Van' Riemsdyk not available. Kadri's asking price is 'extremely high'

[Durrr]

Last year he was playing against top lines

This year he would be doing so as a second pairing man. See the difference?

There is absolutely 0 difference, points are points. Were talking about offense here, not defensive assignments. Some of the top offensive D in the game don't take the top defensive assignments, and have huge point inflation due to special teams.

 

[Durrr]

except the goal is to try to improve the team , not just stay under the cap and this is where his cap hit becomes a problem for us

he's overpaid now and in a year or two he'll probably be unmovable

But isn't the point that with ELC's, we have the space to do both even with Dion? Don't get me wrong, if any return could be had for Dion I'd be in favour, but I really don't see how his contract is the albatross some would try and make you believe it is.

Lets not forget, this is the NHL where mid defensemen are paid 5 mil +, and if Dion can do that for a few more years and provide some vet support on/off the ice I don't mind overpaying 2 or so million.

 

[hotpaws]

Babs is trying shelter Dion as much as possible to inflate his play/value

-he lowered his d zone starts
-lowered his pk mins
-avoids when possible playing him against top lines
-loads up his pp mins

hopefully this fools some team into taking him off our hands

 

[hotpaws]

But isn't the point that with ELC's, we have the space to do both even with Dion? Don't get me wrong, if any return could be had for Dion I'd be in favour, but I really don't see how his contract is the albatross some would try and make you believe it is.

Lets not forget, this is the NHL where mid defensemen are paid 5 mil +, and if Dion can do that for a few more years and provide some vet support on/off the ice I don't mind overpaying 2 or so million.

except Dion doesn't provide anymore support than we could get by re signing Polak at less than half his cap hit

we could easily slide Polak into DP's role minus the pp where i'd rather have MR get his mins

we're losing anyway so going with a top 4 of Hunwick-Rielly/Gards-Polak while we break in the kids is much better than hoping we can deal DP 2-3 years down the road when he's diminished further

 

[Ducati1098VII]

Babs is trying shelter Dion as much as possible to inflate his play/value

-he lowered his d zone starts
-lowered his pk mins
-avoids when possible playing him against top lines
-loads up his pp mins

hopefully this fools some team into taking him off our hands

Hes just using Dion where he was most effective. He was a Stud on Calgary as a #3/4 not a #1/2

 

[hotpaws]

Hes just using Dion where he was most effective. He was a Stud on Calgary as a #3/4 not a #1/2

Dion is paid to take the toughest mins not to be sheltered while we have Rielly/Hunwick shouldering the brunt of the workload .

and DP was such a stud they at the end of his time in Calgary they dumped him for scraps

making excuses for players isn't going to build an elite team and we're lucky the guys now in charge (LL-Babs-Shanny-Hunter) aren't as full as crap as Burke/Nonis and there followers were

 

[Ovate]

except Dion doesn't provide anymore support than we could get by re signing Polak at less than half his cap hit

we could easily slide Polak into DP's role minus the pp where i'd rather have MR get his mins

we're losing anyway so going with a top 4 of Hunwick-Rielly/Gards-Polak while we break in the kids is much better than hoping we can deal DP 2-3 years down the road when he's diminished further

The bolded is absolutely no true, in so many ways.

We have no replacement for Dion in the pipeline (maybe Nielsen in 4-5 years?). If we trade him now, there needs to be a good return. In 2-3 years when we start trying to make the playoffs, Dion at 7M would contribute more to our success than 7M of random free agents.

 

[hotpaws]

The bolded is absolutely no true, in so many ways.

We have no replacement for Dion in the pipeline (maybe Nielsen in 4-5 years?). If we trade him now, there needs to be a good return. In 2-3 years when we start trying to make the playoffs, Dion at 7M would contribute more to our success than 7M of random free agents.

we're 29th at present and if we can't develop/obtain any top 4 D in the next 2-3 years we won't be contending for anything anyway so it really doesn't matter if we trade him now ( that's assuming someone wants him )

any return that sees us not retain salary is a good return , i'm hoping for a short term salary dump combined with a decent roster player/prospect and a 2nd , anything better is all gravy in my eyes

 

[Ovate]

we're 29th at present and if we can't develop/obtain any top 4 D in the next 2-3 years we won't be contending for anything anyway so it really doesn't matter if we trade him now ( that's assuming someone wants him )

any return that sees us not retain salary is a good return , i'm hoping for a short term salary dump combined with a decent roster player/prospect and a 2nd , anything better is all gravy in my eyes

We're 29th in the league because we can't score goals, not because we can't prevent them. Trading away our best PP QB and leading defenseman scorer is not going to help. Even in the future, only Rielly will be better than him offensively.

Defense-men take a long time to develop. Big able to play top 4 in the NHL usually takes 4+ years. We're counting on Rielly improving, and maybe one trade/FA addition. If we trade Dion, then we need to replace him with a free agent (two trades for top 4 defensemen is too rare and would cost too much). So then we're looking at worse defensemen, like Sekera or Petry, for nearly the same cap hit, or an equivalent defenseman who costs even more (and those never actually hit FA). We need to get back at least the difference in quality between Dion and a FA replacement if we trade him.

Plus, we have a very healthy cap going forward, so we need to focus more on quality than efficiency of players.

 

[yubbers]

The bolded is absolutely no true, in so many ways.

We have no replacement for Dion in the pipeline (maybe Nielsen in 4-5 years?). If we trade him now, there needs to be a good return. In 2-3 years when we start trying to make the playoffs, Dion at 7M would contribute more to our success than 7M of random free agents.

That man wearing the C is a disgrace. If he doesn't get shipped it needs to stripped

ayo

a rhyming new catchphrase :p

 

[PuckMagi]

Babs is trying shelter Dion as much as possible to inflate his play/value

-he lowered his d zone starts
-lowered his pk mins
-avoids when possible playing him against top lines
-loads up his pp mins

hopefully this fools some team into taking him off our hands

I think it's more that he's trying to make Rielly better by giving him tough minutes. He knows that Dion can handle the tough assignments, but he wants to use Rielly in those situations so that he will be a better defenseman in 3 or 4 years when we're hoping to win a cup. Dion needs to improve his offensive game, so Babcock is using him in more offensive situations.

Again, in a few years, we'll hopefully have both Phaneuf and Rielly who are good both offensively and defensively.

 

[hotpaws]

We're 29th in the league because we can't score goals, not because we can't prevent them. Trading away our best PP QB and leading defenseman scorer is not going to help. Even in the future, only Rielly will be better than him offensively.

Defense-men take a long time to develop. Big able to play top 4 in the NHL usually takes 4+ years. We're counting on Rielly improving, and maybe one trade/FA addition. If we trade Dion, then we need to replace him with a free agent (two trades for top 4 defensemen is too rare and would cost too much). So then we're looking at worse defensemen, like Sekera or Petry, for nearly the same cap hit, or an equivalent defenseman who costs even more (and those never actually hit FA). We need to get back at least the difference in quality between Dion and a FA replacement if we trade him.

Plus, we have a very healthy cap going forward, so we need to focus more on quality than efficiency of players.

we're equally as bad at preventing goals as we are at scoring them and that's with Reims having an outstanding year so far , DP isn't going to get any better and will be a 7m 3rd pr D in 3 years

I think it's more that he's trying to make Rielly better by giving him tough minutes. He knows that Dion can handle the tough assignments, but he wants to use Rielly in those situations so that he will be a better defenseman in 3 or 4 years when we're hoping to win a cup. Dion needs to improve his offensive game, so Babcock is using him in more offensive situations.

Again, in a few years, we'll hopefully have both Phaneuf and Rielly who are good both offensively and defensively.

Dion proved he couldn't handle 1st pr mins and that's why he's now on the 2nd pr and as i said in the post above , DP will be a 3rd pr D in 3 years .

guys that can't skate don't age well but i guess some can't put the pom poms down long enough to realize this

 

[yubbers]

It's a disgrace he wears the C after last year

 

[MJ65]

we're equally as bad at preventing goals as we are at scoring them and that's with Reims having an outstanding year so far , DP isn't going to get any better and will be a 7m 3rd pr D in 3 years




Dion proved he couldn't handle 1st pr mins and that's why he's now on the 2nd pr and as i said in the post above , DP will be a 3rd pr D in 3 years .

True, he is not a 1st pairing D and he was not a 1st pairing D in a long time

 

[Daisy Jane]

We're 29th in the league because we can't score goals, not because we can't prevent them. Trading away our best PP QB and leading defenseman scorer is not going to help. Even in the future, only Rielly will be better than him offensively.

Defense-men take a long time to develop. Big able to play top 4 in the NHL usually takes 4+ years. We're counting on Rielly improving, and maybe one trade/FA addition. If we trade Dion, then we need to replace him with a free agent (two trades for top 4 defensemen is too rare and would cost too much). So then we're looking at worse defensemen, like Sekera or Petry, for nearly the same cap hit, or an equivalent defenseman who costs even more (and those never actually hit FA). We need to get back at least the difference in quality between Dion and a FA replacement if we trade him.

Plus, we have a very healthy cap going forward, so we need to focus more on quality than efficiency of players.

our what now?

 

[DJIncognito]

our what now?

PowerPlay Quarterback

He has 7 powerplay points - tied with Gardiner for the most by defensemen.

 

[ACC1224]

PowerPlay Quarterback

He has 7 powerplay points - tied with Gardiner for the most by defensemen.

He's the shooter not the QB.

 

[hotpaws]

He's the shooter not the QB.

the "shooter" doesn't have a goal on the pp

 

[7even]

Babs is trying shelter Dion as much as possible to inflate his play/value

-he lowered his d zone starts
-lowered his pk mins
-avoids when possible playing him against top lines
-loads up his pp mins

hopefully this fools some team into taking him off our hands

I too am frustrated that our coach is putting our players in roles in which they can succeed.

 

[Trapper]

I think it's more that he's trying to make Rielly better by giving him tough minutes. He knows that Dion can handle the tough assignments, but he wants to use Rielly in those situations so that he will be a better defenseman in 3 or 4 years when we're hoping to win a cup. Dion needs to improve his offensive game, so Babcock is using him in more offensive situations.

Again, in a few years, we'll hopefully have both Phaneuf and Rielly who are good both offensively and defensively.

Babcock doesn't need to teach Rielly offense. He could probably unleash the kid all game long and he would be near our leading scorer. But he'd probably also be minus 15. If he wants to win a championship, Babcock will teach him everything else. Then Rielly will be the 25 + minute D in all situations and excel at both ends.

 

[OvenMittz*]

the "shooter" doesn't have a goal on the pp

He would if he knew how to hit the net!

He use to always take the shot and never hit the net, at least its cut down a bit this year .. He probably knows he can't hit the side of a barn now.. Which is sad because he's got a hard slapper but no accuracy at all.

 

[Ovate]

we're equally as bad at preventing goals as we are at scoring them and that's with Reims having an outstanding year so far , DP isn't going to get any better and will be a 7m 3rd pr D in 3 years

We're objectively not as bad at preventing goals as we are at scoring them. Middle 10 of the league for GA, bottom 10 for GF. And everything Reimer has done for our GA has been cancelled out by Bernier. Our current GA is on our skaters, not our goaltending.

 

[Ovate]

He's the shooter not the QB.

That's not true at all. He occasionally shoots on the PP (you have to do that sometimes), but most of the time he's distributing the puck to the forwards. If he was a shooter, he'd come up closer to the net sometimes to let one rip.

 

[OvenMittz*]

That's not true at all. He occasionally shoots on the PP (you have to do that sometimes), but most of the time he's distributing the puck to the forwards. If he was a shooter, he'd come up closer to the net sometimes to let one rip.

I never really liked him back there to be honest.. He does okay distributing the puck but if he coughs it up he can't catch anyone. Also his shot is useless now a days.. I see him still on the pp to increase value.

We need a mobile D with a great shot.

Too bad Reilly doesn't have that hard slapper or he'd be perfect. Gardiner hates to shoot... He passes the puck off even when the net is open, it's odd.

 

[ACC1224]

That's not true at all. He occasionally shoots on the PP (you have to do that sometimes), but most of the time he's distributing the puck to the forwards. If he was a shooter, he'd come up closer to the net sometimes to let one rip.

Of course the shooter doesn't always shoot. He is the one time option, like McCabe was back when Kaberle was the QB.