10 - JESPER WALLSTEDT - NEW YORK RANGERS - Maybe the premier young goalie to own in the league, Wallstedt put up an impressive 4 shutouts last season in just 35 games. He is one of the best positionally sound goaltenders in the league, has stellar rebound control, and is what we used to refer to as a "money goalie"... cool, calm, and collected under pressure. PJ has this guy locked up to a beautiful 4-year $3,744,000-per-season contract, which just adds to the appeal. Sharing the crease in Minny is fine, so long as he gets his 35 games (or starts... whatever it is) each year.
9 - TIM STUTZLE - NEW JERSEY DEVILS - I absolutely love Stutzle both in the sim and real life. He's put up over a point per game over his past 4 seasons, and didn't even turn 24 until the 2nd half of the year. In our league, he sports an 81 CK, a 96 SK, an 89 PH, an 86 PA, an 89 SC, a 77 DF, and an 87 PS. Imagine seeing a stat line like that on our trading block instead of the garbage we usually see. Ken is looking at a minimum of 9 more seasons of total team control with Jimmy Stu. With Ken's lack of trade activity, I imagine he will be a 1st ballot New Jersey Devil Hall of Famer one day.
8 - MATT BOLDY - VANCOUVER CANUCKS - For number 8, it was a close battle between Boldy and Stutzle. I ultimately decided to go with the player who has the extra position eligibility, the slightly cheaper AAV, and the slightly higher DF (because that's what we're really all about in the BRHL). He is one year older, though, which makes things razor thin between the two. Either way, Tyler has an absolute stud to build his team around, who I'm pretty sure I tried to bring over to the fold in Detroit on a couple of occasions, but with no luck whatsoever.
7 - CONNOR BEDARD - LOS ANGELES KINGS - Ouuu yeah, now we are getting into the elite of the elite... at least in name value. Bedard's young career hasn't been without facing some ups and downs thus far, but he's absolutely filthy and is only barely scratching the surface. Our 2024 prospect draft was all about Rumpy and his massive acquisitions of 1sts and 2nds. Everyone said it would be a waste unless he eventually landed Bedard in and amongst the shuffle, which thank God he did. Sadly, Bedard will begin the season on the IR, but expect him to pick right up where he left off last year, his first above a point a game. At only 20 years old, this is absolutely an untouchable asset.
6 - JUNYA, SHEDS, AND JARED'S SIM KNOWLEDGE - DALLAS STARS, BUFFALO SABRES, NASHVILLE PREDATORS - How do you put a value on this one? It doesn't matter if you win the draft, win free agency, or even win every trade you ever make; if you can't figure out how to set your lineups to optimize success, it might all be for naught. I can speak from experience on this one. I had one of the all-time great teams (Devon's words, not mine) a couple of seasons back, but it completely underwhelmed with the results based on the lineup being iced. Things did not turn around for me until a couple of pep talks from our own Jared Mitchell. Coincidentally, a GM that I went under .500 against that season. You learn way more by listening than speaking, so if you ever have the chance to grab advice from one of our sim gurus, don't let the opportunity pass you by.
5 - CALE MAKAR - NEW YORK RANGERS - I'm trying really hard not to beat a dead horse here, but I still can't believe that PJ hates his roster! Yet another sensational New York Ranger lands on our list here. When it's all said and done, he may end up as a top 3 defenseman of all-time. His numbers are jaw-dropping. After a sensational rookie season of 50 points in 57 games, he's averaged at least a point per game over each campaign since. He is a Stanley Cup champion and already a 2-time Norris winner. That's all great stuff, you say, but how does that translate into sim hockey? A deeper dive reveals he's 2 off the max ratings for skating and puck handling, and sports a a spectacular 87 DF, which is incredible for a super offensive D-man.
4 - CONNOR MCDAVID - EDMONTON OILERS - It kind of pains me to have the greatest player on the planet coming in at number 4, but we have to analyze a ton of factors in computing the actual value (ie the return) each one of these players would command if they were made available. His offense and skating are simply the best. There is no arguing that. He is the number 1 player in our sim that you would want if you're trying to win a title now (or 2 years ago when he did lead Leon to the promised land). Long-term, he is into his final 4 years of team control, and is raking in a hefty $17 million-ish in salary. All very well earned, but that does keep him out of top spot on our countdown.
3 - MATTHEW SCHAEFER - OTTAWA SENATORS - Congrats, Brayden, on landing the prize of our 2026 summer draft! I was shocked that he was able to move up to 1st overall with only the cost of the 4th and 31st overall selections. Schaefer is all-world and just so good and so composed for a teenage defender. To put up 23 goals as an 18-year-old D-man on the Islanders is almost impossible to comprehend. Much more help is coming in New York, so his totals will only balloon as he matures. He is on year one of a 3 year $975,000 BRHL contract. So, he's basically costing Brayden nothing in cap space, which will allow even more adds and flexibility to build around this generational talent.
2 - MACKLIN CELEBRINI - ANAHEIM DUCKS - Our number 1 player asset in the entire BRHL has to be Macklin Celebrini. When Devon tossed his name onto the trade block last summer, it surprised me a bit. I did my due diligence to feel out the mood surrounding a possible move, but Dev smartly declared he'd only move Macklin for an absolute haul. Sadly, for their sakes, nobody obliged, because no one whatsoever could have predicted what was about to happen next. 115 points?! Are you kidding me?! And although his DF rates don't necessarily reflect it yet, he is a great two-way centre, so don't sleep on him becoming a sim darling in that department also. Well done, Dev. I don't think even Toby's 2027 draft pick rolodex, combined with Sumit's July 2026 bank roll, would match the value Celebrini currently holds.
1 - THE PATIENCE OF THE ERICS - ST LOUIS BLUES, TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING - The most hilarious thing happened Wednesday evening when Eric D said that the top spot on this list should be his patience. Hilarious because, I swear on everyone's grandmother's graves, that I had already written that down for the number one position LOL. The patience of our longsuffering commissioners is an asset that the BRHL as a league boasts that many other sim/fantasy sports leagues do not. This league would collapse without it. I run a dynasty fantasy hockey league that isn't remotely as complex as the BRHL, and the GMs there, who are far lower maintenance than here, make me want to strangle them daily. No league is perfect, but when you have a good group at the top of it investing endless hours of their own time into making things run smoothly, you definitely end up with a fantastic product that is a ton of fun to be a part of... P.S. Eric and Eric, you can e-transfer me directly at Dansanders/brhl/finances.
BRHL TOP 50 ASSETS FINAL RANKING
RANGERS (PJ) - 4
VEGAS (JOE) - 4
ANAHEIM (DEV) - 3
JERSEY (KEN) - 3
LOS ANGELES (RUMPY) - 3
NASHVILLE (SHEDS) - 3
SAN JOSE (SUMIT) - 3
SEATTLE (REX) - 3
WASHINGTON (LARRY) - 3
BOSTON (GREG) - 2
CALGARY (KEV) - 2
COLUMBUS (JESSE) - 2
DALLAS (JUNYA) - 2
EDMONTON (LEON) - 2
PHILLY (TONY) - 2
PITTSBURGH (MATT) - 2
TAMPA (ERIC) - 2
TORONTO (GARRETT) - 2
UTAH (JOEL) - 2
WINNIPEG (DOC) - 2
BUFFALO (JARED)
CHICAGO (DAVE)
COLORADO (PAT)
DETROIT (DAN)
FLORIDA (TYLER)
MINNESOTA (TOBY)
OTTAWA (BRAYDEN)
ST LOUIS (ERIC)
VANCOUVER (TYLER)