Around the League - 2023/24

[expatriatedtexan]

Yup. Either sign him or trade his ass. Both of which have pros and cons, but you can't let him walk. Way too valuable.

There will never be a convenient time to trade Mikko in season. If Mikko starts next season for the Avs without a new contract in place, it will be a loss on MacFarland. It doesn't mean that we will necessarily lose Mikko for free, he could very well res-sign on June 30th, 2025. But if he starts the season without a contract, the decision becomes his, not MacFarland. MacFarland is only really in control of the process until the end of training camp. Once the season begins and he's still an Av, MacFarland loses every bit of power he ever had. Right now, Mikko could be traded to 31 teams without his consent and those 31 teams would have a full season to sell Mikko on res-signing with them.

I'd prefer for and believe that Rants will be an Av long-term. If we hope to have any fiscal sanity, the signing will happen this summer. If we lose our minds, it will happen later and will eat up every bit of growth in the cap from the 24/25 season and we'll be in the same boat cap-wise next summer. No room to sign anyone and potentially looking at having to make another trade to fit Mikko's new salary in. The only contracts coming off the books will be Georgiev and O'Connor.

 

[Chiarelli]

Presidents Trophy Curse is not a thing.

Jack Adams Curse, as I have pointed out before, is self-fulfilling because they NEVER pick the best coach.

I mean it’s been over a decade but sure

 

[The Abusement Park]

I mean it’s been over a decade but sure

So? The odds are very much not in the Presidents Trophy winners favor.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

So? The odds are very much not in the Presidents Trophy winners favor.

No. The odds are very much against every single team in winning the Stanley Cup. When you take the top sixteen teams in hockey, the team that won the most in the regular season is as significant a statistic as the team with most players born on a Tuesday. Yes, both are stats that can be tracked but neither have a damn thing to do with the chances of winning 4 consecutive best of 7 game series against the 15 other best teams in the league.

Using the President's Trophy in any Stanley Cup Championship discussion is just noise.

 

[Chiarelli]

So? The odds are very much not in the Presidents Trophy winners favor.

Should have the best team and most favourable matchups. That alone should yield better than 1/11 and counting imo

 

[GeoRox89]

Should have the best team and most favourable matchups. That alone should yield better than 1/11 and counting imo

Random fact - an organization winning its first president’s trophy in franchise history has never won the Cup. There’s also just something very funny to me about that including making that trophy and the 80’s Oilers having that one year in 5 that they didn’t win. Canucks, Bruins and Wings all lost in the Finals the first time they won and no one else has even made the final

 

[Pokecheque]

I mean it’s been over a decade but sure

No, it’s just the law of averages. A team that’s heavily favored to win the Cup still only has, like, a 30% chance to win it all. It’s insanely hard to win the Stanley Cup. It takes a really good team AND more than a little luck.

 

[UncleRisto]

Watch them give the Selke to Matthews.

 

[LOFIN]

Friedman also saying that it wouldn't be surprising if Marner waives his NMC.

Watch them give the Selke to Matthews.

It will be Barkov, with a clear margin. But Matthews is legit good defensively, him being nominated is not as outrageous as some make it seem.

 

[GeoRox89]

Watch them give the Selke to Matthews.

Matthews is actually a good defensive forward while scoring 8 billion goals. He just doesn’t live up to his regular season form when it matters. That cratered production Matthews is still a better playoff performer than Marner and Tavares is the biggest problem

 

[LOFIN]

Not really surprising. I do wonder how much of this was because of his and/or his relatives' health situation, and how much of it was how the season ended. At least Scheifele wasn't really happy with his tactics, called him out remember?

 

[henchman21]

Not really surprising. I do wonder how much of this was because of his and/or his relatives' health situation, and how much of it was how the season ended. At least Scheifele wasn't really happy with his tactics, called him out remember?

Inmates have been running that asylum too long there (even Maurice saw it)... probably a bit of a symptom over the lack of ability to rebuild.

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

Not really surprising. I do wonder how much of this was because of his and/or his relatives' health situation, and how much of it was how the season ended. At least Scheifele wasn't really happy with his tactics, called him out remember?

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

 

[The Moops]

Kroenke would never

 

[Pokecheque]

Not really surprising. I do wonder how much of this was because of his and/or his relatives' health situation, and how much of it was how the season ended. At least Scheifele wasn't really happy with his tactics, called him out remember?

That absolutely played a part, Niederreiter expressed some displeasure as well.

And not to defend a whiny punk-ass with the emotional maturity of a ripened turnip, but Scheifele wasn't entirely off-base. Bowness deserves a lot of credit for leading a team was as leaky as they came when he arrived to winning the Jennings Trophy this season, but his ultra old-school tendencies came back to bite him on the ass. I still have no idea why he hated Nikolaj Ehlers and Cole Perfetti so much.

 

[henchman21]

Kroenke would never

Much more concerned with the real estate than the facility itself.

 

[GeoRox89]

Kroenke would never

Scary to think how good this team could be with a better owner. We’ll always fight that Denver isn’t a premier destination particularly for guys in their 20s (no matter how much guys love it later when they have families) but making a name for themselves as one of the best organizations for how they treat the players off the ice could go a long way

 

[MacKaRant]

Dreger: today is about celebrating Bowness, so let's respect that

Also Dreger, literally one sentence later: well, that was enough time, let's get the rumor mill started!

 

[NOTENOUGHRYJOTHINGS]

Not really surprising. I do wonder how much of this was because of his and/or his relatives' health situation, and how much of it was how the season ended. At least Scheifele wasn't really happy with his tactics, called him out remember?

Scheifele at many points seemed disinterested and not veey engaged in trying to win. Maybe it's the coaching. Maybe it's him. It's easy to want to lay out some hits and score some points. Much harder to always be on the right side of the puck and help out your D down low and be willing to take hits.

 

[LOFIN]

This quote is absolutely not going to be blown out of proportion and taken out of context by Leafs nation:

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

 

[Pokecheque]

Scary to think how good this team could be with a better owner. We’ll always fight that Denver isn’t a premier destination particularly for guys in their 20s (no matter how much guys love it later when they have families) but making a name for themselves as one of the best organizations for how they treat the players off the ice could go a long way

Be careful what you wish for. Kroenke is a very flawed owner, but there are way, way worse ones out there. I have it on good authority that Josh spearheaded the deep dive into analytics that played a direct role in the championship runs for the Avs...and this I don't know for sure but I'm fairly confident it did so for the Nuggets as well. So we should all thank the Los Angeles Rams because NFL rules basically forced Stan to hand over operations to his son, who really isn't half bad.

They pay up to keep their stars and they've retained their most important front office personnel. Can't ask for much more than that.

You just have to look at what happened at Dove Valley and the glorified deck bar at 20th and Blake to know what truly shitty ownership looks like. Things might improve with the Broncos, but the previous "trust" was as bad as they came.

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

 

[henchman21]

Be careful what you wish for. Kroenke is a very flawed owner, but there are way, way worse ones out there. I have it on good authority that Josh spearheaded the deep dive into analytics that played a direct role in the championship runs for the Avs...and this I don't know for sure but I'm fairly confident it did so for the Nuggets as well. So we should all thank the Los Angeles Rams because NFL rules basically forced Stan to hand over operations to his son, who really isn't half bad.

They pay up to keep their stars and they've retained their most important front office personnel. Can't ask for much more than that.

You just have to look at what happened at Dove Valley and the glorified deck bar at 20th and Blake to know what truly shitty ownership looks like. Things might improve with the Broncos, but the previous "trust" was as bad as they came.

My complaints about Kroenke are limited to how they deal with facilities. The practice arena should have been done in 2019 and each time they update on it, they keep saying how it is out of their hands and point to the whole River Mile and adjacent projects that need done. It is a pure copout and ploy to move forward with a huge real estate project instead of giving the players what they really need. If the practice facility was a real priority, it would have been done a long time ago... and they could still put the shovels in the ground basically immediately if they wanted. This is a pattern for them.

Pretty much everything else, they stay out of the way and give enough of a budget.