97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

TacoBello

So Oilers finally made a move today. Taylor Hall is being sent to NJ, in return for Adam Laarson.

Whether it was a good trade or bad, at least they made a move for a quality [injury prone] defensemen. Oilers fans will be in rage, because their golden child was sent packing- reality is, you can't expect to get a good player without trading one. And to be honest, Hall had plenty of flaws... he would turn into a bit of a baby on the ice if things weren't going well and rather than be a team player, he would try to become a one man show on the ice. And failed most times. That, and his two-way game is atrocious.

It also made sense to get rid of him- rumor has it that Milan Lucic is signed up with the Oilers (unofficially), and him and Hall play the same position. No word on Demers yet though.

TacoBello

The other problem with Oilers fans, who will undoubtedly be furious we got rid of Hall- they expect the Oilers to trade a player like Nail Yakupov (aka biggest bum on the ice, even though he was a #1 pick) for an allstar player in return. Um, yeah... what planet does that happen on?

I'm just glad they are finally making some changes!!!

MSZ

And the Habs have just traded Subban to Nashville for Weber. WTF?!

TacoBello

What's wrong with that? They both have ridiculously high contracts. I think this move will ultimately help both teams in any regard.

Weber is old though. But getting rid of Subban from Montreal wasn't a bad move.

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

Lightning re-up Stamkos to keep him out of hockey purgatory (Toronto) and away from the Dead Wings....

MSZ

Without Montreal's media pressure, Subban will play a lot better in Nashville, Weber like you said is old and unlikely to get back to his oldself, IMO Nashville wins this trade.

TacoBello

I dunno... I think Subban is over rated. Maybe he will do better in Nashville with less pressure. Time will tell.

TacoBello

What are they paying stamkos nown?

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

I dunno... I think Subban is over rated. Maybe he will do better in Nashville with less pressure. Time will tell.

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

8.5M Per year

MSZ

And Stamkos staying in Tampa is the best thing happening to the Leafs, the Leafs don't need him, and definitely dont want him to join the Dead Things or the Sabres either, two division rivals.

black label

So Chiarelli has now traded away the #1 and #2 picks from the 2010 draft. Look for him to acquire Eric Gudbranson so he can trade him away as well to complete the trifecta.

And Subban is many things, arrogant, a diver, a douche, a cocky bastard... But hes got some mad skills and sometimes starts circling this ice with the puck like he was Bobby freakin Orr.

e30cabrio

iTrader: (6)

Not sure why but Bobby freaking Orr makes me think Bucky freaking Dent.

lol

Yumcha

Wow...of all days to be tied up in all-day meetings.

Yumcha

So, Seth Jones...who I believe to have a higher ceiling and already plays better than Larsson...was traded for Ryan Johansen...

Larsson...who isn't the greatest skater BUT, has the potential to be a decent blueliner is now going to a place where he is NOT going to be protected and given Top 2 minutes, likely. And the cost was Hall...who is arguably one of the better LW players in the NHL. There is no denying his offensive talent since he had 132G and 196A in 381 games. Those are not numbers to sneeze at. Is he better than Ryan Jo? I would say yes...I mean, Hall doesn't exactly have the greatest attitude and is great defensively but if you take the Jones/Johansen swap, you can kinda go WTF at the price Shirellatini paid to get a relatively unproven d-man. Why not Fowler or Shattenkirk who are both available...?

Anyways, time will tell but from my assessment, Oilers got fleeced...then again, Shirellioni had to overpay since no one wants to come to Edmonton and into that toxic organization. And honestly, every GM knows the Oilers are dealing from a major position of weakness.

Yumcha

Subban for Weber...WOW. Well, it's an epic trade where going to Carrie Underwood-ville goes a YOUNGER player who will no join a very talented blueline that still has Roman You-see, Matty Eklund-home, and Ryan Ellis. So, being paired with some really good d-men may help his game a bit. He's no longer asked to do everything versus in Montreal...I think this will be a good trade for the Preds.

As for Montreal...they get one of the best d-men in the League...albeit, he's in his 30s...so, maybe another 3-4 years before he starts to breakdown?

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

Many would argue that Nashville made out like a bandit in that trade, but I really think the Habs needed that veteran D-line presence. I think this trade will work out well for both sides.

TacoBello

I think what you, and most others are forgetting- Chiarelli TRIED making deals like crazy. He said so yesterday at the press conference. He TRIED making trades on draft day. No one was biting. He TRIED getting a number of other D-men. No one was biting. He ended up making the only move he could. This is anything but his fault. Like you said, no one wants to come here. The fans are brutal. If Larsson looks the wrong direction, he will get shredded by the fans.

Chiarelli didn't just say "hey guys, give me the worst crap you have, and we will give you the best we have!" There is no way a top LW is worth as much as a top D-man. Let's not forget the salary cap- it plays a major role here too. Oilers saved 2M in this trade, which allows them to fill other holes in the lineup.

So people criticize Oilers management for not doing anything in the past. Fair enough. Now Oilers management does something, and people want to burn them at the stake? C'mon. People were also wondering why the Oilers didn't pack up someone below Hall, with the 4th overall draft pick to get Larsson... yes, because that makes sense. Larsson was a 4th pick overall and NJ spent a few years developing him to where he is now. Better dump him and start the process all over.

Montreal wanted Draisaitl, the 4th overall pick, plus someone else on top of that for PK Subban. Clearly there is a major inflation for a top D-man. That trade would've been even worse than the one the Oilers made.

CCColtsicehockey

Will be interesting to see how today turns out after how crazy yesterday was.

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

Yumcha

Yeah...I was assessing this on the players going both ways. It just seemed like a huge overpay by Edmonton but I also understand YOUNG and right-handed d-men are super rare. I also get that saving salary is critical with McJesus going to command a heap after his entry-level contract is over and we know Shattenkirk or Dumba would not have been ideal since Larsson's cap hit is going to be a bargain in a couple of years.

TacoBello

Just saw this on Sportsnet:

“But let's step back and look at it from the Oilers' perspective. They desperately needed help on the blue line. We all know that. We've all been screaming about it for years, all while ripping the organization for failing to get a deal done. All they did was give us exactly what we'd been asking for.

Think of it this way: The Oilers were like a guy who needs new brakes for his car but insists on paying fair value and not a penny more. That's a nice stand to take when you first start shopping around. But if it's three years later and you're still hopping curbs and hitting trees every few days, at some point you need to just meet the asking price and get the job done. Yesterday, the Oilers finally reached that point.”

TacoBello

By the way.. I can't help but think of Justnspace with that analogy

black label

You keep telling yourself that. "This will be a bargain in a few years" is the calling card of a bad contract.

The NHL cap will hover around its current level until the CBA expires. The league isn't growing as the count foretold. The real reason the cap has increased is that in 9 out of 10 years it was available,t he NHLPA voted for the 5% escalator increasing their escrow payments as a gamble that maybe, just maybe the league will make more money and they'll actually be paid 100% of they're contracted pay, but that never happens.

Ponzi schemes only grow for so long then they always topple over. Players can only have 50% of league revenues (I remembered incorrectly before when I said 53%, don't tell fibby), yet year after year after year their salaries total up to more than 50% of league revenues so they don't actually get the money and their escrow payments go up. Now you can say that's fine, so the player gets 5.75 mil instead of 6 mil, that's still good money for playing hockey but that's only looking at the surface.

The cap is based on revenues, the teams pay their players based on the cap. You take every players contract and add them up, if that number is more than half the league revenue, the players don't get paid in full. This happens every year yet the cap increases anyway because the player vote for it to happen. The problem is you cant just vote for money to appear, someone has to figure out how to make it actually happen.

They've created a functioning business plan based on sustainable growth but they can't actually sustain the growth so they vote that it should happen next year.

Yumcha

So, Shirellitini has traded Taylor and Tyler now. Pretty impressive!

Yumcha

Edmonton's Defensive Savior is just over $4M per year...IF...IF...he turns out to be the top pairing d-man that Edmonton has stupidly ignored since the 2nd Amendment was written, THEN, at $4M+ per year, he's a bargain. I still stand by that despite your explanation, dude.

black label

4 million for a top 3 defenseman is a good deal now. You're "bargain in a couple of years" phrasing is usually reserved for 8 million a year and up contracts.

TacoBello

With 31 teams coming in to the mix soon enough, Edmonton can't wait to hit 31st place!

black label

The good news is your first pick will still be #1 overall. The bad news is your second pick is now number 32 instead of 31 which is a bit of a moot point as the oil don't have success past the 2nd overall pick

Yumcha

Oilers have no idea what a 2nd draft pick and further looks like...they just randomly pick names at that point. It's all about #1 overall.

Yumcha

Yeah, no...$8M is $$$ now and it will be $$$ later. I'm referring to Larsson's current deal which is $4Mish which, if he becomes that anchor (I have my reservations here) that Edmonton seeks...well, it's a "steal". We'll see. For Shirelligatoni, his reputation in the city will rest on this trade...from what I've read, it's been universally panned by Edmontonians.

Then again, not sure what the majority of Oilers fans want. Can't have cake and eat it too. They should try being a Hawks fan and watching many top-tier talent go for zip (Saad, Sharp, Laad, Byfuglien, Teuvo, and etc. etc.).

black label

Truer than you realize. That "point" is actually the point of the dart they throw at the draft board.

Yumcha

That team's inability to draft ANYONE past the 1st round is beyond staggering. No wonder the NHL keeps gifting them #1 overall picks.




Lips Brown of the Kings mad. Yup...he mad about no C: 'I can't say I agree with it,' Brown says of losing Kings' captaincy | theScore.com

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

So, BL, just to clarify, the cap went up, no?

black label

The cap did go up, based on revenues it would have gone down. The players voted to use the 5% escalator so the cap did go up by 1.6 million. It was 71.4 mil now it's 73 million.

The problem is, 5% of 71.4 million is 3.57 million. A 5% escalation of last years cap should really be 74.97 million. Had the players not voted for the escalator, the cap would have been about 69.43.

Its confusing because the 5% is of last years cap yet the number it gets added to is last years adjusted cap based on actual revenue. The cap was 71.4, the 5% is 3.57 and the adjusted cap based on revenues was 69.43. So we take the adjusted cap of 69.43 add our fake 5% pay raise, 3.57 million from our fake cap and you get next years cap of 73 million.

Not sustainable without increasing revenue.

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

So it went up like I said it would, k

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

Apparently the rate for a mediocre middle of the road forward is 6 Million avg per year

Yumcha

Loocheechandchong signs with Edmonton for max term. Wow...that's 2-3 years too many...but, worry later, I guess!