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mll

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Everything posted by mll

  1. Friedman in a recent 31 thoughts wrote that more and more executives are saying that owners are against compliance buyouts because they don't want the extra costs. Doubt players want them too - it would just increase escrow even more.
  2. Not surprised. There's been a lot of pushback because of that. "Warming up to the idea" is not exactly a full endorsement for a June draft.
  3. NHL arenas are already set up to broadcast games. Having to move the material is costly and to set it up - pre-season games are also tried at remote locations and the broadcast is not at the level of NHL arenas where cameras are already all set up. NHL arenas also have staff that are formed and could use the work - cleaning, laundry, maintenance staff. There are sanitisation issues. NHL arenas are going to have to go through strict protocols - their staff has the experience. They want for players to pretty much live in a bubble and avoid external contact as much as possible.
  4. Apparently that rule has been lifted for NHLers. This was yesterday on TVA Sports reporting on Treliving's interview where he expects there will be some news next week. https://www.tvasports.ca/2020/05/14/lnh-de-bonnes-nouvelles-la-semaine-prochaine Google translate: The optimism of the great manitou of the Flames comes partly from the fact that the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, affirmed that the players of the NHL will not have to undergo two weeks of quarantine when they set foot in the country , while any other traveler will have to face it.
  5. LeBrun talked to Benning for his poll of GMs on an early draft. The Canucks were warming up to the idea of an early draft as they wouldn't be giving up a possible lottery pick next season.
  6. Twins, Vikings, Timberwolves - visiting teams are staying at hotels that are used to accommodate pro teams.
  7. Those cities also have high end hotels that can offer the same arrangements as the hotels in Vancouver.
  8. It doesn't mean that the league is contemplating the idea. Plenty of cities have volunteered. LeBrun gave an update yesterday where they are still vetting NHL cities.
  9. Where did you hear that? Bettman had already shut down the idea early on of having games in non NHL arenas. The NHL has decided against playing in non-NHL arenas at neutral sites because League arenas are best equipped to handle its needs if it decides to centralize games. "We can't play in a small college rink in the middle of a smaller community, because if we're going to be centralized, we need the back of the house that NHL arenas provide, whether it's multiple locker rooms, whether it's the technology, the procedures, the boards and glass, the video replay, the broadcasting facilities," Commissioner Bettman said.
  10. With both Horton and Clarkson coming off the books Toronto can finally avoid the hassle of having to use LTIR. LTIR is a real nuisance to deal with and doesn't provide flexibility - quite the opposite. It doesn't allow to accrue cap space towards performance bonuses (see the Canucks with Ferland on LTIR, their end of season cap space has been stuck at 30'474.- which is going to create an overage of some 1.7M) and they can't recall the players they want as once a team is in LTIR the performance bonuses of recalled players have to be covered. LTIR only allows to exceed the cap up to the amount necessary to be cap compliant. Last year Toronto had to add Clarkson otherwise their active roster would have been some 5M under the cap. By adding Clarkson they were able to have an active roster of 81.5M like any other team rather than just 76.5M. This year both Horton and Clarkson are off the books. They don't need to use LTIR and can operate normally like any other team. Friedman in his 31 thoughts of this weeks even writes: 4. I’m also not sure the Maple Leafs are too eager to flirt with LTIR once again. They knew they were starting last year without Travis Dermott and Zach Hyman. It wasn’t an easy dance for them — or Vegas — last season.
  11. So could all other NHL cities. Edmonton and Minnesota have been rumoured early to be at the top of the list. They both have new practice facilities. For example the Wild's practice facility besides a rink, has a video room with a theatre set up for team review, another video area to break down games, a weight room 3 times the size of the one they have at Xcel Energy Center with even a running track, a kitchen where team chefs can prepare meals, a player lounge, recuperation pools. If the league is bringing 6 to 8 teams in one location they need the quality and convenience of access to facilities. The NHL wants to try and limit interaction with the outside world as much as possible to limit the risk of contamination. There are sanitisation issues to consider and having their own practice facility closed out to the public and in one location is an asset. Edmonton also has a hotel that links directly to the arena. Players are going to be isolated so where they are located probably doesn't matter as much as where they get to practice and prepare on and off the ice. According to LeBrun the player representatives of all 31 teams will have a vote to approve the return to play plan. The Canucks are represented by Horvat.
  12. Friedman in his 31 thoughts - sounds like the league might not push for a June draft after all: 14. Two weeks ago, when Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly sent out his memo advocating for a June draft, most of the reaction was, “We may not like it, but whatever the league wants, it gets.” The note promised 30 days notice, so we’ve slipped by the June 5–6 date. The league could go back to its original date of June 26–27, but online. However, there is a growing sense that the league office is backing away from this fight. On the Board of Governors call three days after that memo, it’s believed that approximately half the teams indicated they were completely against doing it before the end of the playoffs. Even more of an issue was there weren’t many teams willing to fight for doing it early. One of the concerns with having it in the fall is suddenly the sports calendar is jammed with NFL, tennis majors, golf majors, big horse races, MLB, etc. But that argument is not swaying anyone. 15. I think some teams who would’ve gotten hammered by the lottery didn’t like the idea of Detroit being guaranteed a top-two selection. That didn’t help, either.
  13. mll

    Judd Brackett

    Fwiw Matheson was moved to forward for parts of February. He has 6 more years after this one at 4.875M and coach Q somehow felt it was worth trying him on the 4th line as winger rather than keep him on D.
  14. Per LeBrun the NHL has trimmed the hub city list from 15 to now down to 8 or 9 - his understanding is that Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Vegas and Minnesota are still in the mix.
  15. mll

    Jim Benning

    The Wild are far better off keeping their picks and drafting those Cs. I really don't see Guerin breaking up a D-corps he calls elite for pieces they don't need. Guerin has talked multiple times about how he's not going to rush into anything and that he won't make a deal just to make a deal. NHL player trades will in any case not be allowed if the draft happens before the playoffs are completed. That was part of the league's memo on a possible June draft. I also doubt Dumba would be the kind of D to help the Canucks. There are several indications through advanced tracking but also simple heat maps that show the Canucks to be one of the worst defensive teams in the league - they've been bailed out by Markstrom. Minnesota is one of the best defensive teams and he has his teammates that can help cover his lapses - no such thing in Vancouver. The Canucks is the team that has allowed the 2nd most rush scoring chances against this season according to Sportlogiq' video tracking software. Too often they are caught flat footed in the o-zone and don't have the speed to get back. Dumba would likely just amplify the issue.
  16. Which article? The NHL and NHLPA are working together to find a reasonable solution. Collaboration has apparently never been as good. Here's Dreger this week talking about how the salary cap could stay somewhat flat - around the 8 minute mark.
  17. Teams wouldn't be playing their remaining regular season schedule. They would be playing against the teams in the hub they have been allocated to. The league apparently made it known that even if their home city was selected as hub the home team might not necessarily be stationed there. There is no way to make it completely fair. Some teams have benefited by gaining points against cupcake teams while others have yet to play those teams. Not sure they would divide teams up by division. The Pacific has the 3 California teams already out of the playoffs. In the Central all teams save maybe Chicago are still battling for a playoff spot. It sounds like a 24 team playoffs has gained some traction lately where they would just skip the rest of the regular season. Some of the bottom teams have expressed a lack of motivation to return to complete the season. It would also limit the costs and testing to have 24 teams vs 31. An October start date to next season is unlikely - they are talking of December and January was even mentioned more recently. Some owners also don't want to play without fans in the stands.
  18. Playoff revenue is part of HRR (hockey related revenue). Per the CBA that amount is split equally between players and owners. Financially it is just as critical for the players to have playoff games. The higher HRR the less players will have to reimburse. The players have delayed the decision on their last paycheck to mid-May. They are debating whether they should forego their last salary check as the salaries already paid are well in excess of 50% of HRR - escrow retained won't be sufficient to cover their share of losses in HRR. The NHL is about a 5 billion dollar league and some estimates see a drop in revenue by around a 1 billion if the playoffs can't be completed. Rough proxy - 31 teams x 81.5M cap = 2.5 billion. Half of 4 billion is 2 billion. Given the 50% split of HRR players owe back 500M from their salaries - the escrow they've been paying is insufficient to cover that level of loss. LeBrun believes that completing the season and holding the playoffs could allow to generate 300 to 500M in revenue. There are costs to run the league in a pandemic though. For next season some owners have apparently already expressed concern about resuming the league without fans in the stands. Lavoie wonders if they can even play if revenue drop from 5 billion to 3 billion. The league is talking of starting as late as December. They can't operate on TV rights alone - the hope is that with a later start date there might be some more normalcy.
  19. The league is already operating on an artifically increased cap - that's why there is escrow. The CBA foresees that revenue is split equally between players and owners. With the salary cap being higher than 50% of revenue players have been paying back money to owners through escrow. They are talking of around 30% in escrow - not 40/50%. They are more likely to keep the salary cap somewhat flat for several years and make up for the loss over time rather than dramatically reduce the cap. Allowing for compliance buyouts would increase escrow. Friedman in last week's 31 thoughts wrote that an increasing number of executives are saying that owners are against compliance buyouts because they don't want the extra cost.
  20. Bettman has already shot down the idea of playing games outside of the existing 31 NHL arenas. Cameras would need to be set up at each rinks - that has a cost. It's also a quality issue - see pre-season games vs games played in NHL arenas where cameras are already installed. Sanitisation issues - they want to play 3 games per day in each location and would need 4 NHL locker rooms and the ability to sanitise them quickly for the next team. NHL arenas have built in systems and procedures that remote locations might not have. They seem to want to limit contact with the external world as much as possible - they are apparently even looking if the bus could drive right into the arena garage vs an exterior parking. NHL arenas also have the staff and facilities to make sure everything runs smoothly - laundry, meals, etc. Those employees have also been affected. There are apparently quite a few teams that are pushing their cities as hubs. Arizona is allowing pro-sports to resume as of this weekend. Florida is already playing hockey.
  21. mll

    Judd Brackett

    I remember Benning going to media to explain why he promoted him - even called him a rising star in scouting. There were some questions because he was fairly young but Benning felt strongly that he was the right person for the job after having watched him for a year. He talked of how he would be mentored by some of their more experienced scouts (with Delorme being one of them). He was also going to report and work closely with Weisbrod. Benning had tasked Weisbrod to revamp their scouting process - he had that task in Calgary. The press release for promotions were in Linden's name as director of hockey ops. There were several promotions and hirings announced in the same press release. Weisbrod was promoted to AGM but it was clearly Benning that brought him over and wanted him in that role. Brackett's promotion was in the same press release and he was going to report to Weisbrod. Celebrini's promotion to head of human performance was also announced at the same time - that one was clearly a Linden decision as Benning wasn't involved in that part of the business then. Not going for a narrative and never implied that. There's a reason Benning felt he deserved the promotion at the time. Today Benning feels comfortable if they part ways. Even Brackett talks of how it's a collaborative effort.
  22. mll

    Judd Brackett

    It was in response to the comment on his 1st 5-6 years as a scout. Benning didn't just promote him on a whim.
  23. mll

    Judd Brackett

    Benning promoted him over others - there must have been a reason that he felt Brackett was the right guy for the job. Canucks probably re-assess their former draft lists on the regular to improve their process. With what they know today how far off was say their 2014 draft list and where could they have done better. It may well be that players Brackett advocated for were never picked by the Canucks, but that when they review the lists several years later maybe they should have.
  24. mll

    Judd Brackett

    Calgary were set to pick 14th and had no 2nd round pick that draft. They couldn't wait until the 3rd round as he was projected to go in the 2nd round. They moved down to 21st though and got a 2nd round pick (42nd) for moving back. 42nd was probably too close to where he could have been picked by another team.
  25. mll

    Judd Brackett

    Ryan Spooner, Dougie Hamilton for toughness. They signed undersized Krug in 2012. D Matt Grzelcyk picked in 2012 is 5'9. Benning spent all of the 2013/14 regular season with the Bruins and they picked Pastrnak that year.
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