OT: Around the NHL: JR is about to wake up from his nap and make trades and such

[OtherThingsILike]

 

[Ignatius]

The western conference arms race is better than the cold war in the 80's comrade

 

[Zirakzigil]

The western conference arms race is better than the cold war in the 80's comrade

I think you mean central division. Pacific did crap all.

 

[BHD]

I think you mean central division. Pacific did crap all.

Jets
Stars
Avs
Wild

That's how I see it playing out. In all likelihood, whoever ends up as the first WC (say the Avs or Wild) will face the Knights. So while the Pacific team normally gets a squad limping to the WCF, i don't think it will be THAT easy. The second wildcard looks like the only cannon fodder this year.

 

[BHD]

Cooper using Guentzel on the PK

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

If the Avs are smart they'll suck just enough to land in the Pacific wild card.

 

[Turin]

Toronto just looks slow asf compared to Colorado. Having a way too old Morgan Reilly as your best puck mover at this point is just not a recipe for winning in the playoffs.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Potentially good night for Team Tank. Seattle won in regulation. Nashville's winning against Chicago in the 3rd.

 

[Zirakzigil]

If the Avs are smart they'll suck just enough to land in the Pacific wild card.

Avs vs Stars round one or bust!

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Preds win in OT, almost threw the game away.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Is there a blizzard in Carolina or something? Where are the fans?

Probably fed up with Tulsky tanking the franchise entirely within a calendar year.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

But seriously, Tulsky didn't even do what Dallas did in negotiating an extension first and then to make it worse, Rantanen apparently really wanted to go to Edmonton and Tulsky tried to send him to Toronto first for Marner like the bloke didn't even f***ing learn his lesson the first time.

Tulsky is a brilliant capologist. But holy shit is he an absolutely dreadful GM. He pissed away a good part of his prospect pool and a very good Necas and also a depth player in Drury for barely a dozen or so games of Rantanen and losing Guentzel at the end of the season last year, lol.

And then he only gets back Stankoven and some firsts from Dallas. Stank is good, he's very strong on his skates and has a lethal shot but he's also barely 5'8" and he's put up 9 goals in 50+ games this season with a shooting percentage of 6. Played a ton with Robo and Hintz. He'll produce I'm sure in Carolina but that as a return for Rantanen is not ideal.

He didn't learn from the Jake Guentzel trade and then even worse with Rantanen but got back some first rounders and a small but fiesty W/C with a lethal shot that seemingly isn't shooting enough.

Cooper using Guentzel on the PK

And got dunked on by an awful Bruins squad 4-0 lol.

 

[OtherThingsILike]

Potentially good night for Team Tank. Seattle won in regulation. Nashville's winning against Chicago in the 3rd.

Yep. If only Buffalo could start winning.

 

[BHD]

And got dunked on by an awful Bruins squad 4-0 lol.

They definitely weren't ready to play yesterday.

 

[Zirakzigil]

Yep. If only Buffalo could start winning.

Thats asking for a miracle

 

[Gurglesons]

Cooper using Guentzel on the PK

It was because Hagel was in the box.

 

[Gurglesons]

But seriously, Tulsky didn't even do what Dallas did in negotiating an extension first and then to make it worse, Rantanen apparently really wanted to go to Edmonton and Tulsky tried to send him to Toronto first for Marner like the bloke didn't even f***ing learn his lesson the first time.

Tulsky is a brilliant capologist. But holy shit is he an absolutely dreadful GM. He pissed away a good part of his prospect pool and a very good Necas and also a depth player in Drury for barely a dozen or so games of Rantanen and losing Guentzel at the end of the season last year, lol.

And then he only gets back Stankoven and some firsts from Dallas. Stank is good, he's very strong on his skates and has a lethal shot but he's also barely 5'8" and he's put up 9 goals in 50+ games this season with a shooting percentage of 6. Played a ton with Robo and Hintz. He'll produce I'm sure in Carolina but that as a return for Rantanen is not ideal.

He didn't learn from the Jake Guentzel trade and then even worse with Rantanen but got back some first rounders and a small but fiesty W/C with a lethal shot that seemingly isn't shooting enough.

And got dunked on by an awful Bruins squad 4-0 lol.

Tulsky wasn’t GM when the team made the Guentzel trade and they lost none of their good prospects in that trade.

Necas was walking next year.

 

[SomeDude]

I don’t get how anyone can say Tulsky has pissed anything away. He’s actually improved Carolina’s futures in his moves.

The problem is that he chickened out and left his current roster in worse shape when they’re supposed to be trying to win now. I don’t know how any players on that team can be happy with how that all went down.

 

[BHD]

Yup, the picks will help, but not right now.

I'm not that high on them. I can see them beating the Devils, and that's about it.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Yep yep yep. The Canes did well from an asset management aspect, but utterly failed at the human aspect. I'd be livid if I was in that room. This should be a prime window year, especially with the East being weak this year. They didn't fully punt the season, but nobody can argue that Stank is better than Necas right now. They are a weaker team this season because of those moves.

Considering their owner's mindset I doubt this will be the last time it happens.

Every owner is going to inherently be a bit of an adversary to the players, but when an owner openly talks about not paying what players are worth you can't be surprised when big ticket players decide to go elsewhere. You're not a genius because you figured out that paying people less will be good for the bottom line. You also can't be surprised when employee loyalty is low...especially among impending UFAs that you acquire via trade that have no real reason to be loyal in the first place.

 

[BHD]

Yep yep yep. The Canes did well from an asset management aspect, but utterly failed at the human aspect. I'd be livid if I was in that room. This should be a prime window year, especially with the East being weak this year. They didn't fully punt the season, but nobody can argue that Stank is better than Necas right now. They are a weaker team this season because of those moves.

Considering their owner's mindset I doubt this will be the last time it happens.

Every owner is going to inherently be a bit of an adversary to the players, but when an owner openly talks about not paying what players are worth you can't be surprised when big ticket players decide to go elsewhere. You're not a genius because you figured out that paying people less will be good for the bottom line. You also can't be surprised when employee loyalty is low...especially among impending UFAs that you acquire via trade that have no real reason to be loyal in the first place.

Servalli - who, by the way, argued for Stankoven over Necas - mentioned the Canes offered him top dollar. He then suggested Rantanen just wasn't interested in re-signing there.

Carolina's played it safe - almost to a fault - for the sake of having a team that's always right there, but never a clear cut favourite. Yet the one time they make a bold move, it goes sideways.