League News: NHL Talk - (News n' Scores n' Stuff) | 2024-25 Summer Edition

trick9

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Jun 2, 2013
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Different players obviously but perhaps Ryan Leonard may have just made the right call staying in for another season. Watching Will Smith early on this season and he looks out of place, really struggling. Interesting to see if he gets going now that he has his first NHL goal and point but only fitting that his only goals and points came in the last game against the Blackhawks who are propably worse defensively than some of the teams in college.
 
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Calicaps

NFA
Aug 3, 2006
22,495
15,491
Almost Canada
Different players obviously but perhaps Ryan Leonard may have just made the right call staying in for another season. Watching Will Smith early on this season and he looks out of place, really struggling. Interesting to see if he gets going now that he has his first NHL goal and point but only fitting that his only goals and points came in the last game against the Blackhawks who are propably worse defensively than some of the teams in college.
I get the sense that Lenny is a guy who knows himself, so yeah, the Caps may have felt that he was ready, but he obviously didn't. More seasoning won't do him any harm.
 

trick9

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Jun 2, 2013
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I get the sense that Lenny is a guy who knows himself, so yeah, the Caps may have felt that he was ready, but he obviously didn't. More seasoning won't do him any harm.

NHL season is brutally long. I don't hate him playing there another year if we can add him for the Playoffs first so he gets an idea of kind of what to expect and the level of play required for the Playoffs and can work over the summer on being ready for his first full season.
 

CapitalsCupReality

It’s Go Time!!
Feb 27, 2002
66,121
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I get the sense that Lenny is a guy who knows himself, so yeah, the Caps may have felt that he was ready, but he obviously didn't. More seasoning won't do him any harm.

More likely he just wants to enjoy being a BMOC. It’s fine. Go be a kid. I bet he feels like he could play at this level now. Guys like that rarely lack confidence.
 

AlexModvechkin8

At least there was 2018.
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Feb 18, 2012
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Different players obviously but perhaps Ryan Leonard may have just made the right call staying in for another season. Watching Will Smith early on this season and he looks out of place, really struggling. Interesting to see if he gets going now that he has his first NHL goal and point but only fitting that his only goals and points came in the last game against the Blackhawks who are propably worse defensively than some of the teams in college.
Cutter Gauthier has been garbage too.
 
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AlexModvechkin8

At least there was 2018.
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Feb 18, 2012
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District of Champions
Wings are truly something crap.

5-on-5 they rank 3rd worst offensively in most stats like xGF%, HDCF% and rank as worst in shots for/against.
I feel like people don’t fully appreciate how shitty and tough it is to rebuild, which is why I give my head a shake every time I read on here that people want to tear it down.

Ottawa, Detroit, Buffalo, Montreal, Anaheim, Arizona/Utah, Columbus all have been in various stages of rebuilding of the last decade and very few of them look ready to take the next step.

Picks and prospects are fun but it’s hard and you have to be lucky to make a team built to compete.
 
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trick9

Registered User
Jun 2, 2013
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I feel like people don’t fully appreciate how shitty and tough it is to rebuild, which is why I give my head a shake every time I read on here that people want to tear it down.

Ottawa, Detroit, Buffalo, Montreal, Anaheim, Arizona/Utah, Columbus all have been in various stages of rebuilding of the last decade and very few of them look ready to take the next step.

Picks and prospects are fun but it’s hard and you have to be lucky to make a team built to compete.

People want the high picks but actual tear down where you lose on purpose is garbage and so deflating. Imagine knowing after 5 games your team is brutal and there's 77 left on the schedule. Improving a team like that isn't easy over the next summer isn't easy either so there could be another 82 right around the corner waiting.

Rather always go for it. If wheels fall off or your team just doesn't have it then you sell at the deadline, load up on assets and try again. It's a long road to get yourself back to relevance again and those fans that want the rebuild aren't exactly guaranteed to be there at the rink through the painful rebuild phase. Owners know that.
 
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CapitalsCupReality

It’s Go Time!!
Feb 27, 2002
66,121
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People want the high picks but actual tear down where you lose on purpose is garbage and so deflating. Imagine knowing after 5 games your team is brutal and there's 77 left on the schedule. Improving a team like that isn't easy over the next summer isn't easy either so there could be another 82 right around the corner waiting.

Rather always go for it. If wheels fall off or your team just doesn't have it then you sell at the deadline, load up on assets and try again. It's a long road to get yourself back to relevance again and those fans that want the rebuild aren't exactly guaranteed to be there at the rink through the painful rebuild phase. Owners know that.
If you know after 5 games, you really knew BEFORE the season even started….
 
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Kazer

Registered User
Jun 20, 2009
507
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Maryland, US
I feel like people don’t fully appreciate how shitty and tough it is to rebuild, which is why I give my head a shake every time I read on here that people want to tear it down.

Ottawa, Detroit, Buffalo, Montreal, Anaheim, Arizona/Utah, Columbus all have been in various stages of rebuilding of the last decade and very few of them look ready to take the next step.

Picks and prospects are fun but it’s hard and you have to be lucky to make a team built to compete.
I agree completely that it's shitty to rebuild, but I actually see Detroit as a case example with regard to why you have to do it properly and not rush the process.

Detroit looked at Seider, Larkin, and Raymond and committed over 25 mil in cap space to those three players. Are those three the core of a contending team? And based on that core, they then threw 4+ m to DeBrincat*, Copp, Compher, Tarasenko, Kane, and Chiarot which is another ~30 mil in cap space. Is that the supporting cast, outside of the asterisked DeBrincat, of a contender? Not to mention Husso who is just dead cap space at the moment.

And by not stripping it to the ground, Detroit has picked largely around 6-15 despite not making the playoffs since 15-16. And there's a big marginal difference between picking top 5 and 6-10 historically.

20 - 9 - 6 - 6 - 4 (Raymond) - 6 - 8 - 9 - 15 (first 1st round picks 2016 to 2024)

I'll skip 2019 because Seider is solid but where would Detroit's rebuild be if they had Brady Tkachuk (4) or Pettersson (5) instead of Zadina (6) and Rasmussen (9)?
 
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CapitalsCupReality

It’s Go Time!!
Feb 27, 2002
66,121
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I agree completely that it's shitty to rebuild, but I actually see Detroit as a case example with regard to why you have to do it properly and not rush the process.

Detroit looked at Seider, Larkin, and Raymond and committed over 25 mil in cap space to those three players. Are those three the core of a contending team? And based on that core, they then threw 4+ m to DeBrincat*, Copp, Compher, Tarasenko, Kane, and Chiarot which is another ~30 mil in cap space. Is that the supporting cast, outside of the asterisked DeBrincat, of a contender? Not to mention Husso who is just dead cap space at the moment.

And by not stripping it to the ground, Detroit has picked largely around 6-15 despite not making the playoffs since 15-16. And there's a big marginal difference between picking top 5 and 6-10 historically.

20 - 9 - 6 - 6 - 4 (Raymond) - 6 - 8 - 9 - 15 (first 1st round picks 2016 to 2024)

I'll skip 2019 because Seider is solid but where would Detroit's rebuild be if they had Brady Tkachuk (4) or Pettersson (5) instead of Zadina (6) and Rasmussen (9)?
That’s a lot of hind sight….there is a lot to question from their drafting to their development and free agent signings….but…

Tearing it down just doesn’t guarantee success. It does guarantee you a loss of fans and revenue…
 
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Calicaps

NFA
Aug 3, 2006
22,495
15,491
Almost Canada
People want the high picks but actual tear down where you lose on purpose is garbage and so deflating. Imagine knowing after 5 games your team is brutal and there's 77 left on the schedule. Improving a team like that isn't easy over the next summer isn't easy either so there could be another 82 right around the corner waiting.

Rather always go for it. If wheels fall off or your team just doesn't have it then you sell at the deadline, load up on assets and try again. It's a long road to get yourself back to relevance again and those fans that want the rebuild aren't exactly guaranteed to be there at the rink through the painful rebuild phase. Owners know that.
In the 32 Thoughts episode from earlier this week, they talked at length about the problems with rebuilding, the pain of persistent losing, and how teams become chronic losers despite lots of high draft picks. Highly recommend a listen.
 
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