972 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

It’s quite a commute from Tallahassee to Miami, mind you.

[AllseeingEye]

luongo met his wife when her family (that owns the restaurant where he met her) didn’t really know who he was other than he was a pro hockey player just traded to florida. anonymity for sure in some cities.

Definitely; Vinnie Lecavalier made it crystal clear when he played for T-Bay he did so primarily because there was no way he was prepared to endure the 'boat anchor on his back' of being the next French Canadian hockey "saviour" in Montreal. Can you imagine a Rocket Richard or Jean Beliveau shunning that limelight? Not a chance. In his draft year his agent expressly told Montreal not to attempt to swing a deal in order to draft him.

 

Nevertheless it is known that at least twice during his career the Habs tried to woo Lecavalier and both times he told them to pound sand.

 

According to a friend of mine who used to be an agent many French Canadian kids refuse to be drafted by Montreal for that very reason; they aren't interested in being put on a pedestal. Leaving the rink after a game - especially a bad game - in flip flops and shades and heading to a beach is infinitely preferable to being grilled incessantly by media and fans from the dressing room to the parking lot to the restaurant to the bar.

 

Way back in the day - different story; you know a Richard or Beliveau would (and did) thrive under those conditions and expectations. Today, different players and a different generation. Sure winning is nice.....but clearly $ and anonymity for a lot of Canuck hockey players is an equal consideration. Burke mentioned the other day on Sportsnet that many, many players in his experience during the years he had to negotiate with them and their agents, have express "no trade to Canadian teams" clauses in their contracts.

 

Look at Ottawa; its been a revolving door since the days of Alexi Yashin; they can't retain and re-sign their free agents because the bottom line is they don't want to stay there: Ottawa or Southern California for crying out loud? Not a very hard choice if you're that young and single and wealthy NHL player. See ya Bytown, lol.....

[RFS]

Winter tends not to eviscerate entire neighbourhoods in the span of two minutes and usually doesn’t include evacuation orders.

Florida has the highest average home insurance rates literally on the continent (the entirety of the Gulf Coast leads the pack). Unless all the risk is in fading roof tiles, of course.

If you're a millionaire pro athlete you just rent a penthouse or something

[jonny]

Ottawa has had no problem resigning big name players. What are you talking about, ASE?

Alfredsson, Karlsson, Ryan, Spezza, Hossa, Chara all had long term deals there. Ottawa's problem is a terrible, cheapskate, dickhead owner and an arena in the middle of nowhere.

Lecavalier knew he was overrated and knew he couldn't handle Montreal. Ask PK, Pacioretty or Koivu what they thought of playing for Les Habitants.

[AllseeingEye]

Ottawa has had no problem resigning big name players. What are you talking about, ASE?

Alfredsson, Karlsson, Ryan, Spezza, Hossa, Chara all had long term deals there. Ottawa's problem is a terrible, cheapskate, dickhead owner and an arena in the middle of nowhere.

Lecavalier knew he was overrated and knew he couldn't handle Montreal. Ask PK, Pacioretty or Koivu what they thought of playing for Les Habitants.

Agree about the owner situation - unarguably Melnyk is the biggest issue with the team in addition to the arena, both of which are well documented. No mystery or surprises there.

 

Karlsson? Couldn't wait to get out of Ottawa, and that is well known by NHL insiders. He was not going to re-sign with them, period. Not to mention both Dreger and McKenzie said as much on TSN. Rumor is he wants to go to Vegas. No way was he ever going to stick around. Ditto for Duchene which is why they ultimately traded him before potentially losing him for nothing in June. Almost certainly Stone is gone too. Both were tendered solid offers and its looking like both are history regardless, unless in the case of Stone they massively overpay and literally make him a silly ridiculous $ offer he can't refuse. And in the process likely pooch their cap situation which is always tenuous....

 

As this story from the TO Sun makes quite plain all of the players mentioned and/or noted by you were all pushed out - or wanted out:

 

 https://torontosun.c...-stay-in-ottawa

 

And none of PK, Koivu or Pacioretty are French Canadian which was the main thrust of my argument there. None came remotely close to the scrutiny endured by a Roy or a LaFleur in their prime playing years and none had the pressure of "expectations" historically heaped on FC stars of that franchise.

[LJ]

Sounds lovely.

Don't forget all the bugs and critters that co-inhabit Florida as well.

[AllseeingEye]

Caught the Canucks-Kings game on the tube tonight. Two words: Quinn Hughes. Wow! That is all.....

[jonny]

Hughes looks like an organization changing talent, that's for sure. This might be the last year of having a top 10 draft pick, so hopefully they make it count. Winning the draft lottery to pick one of the top 3 guys sure would be nice...we are due, luck wise. 

[AllseeingEye]

Wouldn't it be something if they managed to get the first lottery pick and grab his brother Jack Hughes? Even number two-ranked Kaapo Kakko would be a prize pick.

 

If they could grab one of those two, and if Olli Juolevi develops as hoped to help anchor the defence, the team would be very well positioned for success going forward: Horvat, Boeser, Pettersson, Virtanen, Demko, Hughes, Juolevi and "??" from this year's lottery/draft is a nice foundation.....

Edited by AllseeingEye, 29 March 2019 - 08:46 PM.

[Mattjvd]

Wouldn't it be something if they managed to get the first lottery pick and grab his brother Jack Hughes? Even number two-ranked Kaapo Kakko would be a prize pick.

If they could grab one of those two, and if Olli Juolevi develops as hoped to help anchor the defence, the team would be very well positioned for success going forward: Horvat, Boeser, Pettersson, Virtanen, Demko, Hughes, Juolevi and "??" from this year's lottery/draft is a nice foundation.....

Don't sleep on Jett Woo. He more than doubled his offsive output, while playing shutdown minutes, this year. He'll take another year (or two) to make an impact at the NHL level, but he could really solidify the defense.

[Victoria Watcher]

Jett Woo's Parents Comment on his Name and Connection to Jet Li

https://youtu.be/3lasCcZEH8w

[jonny]

Wouldn't it be something if they managed to get the first lottery pick and grab his brother Jack Hughes? Even number two-ranked Kaapo Kakko would be a prize pick.

If they could grab one of those two, and if Olli Juolevi develops as hoped to help anchor the defence, the team would be very well positioned for success going forward: Horvat, Boeser, Pettersson, Virtanen, Demko, Hughes, Juolevi and "??" from this year's lottery/draft is a nice foundation.....

If they get Jack or Kakko the rebuild is over. They'd just need to build depth around them.

What do you do with Edler? I'd re-sign Edler and trade Tanev to Toronto for some offense.

[AllseeingEye]

Yeah Edler is 32 and wants to stay in Vancouver until retirement; I'd give him a 2 year deal - maybe three years but no more, and depending on the $$$$ (he currently makes $3m USD p/a, the same as Tanev). He can help mentor Petterrsson and presumably Joulevi when he joins the big club and gradually slide down to 3rd pairing as he ages out and the other guys gain more experience.

 

Tanev is three years younger, a rock in his own end - the guy would block a shot from a cannon if he had to - and might bring a better return by virtue of being younger and less prone to giveaways than is Edler. Edler OTOH brings far more offensively.

 

The Leafs are probably a good trade partner, they're in a different conference and need really do need to improve the D; they need some grit which Tanev definitely provides, they don't have a ton of cap space, and they are going to have to make some decisions re: Marner, Nylander, Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson. Assuming they open the vault for Marner, any of those last three guys would be a huge pickup for the Canucks as they would easily be on the top two lines and if they could pry Nylander away from TO that guy automatically is on the top line. Tanev alone wouldn't get them Nylander, and likely not Kapanen either, but it would be worthwhile kicking that door to see what happens.

[Mattjvd]

Yeah Edler is 32 and wants to stay in Vancouver until retirement; I'd give him a 2 year deal - maybe three years but no more, and depending on the $$$$ (he currently makes $3m USD p/a, the same as Tanev). He can help mentor Petterrsson and presumably Joulevi when he joins the big club and gradually slide down to 3rd pairing as he ages out and the other guys gain more experience.

Edler's contract is $5.0 million AAV with 4.5 in actual salary this year, not 3 mil. He'll likely command 5+ million on a 4 year deal, or 6+ million on a 3 year as a UFA. Hopefully Vancouver can get him for a little less, as it's clear he wants to be here.

Edited by Mattjvd, 30 March 2019 - 09:20 PM.

[AllseeingEye]

Edler's contract is $5.0 million AAV with 4.5 in actual salary this year, not 3 mil. He'll likely command 5+ million on a 4 year deal, or 6+ million on a 3 year as a UFA. Hopefully Vancouver can get him for a little less, as it's clear he wants to be here.

Yup I was looking at an outdated link; that said no way do I give him more than 3 years' term; he's a great person and teammate, and can still chip in offensively but his game is not aging gracefully. For all the good things he does on (and off) the ice, he has lost a step and is becoming a giveaway machine. C's really need Juolevi to step in next year so he and Quinn can lead that defence in the years ahead.

[jonny]

So who had Sidney Crosby'a Penguins and the 62 win, President Trophy winning Tampa Bay Lightning both getting swept in the first round? Wow!

[AllseeingEye]

Columbus - Vegas Stanley Cup anyone? Hm. Good for grassroots hockey from the standpoint of new fans and growing the game beyond Red Deer or Minneapolis. But a real ratings dog on both sides of the border.....

[jonny]

Plenty of big markets left...

Flames are in a bit of trouble and the Jets may go down 3-1 tonight.

[Mattjvd]

My playoff bracket is shot

[AllseeingEye]

My playoff bracket is shot

I don't usually bother with office pools and thankfully didn't this year either but most of the guys got torched as they went heavy on both Lightning and Pens players. Ouch.

 

From the perspective of beady little Bettman and $ and TV ratings I would imagine he'd be hoping for something like the Islanders - Dallas or possibly San Jose - Bruins in spite of how unlikely that is given how Vegas is beating up the Sharks.

 

Could you just imagine though the horror - the horror! - in the league's NYC offices if, no matter how against the odds it is,  somehow Tronna and Winterpeg made the Cup finals, lol. Maaaaaan NBC's NHL TV ratings would crater and nosedive faster than a 10 pound lead weight in the shallow end of a rubber kiddie pool....