League News: NHL Talk - (News n' Scores n' Stuff) Vol. 5

[AlexBrovechkin8]

What on earth are the Flyers doing? 2nd and 3rd to give San Jose full cap relief

Acquiring veteran defensemen with cap hits that expire in the next 1-2 years to help add a little maturity to their blue line. I don't hate the strategy for the Flyers but they seem to be getting guys on the downswing of their careers. If Niskanen bounces back and Braun steps up a bit they'll have a formidable blue line.

They've been involved in transactions for three separate defensemen and I think they gave up the one who had the best season in 2018-19. Two years ago the ranking order would have been pretty easily Niskanen > Braun > Gudas but that wasn't the case last season and who knows what next season looks like.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

What on earth are the Flyers doing? 2nd and 3rd to give San Jose full cap relief

You don’t see it as an upgrade for them? Past the 2nd round it’s a crap shoot.

 

[895]

Justin Braun was really good and the underrated partner of the Vlasic-Braun pairing for years.

He's been bad for two years now. San Jose gets more out of this trade than Philly does.

 

[hb12xchamps]

You don’t see it as an upgrade for them? Past the 2nd round it’s a crap shoot.

An adequate GM would have saw the situation San Jose is in and taken advantage of that. They have to sign a plethora of guys after giving Karlsson 11.5 million per year and they were backed in a corner. They didn’t retain any of Braun’s salary and received two draft picks in the process. That’s a good haul for them

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

An adequate GM would have saw the situation San Jose is in and taken advantage of that. They have to sign a plethora of guys after giving Karlsson 11.5 million per year and they were backed in a corner. They didn’t retain any of Braun’s salary and received two draft picks in the process. That’s a good haul for them

Seems like Fletcher is less concerned with playing hardball and more concerned with getting the guys he wants, even if it means not getting a great deal or leaving assets on the table. He retained on Gudas to get Niskanen even though Washington was in a bind and he sent two fairly high draft picks to San Jose for Braun when San Jose was also in a bind. I would posit that he feels a sense of urgency to improve his team and since they have a surplus of cap space he's less concerned with the finer details of the transactions and more interested in just getting the deals done.

 

[Raikkonen]

GMBM sent some picks for Eller, Jensen and Kempny too. Why worry?

 

[Hivemind]

What on earth are the Flyers doing? 2nd and 3rd to give San Jose full cap relief

RD is the thinner side of their defense (Ghost shoots left but has played RD for much of his time there), but this seems questionable when they have Myers pushing for an NHL opportunity. It made sense for them to pursue a legitimate top 4 or top 2 RHD like Trouba, but I guess Fletcher views Niskanen as that D and wants Braun as 3RD. Still seems like a hilarious fallback plan on losing out on Trouba to the NYR.

 

[Hivemind]

An adequate GM would have saw the situation San Jose is in and taken advantage of that. They have to sign a plethora of guys after giving Karlsson 11.5 million per year and they were backed in a corner. They didn’t retain any of Braun’s salary and received two draft picks in the process. That’s a good haul for them

This feels like the MoJo trade in a lot of ways, except MoJo was coming off the best season of his career while Braun, well, definitely is not.

 

[Silky mitts]

The Bruins also threw a big party congratulating themselves on their season. So basically a gigantic “We’re losers” party with an appearance from a shirtless rat

Found that second wind after getting off the ice for the Cup winning goal

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Justin Braun was really good and the underrated partner of the Vlasic-Braun pairing for years.

He's been bad for two years now. San Jose gets more out of this trade than Philly does.

Bad like not an upgrade over what Philly had previously? Not unusual for a change of scenery to be a positive.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Seems like Fletcher is less concerned with playing hardball and more concerned with getting the guys he wants, even if it means not getting a great deal or leaving assets on the table. He retained on Gudas to get Niskanen even though Washington was in a bind and he sent two fairly high draft picks to San Jose for Braun when San Jose was also in a bind. I would posit that he feels a sense of urgency to improve his team and since they have a surplus of cap space he's less concerned with the finer details of the transactions and more interested in just getting the deals done.

Fair analysis IMO. He appears to be going hard for his targets. Not hard to see they need some strong vets in the room.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

An adequate GM would have saw the situation San Jose is in and taken advantage of that. They have to sign a plethora of guys after giving Karlsson 11.5 million per year and they were backed in a corner. They didn’t retain any of Braun’s salary and received two draft picks in the process. That’s a good haul for them

And if Braun has a positive impact the price will be a crapshoot.

You don’t always have the luxury of “taking advantage” of the other side. Probably some other takers looking at the same players everyone else is in the NHL.

 

[Sam Spade]

Chris Clark and Mike Eaves fill empty positions of AHL Cleveland Monsters

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

Good for Chris Clark. Always liked that guy.

 

[Langway]

Take my money. Take my money. Take my mooooooooonnnneyyyyy.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Woof.

 

[Marshall]

The Hayes contract...that's just crazy.

As a Caps fan, I love it.

 

[SpinningEdge]

Bring back Williams? He just came out saying he’s unsure if he’ll retire, play with Canes, or play elsewhere.... why not?

 

[Ridley Simon]

He was in Sullivan's dog house from some of the comments I had seen, he must now be in Rutherford's as well. They just need to get his 8 team trade list and go from there and not worry about the return as long as it has very little cap coming back. Still I'm enjoying this and nothing would please me more then to see him in a Pens uniform on opening night.

What’s Kessel’s cap hit for the Pens?

 

[Hivemind]

Someone should tell Chuck Fletcher there's no prize for spending all your cap space first.

 

[trick9]

Flyers are screwed for all eternity.

Got to love free agency. Especially when the Capitals don't have any cap space to spend.

 

[Raikkonen]

Bura at limited term and 3,25 soon will become cheap enough ffs

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Flyers are screwed for all eternity.

Got to love free agency. Especially when the Capitals don't have any cap space to spend.

The one time in recent memory they splurged in free agency brought them Niskanen and Orpik which brought them a Cup. One of the nice things about building your team through the draft, and why it’s so important, is you use free agency and trades to complete your roster, not build it.

 

[hb12xchamps]

$7 million for Kevin Hayes is absolutely bonkers. Makes Kuznetsov’s contract look like an absolute steal

 

[third man in]

I thought Hextall was doing a nice job for them rebuilding. Seemed like he had a plan. Then boom Holmgren 2.0 lol