Only a matter of time until Jets haters came out of the woodwork to make ridiculous statements about things that were never said. Convenient that they waited until the team wasn’t one of the 4 final NHL teams playing to begin to bash the team
McDavid is the superior player there's no question about that. It's Schiefele's contract which significantly closes the gap with regards to overall value.
Yes you will though. Guys like Myers and Perreault aren't going to fit under the cap once Wheeler, Laine and Connor get new contracts, and thats ok because they aren't important pieces and are pieces you should be replacing internally through prospect development.
Ok, but there's a major flaw in this argument. You don't have 2 Scheifele's so you can't somehow equate 1 Scheifele to having 2. Yes you get the extra cap space, but you don't fill that with a player as good as Scheifele, you fill that space with players like Perreault and Myers instead of players like Benning or Caggiula. Yes, that adds value, but think of it this way. McDavid could play with 2 players making under 2M and still outproduce Scheifele, aka create more goals. Now, those players would likely not be contributing on your power play, but there's only so much PP time to go around to your highly paid players so you're not wasting PP scoring by having McDavid at an extra 6M. You are however able to score more goals at even strength without having to have guys like Wheeler and Connor on the wing who will easily be making 14M combined on their next deals.
So you want to say a Scheifele and an Ehlers? Do you want to say you have the luxury of a Tyler Myers as your 3rd RD? A Perreault on your 3rd line? Or the Jets 1st line is less money than McDavid alone and yes they out score McDavid’s line. Etc etc etc.
Not criminalizing at all. Just stating that two very good players are likely better than one superstar in the cap world.
No because you can still afford an Ehlers with McDavid's contract. The Oilers GM is just a moron who spent that money on a Lucic. Yes I'd rather have an RNH-McDavid-Rattie for example than a Wheeler-Scheifele-Connor line at evens because McDavid still produces more goals at even strength than that line. If I didn't have other skilled players for the PP then yeah I'd prefer the Jets trio, but as it stands now McDavid produced 84 goals at evens, how many did that line produce at evens? Now consider that line will likely be making more money than McDavid's line when contracts are up and you see why McDavid's more valuable even at 12.5M. The extra 6M shouldn't change much for team power play scoring if you have the talent, which you can still afford with McDavid's contract. Unfortunately the teams PP was an absolute mess last year, in large part due to coaching, but also in large part due to a PP Dman. McDavid's contract doesn't prevent the team from having a PP Dman, the teams horrible drafting in previous years and poor asset management has prevented that.
But what if those players play together and don't actually outproduce the offence that McDavid brings with a b level replacement alternative? Because that's the reality. McDavid is involved in more goals playing with players like Maroon, Rattie, or Caggiula on one of his wings than Scheifele is playing with guys like Kyle Connor who will make up the salary difference once his ELC ends.
Okay, but what if one of those teams had the second best record in the NHL, and made it to the Western Conference Final, and the other one didn't make the playoffs?
PP goals don’t count, having cap space that allows you to either have another high end player or more depth doesn’t matter, who cares what their salaries are because they will be worth more in 2 YEARS, excuses about a Oiler PP. Got it. That is some incredible mental gymnastics to arrive at your conclusion.
Well not really a good example given that Stastny's cap his did not come at full value because he was acquired at the trade deadline. But for arguments sake lets say Stastny on a different line, sure. So by taking on his money you lose one of Scheifele's wingers that is/will be making 6M and replace them with a 900k AHL tweeter like Rattie. Do you think that Scheifele scores the same with a winger like that? I sincerely doubt it.
This argument is a fallacy though considering that McDavid was still on his ELC this past season. Jets success has everything to do with good drafting and management choices, while the Oilers failures this year have everything to do with poor drafting and management choices, not McDavid's salary.
I think it's a perfect example.
Well power play goals have nothing to do with this argument because 6M in cap space isn't what is preventing the Oilers from having a good PP. They had the personnel to be 5th in the league on the PP in 2016-17. If the Oilers lacked the money to actually ice a good group of players on the PP due to McDavid's contract then you'd have a point. Thats not a restriction though, the restriction is poor contracts to other players, and poor management/drafting to find a) a good PP coach, and b) a good PP dman. McDavid's extra 6M doesn't stop Edmonton from having a good PP. It also can't be an excuse about the Oilers PP because McDavid hasn't played a single season yet making 12.5M.
But your stance implies that the Oilers aren't able to ice a good 2nd line due to McDavid's contract which is entirely false. I've already laid out how you can spend less on wingers on McDavid's line and still have superior results from that line to cover the difference in salary. Do you think Scheifele could yield similar results as he is right now if you swapped Wheeler for Rattie?
