2015/2016 Official NHL thread
- Thread starter smuler
- Start date
- Status
ound: 
Marc-Andre Fleury is another player that will very likely get traded during the offseason. Toronto is rumoured to be one of the teams that might be interested in him. Not sure what to think about this. I'd love to have him on my team, but i'm not sure he's worth the money they'd be paying him.
N
november
I think that if the Leafs get Fleury it would be a great pick up. During the regular season he's pretty consistent, gets over thirty wins a year. And the salary is not a problem for the Leafs right now. Always upgrade your team when you have a chance, it will not cost them much in compensation to get him. Need to start winning now and change the culture.
No overated PK Subban at the upcoming World Cup! Not surprising! No Letang either. But Jake Muzzin? Who the fuck is Jake Muzzin?
Shockingly, Phil Kessel not named to Team USA. Team North America also chose Auston Matthews over Alex Galchenyuk. Boo-hoo-hoo!
Shockingly, Phil Kessel not named to Team USA. Team North America also chose Auston Matthews over Alex Galchenyuk. Boo-hoo-hoo!
I had a strange dream last night. Maybe it was a premonition type of dream, who knows. It was occurring around the time of the draft, and i could see headlines showing the Leafs had drafted Auston Matthews with the #1 overall pick and i was telling people that i knew all along they would. And then there was also a headline showing that Alex Galchenyuk had been traded to Tampa Bay for Jonathan Drouin. I believe there was also a headline about Subban being traded and me telling everyone around "i told you so", but i'm not positive anymore if i dreamed this or not.
Love the first two dreams Doc! But i prefer Subban to stay in Mtl and keep living up to his name as the human turnover machine. The Galchenyuk dream trade makes them even worse than they already are. Lets hope that dream comes true!
The main problem with Subban isn't the fact he's by far the league's giveway king year after year. It's the fact he's a huge distraction around the team and that half the team would prefer he play elsewhere. He's also uncoachable and any coach the habs would have would have a big problem with Subban since he believes he's bigger than the team. A trade to Edmonton may be just the tonic he needed to come back to Earth. And reality.
I have been suggesting a Suban to Edmonton trade forever, i think even before the media jumped on it and it would be a good trade for both, and that is even before we know what Mtl would be getting back because as you stated he is a huge distraction and not to mention that contract will cripple them in the last couple years when his production likely declines. Here is to hoping Mtl keeps him!
What it comes down to is he will help Edmonton more than he is/will help Mtl because he will get a reality check being traded from a city like Montreal to a city like Edmonton and maybe he will decide to concentrate on hockey and his team instead of his 'celebrity'........I am sure if he had his way, he would be a perfect fit in NYC or LA. Maybe Smuler and E. Beaver would like him on the Rangers?
Nice tweet earlier Doc, now go get that bike!
What it comes down to is he will help Edmonton more than he is/will help Mtl because he will get a reality check being traded from a city like Montreal to a city like Edmonton and maybe he will decide to concentrate on hockey and his team instead of his 'celebrity'........I am sure if he had his way, he would be a perfect fit in NYC or LA. Maybe Smuler and E. Beaver would like him on the Rangers?
Nice tweet earlier Doc, now go get that bike!
Jonathan Drouin had a good playoffs for TB and they might not be interested in trading him. Sometimes it's better to hang on to your younger cheaper players especially just as they are about to develop and then use them as long and as cheaply as you can before they cost too much. And that's what TB might have to do.
In hockey building depth on a roster seems to be getting really important. A lot of teams have tried to construct teams that are top heavy and they get young and cheap talent for the 3rd and 4th lines and backup defenseman and goalies and then a few guys get injured and everything goes to shit. In this salary cap era that we have some teams are trying to get away with paying for cheap depth and they are getting burned when a few injuries happen. We see this in other sports too- Dallas Cowboys last year had no backup QB and they couldn't win once Romo got injured and it was predictable he would get hurt. So they paid the price and they deserved to do so because they decided not to spend any money on the backup QB. It's called gambling with a team's fortunes and they lost the bet.
In hockey building depth on a roster seems to be getting really important. A lot of teams have tried to construct teams that are top heavy and they get young and cheap talent for the 3rd and 4th lines and backup defenseman and goalies and then a few guys get injured and everything goes to shit. In this salary cap era that we have some teams are trying to get away with paying for cheap depth and they are getting burned when a few injuries happen. We see this in other sports too- Dallas Cowboys last year had no backup QB and they couldn't win once Romo got injured and it was predictable he would get hurt. So they paid the price and they deserved to do so because they decided not to spend any money on the backup QB. It's called gambling with a team's fortunes and they lost the bet.
I agree. But a month or so ago, the assistant GM hinted that Drouin may not be back with the team next season. If this is true, i'm speculating that management has made up its mind that they don't want to commit to a player they might deem as being a problem and if he's that much of a problem so early in his young career, then it'll only get worse in the future once he has leverage.
But the asking price will be big. They will not give him away.
Another problem Tampa has is what to do with its goaltending situation. They've shown that they're unable to win without Ben Bishop, who seems to have a knack of getting injured every year before or during the playoffs. Is he injury prone? That is a big question which they'll have to contemplate within the next few months. The reason i mention this is that he only has 1 year left to go on his contract until he become an unrestricted free agent and if they do decide to re-sign him, then his asking price will be high since he fully knows how important he is to the team's success.
Another reason why they may not re-sign him is because it's highly speculated that Las Vegas will enter the league possibly as soon as next season and teams will only be allowed to protect one goaltender. Tampa has a very capable backup goalie in Andrei Vasilevskiy and if the GM is smart (and he is) they'd rather get something in return for one of their top two goalies instead of losing one of them straight out. If i'm the GM of an expansion franchise, i may not hesitate to jump at the chance to pick Vasilevskiy as one of my two goalies. It's unanimous around the league that he has huge potential.
I would wait until we see if Stamkos is re signed by Steve Why before we go proclaiming him a Smart GM. If Stammer signs with another team this offseason then Steve Why is not a "smart" gm since he could have got a huge return for Stammer had he traded him at the deadline before his injury and not let him walk for nothing.
For some reason i have a feeling Stamkos will re sign with Tampa now, but i hope i am wrong. They do have a lot of others to sign this and next offseason so something will have to give somewhere.
For some reason i have a feeling Stamkos will re sign with Tampa now, but i hope i am wrong. They do have a lot of others to sign this and next offseason so something will have to give somewhere.
There's no way he could have got a HUGE RETURN since he was on an expiring contract and everyone at the time was suspecting he was either heading to Toronto next season or returning to Tampa.
That's the main reason why the Leafs wound up stuck with P.A Parenteau at the deadline. The asking price was considered too high and everyone in the league knew he was likely to be re-signed by Toronto during the offseason.
I can't see him re-signing with Tampa. The Bolts won't have the money to re-sign him considering they'll have a bunch of key players to re-sign in the future (Hedman, Kucherov, Johnson, Bishop) and he had already rejected their top and final offer. His long absence also showed the Bolts that they can win without him. And he and coach John Cooper have never been on the same page and it's not likely to change anytime in the future. There is also risk involved in re-signing him to a big, long-term contract. His blood clot problems may return unfortunately and he may eventually wind up retiring like Pascal Dupuis, although his clot problem wasn't the same type as Dupuis'.
The reason they didn't trade him was because not as many suitors as they hoped came calling and most felt they were asking way too much for him at the time. Tampa also didn't mind hanging on to him since they felt it would improve their chances of returning to the Stanley Cup final. It was no different as any other team, such as the Boston Bruins in their situation with Louie Erickson, trading for a rent-a-player for the rest of the season. Yzerman and Brisebois felt hanging on to him for the upcoming playoff run was better than literally giving him away at a bargain-basement price.
I still believe he'll be heading to Toronto next season, but it wouldn't bother me if he signed somewhere else. Another rumoured destination is Detroit, but they can't do anything unless they get rid of Pavel Datsyuk's contract. And that'll cost them quite a bit.
A "huge return" at the trade deadline is a first round pick, and a prospect OR maybe another 2nd or third round pick, they would for sure have gotten that for Stammer. They could likely trade his "rights" now so a team has extra time to try to sign him before July 1 for a third rounder, that's how valuable teams look at him. Just wait, if he goes to July 1, many many teams will line up to sign him. He would be the perfect guy to show the young Leafs the work ethic and leadership that made him the superstar and respected player that he is. However with that said, i feel he will re sign in Tampa.
I late first-round pick at best. They tried to get a top half first-rounder, but no one wanted him at that price knowing fully well he'd be a rental player. Tampa still had hopes of re-signing him, so trading him away likely would have put an end to those hopes. So they did what Boston did and kept him as a likely rental player with the small hope of re-signing him.
I'm now 200% certain he won't re-sign in Tampa, and it's not because he doesn't want to stay and play under John Cooper, which is another reason. The main reason is that they now know they can win without him and they have an urgent need to re-sign the likes of Tyler Johnson, Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov and Ben Bishop before it's too late. All of those players will be getting huge raises if they ever do re-sign with Tampa. There won't be any money left for Stamkos and another reason is that Tampa never reaches the ceiling of the team's salary cap since they don't have the fan base other teams such as Toronto, New York and Montreal have.
Here are the doc's odds of where Stamkos will sign:
Toronto: 60%
Detroit: 20%
Montreal: 10%
Elsewhere: 8%
Tampa 2%
p.s. The odds would be higher for the Leafs if he didn't have that blood clotting problem which makes him a risk to fullfill his contract & compromises his future.
I say Stamkos stays in TB for following reasons:
- TB very close to being a Cup winner, possible multiple Cup winner, with a strong young nucleus
- it's the only organization he has ever known, has grown up with them and he's ready mentally to grant that hometown discount
- much better weather than anywhere else
- no income taxes in Florida; heavy income taxes in Canada scare free agents;
- sly GM Steve Yzerman will arrange a lunch with Lightning Founding Father Phil Esposito, and Espo will tell Stamkos he can only bleed one color, which is the flash of lightning.
I would go so far as to say a re-sign is a done deal.
- TB very close to being a Cup winner, possible multiple Cup winner, with a strong young nucleus
- it's the only organization he has ever known, has grown up with them and he's ready mentally to grant that hometown discount
- much better weather than anywhere else
- no income taxes in Florida; heavy income taxes in Canada scare free agents;
- sly GM Steve Yzerman will arrange a lunch with Lightning Founding Father Phil Esposito, and Espo will tell Stamkos he can only bleed one color, which is the flash of lightning.
I would go so far as to say a re-sign is a done deal.
All very valid reasons. Let me examine each of the points you made with my own response:
1) Indeed, TB is close to being a Cup winner. But for this to happen, they'll need all of their current nucleus. If Stamkos re-signs with them, this means they'll have to say goodbye to several players among this current nucleus, players such as Hedman, Kucherov, Johnson and Bishop. They won't be able to re-sign all of those players if Stamkos re-signs. And Hedman, Bishop and possibly Kucherov are as important to the team's success as Stamkos is. Plus Stamkos is now a financial risk considering his blood clotting problems may come back to haunt him and whomever team signs him. Big risk.
2) Indeed, it's the only organization he's ever known. But some of his family members have been telling a friend of mine living in Toronto over the past 3 years that Stamkos' wish from the moment he entered the NHL was to one day play for his hometown team, a team he idolized as a child: the Toronto Maple Leafs. His window of opportunity will never be as great as it is now to fullfill his lifelong dream. There is no way he will now accept a so-called 'hometown' discount after rejecting an 8 year/$68 million final offer from the team a few months ago. Plus the fact 'hometown' discounts simply do not exist in today's NHL. The NHLPA would never allow one of its members to do so (and has warned players and their agents behind closed doors about this) since it would keep player salaries down instead of rising. Stamkos also has a problem with coach John Cooper, who was given an extension at the end of last season and isn't going anywhere.
3) Much better weather than anywhere else. Really? Much better than Arizona or California? Maybe Stamkos doesn't care that much about the weather. Maybe he'd rather play in a major hockey market and Toronto is the #1 hockey market on the planet. He'll also get to visit Florida, Arizona and California during the NHL season. Plus he's single and nothing is holding him back from leaving Tampa. Maybe he'd prefer spending an entire year living among his family and friends, although he did buy his parents a condo in Tampa a year or so ago.
4) True, there is no state income tax to pay in Florida. But there are other ways to escape higher taxes in Canada when you're an athlete or a celebrity. It's too long to explain. And he certainly could recoup that amount from the large number of endorsements he'd get playing in Toronto. And who knows, maybe money isn't that important to him as it is to most of us. The fact he refused $68 million from Tampa (average salary of $8.5 million) flat out possibly proves this.
5) Stamkos has likely already met Esposito since Trader Phil works on the team's radio broadcasts. Esposito would be a hypocrite to tell him he can bleed only one color since Esposito has bled many colors throughout his playing and executive career.
I say there isn't a chance in hell Stamkos re-signs with Tampa. It no longer makes sense for the team, and he's had his mind set on Toronto ever since he entered the league. The only reason he won't sign with the Leafs will be because the timing wouldn't be right at this time for them to sign him. Plus the risks involved. But i say that Toronto is the current odds-on-favorite to land Stamkos.
1) Indeed, TB is close to being a Cup winner. But for this to happen, they'll need all of their current nucleus. If Stamkos re-signs with them, this means they'll have to say goodbye to several players among this current nucleus, players such as Hedman, Kucherov, Johnson and Bishop. They won't be able to re-sign all of those players if Stamkos re-signs. And Hedman, Bishop and possibly Kucherov are as important to the team's success as Stamkos is. Plus Stamkos is now a financial risk considering his blood clotting problems may come back to haunt him and whomever team signs him. Big risk.
2) Indeed, it's the only organization he's ever known. But some of his family members have been telling a friend of mine living in Toronto over the past 3 years that Stamkos' wish from the moment he entered the NHL was to one day play for his hometown team, a team he idolized as a child: the Toronto Maple Leafs. His window of opportunity will never be as great as it is now to fullfill his lifelong dream. There is no way he will now accept a so-called 'hometown' discount after rejecting an 8 year/$68 million final offer from the team a few months ago. Plus the fact 'hometown' discounts simply do not exist in today's NHL. The NHLPA would never allow one of its members to do so (and has warned players and their agents behind closed doors about this) since it would keep player salaries down instead of rising. Stamkos also has a problem with coach John Cooper, who was given an extension at the end of last season and isn't going anywhere.
3) Much better weather than anywhere else. Really? Much better than Arizona or California? Maybe Stamkos doesn't care that much about the weather. Maybe he'd rather play in a major hockey market and Toronto is the #1 hockey market on the planet. He'll also get to visit Florida, Arizona and California during the NHL season. Plus he's single and nothing is holding him back from leaving Tampa. Maybe he'd prefer spending an entire year living among his family and friends, although he did buy his parents a condo in Tampa a year or so ago.
4) True, there is no state income tax to pay in Florida. But there are other ways to escape higher taxes in Canada when you're an athlete or a celebrity. It's too long to explain. And he certainly could recoup that amount from the large number of endorsements he'd get playing in Toronto. And who knows, maybe money isn't that important to him as it is to most of us. The fact he refused $68 million from Tampa (average salary of $8.5 million) flat out possibly proves this.
5) Stamkos has likely already met Esposito since Trader Phil works on the team's radio broadcasts. Esposito would be a hypocrite to tell him he can bleed only one color since Esposito has bled many colors throughout his playing and executive career.
I say there isn't a chance in hell Stamkos re-signs with Tampa. It no longer makes sense for the team, and he's had his mind set on Toronto ever since he entered the league. The only reason he won't sign with the Leafs will be because the timing wouldn't be right at this time for them to sign him. Plus the risks involved. But i say that Toronto is the current odds-on-favorite to land Stamkos.
In his book Esposito made it very clear the only team he has had anything to do with since 1990 is the Lightning and he is a Bolt for life. He has also refused some requests from the Bruins and Rangers because of his relationship with the Lightning. In his book Espo claims the Lightning as his own team which he founded and he views it as a grandchild. There is no way Espo will willingly allow Stamkos to bleed any color other than that of Lightning Bolts. He makes many dramatic ownership references about the Bolts in his book and has a proprietary interest in the team emotionally as well as financially. All of this was information I gained from reading Espo's book.
I hope you are right Doc and Stammer comes "home"...........he would be the perfect mentor to Nylander, Marner and the soon to be Maple Leaf, Auston Matthews. Oh yea, he is a pretty good player as well lol. Injury possibilities are a risk for every single player in the league so that should not be a concern and teams will be lining up to sign SS on July 1 with HUGE offers if he makes it to free agency. If the blood clot issue ever does come back, doesn't his cap hit come off the books while injured? Just having a guy like that around the dressing room is reason enough to sign him what with his work ethic and being a good "pro" which Shanny/Babs/Lou Lam/Hunter covet in one of their players.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
