Lets Clear Some Things Up

[hockeynoob]

I've only been watching Hockey for a couple of years, but some people are talking crazy on these boards. So even with limited knowledge, I thought I'd try to clear some things up:

1) Kassian was not a failed trade: The Kassian trade was a long term investment. Kassian is a year younger than Hodgson, and is also on a very short leash. Putting Kassian on a leash is like telling Hodgson not to score goals. It's stopping him from what he does best. Furthermore, Hodgson ASKED to be traded. You can't keep a guy around for very long if he doesn't even want to be on your team. There are even rumors that he was causing problems in the locker room, and apparently Bieksa had to sit down and have a chat with him at one point. So anyone saying that Hodgson was the future of our franchise has to give their head a shake. Sure he didn't make a huge difference this year, but we had to let Hodgson go (how do you keep a guy around that doesnt want to be around).

2) Mike Gillis should NOT be fired: The trades Mike Gillis made this year, in hindsight, have been mediocre. But back when they were being made most people thought that they were great trades. The Booth trade was considered to be an absolute STEAL for Mike Gillis. Most analysts were saying that after we acquired Kassian and Pahlsson we were more fit for a cup run. He has signed a lot of players at great prices, and IMHO has recovered from the mistakes he's made.

3) Ryan Kesler had a bad season for a reason: I was talking to my doctor who is a huge hockey fan. He said that what players do over the summer is bulk up. They gain a lot of weight and then casually lose it over the season. Kesler, due to his injury, was unable to do this. He couldn't bulk up and couldnt practice in the preseason. Remember that in the previous offseason he practiced 100 slapshots, 100 wrist shots, and 100 backhands every day, and he couldn't do that this offseason (that's an insane amount of shots). Moreover, Kesler had to play a more defensive role this season, due to Hodgson being a, lets face it, defensive liability. Last year, the third line was our shutdown line. This year, the third line was a scoring line, leaving some of the defense to the second line. Sure, after Hodgson was traded his scoring was still abysmal, but give the guy some time. Don't jump the gun and trade him, only to watch him win a cup with another team.

4) Edler should NOT be traded: Prior to this series, in which Edler was ABSOLUTELY BRUTAL, Edler was seen as a future Norris contender and the future defenseman of this franchise. Saying that he should be traded is absolute crap. His poor play was a confidence issue which only snowballed throughout the series. To me, that is a coaching issue. People point to Edler's lack of power play production, but NO ONE on the power play has been productive. The guy has one of the hardest slapshots in the league, and has always been seen as a top prospect. Give him time. This is like the Bieksa thing all over again. Now imagine if we traded Bieksa just because fans had their panties in a knot?

5) Not signing Ehrhoff was the RIGHT choice: People say we should have signed Ehrhoff instead of Bieksa. That's bullsh*t. Ehrhoff was a defensive liability, and after last years playoffs a lot of people even wanted him traded. Sure he's missed on the power play. But the fact is that he wanted WAY too much, and couldnt have signed him even if we wanted to and let Bieksa go. There's no way we could have justified paying the guy that much. It would be another Luongo contract all over again.

6) The LA Kings are NOT a bad team: they have lost a tonne of games by 1 goal this season. Since acquiring Carter (?) their goals per game have risen dramatically. It wouldn't be unfair to say that if they had Carter all season long they would be at the top of their division, and be a very very strong team. Hell, they were picked by some to be conference final favourites this season. (However, we still should have beat them, but losing to them isn't like losing to a regular 8th seed)

7) I think AV has to go: He's a great coach. I love the guy. He's a jack adams winner, and has led us to the Stanley Cup Final. But if we get swept, I think a message has to be sent throughout the organization and AV has to be fired. He has been massively outcoached this series, and has been outcoached in other series as well. He failed to make necessary adjustments, and unfortunately, if we get swept, I think AVs time is up. A team as talented as the Canucks should go further than the third round. HOWEVER, if we don't get swept, I think we should keep him until the beginning of next season, and see how things go. If they don't go fairly well, then change things up. But sometimes a coaching changeup sends a message to the players that this organization won't stand for mediocre play.

8) Manny has to go: I love Manny. He's a great guy and a great leader. It is INCREDIBLY unfortunate that he had to have that accident with his eye. Unfortunately he is getting paid WAY too much just for faceoff duty, and his overall play isn't nearly as good as it used to be. We have Pahlsson and Lapierre that can both do that. I know he has a NTC, but I'm sure he would waive it if asked, and I'm sure he would understand. Sure, he is a great locker room guy, but in our 'player led' locker room, where players call out other guys for mediocre play, how can Manny call someone else out if he's not playing well himself? (that goes for a lot of guys on the Canucks actually)

Now go ahead and flame me with your CDC insanity, I just feel this had to be said.

[Canucks-12]

Finally someone smart here.

i 100% agree with you.

[Stark]

I actually agree with you on everything except the Manny part. He brings more to the team through his leadership and etc. There are aspects to the team where we, as fans, cannot see and his locker room presence is pretty important. Other than that, good post!

[Sandro17]

Kassian was a failed trade because it wasn't done in the off season. I liked the trade at first but now that were in the play-offs and its obvious that we would rather have Cody as compared to Kass in our current situation, obviously the correct thing to have done would have been to wait for the off season before trading for Kass.

[250Integra]

Kassian was a failed trade sorry.

We could've moved Hodgson for an immediate-impact player, but instead we invested in a toothless ogre who has done absolutely nothing (literally), and who many thought would be a force in the playoffs

[Dogbyte]

Kassian was a failed trade because it wasn't done in the off season. I liked the trade at first but now that were in the play-offs and its obvious that we would rather have Cody as compared to Kass in our current situation, obviously the correct thing to have done would have been to wait for the off season before trading for Kass.

[3KBieksa]

I've only been watching Hockey for a couple of years, but some people are talking crazy on these boards. So even with limited knowledge, I thought I'd try to clear some things up:

1) Kassian was not a failed trade: The Kassian trade was a long term investment. Kassian is a year younger than Hodgson, and is also on a very short leash. Putting Kassian on a leash is like telling Hodgson not to score goals. It's stopping him from what he does best. Furthermore, Hodgson ASKED to be traded. You can't keep a guy around for very long if he doesn't even want to be on your team. There are even rumors that he was causing problems in the locker room, and apparently Bieksa had to sit down and have a chat with him at one point. So anyone saying that Hodgson was the future of our franchise has to give their head a shake. Sure he didn't make a huge difference this year, but we had to let Hodgson go (how do you keep a guy around that doesnt want to be around).

2) Mike Gillis should NOT be fired: The trades Mike Gillis made this year, in hindsight, have been mediocre. But back when they were being made most people thought that they were great trades. The Booth trade was considered to be an absolute STEAL for Mike Gillis. Most analysts were saying that after we acquired Kassian and Pahlsson we were more fit for a cup run. He has signed a lot of players at great prices, and IMHO has recovered from the mistakes he's made.

3) Ryan Kesler had a bad season for a reason: I was talking to my doctor who is a huge hockey fan. He said that what players do over the summer is bulk up. They gain a lot of weight and then casually lose it over the season. Kesler, due to his injury, was unable to do this. He couldn't bulk up and couldnt practice in the preseason. Remember that in the previous offseason he practiced 100 slapshots, 100 wrist shots, and 100 backhands every day, and he couldn't do that this offseason (that's an insane amount of shots). Moreover, Kesler had to play a more defensive role this season, due to Hodgson being a, lets face it, defensive liability. Last year, the third line was our shutdown line. This year, the third line was a scoring line, leaving some of the defense to the second line. Sure, after Hodgson was traded his scoring was still abysmal, but give the guy some time. Don't jump the gun and trade him, only to watch him win a cup with another team.

4) Edler should NOT be traded: Prior to this series, in which Edler was ABSOLUTELY BRUTAL, Edler was seen as a future Norris contender and the future defenseman of this franchise. Saying that he should be traded is absolute crap. His poor play was a confidence issue which only snowballed throughout the series. To me, that is a coaching issue. People point to Edler's lack of power play production, but NO ONE on the power play has been productive. The guy has one of the hardest slapshots in the league, and has always been seen as a top prospect. Give him time. This is like the Bieksa thing all over again. Now imagine if we traded Bieksa just because fans had their panties in a knot?

5) Not signing Ehrhoff was the RIGHT choice: People say we should have signed Ehrhoff instead of Bieksa. That's bullsh*t. Ehrhoff was a defensive liability, and after last years playoffs a lot of people even wanted him traded. Sure he's missed on the power play. But the fact is that he wanted WAY too much, and couldnt have signed him even if we wanted to and let Bieksa go. There's no way we could have justified paying the guy that much. It would be another Luongo contract all over again.

6) The LA Kings are NOT a bad team: they have lost a tonne of games by 1 goal this season. Since acquiring Carter (?) their goals per game have risen dramatically. It wouldn't be unfair to say that if they had Carter all season long they would be at the top of their division, and be a very very strong team. Hell, they were picked by some to be conference final favourites this season. (However, we still should have beat them, but losing to them isn't like losing to a regular 8th seed)

7) I think AV has to go: He's a great coach. I love the guy. He's a jack adams winner, and has led us to the Stanley Cup Final. But if we get swept, I think a message has to be sent throughout the organization and AV has to be fired. He has been massively outcoached this series, and has been outcoached in other series as well. He failed to make necessary adjustments, and unfortunately, if we get swept, I think AVs time is up. A team as talented as the Canucks should go further than the third round. HOWEVER, if we don't get swept, I think we should keep him until the beginning of next season, and see how things go. If they don't go fairly well, then change things up. But sometimes a coaching changeup sends a message to the players that this organization won't stand for mediocre play.

8) Manny has to go: I love Manny. He's a great guy and a great leader. It is INCREDIBLY unfortunate that he had to have that accident with his eye. Unfortunately he is getting paid WAY too much just for faceoff duty, and his overall play isn't nearly as good as it used to be. We have Pahlsson and Lapierre that can both do that. I know he has a NTC, but I'm sure he would waive it if asked, and I'm sure he would understand. Sure, he is a great locker room guy, but in our 'player led' locker room, where players call out other guys for mediocre play, how can Manny call someone else out if he's not playing well himself? (that goes for a lot of guys on the Canucks actually)

Now go ahead and flame me with your CDC insanity, I just feel this had to be said.

[snolan]

Agree on all points. Would like to add though

1) mayray should be gone or signed at a lesser amount and confined to a 3rd/4th line role. Plays hard, is fast but his hands/offense is so bad he pretty much kills a play with a weak shot to the net or curls to the boards and falls down on a consitant basis.

2) As Sandro said, the Kassian/Hodsgon trade was not the right deal for a trade deadline, but does still have potential in the long run as people saying Kassian has done nothing are right, but him carrying the tema wasn't the general idea behind his acquisition..

[PlanTheParade]

I've only been watching Hockey for a couple of years, but some people are talking crazy on these boards. So even with limited knowledge, I thought I'd try to clear some things up:

1) Kassian was not a failed trade: The Kassian trade was a long term investment. Kassian is a year younger than Hodgson, and is also on a very short leash. Putting Kassian on a leash is like telling Hodgson not to score goals. It's stopping him from what he does best. Furthermore, Hodgson ASKED to be traded. You can't keep a guy around for very long if he doesn't even want to be on your team. There are even rumors that he was causing problems in the locker room, and apparently Bieksa had to sit down and have a chat with him at one point. So anyone saying that Hodgson was the future of our franchise has to give their head a shake. Sure he didn't make a huge difference this year, but we had to let Hodgson go (how do you keep a guy around that doesnt want to be around).

1) Agree here. This is fuelled by the fact that AV is not the kind of coach who trusts his players easily.

2) Mike Gillis should NOT be fired: The trades Mike Gillis made this year, in hindsight, have been mediocre. But back when they were being made most people thought that they were great trades. The Booth trade was considered to be an absolute STEAL for Mike Gillis. Most analysts were saying that after we acquired Kassian and Pahlsson we were more fit for a cup run. He has signed a lot of players at great prices, and IMHO has recovered from the mistakes he's made.

2) I still think the Booth trade was a steal. I'm a little nervous about recent transactions but I'd give him a bit more time. Albeit there aren't any real big signings/trades for a while after Schneider.

3) Ryan Kesler had a bad season for a reason: I was talking to my doctor who is a huge hockey fan. He said that what players do over the summer is bulk up. They gain a lot of weight and then casually lose it over the season. Kesler, due to his injury, was unable to do this. He couldn't bulk up and couldnt practice in the preseason. Moreover, Kesler had to play a more defensive role this season, due to Hodgson being a, lets face it, defensive liability. Last year, the third line was our shutdown line. This year, the third line was a scoring line, leaving some of the defense to the second line. Sure, after Hodgson was traded his scoring was still abysmal, but give the guy some time. Don't jump the gun and trade him, only to watch him win a cup with another team.

3) Agree. Excellent points.

4) Edler should NOT be traded: Prior to this series, in which Edler was ABSOLUTELY BRUTAL, Edler was seen as a future Norris contender and the future defenseman of this franchise. Saying that he should be traded is absolute crap. His poor play was a confidence issue which only snowballed throughout the series. To me, that is a coaching issue. People point to Edler's lack of power play production, but NO ONE on the power play has been productive. The guy has one of the hardest slapshots in the league, and has always been seen as a top prospect. Give him time. This is like the Bieksa thing all over again. Now imagine if we traded Bieksa just because fans had their panties in a knot?

5) Agree here, but his upside is a lot better than Bieksa's.

5) Not signing Ehrhoff was the RIGHT choice: People say we should have signed Ehrhoff instead of Bieksa. That's bullsh*t. Ehrhoff was a defensive liability, and after last years playoffs a lot of people even wanted him traded. Sure he's missed on the power play. But the fact is that he wanted WAY too much, and couldnt have signed him even if we wanted to and let Bieksa go. There's no way we could have justified paying the guy that much. It would be another Luongo contract all over again.

5) Massive disagreement. Bieksa has the privilege of playing with Hamhuis. ANYONE playing with Hamhuis (see Tanev) would be considered shutdown pair. Bieksa cashed in big time by playing with Hamhuis last year and definitely isn't worth anything that he got paid. He's probably worth 3.8 - 4.2 or so. Ehrhoff may not have gelled with the team as well but there is no doubting his offensive prowess and abilities on the PP. I'd have been much happier paying Ehrhoff 5.2 over 3 or 4 years (if that was available at all). Hamhuis may be more valuable but defencemen like Ehrhoff are far and few in between. At the most crucial time of the year it's proving to be costly. (see inability to clear our zone leading to turnovers/goals)

6) The LA Kings are NOT a bad team: they have lost a tonne of games by 1 goal this season. Since acquiring Carter (?) their goals per game have risen dramatically. It wouldn't be unfair to say that if they had Carter all season long they would be at the top of their division, and be a very very strong team. Hell, they were picked by some to be conference final favourites this season. (However, we still should have beat them, but losing to them isn't like losing to a regular 8th seed)

6) Agree, but that's no excuse to go down 3-0.

7) I think AV has to go: He's a great coach. I love the guy. He's a jack adams winner, and has led us to the Stanley Cup Final. But if we get swept, I think a message has to be sent throughout the organization and AV has to be fired. He has been massively outcoached this series, and has been outcoached in other series as well. He failed to make necessary adjustments, and unfortunately, if we get swept, I think AVs time is up. A team as talented as the Canucks should go further than the third round. HOWEVER, if we don't get swept, I think we should keep him until the beginning of next season, and see how things go. If they don't go fairly well, then change things up. But sometimes a coaching changeup sends a message to the players that this organization won't stand for mediocre play.

7) I have long held praise for AV but it's time. He leans hard on the system, which although has been successful during his tenure, is quite exploitable, as seen last June and now. He has little trust for his players (Ballard, Hodgson, Kassian) and is quite inflexible with different approaches to the game IMO. He needs to let guys play to their potential in order to maximize their output. ie. Kassian can't play afraid of making mistakes, Ballard needs to be given the green light. Whether MacT or whoever else is a suitable replacement is another issue.

8) Manny has to go: I love Manny. He's a great guy and a great leader. It is INCREDIBLY unfortunate that he had to have that accident with his eye. Unfortunately he is getting paid WAY too much just for faceoff duty, and his overall play isn't nearly as good as it used to be. We have Pahlsson and Lapierre that can both do that. I know he has a NTC, but I'm sure he would waive it if asked, and I'm sure he would understand.

8) Agree. I thought he could hold his own with defensive responsibilities but this series it has been nothing but missed assignments and turnovers (with the one in game 2 leading to the winning goal) in the defensive zone. He is afraid to get hit now and often gets mixed up when on the ice as a second centreman for the draw. That being said, he has a family and home in Vancouver and there is nil chance that he will be asked to waive his NTC given the course of his past two seasons and his involvement with the team in a leadership capacity and in the community as well.

Now go ahead and flame me with your CDC insanity, I just feel this had to be said.

[Trebreh]

I actually agree with you on everything except the Manny part. He brings more to the team through his leadership and etc. There are aspects to the team where we, as fans, cannot see and his locker room presence is pretty important. Other than that, good post!

[JelloIce]

I agree with trade based on the information we've been given. I would have liked to see Cody here for one last run though. Easy to say in hindsight.

We are just getting outworked by the Kings and we probalby should have tried to play mistake free hockey starting at game one instead of game 3. We probably would have won one of those first couple games if we didn't shoot ourselves in the foot. EDLER !!!

[hockeynoob]

It would suck to see Manny traded, but you have to remember this is a business. Aquilini signs the checks for this team so that they win. Don't you think he would have wanted more money-making-playoff games?

[Stark]

Please, ive heard this same argument over and over again when defending him. Ryan Johnson had leadership and was great in the locker room aswell, should we offer him a contract??

Did his locker room presence gave the Canucks a boost in the SCF?? does his leadership score goals? is him being classy worth 3rd line player money? Im sorry but there is no room for a guy like him who plays a small role in a stanley cup contender.

[Trebreh]

I don't know if you've ever played sports, but having that locker room presence is pretty important. There's a mental side to the game to that is just as important as everything else. His contract may not be worth his play, but his ability to win us those defensive role faceoffs are pretty important too. Pahlsson has been just as invisible so far in the playoffs.

[CCCP]

I've only been watching Hockey for a couple of years, but some people are talking crazy on these boards. So even with limited knowledge, I thought I'd try to clear some things up:

1) Kassian was not a failed trade: The Kassian trade was a long term investment. Kassian is a year younger than Hodgson, and is also on a very short leash. Putting Kassian on a leash is like telling Hodgson not to score goals. It's stopping him from what he does best. Furthermore, Hodgson ASKED to be traded. You can't keep a guy around for very long if he doesn't even want to be on your team. There are even rumors that he was causing problems in the locker room, and apparently Bieksa had to sit down and have a chat with him at one point. So anyone saying that Hodgson was the future of our franchise has to give their head a shake. Sure he didn't make a huge difference this year, but we had to let Hodgson go (how do you keep a guy around that doesnt want to be around).

2) Mike Gillis should NOT be fired: The trades Mike Gillis made this year, in hindsight, have been mediocre. But back when they were being made most people thought that they were great trades. The Booth trade was considered to be an absolute STEAL for Mike Gillis. Most analysts were saying that after we acquired Kassian and Pahlsson we were more fit for a cup run. He has signed a lot of players at great prices, and IMHO has recovered from the mistakes he's made.

3) Ryan Kesler had a bad season for a reason: I was talking to my doctor who is a huge hockey fan. He said that what players do over the summer is bulk up. They gain a lot of weight and then casually lose it over the season. Kesler, due to his injury, was unable to do this. He couldn't bulk up and couldnt practice in the preseason. Remember that in the previous offseason he practiced 100 slapshots, 100 wrist shots, and 100 backhands every day, and he couldn't do that this offseason (that's an insane amount of shots). Moreover, Kesler had to play a more defensive role this season, due to Hodgson being a, lets face it, defensive liability. Last year, the third line was our shutdown line. This year, the third line was a scoring line, leaving some of the defense to the second line. Sure, after Hodgson was traded his scoring was still abysmal, but give the guy some time. Don't jump the gun and trade him, only to watch him win a cup with another team.

4) Edler should NOT be traded: Prior to this series, in which Edler was ABSOLUTELY BRUTAL, Edler was seen as a future Norris contender and the future defenseman of this franchise. Saying that he should be traded is absolute crap. His poor play was a confidence issue which only snowballed throughout the series. To me, that is a coaching issue. People point to Edler's lack of power play production, but NO ONE on the power play has been productive. The guy has one of the hardest slapshots in the league, and has always been seen as a top prospect. Give him time. This is like the Bieksa thing all over again. Now imagine if we traded Bieksa just because fans had their panties in a knot?

5) Not signing Ehrhoff was the RIGHT choice: People say we should have signed Ehrhoff instead of Bieksa. That's bullsh*t. Ehrhoff was a defensive liability, and after last years playoffs a lot of people even wanted him traded. Sure he's missed on the power play. But the fact is that he wanted WAY too much, and couldnt have signed him even if we wanted to and let Bieksa go. There's no way we could have justified paying the guy that much. It would be another Luongo contract all over again.

6) The LA Kings are NOT a bad team: they have lost a tonne of games by 1 goal this season. Since acquiring Carter (?) their goals per game have risen dramatically. It wouldn't be unfair to say that if they had Carter all season long they would be at the top of their division, and be a very very strong team. Hell, they were picked by some to be conference final favourites this season. (However, we still should have beat them, but losing to them isn't like losing to a regular 8th seed)

7) I think AV has to go: He's a great coach. I love the guy. He's a jack adams winner, and has led us to the Stanley Cup Final. But if we get swept, I think a message has to be sent throughout the organization and AV has to be fired. He has been massively outcoached this series, and has been outcoached in other series as well. He failed to make necessary adjustments, and unfortunately, if we get swept, I think AVs time is up. A team as talented as the Canucks should go further than the third round. HOWEVER, if we don't get swept, I think we should keep him until the beginning of next season, and see how things go. If they don't go fairly well, then change things up. But sometimes a coaching changeup sends a message to the players that this organization won't stand for mediocre play.

8) Manny has to go: I love Manny. He's a great guy and a great leader. It is INCREDIBLY unfortunate that he had to have that accident with his eye. Unfortunately he is getting paid WAY too much just for faceoff duty, and his overall play isn't nearly as good as it used to be. We have Pahlsson and Lapierre that can both do that. I know he has a NTC, but I'm sure he would waive it if asked, and I'm sure he would understand. Sure, he is a great locker room guy, but in our 'player led' locker room, where players call out other guys for mediocre play, how can Manny call someone else out if he's not playing well himself? (that goes for a lot of guys on the Canucks actually)

Now go ahead and flame me with your CDC insanity, I just feel this had to be said.

[Tangelos]

it's easy to make excuses (kesler sucked for a reason, kings are good etc.) but the fact is if we lose in the first round it will be an utter embarrassment. If I recall, the flyers went to the finals in 2010 then got swept in 2011. They made changes in leadership and it seems to have sparked them. I hope mg makes some drastic changes this off season. Obviously the sedins are our franchise guys but everyone else except for burrows (cap friendly), hansen ( the STUD) is up for grabs.

[Stark]

Yes I've played sports (Basketball) And asoon as the game starts those locker room precense and his 'leadership' means nothing if he cant play.

Win faceoffs, the team fails to retrieve the puck, what does Malhotra do? he's a liability when the actualy play starts. He only take faceoffs! It's a game within the game, its does not have any factor on wether you win or lose games.

Pahlsson is just as good in the faceoff as Malhotra and actually throws his weight around AND most inportantly, can play a regular shift.

Pahlsson invisible? blame AV for that, MG acquired him to be the 'shutdown' guy, yet he has no balls to play him against the top lines.

[Stark]

it's easy to make excuses (kesler sucked for a reason, kings are good etc.) but the fact is if we lose in the first round it will be an utter embarrassment. If I recall, the flyers went to the finals in 2010 then got swept in 2011. They made changes in leadership and it seems to have sparked them. I hope mg makes some drastic changes this off season. Obviously the sedins are our franchise guys but everyone else except for burrows (cap friendly), hansen ( the STUD) is up for grabs.

[Trebreh]

I disagree, there are intermissions and the team needs guys that can speak up in the locker room like Kesler, Bieksa, and Manny. Faceoffs are a pretty important factor, it could mean the different between obtaining a key scoring chance, or preventing the other team's goal. Everything factors in to whether you win or lose a game.

Pahlsson is good in the circle, but definitely not as good as Malhotra, even with his eye injury. Pahlsson also cost us in the circle last game because he lost the draw, and the Kings scored on the ensuing play which proved to be the game winner. So it really does play a factor in the game.

AV has made a lot of mistakes, and yes Pahlsson hasn't been playing very much against the other teams' top lines but when he does he seems slow and lacking effort. If it wasn't for Hansen, that line would be just as ineffective as our 4th line at the moment.

[Tangelos]

The Flyers made changes for various reasons, including getting rid of cap space for Bryz. And Richards and Carter being cancerous to the team (apparently). They could afford to do so because they have Giroux, Briere, JVR, etc. Their young guys have really stepped up, and they also got Jagr for pretty cheap.