Amebushi

You could be right about the Oilers, hell I kinda hope you are. I’m sick of all Canadian teams being crappy. For what it’s worth I think Nurse is a solid player...just not worth that contract. It may be a bargain in a year or two though if the trajectory keeps going. I agree they are a decent team as well but if the recent Canuck moves work out even 75% I strongly believe we are better. Our goalies are much better, our D should be better (unless OEL pulls an Eriksson) and our forwards (looking at all 4 lines, nobody is competing directly with McD and Drai) should be able to compete quite well. I really don’t understand them letting Larsson walk for Keith though.

I’m so glad I decided to read this thread because I thought I was losing my mind. Calgary lost Gio, and continues to count on Monaghan, Goureau, and Tchapuke to lead the offence. On the back end they have Markstrom and Tanev...this won’t likely go well for them. If (highly likely) Tanev gets injured they have one option. That option is to hope that Marky can steal a bunch of games for them. Edmonton lost Larsson and signed Kieth. I know he is in great shape and can still play but this is not the same guy that carried the Blackhawks to multiple cups. They have a giant over inflated contract to Darnell Nurse and appear to have decided that goaltender is not a position that needs to be filled. Our Canucks have some real question marks (like is OEL a first pairing defenceman or a new anchor contract) but at least we have reason for some optimism. I genuinely don’t see how either Alberta team goes anywhere this year but all the “analysts” seem to think they are locks for the playoffs. Hoping I’m not just a rose glasses homer but I think we are better than both of them this year and by more than a little.

Why doesn’t he just hang them up? He brought his “leadership” to the leafs first round exit last year and is bouncing around at league minimum. He can’t keep up to the play, doesn’t play big anymore...kind of embarrassing to someone that has had a pretty solid career if you ask me.

Good deal for both sides. OJ has a lot more to show, so I am expecting this to be good value this year and cost a little more next year. What I really want to know is when Vintage is going to spill the beans on the Petey and Hughes contracts.

Ooof, Nurse is a decent defenceman but at that price I think the Oilers are completely screwed. Who is going to play once McD, Drai, Nurse and Kieth are off the ice? They are literally a one line team that is at the cap. I really hope these recent signings are not a signal to what Quinn is going to get. 9 million dollar players need to be elite at both ends of the ice, bot just one like Quinn or “pretty good” like Nurse. I think this contract will be very painful for the Oil.

Get outta here with your facts and figures. We want to hang somebody...Benning sucks!! Ok, I agree, Sutter was a positive on the team when healthy. The knock I’ve always had is that he was overpaid and taking up too much cap space for what he brings. Now that he is being payed properly for his role (4th liner that can play up a little when needed) I think it’s a great addition. Anyone complaining is welcome to try and find a better fourth line Center/teammate/veteran presence for less than this deal. Instead of hating the last five years let’s look forward to the next one.

I’m shocked...this thread has several thought out posts, discussion about the original topic and...it makes sense!! What is going on CDC??? Are we actually looking at a talented young player from an objective point of view? Not declaring Hughes the greatest defenceman of all time or a complete bustaroo is just not like us. Seriously though, Hughes is an amazing talent and deserves to get well paid. How much depends on a few things. How long does he want for term, how does he expect to be played. For example the Makar deal is not a fair comparison. Makar plays in far more situations than Hughes and doesn’t need to have other big name defenceman take the harder minutes for him. JB brought in OEL to be our “#1 all situation defenceman.” Hughes will be able to feast on weaker competition as a result which Makar really can’t. I expect to see a bridge so that he can prove that he is still improving his entire game and then get paid the big money when he has arbitration rights and better stats to back it up. We need his skill on the team but an albatross 8.5-10 million dollar deal will not allow us to keep the complimentary players we need around.

Well, I don’t think Reaves brings much to help the Rangers win hockey games but I will be tuning in to watch the Rangers-Capitals game for the first time ever this year.

Time will tell, that’s a tough comparison. I think Poolman and Tanev play a similar style game except Poolman is bigger and Tanev is a little more aware. (Personal opinion, curious what others think). I think Hamonic brings more to this team than Stecher but again this depends largely on if he can keep finding chemistry with Hughes or Rathbone. It’s a different team now than it was. I would say it’s pretty close and give a slight edge to Hamonic/Poolman but until we see them on the ice it’s kind of a crapshoot

Given the available options, who would you have preferred they sign? I don’t think it’s debatable that we needed an NHL player on the right side D. I’m definitely making an assumption now but I think we can also agree that we lacked defensive awareness last year. So the contract was a year longer and a half to a million more than we all think is right but what could actually be done differently? Larson is gone, Hankanpaa was the only guy that fits the bill and he is making even more $$. No team in the NHL is without an overplayed player or 4. I guess I’m just so happy to see Eriksson gone that this looks kinda meh to me.

Yes! This is exactly what I mean. Nate is a player I was excited to have here and he did not work out well at all. I expect him to succeed in Winnipeg because the role he fills is needed there. He is a good skater and a puck mover. He needs time on the PP to do what he does best. We have Hughes that is younger and already better at that role so he got fewer prime offensive minutes. What we did sorely lack was right handed D, and PK, defensive minded guys in general. This is why imho that despite a talented group of guys we were a tire fire in our own end. Expecting Myers to cover for a pinching partner is a bad plan. By bringing back Hamonic and signing Poolman a lot of that has been addressed. Schenn is kind of icing on the cake. None of these three are going to light up the scoreboard or hopefully even get noticed (if Poolman can play 20 minutes and we don’t notice him then Benning is a genius ) it will be a big improvement. Haters will hate and there are absolutely better players woth smaller contracts. Poolman is a Canuck now so I will cheer and hope it works out better than any of us expected.

I read the last three pages and I still know almost nothing about Tucker Poolman. A month ago we were all talking about the need for a bigger right handed D man with strong defensive tendencies. I have personally suggested several times that an Adam Larsson type would fit great. He got signed to Seattle along with Oleksiak before we could even chat with them. I really don’t know much about Poolman except that he is over 200 pounds, somewhere between 6’2 and 6’4 and whoever he plays with seems to have better numbers than without him. Time will tell if he is a bottom pair guy or if he can move up a bit. Someone has to play on the PK and I would prefer if it wasn’t Hughes. Argue the term, argue the money that’s what we are all here for apparently...oh wait I come here to talk about hockey too. Money and cap are quite interesting and play a huge role on the team, but Hamonic and Poolman fill a real need on this team. I would have preferred other players or a smaller contract for Poolman but I am glad he is here. At least management went out and got something done.

You are not wrong, at the moment. I think we all believe that he will be a top pair guy in the future. (Hopefully soon). If OEL can come most of the way back to form and develop a little chemistry with Myers (I know...there is a lot of “if” in that statement) our defence looks pretty damn good. I don’t think any of our top 4 (OEL, Myers, Hughes, Hamonic) are legit defence stars but that is the most solid group I’ve seen on this team in a very long time.

I’m not sure I like it, but I’m glad it’s done. I think if ego’s could have been kept in check there may have been a better fit afte the bigger UFA dmen get signed, or at the trade deadline. That being said, he wanted out, we recouped our pick and he is now stuck in Winnipeg. Benning has made some huge moves this season, I’m hoping for a couple of very good small ones to round this out. 1 - Sign Petey and Hughes to deals that are at least reasonable if not team friendly. 2 - sign a decent backup goalie for cheap so we don’t expose Mikey D too much or risk everything on a Demko injury 3 - sign Schenn and either Hamonic or ideally someone better than Hamonic that plays the right side.

There are only a few things that players or their agents can do that I think are simply low. The biggest one is young RFA players holding out and refusing to play unless they get grossly overpaid. (Looking at you Nylander). The other is requesting a trade and refusing to accept what comes along. If you don’t like it here we will find somewhere else for you to go...NTC is supposed to prevent the team from trading you when you want to stay. If you ask for a trade then “no trade” should not apply. Please don’t jump all over me as I’m aware this isn’t how it works, but if you are a team player then stay and play. If you want out then get the F outta here!

I’ll believe the PhillipBlunt seal of approval for a lot more than a tweet from Taj any day!

Why is anyone buying this? Someone make a bet with me...if Petey signs an offer sheet that Benning doesn’t match I’ll do some weird stuff. Even an 8 million 7 year (max term for an offer sheet and reasonable ask) will net us 4 first round picks. With the way the draft looks the next couple years a GM would be nuts to offer that. Also Benning would match it. Does anyone here really think Petey is worth over 10 million? What teams have the cap space to do it, the picks to surrender and the depth to believe they can compete without a first rounder for 4 years? Look at the implosion around here when we trade 1 of them with conditions...this is pure media crap to stir up the fanbase Besides this, my “sources” tell me that Buffalo wants a sign and trade with him anyway...10.5 million, max term and they will give us Eichel and a first with 50% retained. If you’re gonna make something up, make it juicier than this. Every year there is a “rumour” of an offer sheet and it rarely happens and is almost always matched when it does.

This is click bait. Go ahead and quote me (I’m wrong a lot so don’t really care). Petey is a good player, but the draft picks that come with an offer sheet of his caliber aren’t worth it for the offering team. In order to get Petey to sign the offer sheet it is going to be near 10 million. If Montreal wants to sign Pettersen to a 10 million deal ... let them. No Weber on the D. Price is injured, this could be 4 straight lottery picks. If they want to go 8 we will just match it. I don’t think Elias would make such a move for an extra couple $100K

What I love with bringing him in is the versatility in the top 9. I expect he will be slotted in on Bo’s line which combined with chemistry already there with Pearson gives us a legit 2nd line for the first time in a long while. Miller - Petey - Boeser Pearson - Bo - Garland Hogz - Dickinson - Podz Motte - (name here) - Mac is a huge improvement from last year.

This...exactly this. Stats are exactly what they sound like, numbers taken that are factual, but completely lack context. Most “experts” understand that +\- doesn’t always tell you anything but it can show outliers. For example a player on a terrible team that finishes the year with a +2 might: 1 - be amazing defensively 2 - might play on a heavily focused offence only line that rarely starts in the defensive zone 3 - may have played one game in which his line scored two goals and then put back to the minors Without all the context these stats mean nothing. Analytics nerds like to watch stats instead of hockey where someone with poor stats can still bring a large positive contribution to the ice. (The opposite is also true, a great “analytics” player may be terrible on the ice

I’m torn, I don’t really care for Getzlaf after his time in Anaheim. This being said if he wants to come here for at or around league minimum it’s probably a good idea. I think it would boil down to his reasoning. If it’s “one more kick at the can” then I will pass. If he sees what our lineup is and believes he can help the youngsters push for a cup then it’s worth a low cap hit short term gamble.

Can we please sign Hughes and Petey, then trade at least one of Holtby and Schmidt before blowing cash on older UFA defencemen that play the wrong side?

Overall I agree with this statement. I too defended him when he showed up to camp out of shape...he is young. When he was seen out partying with his #worst crew ever crap...he is young and will put it together. To me the allegations only prove that he was just as young and dumb as we all thought. The decision to buy him out (hopefully) is a hockey decision. He will still get paid, he can still go look for another contract. He never performed to the level expected. Without this distraction he has no business on the team next season. I don’t really care about Jake the hockey player. If he is guilty then f#%* him, if he is completely innocent then good luck in the future on your next team, but I still doubt he will be in shape. This kid had every advantage to succeed and the Canucks gave him more than enough opportunities. Bye!

I agree, the big trade was exciting and the draft is done. Let’s get the important work done so we can put duct tape on the holes to start the season!

If Schmidt wants out of Vancouver, why would he want to play in Calgary?