Confirmed with Link: Lightning sign Cam Atkinson | 1 year, $900K AAV

[DFC]

I just don't understand the prioritization. We need a 2RW. There were guys out there. A lot of them got signed for less than we could afford. We've now signed multiple guys under a million to be depth players, which meant letting 2nd line guys get signed elsewhere and adds up to having less money for one if we can even find one.

If 800k guys are a dime a dozen then it's absolutely idiotic signing ones early and eating into the cap that we need for another big roster spot.

800k does not eat into cap. Only contracts above minimum eat cap. That's why this doesn't matter either way. It's not taking cap from another player we might add.

J.T Miller was worse. He was a throw in by the NYR who couldn't wait to get rid of him and went and did it here in ultimate bozo fashion. It makes me happy to see him thriving in Vancouver. It was the place he needed to be the player everyone saw he could be

Didn't come easy there either. His first couple of years it seemed he was always on the block.

 

[These Are The Days]

800k does not eat into cap. Only contracts above minimum eat cap. That's why this doesn't matter either way. It's not taking cap from another player we might add.


Didn't come easy there either. His first couple of years it seemed he was always on the block.

Sometimes on cold dark nights I can hear Sky's voice howling "I TOLD YOU SO ABOUT MILLER" riding on that fog over the lakes

 

[Rschmitz]

Tarasenko would be my top choice, but if he's too pricey, no problem. Roslovic is more than capable in the role they'd be looking to fill. The last 3 years he's been roughly a .6 ppg 50 point type with Columbus, and although his shorr stint with the NYR didn't go as well, it was a.very small sample size after the tdl. Sprong is weaker defensively, but has good offensive capabilities and could also fit well with Hagel-Cirelli on the 2nd line.

Roslovic and Sprong are big dice rolls.

I don't think the juice is worth the squeeze with those two. I understand if you disagree

 

[Hockeyville USA]

I like the value bin, dumpster diving bargain gamble here. The 2nd and 3rd lines look relatively underwhelming, but we could squeeze out 15-18 goals out of Atkinson, which is good value at under $1 million AAV

 

[DistantThunderRep]

I like the value bin, dumpster diving bargain gamble here. The 2nd and 3rd lines look relatively underwhelming, but we could squeeze out 15-18 goals out of Atkinson, which is good value at under $1 million AAV

We said the same thing last season.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

We said the same thing last season.

Problem is BriseBois gave Sheary term, Atkinson at one year is extremely easy to stomach

 

[DistantThunderRep]

Problem is BriseBois gave Sheary term, Atkinson at one year is extremely easy to stomach

Don't disagree. Just saying we all the looked at vet dumpster diving with rose coloured glasses before.

 

[Zwui21]

I don't buy the fact that we are done.
Sheary has to be on his way out, Atkinson being his replacement.
If this wasn't the case, yikes.
Cause at least if you wanna gamble on a low AAV bringing a decent contribution, you do so with a young player that hasn't been given a qualifying offer (A. Nylander) but has shown to be a decent asset.
Not with a 35 y/o that missed the whole 22-23 season and played a mediocre 23-24 season.

 

[Crunchrulz]

Ironic that some of the comments here have gone from "We don't need one dimensional face punchers like Watson and Jeannot" to "Team is kind of soft and small now".

Egads folks.

 

[Zwui21]

I mean, c'mon, this to me seems like Namestnikov and Sheary allover again. Only positive thing is the cap hit, so whatever. But don't even think of him as 2RW

https://x.com/i/web/status/1808250942384754909

 

[Rschmitz]

I mean, c'mon, this to me seems like Namestnikov and Sheary allover again. Only positive thing is the cap hit, so whatever. But don't even think of him as 2RW

https://x.com/i/web/status/1808250942384754909

Atkinson's stat line before last year

I don't like the comparison to Names and Sheary, those two never came lose to Atkinson's numbers. The big question mark is age, because the bottom looks like it fell out last year. This is JBB betting that it hasn't.

I agree with you that this is a big gamble as a 2RW though

 

[Todd1a]

I really can’t say anything bad about this signing it’s totally different then the Sheary signing this is 900 k 1 year no risk and all reward

 

[Bartleby]

Atkinson's stat line before last year

View attachment 891617

I don't like the comparison to Names and Sheary, those two never came lose to Atkinson's numbers. The big question mark is age, because the bottom looks like it fell out last year. This is JBB betting that it hasn't.

I agree with you that this is a big gamble as a 2RW though

There are no big gambles for this team at this stage of things. We have two Cups, four finals appearances, 6 Conf finals, HOFs everywhere. Roll the dice, make the moves. It's all gravy before the inevitable major reset. Excited to see some new blood.

 

[JTBF81]

Roslovic and Sprong are big dice rolls.

I don't think the juice is worth the squeeze with those two. I understand if you disagree

How is Roslovic a dice roll? You know what you're getting pretty much, at least based on the last 3 seasons. Sprong is more of a gamble and also relatively weak defensively, which doesn't really fit JBB's plan for making the team better defensively. Roslovic would fit well though imo, and with some saying a projected cap hit around 3, Tampa could make it work relatively easily if Sheary is gone.

 

[Antiramie]

800k does not eat into cap. Only contracts above minimum eat cap. That's why this doesn't matter either way. It's not taking cap from another player we might add.

But a bunch of the guys we signed will likely be on the game 1 roster. I get that some of them will be depth pieces whose contracts won't count toward the cap, but some will. But I'm 99.9% sure that anyone on an NHL roster, no matter what their AAV is, counts against the cap. Correct me if I'm wrong. It's only a minimum for guys not in the NHL.

So again I don't know why we wouldn't try to sign our big pieces first and then worry about depth ones than vice versa. 4th line guys are way easier to find than value 2nd line ones. Seems like it'd be easier to acquire the latter first and see what cap you have left to work with than the opposite way.

 

[DFC]

Where are you seeing this? I read that only players who are in the AHL that have an AAV under $1.075M don't count against the cap. There's no mention of a minimum to count against the cap for guys on NHL rosters.

Not to mention as soon as Atkinson was announced, his AAV was subtracted from our total cap space on Capfriendly and other sites.

Because somebody has to occupy that roster space. If it's league min, we have to pay it no matter who it goes to. Could be an AHLer or whatever. It would only be really cap space gone if you could pay a player 0 dollars, but you cant, so league minimum becomes 0 dollars.

 

[Antiramie]

Because somebody has to occupy that roster space. If it's league min, we have to pay it no matter who it goes to. Could be an AHLer or whatever. It would only be really cap space gone if you could pay a player 0 dollars, but you cant, so league minimum becomes 0 dollars.

Read my edit before you replied. It's kind of redundant/reworded but also hits on more of what I meant. I guess I meant it's more about getting the big fish signed than the depth guys. But I do think every dollar counts. Girgs + Cam are $200k above league minimum. I don't think that's an insignificant AAV amount to try and outbid another team for a 2nd liner. I dunno maybe those guys are that big of steals for their contracts, but personally I'd rather have the top end of my lineup set before the bottom.

Maybe JBB still has a deal in the works or a plan to fill that spot. I'm just hoping we're not trying to sign a bunch of cheap options in hopes one magically has a resurgence vs someone who's proven they can produce higher in a lineup.

 

[DFC]

But a bunch of the guys we signed will likely be on the game 1 roster. I get that some of them will be depth pieces whose contracts won't count toward the cap, but some will. But I'm 99.9% sure that anyone on an NHL roster, no matter what their AAV is, counts against the cap. Correct me if I'm wrong. It's only a minimum for guys not in the NHL.

So again I don't know why we wouldn't try to sign our big pieces first and then worry about depth ones than vice versa. 4th line guys are way easier to find than value 2nd line ones. Seems like it'd be easier to acquire the latter first and see what cap you have left to work with than the opposite way.

I don't think you're understanding what I'm saying. Construct a 23 man roster with Cam Atkinson on it. Then construct a 23 man roster with him not on it. Count the cap and see the difference.

 

[DFC]

Sometimes on cold dark nights I can hear Sky's voice howling "I TOLD YOU SO ABOUT MILLER" riding on that fog over the lakes

Yeah but you can reply with "I TOLD YOU SO ABOUT HAGEL!" We've all taken our Ls.

 

[Sky04]

Yeah but you can reply with "I TOLD YOU SO ABOUT HAGEL!" We've all taken our Ls.

Nah I think the Sergachev call bought us some breathing room.

 

[DFC]

Nah I think the Sergachev call bought us some breathing room.

Yeah, we were early on that train. "McDonagh's coming back? Somebody pack Sergachev's sxxx."

 

[Antiramie]

I don't think you're understanding what I'm saying. Construct a 23 man roster with Cam Atkinson on it. Then construct a 23 man roster with him not on it. Count the cap and see the difference.

But Cam and Girgs were signed above league minimum, so wouldn't your point about league minimum signings not mattering be moot? They're still eating into the cap, even if it's relatively small.

And I didn't literally mean just $800k contracts. I was just throwing out an arbitrary number to prove a point. Every dollar counts if it's over $775k.

Maybe I'm splitting hairs I dunno.

Again, I think it's more about not seeing any concrete plan for the 2nd line. And every depth player with "upside" that we sign seems to point to JBB hoping he can find a diamond in the rough for cheap.

Maybe he's got something he working out. Maybe he's waiting to see how much it'll cost to sign Moser. But all the solid options are pretty much gone now. Just playing devil's advocate. Still hopeful we'll fill that spot, but it's looking less likely with every passing day.

 

[DFC]

But Cam and Girgs were signed above league minimum, so wouldn't your point about league minimum signings not mattering be moot? They're still eating into the cap, even if it's relatively small.

And I didn't literally mean just $800k contracts. I was just throwing out an arbitrary number to prove a point. Every dollar counts if it's over $775k.

Maybe I'm splitting hairs I dunno.

Again, I think it's more about not seeing any concrete plan for the 2nd line. And every depth player with "upside" that we sign seems to point to JBB hoping he can find a diamond in the rough for cheap.

Maybe he's got something he working out. Maybe he's waiting to see how much it'll cost to sign Moser. But all the solid options are pretty much gone now. Just playing devil's advocate. Still hopeful we'll fill that spot, but it's looking less likely with every passing day.

I mean, if you think 75k is gonna be the difference between an impact player signing or not...

But even so, I dont mind making sure we don't have AHLers in the line up, or at least giving the a safety net.

 

[Rschmitz]

How is Roslovic a dice roll? You know what you're getting pretty much, at least based on the last 3 seasons. Sprong is more of a gamble and also relatively weak defensively, which doesn't really fit JBB's plan for making the team better defensively. Roslovic would fit well though imo, and with some saying a projected cap hit around 3, Tampa could make it work relatively easily if Sheary is gone.

If we "know what [we're] getting" with him, than I pass. He's never produced like a second line forward, only way I'd want him is if we feel he take another step and finally be a consistent 20g 50pt guy. That's the gamble

 

[JTBF81]

If we "know what [we're] getting" with him, than I pass. He's never produced like a second line forward, only way I'd want him is if we feel he take another step and finally be a consistent 20g 50pt guy. That's the gamble

His last 3 years with Columbus he had 45, 44, and 23 in 40 games before the trade. He has pretty much been on that 45-50 point trajectory the last 3 seasons, with the exception of the the last 15-20 games this past season. His goal scoring did come down the last two seasons, but he's still producing near the .6 ppg level. He's also only 27, so he has.plenty of good years left. For 2.5-3 million, which is the range I've mostly been seeing, I'd definitely take him over Sheary(whom he'd be replacing in this scenario) at 2 million. If it's a pure goal scorer, then Sprong is likely the best target, but he also has deficiencies. I'd still take him in the 3-3.5 range over what they have there now though.