It's that time of year again!
Coming later on, a rumor chart update....(I did actually already update Michael Neuvirth today based on a tip received...)
But first it is time once again to start tracking Buyers and Sellers...
There are so many factors that play into whether a team is interested in becoming a buyer or a seller, but the one thing I know for certain…If you know who the buyers and sellers are you know a lot. It isn’t easy tracking rumors on 31 teams, so the better I know the buyers and sellers the more efficient I can be…
I have developed a formula over the years to help in this determination, and this year I decided I am going to include the buyers and seller quotient into the conversation by doing a weekly look at how they stack up. There are currently 12 factors I use to determine the likelihood of a team becoming a buyer or a seller and those factors include:
*Number of points a team is out of or in the playoffs. *How many teams a team must pass or yield to, to make or not make the playoffs. *Team Goal differential (goal differential often tells you more than the standings. It is incredibly rare for a team with a positive goal differential to miss the playoffs. *Cap Space *Pending Free Agents *Marketplace/Expectations…
And some more secret sauce thrown in…
I have developed the system so that a team with a negative value is more likely to be a buyer and a team with a positive is more likely a seller…By doing this I have come up with what I call “The Buyer/Seller Line.… This line tells me if the market is a buyer or a seller market based on how many buyers and sellers there are.
Last season was the first season I went public with these numbers, and many of you seemed to really enjoy discussing/correcting my formulas...which is always something I am open to. For the first 5 years I did this I made many tweaks. Over the last three years I have found what I feel is a pretty solid sweet spot.
So without any more delay, here it is for the Eastern Conference as of this morning…
Ek’s Buyer Seller Rating for the Eastern Conference..
Definite Buyers (over 40) #1. Tampa 41
Strong Buyers (20 >40) #2. Toronto 37.25 #3. New Jersey 25.75 #4. Columbus 25.625
Likely Buyers (10 > 20) #5. NY Islanders 19.88 #6. Washington 19.03 #7. Montreal 18.625 #8. NY Rangers 11.88
Possible Buyers (under 10)) #9. Pittsburgh 9.00 #10. Caroilna 4.13 #11. Boston 1.25
******BUYER/SELLER LINE*****
Possible Sellers (0> -10) #12. Philadelphia -3.5 #13. Detroit -5.59 #14. Florida -5.75 #15. Ottawa -9.88
Likely Sellers (-10 > -30) #16. Buffalo -19.75
Tell me what you think?
Back with a rumor blog later and the Western Conference Tomorrow...
Listen to the HockeyBuzzcast w/@Eklund @sportsology & @MikeInBuffalo on iTunes (https://t.co/yXakLaiyRy) & Tune In (https://t.co/O3Em8BtZ6W)
— Michael Augello (@MikeInBuffalo) August 2, 2017