OEL 3.0 - Move Me Or Keep Me (Upd: You're Stuck With Me}

[Jakey53]

Waive Raanta. Sign Clifford and Richardson. Fire Tocchet and Housley. Hire MVR.

Good enough.

It's easy to say you want someone, but if the player's want is more than he is worth you can't sign him, and what I hear, Clifford want $3 mil/ year. There is no way I waive Raanta, and if they fire RT I'm offering your services to drive RT to the airport, that way YOU can tell him what a meat head he is. The posters on this board will make sure your wife and kids are taken care of.

 

[rt]

Too many chuckleheads + quiet leaders plus no leadership from coaching is how you get the Coyotes.

One of those is really fixable.

Exactly!

 

[rt]

Most of the prominent chuckle heads disappear at the deadline or the offseason. The coach should be removed immediately.

Yes!!

 

[crazyhockeylover96]

He doesn't deserve the C, but this is the absolute worst time to try to strip it. People must be bored.
This is when BA needs to step in and try to pump his tires a bit. No use deflating him when he's hitched himself to you and you can't get him off.
Go give him the "It was just business. We believe in you. We think you're a Norris dman. You mean a lot to the org, and we appreciate everything you've done over the years. We're going to turn this team around, and you're going to be part of it. Let me try to make you happy, and get you a Norris. I need to know you're all in with me"- speech.
And if it means playing peacemaker with Tocc or canning him in order to get the most out of Ollie, that's his freaking job. He's the general manager.

Another option would be to give the “I want you to focus on you. You be the best you, you can be. Let someone else handle the other details. You will still have a voice but you don’t have to be THE voice. Blah blah rah rah yatta yatta.”

 

[rt]

Another option would be to give the “I want you to focus on you. You be the best you, you can be. Let someone else handle the other details. You will still have a voice but you don’t have to be THE voice. Blah blah rah rah yatta yatta.”

That’s the only way. Problem is that we have ZERO qualified candidates. Unless you want to force it onto Hjalmarsson for a year, just to buy time. It would be against his will, though, and he and OEL are friends, so they talk.

Unless you want to go the Luongo route and paint a “C” on Darcy’s mask. But that’s also awkward because there’s no way he gets a contract extension here. Let someone else do a 7x7 boat anchor. I’m not interested.

 

[RemoAZ]

Just go with A's until Matthews gets here

 

[hbk]

That’s the only way. Problem is that we have ZERO qualified candidates. Unless you want to force it onto Hjalmarsson for a year, just to buy time. It would be against his will, though, and he and OEL are friends, so they talk.

Unless you want to go the Luongo route and paint a “C” on Darcy’s mask. But that’s also awkward because there’s no way he gets a contract extension here. Let someone else do a 7x7 boat anchor. I’m not interested.

Google Image Result for https://static.simpsonswiki.com/images/e/ed/Duffman.png

 

[rt]

Google Image Result for https://static.simpsonswiki.com/images/e/ed/Duffman.png

Yeah right. As though we didn’t already have a big enough Laissez-faire leadership problem. Letting Stepan be the captain is like asking a 4 year old to babysit a 3 year old. Lol.

 

[rt]

Just go with A's until Matthews gets here

But you can’t pull the “focus on yourself” BS if you don’t name another captain. Which was my only point.

 

[_Del_]

There are probably a lot of captains in the league today who got the C by being the best player, not the best leader. He just needs to get his head straight, and lead by example on effort and engagement. I don't care if he never says a word to his teammates.
That's not what I personally would want from a guy wearing the C, but it's what we've got. He has to stop moping though.
If he wants to stay, he needs to recognize he needs to be part of the solution. If he can be, that's very tolerable.

 

[CLW]

Yeah, but OEL isn't the only one. Keller should look like Aho out there, steel spring physique and great both ways but he doesn't. New coaches, new development coaches, new culture needed. As GMBA well knows. Just can't do everything at once.

 

[87turbobuick]

There are probably a lot of captains in the league today who got the C by being the best player, not the best leader. He just needs to get his head straight, and lead by example on effort and engagement. I don't care if he never says a word to his teammates.
That's not what I personally would want from a guy wearing the C, but it's what we've got. He has to stop moping though.
If he wants to stay, he needs to recognize he needs to be part of the solution. If he can be, that's very tolerable.

In my day the captain used to be voted on by the players, now management screws up the pick. Who picked OEL, Chayka?

 

[WrinkledPossum]

OEL as captain made sense when the decision was made. There was no one else close to his level. He's also the longest serving player here, and Doan always said he was future captain material.

For this season, I'd take the A off of Stepan and give it to Chychrun. See how 21-22 goes after the older guys are all gone and we have a more impressionable group of young players. If OEL can't lead them, then give the C to Chychrun.

Also, fire Tocchet. That might be the fix needed to solve all of problems.

 

[TheLegend]

Apparently this was the ask to Boston.....

 

[GhostofTommyBolin]

The NHL should allow teams to restructure contracts.

No, they shouldn't.

 

[GhostofTommyBolin]

They are after Barrie now. Barrie at 7 x 6.5 incoming.

Barrie went to Edmonton. Started with McKinnon, moved to Mathews, Tavares, and Marner, now on to McDavid and Draisaitl.

 

[Jakey53]

There are probably a lot of captains in the league today who got the C by being the best player, not the best leader. He just needs to get his head straight, and lead by example on effort and engagement. I don't care if he never says a word to his teammates.
That's not what I personally would want from a guy wearing the C, but it's what we've got. He has to stop moping though.
If he wants to stay, he needs to recognize he needs to be part of the solution. If he can be, that's very tolerable.

OEL may have had a "little attitude problem" when he was named C, but maybe this trade talk has humbled him a bit and he comes back determined to show that he still has it. I believe his biggest problem was he tried to do to much and lost his focus. I think a good sit down with Doaner and BA can get our C back on track.

 

[Jakey53]

OEL as captain made sense when the decision was made. There was no one else close to his level. He's also the longest serving player here, and Doan always said he was future captain material.

For this season, I'd take the A off of Stepan and give it to Chychrun. See how 21-22 goes after the older guys are all gone and we have a more impressionable group of young players. If OEL can't lead them, then give the C to Chychrun.

Also, fire Tocchet. That might be the fix needed to solve all of problems.

I agree. OEL had to be embarrassed somewhat by this trade talk, and taking the A from Stepan might get him back to where he was a couple of years ago. He was more worried about his Bud Light and his smart ass remarks than playing sound hockey. None of this will matter though if we don't have a coach to get us to that next level.

 

[wintersej]

Apparently this was the ask to Boston.....

Your posters were more willing to play ball than Armstrong. Of course Boston was saying no on Studnicka. On the one hand, good for Armstrong for having a pair...on the other hand when hfboards fans understand other teams situations more than their GM that’s concerning.

 

[_Del_]

Your posters were more willing to play ball than Armstrong. Of course Boston was saying no on Studnicka. On the one hand, good for Armstrong for having a pair...on the other hand when hfboards fans understand other teams situations more than their GM that’s concerning.

It pretty fairly seems to indicate there was no urgency to moving OEL, though. They were looking for full retail in a horse for pony trade. They weren't moving him because they felt they had to move him. Fans were prepared to move him for less because we wanted to restock the pool, turn the page on the lockerroom culture, and get financial flexibility moving the contract. Ownership/management apparently pegged his value even higher than Coyotes fans, and we had it pretty high. They had goals and they weren't going to move him unless someone offered a deal that met those goals.

That's actually less concerning to me, because A) I trust Armstrong's talent evaluation more than my own, and his history as a scouting director should cement that for you, too, and B) Fans were more concerned about the apparent rift between RT and OEL than Armstrong is, and C) Ownership is willing to pay OEL the big bucks if the team isn't getting the asset evaluation they desire.

All that paints a less concerning picture to me than a GM that settled on a terrible trade return for their franchise player because of financial pressure or because of a rift with the coach.

 

[CLW]

Your posters were more willing to play ball than Armstrong. Of course Boston was saying no on Studnicka. On the one hand, good for Armstrong for having a pair...on the other hand when hfboards fans understand other teams situations more than their GM that’s concerning.

It seems clear Armstrong is more concerned about immediate help. Asking for the most NHL ready prospects (Studnicka, Demko) means he is more concerned about keeping a somewhat competitive team going forward than going into a full tear it down build it up rebuild.

I don't think it was an outrageous ask for a #1D as such, just clearly not workable for Boston or Vancouver. Asking other teams to work the OEL contract into their cap situation plus creating holes on the roster/pipeline at sensitive places just doesn't make much sense.

Edit: Then again, it's not his job to worry about other team's problems.

 

[rt]

Sign Clifford to a 3yr 5m contract. Then trade Goligoski and Fischer for Blais and Bortuzzo. Then trade Raanta for a 6th rounder.

Keller-Dvorak-Garland
Crouse-Stepan-Schmaltz
Blais- J. Larsson-Pitlick
Clifford-Hayton-Kessel
Hayden

OEL-Demers
Chychrun-Hjammer
Oesterle-Bortuzzo
Lyubushkin

Kuemper
Hill.

 

[_Del_]

Neither Boston's problems or Vancouver's were Armstrong's problem. Especially Vancouver's.

Boston has a ton of flexibility (that they haven't been able to use, ... yet), so I don't think it was a particularly crazy ask for the best defenseman available outside of AP. But I don't necessarily blame Boston for waiting it out and seeing what is out there. Hall or AP aren't fantasyland adds for them. It's entirely possible to add Hall and deal DeBrusk for a defenseman or add Pietrangelo and deal Carlo for a forward, instead of tying up that flexibility in OEL and dishing out assets on top. But they also had a chance with free agency to find a bandaid solution for forward depth, even if Studnicka was dealt.
It's probably why Armstrong was frustrated by the agent "deadline". Sweeney probably said something like, "You know that's not completely crazy, but let's revisit a stronger offer after free agency dust settles. For now, this is the best we can do", and Armstrong liked Studnicka better than anything else on the table, so he was prepared to wait.

For Vancouver, their cap problems and terrible contracts aren't the Coyotes problem. They also have a near-zero chance for AP, and I'm sure Benning is aware of it. They could have put a franchise player into their D core and turned their lack of depth into a position of strength there with Hughes and OEL on different pairings. A deal also would have cleared out one of their bad contracts. It's not crazy to ask for their best magic bean, and I find the fans' adamant refusal was a bit weird considering their situation. I think they were brainwashed by a media/twitter echo chamber that the Coyotes had to move OEL for whatever Benning would offer, and some sort of bizarre PTSD from the Kesler situation and a belief it was their chance to exact "revenge" on someone. "It's our turn now!" The situations were completely different. And dealing with a potential cap squeeze in four years if OEL takes a turn for the worse, is a hell of a lot more attractive than whatever they are facing today.

But everyone looks more or less happy with how it turned out (except probably Benning).

 

[Mosby]

So Boston lost Krug and Vancouver lost Tanev and Stetcher. Neither has added D. What are their plans here?

 

[Mosby]

Sign Clifford to a 3yr 5m contract. Then trade Goligoski and Fischer for Blais and Bortuzzo. Then trade Raanta for a 6th rounder.

Keller-Dvorak-Garland
Crouse-Stepan-Schmaltz
Blais- J. Larsson-Pitlick
Clifford-Hayton-Kessel
Hayden

OEL-Demers
Chychrun-Hjammer
Oesterle-Bortuzzo
Lyubushkin

Kuemper
Hill.

Two days into UFA and Clifford is unsigned. I don't see any reason to give him term. Two years is fine.

If we're making a deal with STL I'd see what they want to do with Vince Dunn.