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Everything posted by mll
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[Proposal] Wild - Canucks Miller moved
mll replied to Odjick the Warrior's topic in Proposals and Armchair GM'ing
Can't see either team being interested. The Wild are still in a rebuild mindset - ever since he got to Minnesota, Guerin has been trying to acquire more draft picks. He's made only one trade that was not a hockey trade and he didn't even have to give up the 7th round pick after all. Otherwise it's only been about acquiring more picks or swapping players for others. Can't see them giving up futures or key players/prospects for their future. They will have 13M-15M in dead cap for the next 3 seasons - he didn't even bother to try and trade Suter or Parise and just bought them out. Seems a bit unrealistic to think they can contend while operating 15M below the cap from other teams. Their roster is still flawed and Guerin's mandate is to build a perennial contender - not a one and done team. They've done that under Fletcher and ownership is fed up of participation medals. -
[Rumour] Coyotes gauging market on Jakob Chychrun
mll replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in Trades, Rumours, Signings
Every report says that the price is huge. Friedman thinks it would be complicated for Vancouver to do it which suggests that it's going to cost more than that. A team trading for Chychrun gets him for 4x playoffs runs at 4.6M when cap space is so valuable and Ds his calibre are being paid double that. Jones would be the guess of the type of return - he did sign an extension but at 9.5M and is older. The team acquiring Chychrun will have 4 runs at such a reasonable cost + the time to negotiate an extension that will kick in just when the cap is expected to go up. -
[GDT] Around the NHL | December (19-25) 2021
mll replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in General Hockey Discussion
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[GDT] Around the NHL | December (19-25) 2021
mll replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in General Hockey Discussion
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Canucks feel best is yet to come as they await return to play VANCOUVER – More than half an hour after their final practice ended and their extended holiday break began, a handful of Vancouver Canucks players were still on the ice, reluctant to leave. They were just playing, having fun. J.T. Miller, Quinn Hughes, Conor Garland and Elias Pettersson were staging shooting contests. Pettersson seemed to be winning. Captain Bo Horvat was out there for a long time, as well. Others lingered. It’s like they knew it could be a while before they’re playing hockey again. The National Hockey League, with about 20 per cent of its player workforce in COVID-19 protocols, on Monday extended the Christmas break to five days. The Canucks, three days removed from their last of six positive tests, are supposed to report back to work on Boxing Day and be ready to play a home game Dec. 27 against the Seattle Kraken. But about the time they finally came off the ice on Tuesday, the B.C. government was announcing another round of sweeping restrictions as the Omicron wave builds. It doesn’t seem to matter that the great majority of us are now vaccinated against the coronavirus and that the effects of this latest variant, although preliminary, seem to be less severe for those infected with COVID-19. The NHL is going dark this week. Unlike when that first giant coronavirus tsunami washed ashore 21 months ago, the league has a firm restart date. But as we saw in that bleak and frightening spring of 2020, as our hospitals began to fill up and schools and workplaces emptied, long before vaccines were available, there are no guarantees. And so those Canucks played like kids, staying out on the ice long after coach Bruce Boudreau left to talk to reporters on Zoom. “I used to love staying out as long as I could until they kicked me off (the ice) when I was playing,” Boudreau said. “And when players are doing that, it tells you that they like being around the rink. When you see players leave as soon as the practice is over and without a smile on their face, then it becomes a troubling situation. But our guys right now seem to be having fun. And to me winning is fun. So I mean, if we keep winning, they'll have a lot of fun.” That is part of it for sure, probably the main part. The Canucks won their first six games under Boudreau, who replaced Travis Green on Dec. 5, before Vancouver’s final four pre-Christmas games were postponed. This week’s avalanche of cancellations is partly why the NHL and its Players’ Association have agreed not to send players to the Beijing Winter Games, so that the Olympic “break” in February can now be used to help complete a revised 82-game NHL schedule. When he was finally dragged off the ice to participate in the media availability, Miller said: “I just think guys are trying to sweat out a little bit extra for the holiday beers. We've got four days at home. It's definitely more fun when you're winning, coming to the rink. Over the last couple of weeks, we're playing well but. . . I still think there's a little bit more to our game, which is exciting.” “When you're coming to the rink and it feels like a grind and you're not having fun and you want to get out of here, you're not going to be bringing your best,” Hughes said when asked about the extra-curricular activities. “When guys are having fun and really enjoying each other's company, that's when you know things are good. Earlier, the defenceman explained: “Guys are now excited to play, hungry to play, playing hard. Like you see the way Brock (Boeser) is playing and some of the other guys, I feel like they just found that hunger and excitement and fun -- enjoying the game again. And that's how you know you're going to get guys' best, including myself. I think the morale was good. We always knew we had a good team.” Hughes and Miller were brought out at the media’s request because both were near-automatic picks to play for Team USA in February, but neither had invested enough in the prospect of going to Olympics to be crushed by the looming announcement that NHL players will be staying home. “I didn't feel like I knew I had a spot on the team or anything, so I definitely didn't have my hopes up,” Miller, who turns 29 in March, said. “It would have been an awesome experience. But it's also a situation where there is a lot going on in the world right now, so I think we did it for the safety of the players and the players' families.” “Coming into the season, I didn't like how the season went last year,” Hughes, 22, said. “So my whole mindset and the reality was I was just focused on this season and trying to have a good start to the season. And I wasn't really too consumed with the Olympics. Of course, if I was able to go and the players were able to go, it would be a really cool experience to represent your country and play at the highest level. “But I think as far as not going, there's too many things unknown. Obviously, it's not up to me... but I think it was probably a good decision. And we owe our (NHL) organizations the chance to be here and play here and be healthy and ready to go.” Until Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini contacted him shortly before firing Green and general manager Jim Benning, Boudreau was working with Hockey Canada to be part of the coaching staff at the Spengler Cup in Switzerland, the Christmastime tournament from which Team Canada has now withdrawn. “It's a shame,” Boudreau said. “I think the world loves the Olympics as far as the competition goes. We as Canadians always feel that we're the best and so we love to go there and prove it. But at the same time, safety first. I totally understand if they decide not to go. The thought of potentially quarantining in China for anywhere from three to five weeks is not very exciting. The lure of the Olympics is still a tremendous lure and I'm sure there's players (who) want to go, but I think if they decide not to, I understand the safety reasons that they would want to stay here as well.” As a first-time B.C. resident, Boudreau said he will spend the holiday break exploring the mountains. With a car, not a backpack, he clarified. Canucks president Jim Rutherford, living out of a hotel room since following Boudreau to Vancouver, plans to travel home to Raleigh, N.C. to spend Christmas with his wife and kids. But he’ll see Boudreau and the players back in Vancouver on Sunday. Everyone hopes.
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Calgary pausing constructing of new arena
mll replied to BCNeil's topic in General Hockey Discussion
In response to numerous media inquiries this evening, Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation ("CSEC") provides the following update to the citizens of Calgary regarding the Event Centre Project. CSEC's primary objective in pursuing the Event Centre Project has been to provide Calgarians a first class facility with an entertainment experience, not only for hockey, but for other events including concerts, comparable to other major cities. However, at this point, it is clear that the City and CSEC have been unable to resolve a number of issues relating to the escalating costs of the Project. Accordingly, as the City and CSEC have been unable to resolve these issues, CSEC has determined that there is no viable path to complete the Event Centre Project. When the agreements were first executed back in December 2019 the parties agreed to a cost sharing arrangement of 50%/50% with respect to the design and construction of the new Event Centre. In July 2021, with these costs increasing to $608.5 million, the City informed CSEC they were not able to fund their 50% share which, under the terms of the Project Framework Agreement, would have resulted in termination at that time. Instead CSEC agreed to fund a disproportionate share ($321 million to City's $287.5 million) and agreed to accept the risk of reasonable future design and construction cost increases related to the Event Centre in spite of our original 50%/50% agreement. The most recent cost estimates place the total cost of the Event Centre at $634 million which means CSEC would be responsible for an additional $25.5 million of cost. The resulting cost sharing would have been $346.5 million for CSEC and $287.5 million for the City and, CSEC would continue to be responsible for further cost increases related to the construction of the Event Centre. Unfortunately, there are now $19 million of new cost items related to infrastructure and climate being insisted upon by the City for which they are seeking an additional $10 million in funding from CSEC. While CSEC was prepared to move forward in the face of escalating construction costs and assume the unknown future cost risks, CSEC was not prepared to fund the infrastructure and climate costs that were introduced by the City following our July agreement and were not included in the $608.5 million and are not included in the current cost estimate of $634 million. The failure of the City and CSEC to find a viable path forward was not based upon simply the "the last dollar" on the table; but rather was based upon the accumulated increase in CSEC's share of the costs, including the infrastructure and climate costs, the overall risk factors related to the Project and the inability of CSEC and the City to find a path forward that would work for both parties. In summary, the primary reasons for this difficult decision include: 1) Introduction by the City of significant infrastructure costs ($15 million) and climate mitigation costs ($4 million); costs not previously identified as project costs by CMLC or the City nor included in the $608.5 million target budget in July 2021. 2) Continued cost escalation experienced since the approved budget of $608.5 million in July 2021. It has since grown to $634 million based upon design development that was completed in October 2021. 3) High level of risk associated with future project cost increases in part due to supply chain issues and commodity price escalation as a result of the impact of COVID. While not ideal for Calgarians nor competitively for the Flames, the people of Calgary should understand that nevertheless CSEC's intentions are to remain in the Scotiabank Saddledome. We are deeply disappointed with the outcome. -
Friedman in his 32 Thoughts on why it would have been incredible to watch Crosby/McDavid playing together: Last summer, Crosby and McDavid made a point of skating together to prepare for the Olympics. Those who were there called it magic. When we consider two great players working as linemates, we generally think of one passing to the other. This went above and beyond that. “They didn’t pass the puck to each other, they passed the puck to space,” said longtime NHL player development consultant Darryl Belfry, who was with them. “The puck is going to a space that only those two know, because of their collective genius. They’re two steps ahead, and it was glorious to watch them spring scoring chances out of nowhere.” “They can see where the offensive chances will come from, and where others are trying to contain them. Other top players can do similar things, but not to that level. And they aren’t zipping it hard, they’re flipping it into a space…and gone. That thinking is incredible to witness…especially when you see it over and over and over again.” Another individual who was there said it was interesting to watch McDavid -- who loves to attack off the rush -- learn to mesh with Crosby, the best at grinding it out down low. “Sid was placing pucks and letting McDavid skate into them. Sid is so great at protecting the puck he could buy time and allow McDavid to be like a wide receiver running to scoring areas.” Belfry said they’d throw the puck three or four times into space in a row, “and one of them would be walking to the net.” He explained that unless an offensive player is dealt an advantage because of space, angle or speed, one-on-one play in the NHL is won most often by the defender. “Other players were saying, ‘You’re not only playing against those two, you’re also playing against the space,’” Belfry added. “You don’t know where the next threat is coming from. You can’t defend that, it’s crazy. Physical gifts are one thing, but the most impressive thing is thinking two or three levels ahead of everyone else and getting to the same plane.” Among Belfry’s proteges are Kane, who he calls “a puppeteer,” and Matthews. “But I’ve never seen two guys doing it together like that. Best-on-best, we just have to see it.”
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Florida are 3rd in the league in goals for per game. Don't see them moving out a top pairing D for Boeser.
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Whichever side the D is most comfortable. Boudreau played Soucy on either side. Soucy is a LHD but he also played on the right side for Boudreau. Rutherford acquired Daley for Scuderi when in Pittsburgh. Daley was struggling in Chicago and Rutherford knew why. From his Players'Tribune article: "The problem jumped out at me right away. Trevor was on the left side of the TV screen. Trevor is lefthanded. Chicago was playing him on the left side. Most people watching would think, “So what? Isn’t that his natural side?” It is. Most defensemen like playing on their natural side, so that when their defensive partner passes the puck “D-to-D” behind the net, they can catch the puck on their forehand. But I knew from my box that Trevor actually liked to play on his off-side. He played on the right side in Dallas. Watching him in Chicago, you could tell he was uncomfortable on breakouts."
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[GDT] Around the NHL | December (19-25) 2021
mll replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in General Hockey Discussion
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Clarke is a LAK prospect. Anaheim declared a rebuild this off-season and although Murray is gone don't think that has changed. They have several players shooting at unsustainable high percentage. Feels like they would be building on quick-sand if they overestimate their performance and use such a small sample size. Don't think they will be moving top prospects any time soon.
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Too little NHL experience. Other teams are also having trouble building a solid D-corps and Lamoriello just destroyed his when he traded Toews for 2x 2nd (what a steal) and Leddy (granted he's an upcoming UFA). If they believe Dobson can be a consistent top-4, I think they'll hold on to him. I am not convinced that the Canucks will move Miller either. I get cap considerations, upcoming UFA status, age etc but he makes the team better and the return might not help enough to compensate the issues with the roster. The D-corps is still weak but by pressing for offence, it hides that weakness. If you remove offence, then you are putting more accent back on defence and one player is probably not enough to improve it enough. They also have an elite goalie in Demko which buys them time.
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They are out of a playoff spot. Don't think they are all in just yet. They went in a rebuild to get those prospects. As constructed their team is not good enough. It's not one player that is going to put them over the top. It's the development of all those top prospects that will get them back to contention.
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Miller is 1 year to UFA. Could see them looking to make a hockey trade to change the make-up up front, but not add a forward for a D - it would deplete their D-corps. Don't think Poolman would interest them either. Staples talks of how their Ds can't move the puck and get stuck in their own zone. He believes they are looking for more mobile Ds with Friedman thinking they could be in on Chychrun.
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Wouldn't expect them to be willing to move key prospects though. They are no longer in a rebuild and are looking to make their way back to contention now that they've been able to re-stock their prospect pool.
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Three tests to be confirmed in protocol and once in they are on it minimum 10 days - that's how it's been reported for the Wild among other teams. This is from the protocol where they write "if at least 10 days": E. ENDING ISOLATION Players or Club personnel whose test has been confirmed positive shall remain in isolation until all of the following conditions have been satisfied: If at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared, and at least 24 hours have passed since last fever without the use of fever-reducing medications, and symptoms (e.g., cough, shortness of breath, etc.) have improved (with the exception of continued loss of taste or smell so long as other symptoms have improved). In addition, the Club Physician, its infectious disease expert, and any other treating physician providing care to the individual, must conclude that the individual no longer presents a risk of infection to others, and that it is medically appropriate (given individual and local circumstances) to terminate the requirement for self-isolation. The termination of the isolation requirement is consistent with applicable local public health regulations or other requirements.
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Doubt he is available. Has replaced Ellis alongside Josi. Ekholm plays with Carrier. Myers looks to be the odd man out - also a right hand D.
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Myers can't get into the lineup with Hynes explaining that there are details to his game that he needs to work on. Don't think he's the player they hoped to get. They were also able to extend Ekholm which was not a given when they made that trade + with the emergence of Carrier and Fabbro starting to find his game don't think they would be against moving him. Probably for an equally young player or futures. Don't think they'd want a veteran given that Poile says they are in a transition to get younger. He called it a competitive rebuild earlier in the summer explaining that the Ellis for Myers/Glass trade was part of it as well as getting 2x draft picks for Arvidsson. Don't see NYI moving Dobson when themselves are looking for Ds unless he's part of the return for Chychrun. Chara/Greene probably won't be brought back. Mayfield is 1 year to UFA after this season and will earn a raise. Move Dobson and they would be left with only Pulock-Pelech.
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[GDT] Around the NHL | December (19-25) 2021
mll replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in General Hockey Discussion
LAK announce that they are putting Edler on LTIR with a left ankle fracture (retroactive to 11 Dec). -
Earlier this year there were reports that the league borrowed 1 billion secured against future league revenue with each team able to withdraw up to 30M each.