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[Big Friggin Dummy]

True but Hedman isnt the same as he used to be. They also lost Savard on the backend. I think Tampa's depth that help them win took a huge blow.

I think Hedman's fantastic. He had a hiccup after his injury, but he was great in the playoffs. Savard was whatever, a bottom pairing guy.

I don't think they'll threepeat or anything, but the real meat and potatoes as to why they went back to back is still around. We'll have to see if they can be anything close to what they've been lately without their depth though.

 

[Darren McCord]

Francis is playing moneyball. Picked a bunch of young prospects with sneaky upside. There's no bad contracts outside of maybe Oleksiak. They're not handicapped.
And there's a ton of cap left. Probably ~22 mil to use in Free Agency after the RFA's get signed.

We don't know what they are yet. Just wait.

Most of their picks are 23 or older. I wouldn't say that is young prospects with sneaky upside. The reality is they took a bunch of 3rd and 4th liners hoping they have 2nd or 3rd line potential.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Seems like they did a bad job of exploiting the expansion draft though. This team looks like the Nashville Predators or Minnesota Wild more than the Vegas Knights. And they had options.

It's hard to judge that because we're about to see a lot of guys we have labeled as 2nd/3rd liners get bigger roles and more minutes. Their production will go up.
Gourde for example never got PP1 minutes in Tampa, but he will here most likely.

 

[Zirakzigil]

Ya but what now? They dont have good assets unless they take on bad contracts. I dont know how active they can be. This was there chance to get those assets and they bungled it.

They have a boatload of cap. They could sign the top 3 free agents and still have cap space. They will pick up a few good players for cheap purely cause they are the only ones that can.

 

[Gurglesons]

It's hard to judge that because we're about to see a lot of guys we have labeled as 2nd/3rd liners get bigger roles and more minutes. Their production will go up.
Gourde for example never got PP1 minutes in Tampa, but he will here most likely.

That doesn't just make you a top scorer though.

This is a different story if say they have JVR in front of the net on the PP or Tarasenko from the half wall. But what is their first power play right now up front. McCann - Gourde - Eberle.. Gio who?

And you don't think a UFA is going to look at this roster and ask for the moon versus say what he'd get in Boston or NYR?

 

[Darren McCord]

I think Hedman's fantastic. He had a hiccup after his injury, but he was great in the playoffs. Savard was whatever, a bottom pairing guy.

I don't think they'll threepeat or anything, but the real meat and potatoes as to why they went back to back is still around. We'll have to see if they can be anything close to what they've been lately without their depth though.

Ya the issue is them already being at the salary cap and not having a full roster.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Ya the issue is them already being at the salary cap and not having a full roster.

They'll send TJ to Seattle or something.

 

[Darren McCord]

They have a boatload of cap. They could sign the top 3 free agents and still have cap space. They will pick up a few good players for cheap purely cause they are the only ones that can.

Ya but you always overpay in FA good luck with getting a 11 mill Landy or 6 mill Hyman or Danualt.

 

[Gurglesons]

Ya but you always overpay in FA good luck with getting a 11 mill Landy or 6 mill Hyman or Danualt.

And there are no players on free market that make sense for them to bring in an "elite" talent. Like.. Hamilton? Why would you pay him when half your picks were D.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

In order for Landeskog to come to this team, we'd A. need to clear more cap, and B. he'd have to say to himself "Yeah dude, that place is where I wanna be for the next 6+ years." It's not gonna f***ing happen, and I love Landeskog.

 

[Darren McCord]

And there are no players on free market that make sense for them to bring in an "elite" talent. Like.. Hamilton? Why would you pay him when half your picks were D.

Wasn't that what he did in Carolina.

Alll you dmen are mineeee

 

[Gurglesons]

Wasn't that what he did in Carolina.

Alll you dmen are mineeee

Ron Francis Trades - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Awful stuff here.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

That doesn't just make you a top scorer though.

This is a different story if say they have JVR in front of the net on the PP or Tarasenko from the half wall. But what is their first power play right now up front. McCann - Gourde - Eberle.. Gio who?

It changes people's perception of what players are though. That's why we got Zucker in the first place. He had those minutes in Minnesota, and scored more because of it. We identified him as a 30 goal potential guy, but never gave him that assignment here.

I'll agree right now the PP1 unit doesn't blow you away but PP's are often more about chemistry than star power.
Buffalo and Arizona's PP's finished ahead of Toronto for example. Carolina's was 2nd in the league, 8 spots ahead of Tampa.
Dallas finished 3 spots ahead of Colorado.

 

[Gurglesons]

It changes people's perception of what players are though. That's why we got Zucker in the first place. He had those minutes in Minnesota, and scored more because of it. We identified him as a 30 goal potential guy, but never gave him that assignment here.

I'll agree right now the PP1 unit doesn't blow you away but PP's are often more about chemistry than star power.
Buffalo and Arizona's PP's finished ahead of Toronto for example. Carolina's was 2nd in the league, 8 spots ahead of Tampa.
Dallas finished 3 spots ahead of Colorado.

Yeah, because all of those power plays have bonafide weapons.

Buffalo had Reinhart and Dahlin / Risto. Carolina has Aho, Hamilton, Nino, Svechnikov, etc. Dallas had Pavelski, Klingberg, and others.

The Kraken literally have no player that has experience on the 1st power play but Gio, Eberle and McCann for a couple weeks.

Vegas had Neal and Perron with Theodore, Garrison, and others.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I think Seattle had the opportunity to draft a solid enough team. They went with... A buncha garbage with a couple solid players sprinkled in.

There's gotta be more to the plan than we're seeing. They have to be in on someone like Eichel, Hamilton, or plan to load up on a bunch of dead cap to get a haul of picks/prospects.

 

[Gurglesons]

Hm.

 

[SEALBound]

I think Seattle had the opportunity to draft a solid enough team. They went with... A buncha garbage with a couple solid players sprinkled in.

There's gotta be more to the plan than we're seeing. They have to be in on someone like Eichel, Hamilton, or plan to load up on a bunch of dead cap to get a haul of picks/prospects.

But, muh cap space!

When were the "side deals" going be announced? Like when was our 2nd to VGK for Fleury announced?

IMHO, Francis needs to get this sorted out quick before free agency. No many attractive players will want to go to that roster.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Yeah, because all of those power plays have bonafide weapons.

Buffalo had Reinhart and Dahlin / Risto. Carolina has Aho, Hamilton, Nino, Svechnikov, etc. Dallas had Pavelski, Klingberg, and others.

The Kraken literally have no player that has experience on the 1st power play but Gio and McCann for a couple weeks.

Vegas had Neal and Perron with Theodore, Garrison, and others.

Well let's rehash this when they use their free 28 million, flip guys and do all their asset management. There could be some "future considerations" handshake agreements involved with some of these picks too. For example I'm surprised Landeskog wasn't taken, with their cap space. There might be a good reason we'll find out in the future.

Vegas' PP finished 22nd in their inaugural year. That experience did not save them. Their PP is not why they won the Pacific. PK factored a lot more into it. Finished 1st.

 

[Gurglesons]

 

[dogthateats]

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

Francis totally f***ed up that draft.

 

[dogthateats]

 

[Jacob]

Don't be so certain. Tanev scored 7 in 32 getting 76% D-zone starts. It's doable if healthy and used in a different role than here. He scored 14 before in Winnipeg, while being a shutdown guy there too. I feel he has more to give offensively.

Jarnkrok has 500 games. Gourde 300. Donskoi 400. McCann 350 and just had productive back to back seasons.
They are not new, unproven players. They have respectable career stats.

You pretty much need 250 goals minimum to even have a shot at reaching the playoffs. Just not seeing that group scoring that much even factoring in bigger roles and more offensive opportunities.

 

[Ugene Magic]

McCann and Tanev for Hallander and a 7th 2023...

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

Looks like GMs learned not to pay an expansion team extra to take guys who may turn out to be surprisingly impressive--much to the chagrin of any and every hockey fan wanting some kind of entertainment.

I gotta think they have something like Eichel or Hamilton up their sleeve. They have to... Right? They're not trying to be the 91 Bolts?

(I think the goal is to be as close to the cap floor and accept everyone else's garbage cap dumps in exchange for a huge boon of 1sts/2nds/good to great prospects)

I call bullshit on all 30 GMs deciding to make no deals. Francis was asking way too much and turned them away. He totally pissed all over the 650M his owners paid for the team. He has a lot of work to do if he doesn't wanna lose his job in a year or two. AWFUL draft.