Well no, they were originally under the impression that there would only be a $1M cap boost, since that's the whole framework that was signed up to under the Covid amendments, and then re-iterated by Daly this summer. It was only a little later near the start of the season that the reports of a potential tidal wave of revenue wiping out the escrow debt came out, culminating in Bettman suggesting that a bigger rise would indeed be possible. But that was AFTER teams made the vast bulk of their summer moves.
A case can be made that Hynes should have never been hired. And the way he has handled players impacts there performance. Players can get a coach fired, players need to be held accountable too. Individual players can have rough periods but to have Forsberg, Duchene, Johansen and Josi all fall off the bus at once is suspicious. You can not expect players to have record years year after year but dropping production like these guys have is unacceptable and yes coaching has some impact but getting a big contract and then just sitting down is on the player. We have seen that before here as well. There is little proof that the kids are going to impact this team anytime soon. When one looks at Tolvanen’s numbers from the outside he projects to be a 40 point guy tops, the team needed more. So if they bring up guys for two years and they perform no better, the organization gives up on them look back at those who developed more slowly that Poile and coaches wanted. Leaving here and having successful careers. To impact that deeper this team other than Radulov has never drafted and developed high end offense and now it looks like the defense development has dropped as well. Ekholm and Ellis have been the last , Fabbro may or may not be a solid top pairing guy even Jones has never lived up to what he should have been having played third pair here he’s now struggling in Chicago. The first step needs to be Poiles retirement the new GM bringing in a new coaching and development staff. Getting the team away from Poiles patching the roster just to make it to post season. The one run at the cup was magical but it will be a decade before the team turns around. The cap spending is out of whack and will be for two more years as many have pointed out moving a player with term and $$$$ is difficult in the league right now currently Duchene and Johansen are overpaid and Mac will be in a year or two. Right now is the time to develop guys and stand behind those who will be part of the team when the big contracts start to fall off. This is the path Colorado took Jersey traded all there veterans off and sucked for a while drafted well and are now rebuilt to compete. David Poile will not take either route.
The stagnant cap is the PA's own damn fault for perpetually ignoring the escrow problem.
I would hope your right but the issue remains that the big three have just plain laid down again. It’s expected from Johansen but Duchene does seem to huddle most of the time but overall has been a disappointment minus last season. Forsberg is frustrating the guy can turn it on really any time he wishes. But he has looked really bad this year why is the question? Had he laid down since he cashed out? Even with the great years those three had last year it was a squeak to get in playoffs. And then a drubbing 1st round exit. I guess what m point is the secondary player movmnt means little without the vote clicking on all cylinders.
They seem like theyre trying to do too much by themselves most nights. The amount of times ive seen Forsberg or Duchene try to get through three players by themselves is ridiculous. And this season the lack of secondary scoring is very apparent. Jeannot, Trenin, Granlund have all taken steps back, Jeannot has to be somewhat of a sophmore slump. Tomasino in the minors and Smith/Jankowski cant score to save their live. Nino has been solid but has also cooled off. Which means we lean on the top guys even more, and if theyre not scoring consistently, you get the team were watching right now.
Don't forget scoring is up all around the league. A lot of very average players are scoring at a point-per-game clip this season, and a lot of D are getting pretty surprising points.
Scoring is up overall but down on the Preds team so relative to their peers, it could very well be their best season
Disagree. If you think those guys are possibly having their best seasons, I can't help you.
If you think that’s what I said, I can’t help you but I will try.
That's better, but I still don't find their seasons to be "amazing". Or in any contention for being possibly their best. Even with all the valid excuses taken into consideration.
Jeoy seens frustrated. Hes taken some bad penalties as of late and is getting put with lesser players. I guess the same thing i gripe about pairing glass with jankowski and smith applied to johansen. You cant really pair a pass first skills center with players that dont score and expect them to succeed.
I would tend to think Poile kind of has to be getting frustrated with some of these things too. I mean, he's the ultimate architect of this team, he assembled it based on certain ideas of how the players could best be used, he gave them the contracts that are representative of those perceived abilities.
It's also possible that many of the players have figured out that throwing big checks and getting in fights doesn't score goals.
That’s the thing Trotz indicated before the season he wanted to take the season off. Could this be why ZPoile has not pulled the trigger?
