Sheary was good 5 on 5 playing with Sid, but once Guentzel came along there was no place for Sheary on the Pens, can't kill penalties, can't score on his own, can't grind on the 4th line because he's too small, I'd much rather pay JMFJ 3 mil a year than Sheary

 

Oh, don't listen to me. I have no idea about drafts...

I'm sure we will ruin Bouchard too. It's our M.O.

I dunno if it's because they're stupid, or it's because they're incredibly desperate that they keep pushing these kids out on to the ice. They're already talking this Bouchard kid up and how great he is going to be. IMO it's already bad news. We did the same thing with Schultz and look how well that worked for Edmonton... place a ton of pressure on an 18 year old kid that hasn't ever faced that kind of pressure before. It's one thing for McJesus to face a ton of pressure... it seems he kind of grew up with it, always being the top of his class. It's another for a guy who isn't in that same boat and is now being told to fix the team. Right.

This season WILL be another train wreck for Edmonton. We aren't changing much in terms of the team.. we replaced the assistant coaches, but I don't know if that is enough. That Bouchard kid shouldn't play more than a couple pre-season games. Send him to the minors for two years. Let him develop. Probably won't happen though.

 

But... at the end of the day.. it's hockey. It's a form of entertainment. Nothing more. I don't lose sleep over hockey, or any sport for that matter. If it stops being entertaining, I move on to something else.

 

Good. I did observe that the sport is life and death up here in Canada.

Back home, it's more football and baseball. But, lately, with the stupid with football/Dennison, I dunno anymore.

 

The Oilers are super desperate right now... Chiarelli is likely worried about his job. I won't be surprised when they resort to desperate measures...

 

Fully agree Guentzel is a much better version of Sheary. You better never let him go though.

 

My news feed on my phone regarding hockey-related news keeps buzzing me regarding Loocheech trade rumors.

Seriously, that has to be nutbar. The poison-pill Edmonton would have to take to have a team take on Loocheech would be tremendous. Can Edmonton afford to bleed out more talent to unload the guy's contract? I just don't see what Sharelli can do unless Pooyeeyarvi or Tamamoto is thrown in. This is not like the Pens giving up Sheary who is actually good for peanuts.

 

Hang on. Reading the RW depth chart on Edmonton right now is pretty sad/funny. WOW. WTFBBQ.

They need to sign a good winger pronto along with that veteran puck-mover on the blueline.

 

I've been saying that contract made zero sense since the second it was announced, I doubt anyone would be dumb enough (other than Oils) to touch that contract

Unless some desperate team like Phoenix maybe, IDK

 

Well, it was raised by the Kings when they signed Kovy.

They know that the guy, while he can still score, played in an inferior League and that all scouting reports have said his skating has gone south? Were the Kings NOT watching how the Knights skated circles around them in the playoffs and how all the good teams now are blazing fast?



Oh sorry, New-Deano is never wrong.

 

The thing more annoying than LeBron watch right now is Tavares-watch. Holy. Please end.

 

True, Johnny T has never won shit and he gonna get PAID

 

He has never won shit but he is still a top 10 center top 15 at worst depending on who is doing the ranking. Of course he will get paid. The Pens have proven back to back having two top level center man can make up for a mediocre defence. Problem was this year their defence was worse than mediocre.

 

They will move him but they will be paying half that contract even without him till it expires just like the Leafs are paying Phil still.

 

I would be completely okay if Edmonton had to eat half of his salary. He needs to go. Buy him out. Whatever. He did NOTHING for the team last year besides be a paper weight on the ice.

They need a lot of things....

Ugh, I was in denial at first... mostly because my knowledge of eastern conference players is limited, at best. His first year was pretty meh. His second year was beyond abysmal. That is the worst player trade/acquisition Chiarelli has ever made... yup, much worse than trading Hall away. By the end of the day, McJesus and Hall couldn't play on the same team, or play well together... two ultra competitive alpha males looking to run the team is bound to work against the team's favor. Those two didn't gel together on the ice- it was more of a competition against one another (more so from Hall's side, anyway). Edmonton wasn't in a position to get more for him either, simply due to being absolutely desperate and other teams knowing that.

But Looch... my God.

 

Looch was also super cocky when he first arrived in Edmonton. "Let's get things done!" he'd say. In early interviews, he was nothing but confident AF and nothing but "we're gonna do something great this year"

And truth be told, that was the first time in a decade Edmonton made the playoffs... and they made a solid run while they were there.

But it had very little to do with Looch. He was bumped off McDavid's line for being way too slow. He was lackluster on the second line... only to end up on the 3rd-4th lines, last year. Wow, what a grandiose misread by Chiarelli.

 

Well, call me shocked if Edmonton finds a suitor for Loocheech.

I just don't see who would add him to the roster given how slow he is now...oh, wait...the Kings like to be slow.


Maybe New-Deano will take on Loocheech? Oh wait...they are in cap non-hell. So, they may not be able to add Milan.

 

So, the greatest d-man to only win 1 Norris so far, Drew Doty gets his $$$.

Sarcasm aside, he deserves it. $11M is alot of change but he's an elite-elite D-man. Something Edmonton has not seen since ever.


Still, if we are talking about the team that is NEVER in cap hell, I would agree. Kings aren't in cap hell at all. Why?

They have ~$54M in 2020-21 cap space tied up in:
- 38 year old Ilya Kovalchuk
- 36 year old Dustin Brown
- 36 year old Jeff Carter
- 36 year old Dion Phaneuf
- 35 year old Jonathan Quick
- 33 year old Anze Kopitar
- 33 year old Alec Martinez
- 31 year old Drew Doughty




It's geriatric hell.

 

 

Yeah, sounds like the going price. Or $10.75.

 

 

 

Doty got 11M per year!?

 

 

Toronto gets Tavares. Thank goodness this JT-watch is over.

Link: https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/...l-maple-leafs/

 

Some absolutely idiotic contracts doled out today though.



On Hawks front, they did very little by adding Kunitz, Cam Ward, and the-other-Manning-brother-not-related-to-Peyton...Dunno, probably another rebuild year.

 

Oilers inch closer to missing another year of playoffs.

 

 

 

FWIW, I think UFA rarely pans out for teams...there was a stat that showed all the "top" signings and where the teams ended up in the subsequent season and it's pretty ugly. The Oilers' FOURTH line costs less than what Reeves just signed for...yeah, Reeves. His contract is not cap-hell, it's cap-stupid.

I think the nutbar-ness today is because weed is now legal.

 

 

Tavares to the Domcha's

Dom is busy planning the parade

 

Happy with the Avs signing Ian Cole. It is a little high cost wise but still an improvement over some of the AHL caliber we have been rolling in our bottom pair for years.

 

Cole's a good signing, and I'm glad to see him get the hell away from Torts and the BJ's

 

Insanity but true. The stupidity has begun -- Leafs are now the favorites to win the Cup.

Are they on glue!?? Tavares is good, no doubt. BUT, between Komarov, JVR and Bozak the Leafs lost 54 goals, 62 assists for 116 points.
Toronto replaced THAT with 1 player in JT. And JT got you 84 points: 37 goals, 47 assists. How is that a Cup?

 

1 player is NOT 1 line.



Ask Edmonton and um, that McDavid-by-himself-concept and how that has worked so far.

 

With JT, I still have Toronto behind Bolts, Pens, and Caps. Leafs are arguably tied with Jackets and Bruins as the next tier.

 

 

The Bozak/JVR line also gave up a shitload of goals. I'm not going to predict how many points Johnny T is going to get, Babcock plans to play him with Mitch Marner so things are looking good.

The Leafs major problem still haven't solved though which is a true number 1 D man.

​​​​​

 

So, per my post, they are using the "Edmonton Formula". Cuz, it works.