ilduce39

The Toffoli situation is a super interesting mini case study to me into where JB’s head is at for this team. -not willing to sign a guy who would help the team win NOW (but foot speed might hurt the group in 3-4 years) -not afraid to walk away from sunk cost -prioritizing a long term high level d over forwards -not willing to burn assets to dump contracts ... Looks like JB is angling to set the table for an extended run in two years. Doesn’t want to commit to guys who will be 30+ in that window, Looking to hang on to high level prospects / picks to keep the cupboard full for that critical time. (Schmitt still makes sense, replacing a long term Tanev deal and slots in as an Edler replacement by that time.) I do think Toffoli gets re-upped here if the cap situation looked cleaner.. but it’s interesting to see JB choosing to let the contracts fade out on their own instead of shipping them out with high level picks/prospects and resigning Toffoli. At least that’s how it looks like right now. FWIW I like it... Pettersson/Hughes is a duo as good (or better) than we’ve ever seen before. We’re going to need cap space and cheap, good ELC’s to really maintain a sustained push once they sign their big deals. Panicking to try and maximize their ELC deals feels a bit short sighted. They aren’t even matured into their primes yet... I like the calm approach so far to preparing for that time.

Haha yeah it’s not time to start pencilling him into the roster. Button’s praise is ridiculous there... and I’m old enough to remember when Palmu was the next big thing as well. Still, some hype is better than the alternative. That can’t be common for 6th rounders, can it?

I saw that! Whatever pans out it’s nice to see that kind of hype around a 6th round pick.

I can never tell if it’s just our usual shiny-new hype or not but it sure seems like we nabbed a few possible diamonds in the rough this draft.

Yep. Different needs (and cap circumstances) for this team than the bottom-feeding, captainless one who signed Beagle and Roussel.

Huge year for him this season. Lots of pressure and opportunity. Can’t see Canucks committing to him as 3C if he doesn’t take the next step but it could be all his if he turns it on.

Yeah, maybe. We’ll pick up at least one more veteran D and likely from the bargain bin barring some serious trades. No kidding.. in an offseason where 3 mil feels more like 6 it really stings. Typical luck. On the bright side, next offseason we take care of Hughes, Petey and Demko if the cap is still all wonky maybe we get them for a bargain. At least compared to the monsters that the Leafs and Oilers young guys got. When the Luongo deal and Eriksson come off the books (with Roussel and Beagle) that’s 15 mil to make a real push from guys that can be replaced internally or on the cheap. That offseason with only Boeser needing maybe a 2 mil raise of our core pieces we could be in amazing shape. Sucks that we can’t really cash in this offseason but we could be clear cut contenders in a few years with our core still very productive in their mid / late 20s.

I wasn’t defending Benn. I was talking about how this offseason we’re seeing, and are likely to continue to see, a lot of bargain signings.

Matthews was in Zurich 5 years ago but I’d probably take the 2015-16 versions of him, Tavares, Spezza and Thornton than the 2021 crew. He’s 41 and seemed to finally fall of a cliff last year. I guess you can’t argue with the price, though.

You can’t compare contracts signed before the Covid induced flat cap to ones signed this offseason.

Yeah I’m high on Podkolzin too - but doesn’t he need some time before he comes over due to his KHL commitments? Hoglander could be a good bet as well although it says he’s a LW. Still, as it stands without Toffoli the second line of Pearson-Horvat has a huge opportunity for someone.. Jake is as likely a bet as anyone to start the year. JB/Green are going to want some options and competition too. Id love a middle six with both Podkolzin and a dialed in Virtanen tbh. Tons of physicality and skill.

I supported bringing back Marky because of his play (obviously) and I think he’s a hyper competitive leader... but despite all that a part of me was worried about his two injuries last year that he might be wearing down a bit. I’m sure he’ll do great in Calgary but it’ll be interesting to see how he holds up being “the guy” that contract kind of demands. Very similar concerns about Tanev except I’m genuinely curious how good he seems on another club on top of a higher likelihood of getting hurt.

Realistically it’s fair to call us a bubble team... there’s some uncertainly in net for sure. Although it’s also conceivable with Demko, Holtby and Ian Clark we’ll be just fine. I get that losing Toffoli hurts but he and Brock didn’t play together in the regular season... so I wouldn’t say our forward group is weaker. Rookies like Hoglander, Podkolzin, Juolevi and others represent some blue chip talent who could provide internal improvement. The bottom 6 gets crapped on and I think Gaudette’s progress is as important as anyone’s. IMO 3C is pretty critical for us. We have a slew of wingers who can play and add some offence... but that 3rd line really needs an identity. Back end could be better but we have a group who work as an NHL-caliber top 4. JB likely isn’t done but it should be a fun season to watch and we’ll hold our own. Especially in a Canadian conference. Rivalries galore.

It’s also a benefit of having our roster saturated with character guys. Highly unlikely his offseason habits catch on with the rookies. Good teams always have a head case or two - Bo sure isn’t afraid to take a strip off him.

I know he’s a meathead but he’s good for around 20 goals while bringing physicality and speed to the middle 6. All things we desperately need. Unless you’re getting clear upgrades in those areas (Or he costs too much) I think you keep him and hope his maturity keeps inching towards his talent. We’ve waited this long... probably not best to cut ties after a breakout season.

I think I kind of get what you’re saying - people (although I find not so much on this board as other platforms) used to always push hard for young guys to crack the roster. Here we have a tight cap offseason and the talk is all complaining how JB can’t sign vets.. even though guys like Hogs/Pods/Rathbone/Juolevi are likely ready and better than what we had in the Shinkaruk (and earlier) era. Those prospects + others are a big reason why I’m not overly worried despite the relatively slow start to FA for JB. I think we’ll see some of them and I’m crossing my fingers they make us forget some of the names we missed out on so far. FWIW I expect JB to still pull some moves... but knowing our injury luck and Green’s history of playing whoever wins the camp battle means at least one of those guys makes a splash this year.

I voted yes but it’s only if we’re desperate for the cap space to add a bigger piece. I don’t see him back when his contract ends and I just plain old don’t see us selling at the deadline so if it improves the team - pull the trigger. I’m fine with Sutter for another year (and really, he is still decent when healthy) otherwise. A lot like Tanev, it’s more his health that I question than his play.

Can’t believe we traded Boeser only to have Toffoli sign with Montreal...

It would also cost a 1st round pick on top of that 3rd round pick IIRC

Good point - hopefully by being both good players and supposedly well liked guys they’ll gel quickly. I also like that they’re coming from powerhouse franchises - those two guys are going to expect making the playoffs at a minimum.

Seems like hockey is full of them, but nice to hear Schmidt is another high character guy. Along with Holtby I’ve always appreciated JB going after that angle. I was worried losing Marky (and others) would hurt in the room as much as the ice... but not anymore.

It feels like top-4 D men hold up a little better into their old age than forwards do but I have zero evidence to back that up.

Maybe, maybe not. They’ll be Edler age and making the same. Hopefully cap goes up by then too.

At this point if we can sign Vatanen or Hamonic for cheap is the blue line overhauled? Still have Benn who can also play both sides and room for Juolevi or Rathbone.

Yeah... I read that initially as 10 teams he would go to... the opposite is true I think so it isn’t what I thought it was. Oh well. “He doesn’t completely hate us” is alright for now.