TrueBlueGED

What asset? A 7th round pick? I don't think Ullmark is thought of nearly as highly around the league as he is here, nor do I think there's some burning market for a backup goaltender with essentially zero NHL experience.

Yes. Run. Preferably far, far way. But if he's here, this is the only way to salvage any value out of that contract. I suspect he may be one guy Botterill was thinking about when he talked about not being sure what you have until seeing these guys under a different coach. I have no problem saying he lacks hockey intelligence. He consistently makes some of the worst decisions I can remember seeing from a defenseman.

Jeff. Skinner.

Let's not pretend that Theo Epstein didn't adopt moneyball and help Boston break the drought. Point is, it want only designed to help a small market team. Moneyball was all about finding and exploiting market inefficiencies. It's something every team should aim to do.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who caught that. I thought it may have been my wanting to trade Kane bias kicking in :lol:

Me too. And having finally gotten the chance to listen to the interview myself, I didn't get the sense at all that he had Reinhart pegged as a wing. It struck me as the type of generic answer a guy would give when he's only familiar with how a player has been used to this point. Plus, he said it'd take him until this time next year to really know what he has on the roster. New coach and whatnot.

I think the essence of cap management is two-fold: 1) not overpaying mid-level players whose production can be replaced, in whole or in sufficient part, by ELCs or cheap journeyman, and 2) not paying for past performance when future performance is likely to be lower. Neither of these things precludes having a large share of the cap tied up in a core of star players. Of course, #2 has a relatively high likelihood of happening, especially when the player in question was a core piece for a title (I'm looking at you Brown and Seabrook).

Of everything I've heard him say, this is far and away the most encouraging. I fully expect him to try to assemble a balanced top-4, rather than one pair that gets 25+ per game and is always matched against the other team's best.

Pretty much. Show me. It's time for results. Or the trade Reinhart thread. I'm serious. If Sam is only going to be a winger, I want to trade him.

A sweet presentation at Sloan :)

Ruining everything, obviously. :p

Maybe give it more time than pre-7am the next day, ya know?

Lucic's defense: woof.

Tanev probably also comes cheaper than other similar alternatives. I like his game quite a bit, but those injuries...

Hey man, I just assume the NHL is too incompetent to pull off a conspiracy.

May I have a moment to construct a tin foil hat before answering?

I decided to be a responsible adult and leave the bar after the Caps game. The start to this game is making me want to go back :wallbash:

I can't believe this is happening. Caps have been the better team by a fair margin, I think. Have been for, by my count, 6 games this series. And yet...

I'm still mildly surprised they got to this point without Letang. And Crosby is a shell. I don't care what he or the team say, he's not the same as he was before the concussion.

In general, I think his skill set translates beautifully to the way the league currently plays. Fast, skilled, hockey sense. For a few reasons, I think the AHL was the worst place for him to be last season, and a lot of opinions have soured on him as a result. The AHL is a more physical league than the NHL (and physical development is Nylander's biggest weakness), the Amerks have been a mess for awhile now, and were playing Bylsma's useless system. He wasn't ready, and he was in a crap situation. As to why I'm so high on him long term, I think he's perfect for one of Eichel's wings. Eichel needs a guy with speed and skill, but more importantly, high end hockey sense to play off him and finish the chances he creates. This is Nylander to a T. Taking into account accuracy and quick release, I think his shot is second to only Eichel's in the organization. I think he had the smarts to find open ice when Eichel drifts left like he loves to do, and finish off the beautiful saucers. If he shot left it'd be a little better for one timers, but Alex had the hands to corral and release regardless. He's going to make magic with Eichel a lot sooner than his play in the A would indicate. Edit: Oh, and I think Reinhart was our third best forward last year behind O'Reilly and Eichel. While playing out of position. See: my post in another thread I don't remember and am too lazy to find :lol:

I know you're at least looking at bunker sites! Consider it a preemptive strike! :p

Seriously, this isn't hard. Just skim AHL top pairs and you'll probably find a perfectly acceptable journeyman replacement for league minimum.

If a bunker is Sabrespace slang for the thing we use when we hate a player, what is the opposite of that? Because whatever it is, I'm starting one for Alex Nylander. Maybe we'll hire Keefe. Sorry, that's all I got.

Gorges would cost only $3M to bury in the AHL, so a buyout only saves $1.7M. Do you really think we're going to desperately need that this season? I wouldn't mind having it, but we're not in such bad cap shape that it'll be prohibitive to carry. Plus, we can always hope he'd rather retire than spend a year in the A :)

Lukewarm take alert: If Josh Gorges is skating a regular shift with this team next season, then the team isn't serious about making the playoffs, let alone doing anything once there.