Roster Building Thread - Part XI (Off-season edition)

[Machinehead]

They should have just punted 2013.

 

[IDvsEGO]

Just fix the state tax gap based on the 41 games played in the teams home state and go from there.

Is it an advantage for a team to live in a state without income tax?
Yes and no.
some players care, some don’t, some have ways around it. It’s really not as big a deal as people think.

 

[Fitzy]

Hard to believe that we might have an offseason where we do absolutely nothing.

 

[LOFIN]

Hard to believe that we might have an offseason where we do absolutely nothing.

It's really not that hard to believe. Look at what the other contenders did. Edmonton is the only one that is arguably better than what they were when their season ended.

 

[kovazub94]

Of course they care. They wouldn't have gone through 2 lockouts if they didn't. The majority won't vote for something that allows owners to spend more than 50% of revenue.

That's not what I meant. Yes they do care about cost controlling and revenue share but not all owners care to the same high degree about on ice performance as long as their investment is protected and performing financially.

 

[majordomo]

Of course they care. They wouldn't have gone through 2 lockouts if they didn't. The majority won't vote for something that allows owners to spend more than 50% of revenue.

Unfortunately, in the NHL "majority rules" doesn't exist. Buttface changed that rule when he first took office.

 

[GAGLine]

Unfortunately, in the NHL "majority rules" doesn't exist. Buttface changed that rule when he first took office.

Bettman represents the interests of the owners. He isn't going to advocate for something that the majority of them don't want, regardless of his own concerns. No matter what you think about him personally, he doesn't have that kind of power.

 

[Machinehead]

Hard to believe that we might have an offseason where we do absolutely nothing.

None of the contenders did anything super noteworthy. That's why people have started complaining about the league.

 

[UAGoalieGuy]

Is it an advantage for a team to live in a state without income tax?
Yes and no.
some players care, some don’t, some have ways around it. It’s really not as big a deal as people think.

Barry Trotz came out and said tax free states have a benefit over other states that do. One person's perspective but someone that's actually in the league vs us speculating.

Essentially all the top free agents went to teams in tax free states (Reinhart, Montour, Guentzel, Skjei, JAM, Stamkos). Also 4 of the last 5 cup winners are teams from tax free states.

All individual data points but they all add up to show there is some significance there.

 

[Ruggs225]

So stop voting for people who want to raise your taxes. Its an easier solution than the league trying to figure out a tax solution

 

[SA16]

Barry Trotz came out and said tax free states have a benefit over other states that do. One person's perspective but someone that's actually in the league vs us speculating.

Essentially all the top free agents went to teams in tax free states (Reinhart, Montour, Guentzel, Skjei, JAM, Stamkos). Also 4 of the last 5 cup winners are teams from tax free states.

All individual data points but they all add up to show there is some significance there.

Yea except he said that a few days after having to overpay both Stamkos and Skjei to sign so it didn't even make sense.

Yes, 4 of the last 5 are from tax free states. It's also 4 of the last 19 which counts the entire cap era.

 

[Mac n Gs]

Hard to believe that we might have an offseason where we do absolutely nothing.

I wouldn't say it's nothing, it's just not exciting. Aside from all of the Goodrow and Trouba drama, they're a team that won the President's Trophy, and they probably justified hedging their bets and running it back as the path of least resistance. I thought more changes were needed, and the depth worries me a bit, but it's still a team that likely will make the playoffs and be first or second in the Metro.

They got rid of Goodrow's entire cap hit and replaced him with Carrick for the same term gaining ~$2.5M in space moving forward. Mika and Trocheck were always going to be the top-6 Cs going into this year, and they're hedging their bets on a full offseason of recovery and training for Fil will get him back on track. That's the biggest worry for me, but if they could get by with Nick Bonino as 3C for 30+ games, I'm sure it'll be ok again this year.

Reilly Smith is a very obvious top-6 RW upgrade that will help them a lot both at 5v5 and on the PK. Their RW depth going into last season was Laf-Kakko-Wheeler-Pitlick. This year it should be Laf-Smith-Kakko-Vesey-Rempe with Othmann and Berard as the next in line for RW/LW. LW is basically the same with Panarin-Kreider-Cuylle as the top-9.

The defense is their main, but they were limited in what they could do moving Trouba. Drury being interested in Dillon and not wanting to give term to Lindgren tells me he realizes the issue there, but is just biding his time before finding an upgrade. Gustafsson was terrible in the second half, and I thought Jones was better than him. That's probably close to net even over the course of the year.

It's basically the same team with some improvements around the margins. The good thing is they can accrue cap space throughout the year, and hopefully Drury can weaponize some of it to recoup some assets. This is gonna be their last run together anyways.

 

[LOFIN]

Barry Trotz came out and said tax free states have a benefit over other states that do. One person's perspective but someone that's actually in the league vs us speculating.

Just gotta love it how that one sentence has been taken and ran away with by all the Canadian media and fans who are making a huge issue about this state tax thing.

"You see? Even Trotz said it is a benefit!"

Yeah, I'm pretty sure no-one is actually claiming the tax thing isn't a benefit among others. It's just not significant enough that something would have to be done with it.

I hope whenever Trotz is interview next time by somebody, they ask "Is the country music a benefit for Nashville when it comes to free agents?". He would probably say yes to that too.

 

[majordomo]

Bettman represents the interests of the owners. He isn't going to advocate for something that the majority of them don't want, regardless of his own concerns. No matter what you think about him personally, he doesn't have that kind of power.

I distinctly remember reading that he only needed 8 votes to call the 2004 lockout, not a majority vote.

 

[bhamill]

Player salaries will rise, and everyone will be where they are now within a couple years.

You don’t think the Rangers would have just signed more players if they had another 10-20 million in cap? Many teams would. Now that 4 million defenseman is making 6 or 7 million and it solves nothing.

We can all make whatever assumptions we want, but why does it work for other leagues? Why does the NBA have so many more "headline making" trades?
Sure, as I've already said, we could end up right back where we are, but providing more flexibility is just that: providing more flexibility. Nothing less, but it's not some magic bullet, it's just opportunity...

 

[Machinehead]

So stop voting for people who want to raise your taxes. Its an easier solution than the league trying to figure out a tax solution

Lol no it isn't!!

"The NHL could just close a loophole in the CBA, but I think it would be way easier to overturn several seats in Congress."

 

[LOFIN]

Lol no it isn't!!

"The NHL could just close a loophole in the CBA, but I think it would be way easier to overturn several seats in Congress."

There's like 900 post thread on the main page, where not a single credible solution has yet been presented to somehow fix the "tax advantage". Many have tried though.

 

[Machinehead]

There's like 900 post thread on the main page, where not a single credible solution has yet been presented to somehow fix the "tax advantage". Many have tried though.

I'm not saying there's a great solution or even a necessarily simple one, nor do I even really care to "fix" it, but anything has to be more feasible than "get the taxes lowered in your state."

You have a better chance of being abducted by aliens.

 

[LOFIN]

I'm not saying there's a great solution or even a necessarily simple one, nor do I even really care to "fix" it, but anything has to be more feasible than "get the taxes lowered in your state."

You have a better chance of being abducted by aliens.

Yeah that's true lol.

 

[KennyWu]

Hard to believe that we might have an offseason where we do absolutely nothing.

 

[Machinehead]

View attachment 895690

Just realized how much these two look alike.

 

[LOFIN]

Just realized how much these two look alike.

A conch and Chris Drury?

I guess...

 

[NikC]

Hard to believe that we might have an offseason where we do absolutely nothing.

Actually they did quite alot... they've ensured another mediocre season where they make $ playoff revenue, while throwing BS about winning the SC. This toothless core will be a year older....
they are on the verge of throwing obscene money at the goalie position ensuring another 8+ yrs of what they had since Henrik left. Like the beloved Rangerboy said... it's business. that's all it is for the NYR.

None of the contenders did anything super noteworthy. That's why people have started complaining about the league.

now that's very funny... almost as funny as your dumb dog avatar....

: D

 

[Machinehead]

Actually they did quite alot... they've ensured another mediocre season where they make $ playoff revenue, while throwing BS about winning the SC. This toothless core will be a year older....
they are on the verge of throwing obscene money at the goalie position ensuring another 8+ yrs of what they had since Henrik left. Like the beloved Rangerboy said... it's business. that's all it is for the NYR.

now that's very funny... almost as funny as your dumb dog avatar....

: D

Leave Donnie alone!

 

[Fitzy]

My point isn't that they should have made a million trades or overly ambitious signings... but that I expected the team to at least

1) Look to sign at least one promising NCAA/European young UFA
2) Add an actual 7th defenseman for Jones to compete with, not a #8 in Ruhwedel
3) Try to find some sort of 12th forward for Rempe to compete with

Brodzinski and Ruhwedel being the first guys up in case of injury isn't my ideal depth situation. We have cap space and will still after Lindgren- I guess the plan is to accumulate for the deadline again (This better be our last buy cycle for a while)