2016-17 General NHL Fan Talk - Part the Fourth (News n' Scores n' Stuff) ‎

[Hivemind]

Hossa's skin condition is definitely real. The doctor's will confirm that. However, that doesn't change the awfully convenient timing (for Chicago) that Hossa decided he can no longer bear the rashes.

There were some weird rumors floating around about Hossa's condition well before the retirement (namely around the time of the world cup, where some people not familiar with it reportedly saw it). Moreover, if Chicago was going to invest an injury/illness to push Hossa into LTIRment, they would definitely have gone with someone more mainstream than a skin allergy. Basically, the story is so peculiar it must be true.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Hossa's skin condition is definitely real. The doctor's will confirm that. However, that doesn't change the awfully convenient timing (for Chicago) that Hossa decided he can no longer bear the rashes.

There were some weird rumors floating around about Hossa's condition well before the retirement (namely around the time of the world cup, where some people not familiar with it reportedly saw it). Moreover, if Chicago was going to invest an injury/illness to push Hossa into LTIRment, they would definitely have gone with someone more mainstream than a skin allergy. Basically, the story is so peculiar it must be true.

It almost seems too ridiculous to be true. He's allergic to his equipment, I've never heard that before. As for Lupul, who knows.

 

[usiel]

Hossa's skin condition is definitely real. The doctor's will confirm that. However, that doesn't change the awfully convenient timing (for Chicago) that Hossa decided he can no longer bear the rashes.

There were some weird rumors floating around about Hossa's condition well before the retirement (namely around the time of the world cup, where some people not familiar with it reportedly saw it). Moreover, if Chicago was going to invest an injury/illness to push Hossa into LTIRment, they would definitely have gone with someone more mainstream than a skin allergy. Basically, the story is so peculiar it must be true.

You have to admit the whole thing sounds sketchy as all hell with perfect timing.

 

[Hivemind]

You have to admit the whole thing sounds sketchy as all hell with perfect timing.

Like I said, the condition is (likely) real. But the timing of Hossa deciding he can't deal with it anymore is awfully convenient for Chicago.

 

[Calicaps]

Not only do I agree, I'd take it a step further and convert the current numbers in the rafters to 'honored numbers' (essentially un-retiring them.) #5 is the only number up there now I would consider to keep.

Now, if we want to get really serious, let's get some attendance banners up there...

I actually almost said the same about Langway, but I guess I think it's an all-or-nothing type proposition.

 

[Hivemind]

The questionable decision to retire 7 and 32 shouldn't stop them from retiring 12.


In other news, bring back these face banners.

 

[Calicaps]

RIP Dave Strader.

f*** you, cancer.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Wow sad RIP.

 

[twabby]

Eichel just signed for 8 years x $10M per year. Seems like a huge overpay. He is not McDavid or close to it and I don’t get why Buffalo was willing to give him that much that soon. Should have just seen how this season went IMO.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Desperate Buffalo. Bigtime overpay, but they had no choice, because....IT’S BUFFALO!

Think the Leafs are pissed or what?

 

[usiel]

Desperate Buffalo. Bigtime overpay, but they had no choice, because....IT’S BUFFALO!

Think the Leafs are pissed or what?

Yeah this feels early for Eichel and a bit risky but yeah it is Buffalo.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Eichel just signed for 8 years x $10M per year. Seems like a huge overpay. He is not McDavid or close to it and I don’t get why Buffalo was willing to give him that much that soon. Should have just seen how this season went IMO.

They had to overpay. I doubt Eichel was very motivated to stay in Buffalo for a discount. He doesn't want to end up in the same situation as Tavares.

 

[g00n]

RIP Dave Strader.

**** you, cancer.

Dammit. I've been busy and didn't see this bit. Way too soon. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF f*** cancer

 

[Carlzner]

More excited for this Leafs-Jets game tonight than the Caps opener.

 

[Hivemind]

They had to overpay. I doubt Eichel was very motivated to stay in Buffalo for a discount. He doesn't want to end up in the same situation as Tavares.

I don't see why Buffalo had to overpay. He was going to be an RFA after this season, not a UFA. They could very easily opt for a bridge deal rather than an 8-year deal. Typically you skip the bridge deal because you know that locking in the mega-deal sooner will save you money in the long run. Spending $10M/year on Eichel isn't saving them money compared to waiting.

 

[Hivemind]

edit; Delete. I hate this new format.

 

[twabby]

They had to overpay. I doubt Eichel was very motivated to stay in Buffalo for a discount. He doesn't want to end up in the same situation as Tavares.

He's been lukewarm over two seasons in Buffalo and as far as I can tell he's not really a slam-dunk franchise player like McDavid or Tavares. He's not really a driver of possession even when compared to his teammates and he doesn't really score anywhere near an elite rate at even strength. You can make the argument that his teammates aren't great but neither were Crosby's, Ovechkin's, and McDavid's in their first few seasons yet they were still able to produce at very high clips and make their teammates better (*cough* Chris Clark *cough*).

Eichel doesn't really have any leverage in negotiations so it's puzzling to see Buffalo rush to sign him to a huge deal when they could have waited and seen if he improved at ES under a new coach. If so, great, they could have signed him to the same contract in January or next summer. If he continues to be good but not great, then maybe they would have an opportunity to lock him up for cheaper.

 

[Langway]

Their thinking is basically that he's their franchise guy. They DGAF.

He almost had a point per game last year and should find himself on a better possession team overall for once. He should only get better, both as he ages and the team around him improves. It's high but the McDavid contract shifted the goalposts. No chance he gets that much without it.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

I don't see why Buffalo had to overpay. He was going to be an RFA after this season, not a UFA. They could very easily opt for a bridge deal rather than an 8-year deal. Typically you skip the bridge deal because you know that locking in the mega-deal sooner will save you money in the long run. Spending $10M/year on Eichel isn't saving them money compared to waiting.

Buffalo had to overpay because a precedent has been set by the Oilers with Draisaitl. The negotiations were very long and they skipped the bridge deal to pay him 8x $8.25M. I'm sure Eichel argued he was worth more to the Sabres than Draisaitl to the Oilers.

Fun fact: Draisaitl cost Eichel $2M last year in performance bonuses because he knocked him out of the top 10 in PPG on the last day of the regular season by scoring 2 pts. Those 2 pts amounted to a 0.005 difference in PPG.

 

[Hivemind]

They didn't have to lock down Eichel for extended term now. They could very well continue with his ELC this year and negotiate a bridge deal this upcoming off-season. They had no reason to try and beat the Draisatl contract at this juncture. $10M is the highball figure for what Eichel could be worth. It's highly unlikely that he turns into a >$10M player.

The point of giving a player the mega-deal right out of their ELC is that you get to trade the cheaper bridge years for savings during their early UFA years. This contract doesn't do that for the Sabres. It just pays him his UFA price for the full length of the contract, including his bridge deal years.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

They didn't have to lock down Eichel for extended term now. They could very well continue with his ELC this year and negotiate a bridge deal this upcoming off-season. They had no reason to try and beat the Draisatl contract at this juncture. $10M is the highball figure for what Eichel could be worth. It's highly unlikely that he turns into a >$10M player.

The point of giving a player the mega-deal right out of their ELC is that you get to trade the cheaper bridge years for savings during their early UFA years. This contract doesn't do that for the Sabres. It just pays him his UFA price for the full length of the contract, including his bridge deal years.

You have a good point, they could've waited to try to lower the price. Apparently, they were even willing to offer more money to Eichel but he took a "discount" at $10M.

The NHL is weird. You have some ridiculously overpaid players and then you have players who make half of what they should make. Kucherov making $4.76M per year doesn't make sense to me. He should be making $7-8M per year even on this bridge deal.

 

[Hivemind]

Tampa Bay played hardball with Kucherov, including what was essentially a holdout at the beginning of the season, and eventually he settled. Kuznetsov said he wouldn't have put up with what Kucherov did, and that he would have simply gone to the KHL if he didn't have a contract in time.

 

[Langway]

It just pays him his UFA price for the full length of the contract, including his bridge deal years.

Eh. If he's PPG+ at age 25 hitting UFA he'd get more than $10M on the open market given how weak UFA tends to be and how rare it is for franchise centers to be available in particular. It's a gamble but also a vote of confidence from a franchise whose owner loves to throw money around. Simple as that.

I do wonder how these post-ELC deals will end up impacting Toronto with Matthews, Nylander & Marner before long.

 

[Hivemind]

By "UFA price" I meant the price they'd pay for his UFA years when negotiating an RFA contract. I still presumed they'd lock him up long term as an RFA at some point, just not immediately after his ELC.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Pittsburgh raising their banner tonight. Drink.