Speculation: Offseason Free Agency thread

[Skip Bayless]

Yeah Wyshynski is an absolute tool when it comes to Canada. He just likes to get on the nerve of Canadian fans. He spews similar nonsense at the international level, such as this recent doozy putting down the Canadian women’s soccer gold medal:



He seems to think he can be some type of Skip Bayless by being a dick, but no one really cares about hockey in the US for him to gain any traction.

He's doing it wrong.

 

[Le Tricolore]

The writer of the article Wishnewski notoriously hates the habs, would put too much stock into the ranking, it's a B anyway

What was interesting tho is how he picked apart the other franchises too and like I've been saying all along, bring on these penguins and capitals and flyers and whatnot, the East is WIDE open this year

He doesn't hate the Habs. He just thinks that Hab fans are among the most ridiculous fans on social media. Which I agree with 100%.

 

[Gael]

He's doing it wrong.

Tell him Skip

 

[le_sean]

He doesn't hate the Habs. He just thinks that Hab fans are among the most ridiculous fans on social media. Which I agree with 100%.

Wyshynski: Ten reasons to root for the Montreal Canadiens, I guess

The Montreal Canadiens are eight wins away from capturing the Stanley Cup. One Canadian team was going to make it out of the North Division playoffs. No one expected it would be them. Some of us are a little bummed about it, including me.

I've been accused of having some kind of bias against the Canadiens, which simply ... well, it's kind of true.

He’s a tool and he embraces it

 

[donghabs98]

Yeah Wyshynski is an absolute tool when it comes to Canada. He just likes to get on the nerve of Canadian fans. He spews similar nonsense at the international level, such as this recent doozy putting down the Canadian women’s soccer gold medal:



He seems to think he can be some type of Skip Bayless by being a dick, but no one really cares about hockey in the US for him to gain any traction.

His takes during the Habs run were Steve Simmons level.

 

[Captain Mountain]

Why are you only referencing last year? Why are you ignoring the 14 5v5 goals the year previous in 69 games? Or the 15 before?

Is this a team that needed more 5v5 scoring? Or is this a team that had trouble getting a shot on net when on the PP?

I don't think I'd bet on a guy turning 32 to improve dramatically, but even accounting for the last 3 seasons, he's not a major scorer at 5 on 5. His 5v5 scoring rate over that period is in the Tatar-Byron-Lehkonen range.

And I'm pretty sure I said the Hoffman was elite on the PP. That wasn't what you took issue with.

My point was that there's a reason Hoffman's contract is seen like an overpay relative to a Gallagher.

This "NEVER scores 5on5" stuff you keep chirping is reeeeeaaaally puzzling?

That's a really strange way to interpret what I'm saying.

 

[le_sean]

I don't think I'd bet on a guy turning 32 to improve dramatically, but even accounting for the last 3 seasons, he's not a major scorer at 5 on 5. His 5v5 scoring rate over that period is in the Tatar-Byron-Lehkonen range.

And I'm pretty sure I said the Hoffman was elite on the PP. That wasn't what you took issue with.

My point was that there's a reason Hoffman's contract is seen like an overpay relative to a Gallagher

You literally said “he doesn’t produce 5v5” while only referencing a single year in his career (on a mediocre Blues team). You ignored the 14, 15, 11, 13, 17, 22 goal seasons 5v5. I’d say that’s production.

 

[Captain Mountain]

You literally said “he doesn’t produce 5v5” while only referencing a single year in his career (on a mediocre Blues team). You ignored the 14, 15, 11, 13, 17, 22 goal seasons 5v5. I’d say that’s production.

Again, he scores at 5v5 at a similar rate to Byron and Lehkonen over the last few seasons. And sets up less than them. Are they guys that "produce 5v5"? And I'm sorry, but going back 5-6 years is just not something that you can count on going forward for a guy in his 30s. Be realistic.

 

[CHfan1]

I'm not surprised at the grade. It is hard to have a good offseason when you lose your #1 defenseman. Losing Danault hurts in the short run but his contract would have hindered future offseasons. My hope is that we are able to find a short gap gap at center since we are really lacking a middle 6 veteran center.

I’m not surprised either but wouldn’t put too much stock into Wyshynski‘s grades. He gave A’s to Philly, NJ, and Chicago. He also gave a B+ to Edmonton.

I thought Philly overpaid on the Ristolainen trade and we’ll see how the Ellis trade works out for them.

I thought Chicago did a good job on the Keith trade and getting Fleury for nothing, but I thought they gave up too much for Jones and overpaid him. I’m not sure that contract will be great for 8 years (and it doesn’t kick in till next season).

NJ got the best UFA in Hamilton, but they definitely paid a lot to get him.

I thought the Oilers paid too much to Hyman and Nurse. They still have a big question mark in goal. I think Holland is going to leave a mess for the next GM (like Chiarelli did).

 

[le_sean]

Again, he scores at 5v5 at a similar rate to Byron and Lehkonen over the last few seasons. And sets up less than them. Are they guys that "produce 5v5"? And I'm sorry, but going back 5-6 years is just not something that you can count on going forward for a guy in his 30s. Be realistic.

Why are you pointing specifically at his 5v5 scoring to try and say it’s a bad contract? I really don’t understand what you’re going for. He scores better 5v5 than Armia. Only makes $1m more. Are you going to call out Armia’s extension too?

No you won’t. You’ll say “well Armia provides defence and penalty killing” which serves your argument. Let’s ignore PP points for some reason.

Hoffman scored 29 goals a year ago. 35 the year before that. I’m sure he’s falling off a cliff all of a sudden.

 

[JoelWarlord]

C- is a reasonable grade in terms of the quality of players brought in, but it's a weird grade given his contrarianism all playoffs was about the Habs being a fluke lucky team that didn't belong in the final. If that's true it seems odd to mark the team down for implicitly agreeing that they can't replicate it, and taking a sober look at the roster and deciding to take a deliberate step back this year.

What they did is bad if you look at it as trying to replace Weber/Danault/Tatar/Perry, but I think anyone with a brain recognizes they don't have playoff aspirations this year and the signings they made were meant to be cheaper stopgaps to insulate prospects and shift to a new core built around the young players.

 

[Captain Mountain]

Why are you pointing specifically at his 5v5 scoring to try and say it’s a bad contract? I really don’t understand what you’re going for. He scores better 5v5 than Armia. Only makes $1m more. Are you going to call out Armia’s extension too?

No you won’t. You’ll say “well Armia provides defence and penalty killing” which serves your argument. Let’s ignore PP points for some reason.

Hoffman scored 29 goals a year ago. 35 the year before that. I’m sure he’s falling off a cliff all of a sudden.

Ok, lets get a few things straight here:

1) I was talking about his contract being bad relative to Gallagher's. In reference to an Athletic article I didn't write. I actually don't hate Hoffman's contract (as I've said elsewhere on here), but I think he's overpaid for what he brings. And that's not really hot take either.

2) I was talking about 5v5 production, not scoring. You were talking about scoring and was expanding on/challenging your comments.

3) I wasn't bringing up anything more complicated than that because I didn't want to get into the whole "advanced stat" debate, because it would derail things even more. I could say that Hoffman has a long history of getting outchanced and outscored when he's on the ice relative to competition.

4) If you want to argue against yourself, then do it. But don't put words in my mouth. For the record, I'm not going to argue that Armia's contract is good, just less bad than Hoffman's. For a few reasons:

a) He's got a similar effect on the PK that Hoffman has on the PP.
b) He's younger.
c) He's cheaper.

 

[HuGo Sham]

Yeah Wyshynski is an absolute tool when it comes to Canada. He just likes to get on the nerve of Canadian fans. He spews similar nonsense at the international level, such as this recent doozy putting down the Canadian women’s soccer gold medal:



He seems to think he can be some type of Skip Bayless by being a dick, but no one really cares about hockey in the US for him to gain any traction.

he's a f***ing idiot, and unreadable when it came to anything related to the habs Stanley cup run. Like a real, a sanctimonious dickhead. picked leafs, jets and vegas in 4 over habs each time. he's insufferable. never read this idiot

 

[OB5]

I'm so bored. Anyone else just really bored?

 

[HuGo Sham]

His takes during the Habs run were Steve Simmons level.

worse

 

[le_sean]

Ok, lets get a few things straight here:

1) I was talking about his contract being bad relative to Gallagher's. In reference to an Athletic article I didn't write. I actually don't hate Hoffman's contract (as I've said elsewhere on here), but I think he's overpaid for what he brings. And that's not really hot take either.

2) I was talking about 5v5 production, not scoring. You were talking about scoring and was expanding on/challenging your comments.

3) I wasn't bringing up anything more complicated than that because I didn't want to get into the whole "advanced stat" debate, because it would derail things even more. I could say that Hoffman has a long history of getting outchanced and outscored when he's on the ice relative to competition.

4) If you want to argue against yourself, then do it. But don't put words in my mouth. For the record, I'm not going to argue that Armia's contract is good, just less bad than Hoffman's. For a few reasons:

a) He's got a similar effect on the PK that Hoffman has on the PP.
b) He's younger.
c) He's cheaper.

How is he overpaid? Name me a better forward signed as a UFA that makes $4.5m or less. Will you find a lot that scored 29 goals a year ago? You’ll say Toffoli but that point is moot since he gets more in a non-COVID offseason and he belongs to the Habs.

And your argument about Armia’s worth on the PK being similar as Hoffman’s on the PP is amusing. The Habs have several guys that can do the same job as Armia and none that can do the same as Hoffman.

 

[Captain Mountain]

How is he overpaid? Name me a better forward signed as a UFA that makes $4.5m or less. Will you find a lot that scored 29 goals a year ago? You’ll say Toffoli but that point is moot since he gets more in a non-COVID offseason and he belongs to the Habs.

And your argument about Armia’s worth on the PK being similar as Hoffman’s on the PP is amusing. The Habs have several guys that can do the same job as Armia and none that can do the same as Hoffman.

Ok, first of all, like 95% of UFAs are overpaid. Second of all, we already know that goal scoring is what gets overpaid the most, and that's basically the only thing Hoffman does. And BTW, Tatar (in the regular season) and Saad are better players.

No they don't. Also, Caufield can do what Hoffman does scoring-wise. Suzuki (the Habs best PP player) occupies the same spot on the PP as Hoffman.

I truly do not understand this individual goal scoring above all and ignoring all else mindset. Especially after watching these playoffs.

Like, its an ice-cold take to say that Hoffman is overpaid. Listen to the "200 hockey men" guys or the analytic guys and they'll say the same thing.

 

[le_sean]

Ok, first of all, like 95% of UFAs are overpaid. Second of all, we already know that goal scoring is what gets overpaid the most, and that's basically the only thing Hoffman does. And BTW, Tatar (in the regular season) and Saad are better players.

No they don't. Also, Caufield can do what Hoffman does scoring-wise. Suzuki (the Habs best PP player) occupies the same spot on the PP as Hoffman.

I truly do not understand this individual goal scoring above all and ignoring all else mindset. Especially after watching these playoffs.

Like, its an ice-cold take to say that Hoffman is overpaid. Listen to the "200 hockey men" guys or the analytic guys and they'll say the same thing.

But they aren’t ignoring everything else. The entire team is made up of two-way guys who prefer to play safe. What they needed was someone to help the abysmal PP and that’s what they did. Too many times their momentum was destroyed by a bad PP. not even being able to even enter the zone let alone get shots and then goals.

Tatar is not better. Sorry, but if you’re a healthy scratch in the playoffs by two different teams despite being expected to be Top 6, you’re useless. Hoffman is clearly better than him. And Saad is debatable. He’s just more of the exact same thing the Habs have.

And he’s not overpaid, he’s paid less than last year. $4.5m for a guy that can score 30? Sign me up every time.

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

I always go into free agency expecting to see overpayments to some degree, it's just how it is. Any time you can get away with a top 6 player without giving up ridiculous term it's pretty much a win.

 

[donghabs98]

I always go into free agency expecting to see overpayments to some degree, it's just how it is. Any time you can get away with a top 6 player without giving up ridiculous term it's pretty much a win.

Ever since the Alzner deal, Bergevin has done a good job not tying us to bad contracts in free agency which is key. The only real negative contracts we have with the exception of Weber come from resignings (Price, Byron, Gally)

 

[montreal]

Yeah Wyshynski is an absolute tool when it comes to Canada. He just likes to get on the nerve of Canadian fans. He spews similar nonsense at the international level, such as this recent doozy putting down the Canadian women’s soccer gold medal:



He seems to think he can be some type of Skip Bayless by being a dick, but no one really cares about hockey in the US for him to gain any traction.

sounds about right as i'm in the states and have espn and i've never heard of him before today. though i don't ever go to espn for anything hockey outside of the ncaa tournament.

 

[sampollock]

MB will be sitting on this squad till training camp. His dealing is done till deadline.

could be to late, by then this team may be out of race to play in the spring

 

[The Great Weal]

Why are you guys talking about Galchenyuk? We already have too many wingers

 

[Adriatic]

A clean Drouin and a sober Galchenyuk. Watch out!!!

 

[JianYang]

Wyshynski: Ten reasons to root for the Montreal Canadiens, I guess

The Montreal Canadiens are eight wins away from capturing the Stanley Cup. One Canadian team was going to make it out of the North Division playoffs. No one expected it would be them. Some of us are a little bummed about it, including me.

I've been accused of having some kind of bias against the Canadiens, which simply ... well, it's kind of true.

He’s a tool and he embraces it

I've always sensed his anti habs bias, which is a bit strange since he's a devils fan.

That team relied on a very big montreal blueprint to become the powerhouse that it once was.

I stopped reading/listening to his material a couple years ago. It just got too obnoxious.