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The Tanks

theguardianII

theguardianII

Registered User
Jan 30, 2020
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Thought about teams that might throw out the baby with the bath water.

It looks like Pittsburgh might decide to go for a lottery pick. They already have two 1rsts in this year's draft and could easily get another couple of picks if some players are shuttled off.

It could be costly but if rebuilding then retention is so bad combined with the massive cap increase.
What team might take on Karlsson for 5 mil or less if a three way deal? Malkin if he waived at 3 mil. They might not get 1rst's in return but they could get multiple picks and maybe an A prospect.
They would be in a position to take on a bad contract for a pick as well.

What other teams might decide to "go for the gold"?
Click to read more...
 
The 2025 draft is supposed to be very weak, so not surprising that we didn't see any teams launch a tank this season.

Pittsburgh is the only team at a stage where a full rebuild and tank would make sense, but they can't (which is probably a good thing because those usually don't work). Crosby, Malkin, and Letang will not play anywhere else. Karlsson's contract already has retention, it can't go lower than $5m.

There are a few Western Conference orgs that have more underperforming vets than good prospects, but all those bad teams just means the Wild Card is wide open, and teams don't tank if they see a path to the playoffs.
 
kerrabria said:
The 2025 draft is supposed to be very weak, so not surprising that we didn't see any teams launch a tank this season.
Click to expand...
Is the top of the 1st weaker than typical? Or are there significant drop-offs as the rounds go on?

I wonder too if it is weak or just delayed development. We’re probably close to the end of the Covid-development disruption. Some of these kids didn’t have the usual hockey development path at ages 13-14 and that could be echoing in their junior careers.
 
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StickShift said:
Is the top of the 1st weaker than typical? Or are there significant drop-offs as the rounds go on?

I wonder too if it is weak or just delayed development. We’re probably close to the end of the Covid-development disruption. Some of these kids didn’t have the usual hockey development path at ages 13-14 and that could be echoing in their junior careers.
Click to expand...
No idea, I don't pay attention to prospects, just have heard that repeatedly this year. Also think it's noteworthy that this is the first time in years that I (someone who consumes A LOT of NHL content) couldn't name a single 2025 prospect at the start of the season. The lack of coverage and interest kind of validates what I've heard people say.
 
eojsmada said:
Schaefer is worth tanking for
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We hear that every year, and it’s often not true. For the amount of damage it does to an organization when they truly tank, and the very high risk of losing the lottery, only in rare Lemieux/Lindros/Crosby/McDavid scenarios is it worth tanking as opposed to just being a shitty team.
 
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tarheelhockey said:
We hear that every year, and it’s often not true. For the amount of damage it does to an organization when they truly tank, and the very high risk of losing the lottery, only in rare Lemieux/Lindros/Crosby/McDavid scenarios is it worth tanking as opposed to just being a shitty team.
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Yeah...I would tend to agree, but it's often the case that there is a player in the top 3 of almost every draft that would be considered a franchise cornerstone and is just as valuable to the growth of the team as any "generational"-esque player.
 
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eojsmada said:
Yeah...I would tend to agree, but it's often the case that there is a player in the top 3 of almost every draft that would be considered a franchise cornerstone and is just as valuable to the growth of the team as any "generational"-esque player.
Click to expand...

That’s where I feel like it’s ok to just be a trash team for a few years, without a tank.

Like let’s say hypothetically a decade ago some team didn’t quite tank and ended up picking 4th every year due to just cellar-dwelling for a while. This is who they’d have drafted 08-15…

Evander Kane - Mitch Marner - Ryan Johansen
Sam Bennett

Alex Pietrangelo - Seth Jones
Adam Larsson - Griffin Reinhart (if they passed on Reilly, Lindholm, Trouba, etc)


Granted, that roster doesn’t have a generational talent. But Pietrangelo was the best player on a Cup winner, and Marner is a legit HOF’er as the 1C. They’ve got crazy depth at D, especially if they make a better pick than Reinhart. That’s the backbone of a Cup contender, purely based on draft capital. And it doesn’t require them to be bleeding-eyes unwatchable with a culture of deliberately losing just to get Tavares or something.
 
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Some of you have an exceptionally liberal definition of "tanking".

No matter what teams' strategies are, there will always be a team that finishes worst overall.
 
theguardianII said:
Thought about teams that might throw out the baby with the bath water.

It looks like Pittsburgh might decide to go for a lottery pick. They already have two 1rsts in this year's draft and could easily get another couple of picks if some players are shuttled off.

It could be costly but if rebuilding then retention is so bad combined with the massive cap increase.
What team might take on Karlsson for 5 mil or less if a three way deal? Malkin if he waived at 3 mil. They might not get 1rst's in return but they could get multiple picks and maybe an A prospect.
They would be in a position to take on a bad contract for a pick as well.

What other teams might decide to "go for the gold"?
Click to expand...
Pittsburgh is just really old and the whole notion of this thread is somewhat misplaced right?
 
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