Page 73 of Scoring Position

“Not Chicago.”

She made a noise of approval. “We’ll put them at the bottom of the list, with the understanding that if that’s the offer we get….”

Fair enough. “All right.”

They talked a little more about what Ryan wanted, which was difficult. Right now it was hard to imagine wanting to be anywhere but with Nico, which was a disaster he didn’t want to think about too closely and also sucked because it was the one thing he definitely couldn’t have.

What a mess.

When they hung up, he sat in the tub for a few more moments, watching his breath fog in the winter air.

If he couldn’t stay with the Fuel, with Nico, he still had hockey options. His career wasn’t over. If he didn’t get an NHL contract, he could find work in the minors. He could play elsewhere. He could… move on. He should never have allowed himself to have anything beyond feelings of lust for Nico in the first place, but that ship had sailed. He’d just have to get over it.

Futures in Fuel

Who Indy Fans Can Expect the Team to Sign, Buy, and Trade

By Neil Watson

January 27

With the halfway point of the season come and gone, most teams around the league are thinking about—or at least pushing toward—playoffs. Of course, a few teams, like the tanking Fuel—at this point, GM John Rees might just be thinking about lighting this tank on fire—are inevitably thinking about the trade deadline, October, and a fresh start.

What will next season look like? With the right pieces, the future could be bright, but Rees has a lot of juggling to do to achieve that success.

What’s Working:

Simon Granger—Granger was a great get for the Fuel when they made him the cornerstone of their team in the expansion draft. Yes, he’s getting older, but he’s still the team’s top scorer, and his contract was front-loaded. He’s worth his cap hit provided he stays healthy.

Brian Green—The Fuel’s number one goalie might not have a Vezina, but with an annual save percentage over .89 on a team with a defensive corps that’s holier than the Pope’s swiss cheese, he’s worth holding on to.

Mikhail Kipriyanov—Considering the loss of Lucas Lundström, Kipriyanov is holding the blue line together. Most nights his work ethic is the only thing standing between the team and a ten-goal deficit.

What Could Work:

Nico Kirschbaum—Despite a rocky start, Kirschbaum has started to come into his own. See MacTavish’s article on his rising fancy stats over the second quarter of the season here. If this trend continues, he’ll be delivering on his first-overall pick promise soon.

Kirschbaum is RFA this summer, but a bridge deal makes sense for the team and the player. At his current scoring rate, he’s easily a six-million-plus player, but his stats from his previous seasons don’t support it. He might risk a short-term contract hoping to prove himself, and the Fuel could do with the price cut.

Tyler Sawyer—No one expected much from Tyler “Lefty” Sawyer, one of the Fuel’s middling gets in the expansion draft, but he and Kirschbaumcouldmake magic together if they added a right-winger with a little more speed.

Ryan Wright—I know what you’re thinking: Wright is a bottom-six forward the Fuel paid too much for. Which is true. But this team needs someone steady in the room as much as they need offensive firepower. By all accounts, Wright is that guy, and his numbers aren’t bad. With his contract up this June, the Fuel have the opportunity to negotiate a price that works for both parties.

What Needs Work

The blue line—Whatever else the Fuel does, they need better defense. This year has proven that Kipriyanov cannot hold their defensive corps together alone, at least not well enough to win games.

Goaltending—Green is a solid backstop in net, but he’s getting older and starting him sixty games a year is putting a lot of miles on an aging body. The Fuel should look for a solid backup to take the pressure off.

Bad contracts—The Fuel didn’t get here overnight. They have some serious offloading to do to make room for new blood, and it won’t be easy.

Trading—Getting means giving up, and when you’re the last team in the league, your options for acquiring A-list talent are limited. The Fuel will have to trade for it. Their best option? Captain Tom Yorkshire.

No one wants to trade the captain, but Yorkshire is the kind of solid forward teams like to have on their roster. As we approach the trade deadline, a team with plenty of defense and injured forwards might look favorably on Yorkshire’s Cup-winning history and reliability.

Which connects to the second reason the Fuel might consider trading Yorkshire—the cap hit. With all the contracts coming up this summer, the team could do worse than to unload a four-year eight-million-dollar hit—especially if Kirschbaum continues to produce, given that there isn’t anything Tom Yorkshire can do that Kirschbaum can’t do for cheaper. Kirschbaum has more years ahead and is unlikely to cost the team eight million a year just yet.

The Wrap-Up

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