Around the NHL — Episode XLXVII

[Senscore]

Yes, things are so sad in Buffalo I'm going to start leaning on my second favourite team the Sens. Not much higher in the standings but not a hopeless shell of an organization like the Sabres...
GO SENS!

I hope that Sabres fans can soon experience the joy of new ownership like we did

 

[OD99]

Yes, things are so sad in Buffalo I'm going to start leaning on my second favourite team the Sens. Not much higher in the standings but not a hopeless shell of an organization like the Sabres...
GO SENS!

12 points ahead with a game in hand after 33 games is waaaaayyyy higher in the standings.

Welcome, either way!

 

[obz]

I hope that Sabres fans can soon experience the joy of new ownership like we did

Yeah... Terry Pegula is where franchises go to die. I think he'll go down in history as one of the worst club owners ever. He lucked out with the Bills. His meddling and mismanagement of the Sabres has been criminal. And there is no hope in sight.......the Sabres find ways to lose over and over and over...

The Sens look competitive most nights I've watched them. I've always liked the Sens v. the Leafs. My hate of the Leafs made the Sens my next logical choice. I hope to catch a game next time I'm in Ottawa.

 

[Tuna99]

Happy Ottawa won both games in Calgary and Van and those guys got a loser point to help with their playoff push, perfect as far as I’m concerned

 

[Xspyrit]

It’s been covered a lot leading up to the trade. Kakko is arbitration eligible, and based on what type of things are admissible within that process and past rewards, he’s likely to be given ~3-3.5M for next season and will be a UFA after that.

No interest in a 3rd line rental who’s proven nothing considering what we have to trade and what we need.

Guys like Kakko are available for free every year. Like I said, we have one in Amadio. Didn’t cost us any picks.

And over the last 3 seasons, Amadio has scored 31 goals and 72 points in 193 games. Kakko has 34 goals and 73 points in 173 games.

So yes, “slight upgrade” is correct. Both are third liners. Both good defensively. Both very vanilla.

But if you think Amadio does “nothing” well bet Kakko is “solid in several areas” it’s clear you’ve never actually watched the guy play and just saw that he was a 2nd overall pick. They’re far closer, today, than what you think.

- no idea why Kakko would be paid more than his QO. No idea why he would be a "rental", he's RFA at the end of the season

- Yes and no and Ottawa is FAR from being a TOP destination, that's why we end up with mediocre guys like Amadio instead of attracting high quality 3rd liners.

- ok so Amadio during the PEAK of his career couldn't outscore a 19-22 y/o guy

- Nothing out there and in the eye test has shown me this "slight" qualifier

- Again, age... 23 y/o who has solidifed his overall game. We're stuck with Amadio and his 2.6 AAV for 2 more years. I would much rather give that money to a younger better player who still has room for improvement while Amadio might drop and not be NHL caliber in the short term future.

In the end, the stats don't lie, we have 3 very high end forwards, Giroux and Norris produce like 2nd liners, Gaudette has contributed a lot more than expected but our scoring depth has been a real weakness, We need to improve it. And let's hope Pinto is back on the right track for real.

Hol up, Stefan Noesen has 15 goals with the Devils so far??? Where did that come from?

Really wanted to sign him this offseason, would have paid at least 3.5 AAV. When you play the right way, good things are bound to happen. Noesen and Joseph instead of Perron and Maadio would have been awesome.

Yeah... Terry Pegula is where franchises go to die. I think he'll go down in history as one of the worst club owners ever. He lucked out with the Bills. His meddling and mismanagement of the Sabres has been criminal. And there is no hope in sight.......the Sabres find ways to lose over and over and over...

The Sens look competitive most nights I've watched them. I've always liked the Sens v. the Leafs. My hate of the Leafs made the Sens my next logical choice. I hope to catch a game next time I'm in Ottawa.

Believe me, it's still nothing compared to a Melnyk-Dorion duo... the only good thing about it is it didn't last as long as the situation is dragging on for the Sabres

 

[JD1]

There is only one clean solution to the Marner situation and that is them winning the cup, or coming within a couple games.

Sign him now and come up short and your stuck with another massive contract while the media and fans run back all their justified criticism, only with another years worth of vitriol behind it. Then proceed to enter next year with the same two cotton balls leading the team and all the doubt following you like a bad smell.

Wait and come up short and you're facing the same criticism and are forced to wade through it and either sign him to a massive deal with FA looming or let him walk for nothing and use it to signal a new direction.

In that situation the only way to save face will be to overpay and win the UFA sweepstakes, meaning big money and long terms to Ehlers and probably Mangiapane. We all know how bad UFA desperation is as modus operandi for any team, it doesn't work and it can cripple you for years.

It would be so much easier if the leafs were mediocre right now and could justify trading Marner to a team like Cbus for a haul. It's really a shame that being a good regular season team yet such a pathetic playoff team creates such a debilitating generation long conundrum for certain franchises.

The best case scenario for us as Sens fans is Toronto signing Marner long term for big money 13 - 15 kind of money. That core has a demonstrated long term inability to win when it matters. Our interests are in maintaining that.

Trading Marner, getting a decent return and using the money to sign guys that potentially can change the playoff dynamic is not good for us as Sens fans

That's hilarious

 

[Sun God Nika]

I hope that Sabres fans can soon experience the joy of new ownership like we did

I don’t . f*** dem kids

More bottom feeders in our division the better

Long Live Pegula

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Its kind of nice seeing Buffalo and Detroit trailing the conference for the moment.

 

[BondraTime]

MoneyPuck basically has it as a 2 team race for the playoffs. All teams above the Sens are 80+%, all teams below Philly are 32% combined, with a highest % odd of 12% for the Islanders.

Sens at 58% and Philly at 44% seems to be the only real competition for the 8th and final spot in their calculations (obviously 60% of the season remaining, tons of things can change)

 

[Butchy Dakkar]

MoneyPuck basically has it as a 2 team race for the playoffs. All teams above the Sens are 80+%, all teams below Philly are 32% combined, with a highest % odd of 12% for the Islanders.

Sens at 58% and Philly at 44% seems to be the only real competition for the 8th and final spot in their calculations (obviously 60% of the season remaining, tons of things can change)

Hope that loss doesn’t come back to haunt us!

 

[PlayOn]

MoneyPuck basically has it as a 2 team race for the playoffs. All teams above the Sens are 80+%, all teams below Philly are 32% combined, with a highest % odd of 12% for the Islanders.

Sens at 58% and Philly at 44% seems to be the only real competition for the 8th and final spot in their calculations (obviously 60% of the season remaining, tons of things can change)

I feel like the Rangers are actually the biggest threat to us for no other reason than Shesterkin can get them in by himself.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Sens have the best record in the NHL over the past 10 games 8-1-1

 

[aragorn]

Sens have the best record in the NHL over the past 10 games 8-1-1

Nice to see the Sens go on a run, it's been quite some time that they have won more than 3 in a row.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Nice to see the Sens go on a run, it's been quite some time that they have won more than 3 in a row.

Since they had something to play for for sure... They had a couple 4+ streaks last year but they were pretty much done by then

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

Really wanted to sign him this offseason, would have paid at least 3.5 AAV. When you play the right way, good things are bound to happen. Noesen and Joseph instead of Perron and Maadio would have been awesome.

Worth mentioning that Amadio is outpacing Joseph by 10 points per 82 this year. Almost identical pace to his 3rd line mates in Pinto and Cousins.

 

[JD1]

MoneyPuck basically has it as a 2 team race for the playoffs. All teams above the Sens are 80+%, all teams below Philly are 32% combined, with a highest % odd of 12% for the Islanders.

Sens at 58% and Philly at 44% seems to be the only real competition for the 8th and final spot in their calculations (obviously 60% of the season remaining, tons of things can change)

I never noticed that hockey reference does this before

Playoff Probabilities Report | Hockey-Reference.com

They've got the Sens at 70% I think it was and Boston at 39%

It's hard to assess these probability things without understanding the methodology but purely off the top of my head, Boston negative goal differential is pretty uncommon for a playoff team.

I looked up strength of schedule remaining and of the top 5 Atlantic teams, Boston has the most difficult schedule so I'm guessing they're calculating Boston being outside the top 4 and 4 teams from each conference as more likely