Jeremy Laura: St Louis wants to move some D, Cap Friendly shutting down

Sorry to see the demise of CapFriendly. I found it provided a intersting deep dive into the current status of teams and, with a little digging, how they got there. The draft pick summaries and trade histories were fun to delve into. This appears to be another short sighted NHL move thinking fans are more interested in marketing hype than any discussion of the processes in building and maintaining teams. And it is not possible for me to care less about loosing Salary Swish.

Sorry to see the demise of CapFriendly. I found it provided a intersting deep dive into the current status of teams and, with a little digging, how they got there. The draft pick summaries and trade histories were fun to delve into. This appears to be another short sighted NHL move thinking fans are more interested in marketing hype than any discussion of the processes in building and maintaining teams. And it is not possible for me to care less about loosing Salary Swish.
- whatmighthavebeen

I don’t think there was a tool more cited than cap friendly after cap geek went offline (my hockey bud reminded me the owner passed). LTIR got way more attention and Some GMs weren’t thrilled with all the tools fans had access to. Hoping a genius is out there developing a new version

NHL is like big government, they simply want you to remain dumb and disgruntled and not know the real workings and goings-on's of the industry.

The only big-salaried D that St. Louis will be able to move is Ledy. And it won't be enough.

Washington is seeking a competitive advantage not trying to shut the information down from the public.

Besides PuckPedia already exists and I’m sure we will see a newcomer in the space as well.

The only big-salaried D that St. Louis will be able to move is Ledy. And it won't be enough.
- HenryHockey

I think they may try 3 way deals but ultimately they’re at the mercy of the player.

Washington is seeking a competitive advantage not trying to shut the information down from the public.

Besides PuckPedia already exists and I’m sure we will see a newcomer in the space as well.
- Feds91Stammer

I’d agree but Friedman added this: though it will also force the site to publicly shut down on July 5th.

this just seems to be a more comprehensive tool. Waiting to hear responses from teams that were notified they lost access:

Friedman shared that other NHL teams who had access to CapFriendly’s data were recently told their contracts would be termminated, suggesting a buyout was imminent.

How do NHL teams not have access to all the cap friendly info already? Shutting down the fan side access is what pisses me off. Same thing happened to War On Ice. Always hated WSH and now I hate them even more.

If the NHL were smart (they aren't), they'd do their own site with all that info. It's a huge "fan engagement" tool/opportunity. NHL fans obsess over this stuff and how it affects trades and FA's. They won't of course. It's run by idiots.

How do NHL teams not have access to all the cap friendly info already? Shutting down the fan side access is what pisses me off. Same thing happened to War On Ice. Always hated WSH and now I hate them even more.
- jfkst1

That surprised me as well. Seemed like a weird side note but that site has to have tons of traffic.

I guess the caps could rebrand and release a “fan version” or a subscription version. In this day and age, someone has probably been able to get ahold of the coding and can replicate anything that isn’t covered by a patent.

If the NHL were smart (they aren't), they'd do their own site with all that info. It's a huge "fan engagement" tool/opportunity. NHL fans obsess over this stuff and how it affects trades and FA's. They won't of course. It's run by idiots.
- madmike71

Hockey and baseball have fantastic stats fans. Eric Chase was the engineer for Matt Shepard’s sports talk show years back. Those two loved to break down stats for both sports. Some of the regular commenters here either are or should be CPAs. Their recall and retention is insane.

That surprised me as well. Seemed like a weird side note but that site has to have tons of traffic.

I guess the caps could rebrand and release a “fan version” or a subscription version. In this day and age, someone has probably been able to get ahold of the coding and can replicate anything that isn’t covered by a patent.
- Jeremy Laura

Pittsburgh has a person on staff strictly for salary cap management. I don't see how these teams don't have every bit of access that cap friendly has. Just seems utterly insane that there could be unique competitive advantages in purchasing cap friendly and removing the public info for fans. Maybe NHL front offices are more ignorant that I imagined.

Pittsburgh has a person on staff strictly for salary cap management. I don't see how these teams don't have every bit of access that cap friendly has. Just seems utterly insane that there could be unique competitive advantages in purchasing cap friendly and removing the public info for fans. Maybe NHL front offices are more ignorant that I imagined.
- jfkst1

Wings have a capoligist, I assume most everyone does. None of it makes sense unless there are GM portals with tools/info we’re not aware of. It was an odd drop and interesting move.

So what's to stop any other team from basically just making an exact duplicate of CapFridndly, or putting one of the CapFriendly programmers on staff, and just having their own private cap site/database? Seems like a much cheaper way to go than paying for a site.

Only thing that would make sense is if there is info that the public doesn't get to see that could be a competitive advantage, some sort of info on other teams that are (were) private.

So what's to stop any other team from basically just making an exact duplicate of CapFridndly, or putting one of the CapFriendly programmers on staff, and just having their own private cap site/database? Seems like a much cheaper way to go than paying for a site.

Only thing that would make sense is if there is info that the public doesn't get to see that could be a competitive advantage, some sort of info on other teams that are (were) private.
- jmatchett383

The No-trade-lists are held in a vault in Toronto. That would be a very interesting read!

NHL is like big government, they simply want you to remain dumb and disgruntled and not know the real workings and goings-on's of the industry.
- HenryHockey

This!

The NHL needs everything it can to keep fans engaged. They should build a duplicate site just as transparent and add more interactive content, like a “you be the GM” feature, etc. Make it free w adds, or a small charge for no ads. NHL makes some additional cash, and keeps fans engaged. Simple business plan.

So what's to stop any other team from basically just making an exact duplicate of CapFridndly, or putting one of the CapFriendly programmers on staff, and just having their own private cap site/database? Seems like a much cheaper way to go than paying for a site.

Only thing that would make sense is if there is info that the public doesn't get to see that could be a competitive advantage, some sort of info on other teams that are (were) private.
- jmatchett383

Even if that is the case, why can't the tools exclusive to teams that pay for them just be protected? Thousands- maybe millions- of online sites worldwide have paywalled content. This just makes no sense. There's no way this is more sensitive info. than what a majority of other industries deal with.

Great info and comments.

I am sure every team has this on a spreadsheet...sortable database.

Screenshot/download all the data, create new data base and update going forward.

It is really simple. Yes the dynamics of Cap Friendly are...well friendly to understand... but not impossible to replicate.

Even if that is the case, why can't the tools exclusive to teams that pay for them just be protected? Thousands- maybe millions- of online sites worldwide have paywalled content. This just makes no sense. There's no way this is more sensitive info. than what a majority of other industries deal with.
- jfkst1

You may well be right, but for whatever reason there were teams that had a subscription/relationship with the site and they received notices that those were terminated. Those teams had some sort of special access or interaction beyond the regular user and now they don’t. Absolutely no clue what it was, but they were notified that it’s gone

Great info and comments.

I am sure every team has this on a spreadsheet...sortable database.

Screenshot/download all the data, create new data base and update going forward.

It is really simple. Yes the dynamics of Cap Friendly are...well friendly to understand... but not impossible to replicate.
- TrueGrit

Absolutely. I talked in a comment above about the particular coding. I do some work in the guitar world, and a company called Electro Harmonix won a lawsuit against Mooer effects. Mooer put out a near exact replica of a synthesizer pedal. Not a big deal, companies knock each other off all the time. But, there was specific coding where EH actually put their name and some copyright info in the strand. When the coding was checked, it still had that signature. This wasn’t a reverse engineer, it was completely copied.

It’s not a stretch that someone can find a way to breakdown and find a way to get a blue print for everything on the site. We may well see a very similar version pop up. From there it’s data entry and upkeep.

Absolutely. I talked in a comment above about the particular coding. I do some work in the guitar world, and a company called Electro Harmonix won a lawsuit against Mooer effects. Mooer put out a near exact replica of a synthesizer pedal. Not a big deal, companies knock each other off all the time. But, there was specific coding where EH actually put their name and some copyright info in the strand. When the coding was checked, it still had that signature. This wasn’t a reverse engineer, it was completely copied.

It’s not a stretch that someone can find a way to breakdown and find a way to get a blue print for everything on the site. We may well see a very similar version pop up. From there it’s data entry and upkeep.
- Jeremy Laura

I think that's kind of the old method. AI could easily replace CapFriendly (and others). If the information is public somewhere on the internet, AI could aggregate it and present it in a wide variety of ways. I spend a lot of my day in data analytics (financial) and everything is moving to AI.

I think that's kind of the old method. AI could easily replace CapFriendly (and others). If the information is public somewhere on the internet, AI could aggregate it and present it in a wide variety of ways. I spend a lot of my day in data analytics (financial) and everything is moving to AI.
- bluelineenforcer

Absolutely. There have been some “hiccups” but the use is rampant. An imported comic book was found to have a couple panels take from someone else’s work. Regardless, the publisher was able to release a fully realized AI written book. GPTChat can do whole movie scripts. It is everywhere

Ted Leonsis just wants to hide from the public how much he's paying Tom Wilson

Ted Leonsis just wants to hide from the public how much he's paying Tom Wilson
- ChonDerry

Ok, that’s funny. I needed a laugh today. Thanks for that.