The Seattle Metropolitan Express

[Jon-Seattle]

The Metropolitans are finally starting to trickle into Seattle to explore the city and look for new homes with waterfront views of the Puget Sound. One man however has already settled in, though he spends most of his days overlooking the practice field of an entirely different franchise in the Seattle Seahawks. "We were just going through free agent profiles and potential draft picks last week and looked out towards the Sound where we could here some mischief afoot." GM Jon explains. "We've already been at this day and night for two weeks and I realized we had to take a look around and remember that this will be us in a few months time with new rookies, tryout players, and our veteran guys. We took a few hours to embrace what's going on outside and remember that we've made it to a wonderful sports town that's ready for some good hockey but mostly just loves having good sports teams". According to scouts the entire front office spent the rest of the day trying to connect with their new neighbors.

Just because they took a few hours off to have some fun doesn't mean that this team didn't get any work done, in fact sources say it gave them a tremendous burst of energy to work on evaluations throughout the rest of the week and the team seems fully prepared for the upcoming expansion draft, to go along with free agency, and the draft, where Seattle will have three first round picks to use to push this team into a playoff contender.

Sources say trade block rumors will begin to filter out throughout the next week as guys like Hodgson, Fiddler, and Medvedev have been told not to bother moving west just yet.

To the new team, on behalf of all of Seattle, Welcome and good luck in your quest for some playoff hockey.

[Jon-Seattle]

The Seattle Metropolitans are a little over halfway through the draft and we caught up with GM Jon to discuss what he thought of the draft so far, below is the transcript of our conversation regarding the draft, new players, and plans going forward:

Reporter - Jon a lot of good prospects are still coming off the board late into the third round, what do you think of how things have gone down so far.

Jon - Well this draft has been really interesting a lot of high end offensive talent especially in the first couple picks, but I think this draft has some very solid defensemen and while we would have liked to pick up some more wingers with our first few picks I really like how this turned out. We ended up with Sergachev with our first pick, and honestly didn't expect to see him there. We had initially planned on taking advantage of that offensive depth early on but he was a top 10 pick in our eyes and one of the last top tier defensemen to come off the board and I know we were not the only team to think so. Really the way those first 10-15 picks played out almost perfectly for us.

Reporter - What about the rest of the first round, you picked up Svechnikov and and then moved back to pick up nedeljkovic in the second while picking up some draft capital next year and then picking up Girard in the third.

Jon - Well to be honest we didn't expect to be picking at 25 we had a deal set up but had a few things fall through, I think it will work out better for us in the long run though as Svechnikov is a top 15 talent any other year. This draft was absolutely loaded with talent and we couldn't have asked for a better year. I think our front office guys realized how good this draft could be and helped us line our franchise up to take advantage of it with some smart deals with Colorado and Hartford to set this up. Svechnikov will need one more year in the minors and by this time next year we expect him to compete for a start on opening day. I really think that's kind of a common theme you'll see throughout our picks though and you can see that with Sergachev, Nedljkovic, and Girard as well. They're going to be brought along slowly and focus on their development but could easily be top guys fairly early on in their careers. Svechnikov was a bonus for us and then we had some setbacks. We were really high on some guys at the end of the first and when they got taken right in front of us we worked the phones and got a really good deal to move down. The draft room was really hitting on all cylinders and we ended up moving down far enough we didn't think we'd get Nedljkovic, we stuck to our guns though and really think he's one of the few goalies in this draft that could make an impact in his first few years. Then when we got to the third we realized Girard was still available and couldn't believe our luck. Dispite being a smaller guy he plays like a big man, really smart, well developed but we want him to really bulk up and so he and Sergachev will man that first line in the minors and see if they can create something special down there, we think it'd be great to line them up together Girard being a great puck mover offensive-defenseman type that we really like out here in Seattle and Sergachev being that dominant force that can shut down an opposing offense without losing anything offensively ourselves. That pairing really has us excited. People are so excited about these guys I probably had 5 other GM's hit me up between the two of them trying to snag them away or cussing me out which is when you know you've made the right pick, and they weren't the only ones it seems like every pick we've made has GM's around the league worried about facing us for the next few years.

Reporter - What is the plan moving forward and what can we expect to see from the rest of the draft.

Jon - Well we're definitely not done, still a few guys we have our eye on and this is a deep draft so we think there are some guys out there who can contribute. That said we're also going to be looking at making this team competitive now and if we need to move a few picks now or next year so be it, we're ready for that. Anyway I gotta go, we have to go over some more footage of some of our targets coming up.

Reporter - Good luck Jon, the people of Seattle seem to really be excited as this draft draws closer to a close. Can Jon pull out a few more upsets or will he be drafting fodder for the minor leagues, stay tuned to find out.

[Jon-Seattle]

Seattle moves core player Coyle.

GM Jon of the Seattle Metropolitans made a surprising move late last night sending first line wing Charlie Coyle to Adirondack in exchange for a 2018 first and prospects Dennis Yan and Givani Smith. This moves comes as a shock as it had looked as though the Metropolitans were loading up for a playoff run after the acquisition of David Savard but the latest move brings into question what the plans are for Seattle.

"We have a plan in place that we're sticking to. Savard brings us some legitimacy while we rebuild our defense this year but the plan has always been to build a long term contender. We think the world of Charlie and think he's only gunna be better but we've needed to build up a farm system. I can't even say rebuild because I don't think we've ever had something even resembling a prospect pool this deep." Relayed Jon during an early morning interview.

Now the Metropolitans have a number of players that will be coming up through their minor league affiliate (yet to be named). In the here and now though it's hard to tell if the Metropolitans are trying to make a run or build for the future and being stuck in the middle is a recipe for disaster. Are the Metros going to make a splash to replace the recently removed Coyle or will they look to continue stocking the cupboard that is their prospect pool. We can only hope that whichever direction the franchise decides to move that it finds a philosophy and sticks to it.

[Jon-Seattle]

The Seattle Metropolitans made a surprising move just days before the start of the season. Patrik Berglund has been moved to Colorado in a trade that nets the Metropolitans Daniel Sedin. GM Jon had this to say on the recent acquisition, "I've always been a fan of Daniels work. It was unfortunate that he and his brother were split up last year but I believe that once he settles in he'll be a great addition to this team. We plan to line Sedin up with Barkov and see if we can get them to click." Barkov has seemed to need a little veteran presence on his line and was demoted to the second line in Seattle to try and relieve some of the pressures that have been placed on him in the last few years as he was forced into being the only go-to option day in and day out.

Seattle has been rebuilding for the last few years and after being moved into the Patrick Division is looking for a playoff run after years of being a bottom dweller. It is unlikely that Seattle stands pat with six picks in the first three rounds of the next draft and numerous star players due for a breakout season this year and next. Expect a long run from Seattle and new jerseys to be revealed later this week.

[Jon-Seattle]

Seattle loses first three games.

The initial buzz surrounding the Metropolitans has quickly died down follow the straight losses, two to divisional opponent Detroit and one to conference opponent Washington. The losses come after a shipping mistake forced Seattle to spray paint their own colors and number on old Ottawa jerseys. GM Jon spoke on the issue, "We're absolutely furious with how everything played out with the manufacturer. This was an incredibly costly mistake for our team and we'll do everything in our power to make this up to our team and more importantly our fan base. That said our performance was unacceptable. We thought we had a great mix of young guys and veterans on this team and could be up for making a run at the playoffs this year but if things don't pick up we won't even have that chance and I will shake things up a bit."

The first changes already appear to be underway as the Metropolitans began to reshuffle their roster after the injury to Michalek in the last game against Washington. Coaches have been scrambling to find an answer to the scoring dilemma that has been plaguing the team but answers don't appear to be forthcoming from on the roster, especially since the trade of prolific scoring winger Charlie Coyle.

There also appear to be talk coming out of the facility about the potential trading of no less than three defensemen who were on the opening night roster. These talks likely center around UFA defensemen Tom Gilbert, Jeff Petry, and most interesting of all David Savard. Losing even one of these three would likely result in one of the leagues worst defenses but it appears this team may already be heading in that direction.

The positive news is that there are a few youngsters moving their way up through the ranks as Zach Werenski has 7 BS in three games. Mikael Sergachev also appears to be making waves as a prospect, though he is unlikely to see any ice time this year after being returned to Juniors for one more year of seasoning in an effort to bring him along slowly along with Samuel Girard and a number of highly thought of forwards. Stay tuned to keep up with all your Metropolitan news.

[Jon-Seattle]

Savard shines in 2-2 draw against division rival Colorado

David Savard willed his team to a tie with 2 assists against a formidable Colorado team on its home ice tonight against Colorado's backup goalie Khudobin. It was a surprise to see Savard still in the lineup despite numerous trade rumors swirling about the #1 defenseman. When asked for a comment Savard had this to say, "I'm going to be at my best regardless of what's going on off the ice. I was brought here to make this team as competitive as possible and that's what I plan to do. If they decide my talents would be best utilized elsewhere I'll make that happen too. Whatever I can do I will. This is a make or break year for me and I plan to take advantage of that."

It was reported there may be as many as four or five teams interested in Savards service and a deal was reportedly close to being finalized. Savard was notified he may be sitting for the game if things went through but nothing had been made official as of game time and Seattle chose to play him in an effort to knock off the now #2 seed in the Patrick division. "We really didn't want Colorado to get a shot at us without our top two pieces (referring to the injured Barkov and Savard). We want this team to be competitive, although we may still be a year or two out from championship caliber hockey in Seattle we feel like we're really close."

With Seattle winless throughout six games look for a shakeup in the lineup and possibly a few changes along the coaching bench if things don't start turning around. The good news for Seattle is that they look to have a few good prospects coming up through the ranks so check out the Metropolitan Prospect Report for more information.

[Jon-Seattle]

Savard will be a late scratch from tonight’s game and it is suspected that he will not be returning to the team. Reports indicate that Savard was given an early plane flight home to allow him time to pack up his belonging. Savard was one of the few bright spots on an underperforming, and injured Seattle lineup. All indications point to a serious restructuring in Seattle as they continue throughout the season, where at one point it was believed they could be playoff contenders. Down years from some of their big names have resulted in Seattle being one of three winless teams in the league and the second worst in goals for the first part of the season.

[Jon-Seattle]

Seattle breaks winless streak, still suck

The newly transplanted Metropolitans have been helpless on and off the ice since the start of the season. Injuries have piled up to key contributors, such as Ekblad and Barkov while the offense has looked inept and the defense barely passable after trading key cogs such as Coyle, Savard and now Petry. Despite all of this the Metropolitans stole a win from a better Swords team.

In the first period Seattlites watched in horror as Winnik scored The first and only swords goal of the night despite an Evander Kane goaltender interference penalty. Any other night this might have been enough to put away a lowly Seattle team. Seattle managed to score on an unassisted Panik power play goal on the resulting penalty however, and managed to wake up a quiet Seattle crowd that watched as recent acquisitions Desharnais and Sedin each scored a goal in the third period.

Despite finally coming together don’t expect this one time win to springboard Seattle to relevance as they continue a nearly constant rebuilding effort. There are some bright spots to look forward to such as Mikhail Sergachev, and Samuel Girard as well as improvement of second year defensman Zack Werenski, and other core players but that time is still a ways off.

Trade rumors are also swirling around Ryan Johansen and we expect to be granted a one-on-one interview within the next few days, as long as he's still a Metropolitan at that time.

[Jon-Seattle]

Seattle goes on 4 game winning streak, Do they still suck?

After a 0-10-4 start the Metropolitans were scouring the trade market for future assets and reports coming out of the front office were that they had resigned themselves to a lottery pick. A little over a week ago all that changed, Seattle moved on from UFA defensemen Savard, and Petry. They brought in role players like Desharnais and Ferland and got key reinforcements back from the injured reserve. These moves weren’t expected to pay any dividends in the short term. There were even talks of moving on from franchise center man Ryan Johansen. It sounds like those talks haven’t been as successful as these last four games however.

In the last four games there was an outstanding team performance against Cincinnati, a spectacular 4 goal performance from Panik to lead an 8-4 charge against NY, which bled over to a 3-1 game against New Jersey. Tonight against Baltimore the Metropolitans jumped out to a 3-0 lead that they never let go. During these last four game the Goalie combo of Lundqvist/Neuvirth have been on fire while Barkov has been the leader this team has needed since coming back from an early season injury. Will the Metropolitans be able to keep it going?

To speak on the teams recent success we scored an interview with none other than Ryan Johansen.

Q: What happened to turn this team around over the last four games?

RJ: Honestly that first game Panik scored the quick PP goal after what should have been a no goal due to the goaltender interference and it really got us going. Alek (Barkov) came into the dressing room all full of piss and vinegar and got the guys all riled up. We really went all out after that and I feel like we’d had so many guys coming in and out it’s what really brought us together as a group. Desharnais lit it up and Daniel Sedin finished off another one. After that Panik played out of his mind and Neuvirth has been solid switching out with Lundqvist after that N.Y. game.

Q: there have been a lot of rumors surrounding a potential trade, how do you respond to that?

RJ: I really think I have to just go out and play my game. I’ve had some discussions with management, obviously I’ve been here for years, this is the team that drafted me but I know that regardless of what happens, if anything happens, it’s going to be what’s right for the team and what’s right for me. I’ve watched this team turn over for years and it’s strictly business. That said I want to play here, I see where this team is headed and want to be a part of that. We’ll see how it goes though. I’ll play as hard as I can up here in Seattle as long as I’m here.

Thanks Ryan and good luck.