Around the League 14: PLAY GLORIA!

[Fixxer]

I posted that when Tampa was up 3-0 in game 1, looking like they were going to rout Columbus like everyone, and I mean everyone, including even the most optimistic grandmas of Columbus players that had resigned themselves to Columbus' fates of getting eviscerated by a historical Tampa team.

That was literally one of the biggest upsets in professional sports history, especially the way it happened.

Early on, people were talking about post-season Bob, as to say Bobrovsky was playing poorly... Maybe for a few periods..

 

[Canes]

Early on, people were talking about post-season Bob, as to say Bobrovsky was playing poorly... Maybe for a few periods..

He definitely outplayed his younger, more hyped Russian counterpart in Andrei Vasilevskiy. And is making himself lots of money in his next contract in doing so.

 

[HisIceness]

Meanwhile in Buffalo...
View attachment 217675

I will do it Mike, I will coach them.

I will tell Skinner, Eichel, Middlestat, etc. to put the biscuit in the basket. And I will tell Dahlin to clamp down on some motherf***ers and play some 'D'. And tell the goalie(s) to make a f***ing save a la Bill Peters to Eddie Lack.

I got this.

 

[HisIceness]

I don’t expect a fast turnaround. It will take some time.

This. Tampa overachieved IIRC in that first year with Boucher but fell back to earth quickly. Getting Bishop at the 2013 trade deadline was a genius move and may or may not have saved his job (I seem to recall he was gaining hot seat status around that time).

That said, I could see them being a playoff team again as soon as 2021.

 

[HisIceness]

Ken Holland is the Oilers new GM.

At least they didn't go with Gretzky so theres that.

 

[Roboturner913]

Ken Holland is the Oilers new GM.

At least they didn't go with Gretzky so theres that.

I wonder if he comes in flipping over the tables. I still think they're going to have to trade a forward and RNH would look really nice centering our 2nd line, with one of Svech or Turbo on his wing.

 

[SlavinAway]

I wonder if he comes in flipping over the tables. I still think they're going to have to trade a forward and RNH would look really nice centering our 2nd line, with one of Svech or Turbo on his wing.

With the RNH RBA connection that would just make perfect sense.

 

[SaskCanesFan]

I wonder if he comes in flipping over the tables. I still think they're going to have to trade a forward and RNH would look really nice centering our 2nd line, with one of Svech or Turbo on his wing.

Ooh yeah, Nuge or William Karlsson would probably top my offseason wish list

 

[cptjeff]

Ken Holland is the Oilers new GM.

At least they didn't go with Gretzky so theres that.

Seems like they have a habit of picking up GMs who win cups with roster cores built by somebody else.

Holland is a decent GM though. I don't know if he's the guy to fix all their problems, but he has seen what a winning culture looks like, even if the Wings have had a rough patch of late.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

Holland's a good GM that got himself into cap trouble. As long as he doesn't repeat his mistakes later in his tenure, the Oilers should be alright.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Holland's a good GM that got himself into cap trouble. As long as he doesn't repeat his mistakes later in his tenure, the Oilers should be alright.

Aren't the Oilers already in cap trouble though? According to CapFriendly, they have 15 players under contract for next year and are already at $71M with a LOT of holes to fill.

It's going to take either some very creative work, or a few years to get out from under this.

 

[Roboturner913]

Yeah, they have $21 million/year tied up in McDavid and Draisaitl alone. Another $12 million/year on RNH and Lucic. They really got to lose one of those contracts.

Right now I don't think they can even afford to re-sign their 7 pending FAs, and all of those guys are $1 to $2 million players. Only 15 players under contract for next year and $8 million cap space.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Yeah, they have $21 million/year tied up in McDavid and Draisaitl alone. Another $12 million/year on RNH and Lucic. They really got to lose one of those contracts.

Milan Lucic: “yes, one of those four, equal contracts. I understand we have to get rid of one of those four. 25% chance each. No hard feelings either way. One of those four.”

 

[bleedgreen]

Aren't the Oilers already in cap trouble though? According to CapFriendly, they have 15 players under contract for next year and are already at $71M with a LOT of holes to fill.

It's going to take either some very creative work, or a few years to get out from under this.

Well that’s the positive of bringing Holland in. Everyone knows it was his predecessor that effed everything up. Holland will be given a bit of a break as he starts to build them up. Wasn’t his mistakes and there’s probably only so much he can do.

 

[Roboturner913]

Milan Lucic: “yes, one of those four, equal contracts. I understand we have to get rid of one of those four. 25% chance each. No hard feelings either way. One of those four.”

We can probably assume that nobody's looking to help them out with Lucic and it's more cost effective to pay Draisaitl 8.5 million for 100 points than it is to pay RNH 6 million for 70ish points. So I would imagine RNH is the obvious choice to end up getting moved.

 

[Roboturner913]

Having said that, looking at our cap, adding RNH at $6m with no salary going back the other way makes things really tight. Aho deal will be bare minimum $8m. Justin Williams will be another $4M. So that's $18M out of the ~$25 million space we have for next season.

 

[MinJaBen]

My guess is that if they did move RNH, it is for multiple guys who can come in and play now on ELC contracts. So, who would we move for him? Kuokks and Saarela? Gauthier? Not sure I’d do that given his contract and where we are now.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Well that’s the positive of bringing Holland in. Everyone knows it was his predecessor that effed everything up. Holland will be given a bit of a break as he starts to build them up. Wasn’t his mistakes and there’s probably only so much he can do.

Yeah, I know. I was more poking fun on the comment about Holland being a good GM that got into cap trouble, and as long as he doesn't do that again, the Oilers should be fine (yet they are already in cap trouble).

Going to be interesting to see what he does.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Having said that, looking at our cap, adding RNH at $6m with no salary going back the other way makes things really tight. Aho deal will be bare minimum $8m. Justin Williams will be another $4M. So that's $18M out of the ~$25 million space we have for next season.

I still think the Canes trade a Dman, likely Faulk, which frees up almost $5M in cap ($6M in real money). A Darling Buyout would save another $2.9M in cap as well so they have some flexibility.

That said, even though it seem obvious and I don't know of any other solutions, I struggle to see the Oilers moving RNH since he's one of their only good players at forward. Lucic is going to be tough to move and they may have to bite the bullet and pay someone to take him, but unless he agrees to waive his NMC and not keep it in place, even that's going to be tough.

Going to be interesting to watch what they do.

 

[Weltschmerz]

If we want home ice better change the title

 

[sabremike]

"Siri please show me the most awesome thing on all of planet Earth"

 

[HisIceness]

I approve of the new thread title!

 

[HisIceness]

@sabremike Thoughts on Ralph Kruger? Don't know much about him

 

[sabremike]

@sabremike Thoughts on Ralph Kruger? Don't know much about him

Excellent hire, smartest move Botts has ever made. People in Edmonton all say their management were idiots for getting rid of him. But the big thing is this: his former players absolutely LOVE the guy. His rep among players is so great that guys are going to want to come here to play for him. One of those former players of his is Jeff Skinner, and now it is all but certain he is staying.

 

[Cardiac Jerks]

@sabremike Thoughts on Ralph Kruger? Don't know much about him

His first job in the league was as a scout for us. Back in the good ole days of JR we even drafted his son, Justin.