Salary Cap: Pulp Philction Edition
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Ogrezilla
Nerf Herder
We could finish anywhere between 1st and 5th in our division without any real surprise. None of us, Rangers, Caps, Isles or BJs are enough better than the rest to really set themselves above the pack. What will be surprising is if those aren't the top 5 in the division. What sucks is its very possible for one of those 5 to miss the playoffs.
plaidchuck
Registered User
The pens will just never recover from losing those stalwarts like orpik and niskanen, and the rest of reirdens little butt buddies.
mpp9
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- Dec 5, 2010
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Call me crazy, but I'll take my chances with Ian Cole in a #4 spot over Nisky and Orpik after replacing Comeau in the top 6 with Kessel. It's a far greater upgrade with the latter.
The Greatest 101
Registered User
Penguinator
Kesselator
A realistic prediction from last season's standings imo:
Rangers down, Pens & BJs up, Caps & Isles = ? but judging from the Isles' 2nd half i'd say possibly down, i mean, they weren't nearly as injury plagued as we were...
Rangers down, Pens & BJs up, Caps & Isles = ? but judging from the Isles' 2nd half i'd say possibly down, i mean, they weren't nearly as injury plagued as we were...
Penguinator
Kesselator
MSL left so they'll get a bit less prod & teams will have adapted a little better to them imo.
The Greatest 101
Registered User
I think they've overachieved. I didn't say they would be bad; doubt there within 5 pts of the winning the division.
Johnston's system is fine.... if he can friggin put the players in the right spots.
mpp9
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We saw a few months of his "system". Maatta went down. Ehrhoff couldn't stay healthy. And then Letang went down. You aren't playing the type of hockey he wants with the D-men we had last season.
People need to settle down with that **** and give the guy a chance with a healthy team.
Ogrezilla
Nerf Herder
I think they'll drop from being the best team in the division to being in the pack with the rest of us. But still potentially the best team in the division.
billybudd
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- Feb 1, 2012
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I like Etem, but he's not Karl Hagelin and it's a longshot that he ever will be. They also turned MSL into Jayson Megna. Whatever MSL might have lost to age last year, they lose much more by replacing him with Megna.
They're in the mix, still, just not at the top of the pack. There's no way they beat Washington last season if Hagelin's Etem and MSL is Megna. Margin for victory was so, so slim.
The Greatest 101
Registered User
The zone entry never was good even when the team was healthy though.
And...
Martin-Letang
Maatta-Ehrhoff
Scuderi-Despres
Vs
Maatta-Letang
Pouliot-Cole
Scuderi-Lovejoy
AjaxTelamon
Registered User
- Jul 8, 2011
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And you just saw Nash's career year with 42 goals. At 31, statistically for forwards, and especially for him, it's all downhill from there.
Waffle Fries
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- Mar 7, 2013
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None of that shows that he's committed to him. He's not going to come out and tell the media that he wants to move him. Even that quote you provided left the door open by JR mentioning he might have to do something because of the cap.
There is strong reason to believe that he's been trying to move him for months.
Hagelin gone
St Loius gone
Talbot gone
Nashed PDO last year was 103.00 that will be regressing.
Shady Machine
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- Aug 6, 2010
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They lost MSL and traded Hagelin for Etem. Maybe Etem has a breakout year, but Hagelin is clearly the better player. I don't know if they will regress, but there is no guarantee they improve.
Ugene Magic
EVIL LAUGH
Exactly.
If they *wanted* him gone, he'd be gone. *Neal*
I won't speculate on what he'll garnish, I still think he needs to do more then just scoring 21 goals, and that really leaves this season for him to get that monster of a contract. As he sits for me, he is in the 4.0/4.5 range. He'll have to have one really great season this year to put with last years to get 5.0+.
No. We shouldn't re-sign him for either. It should be a mutual thing for him to move on. Trade or let walk.
mpp9
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- Dec 5, 2010
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Letang, Maatta and Ehrhoff all missed serious time. Add Maatta, Letang and DP into the mix full time and you have a much more talented and mobile defense which will make zone entries and puck possession a legit possibility. The system had nothing to do with our team's downfall last year. It was a roster issue. Pure and simple.
The forward group is also considerably better this year.
The guy had a chance with a healthy team in the beginning of the season. The breakout, neutral zone transition, and offensive zone entry were quickly scouted and defended against. Johnston was never adequately able to adjust.
Johnston's systems were not effective at the NHL level for more than a month, and Johnston could not adapt them to be more effective.
With Martin, Ehrhoff, Maatta, Letang, and Despres, it wasn't a roster issue. You're delusional if you think this year's roster has as much puck moving capability as last. Adding Pouliot helps but it doesn't cover subtracting Martin, Ehrhoff and Despres
It was a coaching issue.
mpp9
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- Dec 5, 2010
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Or maybe they didn't have the personnel to execute what they were trying to do.
It also may take more than a month to get the team to skate in 5 man units after having years of stretch passing.
I saw Sid and Geno leaving the zone early constantly in the first half of last season. Sid really didn't hit his stride until he was playing a 200 ft game.
I didn't see anything of the sort so we must have been watching different games or different teams.
I saw a left wing outlet that was consistently covered resulting in a stalling of the break out as the defenders spent too long trying to figure out plan B and the forwards had to come back from their planned release routes and didn't have a plan B.
The few successes were planned Crosby releases for a stretch pass up the middle, and Malkin carrying the puck out.
After the system struggled, Johnston had the center almost below the goal line for the breakout which completely destroyed the neutral zone play and any opportunity for offensive zone time. The offense stalled because Johnston's breakout was deeply flawed.
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