The Out of Town Thread CXI

[Aspirine]

The young guys in Tampa slumping hard, whoda thunk it?!

 

[Wats]

Shame Stamkos will be too expensive for Habs to sign. One Desharnais/Eller would have to be moved along with Emelin.

Pacioretty - Galchenyuk - Gallagher
Hudon - Plekanec - Stamkos
UFA - Desharnais/Eller - Andrighetto
Carr - Mitchell - Flynn

Markov - Subban
Beaulieu - Petry
Tinordi - Pateryn
UFA/Rookie

Habs firepower would be among the best in the NHL.

 

[Bryson]

Just some nifty plays I picked up on another board.

That's some street hockey **** right there.

Sick juke by tj brodie
http://gfycat.com/InfamousTediousBrownbutterfly

Sick stick handling by Panarin
https://streamable.com/3a6f

meanwhile, in san jose:

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

A guy like Eller you can replace with younger players. By the time Price and Pacioretty need new deals Markov Plekanec are gone or on their way out. If you keep churning out good young players you win with your core like Chicago.

Why replace Eller? He's young, inexpensive and a two way player. You keep him.

Bye bye DD and Emelin. This wouldn't be a hard decision folks. And as for him being a risk... he's 25 years old. YES you take him for free even if it meant letting him go at the end of the year. We'd win a cup THIS YEAR with Stamkos. Price, Subban, Stamkos, Max... lineup would be seriously stacked.

Too bad it's never going to happen but I can't believe there are people who are saying they wouldn't take him.

meanwhile, in san jose:

Marleau I could see here... but he'd have to burn that sweater first.

Is rebuilding the only option for Philly and Pittsburgh?

Pittsburgh still has the core talent to win cups with. They don't need a rebuild but they do need to fire their coach and get some help on the blueline. I still can't believe they've only won one cup with Sid. But injuries (not to mention suspect goaltending) are a *****.

 

[Lshap]

Pittsburgh still has the core talent to win cups with. They don't need a rebuild but they do need to fire their coach and get some help on the blueline. I still can't believe they've only won one cup with Sid. But injuries (not to mention suspect goaltending) are a *****.

The Pens are a great case study on why elite talent alone isn't enough to succeed. Fleury's been mostly good, despite being an easy target (aside from his one truly awful playoffs). The real problem is the holes everywhere else that have been disguised by the presence of a handful of stars. When those players are hurt, the team is beneath mediocre. That's what happens when you sacrifice depth in order to keep the top guys -- holes are constantly opening up elsewhere. Their D has been easily-exploitable, their offence wildly inconsistent.

 

[Monctonscout]

Shame Stamkos will be too expensive for Habs to sign. One Desharnais/Eller would have to be moved along with Emelin.

Pacioretty - Galchenyuk - Gallagher
Hudon - Plekanec - Stamkos
UFA - Desharnais/Eller - Andrighetto
Carr - Mitchell - Flynn

Markov - Subban
Beaulieu - Petry
Tinordi - Pateryn
UFA/Rookie

Habs firepower would be among the best in the NHL.

If Stamkos wanted to come here and the price(contract) was one MB was willing to pay(85-95 mil/8 years), they would make room. That's a non issue.

 

[CupInSIX]

Marleau I could see here... but he'd have to burn that sweater first.

Some people just can't appreciate fashion.

 

[Monctonscout]

Why replace Eller? He's young, inexpensive and a two way player. You keep him.

Bye bye DD and Emelin. This wouldn't be a hard decision folks. And as for him being a risk... he's 25 years old. YES you take him for free even if it meant letting him go at the end of the year. We'd win a cup THIS YEAR with Stamkos. Price, Subban, Stamkos, Max... lineup would be seriously stacked.

Too bad it's never going to happen but I can't believe there are people who are saying they wouldn't take him.


Marleau I could see here... but he'd have to burn that sweater first.


Pittsburgh still has the core talent to win cups with. They don't need a rebuild but they do need to fire their coach and get some help on the blueline. I still can't believe they've only won one cup with Sid. But injuries (not to mention suspect goaltending) are a *****.

Eller is a 3.5 mil cap hit, in a couple of years you can replace what he brings pretty easily with DLR at 800-1 mil, that's a 2.5 mil savings.

The core is still there in Pittsburgh, but they took chances and didn't draft and develop very well so they have been patching holes the last few years and that cost picks/prospects.

They are in a tough spot, their window is closing and they have nowhere close to the D they need to win with, plus not enough cheap young talent up front as depth. I don't see another top 5 team in Pittsburgh with the current core. Maybe a new GM comes in and moves some big pieces and build a contender, might be the only way...

The Pens are a great case study on why elite talent alone isn't enough to succeed. Fleury's been mostly good, despite being an easy target (aside from his one truly awful playoffs). The real problem is the holes everywhere else that have been disguised by the presence of a handful of stars. When those players are hurt, the team is beneath mediocre. That's what happens when you sacrifice depth in order to keep the top guys -- holes are constantly opening up elsewhere. Their D has been easily-exploitable, their offence wildly inconsistent.

It got that way in large part due to shortcut trades and poor drafting/development.

 

[MXD]

...Whoaaa

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/patrick-osullivan-nhl-abuse/

By the time I was 10, it got worse. He would put cigarettes out on me. Choke me. Throw full soda cans at my head. Every time I stepped on the ice, I knew that my play would determine just how bad I got it when we got home. I’d score a hat trick, and afterward we’d get in the car and he would tell me that I played “like a ******†(that was his favorite term, which says a lot).

This is a must read. Not a "cool" read, but a must read nonetheless.

 

[Sorinth]

Eller is a 3.5 mil cap hit, in a couple of years you can replace what he brings pretty easily with DLR at 800-1 mil, that's a 2.5 mil savings.

The core is still there in Pittsburgh, but they took chances and didn't draft and develop very well so they have been patching holes the last few years and that cost picks/prospects.

They are in a tough spot, their window is closing and they have nowhere close to the D they need to win with, plus not enough cheap young talent up front as depth. I don't see another top 5 team in Pittsburgh with the current core. Maybe a new GM comes in and moves some big pieces and build a contender, might be the only way...



It got that way in large part due to shortcut trades and poor drafting/development.

The window isn't really closing for them, so long as Malkin & Crosby are around ppg players then the window is still open. The star players are certainly taking up a big chunk of the cap but the real issue is that they are overpaying their mid tier players. When you have Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, you shouldn't have to spend 12m on the complementary players like Kunitz, Hornqvist, Perron. They should have spent that money on the D.

What makes it difficult going forward for them is that they don't have many good young cheap players since they traded them away and drafted poorly. And filling the cupboards is tough to do quickly, if it takes 4+ years then their window is starting to close.

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/patrick-osullivan-nhl-abuse/



This is a must read. Not a "cool" read, but a must read nonetheless.

Such a sad story, one that doesn't get told enough too. I know I saw similar stuff ( Not to that extreme ) in my highschool football playing days. Parents don't realize the things they put kids through sometimes. It goes far beyond the physical beatings.

 

[void]

Stamkos is totally signing with Toronto in the offseason.

 

[hototogisu]

Stamkos is totally signing with Toronto in the offseason.

I look forward to the Toronto media beating him down until he is a shell of his former self and no longer a threat to score against us, Kessel style.

 

[Monctonscout]

The window isn't really closing for them, so long as Malkin & Crosby are around ppg players then the window is still open. The star players are certainly taking up a big chunk of the cap but the real issue is that they are overpaying their mid tier players. When you have Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, you shouldn't have to spend 12m on the complementary players like Kunitz, Hornqvist, Perron. They should have spent that money on the D.

What makes it difficult going forward for them is that they don't have many good young cheap players since they traded them away and drafted poorly. And filling the cupboards is tough to do quickly, if it takes 4+ years then their window is starting to close.

3 all stars might get you in the playoffs, but unless you have 4-5 other guys that can score PLUS a strong D you won't win much. Chicago won at least in part because Toews and kane were on 6.3 mil cap hits and will now be 10.5 mil each, so that's instantly 8.4 mil of cap space that disappeared. Pittsburgh has struggled to ice a good team with Malkin/Crosby making 20 mil AAV, especially with so so player development/drafting.

Stamkos is totally signing with Toronto in the offseason.

Why?

If I'm Stamkos, that's the last place I sign. Losing team that will need another 2-3 years to be relevant. He's in his prime. Plus the fishbowl lifestyle.

If he leaves TB it's not for Toronto...can't see it.

 

[SergeConstantin74]

 

[hototogisu]

^ I remember back with the Jets Evander Kane liked or favorited a story a blogger wrote about how the Jets should trade him to Philadelphia, and it created a minor firestorm.

He eventually was traded by the Jets and it came out that he had asked for a trade every off-season when he was with them so maybe we can read the future into a player's twitter activity...

Meanwhile the Toronto media is really working themselves up into a frenzy over this. Gonna be funny when it doesn't pan out.

 

[Monctonscout]

^ I remember back with the Jets Evander Kane liked or favorited a story a blogger wrote about how the Jets should trade him to Philadelphia, and it created a minor firestorm.

He eventually was traded by the Jets and it came out that he had asked for a trade every off-season when he was with them so maybe we can read the future into a player's twitter activity...

Meanwhile the Toronto media is really working themselves up into a frenzy over this. Gonna be funny when it doesn't pan out.

The media making a big deal about his contract situation helps him. It backs Yzerman in a corner. he can't let him walk in July and can't trade him during the season unless they fall on their faces. He'll end up having to pay him 90 mil over 8 years...mark that down.

 

[The Nightman]

It feels a lot like what happened with Babcock last year. Through the entire season people were laughing and brushing off the idea of him going to Toronto, but as the weeks and months went on it started seeming more and more real until it finally happened. I'm hoping we don't have a repeat of this with Stamkos.

 

[CupInSIX]

Oh Stammer. You so passive-aggressive.

Stamkos is totally signing with Toronto in the offseason.

That would suck if Stamkos was in our division next year.

 

[Monctonscout]

Oh Stammer. You so passive-aggressive.




That would suck if Stamkos was in our division next year.

He will be...in Tampa Bay.

I'd bet my house he is going nowhere.

 

[hototogisu]

The media making a big deal about his contract situation helps him. It backs Yzerman in a corner. he can't let him walk in July and can't trade him during the season unless they fall on their faces. He'll end up having to pay him 90 mil over 8 years...mark that down.

Stamkos not playing like a $11m+ player right now hurts him more than the media is helping him, IMO.

But at the end of the day it all comes down to the player. If he wants to leave, he'll leave. If wants to stay, he'll say. I don't think whether he gets paid $9M by Tampa or $11M by Toronto will make a dramatic influence on his decision. It's all about where he wants to play.

 

[Danadiens]

Just as it looked like it was done Kane buries ANOTHER EN to extend his streak.

So... it's not just Plekanec and Max?

 

[Danadiens]

The "Triplets Line" that was instrumental in the Lightning's success last season is hard;y lighting it up these days:

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0000552016.html

Gotta hurt.

Filppula is also struggling bad. I always thought he was pretty much Plekanec's clone.

 

[DAChampion]

Zdeno Chara is arguably the best free agent signing of the salary cap era. He joined the Boston Bruins at age 29 and was instrumental to their transformation to contender status. Some might disagree and say Marian Hossa, the argument is similar.

In general, tremendous players don't make it to UFA.

If Stamkos makes it to UFA, he might be as transformative as Chara.

 

[BlackStar]

A part of me would love to see Stamkos as a Leaf next season, as it is my belief that it would harm the team's plans to rebuild properly. That is, if the team indeed wants a genuine rebuild, instead of their patented retooling.