GDT: Free Agent Frenzy - let the stupidity begin

[Tables of Stats]

Ouch that's a bad contract.

Yeah, probably top 3 for the worst handed out so far behind Bobrovsky and Zuccarello.

 

[Billy Kvcmu]

Poor Islanders

 

[m9]

One more mid 20's 1st is basically nothing more to add for a 22 year old 1C

Sure, but you need to factor in the bigger contract too. Aho at 8.5 is much more appealing than Aho at 10.5. 10 million in cap space (even stretched over 5 years) has value, so you are paying an extra 1st plus whatever that cap space is worth.

I understand that what they did probably won't get the player.. but I also totally see why this amount was their break-even point.

 

[MikeK]

I wonder if there is something behind the scenes we're not privy to for him to turn that extra year down from NYI. Seems odd for a player to turn down money especially at his age.

 

[mriswith]

That Bobrovsky contract is staggeringly bad, LOL

Has there been a day 1 buyout candidate that obvious since Bryzgalov?

Imac is pushing the narrative that the Canucks are playoff contenders. I still challenge people to tell me who is going to miss for the Canucks to make the playoffs?

Calgary, San Jose, and Vegas are firmly entrenched in the Pacific. I don't see how any of those 3 miss based on their roster constructions. Calgary has a ? in net, but the rest of their team is stacked.

In the Central, Nashville, Colorado, and St. Louis are clear playoff teams. Leaving Dallas, Winnipeg, and Chicago fighting for the 2 wildcard spots.

I do think Arizona, now with Phil Kessel, is better than Vancouver. But still behind the teams I mentioned above.

So again, for anyone who thinks the Canucks are going to make the playoffs: who do we get in ahead of?

I don't think the Canucks make the playoffs. I think we finish between 4th and 8th last after Edler and Tanev miss 40 games each and Myers is our #1 dman for half the year.

But:
Calgary is weaker than they appear. They are completely reliant on Gio to be an ageless wonder and their goaltending still sucks.
Colorado still has a lot to prove.
Arizona's roster on paper looks worse than ours and although they had bad injury luck, their roster still overperformed. Brad Richardson isn't getting 19 goals again.
Chicago got great years out of Kane and Toews last year and still missed, unlikely they are better next year.

So on paper Vegas and San Jose are the only guarantees to be better in the pacific. The wild card could be a turtle derby again.

 

[ATypicalCanadian]

Imac is pushing the narrative that the Canucks are playoff contenders. I still challenge people to tell me who is going to miss for the Canucks to make the playoffs?

Calgary, San Jose, and Vegas are firmly entrenched in the Pacific. I don't see how any of those 3 miss based on their roster constructions. Calgary has a ? in net, but the rest of their team is stacked.

In the Central, Nashville, Colorado, and St. Louis are clear playoff teams. Leaving Dallas, Winnipeg, and Chicago fighting for the 2 wildcard spots.

I do think Arizona, now with Phil Kessel, is better than Vancouver. But still behind the teams I mentioned above.

So again, for anyone who thinks the Canucks are going to make the playoffs: who do we get in ahead of?

I'd personally add Dallas into the mix of Nashville, Colorado and St Louis as well, but I definitely agree with the thought process that we simply didn't do enough to really jump ahead of any of the teams in the West.

Arizona definitely got better after showing the ability to hang on with less through 82 games.

The Oilers, Ducks and Kings are question marks, but I would also say they can surprise/at least make things interesting.

 

[Addison Rae]

Even if the Canucks made the playoffs as an 8 seed, what then? Where does this team go from there

 

[y2kcanucks]

Even if the Canucks made the playoffs as an 8 seed, what then? Where does this team go from there

Benning gets his extension and likely buys himself 3 more years. We'll miss the playoffs the following year, the team will be in cap hell and we'll continue to be the joke of the league.

 

[Carnal]

Can anyone explain why Marner and Aho are able to be offer sheeted but Boeser is not? Same draft, the other two drafted on either side of Boeser. Or do I have it wrong?

 

[ATypicalCanadian]

Can anyone explain why Marner and Aho are able to be offer sheeted but Boeser is not? Same draft, the other two drafted on either side of Boeser. Or do I have it wrong?

Boeser hasn't played through a full 3 years of pro hockey due to him burning a year off when he played at the end of 16/17 while Marner and Aho have played 3 full seasons.

 

[yvrtojfk]

Winners and losers today?

 

[Tables of Stats]

Looking at the $4 million plus contracts given out today I'd say we did okay even with Myers.

The Bad

Bobrovsky - Just awful. One of the worst goaltending contracts since Dipietro was signed by the Islanders.

Zuccarello - Literally just became the next Loui Eriksson.

Lee - Better score 30+ goals for the next three years straight and then go on LTIR.

Panarin - The second highest paid forward in the league but the 18th highest scoring. He needs to stay at a 30 goal 80 point pace for at least the next 5 years for this not to be terrible.

Neutral

Stralman - Will be 33 to start the season, coming off of an injury-plagued year. Risky but he's a good player if he can get back to form.

Simmonds - For one year it's hard to go wrong but $5 million for 30 points is rough value if he doesn't bounce back.

Murray - Injury prone but good when he can actually play left a bit of money on the table to stay in Columbus. Still, how can you sign a guy who's played in only one of your last three posts seasons due to injuries?

Nyquist - Playing with fire on this one. He's a good player and his cap hit is also fitting for his production but at 30 when the season starts what will the back half of this deal look like?

Duchene - Good if you're getting the 70 point version of Duchene, less good if you're getting 60 point version, Duchene. The Price you pay for adding a 1A type center in free agency.

The Good

Meier - 4x6 will look great if he can continue at anything close to last season's pace.

Pavelski - His age scares the hell out of me but the fact that he's put up six 60 point seasons in a row, 4 of them post 30 make this a safer bet than most deals that take a player deep into their 30s.

Lehner - 1-year deal, low risk, fills a need.

Aho - At his age, at this price, for his level of production this is a steal. Might be one of the most underpaid point producers in the league if he can maintain a PPG pace.

Honorable Mentions

Tanev - Bad. 3.5x6 for a 30 point player who's already 27.

Connolly - Neutral. Overpaid if he's just a mid 20 point type but he'll get 2nd line minutes in Florida which ought to help.

Donskoi - Neutral. Paid more than Connolly but he's also put up more consistent 35 point seasons. He's a 2nd line tweener who'll likely get full time second line minutes in Colorado.

Hainsey - Good. 1-year deal at a cap hit that could be league minimum for all it changes Ottawa's cap situation.

 

[wavaxa2]

OK, which one of you clowns changed Wikipedia to say Ferland is Canucks property? Fess up.

 

[RandV]

Even if the Canucks made the playoffs as an 8 seed, what then? Where does this team go from there

Squeak into the playoffs as the #8 seed?

Your last sentence doesn't matter.

 

[mossey3535]

Seems like hockey executives get dumb as soon as they get hired to work in Edmonton. Minimum wage type player shouldn’t get anything more than that.

I like how Granlund hit UFA and he still got paid less on his one-year than we paid him as a RFA.

 

[NoShowWilly]

Imac is pushing the narrative that the Canucks are playoff contenders. I still challenge people to tell me who is going to miss for the Canucks to make the playoffs?

Calgary, San Jose, and Vegas are firmly entrenched in the Pacific. I don't see how any of those 3 miss based on their roster constructions. Calgary has a ? in net, but the rest of their team is stacked.

In the Central, Nashville, Colorado, and St. Louis are clear playoff teams. Leaving Dallas, Winnipeg, and Chicago fighting for the 2 wildcard spots.

I do think Arizona, now with Phil Kessel, is better than Vancouver. But still behind the teams I mentioned above.

So again, for anyone who thinks the Canucks are going to make the playoffs: who do we get in ahead of?

let him push it. there is no excuses left. they have traded our first and will be back against the cap.

if they miss again I don't see how this management team sees another day.

 

[Fire Benning]

I think Panarin, Connolly, and Donskoi were the best signings today.

Bob and Zuccarello were by far the worst.

 

[Tables of Stats]

I think Panarin, Connolly, and Donskoi were the best signings today.

Bob and Zuccarello were by far the worst.

I disagree on Panarin. He's the second highest paid forward and only scored the 18th most points last season. I think he's overpaid unless he steps up past 90 points. The last few years of his deal are also awful unless he suddenly develops a nasty case of LTIRitis.

 

[y2kcanucks]

Myers is the Canucks highest paid player and one of only 26 defenseman to make $6M or more.

 

[Bitz and Bites]

I think we could make the playoffs but we'd have to beat out one of CGY/SJS/VGK to get into a divisional spot.I think Calgary is the most likely to falter and we could beat them out as they again have major questions in goal and their forward and defence core aren't as strong as some seem to think.IMO,they looked better than they were last year by playing in a terrible Pacific division.

I think adding Miller to the top 6 gives us a lot more depth and another scoring threat,Hughes on the blue line could be a revelation in terms of puck moving and PP ability,and jettisoning the likes of Badbranson,Pouliot,Del Zaster,Granlund,and hopefully Eriksson and Schaller will be addition by subtraction.
Our goaltending is really solid,our D should be NHL caliber with some decent depth,and Pettersson,Bo,and Brock should be year older and better.
Main question is secondary scoring...can Pearson sustain his play from last season? will Roussel get back to 100%? can Sutter stay healthy and pot some goals? will Goldobin and or Gaudette take the next step? if most of those do happen,I think we could do it.If not,were a one line team that will get shut down too often to make it.

 

[y2kcanucks]

Wow Toronto

 

[ATypicalCanadian]

Winners and losers today?

My personal opinion would be the following..


Winners:

Rangers: Got Panarin to add to an already great offseason of additions in Trouba and Kakko.

Stars: Getting Sekera, Perry at 1 year contracts with no risk and Pavelski at 3 years without the 35+ repercussions to a team that needs scoring badly.

Panthers: People will rag on the Bobrovsky contract, but they sorely need him and the other additions coming in with Quenneville makes me believe they can finally establish something there.


Honorable Mention:

Capitals: They added some forward depth without spending large amounts of cash.

Devils: Simmonds at one year is a solid gamble. I'm interested to see what level they play at this season.


Losers:

Penguins: Spending the savings from the Kessel trade on a long term Brandon Tanev deal.. I simply don't get it and the defense is still hot garbage.

Jets: Keep on taking blows depth wise due to the need to sign Connor and Laine first. I can see them struggling next season defensively.

Columbus: Tough losses all around and the best they can do to patch the losses at forward is Nyquist. I can see going back to being painful for the Jackets.

 

[Fire Benning]

I disagree on Panarin. He's the second highest paid forward and only scored the 18th most points last season. I think he's overpaid unless he steps up past 90 points. The last few years of his deal are also awful unless he suddenly develops a nasty case of LTIRitis.

He's definitely overpaid but when you have the opportunity to bring in a superstar level talent without sacrificing assets I'm overpaying any day of the week rather than overpaying to get a 30 year old ~50 point player like an Eriksson/Zuccarello.

 

[Bettman Returnz]

 

[Tables of Stats]

Myers is the Canucks highest paid player and one of only 26 defenseman to make $6M or more.

That looks a little less dire when you adjust for when each contract was signed but it's impossible to argue that he isn't significantly overpaid. If we were paid by performance, and without considering ELC players, he should be making 3.5 to 2.5 million as a 4th defenseman. Tack on a $1 to $1.5 for free agency and even Benning should have seen that he shouldn't give this player more than a $5x5 deal.