travel_dude

It's a concern both with the Sutter system and the way he has treated Ras and Valimaki. I find it a little frustrating that we are still considering Stone to be part of the picture. While he was steady, I don't know he is the best partner for Valimaki. And the thing about Stone is he had his best season in years; do we think he's capable of doing that for 82 games?

I read where his projected salary was $4.1m x 5 years. On the surface, I don't have a big issue with that, but it means we have replace another D-man with offense with a defensive guy. While I think the defensive side of the game would be better, I think we would suffer too much without a PP specialist or offensive guy: Hanifin-Tanev Oleksiak-Ras Valimaki-Stone/Mackey

Assuming he makes it to FA. Who is Seattle going to pick from available players in Dallas? If he squeaks through, then Dallas would try to re-sign him. The UFA market isn't the greatest. Trade route might make some sense. Annoying that we have to trade to replace Gio. Should have done that prior to expansion draft freeze.

What was Frolik? Overpaid a bit at the time, but part of our best shutdown line for years. Ignoring for a minute his stats, how dangerous was Toronto with Hyman on the ice? If the answer was not really, then he isn't worth pursuing.

Past salaries are not a great indicator. We paid Neal too much and then settled on Lucic for equal money and term. We signed Ryan for more than we should have paid, but he's been everything from a 4th to 2nd liner and top PK'er. I'm annoyed that we are paying so much for the 3rd line today. Unless we moved Monahan or chose to move Lindholm back to RW, Backlund doesn't play on a line that should have $5.3m for a C. So we have some decisions to make. Trade Backlund for an asset and sign a younger C. Trade Monahan for a winger or D and need to replace a younger player. Trade Tkachuk for a top C, and still need a RW. Sign a bunch of player in FA. The expansion draft should open up some opportunities for trades. If Gio is not picked, we need to take advantage and trade him to get better. Seattle is going to have a bunch of players that don't really help them compete. How many D do they need.

Lucic was wahed up before we got him. We managed to get something out of him, but it was a garbage trade.

Backlund is 5.3m for another 3 years, taking him to 35. Yes, he plays C and his stats are closer to 45 points average. But, he also has played with some of our best players. Worth 5.3m? Hyman played with some of Toronto's best players, but he was not the finisher or primary setup guy. Has pretty good shooting percentage. Average about 2 shots per game. Goes to the net (who does that now?). I don't want to pay him 5x5, but I haven't heard about similar players available. Granlund? Not exactly gritty. Trades? Different story where we give up to get.

I think it would be a mistake if the Flames made a deal to keep Gio. His value is this year, as any future deal has risks. We won't be able to recoup any traded assets to keep him, unless we turn around and trade him. That's fine, but we are down the player we wanted to keep.

I doubt they take him regardless, but if they did... Price may be inclined to play for a different team; money isn't a factor, just location and cup contender status. I doubt MTL trades after the fact ti get him back, though (if allowed) it would be expensive, but would solve some cap issues. It's an interesting twist.

What is to stop Seattle from selecting Price, to turn around and trade him at a reduced price ( 🙂 ) for a big haul. Price at $10m is a trade anchor. Price at $5m is what? Yeah, it a bit more than those round numbers, but the point is the same. Next year, Price's actual is much less than his cap. How many teams need a real starter?

This seems to be the year that teams expose their worst contracts. STL wanted to trade Tarasenko, noe they expose him. MTL exposing Price. In some ways, this is so smart. Low risk of guys being claimed. Allows other players to be kept protected. Seems teams have figured out that offering assets to protect a player may not be the best move.

The Oilers and VGK are really the only other viable teams in the Pacific. And that assumes EDM doesn't do even more stupid things. VAN is a bubble team. California is bad. Thinking we need a injury free and bounceback of every player to be top 3 is just silly.

I guess who we target depends a lot on what BT is doing with the roster. The big talk all season was needing to re-tool. The top 6 not getting it done in playoffs and gaving a down season. Signing Hyman isn't a retool, it's adding to a core. Backlund is a very good defensive C, but age starting to catch up with him. He hasn't really declined at all, but I find him to be less inclined to sacrifice to win battles. He's not alone. Monahan may have a hard time coming back from hip surgery, but he is our top scoring C. Lindholm did well in season 1 as a C here. Gaudreau's biggest knock is he doesn't play well defensively. Dube was up and down, but could be getting close to a breakthrough. Mangiapane is playing his way to the top line. Lucic drank the fountain of youth, but is still making a ton of dumb plays. The defense is a bit of a conumdrum. Gio started bad and improved, but he's 37 and either gone or may decline further. Tanev and Hanifin best stories, but Hanifin injured. Ras had a drop off, and never really got his mojo back. Valimaki criticized. My point is that even signing Hyman doesn't do a thing to fix the team. There doesn't seem to be a plan to fix the core. Of course you may not do that before the drafts, but it seems like the talk about it subsided,

The consensus in EDM is that Klefbom isn't back this season. I find that to be quite unusual. Had successful surgery in March, looking at a 6 month recovery. Was ruled by NHL to not be exempt from expansion draft. Whay I am wondering is whether his medical reports are allowed to be reviewed by Seattle. Holland telling people he isn;t going to play sounds like a smokescreen.

Well, I have to say that a guy that can be a top 6 C on a lot of teams is probably worth $5m. Backlund that is. Lucic is what he is, which is a recovery from Neal, who should have been 2 RW. The criticism is valid for ending up with players for the 3rd line making that much. The cost doesn't matter to me, if they are capable and pretty good. Unless we had plans to overpay for some other UFA, Lucic's cost doesn't matter. Does it prevent us from trading for a more expensive player? Maybe, but what do we trade to get it? Unspent cap only means anything if you use it (weaponize) to take bad contracts. Or you actually sign players. I'm not in love with the idea of paying Hyman $5m. But, he's not a 3rd liner. He's either a top or 2nd line winger. In the right circumstances, he a 45+ point guy. He ain't no Neal, so he is more likely to fit a good top 6. And it's not like we have another RW like that.

Very limited viewing. What did he play 8 minutes with Ritchie? (Checks notes) 7 games with 6, 2, 4, 10, 5, 11 and 8 minutes. He got his only point when he played 11. But that's also like saying Phillips and Ruzicka will do nothing in the NHL. I don't know what he is; a C or a RW, a shutdown guy or a passer. Has to show something, but Sutter very much unwilling to give guys much runway. Needs to come into camp with an attitude and prove it.

Considering Lucic almost retired under BP, I would say it was just a question of honoring the NMC until the draft. TBH, minutes really determine what line you are on. A more offensive role might be more fun for Looch. Backlund is getting you D-zone starts. Maybe Ruzicka gets you sheltered starts and you can pad your stats.

Nuge is a 60 point player when his PP stats are inflated. Unless he's playing with a top C, he isn't that player. Swap out Nuge for Hyman, and Hyman probably gets more 5x5 points. But you missed what I was saying. I said get a player that does what he does. I also said we need scoring from the D.

That may be the case, but I would be happier if Lucic was a 4th liner and we had productive 3rd liners that would be ahead of Lucic. 3rd line - Dube-Backlund-Garland 4th line - Lucic-Ruzicka-Gawdin/Phillips Isn't that more productive than using Ritchie on a full time basis? Balanced? Yes.

So, the GM is also aware of all that. He has stats guys that look at everything a player does. Have they learned anything after Brouwer? Neal signing was not for the reasons why we targeted Brouwer. And to be honest, Neal showed up as a passenger. Did nothing to prepare to play. He did not come as advertized. We don't run out and sign guys to 6-7 year deals, unless they are a key piece like a starter. Whether or not Markstrom was a mistake, using season 1 results don't prove either way. And he was the only 6 year or longer guy we have signed as a UFA.

Who says we are actually offering 6x7? If he stays in TO, it's likely a similar deal as Nuge got, but he's not typically a C. I would be almost as concerned with 5.25 x 6. Somehow I doubt we go longer than 6. I think BT has learned his lesson with Neal. Markstrom was an overpay to get a starter. Tanev was possibly an overpay to get a type of D we needed. I suspect BT is doing his due diligence, and feeling out the market. Everything that happens this summer depends on the trade market, the expansion draft and asking prices. We have a few things to deal with immediately after the expansion draft. Re-signing Dube, Valimaki and Mackey. Getting a backup goalie. We only have 9F and 4D signed. $13m projected cap. Losing a player to expansion draft.

The premise was $6m x 7 years. Sounds like Lucic, doesn't it?

We are missing the grit on D. Gio may yell at a player "Go back to the gym", and Ras yells "Boom", but those are two guys that are just solid, not that tough. Bennett was the guy that laid out players with a big hit, but who was that on D? I want our team to be tougher to play against. Lucic is the nuclear option, but takes penalties for going close to the edge. Same with Matty. Yes, you need forwards that can take and deliver a hit on the other team, but only if that doesn't leave us mismatched on transition. We struggled more in the D-zone, so let's fix that first. Hammer McD and Draisaitl when they are on the wall.

I watched a couple of games where Ritchie was in the slot for a chance, and he completely whiffed on the shot. Like completely missed the puck. He was in on plays where a competent player could have got a decent chance, but we saw a lot of nothing. Maybe I am being harsh, but I saw about 5 games where he had an impact to the good. Ruzicka had a bigger impact on the game in the little time he got. And that's not really pumping Ruzicka. He's no Lucic; he can fight but doesn't scare anyone. Lucic has an up and down game, but I would rather watch Lucic for 15 minutes than Richie for 10.

I do think you undervalue Hyman. He would be comp to Mangiapane here. Unfortunately, the typical 29 year old is making that kind of money. Eberle, Nuge, Hall (probably more). The term is the real killer. Backlund is only a concern because he's 33 and we still have years left at 5+m. 4 years of Hyman we are younger. If we could find players with his work ethic, we would be better off. Go to the net. Drive the corners. I think there are better players out there, but maybe not in FA. We need offense, but starting with the D. If we lose Gio we have a chance to gain offense. Tarasenko or Laine could be targets in trades, but only if cheap. After all, we are taking chances and getting one dimensional players.