Non-Minnesota NHL News XIV - Seattle Expansion(?)

[Wild11MN]

Hellebuyck just got paid big time... after one elite year.

 

[Bazeek]

Hellebuyck just got paid big time... after one elite year.

6 years would scare me more than the $6.1m, if I was a Jets fan. He was great last year, but goalies can be so erratic that giving any of them term can be scary.

 

[AKL]

6 years would scare me more than the $6.1m, if I was a Jets fan. He was great last year, but goalies can be so erratic that giving any of them term can be scary.

Well we gave Dubnyk 6 years after half of an elite season.

 

[Bazeek]

Well we gave Dubnyk 6 years after half of an elite season.

We did, and the modest cap hit is what makes me okay with it. And while I have no strong complaints about him I'm pretty 50/50 on 3 more years of Dubnyk.

Hellebuyck was still an RFA, wasn't he?

 

[Wild11MN]

Wow, the Hawks somehow get rid of another bad contract. They seem to do it every time without giving up the moon.

 

[BigT2002]

6 years would scare me more than the $6.1m, if I was a Jets fan. He was great last year, but goalies can be so erratic that giving any of them term can be scary.

I feel like we know from experience lol. Backstrom, Manny, maybe Dubnyk?

 

[Engebretson]

Fleury just got extended by Vegas for 3 years at $7mil AAV which will put him at 37 yo by the end of his contract.

I mean, I know Fleury did well last year, but that seems a little rich (although, Vegas has the cap space). Makes Dubnyk's deal seem very reasonable by comparison.

 

[Dee Oh Cee]

Holy smokes. That seems absolutely outrageous.

 

[Minnesnota]

Paying goalies more than 6m/yr is about the dumbest thing you can do.

 

[Wild11MN]

I don't know, they have the cap space for now and will be paying their backup pennies for a while most likely. I doubt it'll be a huge hindrance at only three years.

 

[HollaHaula]

Fleury was Vegas's best player this year. He was the reason they made it as far in the playoffs as they did. I have no problem with the AAV and am happy with the term being it's only 3 years. Goalie don't typically fall off like forwards anyways.

 

[2Pair]

Fleury was Vegas's best player this year. He was the reason they made it as far in the playoffs as they did. I have no problem with the AAV and am happy with the term being it's only 3 years. Goalie don't typically fall off like forwards anyways.

Would you have paid Fleury $7M per for his 3 seasons prior to this one?

 

[Dee Oh Cee]

There's no way in heck he has as good a season as he did this year in the next three. It's a jaw-droppingly bad deal.

 

[Wabit]

Fleury was Vegas's best player this year. He was the reason they made it as far in the playoffs as they did. I have no problem with the AAV and am happy with the term being it's only 3 years. Goalie don't typically fall off like forwards anyways.

Goalies falloff is usually more like flipping a switch than a gradual decline in abilities. They are good one year then bad the next.

The MAF contract is fair. I'd like it better if it was in the $5m-$6m range, but the term is good.

 

[HollaHaula]

Would you have paid Fleury $7M per for his 3 seasons prior to this one?

Fleury isn't some one year wonder. The guy has been a very good goaltender for quite a while and has always had insane talent. (He was a #1 pick for a reason.) Mental toughness was an issue for a few years earlier in this decade but, I'm not going to put that all on him. Pittsburgh didn't even employ a legitimate goalie coach until like the 2013-2014 season. After they hired a real goalie coach, Fleury's game improved and we didn't see the mental lapses like before. He was put into a backup role with the emergence of Matt Murray but, he did fill-in very well during the 2017 playoffs when Murray was injured.

Trust me, there's a lot worse goalie contracts out there. I'm less focused on the AAV and more on the term. That's why I like it.

 

[HollaHaula]

Goalies falloff is usually more like flipping a switch than a gradual decline in abilities. They are good one year then bad the next.

The MAF contract is fair. I'd like it better if it was in the $5m-$6m range, but the term is good.

Meh, you can usually see if a goalie is going to begin to fall off. It's harder to look for but, it's there. There will be parts of his game that deteriorate and you're like, "I don't remember him doing that before...?" And then it becomes even more noticeable the next season and actually affects the stats. I haven't seen that with Fleury, yet. I guess we'll see this year prior to when the extension kicks in.

Backstrom's fall off was pretty noticeable in the season before his extension. It just didn't show up much in the stats until the next season.

 

[Wabit]

Would you have paid Fleury $7M per for his 3 seasons prior to this one?

I'd give him a little bit of a pass for his last year in Pit; backup not a starter, lots of rumors about his future, it all seemed to wear on him throughout the season. They don't win the 2nd Cup without him in the Playoffs.

MAF really never got much Vezina love, being on a team Crosby/Malkin made it easy to overlook him.

Last 4 years combined stats: 202 starts, 116-60-26, .920 sv%, 2.42 GAA, 20 SO, 115 QS, 20 RBS. Those are right around Dub's stats in MN. $7m seems high, but the goalie market is barren for starters, and it gives the team stability for a few more years, it's still a new team in an nontraditional hockey market, so Vegas overpayed somewhat for these reasons, me thinks.

 

[Wild11MN]

a.) I can't believe this Karlsson trade hasn't happened yet.

b.) Anyone think there's a chance Chicago trades back for Panarin after clearing cap space?

 

[SupremeNachos]

a.) I can't believe this Karlsson trade hasn't happened yet.

b.) Anyone think there's a chance Chicago trades back for Panarin after clearing cap space?

I wonder if they did that to shore up their D depth. Losing NikJ hurt more than they thought and Keith is starting to slow down a lot the past few years.

 

[Wabit]

a.) I can't believe this Karlsson trade hasn't happened yet.

b.) Anyone think there's a chance Chicago trades back for Panarin after clearing cap space?

a. I can after the Duchene drama last season.

b. It's more of a procedural move than freeing any real cap space. Hossa was going to be on LTIR, so they could have written off his whole contract. AZ is paying less real money or Hossa than they were for Kruger. I don't think they have the ammo to really go after Panarin, unless CBJ is willing to take just picks as the return.

Chi really is in a bind. ~$9m in free cap, ~$2m in potential bonuses, 17 players on the NHL roster, and 47 contracts (only 1 can slide), and a weak prospect pool. Kane + Crawford (if he returns to form) still give them a chance every night though.

 

[nickschultzfan]

Wow, the Hawks somehow get rid of another bad contract. They seem to do it every time without giving up the moon.

They still have Toews, Seabrook, and Keith, depending on your assessment of his play as of late. Not to mention Kane in a couple of years.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Oh wow, Ray Emery has died.

 

[Wild11MN]

I wonder if they did that to shore up their D depth. Losing NikJ hurt more than they thought and Keith is starting to slow down a lot the past few years.

I thought I heard they were interested in Faulk. They could definitely use a bit of defensive help, with Seabrook already regressing. That's a baaaad contract.

a. I can after the Duchene drama last season.

b. It's more of a procedural move than freeing any real cap space. Hossa was going to be on LTIR, so they could have written off his whole contract. AZ is paying less real money or Hossa than they were for Kruger. I don't think they have the ammo to really go after Panarin, unless CBJ is willing to take just picks as the return.

Chi really is in a bind. ~$9m in free cap, ~$2m in potential bonuses, 17 players on the NHL roster, and 47 contracts (only 1 can slide), and a weak prospect pool. Kane + Crawford (if he returns to form) still give them a chance every night though.

True, forgot about Duchene last year. They definitely needed to do it for the flexibility if nothing else, but I feel like they'll make one more big splash if they can with Toews and Kane still playing at a high level. Maybe not $10.5 million level, but still. They really need Crawford back - he's always been underrated in my opinion.

They still have Toews, Seabrook, and Keith, depending on your assessment of his play as of late. Not to mention Kane in a couple of years.

Yeah, but they've rid themselves of quite a few in the past. Seabrook and Toews will look terrible pretty soon, if not already.

 

[Wabit]

This Trouba/Jets arbitration thing is really interesting to me. I could care less about the player or the team, it's more the whole process of the arbitration. Not getting a deal done before the hearing is very uncommon, and with it looking like it might (~2 hrs away) come down to the arbitrators decision is almost on unicorn level.

 

[Wild11MN]

This Trouba/Jets arbitration thing is really interesting to me. I could care less about the player or the team, it's more the whole process of the arbitration. Not getting a deal done before the hearing is very uncommon, and with it looking like it might (~2 hrs away) come down to the arbitrators decision is almost on unicorn level.

I didn't think it was super rare. I think the bigger deal is that it's an actual "star" player that might have to go to arbitration. When was the last time a player of Trouba's caliber went to arbitration? I have no idea, so maybe I'm wrong on that.

I don't know that Trouba is really a "star", but big-name player is what I'm getting at.