Around the League - 15/16 Edition: Part 4

[Del Preston]

He didn't join the Red Wings until the salary cap was already in place...

And less than a year ago he was raving about the parity the cap provides.

The salary cap has fully spread its wings.

"The parity in this league in unbelievable," Detroit Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock told ESPN.com Friday, a day after his team got into the playoffs [for the 24th straight season] in its second-to-last game of the regular season.

"In the 10 years I've been in Detroit, the league has gone from where we used to throw our sticks on the ice and win, to now where we barely make the playoffs," added Babcock, who has coached the only team to make to postseason every season since the lockout.

"The teams that looked like they might be the best in the league at the start of the year, like a Pittsburgh or the New York Islanders, they barely make the playoffs. It's freaking amazing."

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/12661242/nhl-salary-cap-created-full-parity-league

 

[Replacement*]

He didn't join the Red Wings until the salary cap was already in place...

And less than a year ago he was raving about the parity the cap provides.


http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/12661242/nhl-salary-cap-created-full-parity-league

Right you are, sorry, seemed to me like he'd always been Detroit coach. Not sure what I was thinking.

might be getting him confused with somebody else. memory goes south over 50..

 

[nightfighter]

Right you are, sorry, seemed to me like he'd always been Detroit coach. Not sure what I was thinking.

might be getting him confused with somebody else. memory goes south over 50..

To be fair, the comments in that quote still sound pretty anti-cap to me.

 

[Aceboogie]

Toronto up 2-0 to Philly. Would be HUGE if they won.2 points behind us with a game at hand

 

[Aceboogie]

Montreal was in 1s play in NHL on December 3 with a record of 19-5. Since that date, they have the worst record in NHL and are last in GF and GA (from that date)

What an utterly epic collapse. Going from best to worst from one injury

 

[Logical McNonsense]

LOL Toronto just won. They are flipping **** on their board right now.

 

[SDig14]

Flyers players and coaches losing their marbles on this Toronto IT winner. Glad I was able to turn it on to catch it. The broadcast overheard all the swearing, haha.

 

[Toydarian]

Looking back at the Oilers failed trade for Hamilton is rather depressing. Edmonton's suckage is primarily their own doing, but it really doesn't help when other teams literally hinder themselves to spite EDM.

Hamilton has his warts for sure, but those 12 goals and 40+ points from the backend would have been nice.

 

[Aceboogie]

Looking back at the Oilers failed trade for Hamilton is rather depressing. Edmonton's suckage is primarily their own doing, but it really doesn't help when other teams literally hinder themselves to spite EDM.

Hamilton has his warts for sure, but those 12 goals and 40+ points from the backend would have been nice.

Bostons 2015 offseason will go down as one of worst ever IMO. First they deal a 21 year old potential top pairing D (whom theyve been grooming for 2 years with Chara). Thats bad enough.

Then they go on to a) not shop him around the NHL (reducing value right now) and actively take a lesser return just to spite a team

Ok thats pretty bad, atleast the draft has some good talent right in their range. Kyle Connor is really killing it, Barzal looks great, theyll get a good pick

NOPE. They pick F***inf Jake Debrusk and Jakub Zboril. Holy F

Kyle Connor goes on to put up nearly 2 ppg in NCAA as a rookie. Barzal went on to put up 88 points.

Debrusk? barely cracked ppg
Zboril? Saw his points drop from 33 to 20, which is bust Colten Tubert area


What a absymal offseason. I cant even fathom how dumb that was. I have zero doubt I could have gone in a absolutely crushed that situation with trading Hamilton.

 

[Philly85*]

I mean sure, it would've been nice having Hamilton in Edmonton, but wasn't he a major disappointment this season for the Flamers, I mean his deeper numbers took a huge hit across the board did they not? Didn't start producing until later in the year, I suppose you could chalk that up to WC adjustment period. Can only imagine what it would've been like had he played in Edmonton though, with the tire fire it was... people here would've been crucifying him 20 games in... of course in hindsight it still would've been better to have the big, puck moving D-man, and it hurts considering what they wound up with instead... but I see Chia shaking things up in a good way this offseason... they have a ton of assets to work with, the only real hinderance will be price tags, and I think Katz would probably give the thumbs up for potentially lots of retention in their contracts going across.

 

[joestevens29]

I mean sure, it would've been nice having Hamilton in Edmonton, but wasn't he a major disappointment this season for the Flamers, I mean his deeper numbers took a huge hit across the board did they not? Didn't start producing until later in the year, I suppose you could chalk that up to WC adjustment period. Can only imagine what it would've been like had he played in Edmonton though, with the tire fire it was... people here would've been crucifying him 20 games in... of course in hindsight it still would've been better to have the big, puck moving D-man, and it hurts considering what they wound up with instead... but I see Chia shaking things up in a good way this offseason... they have a ton of assets to work with, the only real hinderance will be price tags, and I think Katz would probably give the thumbs up for potentially lots of retention in their contracts going across.

The thing is if you are only getting him for picks even if Hamilton busts you aren't exactly losing a lot.

With that being said in the end Hamilton wasn't a disaster. 43 points is more than our two top offensive d-men combined.

Man is it sad seeing the offense Calgary got from Gio, Brodie and Hamilton.

 

[Aceboogie]

Klefbom was better than Hamilton this year, but Hamilton has started to close the gap. Itd be like getting a right handed Klefbom for a mid 1st and 2nd. No matter how big his defensive defencies are, he can still put up points. He plays almost exact game as Jultz, however his offense is 10X Jultzs. I could live with that. Even if hes super soft and bad defensively

 

[bone]

The thing is if you are only getting him for picks even if Hamilton busts you aren't exactly losing a lot.

With that being said in the end Hamilton wasn't a disaster. 43 points is more than our two top offensive d-men combined.

Man is it sad seeing the offense Calgary got from Gio, Brodie and Hamilton.

I haven't looked too closely, but took a peek a few months back and I think it was a case of ridiculously bad stats to start the year in the first 10-20 games that burned his numbers. It seems that he rebounded fine and his numbers after that terrible run have been much closer to what would have been expected.

 

[Replacement*]

LA beats the hottest team in the last half of the season last night to temporarily lay claim to first place. LA needs a W in last game against Winnipeg to insure first in division.

Score was 2-1. Not much in that scoreline. The amazing thing was holding Ducks to only 13shots 50mins into the game. Ducks only ever got it going in last 10mins and even at that in short spurts. Only Getzlaf and Perry had anything going against Kings. They tried to put them out on almost every shift over last 10mins. That the Kings were able to put such a leash over the Ducks should be of concern to anyone. This wasn't even the Kings all dialed in with all players playing their best. But it sure looked like a playoff game.

 

[Mcnotloilersfan]

LOL Toronto just won. They are flipping **** on their board right now.

Their arrogance over their rebuild is why I don't want them to win the lottery.

They act like they have the best management in the NHL (same way they did when Brian Burke came along).

They make fun of our previous decade, but say the past doesn't matter for them.

"We're in year 1, because of our new management team." While us also having a new management team still has us in year 10 apparently...

 

[McTrashBoat]

Their arrogance over their rebuild is why I don't want them to win the lottery.

They act like they have the best management in the NHL (same way they did when Brian Burke came along).

They make fun of our previous decade, but say the past doesn't matter for them.

"We're in year 1, because of our new management team." While us also having a new management team still has us in year 10 apparently...

Your avatar is very fitting

 

[BlackDogg]

Interesting tidbit: One of my favorite stats - PP60, has McDavid in second place again. He won't catch Kane. However more interesting is that Connor Brown is in third just barely behind McDavid (3.46 vs 3.48). He plays for the leafs and has 6 points in 104 min TOI. Never even heard of him. Riding the Connor coat tails??

 

[Zaddy]

Interesting tidbit: One of my favorite stats - PP60, has McDavid in second place again. He won't catch Kane. However more interesting is that Connor Brown is in third just barely behind McDavid (3.46 vs 3.48). He plays for the leafs and has 6 points in 104 min TOI. Never even heard of him. Riding the Connor coat tails??

Him and Dane Fox were on a very dominant line with McDavid in Erie in 13/14. Fox is in the ECHL now but Brown seems to be doing well.

 

[nabob]

Interesting tidbit: One of my favorite stats - PP60, has McDavid in second place again. He won't catch Kane. However more interesting is that Connor Brown is in third just barely behind McDavid (3.46 vs 3.48). He plays for the leafs and has 6 points in 104 min TOI. Never even heard of him. Riding the Connor coat tails??

Probably because he hasnt played enough minutes for his PP60 stat to mean anything at all.

He basically has the equivalent of 6 points in 6 games while playing top line minutes.

 

[nabob]

Him and Dane Fox were on a very dominant line with McDavid in Erie in 13/14. Fox is in the ECHL now but Brown seems to be doing well.

I remember when Ryan Martindale was on a dominant line with Tyler Toffoli and Prince(?) in junior. Turns out we got the dud and the kings got the gem from that line.

 

[AppsSyl]

Their arrogance over their rebuild is why I don't want them to win the lottery.

Your managements arrogance over continually trying to win with a bunch of star forwards and no goaltending or defence is why no one wants you guys to win. That coupled with the fanbase's severe overvaluing of their assets when anyone suggests moving one of them for something that could actually help you get better.

They act like they have the best management in the NHL (same way they did when Brian Burke came along).

Name a better GM in the last 20 years than Lou other than maybe Ken Holland, name a better eye for talent than Mark Hunter, name a better, more cutting edge young hockey mind than Kyle Dubas, name a better head coach than Mike Babcock (Queenville is debatable). Name a better president than Shanahan what he has done in less than 2 years at the helm. As a collective whole it is hard to objectively dispute that they are the best management team in the NHL.

They make fun of our previous decade, but say the past doesn't matter for them.

Our past matters to us very much. It is why our fanbase has been completely onboard with the teams first true rebuild probably ever. Previous regimes could never stomach a rebuild in T.O. They were afraid to tear it down, and drove us crazy settling for 9th place. Never good enough to contend, never bad enough to truly get better.

You have to admit your last decade has been the most painful of any team in the league. You have been in full-blown tank-it-out (not half measures) rebuild mode for a decade. Four 1st OV picks as well as numerous other top 10 picks later you are duking it out for last 10 years later. This is where hopefully our rebuild will work out a little differently, where you were cursed with MacT and Lowe at the helm, our management team embarking upon this rebuild seems very competent and patient.

"We're in year 1, because of our new management team." While us also having a new management team still has us in year 10 apparently...

Your are in year 1 of a rebuild of a rebuild, there is a difference. As mentioned above this is the first tear-it-down rebuild I think our team has embarked upon in multiple decades. The Ballard years saw a tear-down, but he never attempted to build anything, because all he cared about was money.

 

[McBold]

I was reading an article saying the Jackets are one of the 5 teams this season to have 2 or more 30 goal scores.

What actually surprised me was the quiet season Eriksson had. He put up 30-33-63 in 81 GP. Not totally shocking since he is in a contract year, but still.

 

[McPuritania]

Their arrogance over their rebuild is why I don't want them to win the lottery.

Your managements arrogance over continually trying to win with a bunch of star forwards and no goaltending or defence is why no one wants you guys to win. That coupled with the fanbase's severe overvaluing of their assets when anyone suggests moving one of them for something that could actually help you get better.

They act like they have the best management in the NHL (same way they did when Brian Burke came along).

Name a better GM in the last 20 years than Lou other than maybe Ken Holland, name a better eye for talent than Mark Hunter, name a better, more cutting edge young hockey mind than Kyle Dubas, name a better head coach than Mike Babcock (Queenville is debatable). Name a better president than Shanahan what he has done in less than 2 years at the helm. As a collective whole it is hard to objectively dispute that they are the best management team in the NHL.

They make fun of our previous decade, but say the past doesn't matter for them.

Our past matters to us very much. It is why our fanbase has been completely onboard with the teams first true rebuild probably ever. Previous regimes could never stomach a rebuild in T.O. They were afraid to tear it down, and drove us crazy settling for 9th place. Never good enough to contend, never bad enough to truly get better.

You have to admit your last decade has been the most painful of any team in the league. You have been in full-blown tank-it-out (not half measures) rebuild mode for a decade. Four 1st OV picks as well as numerous other top 10 picks later you are duking it out for last 10 years later. This is where hopefully our rebuild will work out a little differently, where you were cursed with MacT and Lowe at the helm, our management team embarking upon this rebuild seems very competent and patient.

"We're in year 1, because of our new management team." While us also having a new management team still has us in year 10 apparently...

Your are in year 1 of a rebuild of a rebuild, there is a difference. As mentioned above this is the first tear-it-down rebuild I think our team has embarked upon in multiple decades. The Ballard years saw a tear-down, but he never attempted to build anything, because all he cared about was money.

This post is drenched in Leafs kool-aid. Gee, every person in any position whatsoever with the Leafs is the most incredible hockey mind evar! No one better!!! I'm surprised you didn't include the guy who sweeps up the aisles after the games at the ACC. It's nice that everyone hates us because of our arrogant management group, but you do realize that we have a new management group, right? You say we are trying to win with only star forwards, and yet you say we're in full blown tank mode too, which is is? Hint, our terrible management group didn't try to tank, they just sucked. One thing we can agree on is our silly fanbase though, if we could ever take an unbiased, and level, approach to our assets like Leafs fans do, we'll be in good shape.

 

[Aceboogie]

This post is drenched in Leafs kool-aid. Gee, every person in any position whatsoever with the Leafs is the most incredible hockey mind evar! No one better!!! I'm surprised you didn't include the guy who sweeps up the aisles after the games at the ACC. It's nice that everyone hates us because of our arrogant management group, but you do realize that we have a new management group, right? You say we are trying to win with only star forwards, and yet you say we're in full blown tank mode too, which is is? Hint, our terrible management group didn't try to tank, they just sucked. One thing we can agree on is our silly fanbase though, if we could ever take an unbiased, and level, approach to our assets like Leafs fans do, we'll be in good shape.

Yeah hahaha no kidding, I was thinking same thing. Leafs have been rebuilding since 2008. Theyve picked top 5 nearly as many times as Oilers. They slammed Oilers for having their top talent as small 1 dimensional wingers, yet their three best propescts (Marner, Nylander, Kapanen) are all Eberle/Hall/Yak clones. Our how Oilers have never picked D in their rebuild. Well Rielly is legit the only good young D they have.

In 2010-2013 they brought in a cup winning GM in Burke that was going to turn EVERYTHING around. They werent going to do a stupid tear down rebuild like Oilers, thats dumb. Good teams get better fast. Then they brought in a no nonsense cup winning coach in Carlyle who would whip these boys into shape and implement a strong system.

Now they are parading how a total ear down is better (after slamming it 5 years ago) Honestly Leaf fans just parade whatever the GM is doing. No matter what. They have no opposing opinion. Tomorrow Shanny could say hes going to trade away their 2016 1st for Hubederau and accelerate the rebuild and Leaf fans would be praising him. I rag on Flames fans alot, but honestly they as a group are the standard type of overhyping players (I myself and every other fan base is same way). Leafs fans just take it to a new level. They literally cant form their own opinions. They just conform to what ever the GM is saying. Burkie was the hot GM ever Leaf fan fawned over, then once he sucked Nonis was the new guy everyone was calling the genious behind Burkes moves. Then we he sucked Shanny was the hot new GM. Well Ill give Shanny 1 year and half before hes chewed up and spit out. The Dubas, the wunderboy, will be next up to bat

Its funny/sad to see

 

[AppsSyl]

This post is drenched in Leafs kool-aid. Gee, every person in any position whatsoever with the Leafs is the most incredible hockey mind evar! No one better!!! I'm surprised you didn't include the guy who sweeps up the aisles after the games at the ACC. It's nice that everyone hates us because of our arrogant management group, but you do realize that we have a new management group, right? You say we are trying to win with only star forwards, and yet you say we're in full blown tank mode too, which is is? Hint, our terrible management group didn't try to tank, they just sucked. One thing we can agree on is our silly fanbase though, if we could ever take an unbiased, and level, approach to our assets like Leafs fans do, we'll be in good shape.

I was just responding to the post that brought up our management. I am still waiting for someone to list someone better in any of those positions I mentioned other than maybe Ken Holland as a GM or Queenville possibly being Babcock's equal. As a whole our management group probably is the best.

Your previous management group was arrogant. MacT had an inability to acknowledge you can't win games without a backend and didn't make a significant effort to fix that. As far as trying to win, your team has been trying to win this year, but can't seem to do it. Full-blown tank mode referred to the previous 9 years under the old regime.

I don't wish the Oilers ill will, other than not winning the lottery for the next decade. I think you guys have had enough 1st OV picks.

I do have confidence that Chiarelli is a good GM and McLellan is a good coach. This off-season will be the interesting to see for your team, whether Chiarelli addresses the needs by parting with 1 or more of RNH, Hall, Eberle, Yakupov, or continues on the same path as the previous regime. I can understand why he did not make significant moves this season, because he wanted to get his own take on your players and not take the word of MacT, which was smart, but he has got to have a busy off-season to right the ship.

I think the next 2 seasons are vital for you guys, because it will likely determine for McDavid the length of RFA contract he wants to sign. If you don't do well and it is 5 yrs in length I would be worried, but if you turn the corner and it is 7 or 8 years there is a good chance he is an Oiler into his 30s.

I agree with you completely that both Leaf and EDM fanbases over value assets, which does rub other fanbases the wrong way.