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Around the League Thread part V

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Ziggy Stardust said:
Ken Holland has to be the dumbest f***ing GM in the NHL, not addressing his shoddy goaltending.
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Tough time to be looking for a goaltender. I had to leave a semi-angry comment on the Steve Dangle podcast as they made it seem like the Devils should have addressed their goaltending woes as though it was as easy as getting milk and eggs from the store.

Word was that Semyon Varlamov wasn't waiving for Edmonton. I'd guess that Marc-Andre Fleury wasn't waiving for them. Braden Holtby's on the shelf and Dallas probably wasn't dealing him now they're vying for a playoff spot. Jonas Korpisalo just had season ending surgery, ditto Anton Khudobin. They allegedly asked about Martin Jones and balked at the price. Ottawa extended Anton Forsberg instead of trading him.

I don't think they had the cap space to outright claim Petr Mrazek on waivers and it's debatable if he's that much of an upgrade at this point. That leaves James Reimer as a possibility but even he has a five team NTC and it wouldn't be inconceivable if Edmonton was on it. Could they have outbid San Jose for Kappo Kahkonen? Not sure I'd feel that much more confident with Scott Wedgewood, Chris Driedger, or Alex Georgiev.
 
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Brodeur said:
Tough time to be looking for a goaltender. I had to leave a semi-angry comment on the Steve Dangle podcast as they made it seem like the Devils should have addressed their goaltending woes as though it was as easy as getting milk and eggs from the store.

Word was that Semyon Varlamov wasn't waiving for Edmonton. I'd guess that Marc-Andre Fleury wasn't waiving for them. Braden Holtby's on the shelf and Dallas probably wasn't dealing him now they're vying for a playoff spot. Jonas Korpisalo just had season ending surgery, ditto Anton Khudobin. They allegedly asked about Martin Jones and balked at the price. Ottawa extended Anton Forsberg instead of trading him.

I don't think they had the cap space to outright claim Petr Mrazek on waivers and it's debatable if he's that much of an upgrade at this point. That leaves James Reimer as a possibility but even he has a five team NTC and it wouldn't be inconceivable if Edmonton was on it. Could they have outbid San Jose for Kappo Kahkonen? Not sure I'd feel that much more confident with Scott Wedgewood, Chris Driedger, or Alex Georgiev.
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the thing is they have been looking for a few years, and there has been a lot of goalie movement in the last few years. So I am not buying the "tough time to be looking" as everyone has been saying what they need for a long while.
 
Watch LA and Edmonton meet round 1 and have Smith go on one of his old man strength heaters....or imagine goaltending being Edmonton's undoing and sending Smith to the retirement home.

I could see either playing out.
 
YP44 said:
Watch LA and Edmonton meet round 1 and have Smith go on one of his old man strength heaters....or imagine goaltending being Edmonton's undoing and sending Smith to the retirement home.

I could see either playing out.
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I agree. He will either be the early Conn Smythe leader or likely to be bought out in off-season. I don’t think there’s much of a middle ground with this guy.
 
YP44 said:
the thing is they have been looking for a few years, and there has been a lot of goalie movement in the last few years. So I am not buying the "tough time to be looking" as everyone has been saying what they need for a long while.
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Peter Chiarelli left a turd on the carpet when he signed Koskinen to the three year extension right before he got fired. Holland offered Jacob Markstrom a similar deal in free agency, but he opted for Calgary since his buddy Elias Lindholm was there. Their other inherent problem is that they're in Edmonton, so they won't be the #1 choice for most free agents and they'll usually appear on no trade lists. This is an older article, but I don't think there'd be a huge change: Jets top the ranks of teams on no-trade lists

Another name I left off was Alex Nedeljkovic who most people were high on after last season. After his performance last night, I couldn't help but dig up my summertime hot take that I wouldn't be surprised if Nedeljkovic would end up looking like Aaron Dell.

Dell:
rookie season: 20 GP, 2.00 GAA, .931 sv%
next two seasons: 54 GP, 2.89 GAA, .901 sv%

Nedeljkovic:
rookie season: 23 GP, 1.90 GAA, .932 sv%
this season: 49 GP, 3.26 GAA, .901 sv%

There's been lots of goalie movement, but typically for the retreads who are backups who can't secure long term deals at this point in their careers. I've listed the names of the guys who've moved. Who was a realistic target for the Oilers? Everybody knew Edmonton was desperate, so Columbus asked a ridiculous amount for Korpisalo.

How many years did it take for the Kings to get stability in their goaltending department? I seem to remember a dark age of Mathieu Biron, Dan Cloutier, Roman Cechmanek, Sean Burke, Jason LaBarbera, and a failed trade for Evgeni Nabokov.
 
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YP44 said:
not sure if that goalie would be ready yet for this year, but at least they would have had hope. could have thrown him in MAF pens style I suppose.
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Yeah, it wasn't so much that Wallstedt would have saved them this year. But they just appeared to think that goaltending wouldn't be a problem.
 
Brodeur said:
Peter Chiarelli left a turd on the carpet when he signed Koskinen to the three year extension right before he got fired. Holland offered Jacob Markstrom a similar deal in free agency, but he opted for Calgary since his buddy Elias Lindholm was there. Their other inherent problem is that they're in Edmonton, so they won't be the #1 choice for most free agents and they'll usually appear on no trade lists. This is an older article, but I don't think there'd be a huge change: Jets top the ranks of teams on no-trade lists

Another name I left off was Alex Nedeljkovic who most people were high on after last season. After his performance last night, I couldn't help but dig up my summertime hot take that I wouldn't be surprised if Nedeljkovic would end up looking like Aaron Dell.

Dell:
rookie season: 20 GP, 2.00 GAA, .931 sv%
next two seasons: 54 GP, 2.89 GAA, .901 sv%

Nedeljkovic:
rookie season: 23 GP, 1.90 GAA, .932 sv%
this season: 49 GP, 3.26 GAA, .901 sv%

There's been lots of goalie movement, but typically for the retreads who are backups who can't secure long term deals at this point in their careers. I've listed the names of the guys who've moved. Who was a realistic target for the Oilers? Everybody knew Edmonton was desperate, so Columbus asked a ridiculous amount for Korpisalo.

How many years did it take for the Kings to get stability in their goaltending department? I seem to remember a dark age of Mathieu Biron, Dan Cloutier, Roman Cechmanek, Sean Burke, Jason LaBarbera, and a failed trade for Evgeni Nabokov.
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it wasn't a similar deal. Calgary out bid Edmonton, Holland needed to not let that happen.
I think Talbot going back to Edmonton was an option, Holtby may not have worked but made more sense than Smith, Bernier had good numbers last year (injured this year but maybe that does not happen in Edmonton), Greiss, Edmonton with McJesus should be more attractive for Grubauer than Seattle, his replacement in Colorado in Keumper could have been had before he was traded to the Avs. Also with that signing and trade, why were the oilers not in on Vanacek I never heard of Edmonton being in on Ullmark, or Andersen, but they should have been. These are just off the top of my head (obviously not all would have worked out but would have shown they are trying).
to your point not all of the above would have been interested in playing in edmonton but it is Holland's job to sell it, and with leon and Mcdavid it should not be that hard of a sell.
Just remember jake Allen and Brian elliott as two more that were upgrades to what they have.
 
Ziggy Stardust said:
Remember when Devils homers were trying to convince everyone that Schneider was better than Quick?
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really though he was backpacking that whole team for years after the cup final, that devils team SUCKED and he was keeping them in it.. body just let him down
 
YP44 said:
it wasn't a similar deal. Calgary out bid Edmonton, Holland needed to not let that happen.
I think Talbot going back to Edmonton was an option, Holtby may not have worked but made more sense than Smith, Bernier had good numbers last year (injured this year but maybe that does not happen in Edmonton), Greiss, Edmonton with McJesus should be more attractive for Grubauer than Seattle, his replacement in Colorado in Keumper could have been had before he was traded to the Avs. Also with that signing and trade, why were the oilers not in on Vanacek I never heard of Edmonton being in on Ullmark, or Andersen, but they should have been. These are just off the top of my head (obviously not all would have worked out but would have shown they are trying).
to your point not all of the above would have been interested in playing in edmonton but it is Holland's job to sell it, and with leon and Mcdavid it should not be that hard of a sell.
Just remember jake Allen and Brian elliott as two more that were upgrades to what they have.
Click to expand...

Bernier's hip was giving him issues during training camp, so that was a ticking time bomb. I don't think Edmonton had a Conor Timmins level prospect to give to Arizona plus a first for a potential rental in Kuemper. I don't think they had the cap space to outbid Seattle on Grubauer. Again with the free agents, Edmonton tends to be low on people's lists. I would argue that Brian Elliott is not an upgrade, he just happens to be playing with the defending champs and gets starts against the lesser teams when Vasilevskiy needs a rest.

McDavid and Draisaitl might be an easy sell to the player. But Edmonton to a free agent's wife and family? Maybe not so much, especially if there are other options on the table.

Vanecek is an interesting name as Seattle didn't anticipate signing Grubauer. Looking back at the time line, I didn't realize Edmonton extended Mike Smith before free agency.

July 21: Seattle expansion draft
July 22: Oilers extend Smith - Oilers, goalie Mike Smith finalize new two-year contract
July 28: Free agency opens, Seattle signs Grubauer and trades Vanecek back to Washington

As terrorinthebang said, they were stuck once they signed Smith. With the magic of hindsight, they go into free agency with an open spot and maybe end up with Vanecek as an option.
 
Brodeur said:
How many years did it take for the Kings to get stability in their goaltending department? I seem to remember a dark age of Mathieu Biron, Dan Cloutier, Roman Cechmanek, Sean Burke, Jason LaBarbera, and a failed trade for Evgeni Nabokov.
Click to expand...
Outside of Quick and Vachon (and a short time with Hrudey) the Kings’ goalie history is abysmal. Thank god that Ranford came along and turned around the whole position.
 
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Not exactly the correct "league" but this is hilarious:



Some highlights from the clip: 2 on 1's are not what you think. Passing from the defensive zone.....is not "allowed"
 
Brodeur said:
Bernier's hip was giving him issues during training camp, so that was a ticking time bomb. I don't think Edmonton had a Conor Timmins level prospect to give to Arizona plus a first for a potential rental in Kuemper. I don't think they had the cap space to outbid Seattle on Grubauer. Again with the free agents, Edmonton tends to be low on people's lists. I would argue that Brian Elliott is not an upgrade, he just happens to be playing with the defending champs and gets starts against the lesser teams when Vasilevskiy needs a rest.

McDavid and Draisaitl might be an easy sell to the player. But Edmonton to a free agent's wife and family? Maybe not so much, especially if there are other options on the table.

Vanecek is an interesting name as Seattle didn't anticipate signing Grubauer. Looking back at the time line, I didn't realize Edmonton extended Mike Smith before free agency.

July 21: Seattle expansion draft
July 22: Oilers extend Smith - Oilers, goalie Mike Smith finalize new two-year contract
July 28: Free agency opens, Seattle signs Grubauer and trades Vanecek back to Washington

As terrorinthebang said, they were stuck once they signed Smith. With the magic of hindsight, they go into free agency with an open spot and maybe end up with Vanecek as an option.
Click to expand...
i don't think it is magic of hind site. They have needed an upgrade in net for years and signed Smith before free agency. It was dumb move before it was done, when it was done and still is now
 
bouncesonly said:
Not exactly the correct "league" but this is hilarious:



Some highlights from the clip: 2 on 1's are not what you think. Passing from the defensive zone.....is not "allowed"
Click to expand...



I love the "I am paid not to talk about the team", then he opens up a bit. Hilarious stories. Imagine getting a few beer into the guy and letting him really tell you what he thought of the situation. Sounds like a gong show league.
 
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sad_fans.jpg
 
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Got to give Dallas credit, they seamlessly went from Seguin, Radulov and Benn's team to Hintz and Richardson's team and are still fighting for a playoff spot.

I wonder if the Kings would have taken local kid Richardson had he not been taken 2 spots earlier in the 2017 draft.
 
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