Post Kraken Expansion Draft

[darrylsittler27]

Your intuition sucks, lol.

Francis played the conservative game once again, Beniers was by far the safest pick. Not complaining though, I figured he was gonna be picked even before the ED. The team is thin up front, he fills a need, and a HOF center is obviously going to build a team around a center.

No surprises, no excitement.

Really you need two C to build around and a hot goalie. The wingers and competent D are much easier to find.

 

[Gniwder]

@Gniwder :
" That whole team was poorly coached and nobody did well, look at Laine's stats. They made the Wings look like a decent NHL team every game. Plus nobody knows how long he was playing with the injury before he brought it up to the team doctors. I'm not concerned about his ability to find his game, he seems to do well in new environments every time.

It's absolutely a gamble to take someone like Domi, but one that's worth it. If you think $5M is a lot, wait until you see what top end free agents are gonna go for. I also don't see opportunity cost as an issue because the team isn't going to hit the cap limit. They'd have to sign Landeskog, Ovechkin, AND Dougie to get there."

That's where the debate is. If there wasn't one, Columbus would surely protect him because they would at least get something for him by the trade deadline instead of losing him for nothing in expansion, right?

All I'm saying is you don't take a player unless you are confident you'll get something that outweighs the value you could otherwise get from that cap space now or down the line. Plenty of teams will lose cap flexibility once the season starts. We don't necessarily have to. It puts us in good position to take on a cap dump for something perhaps more valuable than what's apparently being offered to us right now.

The reason you're not seeing opportunity cost issues with our cap is because Francis has stayed away from the Domis, JVRs, Voraceks, Ghosts, Tarasenkos, etc, otherwise we'd be pretty close to the cap limit.

Trust me, I know how ridiculous UFA signings can get. We kinda already have one with Oleksiak. Sure, there's risk with everything, but at least you're more confident in the value you're getting with the players your staff have targeted. Domi doesn't seem to be one, at least not as an expansion pick. Again, I'm not sure why so many are acting as if these doors are now closed. If it makes sense, they can still make deals to take on gambles like Domi.

So Domi rehabbed early and scored 3 pts in their opener. Even if he wasn't in the long term plan, he'd have huge trade value.

 

[Irie]

So Domi rehabbed early and scored 3 pts in their opener. Even if he wasn't in the long term plan, he'd have huge trade value.

And if he rehabbed slowly and didn't play before the trade deadline, he would have zero value and the owners would be out a couple more million after spending nearly 2 billion on the team and arena.

I understand the frustration for fans in this situation, but I also fully get management and the ownership group's position and can't fault them for not taking on some of these gambles.

You win some you lose some.

 

[Gniwder]

And if he rehabbed slowly and didn't play before the trade deadline, he would have zero value and the owners would be out a couple more million after spending nearly 2 billion on the team and arena.

I understand the frustration for fans in this situation, but I also fully get management and the ownership group's position and can't fault them for not taking on some of these gambles.

You win some you lose some.

Given that the arena is going to sell out for the next 5 years or so, I'm not inclined to feel sorry for owners that are making money. So their profit goes down, big deal.

 

[gstommylee]

Given that the arena is going to sell out for the next 5 years or so, I'm not inclined to feel sorry for owners that are making money. So their profit goes down, big deal.

Give it a rest... The team didn't want domi.

 

[Gniwder]

Give it a rest... The team didn't want domi.

I think they would if they could hindsight draft right now.

If you don't want to discuss then stop replying, lol.

 

[Sad People]

We have a GDT thread yet or still early?
Glad we got an earlier start time to the game (atleast for me) 6 is a lot better than 9

 

[Irie]

Given that the arena is going to sell out for the next 5 years or so, I'm not inclined to feel sorry for owners that are making money. So their profit goes down, big deal.

That is a fair take, but there was and still is covid uncertainty surrounding the league.

I can't fault management for not throwing money around this off-season in an effort to buy draft capital.

And it's going to take an awful long time to turn profit after investing 2 billion dollars.

It's easy for us to say, "why didn't they get the guy making 6 million, he could have been traded at the deadline for picks" when it isn't our money.

 

[brewski420]

Domi is in the last year of his contract and will be a UFA. His status going into the expansion draft made acquiring him risky and to look back in hindsight is fine and to say what if(too bad they didn't take a chance). But criticism of it is weak.

 

[Gniwder]

Domi is in the last year of his contract and will be a UFA. His status going into the expansion draft made acquiring him risky and to look back in hindsight is fine and to say what if(too bad they didn't take a chance). But criticism of it is weak.

It's not just hindsight, I wanted him in the expansion draft go back and read the thread.

Fact of the matter is we got nothing from CBJ and Domi would have been at least a trade chip once healthy. I don't think it was a huge risk, there were financial implications of course. There could be an argument if the team picked a useful player from CBJ, but they didn't because there wasn't any NHL caliber player available from CBJ other than Domi.

 

[brewski420]

That is fine that you wanted him and I trust that. What they did as far as picks with some including CBJ are confusing for sure not disputing or arguing that. But just in terms of Domi I was not for him for reasons I gave. There was some talk he wouldn't be playing until December going off my recollection. Taking him in a UFA year with that salary coming off an injury is a risk and a big one not worth it in my opinion. It would be hindsight for me to say anything different.

 

[Gniwder]

That is fine that you wanted him and I trust that. What they did as far as picks with some including CBJ are confusing for sure not disputing or arguing that. But just in terms of Domi I was not for him for reasons I gave. There was some talk he wouldn't be playing until December going off my recollection. Taking him in a UFA year with that salary coming off an injury is a risk and a big one not worth it in my opinion. It would be hindsight for me to say anything different.

Domi's contract is less than Gourde's. I'd say the risk was higher with Gourde because if he doesn't heal then the team is stuck with his contract for 3 more seasons.

You are right that the original projection was December, but a player of his caliber is easily worth $7m/season if not more, so you get your money's worth even if he misses 1/3 of the season.

 

[brewski420]

Domi's contract is less than Gourde's. I'd say the risk was higher with Gourde because if he doesn't heal then the team is stuck with his contract for 3 more seasons.

You are right that the original projection was December, but a player of his caliber is easily worth $7m/season if not more, so you get your money's worth even if he misses 1/3 of the season.

I think we are having two separate arguments. I would have liked to have taken Domi, in hindsight, but was certainly not in favor at the time. As you say you were but I don't think your view was a widely held opinion. I believe Domi has his sights on free agency and quite possibly a particular team (just opinion only) which made his situation more tricky. I don't see much risk in Gourde at all so I disagree a bit with you there. All indications are he is healing fine and quicker, like Domi, as well.

I don't think you and I are far off in opinion just maybe a little on this one.

 

[Gniwder]

I think we are having two separate arguments. I would have liked to have taken Domi, in hindsight, but was certainly not in favor at the time. As you say you were but I don't think your view was a widely held opinion. I believe Domi has his sights on free agency and quite possibly a particular team (just opinion only) which made his situation more tricky. I don't see much risk in Gourde at all so I disagree a bit with you there. All indications are he is healing fine and quicker, like Domi, as well.

I don't think you and I are far off in opinion just maybe a little on this one.

I know I was in the minority. Here's the thing, if he has his eyes on a particular team, he can always be traded. Bare minimum he returns a second round pick at the trade deadline, probably much more.

Gourde + Domi and this team gets to the playoffs. The only thing this team is lacking is some offensive fire power.