Around the League Thread | New Year, New Me

[sting101]

Yeah both Philly guys have stagnated under torts. I get the bet from Calgary's side but I doubt Philly will miss them too much. Or at least won't miss the current iterations.

yes i guess one way to look at it is that Philly can sink to the bottom now and get the high end assets they need while Calgary pushes back towards the mushy middle.

I can't see Konecny and Sanheim being very happy currently. This years UFAs are not very good either and will want kings ransoms to sign there

 

[EpochLink]

Kuzmenko career has went to the toilet since he left Vancouver, I guess Marlborough Mall wasn’t cuttin it in Calgary.

 

[VanJack]

Flames just got a leg up on the Canucks and the rest of the Pacific with this deal.

Looking at the two teams, the Flames already had a better blueline than Vancouver; and they've closed the gap considerably on the forward line.

You have to hand it Conroy. Compared to where they were at the start of last season--they've advanced light years. Vancouver is bogged down with a bad blueline and turmoil in the dressing-room.

 

[quat]

Utah City Soakers please

I can sort of see the benefit for both clubs, but I think Calgary may improve the most.

 

[pitseleh]

They’re the most replaceable sorts of players. Pelletier has been good for Calgary this year and replaces one of them for a fraction of the cost. Go sign a Suter or a Geekie and you’ve replaced the other one, have a bunch of cap space, and a pretty high pick to spare.

Like, is Morgan Frost a meaningfully different player from Ryan Spooner?

Feel like a lot turns on how you value Pelletier. He’s only a year younger than Farabee and is just breaking into the NHL. High pick who probably needs to be a scoring line player to make it only making it to the NHL part way through his D+6 season isn’t a profile with much history of success, though he does have good AHL production.

If he’s an NHLer they’ll probably be fine but they were already thin up front and if they’re wrong they will end up needing to add 3-4 quality forwards in the offseason to improve, which is a tough ask.

 

[krutovsdonut]

i like this for calgary. in fact, it could be absolutely huge for them.

unbelievably dumb trade for philly. classic case of veteran coach grinds promising young players into 3rd line robots and then his gm dumps them.

sadly, many such cases

 

[sting101]

Next move will be Andersson for Byram and they will try everything else they can to get Cozens

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

Great trade for Calgary.

 

[PG Canuck]

My biggest takeaway on this deal is how hockey will be better off once Torts retires. It’s time dude.

 

[PG Canuck]

Philly clears $7 million for next year to take a run at Marner or Rantanen.

Trade away two fungible guys at $7 million, get one back at $1 million.

Love this trade for them. Neither guy they traded is very good and that money was better spent elsewhere.

They’ll get neither and it’ll be hilarious. No idea why any top FA has Philly in their top 15 teams.

 

[bossram]

They’ll get neither and it’ll be hilarious. No idea why any top FA has Philly in their top 15 teams.

Yep. The elite UFAs certainly aren't looking at a quasi-rebuild Philly as a destination. This is just kind of a bizarre move for Philly.

A pretty interesting trade for Calgary. They get two guys that can pretty plausibly help them push for the playoffs this season, and still be core parts of the team long-term.

Philly's return is pretty meh. Pelletier is a nice prospect, but likely maxes out at the calibre of what Farabee/Frost are right now. 2nd + 7th is standard fare. Kuz is a pure cap dump headed straight to Torts' doghouse. Maybe Kuz and Michkov can stage a mutiny.

 

[F A N]

The Frost and Farabee deal seems like a major steal for Calgary but that might be an outdated opinion. Those two haven't been good this year and Farabee has 3x$5M left on his contract. Calgary might enjoy the two players but probably won't go anywhere with them. Likely mushy middle type acquisitions.

 

[JT Milker]

Gamble for Calgary, cap dump for Philly. View that Calgary robbed Philly are based on dated evaluations of the players involved.

 

[tantalum]

The Frost and Farabee deal seems like a major steal for Calgary but that might be an outdated opinion. Those two haven't been good this year and Farabee has 3x$5M left on his contract. Calgary might enjoy the two players but probably won't go anywhere with them. Likely mushy middle type acquisitions.

I don't think it's an outdated idea. They are 24/25 years old. Farabee with 350+ NHL games under his belt and Frost with 250+. The contract situation is much less of a concern given the Flames are well under the cap to begin with and the projections for the next few seasons. (moving to $113 cap in 27/28).

I think this is a hell of a trade for the Flames as they received 2 youngish middle 6 players under contract/club control for a pending UFA that will have played his way out of the NHL by seasons end (IMO), a small 23 year old prospect that has some upside but I would think at this time projects to be less of a player than either of the ones they received back, a 2nd round pick (the most value out of the assets they give up) and the 7th rounder (like it's a EA NHL GM).

It's an excellent trade as it not only helps the Flames now in making a playoff run but it is also a move that helps them for the next few seasons as well. Impact players? No not likely but certainly improves the depth now and moving forward.

Philly...no idea what they are thinking.

 

[Jyrki]

To me, Briere somehow sold low on his players while not going towards any particular direction.

Flyers made cap space, for whom exactly? If they're saving room for future signings, they'll blow through the savings very quickly. Cap rising = UFAs ask for more. But value is created for existing contracts, which is what they traded away. Even if Farabee was having a down season, it's very unlikely Briere would be able to sign a better forward for that money July 1st.

Yet the return was mediocre futures. There's the 2nd rounder, which will probably be in the 50 range. Kuz has no value and will probably go back to Russia next season. Pelletier still projects OK but he's only a year younger than Farabee and it's up in the air whether he'll ever play as many NHL games, let alone have some seasons as good as Farabee's.

Without a follow-up trade the Flyers cleared some cap space and acquired a few futures, but they're straight up worse and the room they made isn't going to either get them back in playoff contention or help a potential rebuild. While the Flames got to dump a pending UFA with little value and a prospect who the Flyers would feel good if he could ever play as good as Farabee. They took on salary but you're completely fine with betting on a return to form for Farabee, at which point his contract would be a solid net positive.

 

[ManVanFan]

Conroy has done extremely well in trades. Anyone that doesn't see it is pretty blind.

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

Conroy has done extremely well in trades. Anyone that doesn't see it is pretty blind.

Calgary is going to be a very good team. Craig was an amazingly smart player, but a heart-and-soul one. I was always a big fan of his.

I f***ing hate to say that.

 

[ManVanFan]

Calgary is going to be a very good team. Craig was an amazingly smart player, but a heart-and-soul one. I was always a big fan of his.

I f***ing hate to say that.

Goes to Boeser or a Miller trade or their great value bottom 6 contracts. Many fans are thinking well how do we replace that. Calgary has sold a lot and somehow are still neck and neck with Van right now with a little lesser line up.

Calgary has a much brighter future than Van does right now. What has to change for Van to get on the right path to success? Coaching? Management?

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

Goes to Boeser or a Miller trade or their great value bottom 6 contracts. Many fans are thinking well how do we replace that. Calgary has sold a lot and somehow are still neck and neck with Van right now with a little lesser line up.

Calgary has a much brighter future than Van does right now. What has to change for Van to get on the right path to success? Coaching? Management?

What has to change? Do you have a time machine and can we fire Benning some time *before* the 2020-21 offseason? That's the best way, but it's also impossible. We have to make do with our competitive disadvantages that were left in its wake.

 

[ManVanFan]

What has to change? Do you have a time machine and can we fire Benning some time *before* the 2020-21 offseason? That's the best way, but it's also impossible. We have to make do with our competitive disadvantages that were left in its wake.

Does this team look like they are going to win the Stanley cup anytime soon to you? I would believe that's the end goal for them. Benning doesn't mean shit anymore, could have written his wrongs if they wanted too.

 

[rypper]

Well the sweepstakes had ended!

 

[Ernie]

My biggest takeaway on this deal is how hockey will be better off once Torts retires. It’s time dude.

uh why? I'm still pissed about his time here but he's one of the few entertaining characters in the league.

 

[ManVanFan]

Brandon Saad signing with Vegas. Of course. Lol.

 

[F A N]

I don't think it's an outdated idea. They are 24/25 years old. Farabee with 350+ NHL games under his belt and Frost with 250+. The contract situation is much less of a concern given the Flames are well under the cap to begin with and the projections for the next few seasons. (moving to $113 cap in 27/28).

I think this is a hell of a trade for the Flames as they received 2 youngish middle 6 players under contract/club control for a pending UFA that will have played his way out of the NHL by seasons end (IMO), a small 23 year old prospect that has some upside but I would think at this time projects to be less of a player than either of the ones they received back, a 2nd round pick (the most value out of the assets they give up) and the 7th rounder (like it's a EA NHL GM).

It's an excellent trade as it not only helps the Flames now in making a playoff run but it is also a move that helps them for the next few seasons as well. Impact players? No not likely but certainly improves the depth now and moving forward.

Philly...no idea what they are thinking.

And that's fair. I just think that the two could be what they are at this point. Solid players but overall just average and not guys you can win with. The issue is that Farabee is making $5M AAV for 3 more years. Ya you can say Calgary has the cap space but a negative asset is a negative asset. I'm not saying Farabee is a negative asset now but potentially if he continues at his current pace, you can't trade a 2nd to get rid of him after next season. Of course, this deal can also work out tremendously for the Flames.

 

[Ernie]

Brandon Saad signing with Vegas. Of course. Lol.

Just crazy that he walked away from about $4m just to get a shot at the cup. Seems worth having on your team for that reason alone.