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Post by electron58 on Jan 19, 2024 14:14:10 GMT
The last-place Ottawa Senators are shaping up as sellers ahead of the March 8 trade deadline as team president and general manager Steve Staios looks to put his stamp on the club. Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reports "the expectation" is the Senators will ask pending unrestricted free agent Vladimir Tarasenko to waive his no-trade clause
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Post by claremont on Jan 22, 2024 1:20:54 GMT
Elliott Friedman reported that he expects the Toronto Maple Leafs to stand Pat at the trade deadline and not mortgage their future. Maybe it’s a degree of reality that their team isn’t good enough. If so what a joke to reset around Nylanders big deal and waste a year of their “Muskoka 5”
If my team was on the bubble, I think you owe it to your players to try to make improvements
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Post by HTL on Jan 22, 2024 21:33:03 GMT
Despite the reported rejections of trade offers, Wifi's name still out there. Barring some plan to get us a young top 3 forward as part of a bigger deal, i can't see Hughes being too eager to part ways.
He's probably the type of playoff gold player a lot of teams would love to add but he's still well within our future window and the type of player we could be looking for down the road
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Post by HTL on Jan 22, 2024 22:24:10 GMT
The sherrif is back in town.
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Post by maasart on Jan 22, 2024 22:32:21 GMT
Elliott Friedman reported that he expects the Toronto Maple Leafs to stand Pat at the trade deadline and not mortgage their future. Maybe it’s a degree of reality that their team isn’t good enough. If so what a joke to reset around Nylanders big deal and waste a year of their “Muskoka 5” If my team was on the bubble, I think you owe it to your players to try to make improvements I think they have already mortgaged their future. They are a total limbo team. 5-6 elite players and then hot mess at most other spots. i dont see how you fix that team without trading away guys and, honestly the next year or two is really their best shot to actually win. After that they will be in some major trouble. |
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Post by electron58 on Jan 22, 2024 23:30:21 GMT
The sherrif is back in town. Are you implying something? |
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Post by BigTed3 on Jan 23, 2024 1:11:50 GMT
Elliott Friedman reported that he expects the Toronto Maple Leafs to stand Pat at the trade deadline and not mortgage their future. Maybe it’s a degree of reality that their team isn’t good enough. If so what a joke to reset around Nylanders big deal and waste a year of their “Muskoka 5” If my team was on the bubble, I think you owe it to your players to try to make improvements I think they have already mortgaged their future. They are a total limbo team. 5-6 elite players and then hot mess at most other spots. i dont see how you fix that team without trading away guys and, honestly the next year or two is really their best shot to actually win. After that they will be in some major trouble.
I wonder if the connotation might be more that they question the ability of this core to ever get it done, so they've decided to try and cut their losses. I don't think they'll be able to trade their core players in-season. They make too much money to fit under the cap for a contender. But in the off-season, they have a lot of players on expiring contracts, so it will give them a chance to re-work their roster... all 3 veteran goalies are free agents, most of their D corps is too, and so are Domi and Bertuzzi. Tavares and Marner will be a year away. So I wonder if they don't try to deal at least two of their stars. Yes, I know they have NMCs but sometimes players will want to get out before a team starts to re-tool, especially if they have a say in where they're going. Would Matthews, for example, be okay with going to Arizona or even Colorado to form a power duo with Mackinnon? If Colorado gave you Byram, Johansen, Lehkonen, and two 1st's, for example, which team says no? Colorado gets more star power on the backs of guys who can already win and take pressure off Matthews. Toronto gets some cap flexibility, a good young D man, a useful winger in Lehkonen, and some futures. Could they get a better return? Maybe. But if they think Matthews is part of the problem, maybe this addresses some of that. Or could they deal Marner to a team like Detroit or Buffalo or Ottawa that's trying to become legit? If it brings you back around say Edvinsson, Cossa, and a 1st rounder? Or a package of Benson, Wahlberg, Samuelsson, for example? Marner might welcome going somewhere out of the Toronto spotlight and onto a team on the rise. Toronto might welcome getting the cap relief and younger assets. The other team might feel like it's a move that allows them to turn the corner.
So I also feel like that team's nucleus is a win-now team. But if management feels they need too many new parts to win (and keep in mind this nucleus was assembled by previous management, not the current GM, so there could be less attachment there), then maybe they're ready to write off this season and start afresh in the off-season.
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Post by maasart on Jan 23, 2024 18:03:09 GMT
I think they have already mortgaged their future. They are a total limbo team. 5-6 elite players and then hot mess at most other spots. i dont see how you fix that team without trading away guys and, honestly the next year or two is really their best shot to actually win. After that they will be in some major trouble.
I wonder if the connotation might be more that they question the ability of this core to ever get it done, so they've decided to try and cut their losses. I don't think they'll be able to trade their core players in-season. They make too much money to fit under the cap for a contender. But in the off-season, they have a lot of players on expiring contracts, so it will give them a chance to re-work their roster... all 3 veteran goalies are free agents, most of their D corps is too, and so are Domi and Bertuzzi. Tavares and Marner will be a year away. So I wonder if they don't try to deal at least two of their stars. Yes, I know they have NMCs but sometimes players will want to get out before a team starts to re-tool, especially if they have a say in where they're going. Would Matthews, for example, be okay with going to Arizona or even Colorado to form a power duo with Mackinnon? If Colorado gave you Byram, Johansen, Lehkonen, and two 1st's, for example, which team says no? Colorado gets more star power on the backs of guys who can already win and take pressure off Matthews. Toronto gets some cap flexibility, a good young D man, a useful winger in Lehkonen, and some futures. Could they get a better return? Maybe. But if they think Matthews is part of the problem, maybe this addresses some of that. Or could they deal Marner to a team like Detroit or Buffalo or Ottawa that's trying to become legit? If it brings you back around say Edvinsson, Cossa, and a 1st rounder? Or a package of Benson, Wahlberg, Samuelsson, for example? Marner might welcome going somewhere out of the Toronto spotlight and onto a team on the rise. Toronto might welcome getting the cap relief and younger assets. The other team might feel like it's a move that allows them to turn the corner.
So I also feel like that team's nucleus is a win-now team. But if management feels they need too many new parts to win (and keep in mind this nucleus was assembled by previous management, not the current GM, so there could be less attachment there), then maybe they're ready to write off this season and start afresh in the off-season.
Yeah, i mean the only way to fix that team is to move some players. You cant have 65% of your salary cap going to 6 players - certainly not when 4 of them are forwards. They've built a situation were 60-65% of the time you have elite players on the ice and the remaining 35-40% you have AHL caliber players. You cant win - especially not in the playoffs - like that. I still wonder what would have happened if Tavares had taken our offer. Would we have won a cup? Adding him to our cinderella run? Would the leafs have been better, being able to upgrade at several positions instead of putting so much money in to 4 forwards? |
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Post by HTL on Jan 23, 2024 19:21:06 GMT
Tavares was their big greedy mistake IMO. It was a luxury they could have done without and instead spent that money on defense or keeping players they had to dump, for lack of cap flexibility. I laughed back then and i'm still chuckling to this day as their fans (at least some of them) have finally seen the light and realized the same.
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Post by maasart on Jan 23, 2024 19:51:13 GMT
Tavares was their big greedy mistake IMO. It was a luxury they could have done without and instead spent that money on defense or keeping players they had to dump, for lack of cap flexibility. I laughed back then and i'm still chuckling to this day as their fans (at least some of them) have finally seen the light and realized the same. Agree and it was the wrong move for him (hockey-wise, maybe it was the right move for his personal life, dunno). if he had signed with us he would have been our undisputed #1C, with Tatar or Drouin + Prime Gallagher on his wings. Domi would have slid back to 2nd line centre (and probably thrived). Danault would have been the best 3rd line centre in the league. Weber, Petry, Price... that team would have been way better and probably provided JT with a legimate shot at the cup as opposed to what he got. Crazy to look at his stat line: 1074 nhl games only 55 playoff games (31 of those with the leafs) |
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Post by ramcharger440 on Jan 23, 2024 20:17:08 GMT
Tavares was their big greedy mistake IMO. It was a luxury they could have done without and instead spent that money on defense or keeping players they had to dump, for lack of cap flexibility. I laughed back then and i'm still chuckling to this day as their fans (at least some of them) have finally seen the light and realized the same. Agree and it was the wrong move for him (hockey-wise, maybe it was the right move for his personal life, dunno). if he had signed with us he would have been our undisputed #1C, with Tatar or Drouin + Prime Gallagher on his wings. Domi would have slid back to 2nd line centre (and probably thrived). Danault would have been the best 3rd line centre in the league. Weber, Petry, Price... that team would have been way better and probably provided JT with a legimate shot at the cup as opposed to what he got. Crazy to look at his stat line: 1074 nhl games only 55 playoff games (31 of those with the leafs) Yeah, we could perhaps have won that cup all we really needed was a bit more offence as our D and goalie were on fire! |
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Post by claremont on Jan 23, 2024 22:09:41 GMT
Dillon Dube given Leave of absence from Calgary - Mental Health. Carter Hart taking leave from the Flyers for personal reasons.
Both were members of the 2018 IHF WJC Canadian team plagued by the rape enabler scandal. Connecting the dots?
Is something going to be released from that investigation after all this time?
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Post by BigTed3 on Jan 24, 2024 2:45:34 GMT
Dillon Dube given Leave of absence from Calgary - Mental Health. Carter Hart taking leave from the Flyers for personal reasons. Both were members of the 2018 IHF WJC Canadian team plagued by the rape enabler scandal. Connecting the dots? Is something going to be released from that investigation after all this time?
That's the rumor that's swirling around: that a report is imminent and those players are hitting the road before the going gets hard, trying to stay out of the limelight. We all know Formenton appears to have been involved based on his disappearance and reluctance of every team to sign him. Many of the players on WJC either flat out said they weren't there or weren't involved in any way. Dube's statement was that he did nothing wrong and that he cooperated with the investigation... a vastly different statement. It by no means implies guilt, but it is very different than saying he wasn't part of it, just that he personally doesn't think anything he did was wrong. Other players with similar statements included Boris Katchouk, Michael Macleod, Drake Batherson, and yes, one Carter Hart.
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Post by electron58 on Jan 24, 2024 6:58:41 GMT
Lotta scouts at the game.
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Good night to take off if you don't want to get traded.
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Post by BigTed3 on Jan 24, 2024 12:42:37 GMT
^^ If those teams with multiple scouts were here for us and not Ottawa, have to figure some of the interest would be
- Dallas: Savard, Matheson, Guhle, or Xhekaj
- NJ: Allen
- Wpg: Monahan
- TB: Matheson, Savard
- Tor: Savard
- Bos: Monahan, maybe Anderson
In general, have to wonder if the fact Allen was in net encouraged some teams to be there. Several Habs reporters also think Xhekaj is being shopped and that the recall was a chance to showcase him as well. Out of the players who could be available, Evans and Armia played decent games last night. The others not so much. Players like Allen, Monahan, Savard, and Matheson will garner interest regardless of how they play in one game though, given they're known quantities. Guys like Pearson, who have had a number of serious injuries, will have to show they can still perform though, and he was a giant flop last night.
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Post by maasart on Jan 24, 2024 17:21:29 GMT
^^ If those teams with multiple scouts were here for us and not Ottawa, have to figure some of the interest would be - Dallas: Savard, Matheson, Guhle, or Xhekaj - NJ: Allen - Wpg: Monahan - TB: Matheson, Savard - Tor: Savard - Bos: Monahan, maybe Anderson In general, have to wonder if the fact Allen was in net encouraged some teams to be there. Several Habs reporters also think Xhekaj is being shopped and that the recall was a chance to showcase him as well. Out of the players who could be available, Evans and Armia played decent games last night. The others not so much. Players like Allen, Monahan, Savard, and Matheson will garner interest regardless of how they play in one game though, given they're known quantities. Guys like Pearson, who have had a number of serious injuries, will have to show they can still perform though, and he was a giant flop last night. yeah, with a lot of our guys (Monahan, Savard, Matheson, Allen, even Anderson) they probably are more interested in watching how they move (do they look like they are playing hurt, have they slowed down, how much? etc) than specifically how they are playing because they are known comodities. We have some young players, especially on defense, who they may be scouting because they dont know them well enough thought. Xhekaj, Harris - even struble or guhle if we're looking at a major trade. I would include Evans in this list too but i actually dont think the team plans on moving him even though i cant see where he fits in 2-3 years from now. |
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Post by claremont on Jan 24, 2024 18:11:43 GMT
^^ If those teams with multiple scouts were here for us and not Ottawa, have to figure some of the interest would be - Dallas: Savard, Matheson, Guhle, or Xhekaj - NJ: Allen - Wpg: Monahan - TB: Matheson, Savard - Tor: Savard - Bos: Monahan, maybe Anderson In general, have to wonder if the fact Allen was in net encouraged some teams to be there. Several Habs reporters also think Xhekaj is being shopped and that the recall was a chance to showcase him as well. Out of the players who could be available, Evans and Armia played decent games last night. The others not so much. Players like Allen, Monahan, Savard, and Matheson will garner interest regardless of how they play in one game though, given they're known quantities. Guys like Pearson, who have had a number of serious injuries, will have to show they can still perform though, and he was a giant flop last night. yeah, with a lot of our guys (Monahan, Savard, Matheson, Allen, even Anderson) they probably are more interested in watching how they move (do they look like they are playing hurt, have they slowed down, how much? etc) than specifically how they are playing because they are known comodities. We have some young players, especially on defense, who they may be scouting because they dont know them well enough thought. Xhekaj, Harris - even struble or guhle if we're looking at a major trade. I would include Evans in this list too but i actually dont think the team plans on moving him even though i cant see where he fits in 2-3 years from now. If Owen Beck stepped right in for Evans, I am not sure we would lose that much. Evans is not bad on the penalty kill but with 1 more year of term at low cost, and on 4th line, we have bigger problems than upgrading over Evans. Really hoping Lias Andersson when Monahan is trade, can give Evan some good competition. Right now our Centres for next year have no real change - Suzuki, Dach/Newhook, Dvorak, Evans. So we need something better in potential at the trade deadline, or off season move, or it is same old same old. This assumes Monahan is not re-signed. |
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Post by BigTed3 on Jan 24, 2024 19:23:53 GMT
yeah, with a lot of our guys (Monahan, Savard, Matheson, Allen, even Anderson) they probably are more interested in watching how they move (do they look like they are playing hurt, have they slowed down, how much? etc) than specifically how they are playing because they are known comodities. We have some young players, especially on defense, who they may be scouting because they dont know them well enough thought. Xhekaj, Harris - even struble or guhle if we're looking at a major trade. I would include Evans in this list too but i actually dont think the team plans on moving him even though i cant see where he fits in 2-3 years from now. If Owen Beck stepped right in for Evans, I am not sure we would lose that much. Evans is not bad on the penalty kill but with 1 more year of term at low cost, and on 4th line, we have bigger problems than upgrading over Evans. Really hoping Lias Andersson when Monahan is trade, can give Evan some good competition. Right now our Centres for next year have no real change - Suzuki, Dach/Newhook, Dvorak, Evans. So we need something better in potential at the trade deadline, or off season move, or it is same old same old. This assumes Monahan is not re-signed.
If we look at where we're going to be next year, we'll have Dach, Newhook, and Dvorak back from injury and, if you believe the rumors, we'll have Engstrom, Hutson, Reinbacher, Beck, and Mesar all making the jump to pro. They won't all be in the NHL, but there will be some new options forthcoming. The team will need to make some decisions about whether they're offering contracts to the likes of Tuch, Guindon, Kapinen, Rhett Pitlick, and Rohrer as well, though they'll be AHL-bound if they sign.
I've gone through this exercise before, but if we look at players who are potentially here next year:
Top 6 forwards (guys who should be on the top two lines): Caufield, Suzuki, Dach, and Slafkovsky Middle 6 forwards (guys who could play the 2nd line or 3rd line and provide some offence/skill but aren't good enough to be top-line players): Heineman, Ylonen, Newhook, Anderson, Roy, Andersson, Mesar
Bottom 6 forwards (guys who are not good enough to be top 6 but can still fill out the line-up or play specific roles): Dvorak, Beck, Evans, Gallagher, RHP, Simoneau, Armia, Pezzetta, Farrell
When you view the roster this way, we have plenty of guys who can play the 4th line but are in need of 2 more players for the top 6, at least 1 of who needs to have a bit of size and punch and at least one of who needs to be able to score 30-35 goals. I'm not sure the answers to those spots are to be found in the guys I have listed in the middle 6 group. Maybe Heineman ends up filling one of those roles, but past that, the rest look more like secondary scoring options for the 3rd line.
So next I'm asking myself of the guys in the middle 6 group, what's my ideal 3rd line and of the guys in the bottom 6 group, what's my ideal 4th line? For me, Beck is a better option at 4C than Evans or Dvorak. Younger, faster, cheaper, and with more potential to develop over time. I personally like RHP and Armia as 4th line players who give that line an identity as a hard-working, forechecking line that can take care of business in its own end and play sounds defence, while adding a small amount of scoring. For the 3rd, you could slot Dvorak in there as a fallback if there's really no one else, but the one guy in the organization who could provide more secondary scoring there is Andersson, which is why I think it's worth recalling him now and figuring out if that's even an option. Mesar will be in the AHL next year. Roy to me still isn't ready and I'd prefer to see him in the AHL for another year. So Andersson's wingers come down to two of Heineman, Ylonen, Anderson, Newhook, or Gallagher. My personal preference is to move on from both Gallagher and Anderson, as unlikely as that is to happen. But if I'm building my own line-up here, I'll pick the guys I want, and I'll ideally start with Heineman and Ylonen on the wings there, which gives me a line that can provide skill and shoot the puck.
On D, we have a plethora of options coming soon, with the possibility of
LHD: Matheson, Guhle, Harris, Struble, Xhekaj, Hutson, Engstrom, Trudeau
RHD: Savard, Kovacevic, Barron, Mailloux, Reinbacher
Engstrom will start in the AHL barring a big surprise. There's no room for Trudeau. If they're not traded, then Matheson, Guhle, and Struble are IMO locks to play. Harris and Xhekaj likewise would need to be on the roster somewhere, but it's harder to spot them in. On the right side, I'm just not a Barron fan. There could be room for one of Mailloux or Reinbacher, albeit I could see the Habs pairing Hutson-Reinbacher in Laval to start the year. For argument's sake, I'll come back to saying that Guhle is the best trade bait. In this case, if Matheson stays another year, it opens up the opportunity to pair him with Reinbacher and give the young player a mentor. When Hutson's ready, Matheson is traded and Hutson takes his place next to Reinbacher.
So that leaves me with a line-up skeleton of
Caufield-Dach-Slafkovsky XXX-Suzuki-XXX Heineman-Andersson-Ylonen RHP-Beck-Armia Simoneau
Matheson-Reinbacher Struble-Savard Harris-Kovacevic Xhekaj
Montembeault Primeau
and it means that we'd need to fill out the top 6 but have the potential to trade any of Allen, Guhle, Newhook, Anderson, Gallagher, Dvorak, and Evans to make that happen. As I said, Hutson eventually steps in for Matheson and Savard probably moves in the next year too, which opens up a spot for Mailloux. I still think there's room to draft and add a forward like Demidov or Lindstrom or Celebrini here OR to draft and add a D man like Levshunov, Parekh, Silayev, or Dickinson. It also means we can think about trading a Harris or Xhekaj to find another asset that helps us.
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Post by electron58 on Jan 24, 2024 20:22:16 GMT
With this scandal going on, are those teams involved going to stand pat? Be Buyers? Or be Sellers? It could hurt the Habs if they are Sellers or could help if they are Buyers. Worst-case if Sellers it could not only affect our returns but challenge us for a bottom 5 or 6 pick. Just more bad luck befalling the Habs when they really need to grab a stud at the draft.
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Post by BigTed3 on Jan 24, 2024 21:10:04 GMT
With this scandal going on, are those teams involved going to stand pat? Be Buyers? Or be Sellers? It could hurt the Habs if they are Sellers or could help if they are Buyers. Worst-case if Sellers it could not only affect our returns but challenge us for a bottom 5 or 6 pick. Just more bad luck befalling the Habs when they really need to grab a stud at the draft.
Does it change all that much? Formenton was long gone in Ottawa. The Flames were going to be sellers with or without Dube (which may or may not help us with the draft pick we acquired from Calgary; it's looking more like it won't make a difference unless Florida also stinks next year). Philly likely won't sell that much being in a playoff position but it's possible they may look at finding a new goalie, and I'll just throw out there that the Primeaus have ties to Philadelphia... and then lastly, the Devils. They've underachieved this year but again, I'm not sure losing two bottom 6 players changes your philosophy. I don't see them being big sellers because they'll want to be Cup contenders again next year with Hischier and Hughes. So if anything, I could see them doubling down and trying to find another power forward and/or still looking for the goalie they needed anyways...
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