Curt

Risto’s D zone Isolated impact diagram.

Ok, maybe. You could say the same about 90% of the players in the league. Their team would trade them if they thought it would better their circumstances. The question then becomes, why would Detroit want picks/unproven prospects instead of a good, young player that they like, who will still be good and young when they are ready to be a good team again? Seems like you would just keep that guy and trade the guys who are older or that you don’t like as much. Detroit can’t be made up entirely of 19-23 year old players in a few years. They are going to want a few good players to insulate the kids who are coming in. Basically, yeah, maybe you could acquire Larkin for some hypothetical, exorbitant price, but I think that Detroit is not looking to move him at all. It’s not worth spending time debating, because it is never going to actually happen.

Yeah, most have thought for ages that Risto is not that good. I think he just isn’t a smart enough player to fully capitalize on his physical tools. To an extent, I agree with you. A team definitely needs a couple guys who can play that PK role well. In time, I think that Dahlin and Jokiharju will be able to play some PK, even if 2nd unit. Both need to get a little stronger first, but they are both smart and big enough to be effective. In the end, I think Dahlin will be able to do everything well. Honestly, I would try Montour and Jokiharju out there more right now. It can’t get any worse than last in the league and a franchise record low. For the future, I hope Borgen can be a 3rd pair/#1PK kind of guy. He is pretty big and very nasty. Farther out, Samuelsson fits that same mold, but even bigger (I hope he skates well enough). As to the faceoff question being debated. In the nebulous, FO% as a general team stat does not matter very much. However, in specific situations, like on the PP in the offensive zone or on the PK in your own zone, it can matter a lot. I think that really good faceoff guys save their best little tricks for those important situations too.

2 periods of hockey, over/under?

Why does it matter if Dahlin has played 3:00 or 00:30 on the PK this season? Any data drawn from either of those is useless.

I didn’t say too old to play with Larkin. It has nothing to do with that. Nyquist and Tatar’s age and contract status are reasons they were moved though. By the time Detroit plans on being good again, in 2-4 years, both of those guys would be 30+ and due for significant UFA contracts that will take them into their mid 30’s. That’s if they would want to stay with Detroit at all at that point. They could walk for nothing instead. What you don’t want on a young up and coming team is guys in their 30’s, in decline, with significant money and term on their contract. AA was probably moved because Yzerman doesn’t like him much and didn’t want to commit to him on a long term contract, for what he is going to cost soon. This is all my speculation, but it’s the logical reasoning. What are you saying? Do you think Detroit plans to trade every good player on their roster, even the guys who are very good, young, and signed long term?

Those are guys who are 5-7 years older than Larkin. It just makes no sense for them to trade him and I have seen zero rumors of him being available. It’s alright, you can think what you want. I agree he would be a great acquisition.

Well, yes, sure, any player is probably available if you are willing to pay enough. Who are the two guys you are talking about? Anthanasieu and Green??? AA is a couple years older than Larkin and definitely not Detroit’s best player. Apparently Yzerman didn’t like him that much.

Why is a rebuilding team going to trade their best young player? He isn’t going to be old by the time they are good again. Detroit probably isn’t planning on a 10 year rebuild.

The puck moving D aren’t playing much on the PK though. All season it’s been Risto, McCabe, Scandella, Bogo on the PK. Not Dahlin, Jokiharju, Miller, Montour.

Simmonds has seriously slowed down over the past 3ish years, with his play consistently declining. It seems like his bruising style of play is really catching up with him physically. If he could be counted on maintain his current level of play and be a 10-15 goal 3rd liner/PP net front guy with good leadership, I would resign him in a heartbeat. The problem is that he may decline further, quickly. He doesn’t have much farther to decline before he reaches a “not NHL quality” level. I don’t want to be on the hook for a couple seasons of $3-4M for a guy can’t even be effective in the league anymore. That’s where Simmonds is trending towards.

Reasons they may not want to be traded from TB to Buffalo? There are plenty. -Going from best team in league to one that hasn’t made playoffs in 10 years. -Going from Florida weather to Buffalo weather. -Their families are established in TB area. -Going from Florida taxes to NY taxes. These guys specifically negotiated NMC’s into their contracts, and almost definitely took less money to do so, for a reason. I’m not saying that anyone definitely won’t waive their NMC from TB to Buffalo, but there are definitely reasons not to.

I think that the bonuses listed on capfriendly are the max possible bonus money that player could earn, not what they have/will qualify to actually receive, but I’m really not certain.

Quick and dirty math. Possible bonus money total between Dahlin, Jokiharju, and Olofsson is $3.3M. Projected cap space on the season is only about $900K. So, it looks like up to $2M could be used up from next seasons cap. However, I don’t fully understand how Buffalo’s LTIR usage affects things, or if those guys will hit their full bonus numbers because I don’t know what all the stipulations are.

Looks like he should have been picked 1st really.

Yes, this is definitely going to happen. Mentally prepare yourself.

Here is next year’s forward lines, as I imagine them right now. Between the prospects and any returning UFA’s, it shouldn’t be an issue filling out the bottom-6, possibly even the available top-6 wing spot if very lucky. The #1 issue remains a good C to play behind Jack. I’m still expecting that will need to be a D+ trade in the offseason. Eichel, Olofsson, Reinhart Skinner, xxxx, xxxx Kahun, xxxx, Johansson Lazar, xxxx, Okposo Prospects: Cozens Mitts Thompson Routsalainen Asplund 2020 1st rounder UFA’s: Larsson Girgensons Vesey Simmonds Frolik Sobotka

This seems like a pretty good trade. 1) They get a younger RFA guy who looks like a good 3rd liner. 2) They dump a lot of salary. That will help minimize the amount of cap hit from this season rolls over into next season. I like this move more than the Simmonds deal. I didn’t think Buffalo would be buying anyone, but the results over the past week have pulled them closer to a playoff spot. Sorry if this has been asked and answered already, but........What can you guys tell me about Kahun? Does he actually play C? He has taken like zero faceoffs. EDIT: I see that Botts says Kahun is a winger.

I’m not advocating to let him fail perpetually for a year and a half. Just that he probably should stay in the AHL to adjust to that level. He isn’t going to learn as much in the echl. He’s already shown that he can be good there. Maybe Hammond should get more starts for a bit.

It’s a developmental minor league.

I agree. It is valuable that they have a bottom 6 line that can take tough matchups and not get caved in. It creates freedom to use other lines in more favorable situations.

I get that. I’m saying that just because you aren’t pleased, that doesn’t mean that returning to the ECHL is best for UPL’s development. I prioritize the young players development over the desire of the Rochester fans for W’s.

UPL’s development is in no way related to the money you spend or the miles you drive. He needs to adjust to the AHL level. The ECHL is a very low level of pro hockey that real prospects rarely touch. It’s been 10 games. Be patient.

I don’t know if he expected it, but there was a lot of money on the line, so I’m sure he thought it was worth a shot.

But what’s the point? Carter Hart is really good? Yeah, we know. Carter Hart is better that UPL? Again, yeah, we know. Does that change anything for how UPL should be handled? No, it does not. All I said was that UPL is only 20 and has only 10 AHL games, be patient. The response I got was “Carter Hart is only 21”. What am I supposed to do with that? What does that even mean? What’s the point I’m supposed to take away from that?