Reactions to Army's Press Conference

[Kylester]

If you haven't seen it yet, click here

EDIT: It's actually both Army and Bannister (Army is first, of course)

Let the discussion begin.

For me, one interesting comment came when he was talking about positives. He was very upbeat about Neighbours and Hofer.

When he mentioned Perunovich, he said "now we know what we have".

Wonder if that means something....

Click to read more...

 

[ExtraExtra888]

It seems like Dvorsky will get the chance to start the season in the NHL if he looks good in training camp and preseason. That's exciting to me.

 

[Ranksu]

To me that presser was same political jargon like previous years. Shame our press doesnt have balls to Ask tough questions. I assume If you do IT then you are out of group.

This presser didn't give anything new that we didn't already knew. Absolute dog shit.

 

[tfriede2]

To me that presser was same political jargon like previous years. Shame our press doesnt have balls to Ask tough questions. I assume If you do IT then you are out of group.

This presser didn't give anything new that we didn't already knew. Absolute dog shit.

It’s on you if you expected anything different.

 

[Ranksu]

It’s on you if you expected anything different.

Well, I guess I was too optimistic.

 

[Blanick]

Just a couple of notes based on his presser.

- He is not willing to tear it all down but I think he is going to trade good prospects away, he is looking to shuffle the deck while working in young players.

- Almost all of his positives were about the youth of the team, guys like Hofer and Neighbours and to a lesser extent Bolduc and Dean.

- Dvorsky is going to get every opportunity to make the team next year, will the Blues start him on wing like they did with Thomas or go straight for center.

- His discussion about the coaching position felt like he has names above Bannister and is waiting to see if he can get them. Bannister isn't the first choice.

- He went out of his way to not mention certain players when talking about changes but it wasn't hard to figure out who he was referring to. Specifically when talking about the defense he went out of his way to not mention Krug or Faulk. He said he felt like Leddy and Parayko were a good pair, Kessel took the job from Bortuzzo. Tucker provides something different and we know what we have with Perunovich but not word about Krug or Faulk.

- My favorite quote was about Kyrou. Paraphrasing here but, "if your only supportive during the good times and not the bad times, that's not a healthy relationship." That kid has become such a lightning rod in this fanbase but ultimately he is a net positive in my view. Yes we need more consistency especially earlier in the year, that is his goal to be ready to start the season.

I am planning on a more extensive writeup about the season and where I think we should go next. These are just my thoughts on Army's presser.

 

[Cotton McKnight]

It’s on you if you expected anything different.

I expect journalists to earn their paycheck, by asking real questions.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Three thoughts:

1. Anyone thinking Perunovich is part of this team going forward got a reality check when Armstrong talked kind of glowingly about Neighbours and Hofer, then said "Perunovich got to play, we got to see what he can do." It was ... a really, really tepid endorsement.

2. There is never going to be a rebuild while Armstrong is here. No matter how bad things get in any year, he is never treating it as a rebuild. The way he described 50-point seasons, doing that for years, not having a competitive team until 2035, ... he's going to do everything he can to limp this bitch along and hope to ride the high side of the playoff line and hope that it manifests in a breakout year that builds upon itself every year after.

3. The remark at the very end of his comments about bringing prospects in and being able to tell ownership "within plus or minus 15%" when a guy will play his 11th game, 50th game, ... The "actuary table" jokes will continue until further notice, and they'll probably include "plus or minus X%" remarks now. I've long known Armstrong thought he was the smartest person in the room, but that reminded me of an ex-boss who heard me use an actuarial term once and she started dropping it in meetings with management in the wrong context, and everyone else would at her.

 

[shpongle falls]

I so wish I could crush some beers with Army, Stillman and other management and talk off the record about the team and players and potential trades and stuff like that. Would love to get their honest, un-filtered opinions.

 

[Blanick]

I so wish I could crush some beers with Army, Stillman and other management and talk off the record about the team and players and potential trades and stuff like that. Would love to get their honest, un-filtered opinions.

I wish GMs and coaches would write more tell all books once they retire. Love him or hate him I would buy a Lou Lamoriello tell all the day it releases. The stories and inside looks would be fascinating.

 

[Blueston]

To me that presser was same political jargon like previous years. Shame our press doesnt have balls to Ask tough questions. I assume If you do IT then you are out of group.

This presser didn't give anything new that we didn't already knew. Absolute dog shit.

ironically, one could surmise that same description is more accurately applied to your post.

 

[TheDizee]

did they say anything about krug and kyrou?

 

[Blueston]

Just a couple of notes based on his presser.

- He is not willing to tear it all down but I think he is going to trade good prospects away, he is looking to shuffle the deck while working in young players.

- Almost all of his positives were about the youth of the team, guys like Hofer and Neighbours and to a lesser extent Bolduc and Dean.

- Dvorsky is going to get every opportunity to make the team next year, will the Blues start him on wing like they did with Thomas or go straight for center.

- His discussion about the coaching position felt like he has names above Bannister and is waiting to see if he can get them. Bannister isn't the first choice.

- He went out of his way to not mention certain players when talking about changes but it wasn't hard to figure out who he was referring to. Specifically when talking about the defense he went out of his way to not mention Krug or Faulk. He said he felt like Leddy and Parayko were a good pair, Kessel took the job from Bortuzzo. Tucker provides something different and we know what we have with Perunovich but not word about Krug or Faulk.

- My favorite quote was about Kyrou. Paraphrasing here but, "if your only supportive during the good times and not the bad times, that's not a healthy relationship." That kid has become such a lightning rod in this fanbase but ultimately he is a net positive in my view. Yes we need more consistency especially earlier in the year, that is his goal to be ready to start the season.

I am planning on a more extensive writeup about the season and where I think we should go next. These are just my thoughts on Army's presser.

he did when answering about schenn as captain mentioned the support of thomas, parayko, and faulk (by name) and that support would be even stronger next year with a year in their roles. so while i don' think faulk is untouchable, i wouldn't read into his comments that he is necessarily on way our. faulk had rough year and army didn't want to pile on, but he isn't gonna praise guy for play below his standards.

 

[Blanick]

he did when answering about schenn as captain mentioned the support of thomas, parayko, and faulk (by name) and that support would be even stronger next year with a year in their roles. so while i don' think faulk is untouchable, i wouldn't read into his comments that he is necessarily on way our. faulk had rough year and army didn't want to pile on, but he isn't gonna praise guy for play below his standards.

Sorry I was referring more to I believe JRs question about making changes to defense core after two down years in a row. I agree with Faulk sticking around but very much believe Krug will moved or possibly even bought out if the Blues can land a Skjei or Montour in FA. When the question about a buyout came up everyone knew who was being talked about there.

 

[Blueston]

Sorry I was referring more to I believe JRs question about making changes to defense core after two down years in a row. I agree with Faulk sticking around but very much believe Krug will moved or possibly even bought out if the Blues can land a Skjei or Montour in FA. When the question about a buyout came up everyone knew who was being talked about there.

i don't think he will buy out krug because he still sees him as having value, even if less than his contract. he said he wouldn't rule out buyout but also mentioned he has given out signing bonuses and would give out nmc, all things he doesn't like doing. and he talked about how buyout is wasting money and he would have hard time recommending that in general. i'd be fairly shocked if we buy out krug this summer.

he also basically saidwithoutsaying that we aren't gonna be a cap team until he thinks that we are further along in rewhatever and reiterated the longterm plan is what rules still, so i wouldn't be holding my breath for us to bring in montour or skej or any other big money guy older than about 27.

 

[CraftyVeteran]

Army's presser was dull as usual but what can you expect from GMs?

1. Peru is what he is
2. Buch conversations may get awkward
3. Not going to spend on UFAs. Likely add-on players only. Will seek trades for improvement
4. The Swedes will stay where they are
5. Bannister likely the coach for next season. I know He's really wanting Rod and maybe a short-short list of other coaches but that phone call likely won't be answered or met with a chuckle.
6. A lot of pretentious whining
7. He will never tank.
8. getting a team from where the blues are to a winning team blah blah blah. Just do the opposite of what you just did since 2019 Army. It's that simple and highlights your arrogance in failure.

 

[Blanick]

i don't think he will buy out krug because he still sees him as having value, even if less than his contract. he said he wouldn't rule out buyout but also mentioned he has given out signing bonuses and would give out nmc, all things he doesn't like doing. and he talked about how buyout is wasting money and he would have hard time recommending that in general. i'd be fairly shocked if we buy out krug this summer.

he also basically saidwithoutsaying that we aren't gonna be a cap team until he thinks that we are further along in rewhatever and reiterated the longterm plan is what rules still, so i wouldn't be holding my breath for us to bring in montour or skej or any other big money guy older than about 27.

I mostly agree that a buyout is unlikely but disagree on your assessment about being a cap team. He said ownership will let him spend if they agree it makes sense. I also agree that he see's Krug as holding some value, honestly I do as well. The problem is we don't have the defensive minded team to insulate his purely offensive instincts and minimize his mistakes. Taking all that into account I do think that Army tries once again to move on from Krug this summer and I could see some team will bite on a discounted price for him.

Lastly I am not sure those guys are really "big money" UFAs this upcoming year. Yes the cap is going up and the upper echelon of Reinhart, Stamkos, Guentzel and Marchessault are going to get paid big bucks but the guys I listed I see more in the 6 to 7 range.

Again I think the moves we make this offseason are going to come down to who we can move on from. I think we clearly want to move on for Krug and that would require us to go get another LHD. We also badly need a second line center as I don't think Dvorsky is going to ready for those minutes to start the season and Schenn and Hayes just don't produce in the two spot.

 

[Blueston]

I mostly agree that a buyout is unlikely but disagree on your assessment about being a cap team. He said ownership will let him spend if they agree it makes sense. I also agree that he see's Krug as holding some value, honestly I do as well. The problem is we don't have the defensive minded team to insulate his purely offensive instincts and minimize his mistakes. Taking all that into account I do think that Army tries once again to move on from Krug this summer and I could see some team will bite on a discounted price for him.

Lastly I am not sure those guys are really "big money" UFAs this upcoming year. Yes the cap is going up and the upper echelon of Reinhart, Stamkos, Guentzel and Marchessault are going to get paid big bucks but the guys I listed I see more in the 6 to 7 range.

Again I think the moves we make this offseason are going to come down to who we can move on from. I think we clearly want to move on for Krug and that would require us to go get another LHD. We also badly need a second line center as I don't think Dvorsky is going to ready for those minutes to start the season and Schenn and Hayes just don't produce in the two spot.

we are on same page on krug. and the cap.you are correct, but i was reading between those lines further.and i was thinking of anything 5x5 or more as big money for us at this point, wasn't meaning to speculate as to how much more than that would cost.

as to targets, i see us looking at guys like ryan lindgren or k'andre miller if rangers prefer to keep lindgren, morgan frost, zegras, krebs, chabot, hague, or guys of that ilk (all of whom have been rumored to be or seem likely to be available).

 

[Blanick]

we are on same page on krug. and the cap.you are correct, but i was reading between those lines further.and i was thinking of anything 5x5 or more as big money for us at this point, wasn't meaning to speculate as to how much more than that would cost.

as to targets, i see us looking at guys like ryan lindgren or k'andre miller if rangers prefer to keep lindgren, morgan frost, zegras, krebs, chabot, hague, or guys of that ilk (all of whom have been rumored to be or seem likely to be available):

Yeah I was purposely not really mentioning the trade route as it is almost always a crap shoot. However, knowing Army that is likely the avenue he will take. Also with the increase plus the gained cap of Kapanen, Vrana, Scandella and Blais the Blues will have north of 10 million to play with. If we can off load Krug on someone and not take equal salary back that number grows even higher. I think we could sign or acquire via trade both a LHD and 2C and still be sitting a ways from the cap.

 

[Majorityof1]

I expect journalists to earn their paycheck, by asking real questions.

He wouldn't answer them, so what's the point? You saw what happened when the reporter asked about Quennville. Army shut it down, and a whole line of questioning surrounding it. Why burn bridges? I agree we don't have great beat reporters and they could have asked better questions. But its not like they could have asked "Which players do you think are awful, who are you trying to get rid of, who are you targeting, and give us the exact run down to the smallest detail your off-season gameplan?" And then Army will just be, oh, thanks, I was just waiting for you to ask....

 

[Thallis]

I expect journalists to earn their paycheck, by asking real questions.

Asking real questions runs the risk of getting blackballed by the org.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

3. Not going to spend on UFAs. Likely add-on players only. Will seek trades for improvement

FWIW, I have a feeling we're going to see a UFA frenzy this year now that we're coming out of the flat cap era. I think we're going to see several absolute albatross contracts handed out on July 1.

 

[Blanick]

FWIW, I have a feeling we're going to see a UFA frenzy this year now that we're coming out of the flat cap era. I think we're going to see several absolute albatross contracts handed out on July 1.

Honestly I thought so too then starting digging around capfriendly. A lot of teams either have earmarked to re-sign their own guys. I still think the top guys are going to find their money somewhere but the second tier guys I could see more shorter term mid level deals.

 

[TheDizee]

Army's presser was dull as usual but what can you expect from GMs?

1. Peru is what he is
2. Buch conversations may get awkward
3. Not going to spend on UFAs. Likely add-on players only. Will seek trades for improvement
4. The Swedes will stay where they are
5. Bannister likely the coach for next season. I know He's really wanting Rod and maybe a short-short list of other coaches but that phone call likely won't be answered or met with a chuckle.
6. A lot of pretentious whining
7. He will never tank.
8. getting a team from where the blues are to a winning team blah blah blah. Just do the opposite of what you just did since 2019 Army. It's that simple and highlights your arrogance in failure.

if bannister is our coach next year, this team is f***ed for a 3rd yr.

 

[Celtic Note]

I don’t take a ton away from the interview that we/I didn’t already think or know.

I will say that I am getting annoyed with Army’s proclamations that fans won’t support the team unless it’s winning. It makes it sound like we don’t have committed fans. He continues to make claims that he knows our fans. He has also (in the past) alluded to some Canadian team fans as bing willing to show up even if the team is losing. I am not sure why the comparison was need. Army just doesn’t want to do it because he doesn’t want to live through it (he admitted that much in the presser). He could just say that a leave the fans out of it. He may also be right about a majority of our fans. But to me it’s unnecessary to bring up. He makes attempts not to knock his players or coaches, so why take a passive aggressive stance with fans?

If you and ownership don’t want to rebuild just say that and leave it at that. It’s your decision how you build the team. It’s our decision whether we support that or not.

He should have squashed Q as a potential coach by saying something like we are not going that route.