GDT: Canes going on holiday travel on some Canadian Jets - 7:30pm departure

[Ole Gil]

So long as they spend to the cap every year and at least try to swing big deals, I don't care about any of this.

The Canes are down a ton of guys, they've got other underperforming guys, and they're still well above NHL .500 and in a playoff spot. Again, this is all noise unless/until they miss the playoffs.

Yup. I'd say more things are going wrong than right right now, and they're on a 103 point pace.

 

[Negan4Coach]

Figure something else out? The 2002 Oakland A's? What the f*** are you even talking about?

This is the most sustained run of excellence this franchise run has ever had, one fluke Stanley Cup (yeah, I said it) notwithstanding -- and people are losing their f***ing minds over the fact that this team is only in 2nd place in the division in November?

Sebastian Aho is 25. Andrei Svechnikov is 22. Martin Necas is 23. Seth Jarvis just turned 20. This core will likely be in the playoff mix for the next decade.

When Tampa won their 2020 cup, Stamkos was 29, Hedman was 29, Kucherov was 26, Point was 23. The year before that, they won the Presidents Trophy and then got swept in the playoffs in the first round by Columbus.

The regular season doesn't mean shit, so long as they finish in the upper half of the league, which they will. This team is fine. They're slumping, they'll recover. The self-induced misery here just blows my mind.

2006 wasn't a fluke goddamn you. I mean look at that team. Household names who would go on to continue to kick ass in the twilight of their careers. And clutch guys like Chad LaRose who would now be jettisoned for interchangeable replacement parts thanks to Tulsky

I get that the "theory" now is build a team that can win in the playoffs, regular season be damned. But that theory was predicated on bringing in older dudes who used to be remarkably skilled who never won a cup and were hungry for one. Instead of, say, talented yet vicious players who may cost you a few in the season but harden the team for the grueling stretch. Only that strategy is as precarious as the tensile strength of a 34 year old achilles tendon on an injury prone player. And while the team manages to grind out meaningful points it does so in a manner that is disturbing, and unlikely sustainable, given an injury or two of the main guys.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

2006 wasn't a fluke goddamn you. I mean look at that team. Household names who would go on to continue to kick ass in the twilight of their careers. And clutch guys like Chad LaRose who would now be jettisoned for interchangeable replacement parts thanks to Tulsky

I get that the "theory" now is build a team that can win in the playoffs, regular season be damned. But that theory was predicated on bringing in older dudes who used to be remarkably skilled who never won a cup and were hungry for one. Instead of, say, talented yet vicious players who may cost you a few in the season but harden the team for the grueling stretch. Only that strategy is as precarious as the tensile strength of a 34 year old achilles tendon on an injury prone player. And while the team manages to grind out meaningful points it does so in a manner that is disturbing, and unlikely sustainable, given an injury or two of the main guys.

Two of the top six and the top goaltender. Pretty big absences! And yet.

Dude. Chill. It's gonna be okay. The team is good. Not so good that they can play bad all year, but good enough that they can play legit bad, for them, and still bank some points while they figure it all out.

 

[Negan4Coach]

Two of the top six and the top goaltender. Pretty big absences! And yet.

Dude. Chill. It's gonna be okay. The team is good. Not so good that they can play bad all year, but good enough that they can play legit bad, for them, and still bank some points while they figure it all out.

I never said it wasn't a good team. But it is not as good a team as last year. They did not upgrade the roster. That is what I find annoying.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

I never said it wasn't a good team. But it is not as good a team as last year. They did not upgrade the roster. That is what I find annoying.

We don't even know if they upgraded the roster until we see Patches play. We really won't know until the playoffs, when the new vets put it all on the line for that Cup run.

They made several attempts at more aggressive moves, and lost out to teams that were willing to mortgage their futures to a greater degree. This team isn't going to do that as long as Dundon is the owner, or at least not while this core is still so young. I get that it's annoying to some.

 

[LakeLivin]

We don't even know if they upgraded the roster until we see Patches play. We really won't know until the playoffs, when the new vets put it all on the line for that Cup run.

They made several attempts at more aggressive moves, and lost out to teams that were willing to mortgage their futures to a greater degree. This team isn't going to do that as long as Dundon is the owner, or at least not while this core is still so young. I get that it's annoying to some.

Of course it's annoying! When there's a window shouldn't you go through it no matter the cost or if you have no idea what's on the other side? I mean, look at Florida last season. In order to bolster their playoff run hopes they gave up two 1sts, a 3rd and a 6th, but look at how that paid off in the play . . . uh, never mind.