(Speculation) Senators, Canucks Could Be Teams To Watch On Trade Market

[Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw]

7 hours ago, canuck73_3 said:

That is still not even remotely true though and anyone with any knowledge of the game knows that... 

From a certain point of view, every D-man on our team has more value than Myers.  Name anyone, and worst-case scenario you can give them away for free.  With OEL gone, you'd actually have to PAY someone to get Myers.

[Hairy Kneel]

On 9/8/2023 at 10:53 AM, Warhippy said:

Damn.

 

Didn't realize they were that tight to the cap.  Guessing that Tarasenko is trade bait though and there's a good chance kubalik is gone as well by the TDL if they falter.

 

As well, as a side note Hamonic is on an Uber cheap contract through next year and could be shed for depth.  They'll have to do something for sure.

 

Id absolutely love to see a way of getting Pinto myself.  6 foot 3 200 pound right shooting centre that has done nothing but improve and is only 22

 

That's exactly what this club needs for the future 

Hogs Woo Rathbone 

[IBatch]

On 9/8/2023 at 2:58 PM, Maninthebox said:

Then what is impressive..? Sub par return for Horvat, somewhat balanced by an arguably high cost to aquire the uncertainty of Hronek. What am I missing?

 

OEL buyout? Recent depth signings? If I was looking for a word to describe PA's dealing this past year, I think I'd lean toward "meh".

People need to temper their expectations, for a one time 30 goal scoring very good  2C entering free agency with no deal in place ... what were you expecting?   Same sort of stuff we had with Miller and NYR, AND he just had a 99 point season and had a year left on his team friendly deal.    The return came in exactly like these ones do,  a roster player (to make cap work, Beaus not a complete cap dump either, usually they are) Raty - who helped us go from 30th to 21st in the rankings from a year ago, considered our second best prospect ahead of Lekkermako, and a first rounder.     What were  you expecting?  Multiple firsts?  He's not Gretkzy.  

Edited September 10, 2023 by IBatch

[Alflives]

1 hour ago, Bob.Loblaw said:

From a certain point of view, every D-man on our team has more value than Myers.  Name anyone, and worst-case scenario you can give them away for free.  With OEL gone, you'd actually have to PAY someone to get Myers.

Yup. Myers is a BBS - Big Benning Stain. 

[RWJC]

24 minutes ago, IBatch said:

People need to temper their expectations, for a one time 30 goal scoring very good  2C entering free agency with no deal in place ... what were you expecting?   Same sort of stuff we had with Miller and NYR, AND he just had a 99 point season and had a year left on his team friendly deal.    The return came in exactly like these ones do,  a roster player (to make cap work, Beaus not a complete cap dump either, usually they are) Raty - who helped us go from 30th to 21st in the rankings from a year ago, considered our second best prospect ahead of Lekkermako, and a first rounder.     What were  you expecting?  Multiple firsts?  He's not Gretkzy.  

Are you kidding me? You mean GMing in the NHL isn’t the same as EA Sports NHL23 Franchise mode?!?   
 

 

[RWJC]

12 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Yup. Myers is a BBS - Big Benning Stain. 

Them be fighting words…

 

[Maninthebox]

4 hours ago, IBatch said:

People need to temper their expectations, for a one time 30 goal scoring very good  2C entering free agency with no deal in place ... what were you expecting?   Same sort of stuff we had with Miller and NYR, AND he just had a 99 point season and had a year left on his team friendly deal.    The return came in exactly like these ones do,  a roster player (to make cap work, Beaus not a complete cap dump either, usually they are) Raty - who helped us go from 30th to 21st in the rankings from a year ago, considered our second best prospect ahead of Lekkermako, and a first rounder.     What were  you expecting?  Multiple firsts?  He's not Gretkzy.  

From NYI? Dobson. Or walk. This wasn't a last minute deadline deal to unload a UFA asset.

 

Maybe it was the best offer on the table. Maybe PA actually targetted a smaller middle six winger he already had better versions of, and a prospect whose stock had fallen even before he was drafted. He does seem to like reclaimation projects. See Bear, Studnicka, Kravtsov, etc.

 

Virtually nobody liked the return from this trade when it occured, including some who have spoken up for it in this thread. Hindsight, and the subsequent Hronek aquisition, lend a different view. Beauvillier might be a solid player for us, Raty will likely become a useful player in the future. The 1st round pick is usually the prized asset coming back in these deals, and that 1st helped bring in Hronek. His future play and potential signing will determine the true value of the entire package from both trades.

 

For whatever reason people here want to downplay Horvat's value. Four straight 20+ goal seasons, 19 in the shortened season, 31 following that. On pace for 50+ at the time of the trade. Excellent on the dot, good on the powerplay, reasonable two way play. But he didn't punch people in the face and he had a loser mentality. It's all nonsense.

 

Player, prospect, and pick. Bottom line, Beauvillier is redundant, Raty is a low value prospect (almost?) every team passed on at the draft, and the 1st was needed (with the extra 2nd) to bring back the value Horvat was worth in the first place.

 

If that, and a long list of AHL and bottom of the roster signings, is impressive work for a newish GM, then I guess I'll be impressed.

 

Kuzmenko was a great piece of work, let's ask Mikheyev to be GM.

 

I'm not anti PA, or pro Benning, or any of that bs. I just find some of the reactions to PA's workings rather curious. Are we Canuck fans that used to disappointment?

 

@RWJC I don't know about EA NHL 23, but that trade didn't work in 22. Horvat didn't have the value...

[BarnBurner]

18 minutes ago, Maninthebox said:

From NYI? Dobson. Or walk. This wasn't a last minute deadline deal to unload a UFA asset.

 

Maybe it was the best offer on the table. Maybe PA actually targetted a smaller middle six winger he already had better versions of, and a prospect whose stock had fallen even before he was drafted. He does seem to like reclaimation projects. See Bear, Studnicka, Kravtsov, etc.

 

Virtually nobody liked the return from this trade when it occured, including some who have spoken up for it in this thread. Hindsight, and the subsequent Hronek aquisition, lend a different view. Beauvillier might be a solid player for us, Raty will likely become a useful player in the future. The 1st round pick is usually the prized asset coming back in these deals, and that 1st helped bring in Hronek. His future play and potential signing will determine the true value of the entire package from both trades.

 

For whatever reason people here want to downplay Horvat's value. Four straight 20+ goal seasons, 19 in the shortened season, 31 following that. On pace for 50+ at the time of the trade. Excellent on the dot, good on the powerplay, reasonable two way play. But he didn't punch people in the face and he had a loser mentality. It's all nonsense.

 

Player, prospect, and pick. Bottom line, Beauvillier is redundant, Raty is a low value prospect (almost?) every team passed on at the draft, and the 1st was needed (with the extra 2nd) to bring back the value Horvat was worth in the first place.

 

If that, and a long list of AHL and bottom of the roster signings, is impressive work for a newish GM, then I guess I'll be impressed.

 

Kuzmenko was a great piece of work, let's ask Mikheyev to be GM.

 

I'm not anti PA, or pro Benning, or any of that bs. I just find some of the reactions to PA's workings rather curious. Are we Canuck fans that used to disappointment?

 

@RWJC I don't know about EA NHL 23, but that trade didn't work in 22. Horvat didn't have the value...

Then walk. 

 

What's nonsense is... that's only your opinion. He was chosen Captain and wasn't leading by example. He's around the same size as Miller and can actually throw 'em down pretty good, but... I'd rather have Henrik than Bo leading the way. As far as GM, perhaps you should apply for the position. 

 

And you say, virtually nobody liked the return of this deal. Really? 

 

What do you realistically expect to get for Horvat? 

 

Dobson? 

[RWJC]

2 hours ago, Maninthebox said:

From NYI? Dobson. Or walk. This wasn't a last minute deadline deal to unload a UFA asset.

 

Maybe it was the best offer on the table. Maybe PA actually targetted a smaller middle six winger he already had better versions of, and a prospect whose stock had fallen even before he was drafted. He does seem to like reclaimation projects. See Bear, Studnicka, Kravtsov, etc.

 

Virtually nobody liked the return from this trade when it occured, including some who have spoken up for it in this thread. Hindsight, and the subsequent Hronek aquisition, lend a different view. Beauvillier might be a solid player for us, Raty will likely become a useful player in the future. The 1st round pick is usually the prized asset coming back in these deals, and that 1st helped bring in Hronek. His future play and potential signing will determine the true value of the entire package from both trades.

 

For whatever reason people here want to downplay Horvat's value. Four straight 20+ goal seasons, 19 in the shortened season, 31 following that. On pace for 50+ at the time of the trade. Excellent on the dot, good on the powerplay, reasonable two way play. But he didn't punch people in the face and he had a loser mentality. It's all nonsense.

 

Player, prospect, and pick. Bottom line, Beauvillier is redundant, Raty is a low value prospect (almost?) every team passed on at the draft, and the 1st was needed (with the extra 2nd) to bring back the value Horvat was worth in the first place.

 

If that, and a long list of AHL and bottom of the roster signings, is impressive work for a newish GM, then I guess I'll be impressed.

 

Kuzmenko was a great piece of work, let's ask Mikheyev to be GM.

 

I'm not anti PA, or pro Benning, or any of that bs. I just find some of the reactions to PA's workings rather curious. Are we Canuck fans that used to disappointment?

 

@RWJC I don't know about EA NHL 23, but that trade didn't work in 22. Horvat didn't have the value...

Most of the time the market determines value. Unfortunately in this case, yeah it’d be great to expect more in return, but the fact is that there was no certainty that Horvat would stick with whomever traded for him. He wanted the UFA dollar. His play in his last season with us is testament to that. Bruce allowed Bo to open up and focus on his O game. Fair enough, he’s a player’s coach and believed run and gun was our opportunity to shake off the Green era, get the team excited about hockey again, and maybe perhaps develop a sound, relativity supportive defensive style over the course of time. That’s great and all, but the underlying reason Horvat had the season he had with us is because he cheated on his defensive responsibility, as did most players. This came at a cost to the entire team. Tocchet’s arrival and demand on everyone to return to a responsible game started to bring Horvat’s season back to a career average, which is still very consistent and solid. He’s just not in the Crosby, Larkin, Sergachev, Stamkos, DRAISAITL tier of players, guys who have a cap hit of 8.5 per. If you believe he is, well, you might be wearing rose coloured glasses. 

 

I realize Horvat made many sacrifices over his tenure in the jersey - played a responsible two way game when he likely felt he had far more to offer on O, but because he was captain he took it in stride. He definitely did what was asked of him. I liked and respected him a lot as a player. Unfortunately the compensation he was seeking was not commensurate with his regular production, no matter which way you slice it. Lou signed him to that deal because he HAD to…but it’s far from ideal and is now very likely an overpayment by NYI for a solid 2nd line 2 way player for the remainder of his contract.  
 

We have guys who will need portions of the future Horvat salary savings in order to be retained on our club.  You realize that as well I’m sure, but your argument suggests you undervalue that point exclusively.

 

Complaining about the return is one thing. Like I said, market dictates worth and if that’s the best deal we received it’s likely because every other GM understood what they were going to have to spend to retain him and felt the same…it’s too rich for what that salary could otherwise provide across the board.

 

in our case, it not only gave us a prospect, a serviceable player and a first, which became a higher profile player in a position of desperate need for this club…but it became cap flexibility for the future. THAT in itself, is worth significant value in the trade. Major value to rebuilding the club compositionally now, major value in the flexibility it provides for the future.

 

Maybe you’ll be able to understand and accept that if we re-sign EP, Hronek, and any other RFAs or UFAs over the next few seasons. That’s what trading Bo inherently also provided us. 
 

Did we lose a step when he left though? Unfortunately for your argument, no. That should indicate to you what 8.5mill could otherwise also go towards. 
 

He served us well his entire career, both in this jersey, and now in someone else’s. 
 

 

Edited September 10, 2023 by RWJC

[IBatch]

4 hours ago, Maninthebox said:

From NYI? Dobson. Or walk. This wasn't a last minute deadline deal to unload a UFA asset.

 

Maybe it was the best offer on the table. Maybe PA actually targetted a smaller middle six winger he already had better versions of, and a prospect whose stock had fallen even before he was drafted. He does seem to like reclaimation projects. See Bear, Studnicka, Kravtsov, etc.

 

Virtually nobody liked the return from this trade when it occured, including some who have spoken up for it in this thread. Hindsight, and the subsequent Hronek aquisition, lend a different view. Beauvillier might be a solid player for us, Raty will likely become a useful player in the future. The 1st round pick is usually the prized asset coming back in these deals, and that 1st helped bring in Hronek. His future play and potential signing will determine the true value of the entire package from both trades.

 

For whatever reason people here want to downplay Horvat's value. Four straight 20+ goal seasons, 19 in the shortened season, 31 following that. On pace for 50+ at the time of the trade. Excellent on the dot, good on the powerplay, reasonable two way play. But he didn't punch people in the face and he had a loser mentality. It's all nonsense.

 

Player, prospect, and pick. Bottom line, Beauvillier is redundant, Raty is a low value prospect (almost?) every team passed on at the draft, and the 1st was needed (with the extra 2nd) to bring back the value Horvat was worth in the first place.

 

If that, and a long list of AHL and bottom of the roster signings, is impressive work for a newish GM, then I guess I'll be impressed.

 

Kuzmenko was a great piece of work, let's ask Mikheyev to be GM.

 

I'm not anti PA, or pro Benning, or any of that bs. I just find some of the reactions to PA's workings rather curious. Are we Canuck fans that used to disappointment?

 

@RWJC I don't know about EA NHL 23, but that trade didn't work in 22. Horvat didn't have the value...

The entire season, informed fans were saying Horvats value was going to be a roster player, a first and a prospect.    
 

Why?  For one that's exactly what the experts were saying.   What did Claude Giroux get.   An unsigned soon to be UFA, that is a top tier player gets that.   

 

As for what he signed for, Lou has been very good about keeping his contracts in line over the years.   Look what he gave Dobson, and then look what OTT just gave Anderson.   Dobson will get his money too, but make sure about the player first at least, and Dobson got peanuts compared to other bridges for young D's who scored 50 points. .   I've never seen any GM trade for a guy, then sign him and then publicly chastise himself for overpaying the player (it sure was).    There were several CDCer's (including me) constantly saying "a roster player (to make cap work), a first and a good prospect.    That's exactly what we got.

 

As for the Hronek trade, go look at the thread.   It was made because folks wanted to keep the first.    I'm with you on that one, and Craig Button,  that trade was exactly what we needed, an actual top pairing RHD.   In Detroit,  his underlying stats suggests he should be with us as well.   Even a legit top four RHD is great.   Button calls him a number two.    Also agree with Button, if we kept that pick, we might as well blow it up starting with either EP or QHs.   And if Hronek isn't a good fit, well we trade him and try again with the asset he should get us at the TDL this year. 

 

The return some maybe we're expecting, multiple firsts (hilarious was never, ever going to happen, a young star like Zegras, McTavish, Dobson also never ever going to happen) and a young star coming back, that would be trading EP this past summer.   His stock, goes down a little every year now, as he approaches free agency too unsigned.   Two more RFA years.     What did Gretzky get again?  What did Patrick Roy get?  Two of the bigger trades GOATs at their position, around the same age as Horvat too.    That could be considered the highest bar.   
 

Edt: For the record, I wanted to keep Horvat and Miller.     Stupid cap issues screwed us, but also got that our D was complete trash, and needed an overhaul.   Too much cap allocated to forwards and not enough cap properly allocated to the D core.     And Raty is ranked higher the Lekkermaki (for now at least) in our pool.   That makes Raty a grade A prospect. 

 

Also, for the record, I think Ilya Mikheyev was the one questionable move Allvin has made so far.   Somewhat understandable, because we did need a good PKer,  and Podz was the lone Russian on the team etc maybe to help him not sure, but it was a cap and term deal that bunged up things.    If they didn't make that deal then we could have relented and given him 8.5 x 8 instead.  

 

Fortunately for us, it seems like he's got a plan A and a plan B.   And hasn't done or given any ridiculous bottom six deals out.   And is slowly fixing a real mess capwise.   Not sure I like the OEL buyout.   But we all saw what the market thinks of him, that's a one year 2.25ish deal.   5plus million less in cap then we were paying him.   

 

For years the CDC has complained we don't have RHD's.   Allvin flipped Horvat early to give him the time to get what we needed.   Hronek would have gone somewhere else.   For what we paid for.   There's another example of what a young top two RHD with one year left on his deal goes for.    A first and a second, with a 4th coming back.   

 

EP.   Well he will get what Mathew Tckchuk got after this season.   Nothing more, nothing less.    People better start tempering their expectations right now if we have to go there.    Hubderdeau, Weager and a first was actually a huge haul for CAL.   But ugly contract for Huberdeau.     Hope we can sign EP long term,  Allvin does too, why he traded for Hronek and didn't keep Horvat.   

Edited September 10, 2023 by IBatch

[Maninthebox]

Thanks for the chat! Apologies for derailing the thread.

[Gawdzukes]

On 9/8/2023 at 2:20 PM, Petey Castiglione said:

Please lord please make it so.

[Meh]

On 9/8/2023 at 2:43 PM, Maninthebox said:

Are we really going to wax philosophical about the meaning of "meh"? 

It's a way of life my friend.

[Gawdzukes]

22 hours ago, RWJC said:

Are you kidding me? You mean GMing in the NHL isn’t the same as EA Sports NHL23 Franchise mode?!?   
 

 

No it's exactly the same.

 

Beaulivier, Myers, and a first for Morrisey/Theodore/Seider.

 

Take your pick. 

[Elias Pettersson]

23 hours ago, IBatch said:

People need to temper their expectations, for a one time 30 goal scoring very good  2C entering free agency with no deal in place ... what were you expecting?   Same sort of stuff we had with Miller and NYR, AND he just had a 99 point season and had a year left on his team friendly deal.    The return came in exactly like these ones do,  a roster player (to make cap work, Beaus not a complete cap dump either, usually they are) Raty - who helped us go from 30th to 21st in the rankings from a year ago, considered our second best prospect ahead of Lekkermako, and a first rounder.     What were  you expecting?  Multiple firsts?  He's not Gretkzy.  

At the end of the day we got Hronek, Raty and a 4th for Horvat and a 2nd. That’s actually more than I thought we would get. Hronek straight up for BO would have been a fair deal. A top 4 RHD is more valuable than a 2C tweener who isn’t great defensively and is a career 55-60 point guy.

[Ghostsof1915]

15 hours ago, IBatch said:

The entire season, informed fans were saying Horvats value was going to be a roster player, a first and a prospect.    
 

Why?  For one that's exactly what the experts were saying.   What did Claude Giroux get.   An unsigned soon to be UFA, that is a top tier player gets that.   

 

As for what he signed for, Lou has been very good about keeping his contracts in line over the years.   Look what he gave Dobson, and then look what OTT just gave Anderson.   Dobson will get his money too, but make sure about the player first at least, and Dobson got peanuts compared to other bridges for young D's who scored 50 points. .   I've never seen any GM trade for a guy, then sign him and then publicly chastise himself for overpaying the player (it sure was).    There were several CDCer's (including me) constantly saying "a roster player (to make cap work), a first and a good prospect.    That's exactly what we got.

 

As for the Hronek trade, go look at the thread.   It was made because folks wanted to keep the first.    I'm with you on that one, and Craig Button,  that trade was exactly what we needed, an actual top pairing RHD.   In Detroit,  his underlying stats suggests he should be with us as well.   Even a legit top four RHD is great.   Button calls him a number two.    Also agree with Button, if we kept that pick, we might as well blow it up starting with either EP or QHs.   And if Hronek isn't a good fit, well we trade him and try again with the asset he should get us at the TDL this year. 

 

The return some maybe we're expecting, multiple firsts (hilarious was never, ever going to happen, a young star like Zegras, McTavish, Dobson also never ever going to happen) and a young star coming back, that would be trading EP this past summer.   His stock, goes down a little every year now, as he approaches free agency too unsigned.   Two more RFA years.     What did Gretzky get again?  What did Patrick Roy get?  Two of the bigger trades GOATs at their position, around the same age as Horvat too.    That could be considered the highest bar.   
 

Edt: For the record, I wanted to keep Horvat and Miller.     Stupid cap issues screwed us, but also got that our D was complete trash, and needed an overhaul.   Too much cap allocated to forwards and not enough cap properly allocated to the D core.     And Raty is ranked higher the Lekkermaki (for now at least) in our pool.   That makes Raty a grade A prospect. 

 

Also, for the record, I think Ilya Mikheyev was the one questionable move Allvin has made so far.   Somewhat understandable, because we did need a good PKer,  and Podz was the lone Russian on the team etc maybe to help him not sure, but it was a cap and term deal that bunged up things.    If they didn't make that deal then we could have relented and given him 8.5 x 8 instead.  

 

Fortunately for us, it seems like he's got a plan A and a plan B.   And hasn't done or given any ridiculous bottom six deals out.   And is slowly fixing a real mess capwise.   Not sure I like the OEL buyout.   But we all saw what the market thinks of him, that's a one year 2.25ish deal.   5plus million less in cap then we were paying him.   

 

For years the CDC has complained we don't have RHD's.   Allvin flipped Horvat early to give him the time to get what we needed.   Hronek would have gone somewhere else.   For what we paid for.   There's another example of what a young top two RHD with one year left on his deal goes for.    A first and a second, with a 4th coming back.   

 

EP.   Well he will get what Mathew Tckchuk got after this season.   Nothing more, nothing less.    People better start tempering their expectations right now if we have to go there.    Hubderdeau, Weager and a first was actually a huge haul for CAL.   But ugly contract for Huberdeau.     Hope we can sign EP long term,  Allvin does too, why he traded for Hronek and didn't keep Horvat.   

I would totally agree. Signing Mik sort of made sense, but the dollars didn't. What bugs me is Kuz was signed BEFORE Mik. I'm not sure they felt they were taking a gamble with Kuz, and wasn't sure it was going to work out? It seems to me once they signed Kuz, even for one year. They really didn't need to sign Mik. They should have showed more restraint in keeping the cap down. Could we use a PK'er that's a scoring threat? Absolutely. But $4.75 million per season for 4 years. Ouch. I'm really hoping when Mik comes back he's fully healthy and show he's worth every penny, Because he seems like a great guy. But the team needs some flexibility with the cap.

[Nuxfanabroad]

2 hours ago, Elias Pettersson said:

At the end of the day we got Hronek, Raty and a 4th for Horvat and a 2nd. That’s actually more than I thought we would get. Hronek straight up for BO would have been a fair deal. A top 4 RHD is more valuable than a 2C tweener who isn’t great defensively and is a career 55-60 point guy.

You shouldn't omit Beauv, EP. We might use him nicely, or flip him for a pick/puck(aka cap space)?

[Elias Pettersson]

2 hours ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

I would totally agree. Signing Mik sort of made sense, but the dollars didn't. What bugs me is Kuz was signed BEFORE Mik. I'm not sure they felt they were taking a gamble with Kuz, and wasn't sure it was going to work out? It seems to me once they signed Kuz, even for one year. They really didn't need to sign Mik. They should have showed more restraint in keeping the cap down. Could we use a PK'er that's a scoring threat? Absolutely. But $4.75 million per season for 4 years. Ouch. I'm really hoping when Mik comes back he's fully healthy and show he's worth every penny, Because he seems like a great guy. But the team needs some flexibility with the cap.

$4.75 million is the going rate for 20 goal scorers.  Mikheyev is not only a 20 goal scorer, but he's also a very good defensive player.  There was nothing wrong with this signing at all.  Both him and Kuzy were free assets.  It's not Allvin's fault that Benning burdened him with all the bad contracts.  They bought out OEL which had to happen, so they freed up enough cap space to fix the defence somehwhat and get some new centres for the penalty kill as well.  They've done a good job considering what they had to work with. 

 

I expect this team to make the playoffs this year.  Even a 10% improvement on the penalty kill will push up to the playoffs.  As well, I expect our goaltending to be alot better this year with less high danger chances and with a better defensive structure...

[Crabcakes]

2 hours ago, Elias Pettersson said:

At the end of the day we got Hronek, Raty and a 4th for Horvat and a 2nd. That’s actually more than I thought we would get. Hronek straight up for BO would have been a fair deal. A top 4 RHD is more valuable than a 2C tweener who isn’t great defensively and is a career 55-60 point guy.

You're selling Horvat short but at the end of the day, I agree the return for him was quite good.

[IBatch]

5 hours ago, Elias Pettersson said:

$4.75 million is the going rate for 20 goal scorers.  Mikheyev is not only a 20 goal scorer, but he's also a very good defensive player.  There was nothing wrong with this signing at all.  Both him and Kuzy were free assets.  It's not Allvin's fault that Benning burdened him with all the bad contracts.  They bought out OEL which had to happen, so they freed up enough cap space to fix the defence somehwhat and get some new centres for the penalty kill as well.  They've done a good job considering what they had to work with. 

 

I expect this team to make the playoffs this year.  Even a 10% improvement on the penalty kill will push up to the playoffs.  As well, I expect our goaltending to be alot better this year with less high danger chances and with a better defensive structure...

If the team didn't sign Mikheyev, we'd of had some cap flexibility.   Without getting into the term and cap hit (seems about right),  it was a timing thing.   That cap would have allowed the team to either keep Horvat or make a move to improve our defense without worrying about OEL so much (maybe hold off a year on his buyout).    It's not like the team did poorly without him (or Horvat for that matter), it's more about cap flexibility and re-allocating it where we need it the most.    That extra 4.75, could have been used to keep Horvat and add a Bluegar/Suter or Cole last season.    Then add Soucy this year, for example.   I like the Horvat trade though.   And no way 8.5 x 8 is going to age well. 

 

Personally don't mind Ilya M at all.   Maybe they planned to trade other guys, and found out they couldn't.   This summer they did a great job of clearing cap and not committing to anyone expensive.    And what could we have done this summer with an extra 4.75 in cap?    Really the only mild criticism of Allvin and co so far that I can think of.   The OEL think might come to haunt us, but get that was fixing a big mistake.    This summer and since the Horvat trade (glad he was patient),  was progress.    Overall im

happy with the job he's done so far.  

 

Kuzmenko was found money.   An excellent pickup.   Soucy - i've wanted him on our team for a couple years now.   No bad contracts given out.    It's refreshing. 

 

Also think we've got a better chance at making the playoffs then the pundits are saying.   Some actually are calling us a dark horse and believe we have a shot.    Truly believe with this roster, a couple years ago, we'd be talking about whom we will play in the first round a bit right now.  LA and SEA will give us a run for our money for sure.

 

Edit:  As for the PK, believe we go from 69 goals allowed to the middle of the pack or above average, 54-50 instead, that's enough for 8-10 extra points.  91 - 93 is close to what we will need to make it.    A better defensive system, shouldn't be too hard to find an extra 2-4 points along the way should it?   

Edited September 11, 2023 by IBatch