Yzerman Press Conference at 5:45

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

Sports journalists (most of them), including the "successful" & the majority of beat writers are mostly shills, just like the MSM. They're paid on clicks & conversions, not content. The content is for the very casual fan of (insert local sports teams) that couldn't name 1/3 of a given sports team's roster. Much less advanced metrics etc. No critical thought, just puff pieces to sell for (poor/bad) "entertainment". Only a mindless jellyfish reads their crap. Go to any sports bar during a game & ask a few random people fairly basic questions about "their team" & you'll find most have no clue, as they're just there for the social aspect, getting drunk, even acting like a fool. They just wanna feel like they're part of something. I've literally experienced this 100's of times (usually not in a sports bar setting though), where you'll see some dude in a Rangers/Flyers/Bruins (random team) hat, you mention the possibility of Ghost being traded and the impact on their roster & they don't even know who Ghost is...prime example.

I'd rather read a trade proposal by Bernmeister (known for insane trade ideas & Ranger fan) on HFBoards than more MSM sports journalist pieces.

On that note, off the top of my head, Dobber does a great job breaking down the analytics etc.

 

[Syckle78]

Sports journalists (most of them), including the "successful" & the majority of beat writers are mostly shills, just like the MSM. They're paid on clicks & conversions, not content. The content is for the very casual fan of (insert local sports teams) that couldn't name 1/3 of a given sports team's roster. Much less advanced metrics etc. No critical thought, just puff pieces to sell for (poor/bad) "entertainment". Only a mindless jellyfish reads their crap. Go to any sports bar during a game & ask a few random people fairly basic questions about "their team" & you'll find most have no clue, as they're just there for the social aspect, getting drunk, even acting like a fool. They just wanna feel like they're part of something. I've literally experienced this 100's of times (usually not in a sports bar setting though), where you'll see some dude in a Rangers/Flyers/Bruins (random team) hat, you mention the possibility of Ghost being traded and the impact on their roster & they don't even know who Ghost is...prime example.

I'd rather read a trade proposal by Bernmeister (known for insane trade ideas & Ranger fan) on HFBoards than more MSM sports journalist pieces.

On that note, off the top of my head, Dobber does a great job breaking down the analytics etc.

No offense but you're the red and white version of bern on the trade boards. Your valuations for cap dumps in particular are insane.

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

No offense but you're the red and white version of bern on the trade boards. Your valuations for cap dumps in particular are insane.

The cap dumps/casualties is uncharted territory, so my valuations may be off a bit for now, I'll give you that much. But that doesn't mean the present climate will remain that way, we have 3 seasons of this marathon to go, it'll get more interesting I believe.

Unbeknown to you, I almost never do trade proposals, I usually just respond in a thread, often low-balling to varying degrees (negotiations 101)...so I understand why you'd draw a parallel to Bernmeister.

 

[MBH]

Are you aware how bitter and envious you sound every single time you sound off on actually successful sports journalists?

Are you aware of how obsessed you look when you constantly resort to insults and never actually address the substance of anything I say?

No, see, that's why so many of us like it. It legitimately doesn't matter. It's entertainment - full stop.

And I was a lot more invested in the the HBO series Chernobyl than anything the Wings have produced in the last decade.

Arguing about sports is as old as sports itself.
And without it - message boards go away.

Gifs and memes take it only so far.

 

[MBH]

Josh Anderson Stats | Hockey-Reference.com

This guy, garbage at 25.

Andreas Athanasiou Stats | Hockey-Reference.com

This guy, only bad because of a douchebag coach.

You may want to try this truth thing yourself.

E: I agree with your premise on the inanity of the Athletic tho. What is the point of reading it and paying to read it if it just angers you? Anderson's contract is bad from the moment it was signed... but if you're a beat writer for a team, you're not going to say "HEY THIS GUY THE TEAM TRADED FOR IS CRAP AND LOL AT THEM FOR SIGNING HIM TO A BAD EXTENSION"

Athanasiou
11 goals in 55 games in a terrible year.
Anderson
1 goal in 26 games.

Come on.

I read it like I read the NY Times. To be informed about things that interest me.
I read it like I read the prospects post - because there's info there that I'm tracking.

 

[Nut Upstrom]

The Athletic likes to think they've done something differently.
But go through, team by team.
All the beatwriters are singing the praises of their GMs' signings.

Even the f***ing Habs, who are spending $14.5M on goalies and then went and overpaid for f***ing Josh Anderson in a trade... and then drastically overpaid him...Even their beat writer shows few hints of critical thought.

"The Canadiens enter free agency in an ideal position.
No, their team is not necessarily ideal. They could use some help in certain areas still, but it is more their state of mind that is in a good place for when the free-agent market opens at noon ET on Friday."

Basu talks about a bit of risk once Anderson is over 30... not mentioning Anderson was garbage at age 25 or whatever he is.

"In the meantime, however, he is an important addition for the Canadiens, and the AAV comes in right around where it should have been expected with Anderson so close to unrestricted free agency."

Joke.
Josh Anderson has scored 20 goals ONCE in his career. And he's coming off a season where he scored ONE GOAL in 26 games.

This isn't reporting. It's asslicking.

People can talk about how they don't mind fluff or don't see value in hard questions - or questions that might shine a bit more light on the truth... which is the point of "hard questions."

But what's the point of reading this stuff? Let alone paying to read it?
How can every Athletic beat writer be writing about the GM they cover is shrewd or improving their team and doing good things?

Give me Art Regner - an unabashed slappie - if this is the best we can do.

It's only f***ing sports.
So it's not serious.
But f***. It's serious enough that millions of us motherf***ers argue about it every day. And that's why these yahoos get paid to write about it.
So try writing some truth.

I don't want to go off topic and get into a big back and forth over this, but there are a lot of fans who are going to get a big wake up call on Josh Anderson. You can't look at last year, he missed most of it due to injury. But anyone who watches this kid knows he is a beast in the making, assuming he is healthy going forward.
Stapled to 3rd and 4th checking lines, limited to 2nd unit or no pp time for most of his time with CBJ.
He is big, physical, skates well, has good hands, kills penalties, chips in on the scoreboard and is bound to start blossoming offensively if Montreal is wise enough to play him top 6 and on the pp.
For me the Domi/Anderson trade is a big win for Montreal, again, assuming he is healthy - and I doubt Montreal does the trade if he is not.

I've wished him on the Wings for a while, one of my favorite non-wings in the league.

 

[MBH]

I don't want to go off topic and get into a big back and forth over this, but there are a lot of fans who are going to get a big wake up call on Josh Anderson. You can't look at last year, he missed most of it due to injury. But anyone who watches this kid knows he is a beast in the making, assuming he is healthy going forward.
Stapled to 3rd and 4th checking lines, limited to 2nd unit or no pp time for most of his time with CBJ.
He is big, physical, skates well, has good hands, kills penalties, chips in on the scoreboard and is bound to start blossoming offensively if Montreal is wise enough to play him top 6 and on the pp.
For me the Domi/Anderson trade is a big win for Montreal, again, assuming he is healthy - and I doubt Montreal does the trade if he is not.

I've wished him on the Wings for a while, one of my favorite non-wings in the league.

Josh Anderson has not earned anywhere close to his contract.
That's the point.
And if you look at the trade board, most fans are pretty stunned to see Montreal be the team adding in that trade.
26 year old power forward coming of a shoulder injury....literally scored one goal last year.

If I was a Montreal fan, I'd be pretty pissed at the offseason Bergevin was having.

*Trading away Domi and adding to get Anderson, then paying a 7x5.5M contract for a 26-year-old who scored 1 goal last year.
* Trading for Jake Allen, who makes $4,5M a year (a guy many thought St. Louis would have to dump off with a draft pick).
* 4 year deal for Toffoli at $4.5M. Not bad. But Toffoli is kind of a weird player. Not that skilled. Not fast. Not big.
* What about Joel Edmunson at $3.5M? Worth it?

All this money spent, and does Montreal have a top-line center? You've got Danault/Suziki who could be OK 2s and 3s if you have a good 1. But they don't.
When the Canadiens crash in about a year or two, it's going to be one of the biggest disasters around. Fortunately, for them, at least Nashville get take the brunt of the Weber cap hit.

I still find myself rooting for the Habs when I watch them play against most teams. But man, they're just waiting to implode.

 

[Nut Upstrom]

Josh Anderson has not earned anywhere close to his contract.
That's the point.
And if you look at the trade board, most fans are pretty stunned to see Montreal be the team adding in that trade.
26 year old power forward coming of a shoulder injury....literally scored one goal last year.

If I was a Montreal fan, I'd be pretty pissed at the offseason Bergevin was having.

*Trading away Domi and adding to get Anderson, then paying a 7x5.5M contract for a 26-year-old who scored 1 goal last year.
* Trading for Jake Allen, who makes $4,5M a year (a guy many thought St. Louis would have to dump off with a draft pick).
* 4 year deal for Toffoli at $4.5M. Not bad. But Toffoli is kind of a weird player. Not that skilled. Not fast. Not big.
* What about Joel Edmunson at $3.5M? Worth it?

All this money spent, and does Montreal have a top-line center? You've got Danault/Suziki who could be OK 2s and 3s if you have a good 1. But they don't.
When the Canadiens crash in about a year or two, it's going to be one of the biggest disasters around. Fortunately, for them, at least Nashville get take the brunt of the Weber cap hit.

I still find myself rooting for the Habs when I watch them play against most teams. But man, they're just waiting to implode.

If that's your opinion, that's cool. I guess we'll see.
I did look at the trade boards, they overwhelmingly disagree with my opinion, which is fine. As I said, I think a lot of fans are in for a wake up call on JA.

I generally avoid watching the Habs, so if you watch them and root for them, I think you might change your mind on Anderson. Let me know, I'd be interested in hearing how he's doing whenever we get a bit into the season.

And while I get that the more negative points you use makes your opinion stronger, you really should leave out his having only one goal last season. He missed most of the year due to injury and, as any CBJ fan will tell you, he was likely playing with an injury when he did play.

 

[Oddbob]

Yea, get the female reporters outta here!

Meh! Not a sex thing at all! Her way of talking and the questions are very annoying to me the listener, but so is Art Regner who is easily the worst and most annoying person covering the Wings! Just because you have an issue with a woman doesn't right away mean that your sexist. That kind of comment is very annoying cause any time you complain about or are annoyed with a woman that complaint is basically the first go to. No one ever says who you must hate men, because Art Regner is terrible and insufferable!

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

There aren't any. Every team is now within a million of the cap aside from Arizona who has Hossa's LTIR contract. Go look on CapFriendly.

I told you multiple times that teams will dump assets for cheap than pay a 1st rounder to dump salary. There may still be some small deals to be made for players like Jensen, that's about it.

Can't believe you're still yammering on about cap dumps.

Only 1 team has a 23 man roster as of 10-13-20:

+ consider the internal caps for 20+ teams (they're still trying to dump)

6 teams over the Cap limit already, as of 10-13-20:

 

[Hatter of the Beach]

Yea, get the female reporters outta here!

Posts like these, while possibly made out of misplaced good intentions, limit a lot of potentially good dialogue and quite frankly are very unfair to the person you originally quoted.

I’m not denying that there are many sexists in the sports world, but most criticism I see of HSJ is valid. I don’t think she’s an overly talented writer or investigative journalist, but I don’t fault her for her role of essentially being a PR person for the wings, it’s smart to note bite the hand that feeds you, but that doesn’t mean we have to consider her work overly enjoyable.

She’s a writer who gets access and tidbits to serve as a mouth piece for the organization, nothing more, nothing less.

 

[lomekian]

1) HSJ knows her role, but she is an awful writer who needs a sub editor in a major way. Her questions are inane and I'm not sure she understands sentence construction.
2) Art Regner is like a human instigator for the mute button. The fact the Red Wings hire him show how little they care about the quality of their internal broadcasts. He knows no more than many on here, and has the delivery of someone 'being looked after in the community'
3) A lot of hockey coverage is really poor compared to other sports. Partly due to the way sports coverage is done in the US & Canada.
4) There is a reason why the Winged Wheel Podcast got more viewers/listeners on their draft content than the internal wings production. Three normal guys who are reasonably knowledgeable about hockey is still SO MUCH BETTER than what the Wings roll out. Carley's got a nice smile and seems good at connecting with the younger players, but if that's your strongest asset, your production is really really not up to scratch.

PS Josh Anderson has a lot of potential, but IS OVERPAID in a big way. The deal isn;t Abdelkader bad, but its definitely a risk/reward move, as to justify that salary he needs to have the 18/19 season as the low end of his mean performance, and there are definite question marks over that.

Generally the Habs have been odd to observe from afar. They seem to make a lot of moves that don't really take them anywhere. Its not like its been a disaster, but there's no real progress either.

 

[Henkka]

Then he needs some thicker skin. With how awful that roster was, the media was charmin soft on them.

Yeah, nobody likes answering the same questions about the same losses. But if any of the players thought the team was treated unfairly, they should watch coverage in New York or Philadelphia.

Or Canada.

Media is a killer there.

Controlled media in an advantage on long run.

 

[Henkka]

Yzerman holds all the cards, he can sit back & wait for the phones to ring. The clock is ticking for the desperate GM's. I'd like to see a bidding war on capspace for capdumps & casualties.

Let just the other teams fill their cap and make those problems bigger.

Then go to "help" them, with torching trades.

 

[Henkka]

That sounded like Ken Holland, when asked about those kids given a spot.

"tie goes to the veteran" - just with different words.

"I would be extremely happy if some young player has developed so much that we have to give him a roster spot."

Talked also about possible expanded rosters, so we'll see. Probably no AHL and rotation-system coming. Stevie just won't want to speculate with that yet.

 

[FabricDetails]

That sounded like Ken Holland, when asked about those kids given a spot.

"tie goes to the veteran" - just with different words.

"I would be extremely happy if some young player has developed so much that we have to give him a roster spot."

Yup...

I'm sure it's quite a time honored and tested way to manage player development. Still annoying.

 

[BinCookin]

I just watched this press conference.

I have noticed many of you flaming the media in general for not having hard hitting questions...

I am kinda curious what you want these reporters to ask.

They asked about the length of deals. (Short term for flexibility)
They asked about whether people being from Detroit was important. (No)
They asked how will the kids who are not loaned, how they will fare. (They have filled the roster with vets, and if a kid wins a sport, they will adjust)
They asked what Yzerman is working on next in FA. (Deals with Cap crunched teams, and if none of those work, maybe sign 1 more guy).

I mean as a fan, I like knowing the answers to all of these questions.

I am not sure exactly what kind of questions you guys think are hard hitting.


"Mr Yzerman, Do you think you are being a wuss bag drafting safe players vs home run players?"
"Mr Yzerman, How are you going to get rid of Frans Neilsen, we don't like him and we want him gone, can you bury him?"

The trouble with questions like this is.. its rude to Yzerman, its rude to players involved. And quite frankly I don' see how he could answer those questions honestly without being extremely insulting.


If he Buries Neilsen, we will have our answer. I don't need him to say what he will do in advance because he has no reason to tell us what he is going to do in advance.
Did we need to know he was thinking about buying out Abdelkader? When he did it, we can understand why.

I just wait for his actions... it tells us almost everything we need to know.

Again... What kind of questions do you guys want these reporters to ask?
Literally type them out, and ask yourself, is this the type of question he can Actually answer publicly?

 

[Henkka]

I just watched this press conference.
I mean as a fan, I like knowing the answers to all of these questions.

I am not sure exactly what kind of questions you guys think are hard hitting.

We hard core fans know the answers. There's no news for us. And he isn't giving any answers for some secrects of his real plans, we'd like to know. Because, some things are just secrets forever until they happen. You don't leak certain things.

But bigger public knows nothing. Yzerman is drawing the clearer picture for masses who don't know nothing. That's the purpose for those pressers.

 

[BinCookin]

We hard core fans know the answers. There's no news for us. And he isn't giving any answers for some secrects of his real plans, we'd like to know. Because, some things are just secrets forever until they happen. You don't leak certain things.

But bigger public knows nothing. Yzerman is drawing the clearer picture for masses who don't know nothing. That's the purpose for those pressers.

I mean I also feel like he is just being honest sometimes.

"What will happen with Svechnikov?" - Answer "He isn't gifted a spot on the team, so he either goes down or he makes the team"

What WE KNOW...

Svechnikov can't go down to a minor league without going through Waivers.
This is Svechnikov's last chance to make it.
It sucks for him, but honestly he hasn't proved to be an NHL player up till now, but I still have high hopes for him.
Basically he MIGHT be waived, He might be an extra forward, He might make the roster. It's up to him.


A question Yzerman likely can't answer without shaming the Owner...

"Are you allowed to spend to the cap to buy draft picks from other teams".

He has mentioned they are open to deals like that.
He did mention their next move is to deal with cap crunched teams.

So to me that means, yes he is being given a green light to buy picks.

You know maybe not a 2nd round pick for 7M dollars.... He better get more, and I'm sure the owner would feel the same way as us on that one.

 

[Henkka]

I mean I also feel like he is just being honest sometimes.

"What will happen with Svechnikov?" - Answer "He isn't gifted a spot on the team, so he either goes down or he makes the team"

What WE KNOW...

Svechnikov can't go down to a minor league without going through Waivers.
This is Svechnikov's last chance to make it.
It sucks for him, but honestly he hasn't proved to be an NHL player up till now, but I still have high hopes for him.
Basically he MIGHT be waived, He might be an extra forward, He might make the roster. It's up to him.

Or:

Yzerman also said as a side note, that rosters could be expanded.

So there's room for Svechnikov, not gonna be waived.

It could be 23 + 5 black aces, if there's no AHL. And hard player rotation, something we have never seen before. Different kind of schedules etc.

These are the secrects we don't know, because NHL is just planning these things and those are not openly at discussions.

 

[Bench]

Are you aware of how obsessed you look when you constantly resort to insults and never actually address the substance of anything I say?

Literally anytime the sports press is remotely mentioned you go on a tirade about how bad it is and how you'd hit them with the REAL hard questions.

As for obsession...
how many different accounts did you create and have banned because you would out yourself trolling me? I lost count over the years. It was at least half a dozen, though. That's just what we noticed. I'm sure it was more.

Imagine signing up to mod a hockey forum and having some grown ass 40-something-dude trolling you at every turn online.

 

[BinCookin]

Or:

Yzerman also said as a side note, that rosters could be expanded.

So there's room for Svechnikov, not gonna be waived.

It could be 23 + 5 black aces, if there's no AHL. And hard player rotation, something we have never seen before. Different kind of schedules etc.

These are the secrects we don't know, because NHL is just planning these things and those are not openly at discussions.

I missed him saying anything about roster expansions... That is interesting.

 

[BinCookin]

Josh Anderson has not earned anywhere close to his contract.
That's the point.
......

I can't remember who tweeted it, but CBJ had a HUGE amount of interest in Josh Anderson. Like 8-9 teams I think it was.

I mean the price that was paid for him, was probably upped after the CBJ were able to tell them what other offers they had on the table.
Anderson's possible power forward upside could be the new and improved and better Andrew Shaw in Montreal.
Lots of teams wanted that.

Maybe he has not earned that contract, but it seems as though he had leverage to get it.

I guess we will see.

If he sucks it up... Most teams were wrong. But it does seem like at least one quarter of all the teams in the NHL were very interested in getting this man.

 

[MBH]

I can't remember who tweeted it, but CBJ had a HUGE amount of interest in Josh Anderson. Like 8-9 teams I think it was.

I mean the price that was paid for him, was probably upped after the CBJ were able to tell them what other offers they had on the table.
Anderson's possible power forward upside could be the new and improved and better Andrew Shaw in Montreal.
Lots of teams wanted that.

Maybe he has not earned that contract, but it seems as though he had leverage to get it.

I guess we will see.

If he sucks it up... Most teams were wrong. But it does seem like at least one quarter of all the teams in the NHL were very interested in getting this man.

Most teams? Gonna need some backup.

This contract was a risky, risky bet. At best, Anderson is worth this for 3 years before this contract goes Abdelkader/Clarkson.

 

[TheOctopusKid]

"Are you allowed to spend to the cap to buy draft picks from other teams".

He has mentioned they are open to deals like that.
He did mention their next move is to deal with cap crunched teams.

So to me that means, yes he is being given a green light to buy picks.

You know maybe not a 2nd round pick for 7M dollars.... He better get more, and I'm sure the owner would feel the same way as us on that one.

Phase 1 - Draft High Ceiling Talent

Phase 2 - Sign Role Players to sub $2M dollar deals so they can be traded at Deadline for more Picks

Phase 3 - Wait for teams to overspend and then take back contracts for more Picks

/chefkiss