SI90
Registered User
Be still my heart
I want him so bad I’m just not seeing how it’s possible at this point.
Be still my heart
No, despite the 3 games over 500 start, I would still describe the Lightning season as consistent excellence. Even as they installed an entirely new defensive system they managed to keep their heads above water. That's hard to do. So while it may not have resulted in Ws, the time they spent in the first third of the season was time well spent.
Yeah - I'd say that Winnipeg and Laine are heading for a divorce. That said I don't think we're Laine's next spouse. That's ok given what we'd have to give up and the cap space we don't have, but annoyingly I think that the Flyers, Blue Jackets, and Hurricanes are all good candidates to land him for multiple reasons...And of course Winnipeg will be looking to send him to the Eastern Conference if at all possible.
Excellence can come in many forms, but forgetting the semantics, in the end what this entire exchange has been about is trying to equate what happened to the Isles mid/late-season with the Lightning's "slow" start. A construct so devoid of merit or intellectual honesty as to defy description.ok. I disagree. I have a different interpretation of consistency and being excellent, but that’s fine. Ironing out the kinks is not excellence in my books albeit good to go through and come out of.
If Lou can find a suitor, I'm afraid the dowry is going to be huge.As if we cannot connect the dots already, I think we're going to look back on this offseason and see that Leddy was not only not close to being dealt, but not even shopped around by Lou. Pelech, Pulock, and Leddy are still our best 3 d-men, but most importantly...I don't think Trotz is joking at all when he says he loves him.
Boychuk is the preferred deal for Lou as he's the lesser player, and while he has an easier contract to deal because of the cash involved, it's still not an easy contract to deal because he's not as talented as Leddy and more importantly...Boychuk can eliminate 22 teams he doesn't want to be traded to which is very hard to overcome even if Boychuk was a talented 25 year old with a reasonable contract.
I pointed this out on the main board. Pulock + for Laine(a rough salary match), trade Bailey(who would be easier then Boychuk and free up 5M) and all our capspace issues would be gone and we would have the extra cash to sign Martin and Greene
I saw this post, and knowing Chevy your + is going to be Dobson. I don't really think losing Bailey, Pulock and a big plus for Laine is going to make us better. Would be good for Laine to come here as he'll be coached by the best coach in the league and learn how to play a both ends of the ice game and become a complete player. I just don't think it's worth the assets to get him. If you look at the Islanders we had depth at defence because of our drafts picks growing into spots. We were only able to trade Toews because of that development.
We need to be patient and let the same thing happen with the forwards we drafted, and right now I don't think any of them have given that confidence yet (like Dobson has). I'd rather sit tight and see if Wahlstrom or any of the others can be Laine and then some, then just pull the trigger on him now gutting a defensive core. Lastly, I heard Peg fans say they want an elite center in return. We just now finally have center depth. Unless you are willing to throw Brock into the mix and have JGP as a 2nd line center, don't think their needs match our surpluses.
I realize you have to give to get, so in a normal year I would be willing to trade either Pulock or Dobson but not both, but given our cap crunch no way can we unload Dobson.
My guess the + would be Wahlstrom and something else(I am guessing the jets would want a first but I would try find something else). I like Wahlstrom as a prospect but I think the past couple of years have knocked him down a bit as a prospect. He had a couple good but not great world jr championships, while his year in College and the the AHL have been minor disappointments with a few good signs
Jets are also in their own sort of cap crunch so not sure they could take on Bailey(my suggestion was find a team who might take on Bailey for a not so great return but not a negative one like Boychuk) so we can free up cap. From my understand it seems like they want either a center(grant you they just traded for Stastny) and/or a RHD. We really can't provide the first but we do have option 2.
Simple fact in regards to Laine if 40 goal scorers don't grow on trees and him and Barzal would most likely be magic together
In terms of our defense yes it's a downgrade but
Pelech-Mayfield
Leddy-Boychuk
Greene-Dobson
Aho-Hickey
isn't that bad
I pointed this out on the main board. Pulock + for Laine(a rough salary match), trade Bailey(who would be easier then Boychuk and free up 5M) and all our capspace issues would be gone and we would have the extra cash to sign Martin and Greene
One of these seasons we're just going to have to bite the bullet to get our cap in line and personally I'm a big believer that when you have a problem that you deal with it as soon as possible.
It should be much easier getting rid of all our problem contracts in 2021, since all of them are 1 year less(Although good luck with Ladd's. lol)
Remarkable. In a neck and neck race between Leddy and Bailey, Leddy has been one of the two favorite whipping boys on these pages for years and Toews has been a rising star. All of a sudden Toews is dogshit and Leddy is the second coming of Borje Salming, Hilarious.
Remarkable. In a neck and neck race between Leddy and Bailey, Leddy has been one of the two favorite whipping boys on these pages for years and Toews has been a rising star. All of a sudden Toews is dogshit and Leddy is the second coming of Borje Salming, Hilarious.
I'm not trying to belabor these opinions just responding to the critics.
Right, they did. And I think it was poor decision.
Let me ask you something. You have posted repeatedly that teams in the Isles situation have to overspend in order to attract talent, and middling talent at that as you have already conceded that elite FAs won't come here. Please explain to me how a team can continue to do that over time in a salary cap environment and compete for a Cup? And then not turn to sucking at some point? It seems to me that if we were to follow your prescribed path we'd end up in the same place that you have described in your previous post.
Both Snow and Lou has made some horrendous decisions over the years, but Lou is the one who effectively killed our cap. The Hickey deal was dreadful and giving 4 years to Johnston is nuts, even if it's just a million. But the biggest cap killers are by far the Komarov, Eberle and Lee deals. Also keeping Varlamov over Lehner is questionable from a cap perspective, although the Sorokin implications are obvious.
The signing of Nelson is the only long term signing that may prove to be a really good move, even if it seemed a little crazy before Trotz transformed him.
Remarkable. In a neck and neck race between Leddy and Bailey, Leddy has been one of the two favorite whipping boys on these pages for years and Toews has been a rising star. All of a sudden Toews is dogshit and Leddy is the second coming of Borje Salming, Hilarious.
What about taking a flyer on Galchenyuk?Hoffman is only needle mover FA scorer left. I don’t see it happening. Duclair is a nice piece as is Grandlund, and even Haula. But if those are the moves, nothing changes. If we can’t afford Hoffman, I don’t see how that would change for a player in a trade we don’t know of.
Agreed, and I believe this what management is also thinking. We don't know when the season will start so in the meantime let's see how things shake out and have faith that there is a master plan.I saw this post, and knowing Chevy your + is going to be Dobson. I don't really think losing Bailey, Pulock and a big plus for Laine is going to make us better. Would be good for Laine to come here as he'll be coached by the best coach in the league and learn how to play a both ends of the ice game and become a complete player. I just don't think it's worth the assets to get him. If you look at the Islanders we had depth at defence because of our drafts picks growing into spots. We were only able to trade Toews because of that development.
We need to be patient and let the same thing happen with the forwards we drafted, and right now I don't think any of them have given that confidence yet (like Dobson has). I'd rather sit tight and see if Wahlstrom or any of the others can be Laine and then some, than just pull the trigger on him now gutting a defensive core. Lastly, I heard Peg fans say they want an elite center in return. We just now finally have center depth. Unless you are willing to throw Brock into the mix and have JGP as a 2nd line center, don't think their needs match our surpluses.
Lou stated when he first took on the regime that there is enough talent to use as a base and build upon to compete for a playoff spot. He was correct. He also stated that it would take 3-5 years to see his plan come to its culmination. Additionally, the owners want to 'win-now,' they aren't cheaping out via a rebuild (see Ottawa). And rebuilds do not always translate to bonafide winners; many variables need to go right, luck with the draft positioning, developmental arcs, coaching, having a top-2 pick in a year where a Hedman is available, not a Nolan Patrick.
I used to be all about rebuilds- then 2009 came along. We literally had the opportunity to pick Hedman, didn’t, and were universally praised for the pick we did make. Fast forward to today- and had Tavares stayed w/us I honestly think we’d be bemoaning his salary, declining speed and how much more impactful Hedman is....
I used to be all about rebuilds- then 2009 came along. We literally had the opportunity to pick Hedman, didn’t, and were universally praised for the pick we did make. Fast forward to today- and had Tavares stayed w/us I honestly think we’d be bemoaning his salary, declining speed and how much more impactful Hedman is.
To make rebuilds even more perilous- I sincerely doubt Hedman would have gotten to where he is under a Snow/Capuano/Weight NYI regime as defensemen are historically much harder to develop. Any early struggles would have also been amplified by disgruntled NYI fans (me included!) who would have been irate that we didn’t take Tavares. He probably wouldn’t even still be here either. Hedman thrived in TB because the quality of the organization over many years gave him a chance to do so.
So much more important IMHO to have good people doing a good job year-after-year instilling a winning culture/mentality than merely collecting toys at the Draft- which anybody can do. Big reason why I’ve greeted the Kakko/Lafreniere additions in MSG mostly with a shrug. Congratulations, you know how to read the Central Scouting Rankings. Let’s see you make something of it (maybe they will BTW as 2020 NYR org. > 2009 NYI org.- but the work ain’t even half done)...