Player Discussion Dakota Joshua | Shut up and give him his money!

[ManVanFan]

Blake Coleman has earned his keep every season. If he was popping 30 goals on a consistent basis he'd be one of the biggest recent UFA bargains. Tilts the ice in 5v5 play, is a good PKer, misses very few games and he averages 20 goals per 82 games despite not getting much PP time. He's what the Canucks hoped that Mikheyev would be.

Every article about Blake Coleman has said that his first two seasons were very underwhelming. Not a single article I just viewed said that he played up to his contract in the first two seasons.

 

[Blue and Green]

Every article about Blake Coleman has said that his first two seasons were very underwhelming. Not a single article I just viewed said that he played up to his contract in the first two seasons.

Coleman is a very consistent, well-rounded and durable player who helps his team in a lot of ways. Not really a PP guy so his scoring stats don't stand out but he's a good 5v5 goal scorer. He got more ice time this season with Calgary losing their high-end LW talents, plus he scored a bunch of goals into empty nets, so he hit the 30 mark and suddenly people think he jumped up as a player,

 

[F A N]

Coleman is a very consistent, well-rounded and durable player who helps his team in a lot of ways. Not really a PP guy so his scoring stats don't stand out but he's a good 5v5 goal scorer. He got more ice time this season with Calgary losing their high-end LW talents, plus he scored a bunch of goals into empty nets, so he hit the 30 mark and suddenly people think he jumped up as a player,

Yep. His first season in Calgary when Calgary actually made the playoffs, Coleman had 16 goals 38 points. It was a 6x$4.9M contract to a player turning 30 in a flat cap environment. Good player that many here liked but that’s a risky contract. Most players don’t have a career year at age 32.

 

[Jerry the great]

Yep. His first season in Calgary when Calgary actually made the playoffs, Coleman had 16 goals 38 points. It was a 6x$4.9M contract to a player turning 30 in a flat cap environment. Good player that many here liked but that’s a risky contract. Most players don’t have a career year at age 32.

Blake Coleman got that contract because he is an extremely good 5v5 player and he's been the best penalty killing forward for years. He's an absolute burner that generates a ton of chances short handed and buries a lot of them (leads the league in short handed goals since he became an NHL regular). I think people underestimate the value of these types of players (next up for a payday will be McLeod next summer). Short handed goals are massive momentum flippers/generators and guys that shut down PPs and generate chances short handed are important and they get paid. The is precisely the reason we brought Mikheyev in...to be this player. Another candidate that they should have been grooming for this kind of role is Sam Lafferty.

Joshua is a good penalty killer, but he'll never be a Coleman kind of threat short handed because he isn't nearly a good enough skater. I do think there's a chance he could be a 20-30 goal guy....particularly if he works on the PP.

 

[Blue and Green]

Yep. His first season in Calgary when Calgary actually made the playoffs, Coleman had 16 goals 38 points. It was a 6x$4.9M contract to a player turning 30 in a flat cap environment. Good player that many here liked but that’s a risky contract. Most players don’t have a career year at age 32.

I know a lot of people didn't like that contract but I thought it was fine. He struck me as a guy whose game would probably age well and that's turning out to be the case.

 

[AlainVigneaultsGum]

Bump. Looked very, very good tonight. Ball of steel.

Was fully prepared to lose my shit if he scored on that wraparound lolololol.

 

[F A N]

Blake Coleman got that contract because he is an extremely good 5v5 player and he's been the best penalty killing forward for years. He's an absolute burner that generates a ton of chances short handed and buries a lot of them (leads the league in short handed goals since he became an NHL regular). I think people underestimate the value of these types of players (next up for a payday will be McLeod next summer). Short handed goals are massive momentum flippers/generators and guys that shut down PPs and generate chances short handed are important and they get paid. The is precisely the reason we brought Mikheyev in...to be this player. Another candidate that they should have been grooming for this kind of role is Sam Lafferty.

Joshua is a good penalty killer, but he'll never be a Coleman kind of threat short handed because he isn't nearly a good enough skater. I do think there's a chance he could be a 20-30 goal guy....particularly if he works on the PP.

I know a lot of people didn't like that contract but I thought it was fine. He struck me as a guy whose game would probably age well and that's turning out to be the case.

Missed responding to these posts. I think Coleman was/is a great player. But at the end of the day he was more or less an elite-level 3rd line winger on a contender. Take away last season and he put up 16-18 goals 33-38 points in his first two seasons in Calgary. This season he's on pace for the same. No matter which way you slice he's being paid $4.9M to put up those numbers on the wing. If a contender can somehow afford that then he's a valuable player to have. But as we have seen, if Coleman is playing up the lineup you don't have a really good team.

I forgot why the Coleman comparison was made but Joshua was in a different situation and for 4x$3.25M AAV, paying Joshua for his aged 28-31 years is a better bargain IMO.