Around the League Thread | Draft and Free Agency Approaching

[StreetHawk]

With offer sheets being 2027 picks

i hope we dont look at "speeding" things up

this owner loves that shit

He's also cheap and has to build a practice facility and buy out a brother. Is he going to drop that kind of front loaded money? Probably not.

 

[Jerry the great]

Easier said than done. What area do they have a surplus to go player for player? Who is selling for futures?

SEA sent futures for Mackie S. Fla used Mackie and futures to land Brady.

The pressure to do something is going to be immense; I would be shocked if they made the picks they just acquired. They have a 4/5 year period to do something while their core are under contract.

I think they'll dangle the picks they're allowed to trade and Yakemchuk to find a top 6 winger and RHD.

If they'd waive, Hronek and DeBrusk would make a ton of sense for them.

Lafreniere would be a good target too.

 

[StreetHawk]

The pressure to do something is going to be immense; I would be shocked if they made the picks they just acquired. They have a 4/5 year period to do something while their core are under contract.

I think they'll dangle the picks they're allowed to trade and Yakemchuk to find a top 6 winger and RHD.

If they'd waive, Hronek and DeBrusk would make a ton of sense for them.

Lafreniere would be a good target too.

They also have a new arena planned. No shovels in the ground yet, so, earliest they begin a regular season is 29/30 season, unless they start digging by early fall. Wonder how that factors into their overall plan?

 

[Vector]

 

[pitseleh]

That is a really weak class. Wouldn’t have inducted Tkachuk or Rinne and Price is borderline for me.

 

[StreetHawk]

That is a really weak class. Wouldn’t have inducted Tkachuk or Rinne and Price is borderline for me.

Bergeron is a slam dunk.
Price, since he ended his career on LTIR, been a while since we remembered him. Not an inspiring class compared to others we have seen.

 

[Hodgy]

It seems to me this is more of a bad team issue than a Canadian team issue. Larkin is doing the same thing in Detroit and Werenski might be in Columbus. It doesn’t seem like the Hughes and Tkachuk situations would have been any different if they played for Buffalo (before this year) and Seattle.

Teams in good climates / premier cities can get away with being bad because there’s enough appeal being there anyway. Obviously good teams in those cities are destinations. Teams in bad climates shouldn’t expect to get the same rope - Canada just has a disproportionate share of teams that both have been bad and have poor climates.

Canadian teams are also at a competitive disadvantage under the salary cap due to higher income tax rates so they are more likely to be worse than many of their American counterparts.

Hellybyuck has been committed to Winnipeg for 11 years. You're entitled to some change without having your character question at that point.

To me, the Hellebuyck situation is different than the others. Winnipeg has been a very well managed organization for like a decade, and they have had good to excellent results over that period of time. Prior to last year, they made the playoffs three straight years and have made the playoffs seven of the last nine years. Hellebuyck voluntarily signed a seven year contract with the team. He committed to stay with the team for seven years. He has played 2 years under that contract. To me, the team hasn't let Hellbuyck down and has upheld their side of the bargain. And in fact, Hellebyuk actually had some awful playoffs where arguably he let down the team. And if he didn't want to play in Winnipeg for the next five years he shouldn't have signed that contract. Of course, he signed that contract because he wanted 60 million guaranteed.

So while he can request a trade, I absolutely do think its fair to question his character for doing so.

 

[StreetHawk]

So while he can request a trade, I absolutely do think its fair to question his character for doing so.

I will agree that I lean more towards greater sympathy for Larkin than I do Helly. Helly, as you said, Jets were better and more consistent than Detroit. Larkin bet on the plan Yzerman sold him in 2023. Gave it 3 years, but he's now a decade without playoffs.

I don't like it when players want the security of a long term guaranteed deal and then 2-3 years ask out. Det, I would say, hasn't delivered. Win, for the most part have. But, I do see signs of tough times ahead for Win as their 202X's drafting hasn't looked great.