Around the League - Offseason Edition

[Jimmy Firecracker]

We're going to hear about Pittsburgh and Dubas now forever.

Holy f***. Wish him luck but he's not part of the Leafs now. f*** sakes with these articles.

He was an alright GM. Next.

Yeah I think Dubas has done a good job with what he’s got to work with in Pittsburgh but hoo boy if the media isn’t blowing him to an absurd degree.

 

[Burnie97]

Yeah I think Dubas has done a good job with what he’s got to work with in Pittsburgh but hoo boy if the media isn’t blowing him to an absurd degree.

Yup.. and someone said it earlier... if some are still talking about Lou... this is going to be a long haul lol.

I can sympathize with other fan bases in Canada at least ... that sportsnet etc go way over board with their coverage of the Leafs. I do however recognize due to the amount of fans that it also makes sense... in a way.

We all eat it up and they love it so it continues but the example of Dubas going to Pittsburgh. Have you ever seen more coverage of the Penguins lol.

It's a bit of a death spiral.

 

[Peasy]

Yeah the continued Dubas love affair is weird, especially with all hes accomplished (1 playoff round in 5 years). Karlsson going to Pittsburgh was a match made in heaven. There was not a better fit anywhere in the entire league. They could make the cap space and have an extremely small window (likely two years, 3 at best) so if something goes wrong its not a big deal. They will be tearing it completely down in 3 years anyways.

I don't think Pitts looks anywhere near like a contender. They haven't won a playoff round in 5 years, and I don't think Karlsson will move the needle at much. Would be tough getting far with Jarry backstopping your team and their overall defence still seems very sus.

 

[Leaf Rocket]

Yeah I think Dubas has done a good job with what he’s got to work with in Pittsburgh but hoo boy if the media isn’t blowing him to an absurd degree.

Its the ties with leafs...even when the Galchenyuk stuff was happening. It said ex-leaf instead of coyotes,habs, avs etc.

 

[MCR74]

We're going to hear about Pittsburgh and Dubas now forever.

Holy f***. Wish him luck but he's not part of the Leafs now. f*** sakes with these articles.

He was an alright GM. Next.

Wait til they get bounced in the first (or not make it at all), things will likely quiet down. Karlsson's contract could handcuff him.

 

[Fogelhund]

Vancouver, B.C. - Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin announced today that the club has agreed to terms with forward Pius Suter on a two-year contract worth an average annual value of $1.6 million.

""

 

[Burnie97]

Vancouver, B.C. - Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin announced today that the club has agreed to terms with forward Pius Suter on a two-year contract worth an average annual value of $1.6 million.

""

Nice signing for Vancouver. They may be a wildcard team next year. Just have to get their shit together. They have enough talent.

 

[BallardEra]

Ron Cook: 4 reasons I'm not buying the Penguins as contenders despite bold moves

I have written it many times. I have said it many times. I have heard other people say it many times. “Never bet against Sid.” That always...

www.post-gazette.com

 

[Stephen]

Ron Cook: 4 reasons I'm not buying the Penguins as contenders despite bold moves

I have written it many times. I have said it many times. I have heard other people say it many times. “Never bet against Sid.” That always...

www.post-gazette.com

Also worth noting that of the $10 million + contracts ever handed out in the league in the modern cap era, Dubas has his finger prints on 25% of them:

Mackinnon
McDavid
Panarin
Matthews
Karlsson
Pastrnak
Tavares
Doughty
Marner
Price
Huberdeau
Kane
Toews
Bobrovsky
Kopitar
Eichel

 

[PromisedLand]

Thanks for the response.

Win or lose, the team makes gobs and gobs of money. I don't think it matters much to ML$E's bottom line if the Leafs win the cup. The Leafs are a rapidly shrinking part of their growing sports media empire.

Hockey is quickly losing ground to other sports.

It's only a matter of time until the Leafs will be an insignificant portion of ML$E's holdings. The Raptors will be a juggernaut by comparison. Hopefully there will be a change in ownership by then.

An individual with something to prove instead of two companies all about making a buck.

I see your point, eventually that may play out i.e. why invest money into a "project->Leafs" when returns to investment is not as high as other projects "Raptros and potentially MLS".

Was just reading news about Messi's debut in MLS just doubled apple subscribers. Also Canada has a growing population mostly because of immigration and not because of us having more babies i.e. the new Canadians are less about hockey and more about other global sports like soccer and may be basketball.

No wonder bettman is trying to grow the sport in the US to sell teh sport to a bigger population than we have in Canada.

It may happen in the future, just a "may be"; but at present Leafs are still a brand. That said, IMO there is some apathy seeking in given what dubas did with no ramifications and recent money asks from teams' so called leaders while team hasn't succeeded much. I have no clue how this will play out if Leafs continue to struggle. Eventually somethings gonna give I guess.

If I owned MLSE, my first thing would be looking to returns to my investments. If I am investing tremendous amount of money into signing bonuses and ridiculous salary but am not able to recuperate all that money quickly I might not want to invest in this project more. MLSE basically saying "paying babcock 50 million dollars to sit at home and not coach" to me was a sign that MLSE is not going to throw money anymore on hockey like they did in the past b/c IMO I don't MLSE recuperated enough return on their investments fast enough.

 

[PromisedLand]

Yeah the continued Dubas love affair is weird, especially with all hes accomplished (1 playoff round in 5 years). Karlsson going to Pittsburgh was a match made in heaven. There was not a better fit anywhere in the entire league. They could make the cap space and have an extremely small window (likely two years, 3 at best) so if something goes wrong its not a big deal. They will be tearing it completely down in 3 years anyways.

I don't think Pitts looks anywhere near like a contender. They haven't won a playoff round in 5 years, and I don't think Karlsson will move the needle at much. Would be tough getting far with Jarry backstopping your team and their overall defence still seems very sus.

Here is WILD CARD race from last season from the eastern conference. I think Ottawa/Sabres will improve on their performance from past season. NYI I am not sure.

Pens are going to be outside looking in fighting for a wildcard sport. In the metro I think top 3 are taken by Canes, Devils and Rangers

 

[Peasy]

Wild Buffalo just missed by 2 points with i think the leagues 2nd worst goaltending.

Even with his insane season, I still think people are sleeping on how good Thompson is. Dude is going to be a 50+50 threat for awhile imo. Hes a unicorn, no one in the league like him. Really fun player to watch.

 

[BayStBullies]

Wild Buffalo just missed by 2 points with i think the leagues 2nd worst goaltending.

Even with his insane season, I still think people are sleeping on how good Thompson is. Dude is going to be a 50+50 threat for awhile imo. Hes a unicorn, no one in the league like him. Really fun player to watch.

I haven't seen anyone sleeping on how good he is. They have the unfortunate reality of being in the toughest conference.

 

[Gabriel426]

Also worth noting that of the $10 million + contracts ever handed out in the league in the modern cap era, Dubas has his finger prints on 25% of them:

Mackinnon
McDavid
Panarin
Matthews
Karlsson
Pastrnak
Tavares
Doughty
Marner
Price
Huberdeau
Kane
Toews
Bobrovsky
Kopitar
Eichel

Thats not fair to Dubas bc of COVID, lol

 

[BallardEra]

Wild Buffalo just missed by 2 points with i think the leagues 2nd worst goaltending.

Even with his insane season, I still think people are sleeping on how good Thompson is. Dude is going to be a 50+50 threat for awhile imo. Hes a unicorn, no one in the league like him. Really fun player to watch.

That young goalie they brought up late in the season looks promising too. I forget his name but he has potential.

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

I see your point, eventually that may play out i.e. why invest money into a "project->Leafs" when returns to investment is not as high as other projects "Raptros and potentially MLS".

Was just reading news about Messi's debut in MLS just doubled apple subscribers. Also Canada has a growing population mostly because of immigration and not because of us having more babies i.e. the new Canadians are less about hockey and more about other global sports like soccer and may be basketball.

No wonder bettman is trying to grow the sport in the US to sell teh sport to a bigger population than we have in Canada.

It may happen in the future, just a "may be"; but at present Leafs are still a brand. That said, IMO there is some apathy seeking in given what dubas did with no ramifications and recent money asks from teams' so called leaders while team hasn't succeeded much. I have no clue how this will play out if Leafs continue to struggle. Eventually somethings gonna give I guess.

If I owned MLSE, my first thing would be looking to returns to my investments. If I am investing tremendous amount of money into signing bonuses and ridiculous salary but am not able to recuperate all that money quickly I might not want to invest in this project more. MLSE basically saying "paying babcock 50 million dollars to sit at home and not coach" to me was a sign that MLSE is not going to throw money anymore on hockey like they did in the past b/c IMO I don't MLSE recuperated enough return on their investments fast enough.

Thanks for the response.

Personally I think they should sell to an individual owner. Someone with a big ego. Who wants a legacy to be remembered by.

Bringing a cup to Toronto would instantly mean immortality through recognition if it ever happened.

 

[ULF_55]

Breaking down Kyle Dubas’s bold retooling of veteran Penguins roster – Sportsnet.ca

I have to wonder about the video 1 at 1:56 to about 2:06.

Paraphrased: Player not whinging about powerplay time... is this something he had to deal with in Toronto?

 

[ULF_55]

For those complaining about Dubas discussion, this is the "Around the League" thread not a Leafs thread.

Of course the Leafs are also in "the League", but so are all the other teams.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

There's a name floating around that is connected to the Leafs: Peeke from CBJ.

Is this just blogger fodder or has anyone heard anything?

Click bait perhaps,?

 

[LeafEgo]

Thanks for the response.

Personally I think they should sell to an individual owner. Someone with a big ego. Who wants a legacy to be remembered by.

Bringing a cup to Toronto would instantly mean immortality through recognition if it ever happened.

That person can be dangerous as well, benevolent dictators don't grow on trees.

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

That person can be dangerous as well, benevolent dictators don't grow on trees.

While I wouldn't want a situation like Vancouver, I would counter that ownership isn't the only avenue to dictatorship.

Pittsburgh is about to find that out for themselves.

 

[ACC1224]

Thanks for the response.

Personally I think they should sell to an individual owner. Someone with a big ego. Who wants a legacy to be remembered by.

Bringing a cup to Toronto would instantly mean immortality through recognition if it ever happened.

That sounds more like a recipe for disaster.

I don’t know how anyone can look at this team and think the missing piece is having someone run things who doesn’t know anything about the game.

What do you think this Owner would do differently?

 

[Mess]

Thanks for the response.

Personally I think they should sell to an individual owner. Someone with a big ego. Who wants a legacy to be remembered by.

Bringing a cup to Toronto would instantly mean immortality through recognition if it ever happened.

Ever hear of Harold Ballard?

Be careful what you wish for.

 

[Fogelhund]

There's a name floating around that is connected to the Leafs: Peeke from CBJ.

Is this just blogger fodder or has anyone heard anything?

Click bait perhaps,?

I think it's just blogger fodder, and likely has been taken from social media discussion. Many Leafs fans would appreciate a bigger, RHD, who is strong defensively and physical. He had a rough year last year, on a terrible Columbus team, but had been trending towards being a very good player of that type. Columbus has Gudbranson, Severson, Peeke, Boqvist and Jiricek as RD... so people are speculating that someone will be moved out. Given we have a want, and Columbus has an excess, people are speculating.

Peeke is someone I had brought up as early as the beginning of the 2021/22 season.

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

Ever hear of Harold Ballard?

View attachment 735860

Good God, not Harold Ballard.

It's not really a fair comparison. Ballard was an owner that didn't care about winning the cup. He cared about making money and feuding with the fans.

Sounds a lot like ML$E actually.

From what I can tell the majority of NHL teams are owned by individuals. Guys that want to bring recognition to their hometown teams. And it seems like those franchises, for the most part, have had the most success lately.

Pttsburgh won it when Mario was owner.
Tampa won it with Vinick as owner.
Stan Kroenke owns Colorado.
The Jacobs family and the Bruins.

Rogers and Bell have too many conflicting interests to make the Leafs winning a cup top priority for them. How is it possible Bell is allowed to invest in both the Canadiens and the Leafs for example. Not to mention their media empire monopoly.

For $100 a month Rogers and Bell will be more than happy to help you become fans of another team.

I feel like an individual owner would have more interest in winning. Corporations have to answer to their shareholders. An individual with a passion for the game who wants to leave a legacy might be a better choice.

Someone who cares about winning more than making bank.

And maybe, long shot I know, but just maybe, his attitude would leak down to the players. Instead of the "cash is king" mentality of the corporate owners. The owners set the example for the entire organization to follow.

That's why all their stars are greedy money chasing losers too.