TrueBlueGED

Oh, don't get me wrong, I don't think he's going anywhere. I just want to see some team screw them on the cap. We have enough space, he just won't do it.

I want to believe in an offer sheet. I really do. I just can't get past the million other opportunities GMs have had to use them and chosen not to.

Which I don't understand. He wasn't the best goalie in the league, but he did have a very good season. I guess they needed *something* to complain about while cruising to 120 points?

I'll only cry about missing out on Miller if Mittelstadt is our 2C again.

Winssssszzzzzsssszzzzzz baby! Players on bad teams don't get to be considered for individual awards. Just the way it is.

Way to set yourself up for disappointment with the Cirelli obsession ? One thing I really disagree with is the notion that Risto's value won't drop much. First, the market conditions are perfect for a Risto trade and irrespective of what he does on the ice, I doubt we see such an ideal market again. Second, if he goes to coach #3 post-tank and has different usage but is still the same guy with the same issues, analytics or eye test, I think that will reduce his value by a non-trivial amount.

Yea, I mean I have no problem disagreeing over what he is. I just think those who expect him to suddenly start producing positive shot metrics are out to lunch. You really wouldn't do Risto for Miller? Before you went on hiatus you were regularly crushing Risto. What changed?

Wins baby!!!!!

Womp womp. He's done nothing in 210 NHL games that interests me.

Not that I'm aware of. Jack Johnson, for example, has been on teams of varying quality but puts up remarkably consistent (and poor) shot metrics.

Want to list every team's 4th best defenseman for me? Because I'm not doing that legwork. If you do, I'll happily rank them.

Why? And zone starts are a deeply flawed metric because the overwhelming majority of shifts start on the fly in the neutral zone.

The research that's been done on player usage would suggest he'd perform mostly the same.

There's a pretty significant difference between not playing the most minutes and playing sheltered minutes. Neither Hedman nor Burns played sheltered minutes. And the years they led their teams in ice time and strength of competition? They were still fantastic.

Because he's played 425 games in his career, so taking a 32 game sample is kind of nuts? Actually, a 32 game sample from any player is nuts, so that's not unique to Risto, it's just a bad argument.

On the left we have Rasmus Ristolainen. On the right we have what his fans believe he'll be when he's in a better situation and role. The caveat is that Lindholm's usage was very similar to Risto's, he's the same age, and his team was also hot garbage. Why can Lindholm overcome these things and Risto sinks?

I have no problem moving back, but Vancouver is such an unappealing trade partner. Pettersson, Horvat, Boeser, or Hughes? Sign me up. But that's obviously not happening and they've got nothing else even remotely interesting.

The problem is if you do this and he proves to be the same guy, his trade value gets nuked.

I know a few trades/signings have happened so I have a leg up on ideas, but here's my plan. Trades Ristolainen for Ehlers, straight up. We get the top-6 winger we still need, add a major dose of speed up front, and Winnipeg gets the RHD they need in a money-in-money-out deal (for all intents and purposes). Nelson and #31 for Miller and Callahan. We get our 2C, they get the cap space they need and some RHD help they desperately need. Scandella to Vancouver for a 5th. We get some cap relief, and Vancouver gets another bad defensemen they seem to love collecting. More seriously, they could view him as an Edler replacement without a long-term commitment. Free Agency Sign Donskoi for middle-6. $4Mx5. Overpay, but such is life. Sign Stralman for short-term Risto replacement. $4.5Mx3. Overpay for a defensive defenseman, but such is life. Re-sign McCabe $2.5Mx4, Girgensons or Larsson $1.5Mx1, and Rodrigues $2.5Mx4. Other Bury Sobotka in the AHL or loan him to Europe Bury Hunwick and Wilson. Final Product Skinner-Eichel-Donskoi Dahlin-Stralman Ehlers-Miller-Reinhart Pilut-Montour Sheary-Mittelstadt-Rodrigues McCabe-Bogosian Callahan-Girgensons/Larsson-Okposo Team has about a million in cap space, a completely overhauled top-6, and a non-reliance on Bogosian to play a major defensive role. Obvious spots for competition on the 4th line for a young player or two to do well.

Such is life in unrestricted free agency.

Against my better judgment, I'm going to engage in a conversation where I have zero hope of changing an opinion. Whatever you may think of how Kim Pegula came to her position, she has now been in a leadership position in a major sports organization (PSE) for years. She has a demographic profile that is incredibly rare at the executive level in any billion dollar industry, to say nothing of professional sports. I think she's quite well qualified for this role.

I agree with Brawndo that the fit with Vigneault might not be great, but otherwise yea, it's basically market value. In a market where Evander Kane is a $7M player, Skinner is a $9M player, it makes sense to me that a 2C slots in at around $7M.

Yikes. You know it's been a long couple of days when you can't read a Hockey-Reference page properly. No clue how I managed that ?

Well then, you have a lot more faith in the acumen of a GM who has iced two consecutive terrible teams while actually trying to win. Putting aside the ROR trade as a whole, Botterill's record as GM suggests he's bad at his job. Maybe it's been a string of bad luck and circumstances out of his control, but I certainly don't see any reason to just trust him.

I have no problem believing ownership told him to trade him before the bonus. I have a significant problem with just assuming it was ownership's idea to trade him in the first place. I think it's at least equally likely that Botterill wanted to move him and only then did the Pegulas give him the bonus deadline.