Around the NHL 2020-2021 | Offseason Edition

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

I really don't see them improving their points % this year. Not in the Candian Division. They are the red headed stepchild of that division. By alot.

It'll be a slight increase, even against CAN division vs. not having those players. How many times have we seen division rivals beat up others? Det/Mtl, we swept them & they'd been kicking our ass in recent seasons, (just an example).

Collective impact of a few decent players + depth:

Dadonov!
Stepan
Galchenyuk
Pacquette
Watson
+
Coburn
Matt Murray!

+ Stuetzle.
possibly Peterka?

 

[lhsgolf19]

AA headed out West

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

AA headed out West

He should get plenty of opportunity in LA's "Top 6". He offsets Frk's slow footspeed, so maybe Frk can be the trailer on the play. I know it's usually a Dman.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

He should get plenty of opportunity in LA's "Top 6". He offsets Frk's slow footspeed, so maybe Frk can be the trailer on the play. I know it's usually a Dman.

If Marty Frk and AA play on the same line, they are never leaving the defensive zone, better sign the best draw guy in the business to be down the center for them.

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

If Marty Frk and AA play on the same line, they are never leaving the defensive zone, better sign the best draw guy in the business to be down the center for them.

I was mostly kidding about the Frk-AA combo, but on a 3rd line with a 2way C, they'd be ok, considering LA's lack of F depth.

 

[GreatGordie9]

Los Angeles Kings sign forward Andreas Athanasiou to one-year deal - TSN.ca

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

Jordan Nolan signs PTO w/Pitt

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

Is Montreal cornering the market on big slow players? Seems like overcompensation.

I love when rival teams & especially teams I don't like waste their $/cap/resources on washed up & soon to be washed up players. It elevates us each time, ever so slightly.

 

[MBH]

I love when rival teams & especially teams I don't like waste their $/cap/resources on washed up & soon to be washed up players. It elevates us each time, ever so slightly.

Think about how f***ed Montreal is going to be when Price falters...

 

[MBH]

Los Angeles Kings sign forward Andreas Athanasiou to one-year deal - TSN.ca

Easy to envision AA leading the Kings in goals.
Also easy to see him as a healthy scratch.

 

[MBH]

If Marty Frk and AA play on the same line, they are never leaving the defensive zone, better sign the best draw guy in the business to be down the center for them.

Won't be pretty.
AA was terrible with Frk and vice versa.
In 181 minutes, AA went 2-1-3
By comparison, in 122 minutes with Witkowski, AA went 4-2-6.
I respect Frk a lot for keeping his career alive. But him and AA on the boards and in the Dzone won't be pretty.

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

Think about how f***ed Montreal is going to be when Price falters...

He already faltered, 2 days into RFA July 2, 2017, when he signed the big contract & then sucked for 17-18 (relatively speaking) 3.11 GAA, .900SV%...and the new contract hadn't even kicked in yet. 18-19 was better, but not great, then 2.79 /.909 in '19-'20 . He'll be 34 in 8.5 months, his spiral downward could be sooner & swifter than people seem to realize. He has a ton of mileage on his body.

The best part is 6 more yrs. @$10.5M & NMC I'll bring the popcorn.

 

[MBH]

He already faltered, 2 days into RFA July 2, 2017, when he signed the big contract & then sucked for 17-18 (relatively speaking) 3.11 GAA, .900SV%...and the new contract hadn't even kicked in yet. 18-19 was better, but not great, then 2.79 /.909 in '19-'20 . He'll be 34 in 8.5 months, his spiral downward could be sooner & swifter than people seem to realize. He has a ton of mileage on his body.

The best part is 6 more yrs. @$10.5M & NMC I'll bring the popcorn.

Yeah. That's what I mean. He's dropped from all-world to pretty good.
What happens when he becomes shit?

 

[Bench]

Yeah. That's what I mean. He's dropped from all-world to pretty good.
What happens when he becomes shit?

Pump the brakes a bit on his demise. He had the best individual goalie performance of the entire playoffs. He's still an elite goalie and if you can't see that from just a few months ago, there's no hope for further discussion.

When people post stuff like this, you know who the stat watchers are. As if Montreal has done anything to help him for years.

Same crap I've been hearing about Aaron Rodgers in the NFL. "Oh no he's getting old, his advanced stats are down, his contract will be an albatross. Oh wait they hired a new coach and he's MVP of the league again nevermind, I always believed!"

 

[Frk It]

Pump the brakes a bit on his demise. He had the best individual goalie performance of the entire playoffs. He's still an elite goalie and if you can't see that from just a few months ago, there's no hope for further discussion.

When people post stuff like this, you know who the stat watchers are. As if Montreal has done anything to help him for years.

Same crap I've been hearing about Aaron Rodgers in the NFL. "Oh no he's getting old, his advanced stats are down, his contract will be an albatross. Oh wait they hired a new coach and he's MVP of the league again nevermind, I always believed!"

You just have to fit Packers stuff in, huh....

 

[Bench]

You just have to fit Packers stuff in, huh....

It's fitting. Soon as a great player shows even slightest regression, people dogpile like wild. Especially if they are a struggling team. Watching Price play, like Rodgers, shows you there was never any reason to be alarmed and the solution is to fix the roster.

Sorry Rodgers is dunkin' on NFC North again. At least your Vikes stole a win

 

[Frk It]

It's fitting. Soon as a great player shows even slightest regression, people dogpile like wild. Especially if they are a struggling team. Watching Price play, like Rodgers, shows you there was never any reason to be alarmed and the solution is to fix the roster.

Sorry Rodgers is dunkin' on NFC North again. At least your Vikes stole a win

It’s ok, I picked him in fantasy at least. I figured that whole draft a guy to replace me instead of help me would light a fire under him, and well....

 

[MBH]

Pump the brakes a bit on his demise. He had the best individual goalie performance of the entire playoffs. He's still an elite goalie and if you can't see that from just a few months ago, there's no hope for further discussion.

When people post stuff like this, you know who the stat watchers are. As if Montreal has done anything to help him for years.

Same crap I've been hearing about Aaron Rodgers in the NFL. "Oh no he's getting old, his advanced stats are down, his contract will be an albatross. Oh wait they hired a new coach and he's MVP of the league again nevermind, I always believed!"

Sorry man. Carey Price went from MVP of the NHL to a category populated with a number of NHL goalies.
And if you think he's not slipped considerably, then you are right, there's no hope for further discussion.
And at his age, he's going to slip even more. And substantially.

Note: I didn't say he was shit. I said he was pretty good. He can steal the odd game. But he's slipped. Yeah - some of the slippage is due to the team around him.
But 2.77 and .910 over the last 3 years? That's right around middle of the pack for an NHL starter.
Jimmy Howard was 2.80 and .912 going into last season.
If you want to argue the 16-17 to 18-19 Red Wings are far superior to the Habs over the last 3 years - go right ahead.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Sorry man. Carey Price went from MVP of the NHL to a category populated with a number of NHL goalies.
And if you think he's not slipped considerably, then you are right, there's no hope for further discussion.
And at his age, he's going to slip even more. And substantially.

Note: I didn't say he was shit. I said he was pretty good. He can steal the odd game. But he's slipped. Yeah - some of the slippage is due to the team around him.
But 2.77 and .910 over the last 3 years? That's right around middle of the pack for an NHL starter.
Jimmy Howard was 2.80 and .912 going into last season.
If you want to argue the 16-17 to 18-19 Red Wings are far superior to the Habs over the last 3 years - go right ahead.

The year that tanked Price's stats was 17-18. His GSAA that year was -17.49. What happened that year? He came into the year fighting what was diagnosed as CFS (Chronic Fatigure Syndrome). It probably wasn't exactly that... but he definitely had vitamin deficiencies which sapped his energy. I imagine that might wreak havoc on a goalie's ability. Then, as the year progressed and he started to turn it around a little, he got a concussion that knocked him out for quite a while. I mean, yeah, he's not Carey Price absolute f***ing unit anymore.

And he went .909 and 2.79 this year... on a pretty bad Montreal team.

I actually don't think Price is going to age super terribly. He's not Jonathan Quick or Dominik Hasek. He's positionally sound to the extreme. He can definitely still make tremendous saves when called upon, but his whole game is predicated on just being in the right place all the time.

Carey Price Had an Amazing Season with the Montreal Canadiens

Carey Price is still absolutely an elite goaltender.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

He already faltered, 2 days into RFA July 2, 2017, when he signed the big contract & then sucked for 17-18 (relatively speaking) 3.11 GAA, .900SV%...and the new contract hadn't even kicked in yet. 18-19 was better, but not great, then 2.79 /.909 in '19-'20 . He'll be 34 in 8.5 months, his spiral downward could be sooner & swifter than people seem to realize. He has a ton of mileage on his body.

The best part is 6 more yrs. @$10.5M & NMC I'll bring the popcorn.

You look at the advanced stats and he's still worth that 10 million. Miss me with that "not great" 18-19. And with Price, I don't see him aging really killing him. He doesn't make his hay by zipping around the net. He's a big target who uses the butterfly to cut off a ton of the net. While he makes several highlight reel saves throughout the course of the year... he's far more likely to goaltend a really really boring hockey game.

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

You look at the advanced stats and he's still worth that 10 million. Miss me with that "not great" 18-19. And with Price, I don't see him aging really killing him. He doesn't make his hay by zipping around the net. He's a big target who uses the butterfly to cut off a ton of the net. While he makes several highlight reel saves throughout the course of the year... he's far more likely to goaltend a really really boring hockey game.

.900, .918, .909 are mostly on him, some of it is the team. I'm in the don't pay long-term & high $ contracts to G's club, it's too volatile. I prefer a 1A/1B system, ~50/30gp split, ideally with the 1B being the younger heir apparent...rinse & repeat. I also prefer to build around the Top4D & Top6F, something like: 2 solid 2-way scoring lines (50pt minimum for L2), L3 is a good shutdown line w/scoring touch & L4 grinds down the other team (NYI, but cheaper $). Top4 D should have 2 2-way solid Dmen, one on each line paired with 1PP/OffDman w/above avg. D & 1Shutdown Beast (Brad Stuart/Konstantinov) who can also move the puck. 3rd pair is a mix that best fits the needs of the team. I'm also a fan of running 11F/7D on road games & facing teams above .500.

It'll be interesting to watch the Price & Bobrovsky contracts the next 5 & 6 yrs respectively.

 

[MBH]

The year that tanked Price's stats was 17-18. His GSAA that year was -17.49. What happened that year? He came into the year fighting what was diagnosed as CFS (Chronic Fatigure Syndrome). It probably wasn't exactly that... but he definitely had vitamin deficiencies which sapped his energy. I imagine that might wreak havoc on a goalie's ability. Then, as the year progressed and he started to turn it around a little, he got a concussion that knocked him out for quite a while. I mean, yeah, he's not Carey Price absolute f***ing unit anymore.

And he went .909 and 2.79 this year... on a pretty bad Montreal team.

I actually don't think Price is going to age super terribly. He's not Jonathan Quick or Dominik Hasek. He's positionally sound to the extreme. He can definitely still make tremendous saves when called upon, but his whole game is predicated on just being in the right place all the time.

Carey Price Had an Amazing Season with the Montreal Canadiens

Carey Price is still absolutely an elite goaltender.

Dom Hasek aged pretty well. He was 38 when he won the cup.

Carey Price was a 10/10 goalie at the age of 27-28-29.
But he hasn't been the same since.

I posted his last three years. Nothing "elite" about those stats.
He bounced back last year, and then slid a bit again this year before having a great playoff.
And I think that's what you're going to get from Price in this stage.
A pretty good to very good goalie who can help you steal a series.
But at 33, you'd be foolish to expect this stage of his career to go for long before he declines to the next stage.

Lundquist slipped in his 33 year.
Quick slipped in his 33 year.
Rask slipped at 28 for four years before bouncing back last year.
Crawford slipped at 34.
Howard slipped at 29 and then the wheels fell off at 35.

I can see price having a good year the next year, two or even three. I don't think he'll ever be Hart Trophy material again. But I could see top 10 finishes in Vezina voting.
But at 36? 37? 38?
In this era? I don't see it.

And that's the genesis of this conversation. Price's contract as he ages is going to get very, very ugly. I'm expecting a whole lot of LTIR over those last 3 years.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

.900, .918, .909 are mostly on him, some of it is the team. I'm in the don't pay long-term & high $ contracts to G's club, it's too volatile. I prefer a 1A/1B system, ~50/30gp split, ideally with the 1B being the younger heir apparent...rinse & repeat. I also prefer to build around the Top4D & Top6F, something like: 2 solid 2-way scoring lines (50pt minimum for L2), L3 is a good shutdown line w/scoring touch & L4 grinds down the other team (NYI, but cheaper $). Top4 D should have 2 2-way solid Dmen, one on each line paired with 1PP/OffDman w/above avg. D & 1Shutdown Beast (Brad Stuart/Konstantinov) who can also move the puck. 3rd pair is a mix that best fits the needs of the team. I'm also a fan of running 11F/7D on road games & facing teams above .500.

It'll be interesting to watch the Price & Bobrovsky contracts the next 5 & 6 yrs respectively.

Optimally, yeah, I agree. I wouldn't want to put 10M in a goalie. The Wings were always far better when they had a cheap goalie (Osgood, late stage Hasek, Vernon, etc.) and a loaded roster.

However, if I were going to make a huge bet on a goalie being worth that contract? Carey Price is probably the guy I'd pick. The issue with Price is that he faces a ludicrously high volume of high danger chances. Any metric that adjusts for actual quality of shot against shows Price to still be a top tier goalie.

 

[MBH]

.900, .918, .909 are mostly on him, some of it is the team. I'm in the don't pay long-term & high $ contracts to G's club, it's too volatile. I prefer a 1A/1B system, ~50/30gp split, ideally with the 1B being the younger heir apparent...rinse & repeat. I also prefer to build around the Top4D & Top6F, something like: 2 solid 2-way scoring lines (50pt minimum for L2), L3 is a good shutdown line w/scoring touch & L4 grinds down the other team (NYI, but cheaper $). Top4 D should have 2 2-way solid Dmen, one on each line paired with 1PP/OffDman w/above avg. D & 1Shutdown Beast (Brad Stuart/Konstantinov) who can also move the puck. 3rd pair is a mix that best fits the needs of the team. I'm also a fan of running 11F/7D on road games & facing teams above .500.

It'll be interesting to watch the Price & Bobrovsky contracts the next 5 & 6 yrs respectively.

The Bobrovsky contract is even dumber.
With Price - you kind of get it. If you're Montreal, you're over the barrel. You know it's a stupid contract, but what choice do you have? He's your MVP.

Florida overpaid Bobrovsky when:
a) He'd slid for two straight years after peaking at age 28.
b) He wasn't Florida's star. Bobrovsky had no leverage. They'd have been better off paying Panarin.

And Bobrovsky, at age 31, had his biggest decline yet and was outplayed badly by a journeyman nobody.

You knew the Price contract was bad - but understood they didn't have much choice.
The Bobrovsky deal was just ridiculous. Reminds me a lot of the Brzgalov deal.

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

The year that tanked Price's stats was 17-18. His GSAA that year was -17.49. What happened that year? He came into the year fighting what was diagnosed as CFS (Chronic Fatigure Syndrome). It probably wasn't exactly that... but he definitely had vitamin deficiencies which sapped his energy. I imagine that might wreak havoc on a goalie's ability. Then, as the year progressed and he started to turn it around a little, he got a concussion that knocked him out for quite a while. I mean, yeah, he's not Carey Price absolute f***ing unit anymore.

And he went .909 and 2.79 this year... on a pretty bad Montreal team.

I actually don't think Price is going to age super terribly. He's not Jonathan Quick or Dominik Hasek. He's positionally sound to the extreme. He can definitely still make tremendous saves when called upon, but his whole game is predicated on just being in the right place all the time.

Carey Price Had an Amazing Season with the Montreal Canadiens

Carey Price is still absolutely an elite goaltender.

But every NHLer has to deal with injuries. So why should we preclude Price from the same dissection? His contract will absolutely be an albatross, probably starting in 2+ yrs., with the last 3-4 being potentially very ugly. I look forward to sweeping the Habs season after season.