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grandmaster

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  1. No fooling old news, lol. As for JV, my take is that it’s a fair contract. Easily moveable if it comes down to that. His inconsistent play frustrates a lot of fans. People just have to stop thinking of him as a top 6 forward and it eases that frustration. He has always played as a 3rd liner.
  2. But why would a non producing player be given a roster spot when it ought to go to ones that actually produce? How do you not see the negatives in this? Hell, give the spot to a prospect. At least the positive in that is the kid gets the experience and if he doesn’t pan out then try another prospect afterwards. LE, regardless of “working hard”, should not be on this team and in keeping him sends the wrong message to the others.
  3. Maybe you should rethink the importance of “hustle” and put more emphasis on production. 2019-2020 Reg Season 49 games - 6 goals and 7 assists (mostly empty net points) . He was also a minus 2. Playoffs 10 games - 0 goals, 0 assists His “working hard” is meaningless.
  4. The guy himself is fine. Was just his girlfriend that was causing problems and that was a couple years ago now. Time to move on. If he chose to come here, you would be excited. Regardless of what you say now. He is a very skilled 70 point player, a first liner on our team.
  5. Good price. We don’t have much cap room so it fits well. Jake needs to follow the same path in the flat cap era. If he signs for a max of 2M per season then I’m happy. Anything more then I say let him go. The arbitrator will surely award him more but there is nothing saying he and his agent won’t settle for a little less before it gets to the hearing.
  6. The more I think about this, the more I like it. We have a decent top 4 for the first time since 2011. The only question remains is when Edler is done after next year would OJ be ready or do we hunt for another top 4 defenceman? Things will be a bit tight with Petey, Hughes and Demko’s upcoming contracts. I think bridge is the way to go with these guys till we get rid of the dead weight cap space in the Luongo penalty, LE contract and Rousell/Beagle. Anyone know of any good top 4 upcoming defencemen with expiring contracts next year? Not so sure JB can pull another one of these specials for a 3rd. This is a rarity.
  7. A 3rd round pick wasn’t much to give up, especially when we desperately needed a top 4 defenceman.
  8. Didn’t know about that till I just googled it. So it sounded like it was some dust up in a bar in Toronto when he was 23 years old. He got pepper sprayed in the incident. He later apologized to the police department and did community service. Young and dumb I suppose. As long as no officers got hurt, it served him a nice learning lesson and we haven’t heard of anything else since. Sharks sure won that trade couple years later. Say what you want about this guy but he had a great career and just might have something left in that tank.
  9. Sorry looks like I missed the fact that the max savings on any buried contract was 1.025M. I just read an article on that. Got to excited when I saw his salary in the minors being 4M in each of his last 2 seasons.
  10. You never know. I personally like it. I’m willing to bet that at least one of these bargain signings will be a hit, leaning towards Jumbo Joe as the most probable.
  11. Wow. I really think the Leafs have done really well. They have so many of these reclamation projects for dirt cheap. At least one of them will be a hit. Low risk versus high reward. Simmonds - 1.5M Thornton - 700K Spezza - 700K Bogosian - 1M Add Brodie, a good defenceman. I like the moves.
  12. Reported spots for Hoffman and his one year deal: https://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/2039505 The majority of the marquee free agents are now off the board, but Mike Hoffmancontinues to search for his next destination. It was reported Thursday that the 30-year-old is open to signing a one-year contract, which gives prospective teams more flexibility to bring in the dangerous goal-scorer. Here are five clubs in a position to make a splash by bringing in Hoffman for one season. Nashville Predators Andy Devlin / National Hockey League / Getty Projected cap space: $12.94M Roster size: 19 RFAs: F Luke Kunin The Predators have been contenders for years and boast one of the league's top defensive cores. Despite their skill at forward, however, their offense still leaves something to be desired. Hoffman has his faults, but there's no denying his goal-scoring talent. Adding the sniper for one year could just be the missing piece that puts the Nashville over the top. Nashville ranks 18th in goals per game since the start of the 2018-19 campaign, and Hoffman would have led the club in tallies in each of those two seasons. The Ontario native isn't a great scorer at five-on-five, but his services on the man advantage would be invaluable for the Predators, who have been abysmal in that department in recent years. Nashville's power play placed 31st and 25th over the previous two seasons, while Hoffman ranks fifth among all players with 28 power-play markers over that span. General manager Dave Poile said Thursday that he'll continue to search for ways to improve his club this offseason. With plenty of cap space and a nearly full roster, swinging on Hoffman with a low-risk, high-reward deal seems like an enticing option. Boston Bruins Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / Getty Project cap space: $10.35M Roster size: 21 RFAs: F Jake DeBrusk, D Matt Grzelcyk The Bruins were reportedly interested in most of the big-name free agents such as Taylor Hall and Alex Pietrangelo but ultimately lost out. Now, with a depleted free-agent group to chose from, it could prove wise to bring in Hoffman on a one-year contract. Boston has the cap space to make a one-year deal work, and it's been made clear that the club has been looking for a winger to play on the second line with David Krejcito complement the team's top trio. Now that Brad Marchand and David Pastrnakmay miss a portion of next season after undergoing surgeries recently, Hoffman's talents could be more necessary than ever. Last season, Patrice Bergeron, Pastrnak, and Marchand combined to score 107 of Boston's 227 goals (47%). The team is desperate for secondary scoring help, and Hoffman offers just that. There would be little risk in signing him to a short-term contract, and if things go smoothly, the two sides could decide to work out a longer deal in the future. Hoffman's fit on the Bruins makes perfect sense, so perhaps we'll finally see GM Don Sweeney make a big move this offseason. Los Angeles Kings Darcy Finley / National Hockey League / Getty Projected cap space: $13.62M Roster size: 19 RFAs: None The Kings don't appear to be an obvious landing spot for Hoffman, but hear us out. It's unlikely he wins a Stanley Cup there in 2020-21, but Los Angeles is one of the strongest possession teams in the league, and adding a pure goal-scorer like Hoffman could help catalyze an unpolished offense that lacks some touch. Los Angeles finished 30th in goals per game (2.53) last season, but head coach Todd McLellan saw his club buy into an aggressive, in-your-face brand of hockey that would have yielded better results if it had a few more finishers. The Kings finished in the top 10 in several critical possession metrics at five-on-five. CF% (RANK) SF% HDCF% XGF% 53.1 (4th) 52.79 (4th) 51.44 (9th) 51.95 (8th) Captain Anze Kopitar - the Kings' lone 20-goal scorer in 2019-20 - led the team in scoring with 62 points, and Alex Iafallo was the only other player to break 40. Hoffman averaged 61 points over his previous five campaigns, and L.A. adding a dynamic winger alongside Kopitar would undoubtedly bolster the offense. Los Angeles could also use a power-play specialist after finishing 26th on the man advantage last season. Columbus Blue Jackets Mark Blinch / National Hockey League / Getty Projected cap space: $13.63M Roster size: 19 RFAs: F Pierre-Luc Dubois, F Kevin Stenlund, D Vladislav Gavrikov Columbus isn't exactly a free-agent hot spot, but the Blue Jackets have shown a ton of promise in recent years and have already added offensive depth with the additions of Max Domi, Mikko Koivu, and Mikhail Grigorenko this offseason. The club has a handful of RFAs in need of new deals, but only Dubois is set for a significant pay raise. Hoffman isn't Artemi Panarin, but the Blue Jackets' upset over the juggernaut Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2019 playoffs is proof of what the team can do when equipped with high-end offensive talent. General manager Jarmo Kekalainen can sell his club as a defensive machine that's one or two premier scorers away from making a serious run, and Hoffman could certainly move the needle. Signing a one-year deal with the defensive-minded Blue Jackets could pose a risk for Hoffman, but it's unlikely that a potential down year would tarnish his market value in 2021-22. Flanking the wing of either Dubois or Domi doesn't sound like a bad gig, either. Like the Predators and Kings, the Blue Jackets need help on the man advantage, and Hoffman would likely be the club's No. 1 option. Florida Panthers Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / Getty Projected cap space: $11.56M Roster size: 18 RFAs: D MacKenzie Weegar, F Aleksi Saarela The Panthers' abundance of cap space makes bringing back Hoffman a distinct possibility. Over the past two seasons, his 65 goals rank first on the team and his 129 points rank third. Florida already lost Evgenii Dadonov to the Ottawa Senators, so with a glaring hole at left wing, the club can ill afford to lose Hoffman too. GM Bill Zito has been busy in his first few months with the team, bringing in the likes of Patric Hornqvist, Alexander Wennberg, Vinnie Hinostroza, and Carter Verhaeghe. The four forwards combined for 36 goals last season - Hoffman buried 29 on his own. Replacing a lethal goal-scorer is never an easy task, and few options remain on the market for Florida at this point in the offseason. With the cap space to make it work, perhaps Hoffman circles back and signs for one year before hitting free agency again next season. (Analytics source: Natural Stat Trick)
  13. Given that Edler will be most likely gone at the end of next year, we need Myers even more. Is he overpaid? Yeah but not by that much. He brings a good forecheck with that long reach and is more than capable to take down any big forward in the NHL. A poster once referred him as a Willie Mitchell 2.0 and he truly is. Makes our defence better.
  14. https://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/2039509 Marc-Andre Fleury appears to have no issue with taking a bit of a back seat for the Golden Knights following the addition of Robin Lehner. "Yes, I'm ready to share (the net). This year, I expect it will be a strange season. There will probably be several games in a few days, there will be a condensed schedule," Fleury told Le Journal de Montreal's Jean-Francois Chaumont, as translated by theScore. "I think not all teams will have the choice to use their two goaltenders. For this season, it'll be a good thing to count on two competitive goalies. It'll give our team a good chance." Vegas recently inked Lehner to a five-year, $25-million contract despite having Fleury signed for two more years at a cap hit of $7 million a season. The 35-year-old Fleury has been the face of the Vegas franchise since being picked from the Pittsburgh Penguins in the expansion draft. He appeared in 156 games over the past three seasons and helped guide Vegas to the Stanley Cup Final in its inaugural season. During the 2019-20 campaign, Fleury appeared to show signs of fatigue and decline, posting his worst save percentage (.905) since 2009-10. When asked if he's more motivated to reclaim his No. 1 spot in the crease by the changing of the guard, Fleury indicated he's accepted the team's decision. "Yes and no," Fleury said. "I want to play for me. I want to have fun. I don't have many years left in front of me. I know that Lehner is their goalie. I'm more likely to fill holes. They've placed their trust in Lehner. I don't think I can regain my No. 1 spot, but I'm still going to try to fight back for it. ... "We play for the same team and we are looking to do our jobs. He wants to play and so do I. We have the same mentality. But there are no bad looks between us. He's a good guy." After the Golden Knights acquired Lehner at last season's trade deadline, Lehner went on to start 16 games during the postseason, while Fleury only appeared in four.
  15. https://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/2039403 Mike Hoffman, one of the top unrestricted free agents left on the open market, is considering taking a one-year contract, reports Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman. The flat salary cap - as well as the financial repercussions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic - has drastically affected the free-agent market. There are numerous NHL teams up against the salary cap and others who may have internal budgets set by ownership due to the economic uncertainty. Taylor Hall, who was the top free-agent forward, took a one-year, $8-million contract with the Buffalo Sabres - likely with hopes of cashing in next offseason. Hoffman, who led all UFAs in points, may end up taking a similar route. The 30-year-old winger recorded 29 goals and 30 assists in 69 games with the Florida Panthers last season. Since becoming an NHL regular in 2014-15 with the Ottawa Senators, Hoffman has averaged 28 goals per season. Consistent snipers are generally coveted on the open market, but it's worth noting Hoffman's contributions on the ice don't extend far beyond his goal-scoring ability. His five-on-five expected goals for percentage has been below 50% in each of the past five seasons, coming in at 46.3 in 2019-20, according to Natural Stat Trick. HockeyViz's isolated five-on-five impact illustrates Hoffman's lack of play-driving ability over the past four seasons. Plus is good in offensive zone (top row), negative is good in the defensive zone (bottom row) hockeyviz.com Hoffman's former Panthers teammate, Evgenii Dadonov, inked a three-year, $15-million contract with the Senators on Thursday. Florida still has over $11-million in projected cap space, per CapFriendly, so perhaps a reunion is in order. In addition to Hoffman, Mikael Granlund, Anthony Duclair, Andreas Athanasiou, Erik Haula, Sami Vatanen, and Travis Hamonic headline the best remaining available UFAs.
  16. Nope. People have been looking for LE for many years.... There is this involuntary reaction though when his name is said out loud:
  17. That playoff “black ace” in LE was a sure hit. 10 games - 0 goals, 0 assists. In fact I clearly remember him missing a wide open net, which ironically is his specialty, lol.
  18. Cap savings have improved for this and next year if he is buried in the minors. He was going to be 5M buried if we did that last season. He is now 4M buried for this upcoming and 4M next season. 2M per year is something....
  19. That’s 2 million we can use on a fresh player or form part of the upcoming big raises to Petey and Hughes. Considering we are in a flat cap era, we need every million now.
  20. Because this guy is nothing but a $hit disturber who gets kicks out of trolling.
  21. Look, we get you have some strange love affair for LE but to pin his lack of productivity on the coach is an absolute joke. He was given his fair share of opportunities over the years. Don’t be so blind. If you weren’t so attached to LE, you would have noticed his effort level and skills are no where near his contract, not even close. If he was brought in at 2M on a 3rd line checking role then we wouldn’t be having this discussion. LE never showed he was more than that.
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