Re: The NHL Thread
 

At the moment the draft is scheduled for 9/24 at 5 pacific \ 8 eastern.

Right now we stand at 11 (12 with barbogast ).
I am still waiting on sillywhite (anyone know who that was?)
barbogast you are in, please pm me your email address.

I would suggest a max of 14 players. What do you think?
Also, since we are going keeper, what do you all think of an auction draft?

Re: The NHL Thread
 

Very excited to see what team gocubsgo decides to root for this year!

Re: The NHL Thread
 

You know what I think, lol, though Giroux can be electric, you are right about that.
That said, I would rather have reliable, no? Wasn't Giroux absent for most of the first quarter of the season last year? Now I can't say if his effort wasn't there but I can say that I'd rather JT, having watched every game he has played in an Islander uniform, except for a few. He is a special player, who has gotten it done with not always the best of talent on his line.

Re: The NHL Thread
 

Nice to see DeKeyser signed before camp, and to a respectable deal. Gets a raise and gets two years to prove he can keep improving off of a very good year last year. Wings still have 3mil in cap space and if they don't sign anyone now, that will only get better as the season goes on.

Re: The NHL Thread
 

sounds like someone else i know :rolleyes

Re: The NHL Thread
 

I do not disagree with you. JT embodies what I love most about hockey. His natural skills are complemented by a top-notch attitude and passion for the game. He's exactly what a struggling team trying to find an identity like the Islanders need. I love the leader he's molding into. In 15 years, he'll be one of those respected elder statesmen of the game, a la Sakic, Lidstrom, and Yzerman. The ones that guys don't even cheap shot out of respect.

But it's still hard to pick between the two... when Giroux is on.... sheeeeeiiiiiiitttt. Reminds me of Peter Forsberg in the complete way he plays. The biggest issue is if/when he's on. I don't doubt his desire to be a consistent contributor to the team, but sometimes it's just not there. Doesn't seem to have the steadying presence that Tavares does.

In the end, I stand by my first pick. Doughty. :lol
How about JD ripping into Johansen's agent yesterday? Loved it.

Re: The NHL Thread
 

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2...tract-demands/

Just read this...wow. And using Stamkos and Kane as comparables? Stamkos, when he got his $7.5mil per deal, scored almost as many goals in the last year of his entry-level deal, as Johansen has in his career.

Re: The NHL Thread
 

Johansen is really pissing me off, only because I would love to see the 'Bus going as a hockey market. He's an integral part of having that happen. I hope someone tries to lay him out during camp.

Re: The NHL Thread
 

It was awesome, he's absolutely right when he said "I wonder if his agent is going to pay him the money he's going to lose if he sits out".

I for one would not want JD to be angry at me.

This team can still be good without him, tons of young talent that will just play earlier than expected.

They went over 10,000 season ticket holders again, they will draw much better this year.

Re: The NHL Thread
 

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2...year-46m-deal/

wow on so many levels.

Re: The NHL Thread
 

Totally. He's one of those guys you respect so much, you hate to let them down in any way.
Wow, indeed. Comparing those numbers with Brown's were especially poignant.

Obviously there's a lot of Johansen's agent whispering in his ear, giving him the "trust me, this will work" talk and such. You just hope at some point Johansen's like, "dude, this isn't working. Just get me a good deal."

Re: The NHL Thread
 

Now I understand why he wouldn't want the 8 year deal now. He thinks in a few years he could get more money per, and he's probably right. But if he's asking for that deal now, he's crazy. Get it done for 2-3 years around $4mil? Then get your 8 year deal worth $7mil or whatever he might get.

Re: The NHL Thread
 

"Hey Matty, good job on your first few months here at the new job. In fact, you've done so well in this short amount of time that we'd like to at the very minimum quadruple your salary. Thanks for all your hard work."

- No boss

Re: The NHL Thread
 

What exactly is an auction league? Sorry, I'm not a fantasy expert

Re: The NHL Thread
 

this is a complete shit show.

johansen is idiotic to not take one of those deals tonight.

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Ahhhh pro sports.

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LOL at Johansen not taking one of those deals. They offered him almost 6 mil a year for 8 years and he passed?! Yikes

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remember when Johansen called those offers a "slap in the face"?

i would love to get slapped in the face.

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Not really, mostly it's just confusing. Those deals are simply not comparables for Johansen.

Compare them to what Kane got, what Stamkos got. In light of Stamkos' deal, $32m/6yrs looks fairly reasonable but I can still see why Johansen is asking for more.

Fact is, Columbus doesn't really have one star guy. He is probably saying, "I'm the star of the franchise," and in the past some of those guys (Toews/Stamkos/Kane/Kopitar) have been given $6+m/yr on their RFA contracts.

Re: The NHL Thread
 

Exactly. That's why it's poignant.

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And Johansen is a better player than both Zajac & Brown....and those guys would have been UFA.....

...so again, it's pointless to bring them up when discussing Johansen.

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Overhardt is pretty notorious for being a dick. I'm not surprised this has taken a nasty turn.

What's even more interesting is seeing what other owners/GMs might offer him. Signing him to an offer sheet at this point is a large middle finger to the Blue Jacket's organization, and owners have a lot of times banded together to keep things like that from happening, because they know long term sometimes those things come back to bite you in the ass.

Re: The NHL Thread
 

Some comparables for Johansen are:

Toews: 2008-09 season: 82 GP, 34 G, 35 A, 69 P. Signed 5 yr, $31.5m deal ($6.3m/yr), expire status: UFA
Kopitar: 2007-08 season: 82 GP, 32 G, 45 A, 77 P. Signed 7 yr, $47.6m deal ($6.8m/yr), expire status: UFA

Johansen: 2013-14 season: 82 GP, 33 G, 30 A, 63 P. ???

In light of all that, $5.4m/yr on a deal that would leave him a UFA at the end seems a little bit low given that those deals were signed 5+ years ago (albeit in a somewhat similar cap environment).

Re: The NHL Thread
 

I'm on the 'Bus side on this one. Let's not forget that he put up 12 points in the lockout season. He has one season of work under him, and a lot of his goals last season came against other teams backups.

Not saying he's not a potential all-star in the future, but he really hasn't proven to be "that guy" yet. I mean, would anyone in their right mind honestly rather have him than Ryan O'Reilly next season? And O'Reilly is pulling in $6m a year. Sign a bridge deal, prove you're worth the money, then sign your monster contract.

Re: The NHL Thread
 

Kopitar put up 61 points (in 72 games) the previous season, Toews put up 54 (in 64 games) the previous season.

Those aren't comparable track records at all. Johansen had 12 in 40 and 21 in 67 before. He needs to prove himself outside of one season. The Kings and Hawks had nearly two full seasons of those guys producing like that before the contracts were signed.

Re: The NHL Thread
 

Exactly. Toews had a total of 191 points over 3 years when he got his 2nd contract. Johansen has 96 career points right now in essentially 2.5 seasons. He also got a 5 year deal when UFA's were getting 10-12 years.

Re: The NHL Thread
 

What those guys said. ^

It's not so much about what he did last season as much as it is being able to demonstrate a body of work deserving of high money/long term deal. Like we've been saying off and on for how many months now, Johansen simply can't do that until he strings together at least a couple more solid years.

Re: The NHL Thread
 

Honestly, I get why he's not signing the 8yr deal. Or the 6yr deal. I wouldn't want to lose out on my UFA years either.

But work on a bridge deal. 8m/2yrs. Go with that.

Re: The NHL Thread
 

Johansen got benched in the AHL the year before the lockout. I don't think that ever happened to Toews or Kopitar, either. :lol

The kid needs more time to prove that he's not a one hit wonder. Anyone remember Fabian Brunnstrom? Not saying Ryan is him...but you need to give guys time before you freak out over them and just dump that kind of $$$ all over.

Re: The NHL Thread
 

Yeah. I think they probably just gave him options. The bridge deal would be more beneficial for both parties. But it's like, "OK, you want long term? Here's what we can do."