09-13-2020, 08:36 PMhhh81 Wrote: How do you see the West playing out this season? Some teams have lost a lot this season (EDM/NOLA/LAP) and others are getting effing old (CGY).

I still don't know Seattle's final roster, but from what I can capture in a glance they're lacking the forward depth necessary to compete with the Edmonton's, Calgary's, and the New Orlean's of the world. I think the West at the end of next season barring any trades will be something along the lines of:

Edmonton
New Orleans
Calgary
Texas
Winnipeg
Seattle
Los Angeles
Minnesota
San Francisco

I could see New Orleans falling further dependant on the re-signing of Cain and Kirkby, they were two pretty important pieces of their puzzle. I think Edmonton stays on top but without the distance from New Orleans they had next season.

09-13-2020, 08:36 PMhhh81 Wrote: Considering the changes to cap structure and contract rules, do you think Atlanta and Seattle should have been granted a chance to grandfather their GMs into HTCs, rather than carrying an effective cap penalty of $1-4 million into this next season?

I could see the arguments from both sides, but in the past it has always been that they have to trade for their home town discounts for the first six seasons, if I were a manager of one of those two teams and looking to compete I would talk to the players that were with franchises for a long time and entertain the idea of a sign and trade to acquire a home town discount. I wouldn't refer to it as a cap penalty though, you have to account for the extra prospects teams have that they're paying as well.