OT: Around the NHL: Free Agency then it's vacation time

[Honour Over Glory]

Any thoughts on the Tyler Johnson deal? I see he got $35 / 7, $5 AAV.

Seems like an OK deal for both sides, even if he doesn't quite hit PPG levels again. A bit long but he's only 26.

http://www.tsn.ca/lightning-sign-johnson-to-7-year-35m-deal-1.801425

It's a very good deal for his production and age. I mean when you compare his #'s to others at the same age, it's a win for Yzerman.

He does better when Stamkos is in the line-up and he has more favorable match-ups, that's for sure, but he's still a solid 55-60pt center and to have that at 5m AAV, that's not bad at all. I mean look at Hanzal, the guy is barely even a consistent 45-50pt player and he makes what, 250k less for his AAV?

 

[Peat]

Any thoughts on the Tyler Johnson deal? I see he got $35 / 7, $5 AAV.

Seems like an OK deal for both sides, even if he doesn't quite hit PPG levels again. A bit long but he's only 26.

http://www.tsn.ca/lightning-sign-johnson-to-7-year-35m-deal-1.801425

Looking at CF, if you score 40-50 points a year as a centre, you're probably making somewhere between 4.5m to 6m. The only guys falling below that Johnson himself (currently), Galchenyuk (now signed to 4.9m), NYR's Hayes (last year on his second RFA contract), Rask (4m for a contract that sees out his RFA years), Nelson (last year on his second RFA contract) and Perreault (4 year UFA contract 4.1m, cheapest of the lot here for UFA). Oh, and Henrique (4m on the penultimate year of a contract that uses up 2 UFA years and was signed in 13-14).

5m for a player's useful UFA years to score an injury hit 45 or so sounds somewhere between decent and good. Maybe its a bit too long but for the foreseeable that looks good.

Note - that's just regular season. If he continues being a guy who hits nearly ppg during play-offs, its fricking awesome.

 

[Don'tcry4mejanhrdina]

Habs - They need offense, I'm surprised they haven't offered Jagr a contract either so Habs fans can profess him a long time Habs legend after 1yr.

Yet another number for them to retire.

 

[Dying Alive]

Good AAV on Johnson, a bit long on the term though. Florida's lack of taxes really help TB & FLA on those cap hits.

They were in a tough spot but after moving Druoin and Garrison they actually had some space to mess around with now even after the Kunitz and Girardi contracts. That term definitely is longer than you would want for TJ but it's a reasonable cap hit. I don't think it's as good as a lot of the initial reactions I saw, but not horrible either.

That's because it was Yzerman. He's got some kind of weird cult following that rushes to praise him for every even moderately positive move he makes, even a week after he gave Girardi 2 years at $3M. Nill has the same bizarre thing going on. He's constantly discussed among the best GMs in the league even though his team hasn't won anything and has mostly underachieved in large part because of the goalie situation he failed to fix year after year.

There's also the Cult of Babcock, but that's a whole other can of worms I'm not interested in opening. Saying anything other than that Babcock is the greatest coach since Toe Blake is like the bat signal for Leafs fans to descend upon your head.

 

[Pick87your71Poison]

Good AAV on Johnson, a bit long on the term though. Florida's lack of taxes really help TB & FLA on those cap hits.



That's because it was Yzerman. He's got some kind of weird cult following that rushes to praise him for every even moderately positive move he makes, even a week after he gave Girardi 2 years at $3M. Nill has the same bizarre thing going on. He's constantly discussed among the best GMs in the league even though his team hasn't won anything and has mostly underachieved in large part because of the goalie situation he failed to fix year after year.

There's also the Cult of Babcock, but that's a whole other can of worms I'm not interested in opening. Saying anything other than that Babcock is the greatest coach since Toe Blake is like the bat signal for Leafs fans to descend upon your head.

It's very true. He, and Nill to a slightly lesser degree, seem to have gotten into "benefit of the doubt" territory that usually comes with winning Cups and having the track record, but neither of them has any cups or huge success to point to. TB at least got to the SCF and ECF, but Dallas hasn't done anything. Both have certainly made some really good moves that I liked over the last few years, but have their own questionable ones too like any GM. However, without the cups to prove they are right, they don't get questioned as quickly as most GMs do. In the current GM rankings going on in the polls section, Yzerman was ranked #3 and Nill #4.

FWIW, the leaders for the #5 spot are Hextall (Flyers) and Chayka (Coyotes), so 2 more guys that have proven even less to this point in terms of on-ice success.

 

[Dying Alive]

Yeah, I don't get it. IMO Nill is living off of his reputation for winning trades (specifically the Seguin trade all these years later) but he hasn't been a very good GM beyond that. In fact, I'd say he's been actively hampering his team by not fixing their goaltending situation season after season. Not at all sold on the hiring of Hitchcock either, but I'm not exactly unbiased when it comes to Hitch.

 

[mpp9]

Nill seems to be like an HF GM. Just acquiring names. I don't see what they're supposed to be other than trying to outskill the opposition. They're not the biggest or fastest. Their D is average at best. And Bishop gets hurt all the time.

 

[Freeptop]

Yeah, I don't get it. IMO Nill is living off of his reputation for winning trades (specifically the Seguin trade all these years later) but he hasn't been a very good GM beyond that. In fact, I'd say he's been actively hampering his team by not fixing their goaltending situation season after season. Not at all sold on the hiring of Hitchcock either, but I'm not exactly unbiased when it comes to Hitch.

The Seguin trade now appears to be more an issue of Chiarelli selling low on young players than it really is a matter of Nill being a master of trading at this point.

Even the Morrow for Morrow trade that people thought was Nill ripping off the Pens doesn't look so bad for the Pens these days...

 

[Dying Alive]

The Seguin trade now appears to be more an issue of Chiarelli selling low on young players than it really is a matter of Nill being a master of trading at this point.

Even the Morrow for Morrow trade that people thought was Nill ripping off the Pens doesn't look so bad for the Pens these days...

That's the one where the Pens turned the 3rd rounder into Guentzel, right?

 

[Shady Machine]

Yeah, I don't get it. IMO Nill is living off of his reputation for winning trades (specifically the Seguin trade all these years later) but he hasn't been a very good GM beyond that. In fact, I'd say he's been actively hampering his team by not fixing their goaltending situation season after season. Not at all sold on the hiring of Hitchcock either, but I'm not exactly unbiased when it comes to Hitch.

He tried to fix the goaltending situation. You can criticize him for the results (bringing in Niemi to split with Lehtonen failed), but you can't criticize him for not recognizing the problem. He is trying to remedy the problem with Bishop now.

The coach is a big question mark, but I like the rest of his moves on paper.

 

[Shady Machine]

The Seguin trade now appears to be more an issue of Chiarelli selling low on young players than it really is a matter of Nill being a master of trading at this point.

Even the Morrow for Morrow trade that people thought was Nill ripping off the Pens doesn't look so bad for the Pens these days...

Wasn't Nill hired after the 2013 season (after the Morrow for Morrow trade)? Stars fired Nieuwendyk April 28th 2013 so it appears he was the GM that trade Morrow.

 

[Freeptop]

That's the one where the Pens turned the 3rd rounder into Guentzel, right?

Yep. Plus Joe Morrow is currently a UFA after busting out with the Pens, Stars and Bruins.

Wasn't Nill hired after the 2013 season (after the Morrow for Morrow trade)? Stars fired Nieuwendyk April 28th 2013 so it appears he was the GM that trade Morrow.

Ah, crud, I'd forgotten that Nill was hired after that. I was about a month off!

So, wait, why is Nill considered a good GM again?

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Yep. Plus Joe Morrow is currently a UFA after busting out with the Pens, Stars and Bruins.



Ah, crud, I'd forgotten that Nill was hired after that. I was about a month off!

So, wait, why is Nill considered a good GM again?

Actually, Joe Morrow is now with the Habs.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

That's the one where the Pens turned the 3rd rounder into Guentzel, right?

Yeah it was.

The Minnesota Wild's third-round pick went to the Pittsburgh Penguins as the result of a trade on March 24, 2013, that sent Joe Morrow and a fifth-round pick in 2013 to Dallas in exchange for Brenden Morrow and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade).[54] The condition – Pittsburgh will receive the lower of either Edmonton or Minnesota's previously acquired third-round picks, via Dallas – was converted on April 21, 2013.

Dallas previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on February 16, 2012, that sent Nicklas Grossmann to Philadelphia in exchange for Los Angeles' second-round pick in 2012 and this pick.[55]

Philadelphia previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on June 27, 2011, that sent Darroll Powe to Minnesota in exchange for this pick.[56]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_NHL_Entry_Draft

Dallas took Matej Paulovic with their 5th.

Also, this...

The Pittsburgh Penguins' third-round pick went to the Columbus Blue Jackets as the result of a trade on June 30, 2013, that sent a second-round pick in 2013 (44th overall) to Pittsburgh in exchange for San Jose's second-round pick in 2013 (50th overall) and this pick.[29]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_NHL_Entry_Draft

Turned into Oliver Bjorkstrand for the Jackets.

 

[Freeptop]

Actually, Joe Morrow is now with the Habs.

I missed he'd been picked up by someone. Still, he's had three teams decide they no longer need him now (Pens, Stars and Bruins). Maybe the Habs can bring out his potential, but it seems more likely that he's a journeyman AHLer who can get called up in case of injuries at this point.

Yeah it was.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_NHL_Entry_Draft

Dallas took Matej Paulovic with their 5th.

Also, this...


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_NHL_Entry_Draft

Turned into Oliver Bjorkstrand for the Jackets.

That was when the Pens moved up in the second in order to select Jarry. I wonder if they got word that another team was looking to take Jarry, because they only moved up a few spots to get him.

 

[Penske]

Slavin locked up 7 years 5.3 mil AAV what a good deal for the Canes.

 

[Dying Alive]

Great deal for them, yeah.

 

[66-30-33]

Maybe Dumo looks at that deal and signs for 7 years at 3.5 per.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Dumo couldn't use Slavin as a basis, Dumo can't even put up 20pts in the NHL, Slavin at least produces offensively.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

That will become one of the best contracts in the league in a few years.