The 2019-20 Around the League Thread, Pt. III

[Hyzer]

Wow Rielly got his jock strap fed to him, oh my lord. What a deceptive fake with absolutely INSANE edge work. JFC

 

[4Twenty]

To be fair, the Sharks on paper are a powerhouse of a team... in 2016/17. The problem for them, is that it's 2020.

I agree. But I don’t think they’re a truly bad team currently if they get better goaltending and a better PP.

They’ve had a significant drop in production from what was looking like a promising young group not long ago. Meier and Leblanc have gone from 70 pt pace and a 56 point player to a 52 point and 39 point pace player.

They’re definitely not a “good” team but they’re also getting league worst goaltending.

 

[WTG]

Quick is very not good

 

[Hit the post]

Wow Rielly got his jock strap fed to him, oh my lord.

Bovinder wants to see a clip of that. You got a link?

 

[Hyzer]

Bovinder wants to see a clip of that. You got a link?

 

[Jyrki]

This didn’t age well

They're still a terrible team. They live and die by McDavid/Draisatl highlight plays.

 

[PG Canuck]

This didn’t age well

Doesn’t change anything lol. Do I need to come quote you in a few weeks when the Oilers fall on their face again, like I’ve done with others who think they’re something special?

McDrai are absolute studs and great for the game but they won’t have team success.

 

[Spectrefire]

I agree. But I don’t think they’re a truly bad team currently if they get better goaltending and a better PP.

They’ve had a significant drop in production from what was looking like a promising young group not long ago. Meier and Leblanc have gone from 70 pt pace and a 56 point player to a 52 point and 39 point pace player.

They’re definitely not a “good” team but they’re also getting league worst goaltending.

They have almost $6 million tied up in an AHL goaltender for this season and the next 4 and because of some truly awful contracts in Burns, Karlsson, and Vlasic, they don't have the room to get a remotely better goaltender. Its made worse by the fact that they have no way to clear salary. No team is taking on Karlson, Burns, Vlasic, Jones, or Couture. Kane, Meier, and Hertl are the only other big money deals, but they're actually playing well relative to their salary, and getting rid of them just simply opens up another massive hole on the roster. They can't even offer a bad team incentives to take a bad contract because they're all out of incentives. They have next to nothing in their prospect pool, and they gave away most of their draft picks for 2020.

Next year won't be better considering they dont have a single big contract coming off the books that would save them money.

Also, Kevin Labanc has to be the dictionary definition of one of the dumbest players in the league. Dude came off a 56 point campaign, had a perfect opportunity to cash in, and instead opted to take a 1 million deal out of loyalty.

Now the team's looking to compete for Lafreniere rather than a cup, his numbers and play have dropped significantly, and there's talk about shipping him out of town as a throw in to get rid of cap. He might've literally just passed on the only big payday of his career.

 

[Buzz Gunderson]

They have almost $6 million tied up in an AHL goaltender for this season and the next 4 and because of some truly awful contracts in Burns, Karlsson, and Vlasic, they don't have the room to get a remotely better goaltender. Its made worse by the fact that they have no way to clear salary. No team is taking on Karlson, Burns, Vlasic, Jones, or Couture. Kane, Meier, and Hertl are the only other big money deals, but they're actually playing well relative to their salary, and getting rid of them just simply opens up another massive hole on the roster. They can't even offer a bad team incentives to take a bad contract because they're all out of incentives. They have next to nothing in their prospect pool, and they gave away most of their draft picks for 2020.

Next year won't be better considering they dont have a single big contract coming off the books that would save them money.

Also, Kevin Labanc has to be the dictionary definition of one of the dumbest players in the league. Dude came off a 56 point campaign, had a perfect opportunity to cash in, and instead opted to take a 1 million deal out of loyalty.

Now the team's looking to compete for Lafreniere rather than a cup, his numbers and play have dropped significantly, and there's talk about shipping him out of town as a throw in to get rid of cap. He might've literally just passed on the only big payday of his career.

They have no shot at Lafreniere. They traded that pick away. I thought they might have another year or two in them but they look done. They might be one of the slowest teams in the league. As you say no prospects or young guys coming up. That could be a real tire fire for a while. Tying up all those old broken D to eight year deals was a brilliant move by Doug Wilson.

 

[Horse McHindu]

Wow Rielly got his jock strap fed to him, oh my lord. What a deceptive fake with absolutely INSANE edge work. JFC

Just saw the play myself.

I’m starting to think that McDavid is the best player that I’ve ever seen play the game. Better than Crosby, better than Lemieux, better than Gretzky.

 

[Hughes4Norris]

Yup.

San Jose has been an elite team basically since 2003 and the heyday of the West Coast Express. Wilson has done an absolutely incredible job of turning that team over and keeping them competitive.

Unfortunately for him, the #1 goalie he gave a big contract to fell off the face of the earth at age 28 and is completely sinking what should otherwise still be a quality playoff team.

Like San Jose probably wins the cup last year if they don’t get decimated with injuries last year in the third round.

Calling out an incredibly successful GM for nearly two decades for a poor season is pretty hilarious.

 

[Hughes4Norris]

They have no shot at Lafreniere. They traded that pick away. I thought they might have another year or two in them but they look done. They might be one of the slowest teams in the league. As you say no prospects or young guys coming up. That could be a real tire fire for a while. Tying up all those old broken D to eight year deals was a brilliant move by Doug Wilson.

They signed Burns in 2016 and watched him be one of the top 5 defenders in the NHL while the team competed for the Stanley Cup.

Erik Karlsson despite being “old and broken” is scoring at a ~60 point rate with good underlying numbers.

Id rather have former Norris winners as my bad contracts than unplayable 4th liners and AHL players.

 

[Stormblessed]

Preds hiring Hynes as their new coach

 

[Buzz Gunderson]

They signed Burns in 2016 and watched him be one of the top 5 defenders in the NHL while the team competed for the Stanley Cup.

Erik Karlsson despite being “old and broken” is scoring at a ~60 point rate with good underlying numbers.

Id rather have former Norris winners as my bad contracts than unplayable 4th liners and AHL players.

Sure if their contracts only had two or three years left. They have 6 to 8 years left on these clowns who are 30-34 now. They are millstone contracts. 25 million tied up in those guys for the next six seasons.

 

[Hughes4Norris]

Sure if their contracts only had two or three years left. They have 6 to 8 years left on these clowns who are 30-34 now. They are millstone contracts. 25 million tied up in those guys for the next six seasons.

Clowns? They would have both been the best two defenders in our franchises history.

 

[Buzz Gunderson]

Clowns? They would have both been the best two defenders in our franchises history.

And they are shells of what they used to be. Grossly overpaid and all three for massive term. They’ve had great careers but those three contracts along with Jones isn’t poor cap management it’s cap manglement.

 

[Spectrefire]

Id rather have former Norris winners as my bad contracts than unplayable 4th liners and AHL players.

Well since Martin Jones is on the team, why not both?

 

[Szechwan]

Yeah I don't buy that this is the death of the SJ Sharks. They clearly need to make some changes, but I won't be at all surprised to see them giving someone trouble in the playoffs next season.

First and foremost, they should be doing everything possible to replace Jones. That guy is awful, and has been for a while. Grab Georgiev, or gamble on prying Demko out before expansion and they're in a much better spot. Hell maybe they get lucky and Seattle takes Jones off their hands for a sweetener.

I just don't believe that this team is a perennial basement dweller like some in this thread. Don't think they'll return to contender status either though.

 

[timw33]

Preds hiring Hynes as their new coach

Coach recycling in the NHL continues.

 

[vancityluongo]

Coach recycling in the NHL continues.

And again purely out of nepotism. Hynes is buddies with the Preds' front office.



The NHL is fascinating. Most professionals do everything they can to hide nepotism when it occurs. NHL executives straight up tell reporters what the relationship is.

 

[Zombotron]

The 2019-20 Around the League Thread, Pt. IV