Post-Game Talk: GM 52: Vancouver Canucks 2 @ Nashville Predators 4

[Rotting Corpse*]

Benning can do no wrong to some.

I'll give the guy credit. Spinning the Eriksson contract as a "clever move" isn't easy, and I haven't seen anyone else even make an attempt.

 

[MS]

Teams taking on negative value contracts for bad old players for free to reach the cap floor is not a thing that has happened, ever. The notion is ridiculous.

 

[RandV]

If we're talking about escaping Eriksson's contract then I think the only relevant questions are when is the next CBA due and will there be another round of compliance buyouts?

 

[MS]

Team is now officially in freefall mode. Will probably be eliminated from realistic playoff contention by the end of this road trip.

Granlund, to his credit, was very good tonight. He and Eriksson were our most dangerous forwards. Eriksson is snakebitten.

Our 2 best players are Horvat and Tanev. Horvat had the 7th highest TOI amongst forwards and Tanev 5th-highest amongst defenders. Basically a recipe for losing right there.

Stecher was awful tonight. Probably his worst NHL game. All kinds of problems defensively, not doing much with the puck, wonder if the longer schedule is wearing him out.

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

If we're talking about escaping Eriksson's contract then I think the only relevant questions are when is the next CBA due and will there be another round of compliance buyouts?

Doesn't matter. He is mostly paid through signing bonuses which are guaranteed by his contract.

He rather weirdly makes 1M in base salary in the 2020-21 season and then 3M in the final season. That final season has some potential to be bought out but that's it.

And just for the record, the NHL/NHLPA have the option to opt out of the CBA after the 2019-20 season, with Loui having those final 2 years on his deal.

If they elect not to opt out, the CBA will expire at the same time Loui's contract does.

 

[PG Canuck]

If (and when) we do find a way out of the contract, then it's nothing but 'clever.'

Again - after year 4, 31 of the 35 million will be paid out.

There will be teams (and yes, even those not named 'Arizona') that will need help reaching the cap floor.

There will be absolutely zero teams lining up for Eriksson, kneeling at Benning's feet, saying give me Eriksson we really need to hit the cap floor!

What teams did that last year? You make it seem as if this is a very common thing, but really, teams have no issues reaching the floor. When is the last time a team was in literal danger of not hitting the cap floor? I honestly can't remember, so educate me.

We are stuck with Eriksson unless we buy him out, which won't happen. He's going to be a massive boat anchor if he continues his play. He can be a good defensive player, sure, but he's eating so much cap space right now for pretty much zero contributions.

 

[RandV]

Doesn't matter. He is mostly paid through signing bonuses which are guaranteed by his contract.

He rather weirdly makes 1M in base salary in the 2020-21 season and then 3M in the final season. That final season has some potential to be bought out but that's it.

Not a regular buyout, a CBA exclusive compliance buyout. Last CBA each team got two, and I believe it was the same for the CBA before (that introduced the cap). Compliance buyouts come out of the owners pocket but don't count against the cap.

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

Not a regular buyout, a CBA exclusive compliance buyout. Last CBA each team got two, and I believe it was the same for the CBA before (that introduced the cap). Compliance buyouts come out of the owners pocket but don't count against the cap.

Oh. Right. I forgot about those.

It only happened during the last lockout and only because the cap was supposed to go up but didn't. Pretty special circumstances, but could happen again.

I do think a competent GM will find a way to turf the contract though, but it will probably cost us.

Imagine if those CBO's hadn't come along. The Islanders would still have 4 more years left with Rick Dipietro

As it stands, the dude will be getting 1.5M from them every year until 2028-29. Decent pension plan.

 

[Snatcher Demko]

Team is now officially in freefall mode. Will probably be eliminated from realistic playoff contention by the end of this road trip.

Granlund, to his credit, was very good tonight. He and Eriksson were our most dangerous forwards. Eriksson is snakebitten.

Our 2 best players are Horvat and Tanev. Horvat had the 7th highest TOI amongst forwards and Tanev 5th-highest amongst defenders. Basically a recipe for losing right there.

Stecher was awful tonight. Probably his worst NHL game. All kinds of problems defensively, not doing much with the puck, wonder if the longer schedule is wearing him out.

It's a joke that Eriksson still hasn't been tried next to Horvat, who has been pigeon-holed as a "produces off the rush only" player by Willie D.

And yet he played next to Sutter, who can't make a play in the offensive zone to save his life (other than to use his shot).

I'm not saying it will work, but it should have been tried by now, given how poorly Loui is fitting with everyone else. While I hated the signing, it was more because it was the wrong thing to do at this stage of what should be a rebuild, rather than hating the player himself. I think Loui is better than what he has shown, and may have a nice turnaround next year under a different coach.

Also, I am certain the long schedule is wearing for Stecher. He's been playing top 4 minutes all year. A decline in play is expected here. It's a near miracle he hasn't been injured yet (knock on wood).

The other thing is how slow the Sedins look. I figure they won't combine for more than ~8 points in this road trip.

 

[orcatown]

Think a lot of us predicted the Canucks would hang in till Xmas but then the Sedins would fade and we'd bottom out. Stayed in for a little longer than thought but Sedins (especially Daniel) did disappear in January and there goes the season. Old adage that if the Sedins don't score the team doesn't win has been true for awhile and suggests the bleak outlook the team is facing

Actually in this game the Canucks probably deserved to win. Had Nashville tied up in their end for much of the game and only stellar goal tending by Rinne held Nashville in. And though irrelevant here, Poile got badly worked in the Johanson and Subban deals. Subban was one of the worst players in the game and never was and never will be in the class of Weber. Johanson looks slow and lazy and you don't give up Seth Jones for him.

Lots of Canucks played well including Edler (with Josi the best defenseman in the game), Horvat, Sutter (very good), Granlund, Eriksson (although had trouble beating Rinne) and Burrows. Didn't think much of Sbisa or Chaput.

 

[Intoewsables]

If (and when) we do find a way out of the contract, then it's nothing but 'clever.'

Again - after year 4, 31 of the 35 million will be paid out.

There will be teams (and yes, even those not named 'Arizona') that will need help reaching the cap floor.

As many others have mentioned, teams just don't do this. A team that hovers around the cap floor isn't going to take on some junk contract for free just because it's going to save them a few bucks; they'll try and leverage their situation and extract some sort of return on top of Eriksson. There are plenty of teams looking to dump bad contracts at any given time, and these are the teams dealing from a position of weakness in that situation, not the team that has flexibility under the cap.

Also, I think you're looking at just the signing bonuses rather than the actual salary here. Eriksson gets $4M/year over the final two years of his contract, which is $2M/year of real money savings for the team that has him. You're right that that has value to a cheaper team, but not enough that they'll take him on for nothing.

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

I'd love to see us try something creative. Like maybe

Eriksson-Henrik-Hansen
Daniel-Horvat-Burrows

Try something different at least. The worst thing about being a boring, horrible team is being a boring, horrible team that just does the same **** every single game.

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

As many others have mentioned, teams just don't do this. A team that hovers around the cap floor isn't going to take on some junk contract for free just because it's going to save them a few bucks; they'll try and leverage their situation and extract some sort of return on top of Eriksson. There are plenty of teams looking to dump bad contracts at any given time, and these are the teams dealing from a position of weakness in that situation, not the team that has flexibility under the cap.

Also, I think you're looking at just the signing bonuses rather than the actual salary here. Eriksson gets $4M/year over the final two years of his contract, which is $2M/year of real money savings for the team that has him. You're right that that has value to a cheaper team, but not enough that they'll take him on for nothing.

Like worst case scenario I am 5M short of the floor what am I going to do.

I can sign a quality free agent for 5M
I can trade for some team's garbage

Hmmm.

 

[PG Canuck]

I'd love to see us try something creative. Like maybe

Eriksson-Henrik-Hansen
Daniel-Horvat-Burrows

Try something different at least. The worst thing about being a boring, horrible team is being a boring, horrible team that just does the same **** every single game.

I've been wanting to try splitting the Sedins dating back to when we still had Kesler. And no, I don't mean splitting them for a game or two, I mean for a couple months minimum.

They have morphed into the exact same players. Daniel is not a sniper anymore and is not a scoring threat much. Both Henrik and Daniel try to pass so much where they catch their opponents so far out of position they can just pass the puck to the back of the net. They're both playmakers and need to be split.

 

[KeninsFan]

Like worst case scenario I am 5M short of the floor what am I going to do.

I can sign a quality free agent for 5M
I can trade for some team's garbage

Hmmm.

Sign vets for 1 year and flip for picks at the TDL (Toronto method) OR 1 year show me deals (Brett Connolly)

Cap dumps even to reach the floor cost the team like with the Yotes/Datsyuk

 

[The Iron Goalie]

Just finished watching on PVR, and man... Willie needs to keep Eriksson away from the Sedin's. They are WAY too slow as a line, and just get killed in possession. Granlund was much better there, just because he's not Eriksson slow, but they really need Hansen back.

Go with

Sedin/Sedin/Hansen
Eriksson/Horvat/Burrows (this line at least has speed in Horvat)
Granlund/Sutter/Megna
4th line

When Baertschi is back

Sedin/Sedin/Hansen
Baertschi/Horvat/Eriksson
Granlund/Sutter/Burrows
4th line

Can't keep having all slow line, and expect to keep pace.

 

[KeninsFan]

Markstrom doesn't look like a starter to me. If the season is lost Canucks should send Miller to a contender and ride Markstrom. Markstrom has until the end of the season to start. Let's see how it goes. If he becomes a well paid back-up at least you can plan for it in the offseason.

That would be ideal right? Flip Miller to LA for a pick

Give Marky the rest of the season similar to Lack (Torts year)

 

[Intoewsables]

Like worst case scenario I am 5M short of the floor what am I going to do.

I can sign a quality free agent for 5M
I can trade for some team's garbage

Hmmm.

Exactly. The team with tons of cap space has all sorts of options they can explore. The team that desperately needs to get out of the bad contract isn't the one dealing from the position of strength, even if the cap floor team gets some benefit out of it.

 

[Wo Yorfat]

Benning can do no wrong to some.

In fairness a lot of this is performance art. There's likely a few people typing things they mean but mostly it's looking for responses. Virtanen? owners! Dorsett? err... idk! Sbisa? how dare you be anti Swiss! ect.

 

[Jake Skille]

I'd imagine we would have to retain salary if we ever trade Loui. Somebody would take him at a 50%/ 3m cap hit

 

[Nucker101]

I've been wanting to try splitting the Sedins dating back to when we still had Kesler. And no, I don't mean splitting them for a game or two, I mean for a couple months minimum.

They have morphed into the exact same players. Daniel is not a sniper anymore and is not a scoring threat much. Both Henrik and Daniel try to pass so much where they catch their opponents so far out of position they can just pass the puck to the back of the net. They're both playmakers and need to be split.

I didn't agree with it in the past since Daniel could score back then, but nowadays it should be seriously considered. Especially at 5v5. Assuming Sven is out:

Daniel - Horvat - Burrows
Eriksson - Henrik - Hansen
Granlund - Sutter - Whoever
Whoever - Whoever - Whoever

 

[ATypicalCanadian]

Putting Horvat and Eriksson together should be a given considering how well Eriksson has played with centers that play the way Horvat does.

 

[mathonwy]

Putting Horvat and Eriksson together should be a given considering how well Eriksson has played with centers that play the way Horvat does.

I think I suggested that in October.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Zombotron]

The season series ended 1-1-1.

And if I'm correct, the upcoming stretch will be Vancouver's final visits to Eastern Conference barns this season.

 

[thepoeticgoblin]

Bad goal to allow for Marky (2-1). Visibly rusty, and we all know the deployment of the goalies has been a joke, but got better as the game progressed. Needs more games now. You wonder why they bothered to extend him if this was the plan?

A lot of player development has been shunned in order to chase the playoffs, which is shameful considering we are performing pretty much identically to last year.

Sell, sell, SELL.