Waived: Engvall, Fasching, Foudy, Karlstrom, Bolduc, Hutton, Hogberg, Skarek

[Rehabguy]

Come on now. Dipietro? Yashin? Ladd?

All who played more than 1 year into their contracts before being waived. If you are not sure what your future may hold or what your options may be (as Lou readily admitted Tsyplakov acquisition changed things) you keep your options open by signing shorter contracts OR at the very least you try to sign a proven 1st or 2nd line player for that long a term and not roll the die like they did with Engvall and hope he turns into one. This is just terrible cap management.

 

[miscs75]

He’s clueless on how to make space or find the open space. Brett Hull wasn’t the fleetest of foot, but knew where to go.

You mean you’re not supposed to watch Barzal navigate the whole zone before he loses the puck due to your inability to get open?

 

[IslesNorway]

The Engvall deal was a complete brainfart and the whole world except Lou knew that. Who on earth gives a middle of the road plugger with no defensive or physical attributes a seven year deal?? Three years? Sure. But even Engvall himself must've been shocked at that. He will be back in the NHL shortly though. Once the injuries hit, he will be recalled and has hopefully learned enough to improve his game,

 

[Bronson]

Certainly not ideal but depth is a good thing to have.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

The Engvall deal was a complete brainfart and the whole world except Lou knew that. Who on earth gives a middle of the road plugger with no defensive or physical attributes a seven year deal?? Three years? Sure. But even Engvall himself must've been shocked at that. He will be back in the NHL shortly though. Once the injuries hit, he will be recalled and has hopefully learned enough to improve his game,

Having followed Engvall a bit while coming up in Sweden and then seeing how he forced himself into becoming a topic for Toronto in a system that was chock full of bubble prospects of a similar ilk, and having seen the highlights along the way where he had had a few special moments where he basically moved through defenses like a truck to score or set up a goal, I really think Lou acquired him - and was then inspired enough after his 24-game debut - to believe he was going to be a long-term 20-25-45 complimentary winger on a 2nd or 3rd line for a good half a dozen years.

A risky move, no doubt.

And yes, I think we've all seen a few things from him to understand that gamble (I mean, you've gotta take a few along the way), even if we can all recognize that he has a game that plenty of fans and pundits out there don't really have any time for.

But it's a gamble. It was a gamble before the ink was dry.

And we all know that both his and Mayfield's contract lengths (but especially his) led to raised eyebrows everywhere in the hockey community, although we should all recognize that we're in an age in this business where if GMs want to keep their middle-range players at average prices, about the only decisive incentive is adding job security in the form of years on the contract.

***
This will all prolly be a cap-compliance blip on the radar.

Don't get too used to seeing him off the roster, even if we can hope that Dubas was enough of a fanboy or Columbus could envision him being an answer in light of their cap space and (unfortunate) situation (even after adding Labanc).

ASIDE:
I'd add that it seems like there are several trades every season that first take place after players safely make their way through waivers. You'll often here voices saying "What? Why didn't they just take this guy for free off of waivers?", but that's not taking into account that such a move only makes sense if you have that roster spot open for him in the here and now AND you you're not keen on jetisoning another contract in order to acquire that guy.

 

[IslesNorway]

Having followed Engvall a bit while coming up in Sweden and then seeing how he forced himself into becoming a topic for Toronto in a system that was chock full of bubble prospects of a similar ilk, and having seen the highlights along the way where he had had a few special moments where he basically moved through defenses like a truck to score or set up a goal, I really think Lou acquired him - and was then inspired enough after his 24-game debut - to believe he was going to be a long-term 20-25-45 complimentary winger on a 2nd or 3rd line for a good half a dozen years.

A risky move, no doubt.

And yes, I think we've all seen a few things from him to understand that gamble (I mean, you've gotta take a few along the way), even if we can all recognize that he has a game that plenty of fans and pundits out there don't really have any time for.

But it's a gamble. It was a gamble before the ink was dry.

And we all know that both his and Mayfield's contract lengths (but especially his) led to raised eyebrows everywhere in the hockey community, although we should all recognize that we're in an age in this business where if GMs want to keep their middle-range players at average prices, about the only decisive incentive is adding job security in the form of years on the contract.

***
This will all prolly be a cap-compliance blip on the radar.

Don't get too used to seeing him off the roster, even if we can hope that Dubas was enough of a fanboy or Columbus could envision him being an answer in light of their cap space and (unfortunate) situation (even after adding Labanc).

ASIDE:
I'd add that it seems like there are several trades every season that first take place after players safely make their way through waivers. You'll often here voices saying "What? Why didn't they just take this guy for free off of waivers?", but that's not taking into account that such a move only makes sense if you have that roster spot open for him in the here and now AND you you're not keen on jetisoning another contract in order to acquire that guy.

True, and you often see players just waived traded for one another, or AHL players moved for players just waived. It's a numbers game at this point. Every year good players pass through waivers and there are strange pickups nobody saw coming. The Engvall case is interesting because of the length of his deal. Would he stick it out in Bridgeport for six more years in the hope of resurrecting himself and making tons of money setting him up for life, or does he go to Europe and have a decent career without all the money? I think he sticks arund for this season, but after that, who knows?

 

[Lek]

Well....according to the Athletic, we waived two of the top ten biggest names available after waivers in Engval and Bolduc...guess that means we are improved?

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

True, and you often see players just waived traded for one another, or AHL players moved for players just waived. It's a numbers game at this point. Every year good players pass through waivers and there are strange pickups nobody saw coming. The Engvall case is interesting because of the length of his deal. Would he stick it out in Bridgeport for six more years in the hope of resurrecting himself and making tons of money setting him up for life, or does he go to Europe and have a decent career without all the money? I think he sticks arund for this season, but after that, who knows?

If anything, we can safely assume that Lou would definitely be open to hearing offers, even if only really sensible for anyone if another team has their own "Engvall"-style contract to get rid of as well.

 

[slurpee addict]

A bit of a surprise, sure. But I’m encouraged by the indication that we have a coach that has the steel to make tough decisions and that management and ownership respect that steel and smarts enough to back him. Engvall, while speedy at times and somewhat promising at other times lacked consistency and grit to play on line three or four, and nowhere near skilled enough to play higher in the lineup. Adious.

 

[Rehabguy]

As bad a cap management situation this may be I can sorta understand why Lou felt compelled to make such an offer to Engvall when he realized as every GM before him realized that none of the big names want to sign here. We were fortunate with Horvat but he’s wasn’t exactly an A1 pending UFA. So Lou learned to take a beggars can’t be choosers mentality and a let’s throw it at the wall and see if it sticks approach to acquiring talent. Fortune shined upon the Islanders and Tsyplakov comes out of nowhere and we are gifted Eiserman. So he had the option to place Engvall on waivers, but he can’t admit his mistake because that lessens the chance any team would pick him up on waivers. In the end it’s all good but it would have been nice to have that cap space back.

Also apparently Tsyplakov wanted to play for Roy and it was Lou who pulled him back into the NHL. So there’s that. I’ll give Lou a pass on this one. All GMs seem to make knuckle head decisions at times.

 

[crashthenet]

They're the 12th and 13th forwards, and they play with 2 guys who do. All the options have holes in their games (for $1m or less there are going to be holes). Roy and Lou apparently think they'll be better fits than the other options.

The hole is usually offensive production. Fasching, Gauthier and Wahlstrom have been borderline useless in the Dzone. Fasching hasn't finished a check since PeeWee and Wahlstrom, well you can't hit what you can't catch. I don't see them getting it done on the forecheck.

I get the 12th/13th forward thing but you can't say Engvall can't play 4th line and these guys are better options. You can say you overpayed the guy and now send him to Bridgeport for cap purposes.

I have concerns going forward about the teams ability to defend. Dobson is a suspect defender. Reilly in contrast to last season has been labeled as one. Cholowski is also not a defensive stalwart. Given Pelech and Mayfield's ability to stay in the line-up it's a concern. Putting sub-standard defensive forwards on the 4th line isn't going to help us. Not sure Fasching or Gauthier should be ahead of a Clutterbuck on a league minimum contract playing short minutes?

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

Also apparently Tsyplakov wanted to play for Roy and it was Lou who pulled him back into the NHL. So there’s that. I’ll give Lou a pass on this one. All GMs seem to make knuckle head decisions at times.

Not back.

Our Tsyplakov was never drafted and this is his first time playing outside of Russia.

There have been a few other Tsyplakovs around the NHL along the way, so perhaps you're thinking of one of them?

 

[Rehabguy]

Not back.

Our Tsyplakov was never drafted and this is his first time playing outside of Russia.

There have been a few other Tsyplakovs around the NHL along the way, so perhaps you're thinking of one of them?

Sorry bad writing. I meant he pulled Roy back into the NHL and Tsyplakov wanted to play for him.