Speculation: Summer 2018 General Speculation/Discussion Thread

[CBJWerenski8]

- Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky could be with the Columbus Blue Jackets for a long time or could be gone before the season starts, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said Friday.
Though a contract extension for the forward and goalie remain possible, Kekalainen wouldn't commit to either opening the season at the Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 4.

"I can't," Kekalainen said. "In this business, there's always talks between the general managers whether you've got pending free agents or not. We talk regularly. Sometimes there's trades. So I'm not speculating on them. I'm just saying we talk all the time, so I wouldn't say about any player whether they're a pending free agent or not that they'll be on our team in October because anything can happen between now and Oct. 3."

The Blue Jackets have until July 1 to sign Panarin and Bobrovsky before each can become an unrestricted free agent.
"I think we have to make some decisions based on where it goes at the appropriate time," Kekalainen said. "If we can't work out a contract, then we'll have to make some decisions. I wouldn't say they're just going to stay and ride out into the sunset.

"Where we're at with our team, we have to make some decisions and we're hopeful we can get contracts done. If not, we'll have to make some decisions."

"We want to keep them and we haven't been able to be successful yet in extending their contracts, but we're still optimistic we can get things done and we feel they can be a huge part of our team in the future," Kekalainen said. "We're going to have a good team into the future and hopefully they want to be part of it. That's our mindset right now, to keep working at it."

Panarin, Bobrovsky not guaranteed to start season with Blue Jackets

But things are changing. There’s Tavares. And there’s also Artemi Panarin, who has already made it clear that he doesn’t want to sign long-term with the team in which he currently is employed in Columbus. He’s part of a stacked free agent Class of 2019 and that standpoint has led to plenty of trade speculation, although his agent Dan Milstein said on Thursday that he expects Panarin to open the season in Columbus.

“We’ve spoken with management and we expect Panarin to be with the Blue Jackets,” Milstein told The Athletic.
Depending on what happens with Karlsson and the Senators, it might be Milstein’s client who is the most likely to follow the Tavares blueprint.

“Look at it this way, you only become a UFA once in your career when you have an option and opportunity to sign a long-term contract,” he said. “Loyalty is important but you’re given the right by the CBA to see what’s out there.”

Custance: How potential star free agents view the John...

 

[thebus88]

Make those "decisions" Jarmo.

 

[thebus88]

The Athletic's Craig Custance interviewed a player, a coach, executive, and scout to project all 31 teams into tiers.

“The unknown is that on deadline day they could look a hell of a lot different,” said the coach. “I can’t imagine they would take either one of those guys past the deadline just to get a Cup run out of them. I don’t think they can afford that."
​

Panarin, Bobrovsky not guaranteed to start season with Blue Jackets

"I think we have to make some decisions based on where it goes at the appropriate time,"

"If we can't work out a contract, then we'll have to make some decisions. I wouldn't say they're just going to stay and ride out into the sunset."

"Where we're at with our team,"


"We're going to have a good team into the future and hopefully they want to be part of it"


-The "sun" is "setting" on both the Panarin AND Bobrovsky era's of the CBJ. The question now should not be, "If"?, but, "When and Who"? To me it seems like the 'CBJ' have done all they are going to do to "woo" Bob and Panarin, the 'ball is in their court'.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

So does the Dispatch have anyone left doing CBJ coverage? Gorten is gone. I just saw George Richards is leaving.

 

[KJ Dangler]

So does the Dispatch have anyone left doing CBJ coverage? Gorten is gone. I just saw George Richards is leaving.

Was Richards ever really here ? Dude seemed like he was half here, gorten was their main presence . Sure would be nice if we could get an actual good beat writer

 

[CBJWerenski8]

So does the Dispatch have anyone left doing CBJ coverage? Gorten is gone. I just saw George Richards is leaving.

Yeah tough day and tough news for the CBJ beat. Mark Shieg from TWH speculated the Dispatch might not even cover the CBJ.



Anyway, Adam Jardy is currently covering the team in Traverse. Wonder if they'll bother with hiring new people or just give Arace and Jardy the job. Either way, its a tough loss for CBJ beat.

 

[EspenK]

Was Richards ever really here ? Dude seemed like he was half here, gorten was their main presence . Sure would be nice if we could get an actual good beat writer

I think we will when the beat writer population increases to a level of say, NY or LA, so there are more opportunities to hang out and discuss common likes and dislikes. Or when Columbus gets an ocean or when a beat writer's beautiful, sexy girl friend is a Buckeye at heart.

 

[JacketsDavid]

Vegas does not like the Jackets. Caesars sports book originally had CBJ at 18:1 to win the cup. Newest odds are 28:1.

 

[KJ Dangler]

Interesting quotes from Legace ....

Elvis is very close to being ready to play in the NHL," said the goalkeeper coach of the Blue Jackets, Manny Legace . "We would like to take him to Columbus as soon as possible (at the end of the season with Lugano, ed) to let him play some AHL games, so that he can get used to the traffic in front of him and the environment in North America".
"Making the jump directly into NHL could be difficult for him - continued Legace - and a period of adaptation, which could last a month or two in AHL, is to be expected. Elvis is an NHL goalkeeper. "
As already happened to several other Swiss players, Merzlikins could have the opportunity to reach North America already at the end of the NLA playoffs (which will end at the latest on 27 April). The AHL playoffs will start on April 15th instead .


“Elvis è un portiere NHL”, Columbus esprime grande fiducia per un futuro con Merzlikins – HeShootsHeScoores

 

[CBJWerenski8]

I don't believe in these things, but maybe some of you do, so..

 

[CBJFan827]

I don't believe in these things, but maybe some of you do, so..

Fascinating!

 

[major major]

It's a cool project.

There are some issues with his model though, you can tell when you look at how he values individual players in the roster projection. He has Kukan with the biggest contribution on the team, so obviously the model doesn't factor in sample size enough. And don't ask me why Panarin is so low.

 

[Cyclones Rock]

I don't believe in these things, but maybe some of you do, so..

This guy needs drug testing

 

[Johansen2Foligno]

This guy needs drug testing

I'd like to have what he's having...maybe just half, though.

 

[DJA]

So, anybody have any ideas WTF is happening at the Dispatch? Losing two beat writers in less than a calendar year? Is the Athletic paying that much? Or is it just intolerable to work for our local rag?

Or are Richards and Gorten just pulling a Panarin?

 

[thebus88]

Or are Richards and Gorten just pulling a Panarin?

"All anybody care about is college football"

-George Richards

 

[CBJWerenski8]

On first glance, your percentages aren't adding up. If there's 6 guys at 75%+ for the remaining 6 spots, then there is a probability of a spot and a half (6 x (1-.75)) or less left for the next group of guys, and you have 11 more at 50%+, which adds up to 5 and a half spots.

I think the 6 are at 75%+, perhaps excepting Hannikainen, but the next group of 11 is more like 5-20% chance, not 50%. Maybe 25% for Davidsson, Robinson, and Abramov.

The % are more for a reference of how likely they are going to make the team. The bubble guys should read 50% or less, because if all the guys from likely make it in that's all the spots, so that's my bad there.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

So, anybody have any ideas WTF is happening at the Dispatch? Losing two beat writers in less than a calendar year? Is the Athletic paying that much? Or is it just intolerable to work for our local rag?

Or are Richards and Gorten just pulling a Panarin?

Not only that, but they lost their entire coverage team two years in a row.

I don't know if it's due to pay or whatever, but in an increasingly newspaperless world and the emergence of The Athletic it's tough sledding for them to compete for the best writers. They may have to scrap their entire coverage of the Jackets, or not have a beat reporter and just have someone like Arace do write ups on review of the games.

Or they could hire me. I'll do it.

 

[major major]

Not only that, but they lost their entire coverage team two years in a row.

I don't know if it's due to pay or whatever, but in an increasingly newspaperless world and the emergence of The Athletic it's tough sledding for them to compete for the best writers. They may have to scrap their entire coverage of the Jackets, or not have a beat reporter and just have someone like Arace do write ups on review of the games.

Or they could hire me. I'll do it.

Find out if they still pay people. But seriously, you should call them and find out. They might hire you.

My impression is that it's not so much that the Athletic has raised demands for salaries (it has) but newspapers have been holding down expenditures for so long, they can't attract talent.

 

[Cyclones Rock]

Find out if they still pay people. But seriously, you should call them and find out. They might hire you.

My impression is that it's not so much that the Athletic has raised demands for salaries (it has) but newspapers have been holding down expenditures for so long, they can't attract talent.

Are you saying that CBJWennberg10 lacks talent?

 

[major major]

Are you saying that CBJWemmberg10 lacks talent?

No, I meant they can't attract the talent that wants to be paid in U.S. currency, as opposed to peanuts and "exposure". When you don't have kids, and your main expenditure is Blue Jackets tickets, you might find that appealing.

I'm sort of joking. Maybe they pay well.

 

[MAHJ71]

Not only that, but they lost their entire coverage team two years in a row.

I don't know if it's due to pay or whatever, but in an increasingly newspaperless world and the emergence of The Athletic it's tough sledding for them to compete for the best writers. They may have to scrap their entire coverage of the Jackets, or not have a beat reporter and just have someone like Arace do write ups on review of the games.

Or they could hire me. I'll do it.

Find out if they still pay people. But seriously, you should call them and find out. They might hire you.

My impression is that it's not so much that the Athletic has raised demands for salaries (it has) but newspapers have been holding down expenditures for so long, they can't attract talent.

I'd love to know what the Athletic is paying all these guys that they are plucking from newspapers. Seem to be able to hire at will.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

I'd love to know what the Athletic is paying all these guys that they are plucking from newspapers. Seem to be able to hire at will.

You have to wonder if it's sustainable. (No Jackets win-streak or PP percentage jokes, please.) I think there's no requirement to be on the road, as opposed to a traditional beat writer. I'm not 100% sure of that but I seem to recall there was on-record talk of that WRT Portzline.

 

[MAHJ71]

You have to wonder if it's sustainable. (No Jackets win-streak or PP percentage jokes, please.) I think there's no requirement to be on the road, as opposed to a traditional beat writer. I'm not 100% sure of that but I seem to recall there was on-record talk of that WRT Portzline.

I remember reading one of their earliest articles in which they said they needed 10,000 subs in each covered city to be sustainable... but only they have those numbers and it still doesn’t answer what they’re paying everybody.

I’m still amazed at how fast they’ve scaled the coverage. Not a Portzline fan but I can say in general I’ve enjoyed reading the Atheltic style of an article more so than any newspaper article I’ve ever read (outside of the fact that it’s digital only). You just seem to get deeper insight with the Athletic — cool tidbits here and there that I don’t remember ever getting with a newspaper.

One negative I will say is how easily some of their writers get defensive on social media such as Twitter. Everyone knows Portzline is super quick to block people who don’t share his opinion but I’ve also seen first hand Rutherford from STL get overly upset with a few CBJ fans who simply and respectfully questioned a story he did on Panarin right around the time when STL had entered the rumor.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

I remember reading one of their earliest articles in which they said they needed 10,000 subs in each covered city to be sustainable... but only they have those numbers and it still doesn’t answer what they’re paying everybody.

I’m still amazed at how fast they’ve scaled the coverage. Not a Portzline fan but I can say in general I’ve enjoyed reading the Atheltic style of an article more so than any newspaper article I’ve ever read (outside of the fact that it’s digital only). You just seem to get deeper insight with the Athletic — cool tidbits here and there that I don’t remember ever getting with a newspaper.

One negative I will say is how easily some of their writers get defensive on social media such as Twitter. Everyone knows Portzline is super quick to block people who don’t share his opinion but I’ve also seen first hand Rutherford from STL get overly upset with a few CBJ fans who simply and respectfully questioned a story he did on Panarin right around the time when STL had entered the rumor.

I'd say the in-depth thing has three explanations:
1) No space restrictions in digital.
2) Coverage less tied to game-by-game reports, etc.
3) The blurring of opinion/analysis into reporting.