This season our scouting department will be giving an update prior to the start of each game week to give you all the information you need to get your team top of the standings.
Roster Moves
There is just the one signing over the last week but before we move onto that there are some big issues with Fife we need to look at first. Earlier this week Fife announced that Nikolai Shulga, Madi Dikhanbek and Maxim Musorov had all left the team to return home as they had not settled over in the UK. Their compatriot Artur Gatiyatov had left a few weeks ago. This leaves the Flyers struggling to fill three lines and losing both games this weekend with a combined score of 13-1. Each Elite League team cannot sign more than 20 non-homegrown players each season, so it left Fife struggling to be able to fill a competitive roster. However, they have now been given approval to sign additional players under extraordinary circumstances. Details as follows –
EIHL approves ‘extraordinary circumstances’ roster request from Fife Flyers | EIHL
So we can expect signings to come from Fife sooner rather than later, but what level of player can they entice to a team bottom of the league, 7 points out of the playoffs and struggling for form. Also what does it mean for any Fife players in your own team? Do you keep hold of them hoping for Fife to turn around their form quickly or do we expect more departures?
In terms of actual signings we have Spencer Naas returning back to Dundee after he scored an incredible 32 goals for them in 2023/24 and was a “must-have” in your team at just 6.0M to begin with. This time he is added at 7.5M.
In terms of selections, Joe Morrow has increased his ownership to 102 teams now but GM’s are starting to sign Matt Greenfield again now he is back from injury. He is up to 97 selections for a Sheffield team who are a bit up and down in terms of form at the moment. Ryan Bednard is the most traded for player this week now he is getting all the starts for a strong Nottingham team. Josh MacDonald has an additional four selections as he is now up to third in overall scoring with 317 points.
Who’s Hot?
The surprise team this year are the Coventry Blaze who are third in the league and one point behind Belfast for second. In league play they have scored 73 goals which is only behind Cardiff (77 goals) and Sheffield (78 goals), who have both played more games. After Chase Gresock’s 71 points (and even slightly more impressive “Michigan”) he is now the top FHL UK scorer with 330 points. Lets have a look at his team mates who are all good value and putting up points.
Chase Gresock (6.5M) – 330 points
Mat Robson (8.5M) – 284 points
Michael Regush (6.0M) – 280 points
Nick Seitz (6.0M) – 279 points
Alessio Luciani (7.0M) – 263 points
Kim Tallberg (7.5M) – 195 points
Brandon Alderson (7.5M) – 193 points
Jakob Stridsberg (6.5M) – 173 points
Our scout tip is an obvious one and that is to sign Chase Gresock. However only 65 GM’s have done so.
Upcoming Schedule
We have a bit of a mismatch in the fixtures this week with Belfast and Coventry both playing three times, and they start the week off meeting in Belfast on Wednesday. Belfast then have a home and home against the Flyers on the weekend so any Giants players you have must be the favourite for your captains pick. Coventry host Manchester (who play just once this week) before travelling to Guildford on Sunday. The other team only playing once are the Sheffield Steelers, and that is a tough game away at Cardiff on Saturday. The Devils have a pair of home games as the play Nottingham on Sunday in the cup.
The other games are Nottingham hosting Guildford on Saturday and Glasgow and Dundee having a home and home series over the weekend as well.
