opposite of the Jackets, with the biggest and baddest three headed monster in the league with the Olympia trio of @Rockxt 5 , @Gabseh and @G lR ii M x . Picking up @xAllz83 gives me more confidence in their goaltending than before, and they have some sneaky good contracts in @Schnalby and @Dimitri x 91 . It will come down to whether the other lines will hold up for the team, as some guys did have some disappointing S37’s. Carolina goes fairly top heavy with a chemistry punch in the Composure trio of @P t P 10 , @officialmark07 and @Tendy with the value chemistry of the Chance of Reign Trio of @Class Act 27 , @NyIsles3 and @detee ef . Their Defense had some down seasons in S37, and will need a bounce back to round out the solid forwards. While they have Mark at LD, they don’t really have a standout RD to round out a potential G7 lineup, so if one of their guys can step up and be good on that top line, along with the PSN players stepping up after a mediocre S37 for the Canes, than this team will be deep and dangerous come playoff time. Pittsburgh actually has some good pickups for the team. They have struggled in the past couple of seasons with depth in their non management lines, and to have @John Bri I 7 I focused around his own line is exactly what they needed. The Beaudy/Kovalchuk line never has had an issue winning games, but it’s been their other poorly structured lines that has hurt the. With guys like @Bureee , @Speederov , and @ViveLeQuebec_81 on great value deals, they’ll look to bring more depth and a potential playoff berth to the Pens. I think Washington and Philadelphia are in similar boats where they almost have a 1:1 ratio of guys who are high rated to guys who have struggled recently. It really all depends on the wildcard bounce back players for both of these teams to see where they can go. They both have heavy contract forwards in @MarcoGoes5H0LE and @YungREAP x so if they can provide the star power boost to their linemates, than that could give them the confidence boost to get back in the winning column. If they continue their bad form it could be a repeat of S37 for these teams, but if they can step it up there can be some real heavy competition in the Metro. The Devils are similar to the Panthers in the sense that they at least have some hungry newcomers looking to prove themselves in the league. They’ll rely on Selke nominee @ASAP Jiren and @glex to continue their surprisingly quiet success and become top liners rather than supporting cast members. If it flops it flops, but at least they are trying to bring in some potential grinders to develop rather than veterans past their prime. I literally have no clue how good or bad @Game Seven W is, but if he’s a capable NHLer than they could get away with it, but if he can’t keep up like his stats show than there really is no hope for playoffs for them. While people talk about players quitting on the Devils, the bet should be how long until GSW quits, as the guy hasn’t finished a full season in over 6 seasons. The Isles may have the most combined games played out of any team, but it isn’t really helping them anymore. They paid top pair money to a guy that had a 10 win season recently. Like he’s a great 1v1 player, but when people said they were hoping for him to be a value contract steal, they meant a low contract. At least you brought back @StamToast , who’s coming off a great season in Long Island. I don’t really know who the X Factor can be on this team, or who can step up, as people moving up weren’t even that successful in lower leagues to begin with. Central Division The Central has a huge trio of teams that could all win the presidents if they so choose. The Stars may have missed out on Burnsy, but they picked up the best G in bidding and have pretty well balanced lines throughout. The pickup up of @ShaunaIdinho is great for the team and great for the shoutbox, as there has never been more complaining before the season even started than the great Shaun self advertisement. They have some of the best star power and some guys with decent upside, what else do you really need? Arizona went with a more PSN sided approach, and picked up some good value in the process. @nitteh may end up being of the best contracts in bidding. I never know how to feel with PSN players coming over to xbox and how it translates, but when paired up with one of the better management duos in the league skill wise and the Norris winner on the backend, they should be just fine. The Preds build off their stud first line with a very solid Catch 22 second line. Some decent defense contracts as well, but some question marks on the backend will lower them down a bit. They also have Mike, who believe it or not brings his team rating down. They have very solid depth and really only need their top line to almost match their last season to be successful. But I think they'll take another huge season in Nashville if it's given to them. The Jets actually have a very solid team, and if they weren’t in the Central they’d probably be in a top 3 anywhere else. The X factor will be how effective will Paradis be swapping over to wing from defense. They have a solid management duo who can provide value to any line they play on, and can run 3 lines pretty effectively with no real issues. The Blues and the Avs share similar problems with having a pretty solid top line, but the question lies in how the other lines will do, as their depth relies on more question marks and bounce back potential for success. Both teams GM’s have no stats relevant to the rating system, and both can be X Factors for their team if they can be good in both ends of the rink at centre. The Blues paying big money for a top RD in @Vaporize 17 gives them the edge however. While some may see the Wild as contenders, their depth is a real concern for me. A lot of their players are coming off a down season, or jumping up into the league for the first time. Sure you have cornerstones like @Arctic Blur and @Dangs92 rounding out your first line, their second and third lines have the potential to be flops in the league, with not huge upside to them. While you can potentially get S36 @Wavy Nana , you could also get S37 Nana, and at 5 Mil and your highest paid centre that is alot to gamble with not a lot of chalk core pieces in your lineup already. Their defense is has some good options, but also question marks on where they stand as LGNHL defenders. Too many question marks forces this team outside the playoff picture. The Hawks just have a whole lot of okay pieces, but nothing of high end talent. They spent majority of their budget on defense, but a lot of their players either didn’t play last season or are coming off of down seasons. Yet they still paid a premium for guys like @Landy Byng and @o Vinnny , so it’s not like they got some discount value from this decision. Their highest paid forward is @Dups77 playing out of position, and majority of their roster is either moving up with mediocre results, or players coming back from hiatus. I don’t know what the ceiling can be for this team. Pacific Division Perhaps a surprising team at the top of the Pacific, the Oilers simply built off their successful team last season with more successful players. They pick up @Drxma for half his old salary for an 18 win season, and pick up some solid value contracts on D. Perhaps their overall star power is lower than other teams, but their depth and the team probably more hungry to club and grind the game compared to other teams can vault them to the division title. The defending cup champs return in San Jose with a fairly similar blueprint to how they won the cup last season. They have great offensive players returning, and compliment them with decent value players. They’ll hope that their star players can elevate their depth guys to new heights and provide balanced lines across the board. The big question is can the defense hold up, as the subtraction of a player like Gwan can be a real detriment to any team. Can @Lying-Hillary fill the void, or will other Dmen elevate their game to new heights for the team? Seattle has great forward depth, with a lot of pieces returning from a cup finals appearance with Florida. @Burns 9 has potential to be the best value contract league wide, and with @NINETY ElGHT consistency playing well in LG, 6.5 mil actually could be worse of a contract. The big question is can the defense hold up for the team, with 10 mil @oHeroism dropping back to play D, and some wildcards to round out the defense, it will be their biggest X factor for them going forward. The I3HL Knights will use their chemistry and familiarity to their advantage, as they have plenty of both in their roster. They picked up some good value contracts, which of course they had to due to their 15 mil drop on @Burnsy x 95 . Following the Pacific Division trend of having inexperienced defense, they’ll look for their value contracts on D to come through and play better than their contract says they are. Oh, and they just so happened to pick up @Bardown Beauty , so I guess that can help out there defense problem just a tad, and provide at least a bonafied top pair dman to their roster. The Canucks are probably a surprise here, but it pretty much comes from their forward depth here. Senko’s disappointing S37 seems more like an outlier when looking at previous seasons and picking up guys like @Groulxz , @MaGiK x96x and @nehxC for not horrible contracts makes the depth quite solid top to bottom. The biggest flaw in this team is the defense, and is starting to be a trend in the Pacific division, as they don’t have the same high end talent in the backend compared to their forwards. Their management duo isn’t the best compared to others, but they don’t have a single defender above a 1.00 rating that isn’t their GM in @ThaChosenOne-- . They’ll need some big step up seasons from their defense to snag a playoff spot. The Lou Crew has spread its wings to bless some more people, unfortunately a lot of them have seen better days. Their Centre depth appears pretty weak, and it’s not like their defense has any game changing defensemen. While they have some pretty decent depth defensively, they all range from 2nd liners to players who haven’t played the position in seasons. This team could be a playoff team or be not great, it really all depends on how the bottom 2 lines perform. Both the Ducks and the Flames have similar situations, where they have quite a few players coming off poor campaigns, and hoping that they exceed the bar given out. Both teams do have some quality players that have potential like @Stewkos and @BoKnows x 88 for the Ducks, and @Gwan and @Snails 14 for Calgary, but they also have big question marks on who steps up for the team. At least Anaheim paid for some potential impact defenders, while Calgary’s biggest defensive contract comes with a DP who hasn’t played a game in the N yet. Both teams can probably play some scrappy games against good teams, but scrappy games usually doesn’t mean a clean playoff spot. Thanks for reading! If you want to keep tabs on all of my media, be sure to hit up my twitter at https://twitter.com/WingelsDGC! I post all about EASHL, with a big emphasis on esports!
The Lou Crew? I'm a private contractor and frankly that moniker is insulting. "Range from 2nd liners to...", like cmon man. Media in this league is so biased anymore. I literally led all defenseman in shots in S28.
