Ongoing NHL thread - Part deux

[Comeds]

Ah the NHL California Classic! Bettman's idea where a game was played with beach balls.

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

And I need to keep in mind the changing spectrum of cap hits with goalies. He's now 13th highest paid. That's really...pretty much right on.

This was exactly how I saw it. I initially said "too high" then looked at the comparable cap hits. And shrugged really and said "OK, maybe that's about right."

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

This was exactly how I saw it. I initially said "too high" then looked at the comparable cap hits. And shrugged really and said "OK, maybe that's about right."

It's kinda like the Leafs with Phaneuf or Clarkson - yeah, somebody was going to give him the money, but did it have to be us?

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

It's kinda like the Leafs with Phaneuf or Clarkson - yeah, somebody was going to give him the money, but did it have to be us?

Clarkson was too high. Period. I honestly don't think anyone else would have given him THAT kind of money/term.

Without getting into a debate on salaries as a whole being too high, Fleury's abilities and statistics are more-or-less deserving of a middle of the road salary. This new deal wouldn't even put him in the top 10 cap hits and he'll go down some after everything re-shuffles with new deals.

 

[KennyBanyeah]

Pittsburgh forecast - Chance of fleurys today and for the next four years.

Fleury 4 year deal is $5.75 million in each year; includes no-move clause and limited no-trade.

I'm not thrilled with the money in the MAF deal, but...what options exist? Seriously...there aren't many. Basically they need to roll with MAF until one of the young up and coming guys is ready. Which is probably 2 years.

The money is probably a bit high (I actually think it's way too high but that's just me), but not outrageous given the state of the salary cap.

What I wouldn't like as a Pens fan is that this is just WAY too "status quo" for me. The Pens are right in the middle of their window yet they've been falling well short of their own expectations for several years; a lot of that resulted from poor play by Fleury. I'd just want to go another direction instead of sticking with Fleury, no matter what kind of deal you could sign him to.

 

[forty_three]

I don't think it's entirely fair to call him out on not stopping a free breakaway, where the shot appeared to go high, during which he was trying to poke check.

I mean, the other two are awful, I just don't see that as a beach ball situation.

I disagree he was trying a poke check there. He was flailing. Either that or he thought "poke check" when the guy was crossing the blue line into the zone.


Considering what it would cost on the open market to upgrade over him, the contract is a bargain.

But that NMC/NTC might hurt them once Zatkoff is ready.

 

[forty_three]

Columbus Blue Jackets - Jack Johnson suspended by NHL Player Safety - Columbus Blue Jackets - News

Three for Johnson.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Clarkson was too high. Period. I honestly don't think anyone else would have given him THAT kind of money/term.

Without getting into a debate on salaries as a whole being too high, Fleury's abilities and statistics are more-or-less deserving of a middle of the road salary. This new deal wouldn't even put him in the top 10 cap hits and he'll go down some after everything re-shuffles with new deals.

It was pretty well reported that Clarkson left money on the table to join the Leafs. Sure, maybe it was just from Edmonton, but given that Bolland is now making as much as Clarkson I don't think it's far fetched to believe there were teams dumber than Toronto that simply were lucky he chose differently.

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

It was pretty well reported that Clarkson left money on the table to join the Leafs. Sure, maybe it was just from Edmonton, but given that Bolland is now making as much as Clarkson I don't think it's far fetched to believe there were teams dumber than Toronto that simply were lucky he chose differently.

I didn't think anyone else was offering the 7 year term. Could be wrong though.

 

[Cobiemonster]

Um, wat?

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

I didn't think anyone else was offering the 7 year term. Could be wrong though.

That's possible. I know the money was there though because every asshat on the radio made a big deal of how "Toronto was once again a destination for big ticket FA's.".

 

[Cobiemonster]

 

[pixburgher66]

...Briere was offsides on this too. Pshhhh

 

[Canuck eh?]

It was pretty well reported that Clarkson left money on the table to join the Leafs. Sure, maybe it was just from Edmonton, but given that Bolland is now making as much as Clarkson I don't think it's far fetched to believe there were teams dumber than Toronto that simply were lucky he chose differently.

I'll have to disagree Danny.

 

[pixburgher66]

The money is probably a bit high (I actually think it's way too high but that's just me), but not outrageous given the state of the salary cap.

What I wouldn't like as a Pens fan is that this is just WAY too "status quo" for me. The Pens are right in the middle of their window yet they've been falling well short of their own expectations for several years; a lot of that resulted from poor play by Fleury. I'd just want to go another direction instead of sticking with Fleury, no matter what kind of deal you could sign him to.

I understand, but outside of a trade, the options were very limited. And even in a trade scenario, who do they pick up? Sincerely intrigued. If you were the GM, what direction would you go? I'm trying to think of one that isn't riskier than having MAF in net.

Guys that have started more than 5 games this year (37 of them)
Ramo, Neuvirth, Svedberg, Chad Johnson, Lehner, Reimer, Craig Anderson, Emery, Mason, Ward, Halak, Crawford, Enroth, Bernier, Bobrovsky, Elliott, Fredrik Andersen, Mike Smith, Holtby, Luongo, Lundqvist, Hiller, Niemi, Kuemper, Varlamov, Lehtonen, Scrivens, Howard, Rask, Rinne, Bishop, Miller, Quick, Price, Pavelec, Schneider. There's a few other names that are back-ups, etc, etc. My point being, on that list, who is both likely to be traded AND better than MAF? And I'm pretty sure that if they didn't sign him, he'd get the same deal elsewhere...and the Pens would be stuck waiting for someone else to take over, which is just risky. Not thrilled with the situation, but no easy choice.

 

[Harry Crack]

The money is probably a bit high (I actually think it's way too high but that's just me), but not outrageous given the state of the salary cap.

What I wouldn't like as a Pens fan is that this is just WAY too "status quo" for me. The Pens are right in the middle of their window yet they've been falling well short of their own expectations for several years; a lot of that resulted from poor play by Fleury. I'd just want to go another direction instead of sticking with Fleury, no matter what kind of deal you could sign him to.

I agree . The Pens do not have a Chicago quality defense that could and can cover for the decent but not top 5 goal tending . I fear they will look back in 5 years and say why the hell did we never address what everyone knew was the weak link ?

 

[Cobiemonster]

Report: Patrick Sharp will miss four weeks | ProHockeyTalk

 

[KennyBanyeah]

I understand, but outside of a trade, the options were very limited. And even in a trade scenario, who do they pick up? Sincerely intrigued. If you were the GM, what direction would you go? I'm trying to think of one that isn't riskier than having MAF in net.

Guys that have started more than 5 games this year (37 of them)
Ramo, Neuvirth, Svedberg, Chad Johnson, Lehner, Reimer, Craig Anderson, Emery, Mason, Ward, Halak, Crawford, Enroth, Bernier, Bobrovsky, Elliott, Fredrik Andersen, Mike Smith, Holtby, Luongo, Lundqvist, Hiller, Niemi, Kuemper, Varlamov, Lehtonen, Scrivens, Howard, Rask, Rinne, Bishop, Miller, Quick, Price, Pavelec, Schneider. There's a few other names that are back-ups, etc, etc. My point being, on that list, who is both likely to be traded AND better than MAF? And I'm pretty sure that if they didn't sign him, he'd get the same deal elsewhere...and the Pens would be stuck waiting for someone else to take over, which is just risky. Not thrilled with the situation, but no easy choice.

I'd look at teams that have solid duos. My Senators for example. Craig Anderson is a better goalie than Fleury if you ask me. If I'm GM of the Pens I convince Bryan Murray that Robin Lehner (obvious to most people anyway) is the future stud in Ottawa. Make a good offer for him (Malkin for example j/k) with a good NHL ready D prospect, and go from there.

I know that would probably never happen but the Pens' GM needs to get creative. Rutherford needs to do SOMETHING different. That might even mean just trusting a prospect. At least for one year.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

I'd look at teams that have solid duos. My Senators for example. Craig Anderson is a better goalie than Fleury if you ask me. If I'm GM of the Pens I convince Bryan Murray that Robin Lehner (obvious to most people anyway) is the future stud in Ottawa. Make a good offer for him (Malkin for example j/k) with a good NHL ready D prospect, and go from there.

I know that would probably never happen but the Pens' GM needs to get creative. Rutherford needs to do SOMETHING different. That might even mean just trusting a prospect. At least for one year.

It's the same conundrum for Pittsburgh, though: they put their faith in an unproven goalie for a year and if it blows up in their faces they've just wasted a year of Crosby/Malkin.

It's a tough spot. They don't have the assets to give up to acquire a sure-fire goalie, and they don't have the time to wait for one to develop. They know they could very well wake up one day with Crosby asking for a trade because he's sick of the shitty job the team has done in building a contender. This was always the safe route.

Having said that, I'm with you in that I don't rate Fleury very highly at all and I can't see him outduelling a Hank Rask or Price in a playoff series.

 

[dash]

You wonder if the Oilers had any discussion with the Penguins regarding Fleury this past off-season. I mean, if there's one thing Fleury does quite well, it's providing strong goaltending during the regular season (and something the Oilers really need). I guess it would have been too bold for MacT to dangle Yakupov for Fleury.