Around The League 2019-20 part X

[Forge]

 

[MartyOwns]

no retention on that? brutal

 

[NJDevs26]

I don't know how that even works. That's so insane. That was honestly one of the worst contracts in the NHL. And it's back loaded lol. He makes more than his hit the last few years.

I really hate that people are not attaching assets to contracts that bad.

I hate to be an I told you so but almost everyone here assumed it would be a seller’s market and we’d be able to clean house with our cap space but it hasn’t been the case in five years and it’s looking like it won’t be the case this year.

Pittsburgh saved like $3.4 million in real money the next three years and have to give Matheson $19.5 million in the three after lol. Maybe Benning wasn’t so crazy after all?

 

[Nubmer6]

I can't believe the Panthers got out of that contract.

Are the Pens going into tank mode or something?

Or are they just looking for a D partner for Jack Johnson?

 

[Forge]

I hate to be an I told you so but almost everyone here assumed it would be a seller’s market and we’d be able to clean house with our cap space but it hasn’t been the case in five years and it’s looking like it won’t be the case this year.

Pittsburgh saved like $3.4 million in real money the next three years and have to give Matheson $19.5 million in the three after lol. Maybe Benning wasn’t so crazy after all?

I've been all in on just getting good young players that are priced out, even if it meant giving up a quality asset to acquire them for a while now. These type of deals just further solidify that position.

Though if I'm a Pitt fan, I'm a little concerned about Rutherford at this point lol.

 

[Ripshot 43]

I feel like the Pittsburg GM didn’t do his homework on that trade. Either that or he just cares about the next few years.

Quite the defense they are building in Jack Johnson and Mike Matheson.

 

[NJDevs26]

I've been all in on just getting good young players that are priced out, even if it meant giving up a quality asset to acquire them for a while now. These type of deals just further solidify that position.

Though if I'm a Pitt fan, I'm a little concerned about Rutherford at this point lol.

This is going to sound hyperbolic but Rutherford is likely the worst GM to ever win as many as three Cups. He was in Carolina forever without much success but had one of his rare good teams in the right season with the right coach then was gifted a ready made team in Pittsburgh.

 

[MartyOwns]

Either that or he just cares about the next few years.

you have to think they’re going to go all in and try to get sid and geno another cup. this trade is a weird step in that direction, but i’m betting there are other moves they’ll make in the coming months

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

I've been all in on just getting good young players that are priced out, even if it meant giving up a quality asset to acquire them for a while now. These type of deals just further solidify that position.

Though if I'm a Pitt fan, I'm a little concerned about Rutherford at this point lol.

With the uncertainty of how next season will look, I am leaning toward using all 3 1st rounders as picks. I would not expect much trading our other picks. My guess is the Devils will sign a couple of minor UFAs that end up not garnering much interest on short term/one year deals and being active next offseason when hopefully COVID is put behind us.

 

[Triumph]

I hate to be an I told you so but almost everyone here assumed it would be a seller’s market and we’d be able to clean house with our cap space but it hasn’t been the case in five years and it’s looking like it won’t be the case this year.

Pittsburgh saved like $3.4 million in real money the next three years and have to give Matheson $19.5 million in the three after lol. Maybe Benning wasn’t so crazy after all?

I don't know how you look at this trade and conclude that. These are two awful contracts being traded for one another - Hornqvist's deal runs 3 more years, he'll be 34 next season, he misses 10+ games a year, and his deal was neither front-loaded nor back-loaded.

Matheson's deal is backloaded but he's at least near his prime and while that deal runs until he's 32, it doesn't carry the virtual certainty that these 3 last years of Hornqvist do. Now why Pittsburgh would opt to trade Hornqvist's contract rather than buy it out is beyond me.

 

[Forge]

With the uncertainty of how next season will look, I am leaning toward using all 3 1st rounders as picks. I would not expect much trading our other picks. My guess is the Devils will sign a couple of minor UFAs that end up not garnering much interest on short term/one year deals and being active next offseason when hopefully COVID is put behind us.

I could certainly see that being the play. I wouldn't at all be shocked if next year's team is very similar looking to this years.

 

[NJDevs26]

I could certainly see that being the play. I wouldn't at all be shocked if next year's team is very similar looking to this years.

Then people need to prepare for another poor year. Yes we have a better coach now but that isn’t going to fix all the actual on ice issues and if they sit on another $25 million of cap space with another GM...

 

[Nocashstyle]

The Penguins are going to be in for some rough years sooner rather than later

 

[Forge]

Then people need to prepare for another poor year. Yes we have a better coach now but that isn’t going to fix all the actual on ice issues and if they sit on another $25 million of cap space with another GM...

Oh, I've been saying we were going to suck next year for a while now lol. I'm totally prepared for that.

 

[NJDevs26]

The Penguins are going to be in for some rough years sooner rather than later

Almost all GM’s do this toward the end of a team’s run, make desperation moves that hurt long term to try to extend the window. People savaged Lou for this but he’s not the first or last GM that talked himself into believing the run could last another couple years longer than it was ever going to.

Ironically as much as we get on the Rangers for being lucky with their rebuild, they also made their own luck to the degree that they pulled the rip cord at the exact right moment. Almost anyone else would have tried to take another kick at the can or two (especially with a group that hadn’t won yet) but they cashed out while their declining players still had much trade value.

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

Then people need to prepare for another poor year. Yes we have a better coach now but that isn’t going to fix all the actual on ice issues and if they sit on another $25 million of cap space with another GM...

The Devils were playing roughly $5 million under the cap to start last season. They were not sitting on $25 mil in cap space at the beginning of last year.

 

[NJDevs26]

The Devils were playing roughly $5 million under the cap to start last season. They were not sitting on $25 mil in cap space at the beginning of last year.

Hooray, one year out of five they didn’t sit on cap space when they had to quickly cash out regardless. They did for at least three if not all of the others.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

so basically just use cap space just to say you used it, right?

There are always exceptions, but in general it is way better to stay out of longterm deals in free agency

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

Hooray, one year out of five they didn’t sit on cap space when they had to quickly cash out regardless. They did for at least three if not all of the others.

Rebuilding teams should not be spending up to the cap IMO

 

[Billdo]

What in the hell is Pittsburgh doing

 

[Brodeur]

Definitely a strange (potential) trade on the surface for the Pens. For Pittsburgh they would save 425K in cap space and 1.8 million in real cash this season. Not sure if their ownership has an internal cap, so that might be a factor. Possibly their staff thinks they can rehabilitate Matheson like they did with Justin Schultz?

 

[Billdo]

Definitely a strange (potential) trade on the surface for the Pens. For Pittsburgh they would save 425K in cap space and 1.8 million in real cash this season. Not sure if their ownership has an internal cap, so that might be a factor. Possibly their staff thinks they can rehabilitate Matheson like they did with Justin Schultz?

He's signed for 6 more years though

 

[Brodeur]

He's signed for 6 more years though

Yeah, I didn't Matheson's deal was tradeable (without a significant sweetener). Pens ownership/management might be focusing for the short term and figure they'll be rebuilding for those later years? Like I said, it's a strange trade just trying to think out loud about how it possibly benefits them.

 

[Cheddabombs]

And they already have Jack Johnson as a boat anchor for the next three seasons lmao

What are they doinggg

 

[Guttersniped]

The guy who voted for Fox actually came out and confirmed that he was the one who voted for Fox, which I respect, and he also was not a Rangers fan. I think in the main board thread you can find a link to the tweet but I'm pretty sure he backed up his vote which I at least appreciate.

The vote is public. If you go to the PHWA site you can download the spreadsheets of the votes.

I in fact did just that for the Calder and it turns out Renaud Lavoie of TVA, a French Canadian broadcast guy, was the sole 2nd place voter for Blackwood. Amusingly, I vaguely remember* this guy, he’s a big fan of MBW who got twitter debate with Abby Mastracco over his anger about the Devils sitting him after two shutouts in February. She argued Domingue needed to get work in (tough sell at best) plus Mac’s load management (true) but it was sweet how outraged Lavoie was. (He beat out Quinn Hughes btw)

Corey from the Athletic and Abby Mastracco kept it more low key with 3rd place votes. (Psst, Larry Brooks voted Adam Fox 2nd, shame is overrated!)

*I used google to revisit this because I recognized his name, I’m not that into the minutiae of this dumpster fire season like some psycho.