Off-season thread

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

i liked harley's game, but you have to admit our transition from the back end is pretty dreadful. regularly led to loss of possession, certainly killed offensive opportunities, and kept us from exiting our own zone too many times. the playoffs just revealed the weakness more so than the reg season bc teams forecheck harder/more consistently.

I understand the feeling, but whenever I have checked turnover stats, it turns out almost every other team has a similar turnover ratio, and we aren't that far below normal. We have Miro and Harley. I think it was defensive play that held back Nils, and if he can improve that and gain trust, he also can move the puck, albeit, I do recall a few bad decisions, but all young D will have that.

The main point about the D in the playoffs was that LV won because it had a bigger D. I think Nill will look at that and try to bulk it up with better heavyweights. Jani works, but is injured. Lindell works, but was down in the PO. The combo of Hanley, Miller, etc. didn't particularly fill the D side of things, nor did they carry the puck all that well.

Of course, someone with both size and puck skills would be ideal.

 

[Sports2]

Maybe its just the “Anyone over 23 is old” in me, but im not sure why Detroit is using valuable draft capital on a 25 year old. Their core is so young- you’re not going to be competing for years. I don’t know if they are there yet. If they jump the gun on the rebuild, they risk mediocrity.

Maybe I’m way off base but thats my interpretation.

 

[Zapp]

Maybe its just the “Anyone over 23 is old” in me, but im not sure why Detroit is using valuable draft capital on a 25 year old. Their core is so young- you’re not going to be competing for years. I don’t know if they are there yet. If they jump the gun on the rebuild, they risk mediocrity.

Maybe I’m way off base but thats my interpretation.

Not all 1st round picks hit and not a whole lot of them turn into 40 goal scorers. Bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush.

 

[Kcb12345]

 

[Zapp]

4head szn

 

[Satan]

Damn i wanted Haula

 

[jballa95]

I'll never forgive Haula for running and concussing fellow Fin Lehtonen

 

[________]

 

[Zapp]

Listening now. Robertson gone lol. Jk but if Jrob wants $10m we got probs moving forward

 

[Zrhutch]

Listening now. Robertson gone lol. Jk but if Jrob wants $10m we got probs moving forward

We’ve got three years till that’s a worry and he’s well worth 10M, especially if the cap’s going up.

 

[Frozen Failure]

Yeah clearly someone read my "distasteful trading of Robertson" post and decided it was actually an option.

I do not see a problem with Robertson getting closer to 10 in 3 years. The problem would be if Stankoven or Bourque or any of the other forwards come in and burn down villages between their debut and ELCs ending. The other issue would be arbitration, which basically means "Get the f*** out". The bridge might be soured anyway after the holdout, but I wonder if that was more of a aligning dominoes over trying to screw JRob.

Plus every year I think it becomes more likely that Seguin would waive to go play somewhere to round out his career, which frees up money sooner.

 

[starsfan86]

Can’t listen right now. Anything interesting?

 

[Zrhutch]

Can’t listen right now. Anything interesting?

Lot of juicy Benn talk. Marek thinks there’s some in the organ-i-zation that want to buy him out, Suter talk too.

 

[Kipper 17]

Lot of juicy Benn talk. Marek thinks there’s some in the organ-i-zation that want to buy him out, Suter talk too.

Doesn't buying out Benn free up very, very little cap?

 

[Zrhutch]

Doesn't buying out Benn free up very, very little cap?

It does little to nothing for the cap. The only benefit to cutting Jamie Benn is feeling better about game three and the esteemed opportunity to replace his 33 goals and 78 points. The idea of it just reeks of being Gaglardi driven

 

[Frozen Failure]

The buyouts don't make any sense at the end of the day. They likely can't get Benn to approve a buyout as it requires being placed on unconditional waivers, and he has a NMC.

They can't replace Suter with an upgrade for the dollars they save. They can't replace Benn with the dollars they could save. Literally the only play is you find a way to convince them that it is time for them to move on with their careers and I highly doubt there's enough goodwill left for them to readily accept that.

 

[Kipper 17]

It does little to nothing for the cap. The only benefit to cutting Jamie Benn is feeling better about game three and the esteemed opportunity to replace his 33 goals and 78 points. The idea of it just reeks of being Gaglardi driven

I don't get it, without cap relief it makes us a worse team. What he did was stupid but I don't see how ditching someone we can reasonably expect to put up 50+ points next year for zero cap relief helps us. If this team is really as tight a group as has been reported, I don't think dropping their captain for nothing is a good idea.

 

[Zrhutch]

The buyouts don't make any sense at the end of the day. They likely can't get Benn to approve a buyout as it requires being placed on unconditional waivers, and he has a NMC.

They can't replace Suter with an upgrade for the dollars they save. They can't replace Benn with the dollars they could save. Literally the only play is you find a way to convince them that it is time for them to move on with their careers and I highly doubt there's enough goodwill left for them to readily accept that.

With you on Benn, disagree on Suter. People like to point to Benn game 3 as why Dallas lost the series, but we’re 1-1 going back to Dallas if Suter doesn’t make two straight soft decisions in the D zone with two minutes left. Don’t think you can replace 50-80 points from Benn in house, but you can certainly replace what Suter provides with relative ease.

 

[Sports2]

Benn technically has an NMC, but they could just threaten to healthy scratch him every game the rest of his contract and see who flinches. I'm of the opinion that considering the way his contract is structured (practically fully guaranteed), he can't have his cake and eat it too. If they found a way to move him that made the team better he should accept, especially as the captain. And that has nothing to do with last season- I don't really care and didn't advocate for stripping the captaincy.

 

[Frozen Failure]

With you on Benn, disagree on Suter. People like to point to Benn game 3 as why Dallas lost the series, but we’re 1-1 going back to Dallas if Suter doesn’t make two straight soft decisions in the D zone with two minutes left. Don’t think you can replace 50-80 points from Benn in house, but you can certainly replace what Suter provides with relative ease.

20 minutes of fairly steady defensive play at under 4 mil per year with minimal on ice issues or gaffes for a solid 82 games a season?

Unsure.

 

[Kipper 17]

20 minutes of fairly steady defensive play at under 4 mil per year with minimal on ice issues or gaffes for a solid 82 games a season?

Unsure.

Suter's issue is his role. He is a problem when he is Miro's main defensive partner.

 

[M88K]

20 minutes of fairly steady defensive play at under 4 mil per year with minimal on ice issues or gaffes for a solid 82 games a season?

Unsure.

Did you watch him at all these last 2 years?

 

[BigTomBomber]

20 minutes of fairly steady defensive play at under 4 mil per year with minimal on ice issues or gaffes for a solid 82 games a season?

Unsure

Im glad somebody else gets it. He was the 3rd best Dman overall in the playoffs, but mightve been the best vs Vegas outside of 2 minutes (which doesnt happen if Miro doesnt stop in front of the net, when 100’s of times during the season the other dman drops below the goal line to take the pass)

 

[Frozen Failure]

Suter's issue is his role. He is a problem when he is Miro's main defensive partner.

Did you watch him at all these last 2 years?

I said minimal, not zero, because he is still human. You don't think guys who make 5 million don't make the same number of issues?

Also, lets go back to the 2021 free agency. Would you have preferred David Savard at 3.5 million? or Jake McCabe at 4? Because those were their options. I take Suter, and move on and wait for someone to come around to help build around. (Adam Larsson was extended already)

Yeah, his role sucks now. Buying him out does NOT fix the problem. The problem is that they are extremely overweight with 8m+ contracts, some of which are productive and some are not. They also did/do not have the youth pool available to draw from without sacrificing kids to the grinder. Which is probably why there were a lot of 24-27 (and old man Glendening) y/o RFAs signed/acquired to round out the bottom of the lineup on the cheap.

The only solution to fix the problem is to jettison a big contract and hopefully find some depth. Buying out Benn doesn't give you any cap space, and buying out Suter just leaves a giant hole that I am unsure that Harley or a UFA can fill at the tight price point.

It is not a team built to play defensive team hockey. It is an attempt to be a high flying rootin' scootin' entertainment machine. So of course the guys you sign to be defensive punching bags get punched...

 

[piqued]

I just wanted the Captaincy taken away. Glad to see there are even more extreme extremists within the org