Salary Cap: Buyout Hoffman: Yes or No

[lamp9post]

No buyouts; either trade Hoffman with 50% retain or if that fails put him on waivers.

The problem is that teams generally don't use waivers as a way to get out of inconvenient contracts for serviceable players. The only way they waive Hoff is if we have 14 better forwards than him at the start of next season, which is highly unlikely.

Let's keep him for his last year. I just don't see the use for dead money right now.

Its more about the roster spot than the money for next season. Would you rather give 82 games of NHL development to Hoffman or to RHP/Ylonen/Heinemen/Farrell/etc.?

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

Hoffman has now played 130 games for the Habs and has a total of 5 Power play goals. In contrast Nick Suzuki who is not having a great year on the PP has 7 this year alone. Hoffman has no business being on the Power Play it's just STUPID. Why aren't journalists asking the very simple question Why do you keep trotting him out there Marty? How can anyone think playing him on the PP next year would improve his value at TDL? I hope to god we take a very long look at our Power Play and start using players who have a modicum of success on it and actually deserve to be there. Why there is no competition amongst our current group to win spots is beyond me given how fantastically impotent our odd man situations are. f*** run a puck moving drill and pull players who can't execute regardless of name age and station in life.


End of Rant

Instead of simply expressing why you don't want Hoffman on the pp, why don't you tell us who should be on the pp instead? Armia? Evans? Pezzetta? Belzile? These 4th liners that don't have any pp skills should be on the pp?

 

[WeThreeKings]

Instead of simply expressing why you don't want Hoffman on the pp, why don't you tell us who should be on the pp instead? Armia? Evans? Pezzetta? Belzile? These 4th liners that don't have any pp skills should be on the pp?

Farrell-Suzuki-Ylonen-Matheson-RHP

Easily done.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

Farrell-Suzuki-Ylonen-Matheson-RHP

Easily done.

You need two pp units.

 

[Rapala]

Instead of simply expressing why you don't want Hoffman on the pp, why don't you tell us who should be on the pp instead? Armia? Evans? Pezzetta? Belzile? These 4th liners that don't have any pp skills should be on the pp?

Gurianov did a better job as I pointed out. Suzuki and Dach are both more than capable to play on that right side so the possibilities are more numerous than you may think. Evans Belzile Ylonen Barron Ghule all handle the puck far better than Hoffman.

Oh Yeah Farrell I forgot about him Far far far better puck handler than Hoffman. My point is Hoffman was supposed to be our specialist but is not even close to being one. We can't afford to have plays continually dying because of him we struggle to gain the zone to begin with.

 

[Leon Lucius Black]

It is just one year, let it play out and try to trade him at the deadline - no need to buy him out. If he gets outplayed by younger guys, just make him sit in the pressbox.

I'd prefer Hoffman gone, but he'll be more tolerable next year when we don't have 3 soft small useless guys in Drouin/Dadonov/Hoffman all in the lineup most of the year.

 

[durojean]

It depends on his attitude with coaching and management and his attitude in the lockerroom.

If he is a cancer yes.
If not : No. We have the time and we don't need the salary cap space next year anyway.
Plus, if he gets a good season next year, he could still be flippable at the deadline.

 

[Habs 4 Life]

No for me. Play him next year same as this year, some pp time on the 2nd unit. He is a goal scorer and I'm sure teams will be calling for him, unlike Drouin this year.

 

[WeThreeKings]

You need two pp units.

And Hoffman can be on PP2 right now, the problem is more that he's on wave 1 with Drouin while Ylonen and Farrell get scrap PP time after they've failed to set-up for 90 seconds.

 

[Rapala]

You need two pp units.

Right and he always gets preference and plays on PP1. I've never liked our PP strategy to begin with but IMO we aren't using our best assets on PP1 which is not how it should be. Many good teams don't give a crap about PP2.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

Gurianov did a better job as I pointed out. Suzuki and Dach are both more than capable to play on that right side so the possibilities are more numerous than you may think. Evans Belzile Ylonen Barron Ghule all handle the puck far better than Hoffman.

Gurianov is already on the pp. The only forwards who didn't play on the pp last game are the 4 I mentioned. What's the use of handling the puck better if you can't make plays with it? Evans and Belzile aren't particularly good at shooting or passing. Very weird to have such a rant on Hoffman when your better options are two 4th liners that don't bring much.

And Hoffman can be on PP2 right now, the problem is more that he's on wave 1 with Drouin while Ylonen and Farrell get scrap PP time after they've failed to set-up for 90 seconds.

Right and he always gets preference and plays on PP1. I've never liked our PP strategy to begin with but IMO we are using our best assets on PP1 which is not how it should be. Many good teams don't give a crap about PP2.

Playing Hoffman on the pp1 is a different topic. You were talking about not having Hoffman on the pp at all.

 

[Rapala]

Gurianov is already on the pp. The only forwards who didn't play on the pp last game are the 4 I mentioned. What's the use of handling the puck better if you can't make plays with it? Evans and Belzile aren't particularly good at shooting or passing. Very weird to have such a rant on Hoffman when your better options are two 4th liners that don't bring much.

Gurianov is on PP2 which I honestly don't give a damn about. Evans and Belzile both possess better puck skills than Hoffman I have no idea what you are watching or if you understand the basics of a good PP. Puck movement puck movement puck movement until a defender tires and gets caught out. Puck retrieval is also so much easier under those circumstances. If you'd simply watch what the decent teams do to us you'd understand where I'm coming from.

BTW I never said anything about Hoffman not being on PP2. PP2 is irrelevant when PP1 is in such a shambles. I've watched games where PP2 had far far better puck movement than 1. That is a PROBLEM.

 

[Rapala]

No for me. Play him next year same as this year, some pp time on the 2nd unit. He is a goal scorer and I'm sure teams will be calling for him, unlike Drouin this year.

But he might score another goal or two by TDL on PP 1.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

Gurianov is on PP2 which I honestly don't give a damn about. Evans and Belzile both possess better puck skills than Hoffman I have no idea what you are watching or if you understand the basics of a good PP. Puck movement puck movement puck movement until a defender tires and gets caught out. Puck retrieval is also so much easier under those circumstances. If you'd simple watch what the decent teams do to us you'd understand where I'm coming from.

Puck movement by Evans and Belzile? They will only do simple passes that are easily followed by the defenders. They aren't a threat to score and they aren't a threat to make a high-end pass. Making simple passes won't break the defenders' team formation. I highly doubt any decent team has players like Evans and Belzile on the pp.

Hoffman's shot is always a threat and while he isn't consistent with his passing, he can still do some nice passes from time to time. He has 1 less assist than the leader in pp assists on the team. One less than Suzuki who played 14 more games.

 

[Rapala]

Puck movement by Evans and Belzile? They will only do simple passes that are easily followed by the defenders. They aren't a threat to score and they aren't a threat to make a high-end pass. Making simple passes won't break the defenders' team formation. I highly doubt any decent team has players like Evans and Belzile on the pp.

Hoffman's shot is always a threat and while he isn't consistent with his passing, he can still do some nice passes from time to time. He has 1 less assist than the leader in pp assists on the team. One less than Suzuki who played 14 more games.

Enough. 5 goals in 130 games on PP1 is NOT showing any threat whatsoever. You are just arguing in circles. Go back and read my initial post and try to understand what I'm saying.

 

[donghabs98]

If Hoffman had more term left then yes but I'd imagine we could get something for him at 50% cap retention and being a pending UFA next year.

Armia is someone with a bigger case for a buyout. I dont see any team taking his contact.

 

[Rapala]

If Hoffman had more term left then yes but I'd imagine we could get something for him at 50% cap retention and being a pending UFA next year.

Armia is someone with a bigger case for a buyout. I dont see any team taking his contact.

You have to wonder if Armia has long term health issues.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

Enough. 5 goals in 130 games on PP1 is NOT showing any threat whatsoever. You are just arguing in circles. Go back and read my initial post and try to understand what I'm saying.

I'm not arguing in circles. You're shifting your argument from not having Hoffman on the pp at all to not having him on pp1. I have no issue with not having Hoffman on pp1. In fact, my ideal pp1 unit wouldn't have him there. That's not what your rant was about though.

 

[donghabs98]

You have to wonder if Armia has long term health issues.

Hit by COVID twice and was out with an upper r

You have to wonder if Armia has long term health issues.

Yeah, I hope he gets healthy. Like Brandon Sutter, you'd hate to see someone's career derailed by something out of their control.

 

[Runner77]

If Hoffman had more term left then yes but I'd imagine we could get something for him at 50% cap retention and being a pending UFA next year.

Armia is someone with a bigger case for a buyout. I dont see any team taking his contact.

We may not get a huge return on Hoffman but on an expiring contract, with retention, someone is bound to bite, I concur.

Armia is an ideal buyout candidate, he’s literally sitting on his long term deal. Has all the skills and tools in the world but he just can’t or won’t parlay them into game action. Same issues regardless of head coaches. He needs to go.

 

[Rapala]

I'm not arguing in circles. You're shifting your argument from not having Hoffman on the pp at all to not having him on pp1. I have no issue with not having Hoffman on pp1. In fact, my ideal pp1 unit wouldn't have him there. That's not what your rant was about though.

My bad because when I talk about our PP I talk about 1 Wave the one that counts the most. I assume people understand this because a PP will run anywhere from 1:30 - 1:40 on good teams and the only reason they change is because they've lost the zone. I've seen teams go the full two minutes plenty of times against us because we couldn't clear.

 

[donghabs98]

We may not get a huge return on Hoffman but on an expiring contract, with retention, someone is bound to bite, I concur.

Armia is an ideal buyout candidate, he’s literally sitting on his long term deal. Has all the skills and tools in the world but he just can’t or won’t parlay them into game action. Same issues regardless of head coaches. He needs to go.

Yeah I bet teams will give Armia a chance but surely not with his current contract. He'd need to be bought out.

 

[First Line]

There is a reason why Hughes said 2-3 years. He obviously is aware he needs to wait out the bad contracts.
Zero chance anyone is bought out in that timeframe.

 

[Rapala]

I think Hoffman is a very smart player. I watch him and it's uncanny how good he is at going to an area where no event will take place in.
While this might be considered good for a goalscorer what is truly amazing is his ability to do it on the forecheck.

 

[Skip Bayless]

There is a reason why Hughes said 2-3 years. He obviously is aware he needs to wait out the bad contracts.
Zero chance anyone is bought out in that timeframe.

It's the smart thing to do. Clean the canvas first.