thisword

I'm gonna write this from my own experience as a GM. My biggest draft bust. Grandmaster Funk. We drafted Funk at 4/5. We owned both of those picks after I traded up specifically to make sure we would get Funk. Honestly I probably didn't even need to trade up that far. Could potentially taken Funk in the 2nd round from the rumors we heard and the apparent shock of some people when we said Funk's name at 4/5.

We went in so hard to get Funk because we really clicked during scouting. If I remember correctly he'd had a slow start in the J but was excited to go all in and max-earn from that point on. We had a couple representatives from New England talk to Funk before we took the decision to trade up for them. Everyone loved Funk, and Funk loved New England.

After we drafted Funk they were everything we expected. A great LR presence and going hard to be the best player they could be. But then one day they stopped. Barely talked. Didn't do PTs.
There are no hard feelings, because I know real life came in the way. But trading up to 5OA to pick a player that amounted to nothing might be in the top-5 worst draft busts.

As a player not on HAM or any of the other top-4 teams, winning a cup in the FHM era would be a lot more prestigious compared to STHS. STHS is known for its upsets and somewhat random results. Winning it all in STHS is therefore easier than FHM. As long as you're not on one of the top-4 teams, of course.

HAM was clearly not about to lose to anyone in the Eastern Conference. But I think there would've been a chance for BAP to defeat BUF. At least, that's a small bit of hope I try to hold on to. HAM wouldn't have lost to anyone other than TEX, and vice versa. But a HAM/BAP/TEX/CHI final 4 wouldn't have been impossible.

I would relocate the Hamilton franchise to Stockholm, Minnesota which has a population of 6. It's most likely the closest we'll ever be to seeing a team in the SHL sporting a Swedish city name. So if I can't have a team in the real Sweden I can settle for having a team in American Sweden.

With no hesitation I'm gonna say Karl Krashwagen. He's been the MVP for BAP for what feels like a decade and even as he's getting older Karl is performing on an amazing level. He's not the best player on BAP anymore, but damn if he doesn't deserve at least being part of a finals game before regression takes him.

+3

There are a few teams that I'm sure at least are thinking about starting a re-build by now. If I had to pick one, I'm gonna say Toronto. After completing their previous re-build with a really strong squad they were never able to place above either Buffalo or Hamilton. And in the last two seasons New England came along with our mostly finished re-build and placed higher than Toronto. They have a good set of younger players, but most of their core still consists of the stars from the previous re-build. Meaning that their players are now losing more TPE overall than gaining.

They might have the option to go into a re-tool instead of a full on re-build. But unfortunately it's looking like they need to do something bigger. With only one prospect, and two players younger than S59. It's likely time to ship out some of those older players and start adding to that list of prospects.