D-Money

Gillis had a contending team. His focus was on adding whatever he could to help the team win when their window was open, and he largely did well. Hamhuis and Ehrhoff were fantastic additions that cost the team virtually nothing. Tanev was also a home run of a signing. His drafting ended up poor (injuries and accidents didn’t help), but more than enough time has passed to address that. Benning has been in charge since 2014, so has had sufficient time to figure out the defence. He certainly tried to - he used valuable trade assets to acquire young defensemen, but they turned out to be Sbisa and Gudbranson. Then he turned to free agency, and acquired Del Zotto and Myers. All 4 have been poor acquisitions, and that has set the team back (Myers is the best of them, but is significantly overpaid). I like Schmidt and Hamonic, and feel their struggles so far are coaching related...but ensuring the right coaches are there is also Jim’s responsibility. It’s been nearly 7 years. Any problems with this team are now Benning’s fault, 100%.

I like Motte as much as the next guy. But he’s injury prone, and UFA at the end of next season. If offers are starting with a 2nd round pick, we should at least listen. Who knows, maybe we could even get a late 1st (like Sharks got for Goodrow last year).

Sounds reasonable. Especially the “2 wins in 5 years” one - that’s a no-brainer.

Mike Peca says hi. Raymond, Scatchard, Cullimore, Slegr, and Fraser were all really good 2nd rounders. However, in 11 of the past 21 drafts we didn't have a 2nd round pick.

He's had 7 years, including 4 top-10 draft choices! I sure hope he's assembled a young core by now. Look at LA. They've been at their rebuild for less time, and they've already assembled a young core, surrounded them with quality veterans, and now they're ahead of us in the standings.

It blows me away that Benning has now been at the helm longer than Gillis. Gillis took over a team who had just missed the playoffs. Then his top prospect died. But he changed the culture in the team and turned them into a contender. We got 5 playoff appearances, 2 Presidents Trophies, and within a game of the Stanley Cup. Then he missed the playoffs once, said publicly "we need to rebuild", and was canned for it. What has Benning done that has made him last this long? Despite spending to the cap every year, we've been one of the absolute worst teams in the league over the course of his tenure. His free agent signings have also been cumulatively some of the worst in the league as well. His drafting has been overall good, but at the same time he has floundered away chances to add extra picks and prospects on numerous occasions. I don't know about the rest of you, but I am done with mediocrity.

That's completely untrue. Canucks went 4-5-1 with Toffoli. But even if they missed all 9 points, and went 0-10-0, they still would have finished with 2 more points than the Ducks, in 2 less games played.

Paging @Jaku... Are you there, @Jaku ???

I would easily go 3 x $2.5M for Hamonic, with a full NTC (which seems to be important to him). And not sure he'd get significantly more anywhere else in the current economic situation. Think that would work for both sides.

I would keep Hamonic, and re-sign him after the expansion draft (so we don't have to protect him). Think he'll be a good fit for the next few years.

Yee of little faith

Alright! Get to dust this one off again...

Hurricanes place Carter Rowney on IR (LINK), and call up Marc Michaelis. @Nail

He deserved it, young punk taking whacks at a legend like that.

Benning's?

It's a moot point anyways. Doubt that Skinner chooses to come here, and doubt that ownership is willing to "buy" picks in the current economic climate. The moment Buffalo signed him to that I knew it was a mistake. But didn't expect it to get this bad, this fast. Not sure where he ends up, but the current situation in Buffalo leads me to believe at least one team has expressed interest in some sort of deal. (Rumours are Buffalo is trying to convince him to waive his clause for more teams...seems to indicate they have at least one team in mind, my guess is Detroit.)

A mid-to-late 1st round pick is worth considerably less than where Buffalo's pick will be, who currently sitting last in the league. Like multiple times. Also the value of taking Eriksson, which is worth a late 1st in itself. Maybe I'm not as aware of Skinner's struggles. But I've heard his underlying numbers were decent this year.

I meant Skinner with 50% retained. No way I'd do it for the full $9M.

I think there are teams that would be open to taking Skinner on with 50% retained without Buffalo having to include, not just one, but TWO lottery picks. I'd do it for just Skinner and the BUF 2021 1st. Imagine being able to add 2 of the stud D prospects in this draft? (Power, Lambos, Hughes, Brandt...) Our perennially shallow D prospect pool would be a thing of the past. But I wouldn't buy out Skinner, not for a couple of years at least. I'd expect he'd still be an upgrade on Pearson.

Connolly seems to be in decline already, and still has 2 more years at $3.5M. Not to mention he's owed the full $3.5M in actual salary for both years. But there's no signing bonuses, so I could see him just getting bought out at the end of the season. Would be a 4-year hit of just $1,166,667.

He had some monster hits. Ones that also stand out are Nichushkin and Kronwall. But Jake had some shoulder injuries, which in turn led to him dialing back the hitting. He likely just can't do it anymore, without risking injury. Don't think that's going to change, regardless of where he plays.

Dude, Benning hired the coach. And he hired Willie too. So it falls on him if the coaching sucks.

Another Tampa game, another Vasi shutout.

He’s only restricted if Anaheim offers him another $2.8M. Or, if they take him to arbitration, but even then the lowest the award will go is $2.38M. He’ll be UFA.

I like Heinen, he’s been a pretty solid middle-6 guy. That said, he’s an impending RFA making $2.8M. Anaheim is trying to trade him because they realize that in this market he’s not going to be worth qualifying. Other teams will likely feel the same. Maybe Benning thinks he’ll sign for less with his hometown team? But if that’s the case, why not just wait until free agency, and take a shot at signing him for free?