Non-Minnesota NHL News XIV - Seattle Expansion(?)

[Wabit]

Haha, I give up on this game. Ridiculous.

This game is less interesting with each team missing their most dynamic player. No MacKinnion or Eichel make it a boring game.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

One is arguably worth his crazy contract. The other is absolutely overpaid. Both have virtually unmoveable contracts.

Better?

A little, but I still think Kane's contract is very moveable if Chicago wanted to.

 

[gphr513]

Wow, and Vancouver beat Dallas 6-0

 

[Wabit]

A little, but I still think Kane's contract is very moveable if Chicago wanted to.

Kane's NMC makes things harder.

I'm not saying he couldn't be traded (he has a lot of value). It would really take a lot of things going correctly to make it happen.

 

[Nsjohnson]

Crazy to see that Duncan Keith doesn't have a goal this season...

 

[BigT2002]

Crazy to see that Duncan Keith doesn't have a goal this season...

That seriously blows my mind. I widely considered him the next Lidstrom: Smart defensive hockey player with a knack for getting points. And he looked the part too for quite a number of years.

But you know it is bad in Chicago when they are already writing this season off and the papers are talking about how it is finally the end to the dynasty and how they should be happy they took 3 cups during it.

 

[57special]

Losing Hossa, Panarin, Hjalmarsson, and Crawfraud certainly hastened the Hawks decline, but Toews descent into mediocrity has been puzzling...almost as puzzling as that insane contract they handed out to Seabrook.

 

[Wabit]

Losing Hossa, Panarin, Hjalmarsson, and Crawfraud certainly hastened the Hawks decline, but Toews descent into mediocrity has been puzzling...almost as puzzling as that insane contract they handed out to Seabrook.

Toews has declined some, but Seabrook/Keith falling off a cliff and losing Hammer I think have a lot to do with his stats this year.

Crawford covered up a lot of the Hawks weak points too.

If you put swapped Toews and Koivu then his stats would be a lot better. His contract is a killer, if he was in the $7m-$8m it wouldn't look bad, $10.5m is a big hit.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

The issue with Toews is that they traded away Panarin to accommodate him (taking Panarin off of Kane's line and putting Saad on Toews'). That Kane-Panarin chemistry might be good enough for 5 or 6 wins by itself.

 

[Wabit]

The issue with Toews is that they traded away Panarin to accommodate him (taking Panarin off of Kane's line and putting Saad on Toews'). That Kane-Panarin chemistry might be good enough for 5 or 6 wins by itself.

Oh I agree. The Kane line is much easier to defend with Kane as the only real threat.

If you want to go back even further, losing Shaw (traded because they couldn't afford him) hurt the team a lot. It made their 3rd line a lot weaker.

 

[57special]

The issue with Toews is that they traded away Panarin to accommodate him (taking Panarin off of Kane's line and putting Saad on Toews'). That Kane-Panarin chemistry might be good enough for 5 or 6 wins by itself.

Yeah. Saad has looked pretty unimpressive this year, while Panarin has looked excellent by himself. Kane and Panarin are magic together.

Don't agree about Shaw. He had his time, and that was it. Not an effective player anymore, and certainly not one you want to be paying 4-5M/yr.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

LA trades for Phaneuf.

 

[Bazeek]

LA trades for Phaneuf.

And gets rid of Gabby. Not a spectacular trade, but maybe it'll get the ball rolling around the league.

Kings get stomped by the Canes; Flames lost to Boston; Anaheim is down early to Detroit; Jets are losing; Blues are winning, unfortunately.

And hilariously, Buffalo beats Tampa two games after beating Boston. Class of the East.

 

[Bazeek]

Ha, Blues end up losing in overtime. Good night all around.

 

[Jesus comma Brodin]

Looking at Cap Friendly this morning, Nashville is really set up well for the long run. They have 2 forwards over the age of 30 (Hartnell and Fisher when he completes the comeback) and all of their their non-ELC forwards are locked up through 2019-2020 season (Excluding the old guys) .

All this with still having 11.5M in cap open right now (not projected but current open).

Watch them get Rick Nash and get even deeper.

 

[Bazeek]

I'd be shocked if Nashville doesn't grab someone big at the deadline. I'm hoping that acquisition goes roughly like ours did last year

With San Jose's loss, fully half of the top 10 teams in the NHL are in the Central division (with the Wild in 10th).

 

[57special]

Looking at Cap Friendly this morning, Nashville is really set up well for the long run. They have 2 forwards over the age of 30 (Hartnell and Fisher when he completes the comeback) and all of their their non-ELC forwards are locked up through 2019-2020 season (Excluding the old guys) .

All this with still having 11.5M in cap open right now (not projected but current open).

Watch them get Rick Nash and get even deeper.

Yikes.

There goes our window. Time to sell the farm, Maw.

 

[Saga of the Elk]

Looking at Cap Friendly this morning, Nashville is really set up well for the long run. They have 2 forwards over the age of 30 (Hartnell and Fisher when he completes the comeback) and all of their their non-ELC forwards are locked up through 2019-2020 season (Excluding the old guys) .

All this with still having 11.5M in cap open right now (not projected but current open).

Watch them get Rick Nash and get even deeper.

Or Pacioretty. Or maybe they'll sign Eeli Tolvanen once the KHL season is done...

I wouldn't necessarily give up Dante Fabbro for these playoffs, after they traded Girard, but they look like WC frontrunners if not Stanley Cup favorites.

 

[HollaHaula]

Hearing reports that the Canucks extended Jim Benning as their GM. At least we aren't that dumpster fire of an organization. Benning is clueless about how to build a team and evaluate talent.

 

[Wabit]

Hearing reports that the Canucks extended Jim Benning as their GM. At least we aren't that dumpster fire of an organization. Benning is clueless about how to build a team and evaluate talent.

I think Benning is between a rock and a hard place with the need to rebuild and the owners wanting to go all in and make the Playoffs.

He's a decent for talent evaluation. He just get sucked into too many trades that give up picks and young talent trying to make the team relevant with the Sedin twins.

On a side note Chi just put Glass on waivers. Crawford has been skating for awhile, so he could be coming back. That helps the Wild if he can steal a few wins against the other Central teams.

 

[Saga of the Elk]

Hearing reports that the Canucks extended Jim Benning as their GM. At least we aren't that dumpster fire of an organization. Benning is clueless about how to build a team and evaluate talent.

He drafted Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson, and added Dahlen by dumping a bad deal and bad person. The team might be a little confused about where they are, aging stars will do that, but he's won almost every deal he's made. Maybe you're thinking of Peter Chiarelli?

Interesting article on Dahlen: Why Vancouver Canucks fans will love Jonathan Dahén

 

[HollaHaula]

I think Benning is between a rock and a hard place with the need to rebuild and the owners wanting to go all in and make the Playoffs.

He's a decent for talent evaluation. He just get sucked into too many trades that give up picks and young talent trying to make the team relevant with the Sedin twins.

On a side note Chi just put Glass on waivers. Crawford has been skating for awhile, so he could be coming back. That helps the Wild if he can steal a few wins against the other Central teams.

Jim Benning doesn't strike as someone who is particularly smart. I don't even think he thinks he needs to rebuild. But maybe you're right and he's a "yes man" for ownership. Would certainly explain the philosophy behind most of his god awful "win now" moves. And if that's the case the Canucks are really screwed. I despise the Canucks franchise but their fans deserve better.

 

[HollaHaula]

He drafted Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson, and added Dahlen by dumping a bad deal and bad person. The team might be a little confused about where they are, aging stars will do that, but he's won almost every deal he's made. Maybe you're thinking of Peter Chiarelli?

Interesting article on Dahlen: Why Vancouver Canucks fans will love Jonathan Dahén

I've been following the Canucks' situation for a while now. The issue is that while the Canucks drafted those players, it was mainly due to the very high recommendations from scouting. The Canucks have a scout who was affiliated with UND and Judd Bracket also is, apparently, very good. I doubt Benning had that much to do with Boeser's or Pettersson's evaluations.

The NHL team roster and the moves made to acquire those players is where I fault Benning the most. Aside from Horvat and Boeser, who would you want from the Canucks? They've thrown away a large number of picks for trades that didn't yield much of anything. And they're supposed to be competing for the playoffs (ownership's wishes, remember) while they are falling to the cellar of the league.

 

[Jesus comma Brodin]

Or Pacioretty. Or maybe they'll sign Eeli Tolvanen once the KHL season is done...

I wouldn't necessarily give up Dante Fabbro for these playoffs, after they traded Girard, but they look like WC frontrunners if not Stanley Cup favorites.

4 points in his Olympic debut...

 

[Wild11MN]

Russo said on the podcast that the expansion process will change, and the fee is rising to $650M this time. Then he said, "if anything, they're going to get more of an ability to have a good team."