Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

I would ask if the Caps are in startover mode with some of these moves, but then they extended Oshie to that monster deal. So many teams are inconsistent with their moves.

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

say what you will about crosby and malkin but shit, these two guys could have robbed the entire farm if they wanted to but took reasonable long term deals at a shot at stanley cups, and it shows.

mcdavid is gonna do the same.

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

Kind of feels like the league is heading for another lockout.

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

McDavid is still gonna get a lot more than either of them. Like I said the other day, Sid signed his deal in the summer of 07 and it was 17% of the cap, the next year with the new cap it ended up being 15 or so when the contract actually kicked in. He's gonna get $13mil I think and I don't blame him. It's funny that when there were no term limits you got 2nd contracts before the big one. Kane, Toews, Sid, Geno all got shorter 2nd contracts. Now with a limit of 8 years, they are getting the longer deals.
I figured that right after it was signed. lol The thing is though, the league thinks the CBA is doing well, based off them asking the PA to extend it as a carrot for allowing the players to go to the Olympics. So I'm curious, what's their excuse next time?

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

Agreed. He should be asking for half of that and saving room for two more top nine forwards. Selfish and dumb.

Edit: nobody is $4.3 million better than Crosby.

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

good lord what the hell is that kuznetsov contract?

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

Really loved this off season for the Rangers so far! The Met is looking more manageable now. I think the Rangers have the potential to have one of the best defensive corps in the league next season. At the very least, their top 4 D are very good.

Only thing left to do now is to get a #1 Center (and a #2, #3 and #4 center....ugh). Seriously though, if the Rangers get a big time center, they really could compete for a long run at the cup again.

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

That's not really fair though. Crosby signed that contract 5 years ago when the cap was lower and there were no term limits. Crosby's contract is 12 years (which you can't do anymore) so his salary cap hit is way lower than he was getting paid. His salary for the first few years was 12mil and it's still just a shade under 11. the last 3 years of his 12 year deal he's getting paid only 3mil per year. McDavid can't do that. As has been reported, Crosby's 2nd contract he got about 17% of what the cap was the summer of 2007 when he signed. If McDavid were to get the same, he'd be at 12.75mil with the current cap. He's supposed to say no just because Sid is in the league?

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

I will give you Darren Helm and a draft pick and don't need anything in return. lol

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

Things sure have changed from a few weeks ago when there was talk of the Caps blowing things up. They've sure doubled down on their core.

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

Per the NHL app buzzing my phone, Radulov going to Dallas for 5 years and 31.25mil.

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

No real huge issue with any of that

:confused

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

I'm not sure that anyone thought the Caps were about to do a full blow up. Not sure why they would.

Mac's not wrong. It's still a really good team with a really good core.

I think losing Schmidt was not something he was prepared for, and it flummoxed him into dealing Marcus because now he needs at least one more defender. I think he dramatically overvalued Grubauer at the expansion draft. Grubauer is excellent but the goalie market was just too deep.

The Oshie deal is a head scratcher. I can't explain that one.

But the Kuzy deal, while high in salary, is fine in term. Plus, he's shortly going to be the Caps number one center (he's ready for that now except Nicky). So maybe the money isn't that outrageous. Kuznetsov is a must keep player. Period. Locking him up for 8 years isn't the worst thing ever.

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

Sometimes when you sign guys to longer deals you give the cap hit you think they'll be worth through most of the deal. So I'll reserve judgment until later. Wings did it back in 2008 with Filppula. They have him a huge pay increase and I was like yikes but then as the cap got higher and he got better, he was worth it. Kronwall too. Signed him when had injury issues but think about when he was at his best 07-08 through 11-12 his cap hit was 3mil per. Looked stupid they signed him but as time went on it was a steal.

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

Wow just saw the stuff about how seriously Orlov and Kuznetsov just considered going to the K. Good lord. I feel bad for MacLellan. Dude built a monster that severely underachieved and the clock struck midnight this summer.

Tough couple weeks.

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

If you're the Caps I think now is the time to get ahead of the curve and sell off the squad while Ovie still has max value.

Start all over again.

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

I agree locking up Kuznetsov was important but the salary is high and I think 8 years is too long. Plus with those reports coupled with stuff that was reported after his first playoff exit, it sounds like you've got a guy who isn't super motivated about winning a cup.


I think they need to move on from Orpik but I can understand staying with him for another year.

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

I've been thinking for a while that a significant part of the Caps core (specifically, the Russians) won't be exactly crushed if they finish their NHL careers without Cups.

I agree they need to move on for Orpik. I remember thinking that deal didn't have 5 good years on it. Of course everyone thought that.

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

I understand this perspective, but this is not an option Leonsis will consider. Ovechkin is a brand that he's built. He's gonna ride him out all the way to the bitter end. Because no matter what, Ovie will still sell in DC.

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

Barbs speaking all the truth tonight.

The Oshie deal was probably so long because that was priority #1 in the off season in terms of UFA's. My guess was that GMBM got Oshie down to a lower than market AAV in trade for another year or two on the contract. 8 years is super long for someone who is already 30/31 but my gut feels good in the fact that Oshie will still be a strong contributor in the later part of the contract. Hell, his shootout prowess is still worth A LOT of points. I'm much more versed in baseball contracts and contributions and the hockey advanced analytics is still in its infancy, but typical 1 WAR in baseball is = $8 mil in contract value. I'm not 100% sure what Oshie's shootout value is in terms of points but it certainly will be a plus down the line. I also think Oshie's game will age well but that's just a hunch.

The Orlov deal was a little high but reading that he was ready to walk to the KHL it makes sense. Top pairing of Nisky and Orlov will be fun to watch in the coming years.

Once the Kuzy deal was announced, I texted my dad and said "shit, this isn't good, I have no idea how were going to get under the cap with a couple more signings still due" Literally minutes later the MoJo deal is announced. I knew there would have to be a move made, just didn't think it was going to be MoJo. I honestly would have liked to see Orpik & MoJo bundled together for a lesser return freeing up cap space for a move next year or at the deadline, but hard to see the Devils (even with $20 mil+ in cap space) taking on about $10 mil in contracts in one deal.

Time for some hot takes, a Penns fan tried to compare the Malkin & Kuzy deals. If you take out the PP stats, seeing as it's unfair to compare a PP1 contributor to a PP2 contributor, their stats are essentially even compared dollar for dollar. Seeing that Kuzy will most likely be getting PP1 time going forward it's not erroneous to say that Kuzy will out perform Malkin going forward.

Also the Kuzy deal is <<<< than the Backstrom deal at the time compared to % of cap at the time the deals were signed. I think Kuzy's is something like 10% and Backstroke's was like 12%.

Caps still def have the core to be very competitive and a Cup contender.

Excited to see what we'll get from the new guys coming up. Vrana will be exciting to see on the offensive side of the puck. Watching the development of Djoos and Bowey on the backend will be fun too.

You have to give GMBM props for the roster he was able to construct in the past two seasons. He pushed the roster to the limit, constructed the best team on paper by a good margin, yet the Caps weren't able to take it all. Every smart Caps fan saw the writing on the wall that this offseason would be rough over a year ago, and would make it even harder to swallow if they didn't have a Cup. This is where GMBM will have to make his money, making tough decisions and putting out a Cup contending team because that's what the expectation is currently with the core still in their prime.

I think Trotz is going to have a very short leash to start the season. If by Black Friday the Caps are a .500 team I think Trotz might get the axe. Reirden could def be next in line

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

Solid post. Agreed completely, except I'm not sure Trotz deserves as much blame as he seems to be getting. Obviousky, there was some questionable lineup stuff in the playoffs, but overall, he's completely delivered since he's been with Washington.

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

The Avs just signed Yakupov.

This offseason just gets more and more strange.

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

Happy 4th to my thread buddies!

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

Happy Phil Kessel Day.

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

Hot dooooogs!

http://www.benstonium.com/2017/01/ph...can-wwe-remix/

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

I'm alright with this. I don't love it. But the guy hasn't missed a game since 08-09. Season. Playoffs. Olympics. Hasn't missed a game.

He has a no-movement clause, but they're giving him 14 out of the 18 million dollar contract in signing bonus. In the final year of his contract, he earns 1 million in actual salary. It doesn't make sense to do that unless they have some form of plan in place with him about the 3rd year.

At his age, he is a health freak, stays healthy and produces 20+ goals every year.

Again, I'm not a huge fan but there will only be one year of overlap with this deal and a new Matthews & Marner deal - at which point the Lupul and Horton contracts should be off the books (Lupul for sure - I don't recall how many they've got left in the Horton contract.)

Let's be honest here - this is no Vinny deal. Vinny was ALREADY too slow for the league when they brought him over. Philly was up against the cap and trying to retool quickly rather than rebuild.

With an extremely young team in place, it helps them ensure some top end talent/leadership that can fit into a top 6 role and help the young kids grow.

While not a move I'd love them to have made with a three-year contract, it is far from the Classic Philly Dumpster Fire.

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

hahahahahaha.
(sorry)

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

3 months until hockey!!...fuck really? Gotta figure out if I can make it to a game at the new LCA.

Re: The NHL Thread (Penns are garage league champs)
 

Still can't believe they really went with Little Caesars Arena

So great