Re: The NHL Thread
 

Holy shit they got Niskanen?! Ok now I'm a little impressed

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So coaching has been upgraded, and now the defense has as well, add in a legit backup goalie to play behind Holtby...might this actually be the year for the Caps?


Lol no, who am I kidding

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Waiting for Ovechkin to say he's heading to Russia

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I would say in response...see ya

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Holy fuck, just saw the Cammalleri deal.

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Soooo many dumb deals today. Orpik and Engelland dumbest of them all.

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Who's idea was it to give Dave Bolland a 5 year 5.5 mill a year deal?

Caps are my second favorite team. Would love to see them make the conference finals.

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Wings make offer to Kyle Quincey. Not sure why. You wanted to improve and if he signs you have the exact same D. Let a kid come up. I understand not wanting to give up Jurco or Tatar for someone but if you want to improve that's what you do. A healthy Wings team finishes 3rd or 4th in the Atlantic. So....right where you were.

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So many ridiculous ones. Like I said, I'm already preparing for the next lockout.

Ehhhhh, I know I'm possibly the most biased fan in the world when it comes to Bolland, but I don't think that deal is that awful.

In an ideal world, Bolland is probably worth about $4 million or so a year in today's NHL, so yes it's an overpayment, but that's what you have to do in Florida. The Panthers need centers and have A LOT of money to spend. Especially when the cap is going to be about $74-$75 million next season (i.e. 2015-16), this is a team that struggles to hit the cap floor every year.

You have to try to make it an attractive place to keep your young talent around and to bring in more talent. I'm interested to see what Bolland does down there.

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Well Howard better have a big turn around season and pray for his team healthy. Their D isn't improved. Disappointing because the East is wide open compared to the West and their Cup window is closing fast, and probably closed now.

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Yeah. I mean, I really wanted to see Iginla end up in Detroit. I felt like that was the best fit for him outside of Boston. I was rooting for him to win a Cup before he retires, but if he wants to chase the $$$, I can't say I'm pulling for him anymore (sorry Matty).

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Not sure why on earth anyone would root for the Caps if they weren't born into it, but I would love to see that too

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ouch

http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/re...of-ruling-nhl/

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what a day. some really awful deals. Engelland for 3 mil? yikes. Orpik's deal? jeez. Bolland and Cammaleri. Even Niskanens deal was crazy. Gm's are going to have buyers remorse very soon.

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Going back home this weekend to meet up with a certain object.

And this time I can't hate you for it :D

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$7mil for Stastny seems high too. I agree, way too much money being thrown around today.

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That's fucking gross. We don't need to know this about you and your certain electrical products

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Okay, gorickygo

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On the surface this looks bad, but I get some of it now I think.

First, from Stastny's point of view: The Avs already have Duchene, Landeskog, Varlamov, and other core members locked up. The big ones to sign (before today) are O'Reilly, Barrie, and Stastny, all who had REALLY good years. Let's say they give Stastny $7 mil for 5-ish years; then lock up O'Reilly for $5-6 mil for 5 years and Barrie for $3 mil for 2-3 years. That probably puts them right at the cap (I'm not interested in doing the actual math). And that leaves little margin for error. You're talking potential Boston Bruins cap stuff. So, a few years down the road, you've suddenly got this young superstar named Nathan MacKinnon coming off his Entry Level contract and needing a new mega-deal. Something's gotta give... is it going to be the young Vezina candidate goalie? The electrifying (and also young) Duchene? The heart and soul leader (who's also young)? The (young) PP QB? Or the guy who's pretty good at everything, but not as young or electrifying as the others? Honestly, it would come down to O'Reilly and Stastny, and I would give the slight nod to O'Reilly. His arc is just better at this point. Boom, Stastny is gone anyways. OR, he could take advantage of the best financial opportunity of his career. I don't blame him one bit.

Now, from the Avs point of view: Same as mentioned above. Locking Stastny up for the type of cash offers he'd be getting just isn't smart. They know they don't want to be in the type of situation other teams have put themselves in. They know they've got a really solid core that could probably still compete without him. He would be missed, but they could find their way. They are not going to spend $7 mil on one player when they've got two core pieces yet to sign.

Here's where I don't quite get the Iginla deal though... You're willing to pay a 37 year-old a little less to come play for you for THREE YEARS?! I TOTALLY get the idea of bringing Iginla in. I LOVE the idea of having him on the team. The impact he could potentially have on these young players is HUGE! Besides that, he scored 31 goals last year. THIRTY ONE. If he could do that with linemates in Boston, just think what he could do playing with Duchene, Landeskog, MacKinnon, etc. I just DON'T like what they're paying him. They're not making it easier on themselves when it comes to signing O'Reilly and Barrie, two guys who they desperately need to keep.

So yeah, I get some of this trade. There are a lot of moving parts. I'm interested to see how the season starts. Again, I LOVE having Iginla on my team. He's everything you want your young players to see. I just hope he's worth the cost.

Briere on the other hand? This is a deal I still don't get. Yesterday I talked about it giving the Avs an experienced guy, but that benefit was essentially just negated by picking up Iginla

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Oh come on, my friend, give the guy a break. You say you wanted him to go to Detroit, but you also wanted to see him get a Cup before he retires? I've come to develop a very sincere respect for the Red Wings the last few years. Hard to admit considering who my team is, but it's the truth. But to say they are any closer to winning a Cup right now than the Avs? Come on. With all due respect to my friend Tim and all the Red Wings, they are not any closer than the Avs.

"Chasing $$$"? Yeah, maybe a bit. Can you blame a 37 year-old with a family for wanting to position himself well with a great opportunity in the waning years of his career? The Avs have a tough road ahead in a division that's arguably already much better than it was last year, but they're also a team with uber potential and a clear direction. He mentioned that the Avs would be a "fun" team to play for (and they will be) and he wants to have fun. He also said his relationship with Joe and Tanguay helped solidify the deal.

He's tried getting on two teams that could bring him a Cup now, and it didn't work out. Maybe this is a different approach that he feels will be rewarding. You talk about Detroit being a "better fit", but maybe playing for a young, exciting team and having the opportunity to mentor and lead some very promising talent - all as a "complementary piece" who is not being relied on to provide all the offense - is the fit he was looking for. And getting paid $5.5 mil until you're 40 to do it? Hell yeah! ;) He would have done great on Detroit too, don't get me wrong, but I think it's very possible this wasn't all JUST about the money

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First I want to say just on the Wings stuff, I'm not sure who to trust in the media. One Detroit reporter said Wings knew before free agency Detroit wasn't a desination for Niskanen but then another reporter said that Nisk told them he was on his short list, just this weekend. One said they offered him just under what he got from the Cap, and another said they offered slightly more. So which is it? Either way with all of this Ken Holland made good offers to guys and they made their own minds up. The only that really bugs me is Ehrhoff. Wings would have done more than that. Glad Boyle didn't take that money because I didn't like the idea of him for 2 years at 5.5 so a 3rd year for a 38 year old? Nisk was probably exactly what they wanted but there is the question of if he can do it long term. He filled in great when needed in Pit. I'm not sure, I think he could have here because he would be the #2 or 3 guy here and would be getting big PP minutes with either Kronwall or Alfie (assuming he comes back). Wings fans out there are throwing fits that Holland has lost his touch, but this is a level playing field now and there are many good teams. On top of that teams have to get to the floor and everything so you've got teams paying, who before the cap, wouldn't be. Buffalo in the position they are right now would be keeping a low low payroll in the old days.

With signing Quincey, the Wings haven't improved on D and that's what they set out to do. They are stagnant. They will be a mix of the team at the start of the year and the team at the end with the kids. That's a good team when they are healthy but Boston is still better even though they lost Iggy and Tampa sure has improved. Of course there is always the question of if the new acquisitions work out but right now they are behind those two teams and I'd say right with the Habs in the Atlantic. Now I don't know what Yandle costs but most likely one of Nyquist, Tatar or Jurco, a high pick and maybe a prospect or another mid-level pick. Quincey is a stop-gap and I get that but Yandle is a now and a future. Yes you have to give up a lot to get him but you've finally built up your prospect cupboard where you can take that risk. It also gives you that improvement now to try to go for a Cup because as I said yesterday, your window is closing fast. Now if you are prepared to let that door close, then let the kids play on the blueline and don't sign Quincey. See what happens and make a move in season if you need it.
If the Wings could have improved their D and got Iggy, although with the strong possibility of Alfie coming back not sure where he fits, I can see the Wings having a better chance. Why? They are in the East. Avs have to get through Dallas, Minnesota, Chicago and St Louis, and that's just the Central.

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Ah shit..

http://sabres.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=725113

Here's one for ya buddy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkXY5cvYu_M

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You're biased. There is no rationalizing that deal for a guy who played 23 games last season. Guys who are hurt for most of a season (and mediocre when healthy) don't get deals like that. This is a guy who gets hurt every season. It's just a terrible contract and if you are going to blow $25 million there are much better ways to do it.

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http://www.ottawasun.com/2014/07/02/...sted-in-ottawa

:lol

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I'm not sure there is for Florida. No one wants to go there so you have to overpay and you are getting a guy you know, which Tallon seems to like to do. Overpay for a guy who is basically a 3rd line center on most teams, yes. But in today's game of getting to the floor and not being a "destination" you do these things.

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I hate the Cap floor situation, but can't readily offer up something better. If there was no floor you would have owners just be greedy fucks with bottom dwellers, but on the other hand they have to give insane contracts to reach that floor

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:hump

i'll take the over




biased as i was at u of mn in 03 for championship

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Agreed. There were a few teams before that would do their best to stay towards the bottom while you had Colorado, Detroit, Dallas, St Louis, Philly, NYR spending like crazy. So i'm ok with the floor. The problem is the cap keeps going up because the NHL is doing well, which is good, but that pushes the floor too. As the cap goes up, salaries of the mid-level and top guys go up. When Datsyuk got his extension in 07 I think it was, people thought it was a lot for him at 6.7mil. And then that summer I think is when Brian Campbell got 7.1mil. lol I thought a hard floor and hard cap (sorta), with a luxury tax to a certain point, like 10mil over the cap, might be a way to go. But there are problems with that too. Just think, Bolland is making more money than Kronwall and Keith.