Man, I completely forgot MAF is only 2 years younger than Mike Smith. People talk about Smith like he is 50 lol.
Does a second round pick not pry a goalie free from a team that will definitely lose one during expansion?
Add a player for cap swap and we good.
You really seem to be of the opinion Nurse is only playing as well as he has this year because of Barrie.Then watch Tyson Barrie with extreme vigilance for the remainder of the season. Get on it starting tonight.
noYou really seem to be of the opinion Nurse is only playing as well as he has this year because of Barrie.
Is this correct?
There is no evidence that salaries on long term deals will drop all that much. Debrusk at his current level could get $4.5-5M on a long term deal. Look at a guy like Mantha. He just got $5.7M on a 4 year deal with similar numbers to Debrusk. Players and agents aren't stupid. They know that unless the pandemic continues long term revenues are going to go up a lot and very soon. The major unknown is how long it takes for the current revenue hit to work its way through the system. (It may be the hit on revenue ends up being less than first thought if the US starts to open up venues for some fans. NY has already announced they will permit limited attendance. One would think that teams would target high margin customers in such circumstances). They also know that teams will pay for any player capable of scoring 20 plus goals on a consistent basis. The reality is that you won't come close to replacing Nuge's contributions and have money left over for a significant upgraade anywhere else unless you get extremely lucky.
As far as trading Nuge, I don't see this happenning unless he makes it clear he is walking. This team cannot afford to take a significant step back this year if it looks like a playoff spot is in reach. The team would have to really fall off for that to not be the case.
My apologies then.
No need to apologize, people need to stop apologizing. If Barrie plays some good hockey and changes your stance on the need to keep him in the organization, don't apologize. Once everyone starts apologizing ceaselessly it not only gets disconcerting it also diminishes the true meaning behind thoughtful heartfelt apologies and that cannot be forgiven if you catch my drift.My apologies then.
I agree that Barrie has been a good compliment to Nurse lately, and I hope it continues. I don't particularly think he's a sustainable top pairing defenseman whereas I think Nurse has always had that potential. Whether he realizes it or not is another story altogether, but the last few seasons he's done a damn fine job getting there.
Klefbom going down has so far been the best thing to happen to Nurse.
How much of the "Nurse emerging as homegrown leader creating stability in Edmonton" is due or at least partially due to his defense partner. You know, Tyson Barrie.
Tyson Barrie on the other side with Darnell Nurse. It's like we have an actual first pairing to play along with our superstar centers, McDavid and Draisaitl.
I implore you and others to think it over.
I really like Holloway and think he’s going to be a fan favourite with how he plays the game.
However, I do worry about expectations being too high for him right now. Like he’s still a young developing player and the oft quoted phrase “progress isn’t linear” applies here.
I just don’t want people to have such high expectations and then get frustrated if he doesn’t meet them immediately.
1000000x agree to this. Nice to see another advocate of NOT just giving away firsts.That would be awful, a really really bad idea, especially after Holland spent so many picks for what amounted to nothing last year. They need to use the 1st as a trade asset to upgrade the roster, not to offload a contract.
It's a bad idea for a few reasons. They will have cap flexibility even with Neal's contract so why the urgency to attach a valuable asset just to rid of him with only 2 years left on the contract, and they could just buy him out if they want to rid of him that bad. I'd rather have $1.9M of dead money on the cap for the next 4 years than dump a 1st to rid of the contract entirely.
I really like Holloway and think he’s going to be a fan favourite with how he plays the game.
However, I do worry about expectations being too high for him right now. Like he’s still a young developing player and the oft quoted phrase “progress isn’t linear” applies here.
I just don’t want people to have such high expectations and then get frustrated if he doesn’t meet them immediately.
I've watched Nurse steadily improve every year since he was drafted.
I can't say the same for Barrie. Granted I obviously haven't watched him as much over his career. This isn't me discrediting him at all, he's been a very pleasant surprise now that he's looking settled. But let's not pretend Nurse owes it to Barrie. The guy went up against top competition last year with a rookie as a partner. And this year, as Barrie struggled to find his groove, Nurse was a f***in rock.
This team absolutely burns this year without Nurse. I don't feel as strongly about Barrie. But that's just me. That's two partners almost everyone has universally agreed on that aren't top pairing defensemen that he has worked with and shown good success with.
Then watch Tyson Barrie with extreme vigilance for the remainder of the season. Get on it starting tonight.
I think Nurse had 3 or 4 goals before he was even paired with Barrie.
It's no coincidence that an offensive guy does better with a guy who some offense to his game too? Who knewYes. It's also no coincidence Barrie went into his offensive run when he started playing with Nurse
No? I'm saying it's no coincidence that Barrie is doing good with a player with stability to his game. What the heck is with the snarky attitude? Or did I just understand that incorrectly lol?It's no coincidence that an offensive guy does better with a guy who some offense to his game too? Who knew
Id like us to resign both Barrie and Larsson of the price is right. Bouchard could move to the left side and the right side could be Barrie, Bear and Larsson.
I do wonder about Columbus with Merzlikins and Korpisalo as an example of this. Maybe one of them could be had, if we think that they're a potential answer. Both are 26 years old too, so seems safe to assume they could have many, many years left.
Bear can actually play 2 way hockey, hes a top 3 Dman on the team and costs next to nothing for now. It would be very Chiarelli of you to move him now.
Nurse is proving a lot of naysayers wrong. I never had anything against Nurse. I was unhappy with his contract for awhile and I still don't like how he becomes UFA as soon as he does. Nurse is clearly a top 20 defenceman in the league and and I find it hard to believe even his harshest critique could deny this.I usually agree with your opinions but not this one. Bear got very good playing with Nurse and, if you remember, so did Barrie. Nurse had brain farts early in his career but they have been much lessened and this 2 way game has gotten very good. I feel like Nurse is the core of that first pairing that runs it usually. Although, both could have been better last game
I'll give him credit for saying "going forward"... well not really, it sounds like he doesn't like Tyson Barrie one bit at all. Yet I believe Tyson Barrie is easily a top 30 defenceman in the NHL and it would be a monumental error for the Oilers to not explore all possible means with respect to what it would take to keep Tyson Barrie in Edmonton.We already have it in Bear and Bouchard, theres a salary cap and a need for a PK & ES focused D with net front presence. Just because we needed a puck moving RD 5 years ago doesnt mean its our biggest need going forward. Its not. We cant afford to carry defensively porous veterans. We have Broberg and Samorukov coming in and Klefbom hanging on the outside. Barrie is the worst overall D-man on this team going forward. Unfortunately he also has dirt poor trade value because every GM in the NHL also knows this. If you have piss for puckmovers/PP RD, he might have value to you-- anyone who isnt living in the RD poorhouse wont have interest.
Nuge is a good, smart player. I remember us not having any of those before he arrived (emphasis on smart). What happens over the course of the year will be interesting. I think the longer this drags on, the more favorable the contract will be (for the team) if he signs. Many teams (esp. those down south) are taking a financial beating with covid. That said, I would like to see Nuge retire here. Impossible to say (outside of speculation) that he wants the same.