Howie58

AJ: I hope you are right. Your reasoning is good. But these numbers really, really shock me. It's sad. I hope the kid makes it.

Wow--a few weeks back, I pegged this at 2 years at about a million AAV. This is not a vote of confidence in the guy's future. Fletcher can chirp all he wants, this isn't much more than Pulliot's recent contract...for a career AHLer with an occasional cup of coffee. Yikes.

Greetings: I just read a very sobering take on the coming season. It is likely to be 60 or fewer games, and the Can-Am border may be difficult to cross due to COVD, hence the discussion of a Canadian division. From a fiscal standpoint, absence of gate receipts hurts hockey more than any of the big four. Fletcher's approach makes a lot of sense under these circumstances. Some of the small market franchises will be hit very, very hard. FYI, the Phillies' owners pumped $100 million of their money to make up the operating deficit this year. They are cutting staff brutally--J.J. Jackson's separation from the Phillies is due to the cuts. The O and B have Comcast....others may not be so lucky.

For a chuckle, this one caught my eye: [Hidden Content] Thank God it didn't explode!

Greetings: Here's an interesting take on Fletcher's inactivity/caution. I think the author is right--there was risk in not going after the big names, and there is risk in Fletcher's incremental approach: [Hidden Content] I think we have faith in the process. But as Ron Jeremy and I said last week, we go into this season without the kind of scoring firepower we'll see elsewhere. I suspect we'll have no real 1st line but more of the 1a, 1b, 1c approach with a checking crew. The defense is sort of collective head scratching. Whether it's bourbon or merlot, there may be games we wonder about our lack of a sniper or a third pair defense ala Lasse Kukkonen, while we wait for Ward, Friedman, and Zemula to grow up.

The back-to-back signings of Wisdom and Foerster to ELCs is telling us a lot. Fletcher really is serious about building from within. I am glad he is staying away from Silly Season. Gus Bus is reasonable and short-term. Building for the long-term counts and we don't need any more JVR-style contracts.

Mr. Snider and Homer outsmarted themselves...maybe we should applaud Fletcher for staying away from the high-priced FAs

The Gustaffson deal is strange on face. Maybe they are moving Ghost. Or maybe they think he is only two years removed from a 60 point season and might have some offense that helps. At one year, this is not a long-term marriage. If you net out Pitlick, Grant, and Thompson, but add Pulliot in, we are still saving 1.7 million or so. So this guy isn't adding a bunch. And we still save Mr. Niskanen's 5 plus. So, you bring in youngins for the fourth line and we see what happens. I really don't think Nolan can expect a lot. Myers--we see. Our last big signing, JVR, doesn't expire. If Chuckles is gun shy right now, fine.

Lindblom's health is a wildcard, but I assume/hope that the three-year extension reflected a good prognosis. I will be curious to see the offer to Patrick. Per prior posts, I can't see this going more than two years. If it does, it would be a great leap to faith that Fletcher shouldn't make. As others have said, we may have over-achieved this year. Our Metro competitors are really loading up. I won't fault Fletcher for avoiding crazy overpay. He might be playing a wait-and-see game with the coming season. He might feel trades during the season are less costly. And he might get a read on where the youngins are going. BTW, on Ghost, he might have gotten reads that nobody is that interested. We may need to play him back to trade-ability, for something worthwhile, or a bag of pucks. I agree with Ron Jeremy and other other that this team will probably be playing a defensive style of play given the absence of snipers/creative types. Maybe we grow them? Meanwhile, the last few playoff games may be an indicator of what we're facing unless some of the newbies show something we don't have now.

Greetings: I suspect it is either buyout or trade with salary contribution. That is not a fun thing to contemplate but look at what happened with Turris and others. At some point, a team's management says we absorb the sunk costs but move forward. Shoot, I am not sure we're done with Bryzgalov.... We did it (cheaply) with Umberger. We did it (in part) with Vinny. If it isn't done now, I suspect some people on the squad will be offered as rentals with salary absorption. That is grim but so is my outlook. If we got a high pick for one of our elders, plus a prospect, I'd say fine. This is becoming a young person's league. The speed and cap seem to drive it there. I don't think you can get sentimental about owning a particular stock. I don't think you can do that as a GM with a certain player.

Trying to be a arbiter and peacemaker, I'd say that the truth is in the middle. I do think the youngins should be brought in and given enough rope to hang themselves. If our pool is as good as the pundits say, the sooner we find out, the better. Corey Perry and Joe Pavelsky were 35+ and very good in the finals. That said, I have some concerns about our 8 million dollar brigade. We may need to bit the bullet with one of them, or maybe JVR, to send a signal about accountability and build on a better player foundation. I posted my thread about 2008 Redux for a good reason. We thought that was the beginning of a new era and it really wasn't, SCF two years later aside. I am worried that the current group is sort of mixed bag that AV over-achieved with. We probably need to grow a core together. And as I said two nights ago, I look at what the rest of the Metro looks like and wonder how we will compete?

Well, here is AHL Depth Signing.....not sure what this means? [Hidden Content] Maybe Friedman spends more time in Philly....

Yeah, Grant back to Anaheim along with Shattenkirk. [Hidden Content] I can't imagine they keep Nate. I see these as positive. Room for the youngins, cap space for someone who might help us.

Pitlick to AZ for two years, AAV of 1.75.

Well, Pitlick has gone to AZ for two-years, about 1.75 mill AAV. At that rate, I say auf wiedersehen...call in the youngins. Howie