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Mike Hoffman is 34 years old and he’s been a shell of his former self for at least a few years.


Palmieri and Lee are at an age where a sudden drop off in productivity could easily happen yet they’re expected to be mid level producers for this squad. While I’m happy that Lou took a flyer on Duclair, that addition is also somewhat of an uncertain wildcard.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed without any serious expectations for the upcoming season. Kind of like it’s been for the prior season.
 
EDM certainly is expecting a lot of mid-level work out of a bunch of older guys: Perry, Hoffman, Skinner, Henrique, etc.

Maybe they finally realized that two guys couldn’t make it a winner, diversified their lineup, brought on some veterans, etc. I’m not the biggest EDM fan, but they have enhanced the complexion of their team the past few years and it’s helped them advance deeper.

The isles don’t have those two guys, so they are ‘playing through’ the contracts they have, yet, somehow make the playoffs 5/6 years. Now, if their ‘star’ players can deliver in the post-season w/o Trotz and his leashed 4 line team, maybe things would be different…
 
Once upon a time Isles fans were pissed at Lou for not re-upping Lehner.

Lou knew better to keep him on a short leash.

LMAO if the Isles had signed Lehner to a long term deal instead of signing his target in Varly.
 
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Throttle said:
EDM certainly is expecting a lot of mid-level work out of a bunch of older guys: Perry, Hoffman, Skinner, Henrique, etc.

Maybe they finally realized that two guys couldn’t make it a winner, diversified their lineup, brought on some veterans, etc. I’m not the biggest EDM fan, but they have enhanced the complexion of their team the past few years and it’s helped them advance deeper.

The isles don’t have those two guys, so they are ‘playing through’ the contracts they have, yet, somehow make the playoffs 5/6 years. Now, if their ‘star’ players can deliver in the post-season w/o Trotz and his leashed 4 line team, maybe things would be different…
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I think they're doing what Tampa and Toronto did, which is take on cheap veterans who want to stay in the league one more year, and hoping they get some value from them. I don't see it as being strategic, just pragmatic.
 
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Throttle said:
Once upon a time Isles fans were pissed at Lou for not re-upping Lehner.

Lou knew better to keep him on a short leash.

LMAO if the Isles had signed Lehner to a long term deal instead of signing his target in Varly.
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Signing Varlamov was the right move, hell Lou even offered him a 2 year extension but his agent thought he could get a better deal in FA which didn't happen

Also worth noting his last season in Vegas was the first year with MAF and
Lehner had the impossible job of replacing the fan favorite, Vezina winning goal tending, first face of the franchise goalie who took Vegas to the cup final during their inaugural season which was the same as the worst mass shooting in US history which also happened in Vegas. And to top it all off he was playing through a hip injury (and lets be honest was probably given some painkillers/opiates like candy by team doctors and that is something I could go on a LONG rant about but this comment is already long enough)

All we can do is hope he can overcome this demons
 
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There's no reason to rehash Lehner at this point. It is known that Lou favored Varlamov all along. He tried to trade for Varly when he was on the Avalanche. When no other goalie was available, he signed Lehner. When Lehner didn't sign his extension with the Isles, Lou signed Varlamov as a free agent.
 
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MJF said:
There's no reason to rehash Lehner at this point. It is known that Lou favored Varlamov all along. He tried to trade for Varly when he was on the Avalanche. When no other goalie was available, he signed Lehner. When Lehner didn't sign his extension with the Isles, Lou signed Varlamov as a free agent.
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It was clear as day too the league knew even after his great season here there were issues which was why Carolina and Calgary passed on him after the Isles didn’t offer him a contract despite badly needing goaltending that offseason
 
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seafoam said:
BTW, Lehner did not report for his mandatory medical exam. It’s expected that Vegas explore avenues to terminate his contract.
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That’s the point. Lou passed on giving him a long term deal vs feeling pressure to re-up based on his performance. He had red flags all over him and Lou steered clear.

Other teams did not and years later are still dealing with his multiple issues. The Isles did not need to knowingly take that on. If Lehner was on the Isles - the organization would be mocked to another level.
 
I saw Hickey is on the analyst team for Amazon covering hockey. I don't know the details of Amazon and what they are doing with hockey, but does anybody know if he'll still be able to work with the Isles? Maybe he'll split time like Burke? Hope we don't lose him permanently. I'm really hoping he's Butchie's replacement when he retires.
 
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Very interesting situation going on in Boston with Swayman. Feels like the classic case of chicken between his camp and the GM. I have mixed feelings in the long run if the Isles stumble out of the gate and are not a playoff team. I automatically switch to what eastern conference team can knock off the Rags.

On the other hand, I know Swayman's negotiations and contract will have an impact on Igor's new contract. My hope is that Igor's contract demands are high and take up a significant amount of the Rags cap.
 
Tahoeblue said:
Very interesting situation going on in Boston with Swayman. Feels like the classic case of chicken between his camp and the GM. I have mixed feelings in the long run if the Isles stumble out of the gate and are not a playoff team. I automatically switch to what eastern conference team can knock off the Rags.

On the other hand, I know Swayman's negotiations and contract will have an impact on Igor's new contract. My hope is that Igor's contract demands are high and take up a significant amount of the Rags cap.
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Speaking of which, Bouchard is asking for $11 million per from Edmonton . . .
 
leeroggy said:
Speaking of which, Bouchard is asking for $11 million per from Edmonton . . .
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Speaking of which II, pending UFA Igor is asking for $12 million per from NYR and apparently won't be negotiating during the season.
 
Tahoeblue said:
Very interesting situation going on in Boston with Swayman. Feels like the classic case of chicken between his camp and the GM. I have mixed feelings in the long run if the Isles stumble out of the gate and are not a playoff team. I automatically switch to what eastern conference team can knock off the Rags.

On the other hand, I know Swayman's negotiations and contract will have an impact on Igor's new contract. My hope is that Igor's contract demands are high and take up a significant amount of the Rags cap.
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Korpisalo makes Boston a lotto team.
 
If one person isn’t sober and the other is and they have joint accounts, well… seems like someone has a spending problem.
 
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