JR Ewing

As far as I can tell, the 2024 Caps are the worst playoff team of the salary cap era. Most years, there's a playoff team with a goal differential of something in the territory of -5 to -15 at worst. The Caps are -37. edit - only now do I see @SaucyJack had mentioned the same thing. I'll stop backtracking through Hockey Reference. lol

Drysdale's had one season in his last five where he was healthy, and Jiricek has had one season in his last five where he was injured.

I agree with all of that, but for the proviso that you can cast a net wider than the return needing to match something close to the draft position.

He was never destined to be a minute munching #1, because he's too small and isn't strong defensively... For me, the big question with the trade was Drysdale's ability to stay healthy. He's only played one full season since 2019, his first year with Erie, and it's just not tracking well. What surprised me was Briere, with a smaller team, gambling with an under-sized defenseman. He's not heavy and doesn't have the wingspan you'd like to see.

-Tippett: I like Tippett as a shooter in the slot, but the problem with that is that the bumper position needs a guy who can facilitate for his teammates as well as shoot, and he's very ill-suited for that. He gets a puck, he shoots a puck. Braydon Point is a terrific bumper because he can shoot and pass. -Mullen PP: what; an over-load, with two defensemen/shooters at the point? That system is as dead as disco, and for good reason. As teams abandoned it one by one, in favour of the 1-3-1, team PP% kept increasing across the NHL. You could put Al MacInnis there, and that PP wouldn't produce enough today. The only reason to shoot from the point is to keep the defenders honest; not to generate chances. I guess this is a spot where we disagree. I don't see viable/high end talent on that PP, and I think that's why it's so bad. I was curious about the same thing.

@BobbyClarkeFan16 I really like your post, and it did make me curious. I went and combed through highlights of power-plays from the last 15ish games, and I have to say that I'm not so sure it's about how bad Rocky Thompson is as a coach. I saw a bog-standard 1-3-1 from the Flyers PP, so it's not like he has them doing something very different than what it is the most commonly-used system. What I did see: -Owen Tippett wasting shot after shot, no matter if there were defender blocking the lanes, and whether or not there was a net-front to bang in a rebound on the off-chance the shot actually gets through. Honestly, I think that the PP doesn't lend itself nearly as well to his skillset as does even-strength, where he generates chances with his speed through the neutral zone. -Morgan Frost getting out-muscled and out-reached in board battles. -Bobby Brink getting out-muscled and out-reached in board battles. -Jamie Drysdale. Another guy under 6 feet tall and 185 lbs. -Sean Couturier, who has the size but not the feet. This is a mostly short and underweight group who wouldn't be getting 1st unit PP minutes on good teams. Size without skill is a total waste, but skill without size places limitations on matchups and roster building. Small players can be effective, but small teams (or in this case, special teams groups) are too easy to neutralize.

I guess I have a very different view from many (everybody else?) around here. I don't see the need to trade Konecny, and I think that people who are hoping for a strong young scorer or a potential starting goaltender would be very underwhelmed by the return. As ever, I go back to Al Arbour (who forgot more about hockey than I'll ever know), with his opinion on team building: "It's no secret; it's not complicated. Get good players." Travis Konecny is a good player, and if the rebuild is in a good position in five years, he will only be 32. Serious injuries aside, he can be more than useful at that age, and despite what a lot of people think a rebuild constitutes, I don't think it's a good idea to shed literally every good player from the roster, as respected veterans have value. This is just my view as a fan of a team that was forced to trade primed-aged players in favour of prospects and picks. It mostly doesn't work out and it just keeps the rebuild going perpetually.

Gretzky scored #894 in his 1,477th game played. 1. Figuring it out was very easy: I went to his profile at Hockey Reference: https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/g/gretzwa01.html 2. Saw that he came into his last season with 1,415 GP. 3. Brought up his gamelog from his final season: https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/g/gretzwa01/gamelog/1999 4. Goal #894 came in his 62nd game of the year. 5. 1415 + 62 = 1477

Come on; you know that's not what I said. Yeah, it would have been close. The Sabres had a Pts% of .556 with Quinn in the lineup, which equates to around 91 points in the standings, like the Red Wings. The Caps and Red Wings were really only in the playoff hunt more for the types of losses they had than the wins they were getting. Would have been closer, though.

It's almost as if Buffalo's management isn't amazing at assessing talent.

Jiricek is already positively impacting results in Columbus, too. Big physical defenders with two-way skills trump all but the most productive wingers.

For a bit of fun, a comparison: Pierre Luc-Dubois 78 GP, 15-24-39, -10 Cap Hit – $8.5M Cost of Acquisition: traded for Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari, and Gabriel Vilardi Warren Foegele: 77 GP, 17-20-37, +1 Cap Hit: $2.75M Cost of Acquisition: traded for Ethan Bear This trade-and-sign is the gift that keeps giving.

The Oilers hit with three picks in 1979, then four in 1980 and three in 1981 and built a dynasty from it. They did in three years what most teams manage in 25 seasons. The Red Wings hit with six in 1989, four in 1990, and four in 1991, and that gave them a dynasty run which let the winning run on fumes for about 20 years. When only two teams have ever done this, asking Briere to do it is just not a reasonable expectation.

There's hope and then there's hopium.

It would be better than nice if Briere could draft four actual NHL players; it would be an astoundingly successful result. The Flyers have done this three times since they began drafting in 1967. It's really quite rare. My own line in the sand for "actual NHL player" is one who can play 250 games in this league. Note that I'm not saying star players or impact players, but one who can provide enough value to play for a few years. 2003: Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Colin Fraser, Alexandre Picard 1983: Rick Tocchet, Peter Zezel, Derrick Smith, Pelle Eklund 1972: Bill Barber, Tom Bladon, Jimmy Watson, Al MacAdam Danny Briere will almost surely not draft four NHL players this June.

No, this is one where perception, particularly from people who don't watch many western games, doesn't match reality. You'll hear that the Oilers can't defend AND have terrible goaltending, but they have the 9th-lowest GA/GP in the NHL, and the 5th-lowest since the coaching change.

From Field of Schemes: Scottsdale mayor to Coyotes owner on arena plan: “Not feasible, or welcome” 4–5 minutes Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat: The Arizona Coyotes‘ proposed arena site is not in Scottsdale. It’s right next to Scottsdale, but it’s not in Scottsdale — much like the Oakland A’s proposed stadium site is on what’s called the Las Vegas Strip, but not actually within the city limits. Still, just like when Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said she thought the A’s should stay in Oakland, when the mayor of Scottsdale says that he doesn’t want a Coyotes arena on his doorstep, that’s not exactly a great way to create momentum for the Coyotes’ arena campaign: The prospect of a rookie developer attempting to buy Arizona State Trust Land with absolutely no infrastructure on the Phoenix side of the 101/Scottsdale Road intersection at the doorstep of Scottsdale is not feasible, or welcome… I admire the hockey sport, Arizona Coyotes community involvement and phenomenal youth clubs at the Scottsdale Ice Den. But I along with City of Scottsdale staff will continue to monitor any actions that occur, and negative repercussions for Scottsdale. As it stands today, the fantasy hockey project must move west, away from Scottsdale. Mayor David Ortega’s specific beef is about water and sewer lines, which he said he has no intention of providing from Scottsdale, and wants extended from Phoenix to the west instead. (He did say Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego “confirmed that all utilities must be extended from 56th Street,” which isn’t exactly clear about whether Gallego is offering to foot the roughly $100 million bill for that, or is just acknowledging that whoever gets the land would need to pay for it.) Ortega also complained that “the dream Coyote retail components sit too close to the retail lions of Scottsdale,” implying that he thinks it would just cannibalize economic activity from his city. Again, none of this is a death knell for the Coyotes project, as Ortega’s approval isn’t needed. But as we just saw in Kansas City, development subsidy plans are most likely to fail when all the “growth coalition” ducks aren’t in a row, so starting off with one elected official loudly proclaiming that the arena should stay offa his lawn is definitely not what Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo would want. For now, Meruelo needs to focus on winning a public auction for the land he wants — currently set for June 27 — and then getting both Phoenix and Maricopa County to sign off on the creation of what Arizona calls a “theme park district” within which a tax surcharge would be levied on sales or business income and then kicked back to pay off construction bonds. This isn’t a TIF, because it’d be a new tax on top of the development paying normal taxes to the city and county, but it’s also not quite like a tax just on tickets where the money mostly comes out of a team owner’s pockets because economics; I’m currently engaged in a lengthy email exchange with a couple of economists about how exactly to figure out what should count as the public cost, but since we don’t know the projected total amount of the tax surcharge it’s a bit premature anyway. If Meruelo doesn’t get what he wants, team CEO Xavier Gutierrez has warned, “the NHL has made it very clear” that “we would have to look at other markets,” which is not what commissioner Gary Bettman has been saying out loud, but sure, rattle that move threat saber. It doesn’t sound like at least one local elected is impressed, but maybe you’ll have better luck finding Phoenix or Maricopa County officials who are more admiring of the hockey sport. https://www.fieldofschemes.com/2024/04/09/21272/scottsdale-mayor-to-coyotes-owner-on-arena-plan-not-feasible-or-welcome/

He's in Philly for the rebuild, and was brought in for "accountability" and "culture change". If a winner is be made from this project (and getting a superstar is unlikely with the course they're taking) he won't be the coach by the time it happens.

100% This sentiment of "Oh, but he never won a Cup" seems to be widespread among the media, players and fans. At some point we may have to realize that the attitude of Stanley Cup or bust is not reasonable in an era with a salary cap, 32 teams, especially when randomness, goaltending (which is another species of randomness), and overtimes plays such a big role in who ultimately wins. And now, above all of that, we have a new model, which grants the best chance to win the Cup to the team whose General Manager is able to use LTIR to over-load his team with more impact players and still be cap-compliant during the regular season. This was raised to comic levels by Tampa Bay and Vegas, who had Kucherov and Stone practicing for a month before the playoffs, before finally being ready to go immediately after the end of the regular season. A million things have to go right in order to win the Cup and anybody with an approach of "Hey; if we get in we have a chance" is deluding themselves. They're plucky and have a strong Give a Sh|t/60 but, no, they're not remotely ready.

@radoran Right. He's not a bad coach at all, and I don't think he abuses his staff like some coaches, but his style wears on the players and the message gets old after about three seasons.

Sources: NHL, Arizona Coyotes working on agreement to sell and relocate to Salt Lake City Frank Seravalli UPDATE [3:02 p.m. ET]: Sources tell Daily Faceoff that the NHL, Arizona Coyotes and Smith Entertainment Group have made significant and meaningful progress on an agreement that would see the Coyotes franchise sold and relocated to Salt Lake City, Utah. The machinations of the potential deal, which would have a renamed and rebranded franchise playing in Salt Lake in October, are mentioned below in the original story from Wednesday morning. The NHL sent an update memo to the Board of Governors on Wednesday amid media speculation. Sources said Coyotes players have been informed a “verbal” agreement is in place, but we have received pushback on that characterization of talks. To date, no deal has been completed. There is much work to be done, and it’s complicated and will involve many layers and lawyers. Stay tuned. _____ The NHL is concurrently drafting two versions of a league schedule matrix for the 2024-25 season, one with the Arizona Coyotes and another with the Coyotes franchise playing in Salt Lake City in the event of relocation, multiple sources told Daily Faceoff. That does not mean the NHL has firmed up plans to relocate the franchise yet, just that the league has a viable contingency plan for next season. But the news comes on the heels of billionaire prospective owner Ryan Smith publicly soliciting potential names for an NHL team in Utah earlier this week. As the NHL has been working on dual paths, multiple sources indicate Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo is intimately involved in both. The first, of course, involves the Coyotes remaining in the Phoenix area by building a new arena via Arizona State Land Trust auction, which is scheduled for June 27. But there is a real possibility that the Coyotes franchise is not based in Arizona come June 27. The second path involves Meruelo selling control of the franchise in a multi-layered process that would include Smith Entertainment Group paying north of $1.2 billion, part of which is a relocation fee that would be distributed to league owners. Smith owns the NBA’s Utah Jazz and the yet-to-be renamed NHL team would temporarily play in the basketball-oriented Delta Center until a multipurpose arena could be built to adequately house both teams. “We are interested. We are ready, and we’re a partner,” Smith told The Athletic this week. “The arena is done. We think we have a solution. And that’s my message to the NHL.” An announcement on a sale and relocation could come as soon as April 18, the day after the Coyotes’ final regular season home game at the 4,600-seat Mullett Arena on the campus of Arizona State University. Sources continually cautioned that no deal is done, Meruelo remains steadfast in his belief that he can build a gleaming new palace for the Desert Dogs, and the NHL is working hard to avoid a long and protracted battle that could surface if Meruelo is not satisfied with the terms of a transaction. Sources briefed on the ongoing discussions indicated Meruelo could receive up to $1 billion for the Coyotes. The exact figures of the proposed transaction are speculated and all details and mechanics of a proposed deal remain fluid. “Lots of moving pieces,” one source said. “Nothing is resolved at this point.” The NHL still has time to play this out for next season, but the clock is ticking. The sale and relocation of the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg was not substantially complete until May 20, 2011, and not formally announced until May 31. If a Coyotes sale and relocation does not materialize by late May, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said last month that waiting until a June land auction date would likely ensure the Coyotes will play at least one more season at Mullett Arena. Many questions remain, but one stands out: with all of this is happening behind the scenes, why did the Coyotes release arena renderings and a strongly worded commitment to Arizona last week? Perhaps the answer is that Meruelo intends to win the June 27 land auction and develop that sports and entertainment district in the hopes of luring the NHL back to Arizona with a future expansion franchise. Sources said part of the agreement to sell now could include language that would allow Meruelo to ‘reactivate’ the Coyotes franchise in future years, including name and trademarks, if a new arena is built and terms and conditions of the agreement with the NHL are met. That part shouldn’t be a surprise to hockey fans. After two decades of wandering in the desert, the NHL has ardently supported hockey in Phoenix at every turn, and commissioner Gary Bettman doesn’t have any intention of leaving fans or the market high and dry. https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/sources-nhl-drafting-2024-25-schedule-version-with-coyotes-relocated-to-salt-lake-city

The combination of losing their best two-way defender and gaining a sub-replacement one is a thing.

Yeah, I don't disagree with trading him at all. He's on the wrong side of 30 and not a core player going forward. The "keep him around" part was in reference to the post to which I originally was responding, where the other poster was asking which players could be expected to maintain their level of play.

As cheesy as it may be to quote myself...

I don't know if it's so much that Ersson has been badly over-worked as that the the club traded their best blue-liner and added their worst one during this stretch.