AJgoal

What other teams want to offer has no bearing on what you should pay. MacDonald was likely to get about what he got from the Flyers if he hit the open market. Does that make it ok that the Flyers gave him the contract they did? Or should they have said, "Thanks, but no thanks," and walked away, and let him get it somewhere else? Overpayment is overpayment. It doesn't matter if another team, or twenty other teams, were prepared to do so.

Yes, you can. When a team is up against the cap you have leverage. Failure to use it is just that. Funny how you tend to only hear "Well, you gotta give to get," when a team overpays.

Sure. And wanting those pieces is fine, if you think they're active improvements (I disagree on Niskanen/Talbot and am on the fence on Braun). But thinking the player is good doesn't change the fact that San Jose had 12 million in cap space with 7 forwards signed for next year. They had to move someone with a cap number. Didn't matter if it was a good player or not. So you do everything you can to push their price down, or to get something extra out of them. He did neither. That's poor asset management, regardless of whether you want the player with the cap hit or not.

Schlemko ;). Schmaltz is still in Arizona to the best of my knowledge. Hopefully they keep Ghost and move Hagg. Tony A. said that he had a feeling Hagg was moving, though he admitted he didn't have any inside info like he did on the Gudas trade.

I am noticing a trend in the fact that Fletcher has yet to really extract any extra value from a team with cap issues. Edmonton, Washington, and San Jose all NEEDED cap space. Fletcher just basically gave it to them, along with full value (or even a little more) in trade capital.

So, I'm taking a look at this, and the fancy stats seem good. Braun was 2nd best in the league at preventing shots on goal with 25.66 SA/60 minutes. Not so hot at shots for, but assumedly that's what Provorov/Ghost (hopefully still)/Sanheim are for. He does well in expected goals against (19th), but not in actual goals against (81st). Very good at preventing scoring chances, also very good at preventing high danger chances, though Gudas was better there. Might not be a bad defensive pickup, but I have not watched him play at all over the past couple of seasons.

https://twitter.com/NHLFlyers/status/1141010222603018240 @NHLFlyers: BREAKING: The #Flyers have acquired defenseman Justin Braun from San Jose in exchange for a second-round pick in this year's draft (41st overall) and third-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. My initial thought is yikes.

Well, I agree on that, and you seem to have been right. Holy hell. https://twitter.com/NHLFlyers/status/1141010222603018240 @NHLFlyers: BREAKING: The #Flyers have acquired defenseman Justin Braun from San Jose in exchange for a second-round pick in this year's draft (41st overall) and third-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.

From what Dreger was quoted as saying on the radio, it sounds as if teams knew 1) that he had a super short list and 2) who was potentially on it.

He's currently an RFA, and arbitration eligible. All he has to do is file, and he's a UFA after this year. Sure any team could have traded for him and gotten him for one year, but that's going to drive his value way down. Or he could just choose not to sign with the acquiring club.

Another tidbit:

Not worrisome at all. Sure, the Flyers could have offered up #11, but there are two bits about this: - The Jets refused to let anyone talk to Trouba's agent. To me, that indicates that they knew he absolutely planned on testing free agency next year. Note that there aren't even any conditional picks attached if Trouba re-signs. He's a one-year rental. Could he end up signing long term in NY? Of course, but signs point to that not being his current intent. - Short of offering up #11, the Flyers didn't have anything that matched the perceived value of #20 and Pionk. Pionk is a RH puck mover. While he's not that good, in order to match that you'r going with Myers plus likely next year's first. Pionk has very slightly more experience, and a 1 this year is worth more than a 1 next year. So if you're not giving up #11 for a rental, as Fletcher has said, and I agree with, then you weren't beating this offer.

The Flyers still need a backup at a minimum. Hart can't play 82 games. I was critical of the move at the time. They didn't bother to get a good look at Talbot in games, and they also didn't extract any additional value from a team that was looking to clear salary. I don't know how much of an NHL future Stolarz has, but it seemed like a trade just to make a trade. Fletcher seems to be exploring the trade route for a backup now, which is interesting.

They put him on waivers in order to buy him out. They announced they are terminating his contract. EDIT: And they have to buy him out now. The buyout window closes before the UFA period starts.

We continue to disagree here. There are all kinds of reasons to view that trade as both reckless and not improving the team. Statistically speaking, Ghost and Subban are comparable on both sides of the ice. Subban tends to take the lead in realized metrics (goals for, goals against) where factors like teammate shooting percentages and goalie save percentages have a larger impact, while Gostisbehere tends to outperform Subban in creation/suppression metrics (expected goals, scoring chances for/against, etc). That doesn't even touch on the impact to the power play if Gostisbehere is removed from the unit, which I don't think many people consider in their rush to ship Gostisbehere out. Subban has 3 years left at 9 million. Ghost has 4 at 4.5. Subban is 30. Gostisbehere is 26. Is Subban's back issue going to become a chronic thing? The value just isn't there for a trade. I like Subban, and I like Subban as a fit for this team. But if Ghost is the ask, that's a strong no from me. It's most likely a near term lateral move on ice, with the very real potential to downgrade the team overall before Subban's contract is up.

The fact that the market is limited does not make overpaying for a player that is a lateral move, expecting a large contract, a good idea.

Is it carrying a coconut?

Well, I had looked at it recently, it's not like I did the calculation in my head.

I was off a hair. https://twitter.com/CapFriendly/status/1139929467630100480 @CapFriendly: With #Flyers planning to buyout Andrew MacDonald's contract, the buyout would carry a $1.167M cap hit in the 2019-20 season and a $1.917M cap hit in 2020-21. https://t.co/ouCMSYzXGs https://t.co/qcqo6pELfK

Off tge top of my head, 1.17 million cap hit this year, 1.83 million next year.

@NHLFlyers: Per GM Chuck Fletcher: The #Flyers have placed defenseman Andrew MacDonald on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract. Well, not what I would have done, but it seems like an indication that the Flyers intend to spend this summer.

Only if waived IIRC. As far as expansion, only NMCs are an issue. A player with an NTC can be exposed.

No, it would not. And that's before you factor in the age, contracts, and injury histories of Subban and Niskanen.

Terrible.

Myers seems to be one of Hextall's best bits of GM work. 6'4 (I think), RH shot defenseman. Mobile, with a bit of physicality to him. Signed him when he went undrafted, and the kid exploded the next year in juniors. Did well at WJCs, too, if I'm not mistaken. Looked good with the Phantoms, and in his cup of coffee with the Flyers towards the end of last season. There were times when he and Ghost were playing together and there was no place on the blueline the other team could go to for a clear.