I remember before he got drafted it seemed everyone(knew quite a few people went to school with him) was his best friend. I was like how the hell is everyone good friends with him.
The starting line-up is unquestionably better than last year simply because of Ekholm. Add in growth from Bouchard and even without any changes the defense is much better.
I’m like that too. I don’t gravitate to the star players, I tend to sidle up to the marginal, pluggers, tweeners and unsung. The guys that just go about their roles with little fanfare or recognition.
The contracts were earned through previous performance. Yamamoto's contract was signed out of a 20-20-40 season. That's in line with the $3.1m extension that he signed. Campbell is in the same boat. He was trending towards becoming a quality starter.Just some bizarre comments from Holland. Bemoaning the lack of contract space to keep players yet he signed guys like Campbell, Yama, etc to overpays to set up his own situation that he's complaining about. Also states that he likes Yama, felt that he was improving, the thought process is convuluted.
* Sigh*: Detroit looks for bigger role for Kostin, as Holland mourns loss of two useful forwards
Broberg not being traded in Edmonton, while Detroit looks for bigger role for Kostinedmontonjournal.com
At least Yzerman knows what Kostin is. One of the GM's does. They have all kinds of uses for Kostin and plan to use him in bigger roles. "we haven't figured out yet where Yama fits" lol, complete opposite views.
Of course Detroit see Kostin as the value, and Yama the contract they had to add in order to obtain Kostin. Kostin will sign in Detroit and the GM is telling him that he'll get his minutes.
Think it's went up what 2mil since he got here? All while still adding some pretty good players in Kane/Hyman/Ekholm. While retaining RNH at a reasonable contract.
The Yams season was outlier. Even a punter like me knew it was. He'll never hit 20 again. The likelihood with him is he was never a legit topsix player and its hard to fit him in and especially at this contract price as its too much for bottomsix.
Thats one way to look at it but I was looking at the playoff lineup which included Kostin.
It may have been, but that doesn't change the valuation of the contract. It was based on that production. It happened.
The cap going up by only $2M was very unfortunate for the Oilers. But in the end it may still turn out to be a bit of a blessing going forward. Holland was forced to work within very tight constraints. He has not really proven to be the best cap manager so this might be a good thing with pending new deals for McDavid and Leon.
The playoff line-up could be very different next spring than it is now.
Contracts are signed because managers are duped into thinking the players are worth it. Simple as that. Paying 6.2M for Yama was nuts and thats been confirmed. Not revisionist either, I was saying so at the time. There was no reason to sign that contract. Presumably Yams could have been moved at some point for an asset, but even that is iffy. Imagine signing a contract a year ago and having to get rid of it a year later. Imagine no team in the league willing to take on that contract without appreciably sweetening the pot. That is piss poor management in that particular instance.
Kane probably never hits the heights of his first season here. WE don't know either that the nerve and feeling in hand and the coordination ever goes back to where it was. That was a very serious injury. More than likely that he's not as sharp firing or handling the puck again. Hyman will never repeat the season he had. No way. Nuge, yeah, no where close. Then we tick off yet another year of McD and Drai getting older and Drai probably already at peak.
Dont get me wrong, this is all Hollands fault for overpaying Nurse, Campbell, Yams, etc. it’s a mess of his own doing but we can’t just unring the bell here and pretend those cap hits didn’t exist. It’s just simply math and it’s working against us unfortunately.
They are certainly better than the 2021-22 team as well. Even with regression this team should be a near lock for a top 2-3 finish in the Pacific unless McDavid or Leon are out for a long period.
Detroit is paper thin, of course they can find room for Kostin. I was saying it for days before the trade, and I'll stand by this statement. On Edmonton, he's a 4th liner. On lesser teams, he might be a middle sixer, but on Edmonton, he was a 4th liner unless he earned a spot in the top six, as our 3rd line was our energy/shut down guy line, and he wasn't a fit there. I'd love it if we manage to find a way to get him back, as long as its in the bottom line role, until he earns a spot on the 2nd line.Just some bizarre comments from Holland. Bemoaning the lack of contract space to keep players yet he signed guys like Campbell, Yama, etc to overpays to set up his own situation that he's complaining about. Also states that he likes Yama, felt that he was improving, the thought process is convuluted.
* Sigh*: Detroit looks for bigger role for Kostin, as Holland mourns loss of two useful forwards
Broberg not being traded in Edmonton, while Detroit looks for bigger role for Kostin
At least Yzerman knows what Kostin is. One of the GM's does. They have all kinds of uses for Kostin and plan to use him in bigger roles. "we haven't figured out yet where Yama fits" lol, complete opposite views.
Of course Detroit see Kostin as the value, and Yama the contract they had to add in order to obtain Kostin. Kostin will sign in Detroit and the GM is telling him that he'll get his minutes.
Archibald was a more reliable player for us than Kostin. He wasn't as flashy, and he was small, but he could kill penalties and be used in key situations, until COVID anyway.
I guess Kostin was the sweetner in that deal to Detroit.
It would be clever
Maybe that's a good reason not to bring him back, ha ha. If they're planning to have Kane, Hyman, Brown and one of Nuge or Drai (the other being 2C) as the top six wingers, bringing Yams back could make it tricky if Drai really wants Yams on his line.
