Depending on where you want to allocate the odd day in July, we are officially entering the second half of July and the dog days of hockey summer. The second half of July and the first half of August are easily the slowest days on the hockey calendar. Prospect camp is in the rear view mirror and even start of informal skates is still a ways into the future, and many a day goes by without any substantial news.
But for the Hurricanes, there are likely to be some big news days interspersed around the mostly nothing days. Today’s Daily Cup of Joe attempts to detail all of the stories to watch during the rest of the summer.
1) Jeff Skinner as a trade possibility
Last week included more rumblings about a potential Jeff Skinner trade when he and Max Pacioretty were rumored to be of interest to the Blackhawks. For as many changes as the Hurricanes have made already, I still think a true shake up and restart culture-wise must include the departure of at least one of the team’s leaders. Otherwise, the result of the offseason is scapegoats across the bottom of the lineup with the leadership still intact. It is hard to say who is more likely to be traded, but with one year remaining on his contract, I continue to say that the team either needs to re-sign Skinner or trade him. That combined with the regular rumors around him since before the draft even, I think a Skinner trade is definitely possible.
2) Justin Faulk as a trade possibility
Just like Skinner, Justin Faulk represents part of the leadership that in some way still needs to be changed. My math also says that he is currently the #5 defenseman with another right shot defenseman already signed to fulfill that role at about 40 percent of his salary. Faulk does have two years remaining on his current contract which makes a decision on his future less urgent, but like Skinner his name has regularly been mentioned in trade circles. There are not guarantees, but Faulk is definitely worth watching.
3) Sebastian Aho’s next contract
Sebastian Aho is signed through the 2018-19 season and is only a restricted free agent next summer. As such, nothing has to happen with him this summer. But as a young player who has quickly cemented himself as part of the core of the team heading into the future, I think it makes sense to commit early and avoid the risk of significant contract inflation if Aho has a break out year in 2018-19 that pushes him up into a different salary tier.
4) The Carolina Hurricanes captaincy
Though there is a good chance that the decision on changing the captaincy is already made in Rod Brind’Amour’s head, an official announcement might well not happen until the second half of training camp. But if Skinner and Faulk are both traded, then I think things could be decided and announced sooner with the aim of setting a new tone and direction right from the start of training camp. I also think that if Justin Williams is named the captain that he could well start into his work in leading the informal skates.
5) An assistant coach to lead the blue line and the penalty kill
With the resignation of Steve Smith last week to accept a similar job with the Buffalo Sabres, the Hurricanes again have a vacancy in the coaching staff. Personally, I would love to see Brind’Amour nab a veteran coach with head coaching experience. Such an addition could be a valuable sounding board for Brind’Amour as rookie head coach. The move could also be a chance to either fuel or dispel concerns that the team is either: A) To cheap to hire top-end talent or B) Unable to attract such talent. Regardless, the team needs to add a defense coach before the start of training camp.
6) The possible addition of a depth defenseman
If Justin Faulk is traded, the Hurricanes will be set in terms of having a group of six defenseman, but the will have only unproven talent with less than 10 games between them for options for a #7 defenseman. Giving Trevor Carrick a chance and a reward in that lesser role as is the possibility of using another young defenseman. But except for Carrick, it does not make sense to pull a player away from 20 minutes of AHL ice time to sit in an NHL press box as a healthy scratch. As such, with prices now falling, I would not be surprised to see the Hurricanes add a veteran depth defenseman on a one-year deal at a discounted price.
7 ) Teuvo Teravainen’s next contract
Like his line mate Aho, Teuvo Teravainen’s contract is also up next summer. I think Teravainen is less likely to be locked into a next deal this summer but nonetheless acknowledge that it is definitely a possibility.
What say you Canes fans?
1) Which of these do you anticipate happening by the end of August?
2) Do you have any other story lines that could provide news/activity in the next 4-6 weeks?
Go Canes!
1) I don’t follow the logic that we trade Jeff Skinner for the sake of getting rid of a team leader. Your stated reasons for this are to give the team “a true shakeup and restart culture-wise”.
I think the Canes have been shaken up quite enough, thank you. If Jeff needed a shakeup, the uncertainty of his being on the trade bloc gave him and those watching that and then some. The unspoken facts that he has only this season left on his contract and that GMs are also concerned about his history of concussions, his self-image has been knocked down to size. Getting rid of him now for a couple of medium picks, after all of this, would be perceived by most observers (GMs, fans, and players) as poor form.
If he wants to stay and we can figure a way for him to do that without either side being stripped of his dignity, we will see a new, more pliable Jeff Skinner.
2) I don’t see a way to keep Justin Faulk in the fold. The trade for Dougie pretty much relegated Faulk to the outside, looking in. Stripped of his dignity, it is difficult to imagine that he can stay and save face. I hope we can send him somewhere he can recover his playing form while we get something worthwhile in return. For us to decide to keep him now, would be destructive. Any benefit we might have hoped to derive from the shakeup of trading him was lost with the Dougie trade.
3) I agree.
4) Willy should be captain. Roddy must decide when and where and how that happens. I am sure his decisions will be calculated to maximize positive impact while minimizing the pain.
5) Tim Gleason. I don’t understand why anyone would want Roddy to hire someone to challenge him and upon whom he should rely for advice on how to do his job. If we don’t have faith in him, replace him. He has already identified publicly his choice of Peter Laviolette as his mentor.
6) Alexi Emelin would be ideal. Trevor Carrick should be #6, end of story.
7) I agree.
Powerless, I’m with you on all of your answers. No need for me to repeat as you have said everything I would say. I’m not sold on Carrick over Fleury as #6 defenseman, but that’s why they will have training camp and who knows, you might be right on that also.
powerless, to me, the real reason to consider trading Skinner is how you opened the 3rd paragraph, “it he wants to stay…” There is no indication that he does in fact want to stay or that we would be interested in extending him given his next contract expectations. Both have to be true.
In that world, where Skinner goes through some version of the “Tavares process” and then leaves the Canes to another team, we are left with one year of Skinner (the upcoming season) and then nothing. That’s a tough place to be.
If the Tavares situation taught us anything, it seems to be that any organization with an impact player on the last year of contract prior to UFA status must decide whether that player is likely to extend – and that decision is made individually by the team and by the player and only then jointly together in the form of a negotiation – and, if an extension isn’t likely, then whether the next year’s service is worth losing the player for nothing when the season is over.
I don’t think it’s worth the risk in this case. Things can obviously change over the course of a season with a different set of teammates and coaches, but that’s a huge roll of the dice I’d personally be very reluctant to take.
We can still be patient with this decision – Duchene wasn’t traded until after the season started in November – but I still think we are correct to be testing the market and evaluating our options. I have to believe at a minimum that Skinner would be worth a package of at least a 1st+[] at the trade deadline so more than that now.
1) A lot has been said about Skinner, both about trading him and about his value (Jeff O’Neill’s comments). It sure seems like he is going to be traded. While other’s think his value depends on other moving parts (Pacioretty, perhaps Panarin), I think the big question is whether he is committed to being a UFA at the end of the season. If he and his agent are indicating that no team will be able to sign him, the his value is for this season only. Which is not as high as most would hope. In that case, he moves for prospects/picks. If he is willing to re-sign with a team, then a true hockey trade is possible.
For me, the bottom line is that a significant portion of Skinner’s goals should be replaced if the team has any hope of ending the drought. Thus . . .
2) I am thinking maybe Faulk stays. Matt, before all the changes started taking place you listed some things that the team needed. One was a veteran D presence ON THE LEFT SIDE. de Haan is what was needed. The reasoning being that Faulk would mostly return to form with a better partner. A return to form would be a d-man who scores 12-15 goals and is decent if not spectacular in his own end. If Skinner is moved, then there is significant change–both from leadership perspective and from a style of play perspective. So I am thinking about something I read on another hockey site–trade Hamilton.
It appears that trades within a conference are more difficult. So Calgary would not likely have traded Hamilton to Edmonton. But there is no reason the Canes should be hesitant. Based on the past year or so, it appears evident that: 1) Edmonton needs a scoring D-man; 2) Edmonton doesn’t value Faulk enough to return a substantial forward. They probably would make that trade for Hamilton. So offer Hamilton for RNH.
The primary reason is pretty simple. The Canes D needed a veteran/solid left defenseman. The Canes forward group still needs a two-way LW to play with Necas/Svechnikov if they are determined to play the two rookies together AND/OR another center option if Necas, and to a lesser degree Aho, isn’t ready to play C. Hamilton fixes a problem that didn’t exist and would be more valuable in a trade than Faulk. Whereas, RNH solves both concerns about the forward group. So while trading Hamilton is moving the best D-man for a forward who is likely to be the third best forward, it makes the team better. RNH also can help on the PK, which is looking like a fairly serious concern entering the season. And by the way, Hamilton does have a reputation for committing too many unnecessary penalties and doesn’t really play on the PK.
I know it is highly unlikely to trade the centerpiece of a trade before he ever plays for the team, but I see more upside in bringing in a top forward/center and keeping Faulk than I do in trading Faulk for a lesser return and depending solely on rookies to replace Skinner’s goals. Even if Skinner somehow returns another forward, I think acquiring a player like RNH makes the team better. For instance, less say Skinner returned Tanner Pearson.
Pearson/Aho/TT
RNH/Necas/Svechnikov
Ferland/Staal/Williams
Zykov/Rask/McGInn
Those lines provide some scoring throughout the lineup, would be difficult to play against, are likely to provide improved options on both special teams.
3) Sign Aho ASAP.
4)All indications are Williams. So do it now.
5) This is more important than most realize. The fact that Smith was signed to work with Dahlin indicates that he was considered one of the best.
6) Makes even more sense given de Haan’s injury history.
7) It will only cost money to wait.
I think there is WIDE gap between where I rate Faulk’s current level of defensive play (it’s not top 4 for me) compared to others. In the same vein as not being able to just trade whichever of Faulk or Pesce yielded the highest value, I think the same is even more true as relates to a Hamilton vs. Faulk comparison.
The reason for adding Hamilton and de Haan was to upgrade the defense and try to build an environment that gives the goalies as much help as possible. I do not view Faulk as anything close to an interchangeable player in trying to do that.
Matt If Faulk is not top 4, then it explains why no trade has happened. So you may be correct.
However, your list mentioned an to upgrade the D. The implication was a better partner for Faulk. Thus the interest in Muzzin a left D.
The goalies will need shorthanded help as well. Hamilton hasn’t been a pk regular. What’s more he will commit 10-12 more penalties than Faulk.
Trading Faulk makes more sense, I agree. But a holistic view makes it a close call—especially if the the league agrees with you that Faulk is 5/6 d-man. In that case the return neither replaces scoring nor provides realistic support for Necas/Svechnikov.
Having a great d might not cover for the inexperienced forwards, unproven penalty killers, and average goaltending. Those are the problems for the current roster.
That’s the tricky part. Different teams will rate him differently. The positives are that he did play at a top 4 level defensively at one point (not since Sekera in my book), so it’s clearly possible. Age decline is not seemingly and issue. And offense which is incredibly valuable is there. The other wild card that boosts his value is what a change of scenery, and Eric Staal’s post-Canes surge adds a positive element of uncertainty.
So Faulk’s rating/value is probably pretty wide which is a good thing since the Canes only need to do 1 deal not convince the entire league of his value. And therein lies a deal to be done.
About your view of Faulk – I think you have very realistic views of every player but I think maybe he is the one you undervalue the most.
I have watched him his whole career like you and have also seen a concerning defensive trend as his offense blossomed it is as if he lost his will to play hard defense. With that being said, he just came off a down season numbers wise and in a regular season he offers such great transition ability and the ability to ‘create’ offense from the back end which is a rare skill as a dman. His advanced stats back up just how special he is on the offensive/transition side as even in his past two ‘down seasons’ many of his metrics are off the charts still.
Having him play with a steady partner (which he has only had a handful of times – as a rookie with Pitkanen before his injury, Sekera, and Hainsey for a while before they both tailed off) could help a lot. Having him play in front of a decent goalie (which the canes might have never had in his time playing here) would also help.
Jake Gardiner is an interesting comparable in Toronto – a guy who really struggles defensively and the eye test shows it but whose offensive production and ability to not HAVE to play defense because he’s so good at getting the puck going the other way is still a valued asset. I think Faulk is a surefire top 4 defenseman maybe slotted best on the 2nd pair but with the ability to log big minutes perhaps not ideally, but i’d trust Faulk for 25 minutes a night over Haydn Fleury 10 out of 10 times. If the Canes are selling him lower than that they should not sell him.
Good discussion.
I’m with Powerless on almost all points, though I do not share his assessment ofFleury as a fail, but that´fine, we can have different opinions and I agree training camp should be real evaluation with the spot awarded to the best player.
Skinner is entering a contract year, whether with the Canes or another team.
He has a lot to prove, so he will be motivated to play the best hockey of his career.
At this point his value may be at an all time low, with one year remaining on his contract and him not showing his finest last season.
Thus, trading him now would be trading him at an all time low, and unless that trade yield an acceptable return I don’t see it as a good solution. Extra picks in lower rounds may not translate into anything so dumping him for any available return is, in my opinion, not the way to go.
A better strategy would be to give him a chance to be part of the new team, newculture and put his skills on display for the league.
If he succeeds and wants to stay with the team, there’s reason to sign him. If not his trade value is more likely to go up than drop, in which case the team can get a larger return, Duchene style.
I agree breezy, I also agreed with most of what powerless said but I do not view Fleury as a fail. He was a fist year guy asked to pick up what Hannifin could not do. I do believe there was an element of GMRF thinking I have to get one of these high draft pick to work out.
Both number 5 Hannifin and Lindholm were moved. Kind of says they did not live up to the draft pedigree. Fleury still could and I suspect that is why he got the nod over Dahlbeck on several occasions. He will be 3rd D this year (assuming he beats out Carrick or somebody else) and I suspect he will continue to improve. It get back to RBA and earning your spot every day. I believe he could still end up being a top 4 guy.
I am in the don’t trade skinner camp, at least for now.
1) The Skinner topic has been beaten to death here. The reality is that none of us know enough to make that decision. It isn’t really about his play. It’s about two things. a) Does Skinner even want to be here? b) Was Skinner one of the players Jordan Staal was referring to about not being committed. Those are the factors. I have no idea what the answers are, but those answers will drive a trade.
2) I would think they want to trade Faulk. Seems like too much money tied up in defensemen. I would be surprised if Faulk is around come training camp.
3) This is a Dundon decision. Seems like Dundon is willing to pay players for top performance, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he lets Aho play out the season and then pay him market value.
4) I don’t think Williams as captain is a certainty. It could be Staal if Williams isn’t going to stick around after the coming season. Missed in our discussions is what happens to Skinner and Faulk if they are still here in the fall? Do they get an A? I’m not so sure.
5) Tough situation. Dundon is rumored not to pay coaches. Will he open the wallet to get a qualified guy, or will they hire someone who has zero experience because he’s here and he will take anything? If it’s the latter, say hello to Tim Gleason.
6) Not sure about this. A trade could bring a depth defenseman to settle this question. Carrick sure is popular here, but I’ve seen nothing over the past year or two that suggests the Hurricanes see Carrick as a NHL player.
7) If Turbo will take a little less to lock him up, I would do it. I like TT, but he isn’t Aho. The problem is he may have a similar season in points to Aho again and want the same money. He isn’t worth it. I can see the Canes losing Teravainen in this situation. I’ve mentioned it before, but I see it like the Islander situation with Molder and Okposo. Neither were as good as Tavares made them look. I believe the same applies to Teravainen.
lessthan. I have seen the thought that Aho is making TT better on several sites. I agree that Aho has more potential. In fact I think he becomes an 80 point center in the next two years.
But I also think based on the evidence that Teravainen is not just benefiting from Aho. In fact I predicted before last season (I think the post was 10/5/17) that TT would lead the Canes with 62 points. My prediction was based mostly on his WJC 20 success. Teravainen is in the company of Malkin and the Sedins in those scoring records. I think he is a 65-70 point winger on any strong line.
Together they do have synergy. So maybe Aho gets 85+ and TT gets 70+. I just don’t lump Teravainen with Molder or Okposo.
Okposo was a 65-70 point winger with Tavares. I think I may value Aho more than you do. He is an elite player. He makes others better. Teravainen is a good contributor, but needs help. TT is skilled, and shifty, but isn’t that fast and is quite small. He needs someone to create room for him to operate. Like him a lot, but he isn’t in Aho’s class, IMO.
If Aho and Teravainen’s point totals are again similar this season TT’s agent, as he should, will demand similar money. It would be foolish to pay it. Sign him now at the lower price or risk losing him.
I agree that Terevainen is a useful player without Aho but probably NOT worth anything crazy salary wise. I’d imagine without playing with Aho he’d be a crafty 35-55 pt middle 6 forward ?
I think Terevainen is possibly a regression candidate – we as canes fans have to ask ourselves is he going to keep progressing forward (doubt it), stay around 60 pts or maybe go somewhere between his past averages and 60 pts being a high end outlier. I’d guess the latter – it wouldn’t surprise me to see him get something like 50 pts next season.
Teravainen may regress. But by some measures he was the one player on the team who made every other player better (I couldn’t copy the file only the link).
http://hockeyviz.com/fixedImg/wowy/1718/CAR/teravte94/
I think TT gets undervalued because he is not flashy. But he is a near-elite talent who is solid all over the ice. That doesn’t take anything away from Aho who is an elite talent. It might make sense to try Svechnikov with Aho and TT with Necas. If that happens, I don’t expect Teravainen to regress, because he is as good as he appeared last year.
There was talk of trying to acquire Zadina because of his chemistry with Necas. Well at the 2014 WJC under-20 two players had arguably more chemistry: Teravainen and Maenalanen.
Training camp could uncover some interesting lines.
Which ones will happen by start of season?
Likely: 1 (Skinner), 2 (Faulk), 4 (Captain), 5 (D coach)
Possible: 6 (D-man)
Unlikely: 3 (Aho), 7 (Turbo)
I think ct is correct about Skinner (and dmilleravid mostly so! 🙂 ). To get value for Skinner (other than with a sweetener) is with an extension. That apparently is what hung up Pacioretty to LA (and would have done so for Skinner as well). I heard Skinner was being marketed for a 1st-rounder and prospect before draft day, which suggests that O/M will consider trading him off for a rental. It is a matter of time and a suitable dance partner.
ct offers an interesting scenario to flip Hamilton for offense, but I don’t see the interest in trading Faulk to be driven so much by that motivator. But I think what is slowing us down is that we value him higher than other teams appear to do so. Again, I think a matter of time.
DW has recently said that there have been discussions with both Aho’s and Turbo’s agents but that there is “no rush”. I actually wonder what the impact is of the potential opt-out after this season may have on the strategy of signing RFAs admitting that it may be moot. I would love to see both extended for term but this is the type of thing where O/M always does things differently than what I think is best.
I think it is pretty clear Williams will be the captain. It looks like Williams is already functioning in that role in some ways. But the time to announce that isn’t now but at the end of training camp.
I don’t see us spending the type of money necessary to get a former HC or anyone with significant experience. But I would sure as heck not want to see a player with no coaching experience whatsoever be put in that role – which means it is entirely possible for O/M to sign Gleason. 😛 I truly hope not. But this will definitely happen soon enough.
It is entirely possible for the team to pick up a veteran D for that 7th role. We will certainly need contract if Skinner and/or Faulk are traded, but I don’t think it is necessarily of much significance. Again, I have my preference (Carrick) and then we have what O/M will do.
1) I agree with what powerless said. Skinner is a dynamic scorer who decides to not play defense, but we know he can from the year before last. Who knows what is real in the media but I saw a few places where they said he nixed trades. That means he wants to be here. I believe there is that “I have spent a lot of years here and I want to make it work here” mentality. I do not want to see him traded. I do suspect we will see more effort from him this year (new coach will not hurt) and if we trade him we will probably not get very good return. Let him prove himself again (really just on D) and trade him at the delaine if it does not work. There will be plenty of teams wanting him even then. He has every reason to improve his play to bolster his next contract, which hopefully will be with us.
2) I think Faulk will be the one traded. He brings back a good forward and that would be what I feel we need at this point. Skinner brings back a D we do not need or futures which may or may not work. Several trading partners would want Faulk. I did not like the flipping Hamilton idea but its just my opinion, never say never and all ideas have merit.
3) There is no rush but locking up Aho and possibly TT make good sense. I think they will both only get better.
4) I would say make William C. If Staal shows the attitude that he wants it, maybe him. Not sure he really wanted it. William would be great, just an issue of if he stays longer. Even thought I would like to see Wiliams C, part of the management decision is do we have a one year C.
5) Assistant coach, not sure what to expect. Will TD pay a little to bring in quality?? At least he seems to pay for on ice talent.
6) I do not think we need a depth D. As Raleigh said my preference is also Carrick. People forget he has some physicality to his game.
7 ) TT, even if he is not as good if you take Aho away, Aho is here. It would not hurt to lock both of them up.
All good comments above from others.
1) If there is any reason to think Skinner wants to stay, keep him. Novel thought, play him on a line with Staal. Jordan is what he is, an ELITE defensive center, who drives possession. His strength is taking up space and banging away at rebounds his hands and finishing ability remind me of Craig Adams. Skinner, on the other hand, creates his own offense. He isn’t a great passer, but Staal doesn’t handle passes well anyway. Staal might even pull up Skinner’s defense.
@0 Trade Faulk. I don’t know why, but Canes fans (at least those who comment on blogs) low value players, especially those in disfavor. Other teams (as represented on their blogs rate them higher). There is a decent return to be had out there.
3 & 7) Resign both. Their synergy is collective. They make each other better.
4) I wouldn’t want either Captain to retain the “C”. Neither showed any real desire for it anyway. Williams would be acceptable, but for an out there possibility, if he wants to stay, how about Skinner. Before everybody’
s head explodes, think back to after Eric was traded. Who was it who stepped up and led the late season surge that gave us hope for the next year. Yup, Skinner. Then BP slapped him down by naming 2 ‘A’s and 2 “rotating A’s” and making him one of the latter. And last year there was the fiasco of the rotating “C’s”. BP slapped him in the face both times. Just my opinion, but Skinner has shown more enthusiasm and leadership than either of the Captains.
5) Hopefully, Rod will get to pick he AC he is comfortable with, and TD will okay signing him.
6)Pending a Faulk trade I see our top 6 set. A rotation of Carrick and McKeown would satisfy me for #7. The Canes are starting to promote forwards, I’d like to see the same with some of the longer time defensemen.
Sorry about the long post.
A few years ago Skinner spent the good part of a season playing with Staal. It did not go well. Matching up Skinner with the other team’s top scoring line makes me shudder.
There are two ways of looking at Skinner’s scoring streak in late ’16-’17. He was stepping up during a playoff run, or he got hot when the season was already over. I fall into the latter camp. That was a playoff run for marketing purposes only. They were done. The Canes needed to get blazing hot and have other teams fall apart.
If I were Staal, Williams, or Aho and Skinner was given the C I would walk into Dundon’s office and demand an immediate trade.
Yeah. The nearly a full (lockout-shortened) season of Skinner/Staal was bad enough that I would be inclined not to try it again even though it is years later.
Are we talking about 2013-14? That was Tlusty-Staal-Semin. I don’t recall Skinner spending most of any year on Staal’s line, although I could be mistaken on that. I remember some games he was there – and it was not good – but not much of a season. Which season am I not remembering??
It was 2012-13 (the lockout year). The easy way to find it is to go look through Staal’s career stats and look for the massive plus/minus anomaly. He was minus 18 which project to -31 in a full season. Skinner 3rd worst in the entire league in plus/minus and Staal was close behind at 5th worst.
And the team in total actually wasn’t that bad. As you noted Tlusty/Staal/Semin was lights out and the rest of the team was generally between +5 and -10.
Saw that Lindholm signed a 6 x 4.85 extension with Calgary from a Friedman post. Good for him. Wish him and Hanifin the best.
As for the Canes summer, I think Skinner and Faulk will be with new teams before training camp opens. No idea where they may end up. I would be surprised if Williams is not the captain. I think TT is a great player who will continue to excel. Does Aho make him better? Sure, but he has all the skills to merit a long term deal.
News is slow this time of year but no need to trade a player before the right return is coming back.
Here is the source for Lindholm
https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/2018/07/elias-lindholm-signs-six-year-contract-with-calgary-flames.html?fv-home=true&post-id=91700
Definitely a better deal than Rask at 6 year 4 mill per, but that is the hindsight 20 20 benefit.
If the Canes could’ve gotten this deal done I think it would’ve been worth it.
Give the C to JW, tell Skinner if he proves himself this year he can get the C next year if he stays and signs an extension.
JW is probably going to walk anyway. J Staal has not elevated this team to a higher level so if he wants to walk and we get a suitable return, I don’t see the problem.
Aho, as the future face of the franchise does get first tabs on the C if he wants it actually, but that decision can wait until after the season.
JW is the sensible short-term solution that I think people can agree on.
There was a good article over on Hockeybuzz about how the Leafs have to find a way to address their log jam of goalies (they have 6 goalies under contract).
Piccard and Sparks are the two goalies that would be the first to be traded, it might be worth keeping an eye on those developments.
Whatever they do, the team needs to stop being stupid with the Cs and As, sort them out, don’t half arse the decisions.
One player has scored 128 points the last three years. He had a 54.4 FO percentage last year. Never scored 20 goals in a season.
The other player had 124 points in last three years scoring 20 goals once. He had a 54.9 FO percentage last year. His +/- was 0 on a struggling team.
Is 1.33 points per year worth $850,000 dollars a year? The second player (Rask) seems like solid player at a reasonable contract. The first player (Lindholm) seems a bit of an overpay at 4.85 per year.
Facts are stubborn things.
We live in the era of alternative facts, so we can’t let silly useless things like statistics and truths get in the way. 😉
Ok, 4.8 is more than 4.5 (unless you go with alternative facts of course) so the deals are about equal after all. I still thought/hoped Lindholm has a higher ceiling.
Well, I don’t hohpe it anymore of course.
In Rask we trust.
I hoped Lindholm would continue to grow into a stronger offensive player. Yet after 5 years in the NHL, I don’t know how much more ceiling he has. I think he is a very good player at 4 to 4.5 a year. Anything over that would be overpaying IMO.
Rask has his faults but if he can come back healthy and put up 40-50 points, play responsible defense and stay strong in the FO circle that is good 3rd line center. 4 million is fair for a 40 point scorer.
Again, I hope Lindholm and Hanifin find much success in Calgary. I just don’t think 4.85 for 6 years is a good deal for the canes. It is interesting that the Flames think they will blossom with BP as the coach.
and Lindholm has to play for Peters, again!! Kind of feel for the guy.
Neither, unless they improve is worth $4M a year. The first player also was scratched due to lack of effort. Not good.
As someone else mentioned s few days ago, I have trade watch fatigue. I marvel at the patience it takes to wait for the right deal, particularly after public statements about wanting to make trades.
On the matter of the assistant coach, I fear we hired the new guy before pushing the last guy out. While I am a Timmy! fan, an experienced assistant coach would be more appropriate. If this goes like the other management “searches”, we’ll look around for a couple weeks before announcing we have the right guy here all along. Probably getting paid the lesser amount associated with his last job.
Vellucci was a defenseman. We have at least two options – maybe more – for finding out that the right guy was here a along.
Ugh…