Toronto is going to be fine. But I think they are going to jettison the wrong blue liners Zaitsev is a solid 2nd liner at a good price. They're gonna get pennies on the dollar for him, lose Gardiner for nothing, and then lose Muzzin for nothing next year. Gonna be tough to get over the hump with that happening and us and Tampa in the first 2 rounds of the playoffs.
Reilly+Muzzin+ 4 guys making 1 mil a year would scare me and thats what their blue line is shaping up to be next year.
Re us this run has raised the price on a lot of guys. I am more than happy to bite the bullet on McAvoy/Carlo/Krug give me that core going forward. If I am Sweeney I am begging Coyle to extend around 5 per and Mojo to take that prior to July 1 when a bigger offer will come. K Miller has likely played his last game for us but I think Moore might be the eventual Chara replacement when that day comes he can slot up I don't need the guy to contend for Norris trophys just eat minutes vs top lines and move the puck. The 2 guys I don't see room for are Gryz after next year when he earns a raise to 3+ which he will and Heinen who is likely collecting 3+ in arbitration this summer hes a .5 PPG player for his career and actually deserves that he has only sucked when he was forced to play with soft rookies JFK and Donato. We have to hope Danton wants to bet on himself and sign a 1 year deal and then try and cash in next summer. This Cup run might convince JDB to leave some money on the table. Would he turn down 8 years 40 mil if we offered it or 6 years 30? Doubt he gets extended prior to next summer but it would be good business on our part to try and do so IMO I could see him exploding next year.
looking at history... we see a small handful of second term players that got more than 6 mill prior to the oiler boys that blew the model
in Chicago... toews and kane got more
in LA... it was kopitar
then there was guys like ovchkin, the 2 in Pittsburgh, and stamkos
the list was pretty elite... and one thing you notice everyone was a cup winner... or a 50-60 goal guy
this list is elite of the elite
so now... if we win the cup... and if our boys demand to be paid... then AT LEAST WE WON THE CUP!
Chicago famously had to rebuild after their cup when barker, ladd, byfuglin, their goalie, and maybe others all priced themselves out of the market as rfa... but they at least won a cup before that happened.
ive been hearing hockey people like brian burke for one... make this point more and more recently. its becoming more of a talking point with each passing day. a lot of teams are in cap hell because of second term rfa's and these teams havent won anything yet.
in a new nhl where around 6 of the favorites were eliminated in first round this year... playoff success has become more fickle and unpredictable than ever.
its all find and dandy to say a team has a chance to make the playoffs right until the final day of the season... but if teams make playoffs one year and then miss one year, soon fans are going to be super unimpressed. no one wants to cheer for a middle of the class mediocre also ran
fans are no longer able to suffer losing seasons with the hope "we might build a dynasty with all these pics" because those pics are going to be too expensive after just 2-3 years!!!!
this is a huge problem
im happy we are winning... but how did we get here? for years now the experts said that Chiarelli left us in cap hell... Julien couldnt develop kids... Sweeney lost at draft day... Sweeney lost at deadline day... sweeny lost at ufa… and rask didnt have what it took to win big games/chara was too old
we all heard it {hell half of you said it}
so... here we are winning and everyone says we did it the wrong way {except now that we are winning they dont say that lol}
how can anyone follow our example?
last year Washington was all but written off for dead... they cant ever get over the top... vegas was a freaking expansion team... hell st louis was last overall in jan this year
wheres the sanity? where is some semblance of logic here that fans can grab onto and feel we know what the hell is going on?
the nhl wants to get in bed with gambling now... who is going to bet on a flip-the-coin league?
in basketball each season starts with only 3-4 teams having a chance to win... same as baseball... and honestly the nfl isnt that much different
soccor which is the main sport in western world is the same
these are the popular sports... and they build dynasties... you know the teams to hate... hate sells tickets
in college football you build a rivalry and you go watch those games even if that other team is better... because you want to see your team catch them. a victory over your rival can keep you happy the entire year.
nhl is so @$$backwards thinking that parity is the way to go
sure... today im happy... my bruins are winning... but ugly bad things are happening
{my only solace is watching leafs lunch has never been more fun}
