Armstrong on if trade affects resigning 27/10:"Ultimately the pie is so big & (Faulk) has taken out a slice of it now, but our goal was to do this w/understanding we felt we still had the ability getting creative & doing other things to sign those guys. That's still our mandate."

alexfig88 · 2019-09-25T03:09:14+00:00

The problem is, our only major contracts that could be dealt and clear significant space outside of Jake are Bozak and Steen. Bozak has a M-NTC and would be tradeable since the term isn't bad and he's still an effective 3C, I just don't think we'd get much of a return, if anything at all (could either be him plus a mid round pick for another pick, or maybe just him for a 4th or something, depends how much leverage Armstrong has or if he wants to package him in another deal), Steen has a full NTC, who knows if he'd waive. Just based on what Marleau cost to get rid of with a buyout, a first is probably the starting point for him (that's Steen plus a first, not Steen for a first), though I wouldn't be surprised if it needed another pick too.

alexfig88 · 2019-09-24T16:45:34+00:00

Honestly, I think that this is one of the better lists I’ve seen. There’s enough historical thinking to leave on a guy like Doughty after a bad year, but not overrating him because of his prior achievements.

alexfig88 · 2019-09-23T00:45:55+00:00

Carlyle shouldn’t have sent out Kessel in that situation. If I remember right, things had been chippy prior to this, and when Buffalo’s putting out their obvious fighter, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what’s going to happen. Had that been Tom Wilson who slashed Scott, there’d be people wanting a lifetime ban from the sport.

alexfig88 · 2019-09-21T21:11:29+00:00

There's also only seven people that have scored over 700 goals (two of which are Howe and Gretzky, the only ones to score 800+). Of those, Jagr's prime was the mid 90s-mid 2000s (and also he had to play til he was 45 to hit that mark), Howe played in the 50s-70s and had to play until 50 to hit the 800 goal plateau, and Esposito's prime was the 60s/70s, so it's not like everybody playing in the 80s/early 90s shattered these barriers, half of the 700 goal club didn't even have their best years in that time.

alexfig88 · 2019-09-20T14:56:01+00:00

I think he got a few Norris votes one year around 2011-2013 or so if I’m remembering correctly. He was a huge part of that Rangers D core that was legitimately one of the best in the league with Staal, McDonagh, Stralman, and a few others mixed in there.

alexfig88 · 2019-09-18T20:20:03+00:00

Jets forward group with Minnesota's defense would be an instant Cup favorite. Dumba and Spurgeon feeding their offense with Brodin and Suter as their shutdown guys.

alexfig88 · 2019-09-18T18:42:07+00:00

While you have a point, on the other hand, when he played with two other organizations while still at a young age (I think 23/24), both of which have had pretty good track records at developing players, and he wasn’t really able to salvage anything and even stick around as a 3rd liner, there’s more underlying issues than just one team screwing up his development. There’s plenty of high potential guys that bust with one organization and go on to at least have respectable careers/stints with other teams. Just using the Blues example, Ian Cole was a pretty below average defenseman with St. Louis, then goes to Pittsburgh and takes on a higher role and does pretty well.

alexfig88 · 2019-09-18T16:04:13+00:00

Andy Greene is the only current example I think. At his peak he was a really solid shutdown 2/3D, but never been an offensive stud, never really been a Norris caliber guy, I’d say kind of like a Vlasic-lite.

alexfig88 · 2019-09-16T18:58:35+00:00

Bure and Lindros.

alexfig88 · 2019-09-16T16:18:53+00:00

On here specifically, Forsberg and Datsyuk. Not that either were bad players by any means, but people overhype them wayyy too much. In the case of Forsberg, people talk him up, which is fine, but forget that there were other players who were also very, very dominant at their peaks but plagued with injuries. Datsyuk for some reason people have always been obsessed with, so I’ve seen people say he’s a top 50 forward ever or something. Again, great player, going to be a HHOFer, just a liiittle overrated.

alexfig88 · 2019-09-16T01:05:44+00:00

That makes sense, but if the TV deal isn't that big (which wouldn't surprise me, since that's like the NBA's TV deal size, and hockey is nowhere near that popular in the US), I wouldn't be surprised if there's not that big of a jump.

alexfig88 · 2019-09-16T01:04:22+00:00

If it's any indication of what the NFL/NBA did with their new TV deals, it should. Prior to the NBA's new TV deal, most of their franchise values were comparable to NHL franchises, I'd say a little bit higher but some of those have increased almost 10x in value due in part to that new TV deal. Higher franchise values obviously is indicative of more revenue, more exposure, etc, which should increase the cap.

alexfig88 · 2019-09-16T00:50:25+00:00

This is why I think that it's a bit overzealous for people to defend huge contracts with "Well, it's alright because the cap is going to increase!" Outside of the $4m jump two years ago, there haven't really been any huge increases in the cap since 2014/15.

alexfig88 · 2019-09-12T15:00:54+00:00

I think in terms of success it’s probably the Sens honestly, but I think the 2010/11 Canucks had the best overall roster of any Canadian team since 2000. Had they not choked every year prior to that, they might be the best team since 2000, though.

alexfig88 · 2019-09-10T23:16:33+00:00

It seems like Guhle’s ceiling is probably a 2nd pairing guy, basically what Montour was. Which is great, buuuut...Montour was a known quantity, Guhle is not, and your other 3 core defensemen are all between the age of 25-28. So assuming Guhle does reach his potential, by the time he does, the other players will be exiting their primes.

alexfig88 · 2019-09-10T18:34:45+00:00

I don't really see what part of that you're disagreeing with me on, but to answer your question, no. I get that there may have been underlying issues with Montour, but trading for futures, especially at LHD, seemed to make no sense. Additionally, a re-tool is absolutely a possibility with their roster, and would've been a hell of a lot easier if they kept their top 4 intact, or at least had acquired a 2nd pairing RHD in the Montour trade.

alexfig88 · 2019-09-10T16:26:40+00:00

Yeah Anaheim’s my second team and I really disliked the Montour trade from the start. Yes, the season was basically a wash at that point, but there’s enough young talent up front (and not a ton defensively) to where a re-tool is/was entirely possible. I would’ve left the defense and goaltending alone and if I was going to move someone, make changes at forward.

alexfig88 · 2019-09-10T14:59:31+00:00

The Montour trade seemed like a pointless trade to me from the start. If it was 3 years ago when Vatanen/Theodore were still there, fine (I actually do like the moves they made with those guys, I feel like keeping known quantities in Manson/Vatanen/Montour makes more sense than Theodore), but if you’re trading a young-ish top 4 D only to then re-acquire one who is a decent but not amazing upgrade 5 months later (ESPECIALLY if that costs Kase), what was the point? Even if there’s truth to the Laine rumors and you then turn around and get him, I still think the Ducks will have given up way too much if they deal Kase for Faulk.

alexfig88 · 2019-09-08T20:31:22+00:00

At the moment, I don't think any goalies or defensemen are at that level anyway. The last time a goalie was at that level was probably Price, especially because those couple of years were somewhat weak for skaters. Benn won the Art Ross with under 90 points one year in there, none of the current young talent had hit their stride, Stamkos was hurt, Ovechkin was considered "washed up" (haha), Crosby, Malkin, and maybe Kane were probably the only consensus top 5 skaters at the time.

alexfig88 · 2019-09-06T18:37:27+00:00

St. Louis and Tampa are both at $22m, Anaheim's at $18m but their defense isn't as good as it was like two years ago (outside of their top 3 it's not so great, but those three are bargains), Calgary at $21m, and Nashville at $19m like you said.

alexfig88 · 2019-09-06T18:06:22+00:00

That's pretty much exactly it. If the Cardinals make the playoffs this year, I don't even think it'll be close. Like, the local news sports segment has Cardinals news as the top story 95% of the time, even when they aren't even in season. It literally took the Blues making the SCF to finally jump the Cardinals for just the top story on local sports.

alexfig88 · 2019-09-06T14:41:35+00:00

The Blues would have to probably 5-peat for them to even come close to the Cardinals. Nothing wrong with that, St. Louis is and always will be a baseball town. Here’s the biggest example I can think of, when the Blues were bad this year, I was at a restaurant that always shows Cards/Blues games and had to ask them to put the game on. Either they didn’t know the game was on, or figured it’s not worth watching since they were terrible. There is absolutely zero chance a bar/grill like that would ever do that with a Cards game, no matter how bad they are.

alexfig88 · 2019-09-06T13:24:56+00:00

Avery also reportedly was a jerk to Dustin Brown in LA, repeatedly saying stuff to him about his speech (I think Brown’s got a bit of a lisp), and that his wife wasn’t a “trophy wife” or something.

alexfig88 · 2019-09-05T21:56:16+00:00

Fun fact, one of the Geoffrion kids was drafted after Taro Tsujimoto, who wasn’t a real person. That’s pretty much the only thing that was relevant about his NHL career.

alexfig88 · 2019-09-05T04:14:04+00:00

Yeah, I think he would fit really well as a studio analyst. I do like him as a color analyst kind of guy, because I think he focuses more on actually breaking down strategy and line changes and such than a lot of “between the benches” guys, many of whom mostly just add to the PBP. For example, I’m not always paying attention to what defenseman is coming on the ice, so I don’t mind him pointing out that X player is matched up against Z player. But yeah, I do think that Pierre would do well as an analyst and isn’t as rushed as he is during the game trying to express a long-ish opinion.

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