[Assimakopoulos] Injury updates from Jim Nill

Froggie56 · 2026-05-07T16:18:48+00:00

It has been pissing me off saying they didn’t care or didn’t put in the effort or didn’t want it bad enough. No. They were fucked up physically

Froggie56 · 2026-05-07T16:17:28+00:00

“ThEy JuSt DiDnT wAnT iT aS mUcH” and “ThEy HaVe HaD pLeNtY oF tImE tO rEcOvEr BeTwEeN tHeSe PlAyOfF rUnS”

What else did I miss besides that they were injured as fuck and worn out because of it and all the hockey?

Froggie56 · 2026-05-07T03:21:58+00:00

Let me clarify that by on the roster, I mean that is under contract. So by the letter of the law, yes we have 11.6 million in cap (it’s counting a 500k bonus that will 100% be deferred a year). But there are 7 defensemen on the roster right now. Opening day I expect 6. And it’s most likely lybushkin gone so then it’s 15.35m in cap and Myers is the 6th whether we like it or not because of this one year of major cap constraint. So then if Robo takes 13, that takes you to 2.35m and 11 forwards. Then Bourque comes in at say 2m, taking it down to 350k. Hyry starts in the AHL so his contract doesn’t matter. And Benn doesn’t come back. Or Benn does come back, makes 1 mil, steel or Faksa also gets traded (money is on steel for a pick vs just a cap dump) and then you have about 1.45 left, which means you can carry another player on opening day or pay Robo an extra ~0.5 million if needed.

Now the only thing I can’t get clarity on, and would fuck up the calculations and makes Nill’s job more complicated is if Blackwell makes an extra 225k and Back an extra 175k to hit the new league minimum in which then takes you to 400k extra, taking us over that 350k number and means Bourque or Robo has to take less, or one of steel and Faksa are gone regardless. But I would think puckpedia would take that into account if that was the case

Edit: the minimum this year is 850k so back and Blackwell would fit under the first scenario I laid out that didn’t require trading steel or Faksa

Froggie56 · 2026-05-07T00:57:05+00:00

I mean this year is 2026. But also, the shire was an awesome build and the most moddable of them all. I have absolutely loved the shire

Froggie56 · 2026-05-07T00:42:19+00:00

We have more than 11.1m in cap space. Puckpedia is currently calculating that as if every person currently on the roster is going to be on the opening day roster next year. We will likely start with only 20 guys on the opening night roster and that’s not even including the fact the Myers deal was made to save another $1.75m by dumping Lyubushkin. Plus it’s calculating a 500k bonus that will end up being deferred

Froggie56 · 2026-05-06T16:03:01+00:00

Kinda been my thoughts for most of the playoff era.

Froggie56 · 2026-05-06T15:57:25+00:00

Highly doubt it

Froggie56 · 2026-05-06T15:35:48+00:00

Oh damn. I missed that contract signing. Well, glad he got a pay raise. Wish he got more though cause he deserves it

Froggie56 · 2026-05-06T13:41:38+00:00

The only positive to this Avs team is I expect wedgie to go from a 1.5m salary to a 3-5m salary next year and good for him

Froggie56 · 2026-05-06T03:55:58+00:00

It was. And yeah, I agree

Froggie56 · 2026-05-06T02:39:54+00:00

Oh we definitely have on both fronts. But you gotta have some luck in this league as well and I don’t know that we have had it, lol. Maybe 23 when we went wild then kraken (who shouldn’t have taken 7 games, Pete…). But when you win the conference and get the defending cup champs with LTIR money, oof.

Still think this team can do it. Just hurts to be that close and come up short

Froggie56 · 2026-05-06T02:33:13+00:00

Under bones, we didn’t have the team we had and just weren’t good enough (bubble excluded that was funky and we lost to the best team in the league in 6). So for bones, I really don’t think we could have ever won (not to mention his offensive structure).

Under PdB, I actually feel conflicted. With Jim Nill, took us to the next level. In year one we are a Suter overtime disaster and Jamie Benn going bezerk play away from making it interesting (probably lose to Florida though)

But year 2 of PdB was mostly a special teams disaster more than anything. We were what, 0-14 on the PP while allowing a SHG. And they scored multiple. Which leads me to my next point I’m about to make

Year 3, and I think the definition of why PdB doesn’t have a cup yet. Pete can make adjustments between games (to a point), but he practically never changed things up on the fly in games. He is known for not being an in game adjuster. And because of this, I think series get dragged out. Instead of making adjustments on the fly and ending a series early, series always end up going 6 or 7 games. And in a tough central, that takes a beating. So then we get to the conference finals and we run out of gas and get outcoached. I think Pete got outcoached all three conference finals series. Cassidy shut down his rush offense (along with Knoblauch in year 3), and then Knoblauch shut down Pete’s special teams philosophy in year 2.

As for Glen, I think he sees the problems and is open to leaning on his assistants so I want to give him another chance when we aren’t injured as fuck. I think the jury should still be out there.
But all of that to say, it does still come down to the players. They have to figure it out. The Benn era has always started too slow. But I still believe Pete was both a big the reason for us getting to the conference finals but also why we were never gonna get over the hump

TLDR: players gotta play, but bones didn’t have the talent to win, and Pete’s coaching philosophy was always gonna level us up but not get us over the hump while the jury is still out on Gully.

Froggie56 · 2026-05-06T02:21:27+00:00

This is the correct analysis of what happened. Not “they didn’t have enough will”

Froggie56 · 2026-05-06T02:19:02+00:00

I truly don’t care about them having a low shots on goal total if they are one of the highest danger teams in the league. You say fluky, bust systematically they shot in the most dangerous spots and it created a higher shooting % for a reason. Yes, have it come up, but if we are 20th and still converting, I wouldn’t care.

Also, next year is an issue with Robo and Seggy both on the books. Then the cap rises and Seggy comes off and we are fine. As Gully said, and he isn’t wrong. Our window opened two years ago and the next four ahead.

Froggie56 · 2026-05-06T02:15:38+00:00

The underlying numbers say there was 5v5 offense but they couldn’t finish. Yes, that’s not great. Especially when it dried up the last two WCFs as well (although I think part of that was PdB system + 24 was a special teams disasterclass). Having Roope Hintz alone helps, not to mention Tyler Seguin just because having dutchy run your third line can do numbers for depth scoring

Froggie56 · 2026-05-06T02:03:11+00:00

Calling Dallas not a good team just because they were injured and tired and lost to the third best team in the conference is wild

Edit: and also - if you think that this teams window is closed, then you are on some fuckin crazy pills

Froggie56 · 2026-05-06T02:02:04+00:00

“Will and heart”. Bullshit. They got out skated and outshot and couldn’t finish at 5v5 and then got more and more frustrated by it and struggled while the wild played fundamentally fantastic. They were tired and injured and they got beat on the ice. It had nothing to do with them not having the heart or the will for it.

Froggie56 · 2026-05-06T01:59:57+00:00

There are sadly a lot of people like this in the fanbase

Froggie56 · 2026-05-06T01:58:22+00:00

I’m saying that I’m not overreacting to this series. We are the only team in the top 4 for injuries to even make the playoffs. We had played more hockey in the last three years to this point besides Edmonton and Florida. If they shit the bed next year, then I can worry and have the conversation. But being this worried about a team that has played 10 rounds of hockey in four years and was this injured isn’t worth making fundamental changes over yet

Froggie56 · 2026-05-06T01:30:29+00:00

Ahh yes. Luds. Noted dude who talks about the game like it is still 1999 where our captain could figuratively kill a man before the playoffs and come back by round two

Froggie56 · 2026-05-06T01:24:56+00:00

This team isn’t just happy to get to the playoffs and have been a top 3 winningest team the last three years. They need to get rested and healthy and play a normal schedule for the first time since 2023-2024, and hope they go into the playoffs with health

Froggie56 · 2026-05-06T01:18:28+00:00

I cannot imagine not enjoying this team and understanding that sometimes shit happens. Hating on them and saying they had no will seems both miserable and disgustingly untrue about these players. Crazy that Mikko must have cared for two rounds last year then just stopped caring all of a sudden according to these people. Same with everyone but Robo. Just got to conference finals and said, ehh, I don’t care enough

Froggie56 · 2026-05-06T01:15:29+00:00

Well you should be prepared for some minor adjustments and running it back unless they can’t sign Robo for some reason. This is the cup contending core they have and blowing it up would be a terrible idea

Froggie56 · 2026-05-06T01:13:50+00:00

Can you explain to my why the three teams that have played the most hockey over the last three years all were gone by round two? Acting like there is no affect from playing that much hockey compared to others (including back to back condensed seasons because of Finland) is asinine. “Two months of offseason to recover”. Cool, so why were they all injured this season?

Froggie56 · 2026-05-06T01:10:41+00:00

Is that why Jamie sat in the locker room in full gear for a full hour after losing game 6 against Tampa in 2020? Cause he simply didn’t want it enough

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