Hockey Comes to San Antonio

[Dsimp13]

With all the talk of Seattle receiving the bid to be the 32nd team, all NHL fans thought it was a lock to join the league. However, talks have fallen through at the 11th hour, and a new location has emerged. Shocking the pundits, fans, and experts...the 32nd franchise in the National Hockey League is the San Antonio Outlaws!

GM Dan Simpson will take the reins of this new Central Division team, and rivalries abound with the defending Stanley Cup Champions St. Louis Blues, premier franchise Chicago Blackhawks, and most importantly, the cross state nemesis Dallas Stars.

The team looks resplendent in red, black, and white, with the logo featuring a fierce masked outlaw.



Up first...the expansion draft!

[Dsimp13]

With the Expansion Draft looming, the strategy for the Outlaws includes finding some players that can be moved for draft capital, gathering real pieces that will be a part of San Antonio going forward, and possibly adding some depth to the Portland Panthers of the AHL.

Going through a quick rundown of the available players, I see both standouts that can help the team and ones that I believe will bring in some stock going to the upcoming Entry Level Draft.

Locks for the Team
- D Brent Burns: figures to be the inaugural captain of the Outlaws, leading the defense. Cap room figures to be immense, so the $8 million hit doesn't scare me too much, at least for the first couple seasons.
- C Matt Duchene and LW Anders Lee: UFAs, but going to throw money at them and try to lock up two guys that will pair well on the top line for the foreseeable future.
- G Tristan Jarry: Probably the Pens fan bias in my mind, but a guy who can start for a few years in the minors and hopefully give me a solid dependable goalie for the big club.
- D Adam Larsson: right handed defensemen are a rare commodity, so being able to lock down my top 4 with Larsson and Burns will be great.

Trade Bait
Defensemen is the way to go here, with a ton of options abound to grab some players just to flip for some solid picks.
Thus, Alec Martinez, Jake Muzzin, Jared Spurgeon, and Mattias Ekholm make the cut.

Others
- With Jarry taking a few years in Portland, I need a goaltending duo that can share the load and provide some stable net-minding. Jacob Markstrom and Jaroslav Halak, welcome to San Antonio!
- Adam Lowry and Anthony Cirelli: Two solid centers that I can have in the middle of my lineup, and hopefully one (likely Cirelli) can stake his claim as the center behind Duchene.
- Michael Frolik and David Perron: Good solid depth scoring pieces that provide veteran leadership and keep us from the bottom of the cap floor
- Jimmy Vesey, Johan Larsson, Stefan Noesen, Justin Bailey: Only Vesey is signed, but shouldn't have a problem keeping these guys to fill in up and down the offense.
- Jacob Larsson, Erik Gustafsson, Ian McCoshen: Same as above, but for defense.

Final Roster
Center: Matt Duchene, Anthony Cirelli, Adam Lowry, Aleksi Saarela, Matthew Peca, Garrett Pilon
Left Wing: Johan Larsson, Anders Lee, David Perron, Jimmy Vesey, Gabriel Bourque, Givani Smith
Right Wing: Conor Garland, Michael Frolik, Denis Gurianov, Stefan Noesen, Justin Bailey
Defense: Jacob Larsson, Ian McCoshen, Alec Martinez, Jared Spurgeon, Mattias Ekholm, Ben Harpur, Brent Burns, Jake Muzzin
Goalie: Jaroslav Halak, Tristan Jarry, Jacob Markstrom

Hopefully a good start leading into the Entry Draft. The San Antonio Outlaws inaugural season marches on!

[Dsimp13]

The results of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft lottery selection are in, with the San Antonio Outlaws picking fifth, following the Rangers, Avalanche (from Ottawa), Devils, and Kings. Fifth drops me out of the big hitters, but hoping someone like Bowen Byram are around at 5 to give me a stud D-man to build the team around as we progress. Taking a quick look at the scouting pool, there are the usual suspects of Jack Hughes, Kaapo Kakko, Kirby Dach, but also there is a franchise LW, Ethan Stewart! Looking like the Rangers’ accelerated rebuild is going to get a huge step up!

We enter in the draft room…let the drama begin!

Right off of the bat, the Rangers take Stewart. No surprises there. Hughes goes second to Colorado, gonna be fun to see him in future battles for the division. Then holy crap, centers Phil Ricci and Kirby Dach go to the Devils and Kings, with Kaapo Kakko falling to 5!! Unbelievable luck, and the San Antonio Outlaws now have what hopes to be a franchise defining right wing!
With the 5th overall pick, the San Antonio Outlaws select right wing Kaapo Kakko.

It’s time to flesh out this first round. Mattias Ekholm goes back to the Predators for their 1st round pick both this year AND next. Can’t fight that capital. Jake Muzzin goes to the rival Avalanche for their first (17), second (49), and Ottawa’s third (65).

Detroit takes defenseman Markku Viitaluoma, bringing Buffalo to the podium. I can’t resist.

*TRADE: San Antonio trades RW Denis Gurianov, Ds Jared Spurgeon and Alec Martinez, and Nashville’s 1st to Buffalo for the 7th overall pick, which they use to draft D Bowen Byram*

We needed to let the league know that while we face an uphill battle, the Outlaws aren’t going to roll over. Grabbing a winger and defensemen who hopefully can be organization cornerstones for the future is a heck of a way to kick this franchise off!

As the first round progresses, I get a call from the Jets. They are offering their 2019 1st and 2nd for Erik Gustafsson. He was a fringe roster guy, one that I would have no problem suiting up but I can’t resist another first this year. The Colorado 1st and Winnipeg 1st get me two left wings, Samuel Poulin and Jakob Pelletier.

The rest of the draft I just stockpile picks, making three picks in the 2nd, two in the 3rd, and three more before the draft is over. Hopefully I have a few winners in this wide net I just casted. I’ve always been a firm believer that in new franchises, the first two or three drafts require as many selections as you can, giving yourself the best chance at a decent team down the road.
With the 2019 Draft in the books, we head to free agency! One step closer to the Outlaws kicking off the season!

2019 Draft Recap

[Cork55]

Nice start. I like the addition of another team from Texas. I have been tempted to resurrect the old Houston Aeros franchise from the old WHL.

Looking forward to reading more.

[Dsimp13]

With the Entry Draft in the rearview mirror, it’s time to enter the Free Agency period!

The Outlaws have eight players on expiring contracts, with the two key pieces being Matt Duchene and Anders Lee. I figure these two players will be well worth whatever the cap hit turns out to be, so the plan is to give them what they want!

Matt Duchene is first, with an ask of 7/$7.875. Totally fine with this number! A cap hit of under 8, and he’ll only be 35 when the contract expires. I can absolutely live with this deal, if he accepts. Anders Lee follows up with an extremely reasonable ask of 4/$5.925, leaving him 32 at the end of the deal. I could not be happier with these two asks, and immediately send out the offers.

The other expiring deals are all players I can see contributing on this team, and will receive offers. Justin Bailey (2/$1m), Stefan Noesen (2/$900,000), Johan Larsson (2/$1.450m), and Gabriel Bourque (1/$850,000) gets contract offers, and Ian McCoshen receives a qualifying offer. I don’t LOVE the player, so if I can get a pick for him I can live with that. If not, the qualifying offer isn’t out of my range, so no harm, no foul. Also, my top two picks, Kaapo Kakko and Bowen Byram receive 3 year ELCs at $925,000 apiece.

After a taking a few days to mull my offers over, I get my results in. Gabriel Bourque is the lone denial, giving me a solid foundation to build this team with! I have my top line of Lee – Duchene – Kakko set for the near future, depth along both wings down the lineup, and a young d-man to get some NHL minutes right away.

Now comes the full Free Agency period. My team is pretty much locked in, with the only real hole in my lineup coming as a left hand defenseman. I see Jake Gardiner right at the top of the free agent pool, and immediately know he would be a great fit alongside Brent Burns as my top d-pair. Gardiner gets an offer of 3/$4.750. My eye catches Marcus Pettersson as well, someone who I know has talent. He is an RFA, but it would only cost me a 3rd. I take the chance and sign him to an offer sheet of 2/$1.7m.

I think it’s time to fill out my AHL roster and maybe add some depth pieces, but lo and behold my phone is ringing…

San Antonio trades RW Michael Frolik, 2021 3rd, and 2021 4th to the Tampa Bay Lightning for their 2020 1st round pick and prospect LW Gabriel Fortier

A first for Frolik? No brainer in my mind. He was a nice piece to have in my lineup, but I am definitely not married to the player. Time to see what’s available in the free agent market! I see Justin Williams, a very dependable right wing who adds crazy experience to a young team…works for me! Let’s see if he goes for an offer of 2/$3.375.

Gardiner and Williams say yes, Pittsburgh would rather have my third round pick than Pettersson, and I am a happy GM. Depth forwards Patrik Berglund and Teddy Blueger join the fold, with defenseman Christian Wolanin adding depth to the d-core. I also move defensemen Jacob Larsson, as I need a right handed defenseman to pair with Byram, so Larsson goes to Edmonton for Matt Benning and their 2020 2nd round pick.

San Antonio heads to the season with a lineup looking like follows:

San Antonio Outlaws Depth Chart - 2019-20
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
LW	Anders Lee (A)	David Perron	Jimmy Vesey	Johan Larsson
C	Matt Duchene (A)	Anthony Cirelli	Adam Lowry	Matthew Peca
RW	Kaapo Kakko	Justin Williams	Justin Bailey	Stefan Noesen
D #1	Jake Gardiner	Marcus Pettersson	Bowen Byram
D #2	Brent Burns (C)	Adam Larsson	Matt Benning
G	Jacob Markstrom	Jaroslav Halak

[Dsimp13]

Sorry it’s been so long since my last post, work and school got pretty busy!

So the 2019-20 season comes to an end, with the San Antonio Outlaws finishing 6th in the Central Division with a record of 36-37-9. Our owner’s goal was 38 wins, which was close, but he wasn’t the most thrilled with our finish.

Some notes from the season:
TRANSACTIONS
Traded D Ian McCoshen and LW Justin Bailey to Pittsburgh for their 2020 1st and D Erik Gudbranson
McCoshen was an unsigned RFA who didn’t really have a spot on the team, and Bailey played decently but was struggling to crack a solid spot in the lineup. The 1st rounder was the goal here, with the Outlaws taking on Gudbranson and his $4 million salary (this year and next) to make it work. This now gives San Antonio 4 first rounders, so the draft should be a good one.

Traded LW Jimmy Vesey to Florida for a 2020 3rd rounder (COL) and 5th rounder (TBL)
Just had a tough season, and I was happy to get value for him.

Picked up LW Trevor Moore on waivers from Toronto.
Under contract for another year at $775,000, provides solid AHL depth and can be a candidate for a call up in an emergency basis.

AWARD RESULTS
Chicago added another Stanley Cup to their trophy case, defeating the Carolina Hurricanes in 7 games.
Nathan MacKinnon took home all sorts of hardware, winning both the Hart and Ted Lindsay as well as the Art Ross (124 points), Rocket Richard (61 goals), and Lady Byng.

TEAM GRADES
POSITIVES: Tough to grade anyone as particular highlights, as everyone struggled at points in the season. If I had to give some out, it would be to Matt Duchene, who managed 54 points in a season where he missed the last 15 games due to a concussion; Kaapo Kakko, putting together a 14 goal, 32 assist, 46 point rookie year, while also playing responsible defense as the team leader in +/- with +12; Jaroslav Halak, who barely saw any playing time, though used it well: 12-9-4 with a .920 SV%, 2.42 GAA, and 4 shutouts; Brent Burns had a solid season offensively, leading the team with 57 points, but was mediocre on the defensive end with a -7; Bowen Byram showed promise on the third pairing, scoring 19 points and finishing +5, while being one of 6 players to play every game; David Perron factored in 43 points while suffering three different injuries, all together making him miss 19 games
NEGATIVES:
Adam Larsson went -15 with 14 points, horrid defense; Jake Gardiner had 42 points but was a giveaway machine in his own end; instead of the promising year I had hoped, Jacob Markstrom had a .899 SV% and the worst GAA in the league among goalies making 50+ starts (3.23), he’s going to have to have a hell of a contract year if he wants to make good money

On the positive side, the Outlaws’ AHL affiliate, the Portland Panthers, went 49-26-7 and defeated the Grand Rapids Griffins in a 4 game sweep to win the Memorial Cup! Kaapo Kakko was sent down for the AHL playoffs to get some more ice time in, and didn’t disappoint winning the playoff MVP, scoring 23 points in 20 games and finishing +17. Goalie Tristan Jarry won the awards for best goaltender and lowest GAA in the AHL, as he had a record of 40-19-5 with 10 shutouts, a .923 SV%, and 1.92 GAA. This kind of success makes the disappointing Jacob Markstrom season a little easier to swallow, knowing Jarry is hot on his heels.

Next is the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, and the Outlaws have a plethora of draft picks, and two first rounders (SAO and NSH) in the lottery. Maybe we will get lucky!

San Antonio Outlaws Regular Season Statistics

Spoiler

NHL Standings and Results

Spoiler

EDIT: Just realized that the standings had the 2020-21 header...sorry for the confusion! Poor housekeeping on my part!

[Dsimp13]

It’s time for the offseason leading into the 2020-21 NHL campaign! The San Antonio Outlaws have one year of experience under their belts, and are eager to get back out there and take on the rest of the league! First up, the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

NHL DRAFT
The Outlaws head to the draft room with a plethora of picks, including 4 first rounders, two of which are at the end of the round (Pittsburgh’s and Toronto’s) with their own and Nashville’s in the lottery. After the draw, the Ottawa Senators have won the lottery, with Buffalo and Edmonton getting the 2nd and 3rd respectively. San Antonio will pick 8th, 12th, 25th, and 28th.

The draft pool shows promise, with a franchise right winger in Matyas Kolarz, stud wingers in Alexis Lafreniere, Lucas Raymond, and Marku Pukka, among others.

The beginning of the draft goes as predicted, with Ottawa taking Kolarz, Buffalo selecting Lafreniere, and Edmonton taking Pukka. Detroit takes a defenseman, Sergej Kabanov, 4th. St. Louis is on the clock, but I pick up the phone and calls the Blues’ GM. A deal is struck...

St. Louis Blues trade the 5th overall pick to the San Antonio Outlaws for the 12th and 25th picks.

What a hell of a trade, with San Antonio not only moving up to grab a highly touted prospect, but also keeping the 8th pick in their pocket as well to select a player with.

With the 5th pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, the San Antonio Outlaws select right winger Lucas Raymond!
With Raymond in the fold, hopefully he and Kaapo Kakko can hold down the right side of the top 6 for years to come, giving the Outlaws elite talent spread on multiple lines.

Two centers go to Winnipeg and Vancouver, putting San Antonio back on the clock.

With the 8th pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, the San Antonio Outlaws select center Cole Perfetti!
Matt Duchene has some good years ahead of him, but he’s on the cusp of 30. Anthony Cirelli is a solid center, but he projects more as a 3rd liner, similar to Adam Lowry. Selecting Perfetti gives the Outlaws hopefully a solid prospect who can turn into a top six center and add some serious talent to that group.

The rest of the draft progresses well, with the Outlaws making 11 more selections. Positivity abounds at the San Antonio table, and we will see how the drafted prospects play out.

[Dsimp13]

Now that the NHL Entry Draft is over, the Outlaws move ahead to the next step of the offseason, contract re-signs and free agency!

We have 11 contracts ending, with some more pressing than others. The first to sign are the depth pieces and AHLers, which I take care of first.

D Ben Harpur (1/$925,000), C Matthew Peca (3/$925,000), C Teddy Blueger (3/$900,000), D Christian Wolanin (2/$925,000), and Aleksi Saarela (2/$925,000) are resigned by the San Antonio Outlaws

Next on the agenda is Anthony Cirelli, who is our best option for second line center. I figure even if I were able to acquire a more fitting piece down the middle there, Cirelli can move down to the third line, so I’d like to keep him. I send out an offer of 3 years, $2.8 million.

Defenseman Matt Benning is another easy call, as he anchors the right side of our third pairing. He gets an offer of $2.4 million for 2 years.
Right wing Patrik Berglund served his purpose as a depth piece, and I could use that role filled again this year. I offer him a 2 year, $2 million offer.

Our goalie situation is incredibly tense, with Jacob Markstrom, Jaroslav Halak, and Tristan Jarry all expiring. Jarry is an automatic, so he gets a $2 million, 3 year offer. Halak was a solid backup and Jarry isn’t quite ready to make the next step, so Halak gets 2/$2.6 million. Markstrom is frustrating, as his year was well below expectations. However, I can’t help but have faith in a turn around, at least in a bridge year to get to Jarry coming up. I have to hedge my bets though, so I settle on a $4 million contract for just this year. We’ll re-evaluate next offseason.

Cirelli, Benning, Jarry, and Markstrom sign; Berglund and Halak decline.

As we shift into free agency, our lineup has some solid structure but there are still holes. I pencil in a quick rundown…
Forwards
Perron – Duchene – Kakko
Lee – Cirelli – Williams
Larsson/???? – Lowry - ????
Larsson/???? – Peca – Noesen
We’re looking at a bottom six left and right winger, with Blueger and maybe Conor Garland serving as depth pieces.
Defensemen
Gardiner – Burns
Pettersson – Larsson
Byram – Benning
The D-core is pretty locked in, but we could use some depth to pair with Gudbranson as 7th and 8th d-men.
Goalies
Markstrom
????
Another goalie is a must, as Jarry is (hopefully) a year out.

Looking at the free agent pool, two wingers stick out to me as fitting the system well. Tobias Rieder on the left side, a solid two way player who can fit on the third and fourth lines as well as the PK; and Anthony Duclair, a young, fast, right winger who has shown promise but has bounced around the league in his short career. I take a flyer on them both and send contracts of 2/$2.5 million (Rieder) and 2/$1.5 million (Duclair).
Among defensemen, I decide to give Tyler Wotherspoon a 2 year, $1 million offer. He is a prototypical 7th defenseman, who is comfortable in the press box but I wouldn’t worry if injuries force him in the lineup. I also decide to offer a one year deal to Ben Lovejoy, a veteran right shot defender. I’m thinking injuries happen more often than I’d like, and I’d rather be prepared carrying 8 defenders than risking calling up an AHLer and subjecting them to waivers when we get healthy.
As I look at the goalies, my gameplan changes a little. I was originally looking for a Halak-ish backup goaltender to play behind Markstrom, but I find that the Canucks (who traded for him last year) let Corey Crawford go to free agency. He had a bit of a down year last year, but if that was a fluke, he might be the perfect fit for the team. I figure he can split shifts with Markstrom this year (maybe the pressure being lifted a little will help Markstrom), then I shift to a Crawford/Jarry pairing next season. And the season after, Jarry will hopefully slide to starter, and either pick up a backup then or, I’m really hoping, one of my 2nd round selections in 2019, Hunter Jones, will be able to pair with Jarry. Long story short, Crawford gets a 2 year, $6 million offer. I have a ton of cap space, so paying my goalies a combined $10 million is definitely doable for this year.

Lo and behold, everyone I offered contracts to sign! I and the team feel like we accomplished the goals we wanted, and hope it translates into success on the ice.