conundrumed

I'm totally not going to touch this anymore. London's only an hour away. I can sense what might've happened. I'll wait for this to boil to the surface. All I can leave you with, is this is not going to be good for some. By "not good", I mean, "good. You're busted". These guys would be fairly fresh out of high school. Now think of the horrible jock culture in high schools. That is a lot of hockey players. Immature jocks being idiots to fit in with the pack mentality. Which narrows it down to the real issue. School Boards facing no issues head-on, zero preventative and leaving teachers toothless. At least in Ontario. How does behaviour become this way? Ask the school board's and the Ontario Ministry of Education. Back-slapping attaboy lame ducks. Not a progressive thought in their heads. "Stay the course", the horrible course. They're saving no child. That would be viewed as being proactive, I guess.

By quick, do you mean, like, 5 years? If we have so much to sell, the flip side is bring in players to support the, "so much". How long do fans want an absolute bottom feeder for? Source: Detroit. And they built a great new arena and their fans are allowed to have fun tailgate parties, unlike Canada's archaic crap. So what's the draw to go watch your team lose in Calgary? Pretty much nothing I'm guessing? @cross16 has been mentioning the arena deal, or rather the lack thereof. It's all a part of the same problem. This whole kettle of fish is disintegrating into, "what's the draw for fans"? What a PR nightmare. Lots of news, all bad.

I seriously doubt Tkachuk would consider ARI. But re Chychrun's injury history, I'd be willing to bet it's due to usage. Even as a #1 dman I think his usage is huge overkill. Do they even have other dmen?lol Add in that Keller is their only highly skilled forward and it's not, imho, at all surprising that injuries are an issue. Wanna beat ARI? Target Chychrun and Keller. You win. I feel really sorry for those 2. Swap them for Hedman and Kucherov and I'm guessing you still have the exact same problem. I think both ARI players are cornerstones surrounded by absolutely nothing. It's sad. I can only imagine what those 2 could do on an actual NHL team. You had mentioned that you're not a huge Kyrou fan. He's an ex-Sting player and I normally promote them. I agree with you, I'm not a big fan at all. Just using him as an example. Because Keller is a far better player. He would easily match Kyrou's numbers if they switched spots.

I'd say that's correct. Rooney is a good role player. He has great D awareness. There really isn't much to compliment Milano on, Dube's a much better player. Milano was with Zegras. They knew he needed to be replaced and the further you drop him down the lineup the worse he gets. So cut bait.

I think mainly because he's had 8 seasons in the league and is still a tweener. There are a ton of flaws in his game. He needs to play top 6, but isn't good enough to be in anyone's top 6. There really isn't much good to say about his game,

I hope you're right. I'm keeping my tail between my legs after JG.

He can still sign a 5 yr extension after this one.lol Ifn younowhati'msayin'.

I don't even wanna think about if this gets to arbitration.

I'm pretty sure it has to do with when you file. File within the Block 1 timeline and 85% is on the table. File in Block 2 after the initial deadline and the 85% becomes 100%. I could be wrong. source: Not @cross16 lol

Also, to reinforce what cross said, it's a 1 yr deal. Arbitration can not touch UFA years. It's only for RFA years. Worst case scenario, it gets to arb, he's awarded $10 for a year, rather than the QO of $9. But you get closure that he's already decided to test UFA. In fairness, he has never once said that he's going to be easy to negotiate with.lol This is a good move by BT. It's not about an offer sheet. At all. There is zero threat of that. Need closure on Tkacuk's intentions. If the best you got isn't enough oh well. If it comes down to "trade him", try to do it fast. This is the peak of his value imo.

Not as I understand it. It starts at last year's salary, which was $9mil in actual salary (not cap hit). And cross will correct me, but it's either because it is in Block 2 of arb filings, or, because it's team elected, not sure which, the starting point of 85% is off the table. The hearing starts at $9mil. And yes, if he's traded the acquiring team goes to arb or signs him first. You'd assume that would lessen the return we'd expect by reducing our leverage.

Quoted for awesomeness. Thanks cross, as usual. I wish I could be so well thought out vs reactionary. You keep things balanced in our summer of discontent. Pretty sure last season began with a lot of malcontent fans and we won our division. There's always reason for optimism. Enjoyed how you spelt out the roster/prospect differences, We still have a good roster/decent prospect pool. At least let Detroit finish their rebuild first, I don't need both of my teams doing it at the same time.lol

Is there any chance that the arb filing pages can be clipped and made into it's own thread? My ADD gets tweaking on these megathreads. This thing is 3 pages already, it should be it's own thread. But I was glad to read that @cross16 has been precise and correct in how this works. If it gets to arb, it's 1yr and the minimum is $9mil. But this should be a stand alone thread with still plenty to discuss. In this thread, other conversations are going to go by the wayside. Just my 2 shillings.

Which is all good and well, but what's the number? "You may not get a Matthew Tkachuk type, but you might get an Alex DeBrincat type". DeBrincat is currently $6.4.

Hopefully some clarity can start happening soon. Sure BT can use all the time he wants, but he's been in shackles since the season ended. This "11th hour for a better deal" thing that he always runs with has to end. It's nothing but high risk and little reward, causes too much friction and really has a negative impact on cap management. If this is happening again, it's likely time to part ways. It just doesn't work. It's like every contract has to be steeped in procrastination. I mentioned a few seasons ago that this is a horrible technique, yet here we are with the same technique, more than likely. What other GM leaves himself zero time to deal with other stuff? Time is money. Even Nurse you can say is overpaid by $1.5-2. But Holland can move on and focus on other areas. Zito got Barkov done last year at $10 x 8 starting this year. Done, off of his plate, move on. Is BT going to keep dragging every negotiation all of the time?

I think that it might be important to remember that this happened after an awards banquet with several CHLers in attendance, not just Team Canada. If I'm making assumptions, my first would be, this happened in London. It emanated from a player that she liked. She's in London...so...I'd assume it emanated from a Knights player? Again, I'm not concluding, just assuming. The statement from Dube's agent, per Global News: Cowan said in a statement: “All of Global News’ questions will be asked and answered during the pending NHL investigation. Dillon did not engage in any wrongdoing, and he cooperated fully with the independent London Police Service investigation in 2018, through which all players were then cleared of any wrongdoing.” The statement continued: “Naming Dillon or attempting to associate him in any way with alleged criminal wrongdoing, or alleging that he was not cooperative with the London Police or was unwilling to cooperate with Hockey Canada, will constitute materially false statements constituting defamation causing serious financial and reputational harm.”

I know that I was confident JG would sign here and it didn't work out. In the same measure, I think the same with Tkachuk, I want him to sign here. Again, as with JG, it makes the most sense to me. I can understand if he wants to wait and feel out the vibe of the team. The reason I see him staying is, as much as he got carried away with the whole, "it's a family business" thing, it has to be a point of pride. His opportunity right now, imo, is to have his own team that will hang a C on him and pay him more than Brady. He is better than Brady. Where else could he sign where he'd have the opportunity to say, "this is MY team"? Rather than be told to, "tone it down" as the rumours go after the Muzzin thing, he'll tell teammates the opposite. It's his now. I "get" the Tkachuk family thing. Are they kind of arrogant and squeezing the dollars? Sure they are. You have to be that way if you're a leader. But those things contrast each other, in the sense that they WANT to be Captains and leaders. It is literally served to him on a platter to stay here. They don't wanna be 2nd, 3rd fiddles. Matt's easy to hate sometimes, but you can't deny that he's a fierce competitor and deserves a leader role. In closing, lol, if you've ever talked with the old school guys, they feel like they got screwed by owners for so long that their advice now is zero remorse in promoting the players of today to squeeze every last penny out of owners. Keith undoubtedly is of this mindset. They all are. I'd lock him in at $9.5 x 8 personally. Give him the C. If we lose him too, attracting good NHLers to Calgary will take a massive hit. Need to ensure JG was an anomaly. Once is a mistake, twice is a trend. No team needs that. It would be a horrible look.

We were going to give him $10.5 x 8. He actually did us a favour. That would've dragged us down the rabbit hole of cap hell in no time. As @sak22 keeps pointing out, the last few years have been anomalous. Scoring was way up last year. It just so happened this offseason was a horrible time for contract renewals with players having anomaly seasons. We already have a great structure to compete in a "normal" NHL season. It's time to look ahead.

Tanev's return date moved way ahead that he won't miss the start of the season. Although we have cap space, Tkachuk, Mangia, Kyl will gobble up most of it, but after this season we have expiring contracts. Hopefully Tkachuk can see the horizon rather than the right now. We'll have the means for some great adds to pull our socks up. We have a really good prospect in Pelletier ready to move into a LW role. We have the best G tandem and prospect we could want. A really good offseason regiment for players at every level can do wonders and we have a staff (coach in particular) that know how to get that point across. Kyl is a good example. The exit interview was "come in shape and ready" (you just know it was more specific than that). He showed up just jacked. His first real chance and he grabbed it. The smarts will come as he keeps it up. Anyone can surprise. Kyl was pretty much a write-off. It's amazing what one focused offseason can do for a player. Once they "get it", it becomes the norm. Who's next?

I was angry for a couple of days, but seriously folks, to go on a path of relentless character assassination because one guy made a career decision speaks to our character as much as it does his. Especially basing it off of "scoops" and assumptions. It wasn't a hockey decision, it was a life one. Move on...

As we all could be. I'm sure Iggy appreciated leaving and being able to take his family for a walk through the park like a normal human does, unrecognized on occasion, at the very least.

Is it true that 82% of statisticians truly hate their jobs?

Watching the video, I thought, "your legs are going to need to really dig in with your skating". Then the question: "what do you want to work on". First answer, "my power skating". Perfect. You develop guys by being honest with them. He's been told. Most NHLers have thighs like tree trunks and calves like large branches. You win zero battles without that. Show Klapka Chara's legs. You have to be more than just big with a big shot. Leg strength is everything. It can't be questionable, no matter how fast you are. Having said that, he's been told, so it's up to him and our trainers to teach him to understand the massive importance and really hard work if you wanna be a millionaire. It's not all about leg strength, but I'd say over 50% of it is. This is why I have a lot of faith in Kylington getting better with age. He's getting it and getting absolutely ripped. He's no longer a lanky kid that's a fast skater. I think he's only getting better because of that and will really start coming into his own because of it.

JG doesn't change us much. The main thing being that we have an identity that he never really gave us in his years here.. We're not going to lose that identity without him. In fact, I believe this helps and we'll be even better fortifying that identity. Tkachuk should stay, because this team coalesces far more with his identity as a player than it does JG's. We'll be fine. I'm not terrified at all.

So I'm over it. He plays for Columbus now and I've stopped caring why. Social media has gone nuclear on him. Even other teams' fans (including Oilers) chime in that he Blockchained us. It's time to put a bullet in this thing. Every sentence out of his mouth is now dissected into hate speech. It's time to let go of the anger and let the cat move on, live his life, and be better people ourselves. Honestly, the $10.5 x 8 would have killed us. We're a team with a rugged, hard-to-play identity. He isn't that player. Give him space and he's a sensational playmaker. Take that away, and he's not. Let's RIP this thread into the back pages. We floundered for years with no identity with him, we'll keep our newfound identity without him.