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Everything posted by mll
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[GDT] Around the NHL | July (28-30) 2020 (Exhibition)
mll replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in General Hockey Discussion
Penguins also went with 12 F + 6 Ds and no extra. -
[GDT] Around the NHL | July (28-30) 2020 (Exhibition)
mll replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in General Hockey Discussion
Their 1st D call-up is likely Bartkowski and at F it would be Rask. They don't need to sit on the bench. -
The Wild have 15 goals more than the Canucks at 5v5 while allowing also 5 less. The Canucks do their damage on the PP. Wild were one of the very best teams at protecting the middle of the ice. Dumba looks to have found his shot. He struggled so much this season after coming back from a torn pectoral back in Nov 2018 that required multiple surgeries. That shot on his goal was not seen this season.
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[GDT] Around the NHL | July (28-30) 2020 (Exhibition)
mll replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in General Hockey Discussion
They have to manage to get past Vancouver. They haven't skated together in a game since March. They need their lines to get back going. It's far more important than playing a depth player who might not see any action if they don't get through the play-ins. -
[GDT] Around the NHL | July (28-30) 2020 (Exhibition)
mll replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in General Hockey Discussion
They are preparing for Vancouver and want to treat it like a regular game. It's not really fair to just have guys sitting on the bench knowing that they won't play. -
[GDT] Around the NHL | July (28-30) 2020 (Exhibition)
mll replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in General Hockey Discussion
This is an extension of the regular season for them and not the start of a new season. They know their lineup. Rask is F13 and Pateryn is injured. The other players were in the AHL during the regular season. No reason for them to take the spot of a regular player. Same lines and same pairings that Evason was trying to play before the season paused. -
[GDT] Around the NHL | July (28-30) 2020 (Exhibition)
mll replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in General Hockey Discussion
Wild not adding an extra F or D as allowed for the exhibition games. They know their lineup and will just skate 12F + 6Ds. Stalock will start but Dubnyk should also play per Evason yesterday. They still don't know who will start vs Vancouver. -
They already have a top tier goalie. Blackwood has been terrific this season. He's already a top-8 goalie in the league and is only 23. Fitzgerald says the pillars they are building around are Hughes, Hischier and Blackwood.
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[GDT] Around the NHL | July (28-30) 2020 (Exhibition)
mll replied to -Vintage Canuck-'s topic in General Hockey Discussion
There will be. -
Fabbro is still on an ELC. He is cheaper than Virtanen and Stecher combined. The Predators are not going to bring in Stecher at his cost. Their 3rd pairing D gets league minimum - they barely play. Alex Carrier went through waivers last year - they weren't afraid of losing him. He's not a replacement for Fabbro. The Predators want to compete now. Poile is getting older and wants a Cup. He says it takes at least 4 years to develop Ds - was his argument for drafting Ds the year they took Fabbro. Fabbro is already in the NHL. Prospects might not turn out. Poile says his philosophy is to build from the net out. He's not giving up a D that they think will become a top-4 D. Cannot see them giving Josi a 9M deal and then break up their D-corps when they don't know if they can bring Ekholm back in a couple of years. Vingan covers the Predators he thinks that cap wise they can bring back one of Granlund or Smith fairly easily. They really don't need to bring back both with him arguing that Trenin and others need spots to play too. Nashville could buy out Turris to create an additional 4M in cap space. Poile has bought out a lot of players in past years. I don't think Virtanen has that much trade value. Among other reasons simply because it's a flat cap and he has arbitration rights. The hearings are after free agency and teams can't walk away if the award is under some 4M or so. Teams could be forced into clearing cap late in the off-season to fit him in. Poile also doesn't like arbitration because he likes to use the Nashville dollar argument - life is cheaper and less taxation so players should agree to take less. Can't argue that in arbitration. Drance has also been arguing that Virtanen's numbers are not sustainable and that there is more in player evaluation now than just looking at production. Fwiw Hynes is very much into advanced stats and Poile has always involved his coach in trades in the past. Poile did not want to trade Subban but he really wanted Duchene - they had to clear cap space. He also said that if Fabbro had not had his showing at the World and in those 10 NHL games he wouldn't have made the trade. It's only because Fabbro showed so well that he felt comfortable their D could still be a strength of the team. He traded Fiala because there was a lack of consistency - would be the same issue with Virtanen. He made the bet that he would be a 30 goal scorer but felt he needed more development time. Granlund was already consistent and producing. Even after the trade Poile admitted that they could hear about it for years to come because Fiala is still so young. Granlund simply fit their age group better.
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Owners will probably prefer no season. Some don't even want next season to re-start until they can have fans in the stands. Operating without fans in the stands is a loss for owners. If the league doesn't resume they would limit their losses. The cost to set up and run a bubble just increases their losses. There's a clause in players' contracts that says that if the league is forced to shutdown due to causes beyond their control (a pandemic would qualify) salary payment can be cancelled.
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For some teams it's far more efficient to buyout the player rather than take on more cap. Rask is only a 1.3M buyout cap hit. That's far more manageable than being stuck with Eriksson and Virtanen, who they have no use for. It would also severely limit their ability to sign key players in a year as Eriksson has that extra year. Wennberg is a 450K buyout cap hit. He's under 26 so his contract costs only a 1/3rd to buyout. Pretty much the remaining salary owed to Eriksson.
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Nashville will most likely protect their 4Ds + Johansen, Forsberg, Arvidsson and Duchene. Poile explained that the only reason he was willing to trade Subban is that they believed Fabbro could become a top-4 D. I cannot see Nashville having interest in Virtanen. Poile made the bet that Fiala would be a 30 goal scorer and talked of flashes of brilliance yet traded him away for Granlund. He talked of needing more time to find consistency and mature. He even admitted that on the long run the trade might not have them on the winning end but Granlund fits their timeline better. Virtanen and Fiala were drafted the same year. They are more likely to try and find someone in free agency than make a trade and break up their D-corps. He also has to consider Ekholm hitting UFA status in 2 years. Fabbro is also still on an ELC while Virtanen is 2 years to free agency with arbitration rights. With the cap flat not sure many teams will want to qualify players and be at risk of having to clear cap space in the middle of the off-season.
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Canucks went a bit light on the decorations. Each team received a certain number of floors at their hotels (3 at the Sutton) and it was up to them to decorate/arrange as they wish. Toronto put their logo everywhere - even rebranded the lift doors. They are next up at the JW if Nashville or Arizona don't make it past the play-ins.
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Chayka terminates contract. Coyotes name Sullivan interim GM
mll replied to skategal's topic in General Hockey Discussion
NJD or Buffalo per Friedman in his Sportsnet article: Approximately one month ago, Meruelo received a request from another NHL owner to speak to Chayka. Initially, the request was denied. (There’s been a lot of speculation about the Buffalo Sabres, but I’m also hearing rumblings about New Jersey, although the Devils have hired Tom Fitzgerald. Word is Chayka will take time away before making any further comment or commitment.) Understand that Meruelo — up until this saga unfolded — was an enormous Chayka fan. He believed in the GM’s vision, extending him through the 2023-24 season, making the Coyotes a cap team. From what I understand, a Godfather-esque “offer he couldn’t refuse” was made. Some sources indicated that it was not a lateral move, bigger than the current job Chayka was doing. It is believed that this involves an ownership group with teams in other leagues and Chayka could have involvement in those other teams. -
Horvat typically faced the toughest competition this season. Gaudette was one of the most sheltered players in the league. Green talked of using Pettersson more against top competition as part of the next step in his development, with Pettersson wanting that challenge too. Green said he looked into advanced stats during the break. The Canucks 4th line was dominated regardless of the strength of competition. Natural Stat Trick has Beagle outscored 23 to 10 and Motte 19 to 8 at 5v5. Only 3 players among the 24 teams taking part in the extended-season have a worse ratio (min 350 minutes played). Gaudette will likely continue to be sheltered and Beagle might be kept away from the Wild's main scoring line. The Wild lines and pairings look set (see end of post). They have yet to make a decision in net. They no longer have a dedicated shutdown line. They have scoring throughout the lineup and play lines fairly equally. Evason did double shift Fiala on the different lines when they needed more scoring. Last time they played was in Vancouver with Green having last change. The Wild had just handed the reins over to Evason who simply took over Boudreau's lines and system. He has made changes since including how he wants them to play. Green initially had Horvat go up against the Eriksson Ek line but also had him play Parise-Staal-Fiala as the game went along. Parise is no longer on that line and has been replaced by Greenway. He is tasked to open up room for Fiala and plant himself at the net. Would expect Green to have Horvat go up against Staal. Pettersson started vs Staal but Green then tried to get him out against the Galchenyuk line. He avoided the Eriksson Ek matchup that had Greenway and Foligno on the wings. Both Foligno and Greenway are no longer on the line and have been replaced by Parise and Kunin. It might be a more likely match-up now that their 2 most physical players are on other lines. It's still a tough line to play against but is not as physically intimidating. The Wild will want Eriksson Ek against Pettersson. Gaudette playing with Roussel-Virtanen was matched primarily against Eriksson Ek (60% of his time) and a bit against Koivu (30% of his time). Eriksson Ek was being used as a physical defensive line with limited scoring. Parise is now on that line. Parise led the Wild in goals and is a real nuisance around the net. He scores off hard work and taking a beating right at the net. I am not sure Green will want that matchup for the Gaudette line now that Parise has been added. Galchenyuk was playing wing with Kunin at C and Zuccarello on the other wing. It was a softer line in comparison to the physical Eriksson Ek line. Galchenyuk is now at C and Foligno is on the line in lieu of Kunin. That could be a line to play Beagle or Gaudette against. The only line that stayed the same is their 4th line of Donato-Koivu-Hartman. It's a line that they try and use against lesser competition. That line has been solid and even won them games. Natural Stat Trick has them with an expected goal for percentage of over 60%. Could see Beagle or Gaudette going up against that line. Wild expected lineup: Greenway Staal Fiala Parise ErikssonEk Kunin Foligno Galchenyuk Zuccarello Donato Koivu Hartman Suter Spurgeon Brodin Dumba Soucy Hunt
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Ferland doesn't kill penalties. In his entire NHL career he has only totalled 18 minutes on the penalty kill in 355 games. Green's preference is apparently to avoid having the top-6 kill penalties per Drance. They already play a lot of minutes and the schedule is compressed - there is the risk of wearing them down. Horvat and Pearson also have poor PK numbers per Drance/Dayal. Green said he looked into advanced stats during the break.
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Florida, Nashville, NYR and Toronto look to also have only 30 players announced. Tampa has only 28. Travelling parties are limited to 51 / 52 if they bring a team physician. Aside from the roster there are 11 / 12 spots that are already allocated. By bringing 30 players it gives them 10 open spots instead of 9 for GM, AGMs, owners, additional coaches, etc. The Club Traveling Party must include at least the following individuals: A roster of no more than thirty-one (31) Players; Three (3) Coaches; Two (2) Club Athletic Trainers; One (1) Club Physician1; Optional but travelling party limited to 51 instead of 52 if they don't bring one One (1) Equipment Manager; One (1) Massage Therapist One (1) ART Therapist/Chiropractor; One (1) Content Creator/Social Media individual; One (1) NHL security representative; and One (1) representative to serve as the Club Compliance Officer (see Section M(2) below)
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Chayka terminates contract. Coyotes name Sullivan interim GM
mll replied to skategal's topic in General Hockey Discussion
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Fantenberg is already in on the 3rd pairing. Green had him in over Benn to end the season.