GDT: [SCP R1 GM7] Dallas Stars vs. Calgary Flames - 8:30 PM CT (BSSW)

[M88K]

Robertson was pretty awful this series too.

Holy hell, Heiskanen + Oettinger were unbelievable.

This being the first round and us limping into the playoffs makes this sting a lot less than 2019 and 2020. We were gonna need a LOT of luck to make a run, and even though we got it via Otter, this team still threw it away.

Hopefully we move on from our latest Old Boys' club. None of the coaches should be returning. Klingberg and Radulov can politely f*** off elsewhere.

Robertson was better towards the end of the series, but still bad.
Hintz was also pretty bad, but it's not hard when you only have to focus on 2 players to shut down an entire team

 

[Kcb12345]

Oh I'm not either. Just an observation. He looked like a rookie with poor skating all series. I think he just needs to get comfortable with the more intense pace of the playoffs and he'll be fine.

That's true and totally fair, but I'm also not panicking yet if I'm honest. I thought this playoff would be about getting Robertson and Oettinger some experience. I never truly expected Oettinger to just blow up immediately .. not that I thought it was impossible, just felt like any games he got were gravy. Robertson didn't pop, but I think the experience was really key.

If he struggles next time, IDK ... I feel like then I would be more worried. For now, he's the least concerning forward for me.

Robertson had more points this series than Kaprizov had in Minnesota's 7 game series last season

4 points in 7 games for JRob, would've liked to see more goals but the Stars offense was non-existent throughout as a whole, and he is the type of player who probably needs a little more support cause he can't create it with his skating. Not worried about his production, especially cause he looked better as it went on and that's with the team unable to accomplish anything on the PP.

 

[LT]

Robertson was better towards the end of the series, but still bad.
Hintz was also pretty bad, but it's not hard when you only have to focus on 2 players to shut down an entire team

Seems like Hintz may have been injured before as well. Which is it's own, separate, more concerning problem.

 

[BG44]

Can't even afford a vet min contract from the savings . As long as Benn doesn't hurt the team in the locker room as well ( which i don't think ) buying him out doesn't do anything.

@serp is totally correct. A buyout would honestly be irresponsible. It's all cap penalty and zero savings. The answer is he must take a smaller role, and that means a coach that's willing to do it. Honestly, it's the one thing about Babcock that I could see being a positive if they do pursue him as the coach.

That's not to say I think Babcock is the ultimate answer at coach, but in terms of managing Benn and Seguin and surviving those cap hits, you need a strong coach that will pull back and not play them as much when they're off and OK with pushing a bit when they're on. The organization is going to have to break its current habit of just expecting them to be something they're not because of their salary.

Babcock said his relationship with Nill played a role in his coming to Detroit. I could totally see Gaglardi loving a retread like Babcock as well. His name surfacing with Dallas would not shock me at all. I'm still somewhat convinced Dallas was one of the teams that reached out to him this year. That's a gut feeling rather than actual proof though.

 

[Elysian]

@serp is totally correct. A buyout would honestly be irresponsible. It's all cap penalty and zero savings. The answer is he must take a smaller role, and that means a coach that's willing to do it. Honestly, it's the one thing about Babcock that I could see being a positive if they do pursue him as the coach.

That's not to say I think Babcock is the ultimate answer at coach, but in terms of managing Benn and Seguin and surviving those cap hits, you need a strong coach that will pull back and not play them as much when they're off and OK with pushing a bit when they're on. The organization is going to have to break its current habit of just expecting them to be something they're not because of their salary.

Babcock said his relationship with Nill played a role in his coming to Detroit. I could totally see Gaglardi loving a retread like Babcock as well. His name surfacing with Dallas would not shock me at all. I'm still somewhat convinced Dallas was one of the teams that reached out to him this year. That's a gut feeling rather than actual proof though.

The smaller role should be getting his dirty ass off this team. Sorry but not sorry.

If we're going for a fired disgraced coach it should be Q.

 

[Dynamite Time]

Robertson was better towards the end of the series, but still bad.
Hintz was also pretty bad, but it's not hard when you only have to focus on 2 players to shut down an entire team

Thing is though they weren’t bad; what would be good or great under Bowness?

 

[kabidjan18]

I got to be honest ... I'm fairly optimistic about the off-season ... maybe a little high off of how fun that series was ...

But @kabidjan18 is scaring the hell out of me. If the team is actually blissfully ignorant of who they think they are ... that's terrifying. The building blocks of this team are enviable. You arguably have a franchise forward, defender, and goalie.

That's awesome.

What franchise forward? Our best skater was 33rd in PPG (skaters above 10 GP). There are 32 teams in the league.

What franchise defenseman? Our highest scoring defenseman on contract for next season was 41st in PPG (skaters above 10 GP).

I believe in this team because I believe in the identity they've created for themselves. The way they play hockey. And I believe it has great and enviable building blocks to move forward.

If you want to cast aside the value of defensive play, and this team should just be a running and gunning team like Colorado. I'm deeply sorry to tell you but the building blocks that our team have are actually not even slightly enviable.

And I understand that may be hard to comprehend for homers with rose colored glasses. I saw a Dallas fan intervene in another post when another Dallas fan was insisting that Jason Robertson was as dynamic as Kirill Kaprizov. That, but for Bowness, Robertson outscores Kaprizov. Lol ok. But if the goal is to play hockey like other teams play hockey, fans of other teams wouldn't look at our team and say "wow I really envy their core, that's a core that could really contend one day."

 

[serp]

Dude hurts the team on the ice where it matters most.

Because he is still playing way too many minutes. We need a coach who is willing to reduce his role to fourth line 8-12 minutes grinder consitently if need be.

Similar to how Dustin Brown with the Kings got a super reduced role for a couple of years when he sucked.

 

[M88K]

Because he is still playing way too many minutes. We need a coach who is willing to reduce his role to fourth line 8-12 minutes grinder consitently if need be.

Similar to how Dustin Brown with the Kings got a super reduced role for a couple of years when he sucked.

I honestly think you could retain 50% on. Benn and ship him somewhere, his replacement at even 4.5m would be a net positive, with 0 cap savings.

But it isn't going to happen. We're locked to those 2

 

[Dynamite Time]

Coach on the bench hurts it most.

 

[serp]

I honestly think you could retain 50% on. Benn and ship him somewhere, his replacement at even 4.5m would be a net positive, with 0 cap savings.

But it isn't going to happen. We're locked to those 2

He is not waiving his NMC for a non-contender and i don't see a contender taking him even at 50% . He also still has 3 years left . Thats probably still too long to trade for him in a gamble type move.

If he sucks on his new team as well they're stuck with him for quite a while

 

[BG44]

Are you kidding?

The Stars had the second best GA/G in this playoffs (2.14). 2nd of 16 teams against the 6th highest scoring team in the league in the regular season. If you think that's a "midpack" defense then you're pretty delusional. The only better team was the Calgary Flames (2.00).

Oetter was very good, even an improvement on past goalies, but he was not a freak. Any more than Khudobin was a freak in 2020 or Bishop was a freak in 2019. Every year, the opposing team shoots 40 shots a game from the fringe and maybe 5 or so actual high danger chances. The goalie, whichever goalie Dallas has, stops all the low percentage shots and some of the high danger chances. And EVERY year without fail the commentary team goes on and on "wow this goaltender looks so good it's inexplicable. There's no explanation for why the goaltender in Dallas is different every year and yet every year his save percentage is something obscene." It's an extremely simple minded level of analysis. And when Carey Price suddenly saw his save percentage jump by 2.3 points in the playoffs from the regular season, the full extent of the commentary was "wow! Carey Price is standing on his head!" Good defense gets mistaken for good goaltending by people whose full comprehension of hockey is looking up some corsi numbers and it's why year to year, teams that have higher xGF lose in the playoffs and then we return to this stupid conversation again.

You realize you're cherry-picking a stat, GAA, that is the result of insane goaltending right? I'm not bagging on the team. They were outplayed according to every single metric. It's OK to state facts.

If you want the Dallas Stars to be the best team. I get it that's fine. I"m not going to try and take that away, but they were overwhelmed every game with the exception of Game 6. That's why every single fan (many not even Dallas fans) is gaga over Oettinger right now. You realize that right? They saw a guy under siege for 6 of 7 games who was heroic. That only happens if you're significantly outplayed.

I apologize, but you're on an island here.

Good teams are OK with admitting their shortcomings. That's sort of how they address and correct them.

 

[Dynamite Time]

Benn and Seguin aren’t going anywhere, we’re stuck with them.

 

[M88K]

He is not waiving his NMC for a non-contender and i don't see a contender taking him even at 50% . He also still has 3 years left . Thats probably still too long to trade for him in a gamble type move.

If he sucks on his new team as well they're stuck with him for quite a while

Lucic got traded with a higher cap hit then Benn at 50% and was and is still a worse player. So it's possible even if extremely unlikely

 

[Dynamite Time]

I’d like to think prospects Johnston, Bourque etc would grab 100% positive things from them (Benn & Seguin) but I see them taking off on their own.

 

[serp]

Lucic got traded with a higher cap hit then Benn at 50% and was and is still a worse player. So it's possible even if extremely unlikely

Lucic got traded for an even worse contract the Oilers had to buy out. Sure if you can find a team Benn is willing to waive his NMC for a worse contract its possible but i don't know who that would be.

 

[Dynamite Time]

Lucic got trade for an even worse contract the Oilers had to buy out. Sure if you can find a team Benn is willing to waive his NMC for with a contract like thats its possible but i don't know who that would be.

Nobody

 

[BG44]

Lucic got tradedwith a higher cap hit then Benn at 50% and was and is still a worse player. So it's possible even if extremely unlikely

I think this may actually be worse than you realize. You're saying Benn is Lucic ... and I can totally buy that scenario playing out the same way.

Lucic was traded for an equally bad contract, and then he actually turned into a solid role player for his new team. Dallas isn't Calgary in your example. They're Edmonton who retained on Lucic and ultimately bought out Neal.

 

[M88K]

Lucic got traded for an even worse contract the Oilers had to buy out. Sure if you can find a team Benn is willing to waive his NMC for a worse contract its possible but i don't know who that would be.

Even still, they could buy out a bad contract coming back, retain 50% and still come out ahead. Buying out benn is a no go, but just about every other contract would offer some relief

 

[Dynamite Time]

I think this may actually be worse than you realize. You're saying Benn is Lucic ... and I can totally buy that scenario playing out the same way.

Lucic was traded for an equally bad contract, and then he actually turned into a solid role player for his new team. Dallas isn't Calgary in your example. They're Edmonton who retained on Lucic and ultimately bought out Neal.

I’d rather be the Oilers or Flames at the moment.

 

[M88K]

I think this may actually be worse than you realize. You're saying Benn is Lucic ... and I can totally buy that scenario playing out the same way.

Lucic was traded for an equally bad contract, and then he actually turned into a solid role player for his new team. Dallas isn't Calgary in your example. They're Edmonton who retained on Lucic and ultimately bought out Neal.

Yes, but we talking benn at 4.75m, vs lucic at 5.25m.
Even if they take someone back and buy them out. They end up with around 2m in space, chances are that's better than keeping Benn around.

But theres like a 1% chance it happens, so it is moot anyway

Benn today > Lucic.

 

[Dynamite Time]

Yes, but we talking benn at 4.5m, vs lucic at 6m.
Even if they take someone back and buy them out. They end up with around 2m in space, chances are that's better than keeping Benn around.

But theres like a 1% chance it happens, so it is moot anyway

Benn isn’t going anywhere; stuck with Seguin as well.

 

[serp]

Philly has dumb management and has several really bad contracts but i don't think Benn waives to go to that shitshow . Maybe if Stars allow Philly to bamboozle and trick Benn with a snazzy presentation .

 

[BG44]

Yes, but we talking benn at 4.5m, vs lucic at 6m.
Even if they take someone back and buy them out. They end up with around 2m in space, chances are that's better than keeping Benn around.

But theres like a 1% chance it happens, so it is moot anyway

Oh yeah, that's fine. If you're conceding 1% chance ... I'll concede this is the 1 scenario where this actually happens. It's plausible. I'll even give you 5%.

 

[M88K]

Benn isn’t going anywhere; stuck with Seguin as well.

Right, I've said the same thing 3x, yet people seem to think I'm saying the opposite.