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Speculation: Isaac Howard & Tampa's Cap Crunch

bov said:
What is this based on?
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Watching him fumble f***ing the puck around all year, being caught out of position, lazy backchecks, etc. Keefe has called him out in the media for terrible games. He's not trending in the direction of star offensive defenseman like I thought he would have pre draft. Devils have too many right shot D: Hamilton, Pesce, Kovacevic, Casey, Nemec. If the Lightning trade Howard, I'd like Casey or Kovacevic personally, but not sure if the Devils would give up either.
 
Hockeyville USA said:
Watching him fumble f***ing the puck around all year, being caught out of position, lazy backchecks, etc. Keefe has called him out in the media for terrible games. He's not trending in the direction of star offensive defenseman like I thought he would have pre draft. Devils have too many right shot D: Hamilton, Pesce, Kovacevic, Casey, Nemec. If the Lightning trade Howard, I'd like Casey or Kovacevic personally, but not sure if the Devils would give up either.
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That's insanely harsh and impatient. Kid just turned 21, and Devils right side is stacked. "Nemec is ass" will age horribly, couldn't disagree more. Came to NA and put up very respectable numbers as a first time pro, he'll figure it out.
 
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If Im sharks Im offering Dallas first for him, maybe some small add, and try it to make it now and then sign him, if he wants to of course. Playing with either Smith or Celebrini would make any young player hyped
 
So he just has to wait 16 months and become a free agent after the biggest increase ever of the salary cap, and a ton of teams are guaranteed to have cap room?
Also the GM justified trading 2 1sts so they wouldn’t have regrets about not being all in this season, but it’s not clear they even offered to burn a year to carry the Hobey Baker winner on a playoff run, which is the bare minimum effort to sign a NCAA player?
Why would anyone sign?
 
howkie said:
If Im sharks Im offering Dallas first for him, maybe some small add, and try it to make it now and then sign him, if he wants to of course. Playing with either Smith or Celebrini would make any young player hyped
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Howard isn't anything we don't already have in our pool. I'd rather spend the Dallas 1st on a RHD, even if it's a depth guy or long-shot.
 
I feel like Chicago and Tampa align perfectly for a deal its just a matter of compensation. Chicago has an abundance of young D man plus 1st rd pick and 2nd rd picks to make this deal happen
 
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Zwui21 said:
Having just won the Hobey Baker, I'd say he's earned himself a chance to be tested on the main roster as soon as possible. How many Hobey Baker winners don't jump straight to the NHL but get sent to the AHL?
If I was Howard and saw both Leonard and Buium go straight to the show (not by joining desperate bottom feeders that need all the help they can get btw, but two playoff teams) and I wasn't, I'd be pissed as well.

Also, the AHL rite of passage has been in place because our prospect pool has been garbage (in term of top end talent) for the past 9 years. Obviously if you don't have blue chip prospects but just bottom 6 F and 3rd pair D, you can go that route.
This time is different, yet we decide to stick with this policy instead of being more pragmatic and act based on the possibility that Howard could make the jump to the NHL straight away.

Howard shouldn't be "handed" a roster spot period. But he should be handed the chance to show if he's worth a roster spot in the NHL, just like Leonard and Buium have.
What could possibly be the downside? I'd rather take a chance and "lose" an ELC year, than lose an asset with top line upside.
Scenario 1) You sign him, he's great and you gain a good player for the playoff run + the next two seasons with his ELC.
Scenario 2) You sign him, he's not impactful enough and decide whether to work with him during the summer or to trade him away (while signed to an ELC, being a more valuable asset on the market).
Scenario 3) You don't sign him, you make yourself a very bed publicity for all future NCAA free agents or picks, and then you either trade his unsigned rights away this summer for half his value (especially if he's already signed to commit to Michigan State) or you keep him to try and negociate again with him in April 2026 (with the result of likely losing him for nothing to UFA).

I sure as hell know what scenario I'd rather not go through, but it seems that JBB doesn't feel the same way.
We'll see, but to me how this thing is being handled and how it seems it will play out is just bad asset management.
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Winning a Hobey Baker, while nice, is no sure fire indication of any success in the league. Tampa couldn't have signed him until tomorrow anyway, even by waiving Atkinson. He doesn't deserve any top 6 or playoff time, and if he was to be signed, could have a few bottom 6 minutes the last couple of games.

Maybe JBB didn't want to burn the elc year, or maybe Howard is throwing a fit behind the scenes because he doesn't like the idea that he's likely facing a decent part of next year in Syracuse, as well as this season after the next week (had he been signed). Since no one on here knows what is exactly going on, I just find it funny how so many are saying JBB, a GM that one, hasn't made that many errors in player evaluations and signings, and two, has always been a good cap numbers guy, has somehow "fumbled" or ruined this situation. More than likely, JBB has had multiple discussions with Howard and his camp, and he either feels confident that Howard still wants to be a part of the organization after his career is done at MSU, or he doesn't and his likely talking with multiple teams (or will be) on a trade this summer.

In either case, since Howard remains, as of now, part of the Lightning organization., and there is no animosity between them according to reports, of course Tampa is going to promote and celebrate his accomplishment. In the end, he's a good, but not blue chip top 10 or even 25 prospect league wide, so whether he sons a Bolts sweater next season or Tampa likely gets good value from him in a trade, JBB and the team will move forward with bigger concerns and goals.
 
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BHFAN92 said:
I feel like Chicago and Tampa align perfectly for a deal its just a matter of compensation. Chicago has an abundance of young D man plus 1st rd pick and 2nd rd picks to make this deal happen
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If Tampa decides to trade him, I think Chicago is definitely one of the top teams in terms of what Tampa would be looking to acquire for him. Given Tampa would probably want to add a young dman given their current positional depth, maybe one of Korchinski or Rinzel, with picks added on each side as or if needed, to balance out the deal.
 
I'd do a Nemec for Howard trade. Might even lose long term for NJ but I'd much rather have young blood up front in the middle six than Palat or Haula.
 
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