Around the League 18: Kovalchuk Employment Edition/Lavi, Gallant, & Ray Shero Unemployment Edition

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

Georgiev would be great. Doubt they send him to us unless we overpay....something like Ned and our 1st for Georgiev.

Probably the asking price for us will be Ned, Suzuki, and one of our 1sts, mainly because we are a division rival.

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

Probably the asking price for us will be Ned, Suzuki, and one of our 1sts, mainly because we are a division rival.

f*** that noise. There’s other goalies out there and I’d rather just hold onto Ned and see if he can hack it or wait for Koch.

 

[MinJaBen]

**** that noise. There’s other goalies out there and I’d rather just hold onto Ned and see if he can hack it or wait for Koch.

Neither are guarantees and Koch is likely 2+ years away. How many of the five years we have of Aho and TT are you willing to give up waiting for a goalie to develop? If we can get one that has a substantially larger chance at success now, I'd be willing to give up some assets to do so. In Georgiev, we have a guy that has been playing very well IN THE NHL despite the large number of shots he is taking, is potentially available, and is young and cheap for a while. That would fit our needs and time line exceptionally well.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

Neither are guarantees and Koch is likely 2+ years away. How many of the five years we have of Aho and TT are you willing to give up waiting for a goalie to develop? If we can get one that has a substantially larger chance at success now, I'd be willing to give up some assets to do so. In Georgiev, we have a guy that has been playing very well IN THE NHL despite the large number of shots he is taking, is potentially available, and is young and cheap for a while. That would fit our needs and time line exceptionally well.

I agree with you. It is also fun, however, to load the ever-loving shit out of Charlotte to troll the NHL. It's a balance, IMO.

 

[MinJaBen]

I agree with you. It is also fun, however, to load the ever-loving **** out of Charlotte to troll the NHL. It's a balance, IMO.

I'd be happy if Charlotte lost every game if it meant we were winning Cups.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

I'd be happy if Charlotte lost every game if it meant we were winning Cups.

When Charlotte is strong long-term, IMO, it means an extended contention window in the cap era. It's a huge reason why I'm such a devoted watcher of Charlotte games along with the Canes.

 

[MinJaBen]

When Charlotte is strong long-term, IMO, it means an extended contention window in the cap era. It's a huge reason why I'm such a devoted watcher of Charlotte games along with the Canes.

I believe the cap era is changing a bit. We've no guarantees that the superstar players, Aho and Svech and others, will stay much longer than the minimum required. I think contracts like Aho's and Matthews will put a lot of pressure on teams and the superstars will move more frequently. Because of that, I don't think you have the luxury to wait to see if your AHL team is strong "long-term" if you find yourself in possession of a superstar or two. You need to treat their current contracts as the window and move accordingly. So, I'll stand by my statement: if Charlotte is good, great. But if we can use the talent there to improve the NHL team now to dramatically improve our Cup chances in our current window, I'd use it with no regrets on how that leaves their success.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

I believe the cap era is changing a bit. We've no guarantees that the superstar players, Aho and Svech and others, will stay much longer than the minimum required. I think contracts like Aho's and Matthews will put a lot of pressure on teams and the superstars will move more frequently. Because of that, I don't think you have the luxury to wait to see if your AHL team is strong "long-term" if you find yourself in possession of a superstar or two. You need to treat their current contracts as the window and move accordingly. So, I'll stand by my statement: if Charlotte is good, great. But if we can use the talent there to improve the NHL team now to dramatically improve our Cup chances in our current window, I'd use it with no regrets on how that leaves their success.

It has changed a little bit, maybe, but I don't think by that much. Maybe teams of our nature will have to be built by depth on top of depth rather than on the backs of superstars. Maybe we'll need to take a New England approach where we pick one or two players in particular to pay lavishly and then use the rest of the funds to slowly build a large middle class on the roster, sometimes doing so via creative destruction where you trade star players who demand too much money for draft picks and prospects. Every time that I've looked at recent Cup-winning rosters, they're usually staggeringly deep rather than built in a top-heavy manner.

 

[Canes]

Looking at the last several Calder Cup champs, having a good AHL team really doesn't mean much for the NHL team. But it doesn't exactly hurt having a good AHL team.

 

[HisIceness]

Looking back at some of the recent Calder Cup champs, the Norfolk Admirals in 2012 (Tampa Bay Lightning) had Tyler Johnson, Alex Killorn, and Ondrej Palat. That team finished with 113 standings points. 3 years later the Bolts were in the Finals with those 3 guys on that roster, plus other guys who were big contributors for the Syracuse Crunch (their AHL team following that 2012 team) the following two seasons.

The Cleveland Monsters (Blue Jackets) when they won the Calder in 2016 had Oliver Bjorkstrand, Sonny Milano, and Josh Anderson on the roster, plus Zach Werenski who signed after U of Michigans season had concluded in March of that year.

It seems that the good AHL teams have some NHL talent, not superstars but guys who can play top-6 or 9 minutes. And, flipping the young talent for proven talent is always an option.

 

[SvechneJerk]

It’s a good thing Poile isn’t going to make a coaching change.

 

[cptjeff]

So I'm watching Leaf-Oilers right now (Johnny F on the call!) and I'm rooting for the Oilers. Something feels wrong.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

So I'm watching Leaf-Oilers right now (Johnny F on the call!) and I'm rooting for the Oilers. Something feels wrong.

Too bad we know too well that a 3 goal lead on the Leafs doesn't mean much.

EDIT: And they score as I typed that.

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

If the Habs lose tonight, they'll sit at 43 points in 43 games. To get to last year's cut line, they'll have to win at a ~116 point pace over the final 39.

Not that I see any trade targets there for this team, but I wonder if Montreal retools. Petry, Tatar and Gallagher, in particular, could bring back nice returns as rental+1s (2021 UFAs).

 

[Canes]

Leafs are going to have to ride Andersen into the ground again. If they add a good backup and another top 4 guy, I like their chances to finally win a round or more.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

If the Habs lose tonight, they'll sit at 43 points in 43 games. To get to last year's cut line, they'll have to win at a ~116 point pace over the final 39.

Not that I see any trade targets there for this team, but I wonder if Montreal retools. Petry, Tatar and Gallagher, in particular, could bring back nice returns as rental+1s (2021 UFAs).

I'd love any of those three, honestly. I actually think, though, that Montreal would be a great sign-and-trade suitor for Dougie Hamilton (in the offseason, not right now!!) if contract negotiations with us fall apart, just because they have so much cap space. We could peel off Petry and a couple of very good prospects in such a transaction. My dream would be Cole Caufield, mainly because of that amazing shot of his, but a package centered around, say, Alex Romanov and/or Jesse Ylonen wouldn't exactly be a bad get, either.

 

[Canes]

I'm glad we only play Edmonton twice a season.

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

I'm glad we only play Edmonton twice a season.

I know John ‘saves’ them for canes games, but this goal really deserves a ‘that’s hockey baby’ or ‘hey hey whattaya say’

That was filthy

 

[My Special Purpose]

Watched all of the Isles/Avs tonight and I can say it was *exactly* like watching us play the Islanders. The Avs are so much faster, and have so much more talent, but it just didn't matter. Colorado took 83 shots to the Islanders 51 and controlled play in the Islanders zone for huge portions of the game. Of their 83 attempted shots, 18 were off net and another *33* were blocked. The Islanders let them skate circles around them, and cycle them all day long, but when it came time to get a shot off, there were nine guys in the shooting lanes. And when a shot got through, Varlamov was there.

Plus, the Avs had a goal called back for offsides. It was painful to watch, but it's somehow comforting that we're not the only victims.

 

[bleedgreen]

I'm glad we only play Edmonton twice a season.

I generally am still an eastern conference guy despite living in CO for 20 years, but getting to watch 97 (occasionally) and Mackinnon live is the most blessed I’ve felt as a fan since getting to watch Mario and Jagr play in Hartford. That goal was dominating like 66 and 68 were. You don’t see those very often anymore.

 

[HisIceness]

It’s a good thing Poile isn’t going to make a coaching change.

Wonder if Ron Francis gives him a call, would Laviolette make a good coach for an expansion team though?

 

[geehaad]

Gallagher, in particular, could bring back nice returns as rental+1s (2021 UFAs).

Gallagher is out indefinitely with a concussion sustained in the NYE game against CAR.

Not that he can't be in play before the trade deadline, or that his play in the playoffs would suffer from the rehab, but...also not saying not that.

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

NHL coaching turnover has been crazy recently. Going by hiring date, Brind'Amour is now the 13th longest-tenured coach in the league.

 

[bleedgreen]

Kovalchuk was pretty damn good for the habs. Created the turnover that led to the first goal and assisted the second. Every single touch of the puck was positive, great jump just like he did in LA.

It’s the opposite of the LA media though. Every compliment is begrudging as compared to LA’s announcers who were incredulous at how he was being used. Montreal’s announcers are rooting for him to fail.

He led the team in hits, was one of the better fore checkers where he flat out took away a couple of pucks chasing down d.

I’m late in the third and they’ve only had one pp, but you could see the top unit with he and Weber on the points being a holy terror. The chemistry looked obvious. That could be an issue for us down the stretch.

 

[cptjeff]

Wonder if Ron Francis gives him a call, would Laviolette make a good coach for an expansion team though?

I'm not sure that Lavi's would be Francis' preferred style of hockey, but he's easily the best candidate on the market IMO. And his uptempo style is generally a good way to get a roster with weaknesses to perform well. He's a guy who always burns out on a team, but he's toned it down from his early years and is lasting longer than he used to. And Francis wasn't a big player in those post cup years when Lavi was still around, but he was there.

So yeah, I'd say so. I'd expect him to last 5ish years, but that's plenty of time to stand up a new team.