glenwo2
LINDY RUFF NEEDS VIAGRA!!
I think we're already seeing that after their line goes to the bench for a change.
I think we're already seeing that after their line goes to the bench for a change.
Why shouldn't he be?
The Threat is VERY REAL, DATW!
Do you seriously want that risk? That we give up a very talented and young defenseman for someone who can just up and leave for the KHL out of nowhere?
Yes. I would if I were an NHL GM these days after that Kovy fiasco and realizing that the KHL-threat is very real now that they have the money(with no taxes) to lure them away.
Your argument is BS for the simple fact that for starters, we lost Parise and Clarkson threw free agency since both players wanted to "go back home" but I don't see you saying we shouldn't be drafting players who are born outside of the state of NJ, in fear of them leaving for their home town team.
If you're going to bash every single Russian because Kovy left to go play in his "hometown", you should do the same for the other players we lost for free but you wouldn't do that cause it would cripple your point of view... right?
Yeah, who wants a 40 goal scorer on the team? I mean, you have to be a complete idiot to want someone that will give you a goal every other game. Let's focus on the defensive side of things when our team can barely score a goal a game despite getting All-Star performances from their netminders.
Gotcha
I'm not trying to sell you anything but simply trying to give out my points that seem to be forgotten (not by you personnaly).
I do like Eberle but he doesn't have that drive I like to see out of a young player. He floats around ALOT, doesn't play a "hard nose" game and plays top minutes on a team that is a complete mess away from the puck.
I honestly think that if we landed Eberle, he wouldn't be all that great in Jersey cause he wouldn't be paired with the offensive talent he has in Edmonton and wouldn't blend in defensively any differently then Yakupov would.
Brooklyndevil
Registered User
No, I see improvement in Larrson and love the idea of having three young puck movers and when the contract for the Russian kid comes up he'll have the GM of whatever team he's on over a barrel and I don't want that to be us.
Zajacs Bowl Cut
Lets Go Baby
again, I dont think you guys realize what would happen to Yak here. they'd turn him into a 4th line grinder playing with Gionta and Janssen.
That would be under DeBoer... But I don't see him being our bench boss if we don't make the postseason, which I don't see happening.
AfroThunder396
[citation needed]
Eberle isn't all he's cracked up to be. He's soft, one dimensional, and can only put up points when he's playing roller hockey with other elite forwards.
Like I said before, Mogilny 2.0. You don't build around Mogilny, you add him to an already good team and he puts you over the top.
Personally I think he's already peaked offensively.
Like I said before, Mogilny 2.0. You don't build around Mogilny, you add him to an already good team and he puts you over the top.
Personally I think he's already peaked offensively.
I said almost the same thing a couple of posts back. If I had to pick between Eberle and Yakupov, I'd take Yakupov for a couple of reasons...
1- He goes "all out" on every single shift
2- He's a scoring machine and that's exactly what we need
3- He hasn't spent too much time in a organisation that doesn't really know how to groom their young talent.
4- His value took a "hit", so he might come at a "cheaper" price
5- Despite not throwing his weight around all that much, he doesn't float like Eberle does.
Devils Trap
Registered User
NJDevs26
Once upon a time...
- Mar 21, 2007
- 67,598
- 32,112
If you're going to bash every single Russian because Kovy left to go play in his "hometown", you should do the same for the other players we lost for free but you wouldn't do that cause it would cripple your point of view... right?
That argument's extremely flawed for two reasons:
A) Russians don't exactly have to wait till they have seven years' service time to cash in at home (Radulov)
B) Parise and Clarkson actually had higher offers elsewhere (Philly/Edmonton) but took 'slightly' less money to play at home. Anyone that's going to Russia is going to get a boatload more money than any team in the NHL can pay because of the whole tax-free thing. That doesn't happen in the NHL with the cap, everyone's offers are around the same ballpark.
It's amazing how you only harp on Kovy and ignore that other Russians including Radulov have also left. And IMO that number's only going to increase once we get past Sochi. Kovalchuk had more money on his deal than just about everyone else in the NHL sans a handful of players who got FA contracts after him, and he still left.
If he can leave all that money on the table, guys who aren't getting paid all that much in comparison like Yakupov would leave in five seconds if they don't get their way here. Nobody seems to acknowledge that part of it. The reason Kovalchuk leaving put such a red flag on everyone is because he was getting paid infinitely more than 98% of the league. So if he leaves why wouldn't any other Russian not getting paid as much also leave?
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NJDevs26
Once upon a time...
- Mar 21, 2007
- 67,598
- 32,112
lol you really miss the point. You have UFA's till they have seven years in the league and some actually 'do' stay. Russians can pack up and leave at any time, whether they're under contract or not. And that's not even getting into Yakupov's pecadilloes. It's amazing the excuses that get offered up for him. John Tavares was drafted into a clown show and he didn't play or act like Yakupov does. Neither have the other players on the Oilers, for that matter.
If the KHL shouldn't be taken seriously then why do you guys think there are maybe 40 Russians total in the NHL these days if that? (and very few third/fourth line types at that) That number's dwindled dramatically over the last decade.
Give it a rest already. We got it, he said he wouldn't do this and that and you're holding a 20 year old hostage for speaking his mind.
I doubt he's stupid enough to think that not playing well without the puck will give him the best shot at being a solid NHL player. Again, you would probably take RNH but his +/- is on the same level as Yakupov and Eberle floats around just as much but who cares... both players are Canadian and the risk of them playing in Russia is just not there, so it's "ok" for us to target both players as possible solid acquisitions.
Like I poster earlier, it's funny that the posters who are complaining about the "Russian factor" aren't *****ing about the "hometown factor" since we lost Parise, Clarkson and Rafalski (IINM) to free agency cause they wanted to go back home.
I guess we should draft players who grew up in the State of New Jersey and avoid everyone else, right?
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So in the past 2 decades, we're talking about 2 players bolting back to Russia and now were going to put every other player in the boat? Outside of Kovalchuk, who took a 100M$ deal he'd pocket in about 4 years of "work", the only other player who left the NHL for the KHL is Radulov and everyone knows that Radulov is a "head case" who thinks he's one of the best players on the planet, for whatever reason.
When you decided to LEAVE Russia at the age of 16 or 17 to play in North America in a city like Sarnia, your ultimate goal should be to play in North America, wouldn't you say so? If Yakupov had the same "ego" as Radulov, I'd agree with you but Radulov is on a entire different level and he's borderline "insane" when talking about his overall skillset. Don't get me wrong, he's a solid player, but he's not the cream of the crop when playing in a league like the NHL... KHL, perhaps, but you can't act like you're running the show in the NHL like you would in the KHL and that right there is the reason why several players want to play in the best hockey league on the planet.
If he wanted to fled the scene that is Edmonton Oilers, he would've done it before speaking his mind to the media. What's holding him back since you're soooo certain he'll bolt eventually? Why waste his time in NA if he can rack up millions in the KHL?
NJDevs26
Once upon a time...
- Mar 21, 2007
- 67,598
- 32,112
100% of Russian players who leave for the KHL are also getting more money to go home
A very small but disproportionate (for us) number of players in the NHL actually go 'home' during FA, and most of them aren't even taking the biggest offers per se.
A very small but disproportionate (for us) number of players in the NHL actually go 'home' during FA, and most of them aren't even taking the biggest offers per se.
So, 2 players over a spand of 20 years is something that should scare everyone from drafting or trading for a Russian born player... I am getting this correctly? So you're saying that if Malkin was a pending UFA, you'd avoid signing him in fear of him bolting back home?
Great logic right there, especially when taking into consideration that the average of talented Russian players skipping out on the NHL for the KHL is around 1%... and I'm not talking about your average/below average player here.
NJDevs26
Once upon a time...
- Mar 21, 2007
- 67,598
- 32,112
It's not just 'scared fans' that want to avoid Russian players:
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/11/russian-influence-declining-in-nhl/
26 Russian players in the NHL, that's even worse than my guesstimate. That's less than half of what there were a decade ago, and it ain't like the quality of hockey is that appreciably worse.
Who cares if there's just 26 Russians in the league? Guess what, we have a couple of Russians on the team and I wouldn't mind one bit if that number went from 26 to 24.
Does that mean that if there's 24 Russians in the league, we shouldn't think about acquiring a solid player because he's born in Russia? Once again, you can only name me 2 players who fled the NHL for the KHL and one of those players is earning 100M$ four times faster then he would've with our own team and the other thinks that he's on the same level or better then Crosby.
I'll start to worry when the % will be higher then 10%, wich isn't the case or even close to being the case.
glenwo2
LINDY RUFF NEEDS VIAGRA!!
Your argument is BS for the simple fact that for starters, we lost Parise and Clarkson threw free agency since both players wanted to "go back home" but I don't see you saying we shouldn't be drafting players who are born outside of the state of NJ, in fear of them leaving for their home town team.
If you're going to bash every single Russian because Kovy left to go play in his "hometown", you should do the same for the other players we lost for free but you wouldn't do that cause it would cripple your point of view... right?
I *DO* bash other players for leaving(Pari$e. Remember him?)
So what do you want us to do? Draft every prospect who grew up in the state of New Jersey?
There's always a risk, regardless of the players nationality. There's a risk of us losing Schneider next summer, there's a risk that Larsson might bolt if Pete keeps ****ing with his head, there's risks left and right and there's nothing we can do about it.
Granted, we can prevent those things from happening but managing our team in fear of the unknown, would be a dumb way to go about it IMO.
Only 20 russian skaters in the league? Man I'm shocked by this.
And they only play a 54 game season in the KHL? So Kovy is getting more $$$, tax free, for 63ish% of the games, playing in his home country?
Dude I'd be out as well.
CerebralGenesis
Registered User
- Jul 23, 2009
- 24,429
- 2
I still don't understand why certain posters are sour on Yakupov. The kid is 20 years old, has all the tools you can ask for in a goal score... something we desperatly need and plays his heart out each and every shift.
I'm passed the "He's Russian, he'll eventually bolt to Russia in about 8 months" argument cause like I said yesterday, we're talking about 2 players in a spand of about 20 years and one of them had a valid reason (Kovalchuk) and the other is just brain dead (Radulov).
If guys like Datsyuk and Ovechkin were about to jump ship, I'd agree but that isn't the case at all. When you commit yourself to leave your country at the age of 16/17 to play on another continent and live with people that aren't your familly, one would say that the level of commitment is pretty high.
The Oilers are a trainwreck of a organisation and their new bench boss is utilising Yakupov as his own whipping boy, to prove to the rest of his roster that he means business. He's a rookie head coach who's trying to make his mark at the NHL level and things aren't going all that great since day #1, so he has to pull out something out of his hat and he pointed in the direction of Yakupov instead of RNH or Eberle.
When you draft a high point producer like Yakupov, 1st overall, and the kid leads the team in goals scored in his rookie year... why would you tell him to "change his game"? The quote he made wasn't about not playing defence and more so about not playing like a 4th line grinder. I don't see RNH or Eberle throwing their weight around when chasing a puck carrier, so why aren't they getting any heat?
If posters want to tag a 20 year old kid who doesn't even have a full season under his belt as a "bad apple", to me, that's the definition of premature judgement right there.
I'm passed the "He's Russian, he'll eventually bolt to Russia in about 8 months" argument cause like I said yesterday, we're talking about 2 players in a spand of about 20 years and one of them had a valid reason (Kovalchuk) and the other is just brain dead (Radulov).
If guys like Datsyuk and Ovechkin were about to jump ship, I'd agree but that isn't the case at all. When you commit yourself to leave your country at the age of 16/17 to play on another continent and live with people that aren't your familly, one would say that the level of commitment is pretty high.
The Oilers are a trainwreck of a organisation and their new bench boss is utilising Yakupov as his own whipping boy, to prove to the rest of his roster that he means business. He's a rookie head coach who's trying to make his mark at the NHL level and things aren't going all that great since day #1, so he has to pull out something out of his hat and he pointed in the direction of Yakupov instead of RNH or Eberle.
When you draft a high point producer like Yakupov, 1st overall, and the kid leads the team in goals scored in his rookie year... why would you tell him to "change his game"? The quote he made wasn't about not playing defence and more so about not playing like a 4th line grinder. I don't see RNH or Eberle throwing their weight around when chasing a puck carrier, so why aren't they getting any heat?
If posters want to tag a 20 year old kid who doesn't even have a full season under his belt as a "bad apple", to me, that's the definition of premature judgement right there.
glenwo2
LINDY RUFF NEEDS VIAGRA!!
Just because you're past the "He's Russian, blah blah blah" like you stated, doesn't mean that everyone else is.
OR for that matter, every GM is.
I am certain that every one of those guys are a bit more wary about signing Russian-born players nowadays thanks to Kovy's defection.
OR for that matter, every GM is.
I am certain that every one of those guys are a bit more wary about signing Russian-born players nowadays thanks to Kovy's defection.
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