Confirmed with Link: (G) J. Markstrom (30% retention) traded to NJ for (D) Kevin Bahl, 2025 1st rd pick (Top 10 protected)

[JimEIV]

Interesting that on the athletic they said that they would prefer holtz + second round pick over Bahl + protected first for Calgary

Of course I don't know but I would bet Holtz + second round pick was the starting point that turned into Bahl + 1st.

 

[Forge]

Of course I don't know but I would bet Holtz + second round pick was the starting point that turned into Bahl + 1st.

I could see it for sure

 

[Moist ReadOnly]

Of course I don't know but I would bet Holtz + second round pick was the starting point that turned into Bahl + 1st.

I could see it from our end; we believe Holtz is worth more than a mid to late 1st with where he is currently at, and Calgary gets to make their own pick while maintaining a 2nd round pick value in Bahl

Wouldn't be surprised though if Holtz still goes in a bigger deal for a defenseman; I would personally keep him out of any deal for a forward who doesnt have term (or we strongly believe would resign)

 

[Triumph]

I could see it from our end; we believe Holtz is worth more than a mid to late 1st with where he is currently at, and Calgary gets to make their own pick while maintaining a 2nd round pick value in Bahl

Wouldn't be surprised though if Holtz still goes in a bigger deal for a defenseman; I would personally keep him out of any deal for a forward who doesnt have term (or we strongly believe would resign)

Holtz is worth nowhere close to a mid to late 1st, I cannot imagine the organization thinking this about him.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

You are right about Bahl. Look at what happened to Sharangovich. This could be the Toffoli trade all over again

Sharangovich was the exact same player in Calgary that he was in NJ. He just got way more opportunity there than he ever would have here.

 

[Darkauron]

Yeah shara is good, but he is so streaky and he would not have been able to get as much minutes here.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

New coach and new systems in every zone. Whatever your perceived notion of this roster is, it’s probably going to change 10 games in. This defense is the most talented Keefe has ever had, I would love to get another LHD that can kill penalties but that will be up to Fitz. No point arguing in June before FA.

 

[Guttersniped]

This move seals it for me. I'm ready to say Fitz is a mediocre, at best, GM and this team isn't taking the next step with him making decisions. I admire the majority of this places ability to positively spin anything this team does, while condescendingly chastising anyone that questions Emperor Fitz.

A couple year review for Fitz:
1) Meier trade was a pure hockey trade. Devs overpaid a bit imo considering the circumstances, but it made sense. Can't blame a GM for that, but he also doesn't deserve a ribbon for a fair-ish value trade.
2) The horrific, unjustifiable Palat contract that hurt this team from day 1. This place of course blindly defended this albatross of a contract somehow, saying it's okay to overpay because we had cap space. That changed quick, eh? It's one thing to overpay by >$1m aav, that happens a lot. It's another to overpay aav and give absurd term to an old, complementary player.
3) Proceeded to cling to Ruff when it was obvious he lost the team. Several of us were fearful of this EXACT scenario considering anyone objective realized the Devs easily could have gotten humiliated by the Rags in round 1 if Schmid didn't play out of his mind. The team was also entirely uncompetitive in the majority of their playoffs games
4) ^ Held onto Ruff while also not fixing the one alleged excuse Ruff had: goaltending. Then finally knee jerk "addresses" goaltending after firing Ruff. WTF??

So let's now transition to Fitz/Brodeur and the goaltending fiasco in honor of this thread:
1) They hilariously sign Corey Crawford when he was 110% obviously cooked. I literally ranted this from day 1 of signing. I have no idea how anyone watching hockey could have offered Crawford that contract. None. Hockey malpractice. Underrated and overlooked as one of the dumbest GM decisions I've ever seen. They are fortunate it didn't hurt them more. Ironically, I see the same people in this thread that hilariously defended the Crawford move and chastised any criticism....now condemning anyone on the fence with this trade. Now, these moves aren't on the same level, but you get the point.

2) This past season, the Kahk trade made a ton of sense. Love that trade. Wanted it earlier in the season if possible, but better late than never. Good job Fi......wait, what?? They traded WHAT for Allen?? As I've ranted before, the Allen trade was mind-numbingly stupid. Insane overpay and directly hindered any likelihood of re-signing Kahk, while still leaving a hole at goalie. So they gave up material assets for an old goalie that wanted off his current team and has looked rough for a while now...in a lost season. Do people here think the GMs of the 16 playoff teams are stupid??? Isn't it weird not a single one of them wanted to add vet Allen as goalie depth for a run??

3) So now we aren't re-signing the youngest goalie (Kahk) of the 3, while paying material assets for a soon to be 35 year old goalie with more miles on him (NHL+) than a 1991 Toyota Camry. Spare me the advanced stats. The guy was average 3 of the past 4 years. He has a career losing record despite playing for mostly competitive teams. Look, is he an upgrade at goalie? Obviously, but that's a low bar. A GM can make this trade if they have made the playoffs for several years and feel they are right on the cusp of winning the Cup. The Devs just missed the friggin playoffs by a mile! And in a season where the Washington Corpses and Isles made it.

Bahl isn't a nothing add btw. An NHL dman at $1m aav and RFA status isn't worthless. I agree with the frustration in him not being physical enough, but he's already a bottom pair dman without that element. God forbid he ever gets even a touch of a mean streak...

Your list of hysterical grievances are definitely bolstered by your prosecution complex.

I had a longer response, but it’s not worth it.

I will point out, I do enjoy how you make false claims about board take on Palat’s contract to claim victory. (You didn’t like it? Wow, what a lone prophet. Please bitch about it more so we can drink in this unique wisdom.)

And how you also sound like your still disappointed about the Round 1 win in last years’ playoffs, which is predictable, because the only joy you know is dancing on the teams’ grave here when things go wrong.

And you complain about Crawford like anyone gives a f***.

I’m pretty neutral to this trade, not crazy about the short term aspect at this cost, but he was going to do something.

But I guess setting your hair on fire and screaming hysterically is another way to respond.

 

[AfroThunder396]

I can't wait for Sharangovich to regress to 14 goals this year and sign a 1 year deal with Columbus next summer. Maybe then people will stop wringing their hands over him like we gave up prime Mogilny or something.

 

[Guttersniped]

You mean Mermis

I loved Dakota Mermis. Don’t mock the Merman for cheap board likes sir.

 

[TrufleShufle]

I can't wait for Sharangovich to regress to 14 goals this year and sign a 1 year deal with Columbus next summer. Maybe then people will stop wringing their hands over him like we gave up prime Mogilny or something.

If you want to be less annoyed by it you can look to find those people and posts. I'm sure what you find will make you feel better.

 

[Guttersniped]

Honestly if Calgary continues to develop our players better than us serious questions need to be asked about Fitz and his player development team.

Sharangovich was basically the same player here, he shot better last year and played more.

We also traded him at ~200 GP which fits the 200/400 GP theory, which is forwards improve after ~200 GP and defensemen after ~400 GP.

Bahl is going to be a NHL player, we didn’t cut him, we traded him. He’ll get better.

If you want regret every trade, because the players you traded succeeded afterwards, than maybe you don’t want trades involving players.

Could be a compound effect. So, I think it might be hard to isolate. Mercer is non top 5 draft pick we've developed but the other cast were just good to begin with. Of course, there's Bratt.

We developed Sharongovich into a NHL player.

 

[Guttersniped]

Interesting that on the athletic they said that they would prefer holtz + second round pick over Bahl + protected first for Calgary

I would have preferred that too. In fact I have trouble seeing how Holtz and 2nd isn’t a clearly worse return for Calgary.

Worse player and worse pick.

 

[bigd]

The last thing we needed was a goalie at the expense of Defensemen. Even if that Dman was slated for depth.

Our defense was worse than our goaltending.

Bahl was nothing special, should be easily replaceable through free agency.

 

[JimEIV]

Bahl was nothing special, should be easily replaceable through free agency.

I know...were replacing Toffoli, McLeod, Bahl, adding some extra grit, getting a #1 LHD, getting some extra center depth.... it's easy to do I've been told every off season.

 

[bigd]

I guess we'll see if Dougie will be used as a PKer. Ruff refused to use him but so did a lot of other coaches...

Even in Carolina the 1:25 year he was the 5th PKer....the 2:19 year was really the only year he was a legit PKer and he was #4

We don't want Dougie PKing. He's too valuable elsewhere to be blocking shots and risking more injuries.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

I know...were replacing Toffoli, McLeod, Bahl, adding some extra grit, getting a #1 LHD, getting some extra center depth.... it's easy to do I've been told every off season.

Healthy Jack, Dougie, and Timo with a stabilized goalie situation is, what, 10 times more important than all that? 20? We will be addressing most or all of that stuff (it is June 20), but that’s secondary to the franchise players being good to go.

 

[Forge]

I know...were replacing Toffoli, McLeod, Bahl, adding some extra grit, getting a #1 LHD, getting some extra center depth.... it's easy to do I've been told every off season.

Doing all that is not easy. But nobody is saying all that is easy when they say Bahl is easily replaced. You know that

 

[MasterofGrond]

So far, this off-season, Fitz has done the single most important thing he said he was going to do. The finals aren’t even over.

Why be mad about him not yet solving every other problem

 

[TrufleShufle]

Doing all that is not easy. But nobody is saying all that is easy when they say Bahl is easily replaced. You know that

Too be fair, I have heard "easily replaced" about a lot of guys we haven't really replaced. So I get where he's coming from.

I'm not worried and nothing but excited for the off-season pick ups and coming season regardless, but just saying.

With all the things we need to add, we 100% need to inject guys with speed back into the lineup. Such a big help to have so much of the team just flying out there.

 

[Devs3cups]

So far, this off-season, Fitz has done the single most important thing he said he was going to do. The finals aren’t even over.

Why be mad about him not yet solving every other problem

Getting Markstrom on the low and getting Keefe as HC is a solid start to the off-season imo.

 

[JimEIV]

Doing all that is not easy. But nobody is saying all that is easy when they say Bahl is easily replaced. You know that

But you also know they reality is Bahl is not being replaced. A top 2 LHD that can kill penalties is what is needed....what Bahl couldn't provide as a 23 year old first full year NHLer is what needs to be replaced.

So saying "Bahl is easily replaced" is really nonsense.

 

[Forge]

Too be fair, I have heard "easily replaced" about a lot of guys we haven't really replaced. So I get where he's coming from.

I'm not worried and nothing but excited for the off-season pick ups and coming season regardless, but just saying.

With all the things we need to add, we 100% need to inject guys with speed back into the lineup. Such a big help to have so much of the team just flying out there.

That's one of those things where I think you hear that a lot because people are often talking about that specific person on an individual basis. I wouldn't say that Toffoli is easily to replace, though you were able to find middle six wingers in the trade market pretty reasonably during the flat cap era. We'll see if that holds true moving forward.

Bahl, grit? easy to replace. Mcleod from 23-24 not easy to replace, mikey from years before that would be much easier to replace. #1 LHD? Hell no not easy to replace (or find lol). Sometimes, you get caught in the middle ground where you have a guy who is not easy to replace, but it is in the teams best interest to try to rather than bring that person back (this is Toffoli, Graves, Severson).

Now, being easy to replace doesn't mean that Fitz actually does it. And that's where Jim may have a viable complaint (though not yet this year since we haven't reached the point where the real stuff starts going).

 

[MasterofGrond]

But you also know they reality is Bahl is not being replaced. A top 2 LHD that can kill penalties is what is needed....what Bahl couldn't provide as a 23 year old first full year NHLer is what needs to be replaced.

So saying "Bahl is easily replaced" is really nonsense.

Ok then why be salty he’s gone?

 

[TrufleShufle]

That's one of those things where I think you hear that a lot because people are often talking about that specific person on an individual basis. I wouldn't say that Toffoli is easily to replace, though you were able to find middle six wingers in the trade market pretty reasonably during the flat cap era. We'll see if that holds true moving forward.

Bahl, grit? easy to replace. Mcleod from 23-24 not easy to replace, mikey from years before that would be much easier to replace. #1 LHD? Hell no not easy to replace (or find lol). Sometimes, you get caught in the middle ground where you have a guy who is not easy to replace, but it is in the teams best interest to try to rather than bring that person back (this is Toffoli, Graves, Severson).

Now, being easy to replace doesn't mean that Fitz actually does it. And that's where Jim may have a viable complaint (though not yet this year since we haven't reached the point where the real stuff starts going).

That all makes sense and I agree, but I have heard and seen "he's easily replaced in FA" "plenty of guys like that at the deadline/FA every year" way more than just about Bahl. And it is always about an individual player, but it's been said a lot about a lot of them.