Around the League, 2018-19 Edition

[dracom]

No idea why he waited so long. Seems like this should have been done before the season started. Guessing Nylander ended up caving.

 

[Paul4587]

San Jose loses again, looking extremely underwhelming. It's actually amazing that despite having no discernible identity and a complete inability to score goals, we might have a shot to win this ****ty division.

Sharks are probably going to live to regret that fresh extension they just gave Martin Jones this offseason.

Yeah Martin Jones has been absolutely terrible this year. The sharks haven’t been near as bad as their record, Jones is just crapping the bed consistently. Kind of like the opposite of what we’ve been doing.

 

[duxfan1101]

Could they really not get a high quality defenseman for him? They really don't need any more firepower up front.

 

[Paul4587]

Could they really not get a high quality defenseman for him? They really don't need any more firepower up front.

Still a chance he’s moved for a Dman. Personally I hope he stays because their D is terrible outside of Rielly and won’t get them anywhere in the playoffs. Freddie is currently covering up how bad they are but we all know how he generally fares come playoff time.

 

[Sojourn]

No idea why he waited so long. Seems like this should have been done before the season started. Guessing Nylander ended up caving.

I still don't think it's a good deal for Toronto. Not if they are going to wait so long. They're going to have like $40 million wrapped up in four players, and potentially a Nylander who is less than happy.

Either way, as soon as Marner and Matthews get signed, they are going to start hurting for depth. If they don't win in the next two years, they may actually get much worse over time. This is like Chicago all over again, except it's after Chicago won their Cups, and was forced to shell out the cash.

That's the risk here. Chicago was able to shell out the cash after they won a bunch. Once they did so, they stopped being the elite team they were, because they had no depth to support their talent.

 

[Dryish]

McKenzie breaks the contract down:



That's not a contract you can trade this year. Beyond that, though, most certainly.

 

[Opak]

Frank Seravalli and Nick Kypreos are reporting that the Nylander deal is actually $7.5 million over 6 years. However, due to the late signing Nylander's cap hit for this season is $10.2 million and about $6.9 million for years 2-6.

 

[Sojourn]

I’ve seen Wilson skate, he was come,etc,t capable of not hitting him at all. That to me looked like the “unintentionally intentional” type hit.

Oh, I agree. That was definitely intentional. I'm just not sure it's suspension worthy. Even if it's Wilson, it needs to be an action where a suspension is justified. As much as I'd like to see him out of the league, they need to be consistent about that. Next time it's suspension worthy, hit him hard, but he still needs to be allowed to play hockey, and a penalty is still just a penalty.

 

[Sojourn]

McKenzie breaks the contract down:



That's not a contract you can trade this year. Beyond that, though, most certainly.

Which may well be the goal. They'll hold on to him now, and go hard, but dish him off when their contracts eat into their depth.

 

[Opak]

McKenzie breaks the contract down:



That's not a contract you can trade this year. Beyond that, though, most certainly.

The way that thing is structured is screaming that they plan on trading Nylander next offseason, after that massive $8.3 million signing bonus is paid.

 

[Paul4587]

Frank Seravalli and Nick Kypreos are reporting that the Nylander deal is actually $7.5 million over 6 years. However, due to the late signing Nylander's cap hit for this season is $10.2 million and about $6.9 million for years 2-6.

Just like Hampus for us we have the lower cap hit. I wonder how intentional it was drawing it out as it means more cap rooms for Matthews and Marner in the next 5 years.

 

[Dryish]

Which may well be the goal. They'll hold on to him now, and go hard, but dish him off when their contracts eat into their depth.

Honestly, that's what I suspect they'd do even if his contract was friendlier to the team. I really doubt they can win without a better D corps, but they'll sure try to, and when that doesn't end up working out they'll look to offload Nylander in exchange for a solid D with perhaps a slightly smaller contract to make room for Matthews and Marner, especially since the latter has played himself into roster core lock status.

 

[Sojourn]

Honestly, that's what I suspect they'd do even if his contract was friendlier to the team. I really doubt they can win without a better D corps, but they'll sure try to, and when that doesn't end up working out they'll look to offload Nylander in exchange for a solid D with perhaps a slightly smaller contract to make room for Matthews and Marner, since the latter has played himself into roster core lock status.

Yeah, I agree. Their biggest advantage right now is their best players are still on cheaper contracts. That makes them one of the deepest offensive teams. As soon as that stops, their depth beyond those top players goes away, and they suddenly become much more vulnerable defensively.

Despite how much Toronto fans might scream otherwise, they aren't very good on the blue line. Even Rielly, despite a good offensive game, is just not #1 D quality in his own end, and I suspect that's why Babcock manages his minutes. He benefits hugely from playing on that top offense. He contributes to it as well, but when they need the strong defense it isn't there. But yeah, it's Andersen, and that elite offense. Without those two things happening, they get exposed. We've actually seen that when Andersen isn't in form. As soon as he isn't a world beater, they start to bleed goals, and can only win because they also score a lot. Of course, when Andersen isn't playing terrific, it's suddenly his fault. It's not that he gets peppered with high quality chances, and can't stop them all. Funny how that works. Anything to deny the truth that their team has flaws.

They need to win before those contracts start kicking in, or their window as a legit Cup contender might close. At least until their GM starts changing things up in response. They should be a good team for a while, but they aren't set up to be a great one for very long.

 

[Lord Flashheart]

Nylander signed, phew, that's a load off my mind...

 

[Pennaduck]

The way that thing is structured is screaming that they plan on trading Nylander next offseason, after that massive $8.3 million signing bonus is paid.

It is effectively a NTC for this season and lockout insurance for next season. His agent did pretty well for him in that regard.

 

[Sojourn]

And it's only going to get worse in a couple years when Andersen needs to be re-signed. He has this season, and two others at $5m. A year after that, Rielly is due. This is their window now. These next two or three years.

That's not including almost the entirety of their blue line that will need to be re-signed(save 2 players). Or almost all of their depth players.

 

[Dryish]

Yeah, I agree. Their biggest advantage right now is their best players are still on cheaper contracts. That makes them one of the deepest offensive teams. As soon as that stops, their depth beyond those top players goes away, and they suddenly become much more vulnerable defensively.

Despite how much Toronto fans might scream otherwise, they aren't very good on the blue line. Even Rielly, despite a good offensive game, is just not #1 D quality in his own end, and I suspect that's why Babcock manages his minutes. He benefits hugely from playing on that top offense. He contributes to it as well, but when they need the strong defense it isn't there. But yeah, it's Andersen, and that elite offense. Without those two things happening, they get exposed. We've actually seen that when Andersen isn't in form. As soon as he isn't a world beater, they start to bleed goals, and can only win because they also score a lot. Of course, when Andersen isn't playing terrific, it's suddenly his fault. It's not that he gets peppered with high quality chances, and can't stop them all. Funny how that works. Anything to deny the truth that their team has flaws.

They need to win before those contracts start kicking in, or their window as a legit Cup contender might close. At least until their GM starts changing things up in response.

Yeah, this is more or less my take too, and probably the best worded analysis of Toronto in its current shape that I've seen.

What intrigues me about the league at large right now is that there are some offensively dominant teams and some teams that are defensively, uh, while not exactly dominant at least quite good, and there doesn't seem to be very many competing teams who'd seem to have struck a good balance. But, say, a future trade between Carolina and Toronto to address both teams' issues might make the situation quite interesting. We'll have to wait and see how this all shakes out in the end. Interesting times.

It's times like these that I can't really decide whether I like or detest the strictness of the salary cap. I quite enjoy the parity, but that enjoyment comes with the overt acknowledgment that it doesn't really allow truly dominant teams to form and stay together. The big names command such proportionally big deals these days that there's just no way to build a roster with enough skill to truly outshine everyone, and the way contract structuring has become all the more elaborate it's incredibly hard for a GM to manage a team to stay highly competitive for longer than a couple of years at a time.

 

[Opak]

It is effectively a NTC for this season and lockout insurance for next season. His agent did pretty well for him in that regard.

Next year is potential lockout year already? Jesus, time flies...

 

[Anaheim4ever]

Yeah Martin Jones has been absolutely terrible this year. The sharks haven’t been near as bad as their reflex, Jones is just crapping the bed consistently. Kind of like the opposite of what we’ve been doing.

I've never been a fan of Martin Jones play, last year i felt he was a product of their defense & even then he had only a .915%, in an NHL era of high SV%

 

[Dryish]

Next year is potential lockout year already? Jesus, time flies...

Yeah, the NHL has the option to opt out of the current CBA on Sept 1st, 2019, and the NHLPA on Sept 19, 2019. If that happens it's a lockout season effective more or less immediately cause there's no way they'd agree to a new one in just a month.

 

[The Mighty Duck Man]

Yeah, the NHL has the option to opt out of the current CBA on Sept 1st, 2019, and the NHLPA on Sept 19, 2019. If that happens it's a lockout season effective more or less immediately cause there's no way they'd agree to a new one in just a month.

That's just when the option to terminate is, it wouldn't actually happen for another year.

Anyway, yeah, Nylander's contract seems to be structured to set up a trade down the road. Maybe something good happens for them, but he could have a ton of value on July 2, 2019 and they'll be in a tight spot. Makes a ton of sense.

 

[Ducks DVM]

Oh, I agree. That was definitely intentional. I'm just not sure it's suspension worthy. Even if it's Wilson, it needs to be an action where a suspension is justified. As much as I'd like to see him out of the league, they need to be consistent about that. Next time it's suspension worthy, hit him hard, but he still needs to be allowed to play hockey, and a penalty is still just a penalty.

I’m of the opinion that once a player has been tagged as the “intent to injure” type, they should get nailed to the wall every time they make an “intent to injure” type penalty. There was zero legitimate reason to make that play, and I think it should have been a “checking from behind” call, and punished accordingly. I think they let him off because it was improperly called as a “hit to the head” penalty, and the league didn’t want to deal with the embarrassment.

 

[Sojourn]

I’m of the opinion that once a player has been tagged as the “intent to injure” type, they should get nailed to the wall every time they make an “intent to injure” type penalty. There was zero legitimate reason to make that play, and I think it should have been a “checking from behind” call, and punished accordingly. I think they let him off because it was improperly called as a “hit to the head” penalty, and the league didn’t want to deal with the embarrassment.

That's fair. I lean that way too. It's difficult to look at even a play like this and not consider his history. Wilson could have avoided contact. Easily. He just didn't try very hard to.

I think next time he does something where a suspension is justified, he's going to get bent over by the league, and I'll applaud them for it. He's either a moron, he doesn't care, or he goes out of his way to hurt players. No matter what the reason, the result is a player who recklessly endangers others when he's on the ice. That isn't hockey.

 

[Deuce22]

That's fair. I lean that way too. It's difficult to look at even a play like this and not consider his history. Wilson could have avoided contact. Easily. He just didn't try very hard to.

I think next time he does something where a suspension is justified, he's going to get bent over by the league, and I'll applaud them for it. He's either a moron, he doesn't care, or he goes out of his way to hurt players. No matter what the reason, the result is a player who recklessly endangers others when he's on the ice. That isn't hockey.

There is a difference between a hit within the context of the flow of the game and a hit to just **** someone up. Physical play belongs in hockey. Hard hits can establish dominance over your opponent. Just flattening a guy from behind because you can is not a hockey play.

 

[Bender66]

Saw the main board thread by leafs idiots saying Freddy should be up for vezina. Lol