40 - YAROSLAV ASKAROV - VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS - The player, or maybe just the AI figure, who inspired this entire article series!  It’s hard to put a price on young franchise goalies.  They are probably priceless, but then again, like any prospect, they have to pan out.  He is in a great situation in San Jose, but not as good as it would be had Ravensburg not been drafted.  And we do have to remember that our ratings seem to be based mostly on save percentage numbers and not wins or goals-against average.  So, the fact he's playing for an up-and-coming elite team might not mean much for us.  Either way, Askarov still has oodles of potential, and despite having iffy numbers this past season, he should develop into one of the NHL's strongest young goalies.

39 - THE WASHINGTON CAPITALS CAP SPACE - Cap space is a wonderful thing in sports.  But it's even better when you are already a contender.  There are teams with way more, but they currently suck.  Then there are Jersey, Nashville, and Dallas, who may also be contenders and seem to have plenty of cap room, but they have a lot more holes to fill than Larry's Caps.   Larry really is set up well for the long haul here.  Hoping he sees a BRHL Stanley Cup while he's still with us!  His only glaring need, now that his wife has been excused from jury duty, is a number 2 centre, and he should easily be able to afford that. 

38 - DYLAN GUENTHER - NEW JERSEY DEVILS - I hate even writing about Dylan Gunther because it pains me that he’s not a part of my organization.  He is definitely one of my favourite players, and I have inquired before about what his cost would be, but of course it’s rightfully high.  He has an unreal shot, is a great skater, and can score from anywhere on the ice.  I imagine he will have scoring up into the mid 90s for years to come and will be an anchor for Ken’s team... and probably nobody else’s... because Ken does not make a ton of trades.  Although, hoping he keeps me on speed dial for if he does.  Guenther can also throw the odd hit, which may or may not help in sim hockey, who knows.

37 - PORTER MARTONE - COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS - It took me a while to figure out what team ended up with Martone after the draft shenanigans that occurred last month... I found him on Dave's roster... at least for now... but sounds as if we will be shifting everyone around to where they should've been taken, and he'll be a Columbus Blue Jacket.  I may have taken Martone myself at number 3, but I looked at who would be available when I selected later on and saw a bunch of wingers, so I went with the centre, Misa.  Long-term though, Martone might be the better player based on his size, strength, and gritiness, as he is most certainly a true power forward by every definition of the term.  He certainly excited in his cup of coffee with the Flyers and looked fantastic for Team Canada at the Worlds before fading a bit down the stretch, but at that point he was in less of a scoring role and more of a depth one for Canada. 

36 - MICHAEL MISA - DETROIT RED WINGS - Speaking of our recent draft.  I was thrilled to have Misa sitting there at number 3 when I selected.  His all-round, two-way play should be a great fit in the sim, and the sky is the limit for his offensive capabilities.  He's alternated superb seasons with just really good ones, so hopefully the "superb" is what we see next year.  He finished the season on a 5-game point streak and should be seeing PP1 minutes soon for the Sharks.  He's not physical, but is big enough.  His skating game is second to none, and likely should have multi-position eligibility as he carves out a role at centre at even strength and plays wing on the powerplay. 

35 - COLE CAUFIELD - BOSTON BRUINS - Greg may have been the dominant team in the East over the past couple of seasons, but his team's not just all savvy old players (and an old manager).  "Goal Caufield," as he's affectionately known, is only 25 and comes in at a nasty 96 SC for the 2026-27 BRHL season.  Wow.  If he plays with Kucherov and his 97 PA at both even strength and on the PP, he could be an early contender for our Rocket Richard Trophy.   Seven more seasons of team control for Greg's Bruins is a lot more than some of the other top assets on this list. 

34 - MARTIN NECAS - NASHVILLE PREDATORS - Well, it's time to get to that point on our countdown where we start focusing in on players who aren't just elite passers or scorers, but on those who can do both at a torrid pace.  This is where we find Marty Necas making a pit stop.   He sneakily has a great checking rating, and when you combine that with his other top-notch peripherals, like skating and puck handling, you have one of the top offensive threats in the game.   His mega-raise in salary next season is the only small downsize, but with a cup ring in hand, he'll have earned every penny.  

33 - BANK ROLLS IN THE $40,000,000 RANGE - NEW YORK RANGERS, NASHVILLE PREDATORS, COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS, WASHINGTON CAPITALS - PJ apparently hates his team, Jesse hates his newly drafted prospect, and Sheds and Larry think our bottom feeders are making too much money, but the reality is that these 4 GMs have very little to complain about these days, because as we are about to enter our silly season,  they're all carrying a 1st round's worth of cashola in their banks.  It will be interesting to see what they all do with it.  Larry seemingly has the fewest holes in his lineup out of the 4, so he might just sit on most of it, but look for the other 3 to make Sumit's life miserable over the next couple weeks.

32 - DUSTIN WOLF - CALGARY FLAMES -  There is something cool and flashy about Calgary Flames goalies.  I had a bunch of Trevor Kidd cards as a kid, and they just looked so sharp.  Wolf's numbers this past season didn't jump out, but then virtually no goalie's did.  He is still elite and should bounce back nicely.  Both the Flames of the real world and our fake/underground hockey world have bright futures, which bodes well for Wolf.  Somehow, sneaky Kev, somehow, has this guy signed for 3 more years at under 1 million per.  What an absolute stud.  Wolf too. 

31 - ROBERT THOMAS - WASHINGTON CAPITALS - Darn, the one that I let get away.  Thomas is another former BRHL Red Wing that's just kept on getting better over time.  He's one of the most underrated players in the game, but clearly not in the sim.  Close to 90 PA and SC, and close to 80 DF, he is a total beast... an elite monster in the sim.  A full 7 years of team control are coming up for Larry, and the salary Thomas will receive during that entire time comes in at a relatively decent number.    

BRHL TOP 50 ASSETS RANKING

VEGAS (JOE) - 3

WASHINGTON (LARRY) - 3

COLUMBUS (JESSE) - 2 

NASHVILLE (SHEDS) - 2

TORONTO (GARRETT) - 2

WINNIPEG (DOC) - 2

ANAHEIM (DEV)

BOSTON (GREG)

CALGARY (KEV)

DALLAS (JUNYA)

DETROIT (DAN)

JERSEY (KEN)

LOS ANGELES (RUMPY)

PHILLY (TONY)

RANGERS (PJ)

SAN JOSE (SUMIT)

SEATTLE (REX)

UTAH (JOEL)