Player Discussion Erik Brännström - D - Part III

[Micklebot]

Is Hamonic hurt?

Currently yes, unless they are trying to hide that he's a scratch, but I do believe it's a legit injury

 

[mysens]

Never understood the hangup about this signing. He's played like 40 games this year, is a good solid veteran in the league and gets a minuscule amount of ice-time for basically close to league minimum. Sure, he's not a great player anymore but he's not being paid to be a great player. Hell, he's barely being paid to play at all. Just one of these never-ending criticisms from the fanbase in a season where everything went wrong. I'd rather this super cheap insurance contract than $2M for whatever Brannstrom has done this year (hint: not much of anything).

The hang up is probably due to the fact he was a catalyst for some losses. Quite a few actually. The previous regime was stuck playing this guy who made us an easy win against the opposition.

 

[UglyPuckling]

Buyout Hamonic to send a msg Staios. That we're getting rid of the dead weight. I'mma be so pissed if Brannstrom isn't brought back but Hamonic is worth keeping around because of his vet presence. Nothing against his character, but he doesn't excel at any aspect of the actual game of hockey which is what we need

Plus Korpisalo and White I suppose if you put all the buyout ideas (big picture) in a list.

 

[JD1]

Currently yes, unless they are trying to hide that he's a scratch, but I do believe it's a legit injury

So what's all the talk then about him having played only when necessary or that he played less when Martin arrived? He's played 48 and looks like he's missed 25 or so via injury.

 

[Micklebot]

So what's all the talk then about him having played only when necessary or that he played less when Martin arrived? He's played 48 and looks like he's missed 25 or so via injury.

He was getting scratched before coming back in (I think when Chabot got hurt) and getting hurt, officially, he's missed 15 due to injuries, but that only goes to Apr 5th. so 18 assuming the last 3 were also due to injury which I believe they were, which would mean scratched for 15.

 

[bicboi64]

Plus Korpisalo and White I suppose if you put all the buyout ideas (big picture) in a list.

Hamonic buyout= 2 years of $333k
Korpisalo buyout= 333k, 883k, $1.83m, $2.3m, and 4 years of 1.3m

It would suck, but we have $3.4 million coming off the books this offseason. Aside from a demonstration of management being willing to undo previous management's mistakes and give Staois some capspace to play with

 

[UglyPuckling]

1. Hamonic buyout= 2 years of $333k
Korpisalo buyout= 333k, 883k, $1.83m, $2.3m, and 4 years of 1.3m

2. It would suck, but we have $3.4 million coming off the books this offseason. Aside from a demonstration of management being willing to undo previous management's mistakes and give Staois some capspace to play with

1. My post focused on adding the buy-out numbers to understand the cumulative effect.

2025-26 (2 years out):
White (not mentioned in your post) $875k + Korpisalo $883k + Hamonic $366 k = $2.124 m

2026-27 (3 years out):
White (not mentioned in your post) $875k + Korpisalo $1.833 = $2.708 m

2027-28 (4 years out)
Korpisalo $2.333

Not huge, but still a constraint over multiple years well worth noting.

2. If you look at the various spreadsheets presented in here, a lot of the projected cap space will disappear if we add a good, top 4 RD, a middle of the lineup forward, and give Pinto a new contract even if we move out Chychrun. If they throw buy-outs into the equation, its certainly workable, but it will get tight depending on what’s done. We are not swimming in cap space although this idea does tend to get repeated often enough.

 

[bicboi64]

1. My post focused on adding the buy-out numbers to understand the cumulative effect.

2025-26 (2 years out):
White (not mentioned in your post) $875k + Korpisalo $883k + Hamonic $366 k = $2.124 m

2026-27 (3 years out):
White (not mentioned in your post) $875k + Korpisalo $1.833 = $2.708 m

2027-28 (4 years out)
Korpisalo $2.333

Not huge, but still a constraint over multiple years well worth noting.

2. If you look at the various spreadsheets presented in here, the cap space will disappear quickly if we add a good, top 4 RD, a middle of the lineup forward, and give Pinto a new contract even if we move out Chychrun. If they throw buy-outs into the equation, its definitely getting very tight. We are not swimming in cap space although this does tend to get repeated often enough.

Good post, I overlooked White's caphit and other stuff.

I'm just hopeful that we get rid of Korpisalo under any circumstance and can get guys like Pinto in for good deals (makes it easy to think of us having a lot of capspace, especially since we operated the last few seasons with 2-3m+ in dead cap.

 

[UglyPuckling]

Good post, I overlooked White's caphit and other stuff.

I'm just hopeful that we get rid of Korpisalo under any circumstance and can get guys like Pinto in for good deals (makes it easy to think of us having a lot of capspace, especially since we operated the last few seasons with 2-3m+ in dead cap.

Its workable (I edited my post a bit btw), but I guess the main point was we are not exactly swimming in cap space. Of course, it will depend on what they want to do and how many additions or upgrades they make.

 

[JD1]

He was getting scratched before coming back in (I think when Chabot got hurt) and getting hurt, officially, he's missed 15 due to injuries, but that only goes to Apr 5th. so 18 assuming the last 3 were also due to injury which I believe they were, which would mean scratched for 15.

cap friendly shows him injured week to week since late february

maybe i'm wrong, but a vet player scratched for 15 is probably something we'd of heard more about but Hamonic has been pretty out of sight

 

[BankStreetParade]

He's a RHD that's so bad he can't stay in our lineup that desperately needed a RHD, to the point that we'd rather play Brannstrom on his offside.

Nobody is acting like this is a massive issue, but it certainly was an unforced one, particularly the NMC aspect.

There in lies the problem though, small mistakes add up, and this one in particular had consequences that were not nothing burgers, we were right to the cap, and lacked the flexibility to call up guys due to injuries without risking losing JBD to waivers since we couldn't waive Hamonic.

He's the 7th D. He's not supposed to "stay" in the lineup anyway and he's not paid as that type of defensemen either. He's a guy who has seniority in the league and those guys usually leave money on the table to get the NMC. I'm not saying that I agree he should have gotten it but he 100% feels entitled, at this point, to have certainty that he won't be shuffled around between the AHL, NHL and whatever teams in trade.

There are players on one year deal without NMCs that make less that are better. Kleven being one lol

He’s no THE problem people are hung up on you just made that up. But he’s bad and has an NMC. So yeah. It’s A problem

Sorry, my bad. I forgot about 800 career NHL games RHD Tyler Kleven when I was talking about guys with experience who are good in the locker room.

 

[Micklebot]

He's the 7th D. He's not supposed to "stay" in the lineup anyway and he's not paid as that type of defensemen either. He's a guy who has seniority in the league and those guys usually leave money on the table to get the NMC. I'm not saying that I agree he should have gotten it but he 100% feels entitled, at this point, to have certainty that he won't be shuffled around between the AHL, NHL and whatever teams in trade.

Sorry, my bad. I forgot about 800 career NHL games RHD Tyler Kleven when I was talking about guys with experience who are good in the locker room.

There are no circumstance in which it makes sense to give a full NMC to someone who can't stay in the lineup, he doesn't want to be shuffled around, great, he can go find a team that he won't be shuffled around on and move there it that's what he wants. It was a predictably bad deal from the get go and due to his NTC and the cap crunch the GM put us in, had roster consequences.

People bring it up because it was a bad deal for a bad player, Like, what other 7th Dman in the league got a full NMC???

 

[Alf Silfversson]

He's the 7th D. He's not supposed to "stay" in the lineup anyway and he's not paid as that type of defensemen either. He's a guy who has seniority in the league and those guys usually leave money on the table to get the NMC. I'm not saying that I agree he should have gotten it but he 100% feels entitled, at this point, to have certainty that he won't be shuffled around between the AHL, NHL and whatever teams in trade.

Sorry, my bad. I forgot about 800 career NHL games RHD Tyler Kleven when I was talking about guys with experience who are good in the locker room.

Who gives multiple years AND a NMC to a 7th D?

It was predicted to be a bad move and it was. Far from the biggest problem with the team but I don't think anyone said it was.

 

[Big Muddy]

Hamonic buyout= 2 years of $333k
Korpisalo buyout= 333k, 883k, $1.83m, $2.3m, and 4 years of 1.3m

It would suck, but we have $3.4 million coming off the books this offseason. Aside from a demonstration of management being willing to undo previous management's mistakes and give Staois some capspace to play with

1. My post focused on adding the buy-out numbers to understand the cumulative effect.

2025-26 (2 years out):
White (not mentioned in your post) $875k + Korpisalo $883k + Hamonic $366 k = $2.124 m

2026-27 (3 years out):
White (not mentioned in your post) $875k + Korpisalo $1.833 = $2.708 m

2027-28 (4 years out)
Korpisalo $2.333

Not huge, but still a constraint over multiple years well worth noting.

2. If you look at the various spreadsheets presented in here, a lot of the projected cap space will disappear if we add a good, top 4 RD, a middle of the lineup forward, and give Pinto a new contract even if we move out Chychrun. If they throw buy-outs into the equation, its certainly workable, but it will get tight depending on what’s done. We are not swimming in cap space although this idea does tend to get repeated often enough.

Something like this I suppose. For reference, average starting goalie looks like is around a $5 m AAV, and Ulmark who people have mentioned in here is under an expiring contract at $5 m. Just trying to reflect a roster with the ideas that people talk about in here.

 

[BankStreetParade]

There are no circumstance in which it makes sense to give a full NMC to someone who can't stay in the lineup, he doesn't want to be shuffled around, great, he can go find a team that he won't be shuffled around on and move there it that's what he wants. It was a predictably bad deal from the get go and due to his NTC and the cap crunch the GM put us in, had roster consequences.

People bring it up because it was a bad deal for a bad player, Like, what other 7th Dman in the league got a full NMC???

I don't know. And it's completely irrelevant because it doesn't change the fact that this team needed a veteran RHD who was willing to take less than $1.5M.

We had Zub and JBD as righties to start the year. Here's a list of all right-shot D, 28+, making $1.5M or less this year: 2023-24 Active NHL Players - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Who else were they supposed to get from this list? It's not exactly the creme de la creme.

 

[LudwigVonKarlsson]

I don't know. And it's completely irrelevant because it doesn't change the fact that this team needed a veteran RHD who was willing to take less than $1.5M.

We had Zub and JBD as righties to start the year. Here's a list of all right-shot D, 28+, making $1.5M or less this year: 2023-24 Active NHL Players - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Who else were they supposed to get from this list? It's not exactly the creme de la creme.

They could've not signed Tarasenko, and not taken back Kubalik in the Debrincat trade. Use that money for an actual position of need but Dorion gonna Dorion.

 

[Micklebot]

I don't know. And it's completely irrelevant because it doesn't change the fact that this team needed a veteran RHD who was willing to take less than $1.5M.

We had Zub and JBD as righties to start the year. Here's a list of all right-shot D, 28+, making $1.5M or less this year: 2023-24 Active NHL Players - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Who else were they supposed to get from this list? It's not exactly the creme de la creme.

Sure you know, it in the link you provided. The answer is 1, it's Hamonic. We're the only team handing out a NMC to a healthy scratch. That's a problem. It's astounding you don't see a problem with that because it's not irrelevant, it's a clear sign that we are the ones doing something outside the norm, and that 31 other teams don't seem to think it's a great idea.

You don't need the creme de la creme for a 7th D, you don't need it to be a 28+ year old vet either, he's a 7th D, not a mainstay. If you want to complain we don't have enough RD depth, I agree. Is the solution to give a NMC to a RD that shouldn't be in your lineup if you can avoid it? No... you don't create healthy competition by guaranteeing a 7th Dman a spot on the roster for two years hancuffing yourself to him.

 

[BankStreetParade]

Sure you know, it in the link you provided. The answer is 1, it's Hamonic. We're the only team handing out a NMC to a healthy scratch. That's a problem. It's astounding you don't see a problem with that because it's not irrelevant, it's a clear sign that we are the ones doing something outside the norm, and that 31 other teams don't seem to think it's a great idea.

You don't need the creme de la creme for a 7th D, you don't need it to be a 28+ year old vet either, he's a 7th D, not a mainstay. If you want to complain we don't have enough RD depth, I agree. Is the solution to give a NMC to a RD that shouldn't be in your lineup if you can avoid it? No... you don't create healthy competition by guaranteeing a 7th Dman a spot on the roster for two years hancuffing yourself to him.

Yes, that's exactly the point I've been making all along and I'm glad we're finally on the same page about this. So all this griping about a veteran guy making $1.1M is completely unnecessary. The truth is, relative to their contracts, Brannstrom offered this team absolutely nothing they didn't have in spades and was a $2M hole in the cap. I don't know how a guy making very close to league minimum can be such an impediment to the roster while a guy on the cusp of top 4 money, who has played like a bottom-pairing player all year, isn't a bigger problem.

 

[Micklebot]

Yes, that's exactly the point I've been making all along and I'm glad we're finally on the same page about this. So all this griping about a veteran guy making $1.1M is completely unnecessary. The truth is, relative to their contracts, Brannstrom offered this team absolutely nothing they didn't have in spades and was a $2M hole in the cap. I don't know how a guy making very close to league minimum can be such an impediment to the roster while a guy on the cusp of top 4 money, who has played like a bottom-pairing player all year, isn't a bigger problem.

Ya, you seem to be skipping over the part where the decision to sign Hamonic had real world roster repercussions that were completely avoidable. We put ourselves in a position where we couldn't call somebody up without losing a better player in JBD or Brannstrom because we were stuck with Hamonic on the roster

Hamonic is the D equivalent of MacEwen, but while we certainly gave more term than is reasonable for MacEwen, at least we didn't handcuff ourselves with a full NMC. That's the difference, MacEwen is a 13th Forward with zero ramifications other than cash. Hamonic is preventing us from doing things to make the team better.

Is it the biggest problem this team has? of course not, nobody claimed it was. Was it one of the most easily avoidable ones? Absolutely, but the reality is Dorion likely didn't think Hamonic was a 13th D, he likely saw him as a lock for the top 6 and maybe a 7th guy next year.

As for the guy getting on the cusp of top 4 money, well he's not a problem because he's playing every game, and moving into the to 4 when required. His contract is in line with his contribution. We just want to replace him because his skill set is redundant when everyone is healthy.

 

[bicboi64]

Yes, that's exactly the point I've been making all along and I'm glad we're finally on the same page about this. So all this griping about a veteran guy making $1.1M is completely unnecessary. The truth is, relative to their contracts, Brannstrom offered this team absolutely nothing they didn't have in spades and was a $2M hole in the cap. I don't know how a guy making very close to league minimum can be such an impediment to the roster while a guy on the cusp of top 4 money, who has played like a bottom-pairing player all year, isn't a bigger problem.

Brannstrom at $2 million was more valuable than Hamonic at even league minimum, let alone his cap hit and NMC.

It doesn't matter how inept you consider Brannstrom to be, Hamonic is worse than him in every measurable aspect of the game. There's no point in paying for vet leadership if that leadership isn't even good enough to play on the roster.

 

[The Devilish Buffoon]

Currently yes, unless they are trying to hide that he's a scratch, but I do believe it's a legit injury

Martin said a few days ago that hes unable to skate currently

 

[Micklebot]

Martin said a few days ago that hes unable to skate currently

Right, but the "theory" is if they are trying to hide that he's a healthy scratch to spare him the humiliation, they would say that he's injured.

I agree though, he's likely legit hurt, whether or not I think he's any good anymore or not, the dude is a warrior.

 

[Alf Silfversson]

Yes, that's exactly the point I've been making all along and I'm glad we're finally on the same page about this. So all this griping about a veteran guy making $1.1M is completely unnecessary. The truth is, relative to their contracts, Brannstrom offered this team absolutely nothing they didn't have in spades and was a $2M hole in the cap. I don't know how a guy making very close to league minimum can be such an impediment to the roster while a guy on the cusp of top 4 money, who has played like a bottom-pairing player all year, isn't a bigger problem.

Hamonic at $1.1M isn't the issue. It's the NMC, guaranteeing a spot on the roster is wasted on him. The second year is just piling on.

LOL at $2M in $85M cap world being even close to true top 4 money.

And Brannstrom while having flaws will score 20 points (almost all at even strength) and be a plus player (ie. not getting caved in). A defenseman who scores 20 points in an 82 game season and is a positive at even strength (on a bad team at that) is well worth $2M, regardless of how sheltered people feel he's been.

People may not like Brannstrom, and that's fine, but $2M is nothing in today's NHL and he's given good value for that.

 

[DrEasy]

Martin said a few days ago that hes unable to skate currently

Well that's true of him whether he's injured or not...

 

[The Devilish Buffoon]

Right, but the "theory" is if they are trying to hide that he's a healthy scratch to spare him the humiliation, they would say that he's injured.

I agree though, he's likely legit hurt, whether or not I think he's any good anymore or not, the dude is a warrior.

I don't think the two are totally unrelated... if Hamonic had more to give, he might be able to play through it, but he's barely hanging on at 100%.