Will a 30-something enforcer ever get a multiyear contract again?

[Zobitembois]

How many pure enforcers (that brings nothing more than a relative sense of intimidation and some face punching) are left in the League ? 5 maybe. The breed is diying.

 

[Reality Czech]

If the guy only brings face punching then he’s not getting an nhl contract, with term, at any age. These guys are AHL and echl now. Do the two players in this OP bring anything else other than just face punching?

I dunno, Reaves' soundbytes seem to be worth a 2 year deal at the very least

 

[Chips]

Wait, is this even allowed?

Player “ready to play” and being legitimately medically viable in a real doctors eyes is not the same thing lol. He has quotes about how he can’t get out of bed without his knees popping out. So yea, not hard to believe.

The NHL exists in a gray area. Many guys playing could legit be placed on IR but they’d rather play injured/their team can’t afford to lose them.


He was toast for like 2 years already before this contract.

 

[oldwpgjet]

I am just saying that fighting doesn't help with cheap shots.

I don't think I disagree with you, the way the rules are, the retaliation gets penalized worse than the infraction, that's not on fighting , that's on the current rules. Admittedly ,I am old school, good conversation btw, back in the day, Gretzky had a protector named Dave Semenko, he was quite intimidating , Gretzky had a pretty successful career , gave Semenko a car he won at the all star game as a gift if I recall right as an appreciation of the job he did. Guys now don't have that and they are getting targeted a lot more than what it used to be. I know fighting is on its last legs but it served a very important purpose back in the day , protecting the star players. Fine , you get rid of fighting but there is no protection for the star players then. The rules don't , they penalize the retaliation lol. I really don't know how they sell hockey at such ridiculous prices anymore when star players are getting hurt. Had tickets to see Chicago and Bedard out with a broken jaw. Hmmm, where's a Semenko when you need him. Boring game without him and Jets waited to last 10 minutes of game to start trying. Hockey is becoming awfully expensive , ridiculous contracts, and less appealing than it used to be but that's another topic I guess.

 

[Breakers]

Reaves term still blows my mind

He would have accepted the same AAV on a two year deal guaranteed.

the 3rd year was like Why??????????

 

[vandymeer13]

It's better to have a enforcer on the 4th line who can intimidate throw the body and be there to throw down then say a nonphysical ahler like Austin Czarnik, Matthew Highmore, Rusmas Kapari to name a few.

 

[brentashton]

Wait, is this even allowed?

No. You can only be on LTIR, not IR.

 

[abax44]

Depends on the “face puncher.” Reaves hasn’t been effective for awhile and Deslauriers is Deslauriers. Maroon was effective into his 30s and helped Tampa learn what it takes (according to a few interviews I’ve heard).

I've never pictured Maroon as an enforcer.

 

[Habby4Life]

I've never pictured Maroon as an enforcer.

No one has.

 

[Laus723]

Maroon wasnt just a face puncher though.

I've never pictured Maroon as an enforcer.

I agree, but I’ve seen him in put in that category. He’s way up there in fights, was more using him as an example of different types of “face punchers.”

 

[Fig]

I don't think the old school style nuclear deterrents like Lucic, Reaves, Ferland etc. Will continue if they contribute nothing else, but maybe a grinder style might start to emerge as effective 12/13 multi year vet options?

Someone like Hathaway who is also relatively defensively responsible or a face off specialist who can throw down at a decent level. Or a speedster in their 30s who has no fear like Lomberg etc. Or maybe someone like Wilson whose skill errodes to that level?

 

[GeeoffBrown]

teams keep recycling the same GMs and coaches. So yes!

 

[tyhee]

I don't think I disagree with you, the way the rules are, the retaliation gets penalized worse than the infraction, that's not on fighting , that's on the current rules. Admittedly ,I am old school, good conversation btw, back in the day, Gretzky had a protector named Dave Semenko, he was quite intimidating , Gretzky had a pretty successful career , gave Semenko a car he won at the all star game as a gift if I recall right as an appreciation of the job he did. Guys now don't have that and they are getting targeted a lot more than what it used to be. I know fighting is on its last legs but it served a very important purpose back in the day , protecting the star players. Fine , you get rid of fighting but there is no protection for the star players then. The rules don't , they penalize the retaliation lol. I really don't know how they sell hockey at such ridiculous prices anymore when star players are getting hurt. Had tickets to see Chicago and Bedard out with a broken jaw. Hmmm, where's a Semenko when you need him. Boring game without him and Jets waited to last 10 minutes of game to start trying. Hockey is becoming awfully expensive , ridiculous contracts, and less appealing than it used to be but that's another topic I guess.

It isn't a problem with the rules, it is how the league chooses to call them.

If they penalized the dangerous cheap shots on the star players we'd see less of them, but that wold be a change to the style of the game that the league doesn't want. As the embarrassing Colin Campbell email which came to light during the players' legal action against the league regarding concussions said, the NHL sells hate.

 

[nhlfan9191]

As long as there are old school owners and GMs out there who still think there are prominent roles left in today’s NHL for enforcers who do little else but fight there will be stupid contracts.

Hopefully this will end, but it will be slow, painful death.

Enforcers have been an endangered species for awhile. I don’t think it will be a slow painful death for the last of them to just disappear. Reaves is pretty much the endling for goons.

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

As long as old boys exist, yes.

 

[YippieKaey]

Sorry , do not follow European hockey to know that it isn't a problem. This seems like an irrelevant statement. Are you insinuating that it is not a problem here??

He's explaining that your hypothesis is an old justification. Obviously more violent players in the league leads to more violence and thus injuries in the league. Deterrent isn't really a thing if every team has a deterrent. And players are nor more injured these days, it's more about consciousness about stuff like concussions etc. And of course more extreme demands on the human physique today than before.

As long as there are talented young players to protect and dangerous players like Trouba, there will always be room for enforcers. Ideally with more talent than Reaves and Deslauriers.

So why is Trouba dangerous now with enforcers in the league?

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

Absolutely they will get contracts... GMs will be able to sign them for extremely cheap and those enforcers will take any contract they can get cause they know they are a dying breed.

4th line energy type enforcers that are unreal in the dressing room for pretty much league minimum yearly cap multi year contracts... Why not

 

[ijuka]

Yes, for sure.

 

[ManofSteel55]

To answer the headline without reading any other responses- there will always be a GM that makes a mistake of signing an old tough guy. GMs get desperate or live in the past and make mistakes.

 

[oldwpgjet]

Again, admittedly old school but I remember better hockey years and decades ago. We will eventually get to noncontact hockey and everyone will be happy I guess. In the meantime, star players will be targeted.