GDT: Meaningless Match vs. Minnesota Pt. 2| Final Game of the RS|

[TheDizee]

lol refalanche are f***ed

 

[Robb_K]

What a great comeback win. The Blues were embarrassed by their own play in The 1st, so they came out to play in The 2nd, and won it going away. That's a good feeling to take into The Playoffs. And now it looks like The Avs will beat The Kings, so The Blues will get the more favourable matchup of the 2 possibilities. I'm looking forward to seeing The Blues play well against The Avs.

 

[BlueDream]

Did Kostin play well enough to earn a playoff start? If so, who sits?

I don’t see it.

If Tarasenko doesn’t play then maybe. But if he does, no chance.

 

[MissouriMook]

I want the Avs. If we lose to them, I will have no regrets. I respect the Avs.

I HATE the Knights. So I hope the Wild rough them up bad.

As much as it would satisfy me for the Blues to be the team to eliminate the Golden Knights, I don’t have much confidence in their ability to do so.

And now it’s 4-1 Avs. I think we should take tomorrow off and fly to Denver on Saturday and have practices Saturday and Sunday to get acclimated to the altitude.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

As much as it would satisfy me for the Blues to be the team to eliminate the Golden Knights, I don’t have much confidence in their ability to do so.

And now it’s 4-1 Avs. I think we should take tomorrow off and fly to Denver on Saturday and have practices Saturday and Sunday to get acclimated to the altitude.

Yes...the altitude can be a killer. I think all teams heading to STL should be subjected to 90 degree days with 90% humidity.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

Wow..some fights in the LA-COL game

 

[Moose and Squirrel]

I don’t see it.

If Tarasenko doesn’t play then maybe. But if he does, no chance.

I'd play him over Sanford (even tho he looked decent tonight) or Blais (teases one game, unfocused the next)

 

[Fez Whatley]

When's the 1st blooze playoff game?

 

[Moose and Squirrel]

When's the 1st blooze playoff game?

monday iirc

 

[WATTAGE4451]

Do we want Vegas or Avs round 1?

We want Avs because wild have been the only team vegas has a losing record against and might stand a chance of knocking them out for us if we can so.ehow get past avs and then we don't have to face avs and knights.

 

[mk80]

Well good comeback win tonight! Although we need to avoid the mistakes that led us to being down 3-0. Congrats to Perron as well!

As for the Avs, I think a big key will be at least getting a split in Colorado in the first two games.

 

[Ridge1982]

lol refalanche are f***ed

Let’s not get cocky here. They’re the top seed for a reason.

 

[Frenzy31]

I don’t see it.

If Tarasenko doesn’t play then maybe. But if he does, no chance.

I would say he made himself an option. However, to me he didn’t grab a stop in the top 9. I was hoping he would take it and not look back. It may take a few to get used to the smaller ice.

Both Blaise and Sanford also looked involved and good. Plus Sanford can take draws.

 

[TheDizee]

Let’s not get cocky here. They’re the top seed for a reason.

 

[BlueMed]

The Blues have better depth, physicality, experience, and goaltending going into this series.

 

[Reality Czech]

Let’s not get cocky here. They’re the top seed for a reason.

Yep, they are a damn good team and they have a ton of pressure to go deep in the playoffs this year. If they have another early exit, heads might roll in Colorado.

 

[Brockon]

did I hear right, Parise has 4 MORE yrs left on his contract???? wowzers.. that's ugly

Him and Ryan Suter both have 4 seasons remaining at ~7.5 AAV once this season is done.

Given that they're each owed 6m, 2m, 1m and 1m salary for the remainder of the contract I can't see either of them playing out the entirety of the contract... I'm assuming Parise's back will see him LTIR'd into retirement for the last season or two of the contract.

Parise has missed ~10 games a season since the 2012-13 lockout shortened season, including 2017-18 where he missed 40 games due to back problems (last year he played all the MIN games, but that's a exception looking at his history).

Suter has been remarkably consistent, playing huge minutes and basically every game since getting to MIN (he's missed 10 games over 9 seasons). I still fully expect something to come up and him fail to play out the 4 remaining seasons of his contract, despite not having an injury history... Call me skeptic, but you don't see many players in the NHL into their 40s.

 

[Stealth JD]

Suter has been remarkably consistent, playing huge minutes and basically every game since getting to MIN (he's missed 10 games over 9 seasons). I still fully expect something to come up and him fail to play out the 4 remaining seasons of his contract, despite not having an injury history... Call me skeptic, but you don't see many players in the NHL into their 40s.

Suter will probably be fine until 38 or 39...he's got great genes, plays a smart game and can keep up with the pace. Chara at 44, Giordano and Keith at 37, Andy Greene at 38...those guys are still effective, and I'm not sure that Ryan Suter isn't the best of that bunch; even if three of them have Norris Trophies to display.

 

[execwrite1]

Good to see all the kids having an impact - Kyrou, Mikkola, Kostin, Husso. Bodes well for the future.

 

[Brian39]

I’m a lot less interested in discussing Perron than I am the notion of exposing Tarasenko. Do you think that’s likely? Assume for a moment Schwartz has been re-signed.

Even if he weren’t drafted, I’d think exposing Vlad would really injure that relationship. Is that issue enough to sway the front office’s position?

My personal position is that Sundqvist isn’t protected. Early in the season I thought it was arguable that he was the better choice over Perron. Maybe it’s still arguable, but it’s not what I would do.

I need to see playoff performances before I make a firm decision on the protection list, but I don't think that exposing Tarasenko is likely. I will also be shocked if Schwartz is re-signed unless we are able to move a salary out. I don't see any situation where a handshake deal makes sense for Schwartz.

With all that said, my best guess RIGHT NOW would be ROR, Perron, Schenn, Tarasenko, Thomas, Kyrou, Parayko, Faulk, Krug, and Binner. The 7th forward would be Schwartz if you sign him and Sunny if you don't.

My "must protects" right now are ROR, Perron, Thomas, Kyrou, Parayko, Faulk and Binner. Playoffs, a potential Schwartz extension and conversations with Seattle would inform my decisions about Krug vs. Dunn and then which 3 of Schenn/Tarasenko/Schwartz/Sunny to protect.

I'm lower on Schenn than most. I have serious concerns about how he looks without Schwartz and serious concerns over how hi style will age him through his 30s. He wasn't worth his AAV this year, he turns 30 over the summer and the contract lasts another 7 years (with a full NTC for the first 4). He is the only one of our top 6 forwards that was just okay during the Cup run and his career playoff production isn't that of a $6.5M guy. He's absolutely one of our 7 best forwards, but he has one of the 3 worst contracts on the team. In a flat cap world, you have to at least consider how much of the talent loss would be offset by shedding that contract.

 

[Brian39]

A simple solution would be to protect both Sunny and Perron while leaving Schwartz unprotected and reaching a handshake deal with him prior to the draft. Also, would they really take a 29 year old UFA in Schwartz in favor of a 24 year old RFA in Dunn? I'd be surprised if they did.

I just don't see any incentive for Schwartz to take a handshake deal. No player should assume that such a deal would be left on the table if he suffers a major injury. Army has demonstrated in the past that he will act in the team's best interest when contractual language allows him to do so. I don't think any of us will ever know the full story of what happened with Bergie's NTC list, but I think we can all agree that Army was aware that Buffalo is not a place Bergie wanted to go. Given that history, I think it is foolish to assume that Army would honor a cap-circumventing and non-legally-binding oral contract with a player if that player then suffered a serious injury. What is the incentive for Schwartz to take on all that risk? And assuming he does take on all that risk, what is the incentive for Schwartz to then honor that agreement 3 days before he can officially start talking to other teams as a UFA?

 

[Xerloris]

I just don't see any incentive for Schwartz to take a handshake deal. No player should assume that such a deal would be left on the table if he suffers a major injury. Army has demonstrated in the past that he will act in the team's best interest when contractual language allows him to do so. I don't think any of us will ever know the full story of what happened with Bergie's NTC list, but I think we can all agree that Army was aware that Buffalo is not a place Bergie wanted to go. Given that history, I think it is foolish to assume that Army would honor a cap-circumventing and non-legally-binding oral contract with a player if that player then suffered a serious injury. What is the incentive for Schwartz to take on all that risk? And assuming he does take on all that risk, what is the incentive for Schwartz to then honor that agreement 3 days before he can officially start talking to other teams as a UFA?

I doubt a deal would be agreed upon before the playoffs. I would think a deal would be agreed upon after the playoffs but before the draft. Or maybe not at all. I do not think Schwartz will be signed before the draft.

 

[BlueMed]

I just don't see any incentive for Schwartz to take a handshake deal. No player should assume that such a deal would be left on the table if he suffers a major injury. Army has demonstrated in the past that he will act in the team's best interest when contractual language allows him to do so. I don't think any of us will ever know the full story of what happened with Bergie's NTC list, but I think we can all agree that Army was aware that Buffalo is not a place Bergie wanted to go. Given that history, I think it is foolish to assume that Army would honor a cap-circumventing and non-legally-binding oral contract with a player if that player then suffered a serious injury. What is the incentive for Schwartz to take on all that risk? And assuming he does take on all that risk, what is the incentive for Schwartz to then honor that agreement 3 days before he can officially start talking to other teams as a UFA?

Did Army not have a cap-circumventing and non-legally-binding oral contract with Hoffman during his PTO prior to this year?

 

[Brian39]

Did Army not have a cap-circumventing and non-legally-binding oral contract with Hoffman during his PTO prior to this year?

He did not. A PTO is the NHL's approved mechanism for bringing a player in to camp without a contract. The arrangement made with Hoffman is outlined with approval within the CBA. Additionally, we signed Hoffman to the 1 year, $4M contract two days before the opening of the NHL season and placing Tarasenko on LTIR. Steen was officially placed on off-season LTIR the day after we signed Hoffman. All of JR's speculation about the Blues waiting to utilize LTIR before signing Hoffman turned out to be incorrect. Hoffman was signed on January 11 and our first LTIR designation came on January 12. There were exactly 0 days where the salary cap was in effect and we had Hoffman on a PTO and there were zero days where we were utilizing LTIR while he was on a PTO. For all of the talk/reporting about it, we received absolutely zero cap benefit by signing Hoffman to a PTO before the 1 year deal. Hoffman was under zero restriction from talking to other teams and the team received zero cap or competitive advantage beyond the PTO allowing him to begin skating with the team during camp. There was absolutely nothing about offering him a PTO (potentially with an oral 1 year offer) that was violative of the CBA.

On the other hand, the NHL specifically warned teams that handshake deals to avoid exposure guidelines is considered violative of the CBA.

Edit: other than JR's (ultimately incorrect) speculation that we were waiting to utilize LTIR before officially signing Hoffman, we have never gotten an explanation about why there was a PTO before the deal. It was objectively not about cap manipulation, so my guess is that one or both parties wanted to keep their options open until the last moment. Given Berube's usage of Hoffman this year, it could have been that Berube told Army he wasn't sure about him and wanted to see him in camp before a commitment was made. Or it could have been that Hoffman wanted to keep trying to reach a long-term deal with another team with the fallback of our 1 year offer on the table if he couldn't. We will probably never know, but this idea that it was cap manipulation is not the reality of what happened.

 

[joe galiba]

if you are honest and do things the right way it always pays off in the long run
it seems like people forget the whole Shanahan/Stevens fiasco's