League News: NHL Talk - (News n' Scores n' Stuff) - 2020 Bubble Hockey Edition - Vol. 9

[Barry Amsterdam]

Pens setting themselves up perfectly to tank for Wright/Bedard and Michkov

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

40+ years listening to and watching the Caps and last night’s game was the first Finals game that I have ever watched that didnt involve the Caps. In the past, when the Caps season was over, then I was ‘done’ with hockey until the next season started... but I must say that I enjoyed last night’s game and outcome.

that’s pretty crazy...

 

[Calicaps]

Oof... Another ugly start for Dallas. Also, SCF without fans is snooze-worthy.

 

[Corby78]

TBs stars have come to play tonight

 

[marcel snapshot]

My in depth assessment of the analytics is that Shattenkirk has done a bunch of good stuff throughout these playoffs. It’s not on a Hedman level obviously, but the guy has been really useful for the Bolts

 

[RandyHolt]

Lets go North Stars

Go home Tamponians.

 

[AtNightWeFly]

I'm actually glad Caps are not in this because then I would be forced to watch. Coronavirus ruined sports.

 

[um]

I'm actually glad Caps are not in this because then I would be forced to watch. Coronavirus ruined sports.

Its the exact same experience for me. Crowd noise is overrated.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

I may be in the minority but I'd take Shattenkirk back. Think he could be really effective under Lavi and I think it was Trotz's deployment of him and partner assignments that held him back when he was here. He'll probably be too expensive for us and I doubt he'd want to come back but we're definitely lacking his skill set on the blueline and RD is a big need.

 

[hb12xchamps]

I may be in the minority but I'd take Shattenkirk back. Think he could be really effective under Lavi and I think it was Trotz's deployment of him and partner assignments that held him back when he was here. He'll probably be too expensive for us and I doubt he'd want to come back but we're definitely lacking his skill set on the blueline and RD is a big need.

I don't see why he wouldn't want to come back. Trotz and co are gone so he doesn't have to worry about shitty deployments and like you said Lavi would use him to his strengths. He'd slot in nicely on PP2, which he's doing currently in TB. I don't know that he'd be looking for a ton of money since he still should be getting payments from the Rangers. Maybe he takes a Kempny like deal where moving Kempny out is essentially a trade?

 

[Ridley Simon]

I don't see why he wouldn't want to come back. Trotz and co are gone so he doesn't have to worry about shitty deployments and like you said Lavi would use him to his strengths. He'd slot in nicely on PP2, which he's doing currently in TB. I don't know that he'd be looking for a ton of money since he still should be getting payments from the Rangers. Maybe he takes a Kempny like deal where moving Kempny out is essentially a trade?

If they resign Dillon, I cannot see where Shatty would fit in. He’s going to want 4m a year minimum, I’d wager

 

[Hivemind]

I may be in the minority but I'd take Shattenkirk back. Think he could be really effective under Lavi and I think it was Trotz's deployment of him and partner assignments that held him back when he was here. He'll probably be too expensive for us and I doubt he'd want to come back but we're definitely lacking his skill set on the blueline and RD is a big need.

My fear with this is that it leaves Jensen as the only real RD option to put on the shutdown pairing. If he regresses or is inconsistent, it could get ugly.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

If they resign Dillon, I cannot see where Shatty would fit in. He’s going to want 4m a year minimum, I’d wager

Shatty is better then Dillion imo

 

[caps4cup]

Penguins trade Hornqvist for Matheson and Seviour. No picks. No salary retained. Pittsburgh actually loses cap space

Some fans were trying to talk themselves into the idea they would be adding Johnson to the deal yesterday while getting back Connolly.

 

[895]

I don't think this deal is as bad as people are making it out to be. Hornqvist is trending down fast and Matheson has room to improve. It's definitely a huge gamble from JR but I have a feeling people will look back at this trade as a win for JR.

 

[Melkor]

Hornqvist's decline is true. What's also true it's that Matheson hasn't lived up to his contract. Like at all. These teams just swapping their piles of garbage. No big deal really.

 

[um]

I may be in the minority but I'd take Shattenkirk back. Think he could be really effective under Lavi and I think it was Trotz's deployment of him and partner assignments that held him back when he was here. He'll probably be too expensive for us and I doubt he'd want to come back but we're definitely lacking his skill set on the blueline and RD is a big need.

If we bring in Shattenkirk than I’d think we’d need a more defensive partner for Carlson. I’d be happy going with Dillon and Shattenkirk for around 7 million combined while moving Kempny.

Dillon-Carlson
Orlov-Shattenkirk
Siegenthaler-Jensen
Fehervary

 

[Corby78]

I don't think this deal is as bad as people are making it out to be. Hornqvist is trending down fast and Matheson has room to improve. It's definitely a huge gamble from JR but I have a feeling people will look back at this trade as a win for JR.

but the horny deal will be done well before the Matheson deal. I would rather take a swing of three years with Horny than 6 with Matheson

 

[Kalopsia]

Hornqvist's decline is true. What's also true it's that Matheson hasn't lived up to his contract. Like at all. These teams just swapping their piles of garbage. No big deal really.

Hornqvist had 17 goals last year, he’s still a decent middle six forward. Matheson was so bad at D last year that the Panthers tried him at forward, and he’s got 6 more years at nearly 4.9M. Maybe Matheson has a better chance of rebounding just cause he’s younger, but he’s currently a much worse player and much more likely to be an absolute albatross of a contract.

 

[Marshall]

I like Dillon's game, but he seems like the kind of D that their game can fall off a cliff. I'd be willing to pay more AAV for a shorter contract. Anything over $4mil/year would give me pause, though.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I like Dillon's game, but he seems like the kind of D that their game can fall off a cliff. I'd be willing to pay more AAV for a shorter contract. Anything over $4mil/year would give me pause, though.

yep, that’s been my pass mark from the get go.

 

[Langway]

Hornqvist's decline is true. What's also true it's that Matheson hasn't lived up to his contract. Like at all. These teams just swapping their piles of garbage. No big deal really.

Except PIT picks up six years on Matheson to Hornqvist's three. They'll just deal with it later--like everything else--but it's a real gamble and one that just further complicates their blueline situation. Is this the partner for Marino? Are they moving Pettersson? Or is this the off-side partner for Johnson? Even if they move out Pettersson that's still a costly mess.

After Schultz maybe they think they can fix anyone with some skill for a time. But on a team without much defensive stability they've swapped a one questionable fit up front for a pricey risk on D. Tough to make sense of it. Rutherford has other moves in him and they've got some cap space but it still looks like a Frankenroster and one likely further hampered long-term.

 

[Kalopsia]

yep, that’s been my pass mark from the get go.

In TEB's article he mentioned the projection from Evolving-Hockey was 4 years at 3.73M, but replied to a comment saying he's heard that was a bit high and the expectation was more like 3.5M. That's pretty palatable, I think.

 

[Kuznetsnow]

Hornqvist had 17 goals last year, he’s still a decent middle six forward. Matheson was so bad at D last year that the Panthers tried him at forward, and he’s got 6 more years at nearly 4.9M. Maybe Matheson has a better chance of rebounding just cause he’s younger, but he’s currently a much worse player and much more likely to be an absolute albatross of a contract.

Sounds like Niskanen, Daley, Schultz and every other skating defenseman Pittsburgh ever bought low on minus JJ (who was signed as a ty to Crosby). Also they have Reirden back coaching their D. All they need to do is put Matheson in a position to hit the neutral zone with speed or trail on plays and he can put up stupid numbers

 

[caps4cup]

Sounds like Niskanen, Daley, Schultz and every other skating defenseman Pittsburgh ever bought low on minus JJ (who was signed as a ty to Crosby). Also they have Reirden back coaching their D. All they need to do is put Matheson in a position to hit the neutral zone with speed or trail on plays and he can put up stupid numbers

Which one of those defensemen was so bad on one of the worst defensive teams in the league, that he was moved to forward even with 6 years left on his contract at nearly 5mil per year?

Matheson in a vacuum might not be that bad himself. But his contract is terrible, one of the worst in the league. They already have Johnson on an awful contract as well. So pretty much they trade an identity player, who is still very effective (albeit on the decline) for a 3rd pairing defensemen with one of the worst contracts in the league and an average 3rd/4th liner. Not only did they trade easily the best player in the deal and receive a god awful contract back, but they even lost cap space as a result of the trade when they are in desperate need of more as they’re reportedly not spending to the cap this year. On top of that, there’s a chance they trade Petterson or Dumoulin (their Athletic beat writer brought this possibility up), two LD’s that are much better players and on much better and cheaper contracts than Matheson. Pretty much, if they don’t trade Johnson, which I don’t see how they could without attaching a substantial asset, they significantly downgrade on D and significantly downgrade at forward, while taking on one of the worst contracts in the game and not gaining any cap space. Obviously, they could get a decent return if they trade Dumoulin/Petterson, but even then they don’t seem to have much wiggle room if they aren’t spending to the cap so I’m not sure how they acquire a player of similar impact.

The whole thing just seems like making a trade to make a trade. They need more guys like Hornqvist. And they could’ve done much better with the 6.5m in cap space than Matheson and Sceviour. Even if they just traded Hornqvist for a lesser, cheaper middle 6 forward, they would have been able to sign a much better defensemen with the remaining savings in the FA market than Matheson. I mean, that team is in serious trouble defensively if one of Matheson/Johnson are out there for nearly 40 minutes a game. They obviously have more moves to make, but I don’t think that’s a good thing considering the moves Rutherford has made since they won the Cup in 2017. Guess we’ll have to see, but right now their offseason moves look terrible.