thegx.ca

Yup it's all about population size of that city and surrounding area...which in Canada all the best places are all taken except for Quebec city...compare that to America and you'll notice that there are tons of places down there with population sizes that will make way more money than anywhere not already taken in Canada...that's why Seattle gets a team and not Surrey...market potential means everything because all most owners care about is making the most money possible...

The things people will do for money...performing is among the least of it

13 hours ago, JR Ewing said:

 

-I think that Columbus' blue line looks incredibly "meh" after Zach Werenski.

-Jarmo Kekelainen is a very good GM, imo, but unless Johnny Gaudreau insisted on bringing Erik Gudbranson as a package deal, then I don't know what he was thinking. That's instantly regrettable term and AAV for a big depth defenseman who's injured a lot, is scored on a lot, and who will be entering the decline phase of his career. If Columbus thinks they've found their hard-matchup guy who can take a lot of defensive zone starts, they're in for a rough ride.

 

At the very least when not injured Gudbrandson will protect Johnny Hockey...besides Lucic and Reaves and Chara Gudbrandson can hold his own and best the rest of the contenders...I'm sure Columbus isn't done trading either too...

Goes to show why hockey is the toughest team sport there is.

On 8/5/2022 at 6:57 PM, OccamsRazor said:

 

Well maybe he could get ahold of some of Barry Bonds supplements and break Gretzky's records at 36....stranger things have happened...

 

Or hopefully no more salary cap and only a luxury tax like in baseball...

On 8/4/2022 at 1:50 PM, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

Ok, now.
Haven't posted any random anything for quite a while, and much has happened since I last did.
So, let's see where we are and at what capacity my brain ISN'T functioning  :

"Nice Offense... But What About the Defense?"
Yea, seems a few teams are going out of their way to stack their offenses in their attempts at winning the next Stanley Cup, but seemingly, are skimping on the defense.
Hey, I get it: Score more than the other guy and you win. But in the playoffs, I think we all know it is much more than scoring goals. In fact, it is the other teams' missions to shut down whatever any given team has going offensively, if they can of course, but the better teams, well, CAN!

Florida and New Jersey come to mind right away as team that look, at least on paper, like they could run through everybody by lighting up the scoreboard.
But upon closer inspection of their rosters, the defensive units, as a whole, look very suspect....

It's almost as if they are following the Toronto blueprint for success! High end offense, don't worry so much about the defense and then....oh wait, nevermind, bad example  

 

"Stealthy Good....Sneak Up On You. Like a Ninja"
Some teams may be better than people think this coming season. They made no splashy moves, got little fanfare for, well, just about nothing, and some even had people question their franchise's direction (understandably).....yet why do I get the sneaking feeling some of these teams will either be a playoff team or be in contention for a playoff spot?

The Islanders in the East are one such team. They had LOTS of players woefully underperform last season, they had that crazy nomadic schedule that took up a good chunk of their season, and I REALLY like the addition of Alex Romanov to their blueline.
I think people have forgotten all about the Isles in the Metro as they talk about the Rangers, the Canes, even the aforementioned Devils, and then you have teams like Pittsburgh and Washington still looking to get more mileage out of their aging cores.

But the Isles, like the ninja, and even without Barry Trotz (in fact, the Isles could be more deadly offensively now), may sneak up on more than just a few people and be right in the playoff mix....DESPITE having Zach Parise and Kyle Palmieri do their best to hamper the team!  

The Blue Jackets may be another one.
Sure, they made the big deal getting Johnny Hockey over, but honestly....how many fans think Gaudreau will 'whither on the vine' in Columbus? And Patrik Laine will continue to just plug along unspectacularly? Probably lots.

But both Gaudreau and Laine could turn out to be one of the biggest one-two punches on a top line since, I dunno...Kane-Toews? The Sedins? Selanne-Kariya? Renberg-LeClair?
Yes, yes, pretty lofty, but it COULD happen!
The Jackets played pretty well many nights but missed the playoffs last season, perhaps the addition of Senor Hockey and a revitalized Laine is what they need to put them over the hump.

Plus they added the nastiness of Erik Gudbranson to the blue line who doesn't have to do much more than just be a menace, as the overall Columbus defense is pretty decent already, if unheralded.

 

Out West, I nominate one of the Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, or Vancouver Canucks as teams who may do better than people realize.
The Wild, on paper, look so very ordinary, it isn't even funny. Heavily cap strapped (funny, not only is Zach Parise hampering the Islanders, he continues to hamper the Wild as well! Pretty impressive on his part), and working with some budget contracts, with many of their guys playing over their heads last season, likely to regress, and probably having to work in some very green talent from the AHL, it is understandable that some may think this is more or less a throw away season for Minnesota.

But don't tell that locker room that. Pride can take you a long way...even eclipsing talent sometimes, and I think those boys in Minnesota have a lot of pride, lots of drive, and the kind of "eff everyone else" about them, that they may stick their noses in playoff contention where they have no business being.

Nashville's addition of Ryan McDonagh could help take the heat off Roman Josi and other guys like Tanner Jeannot, Cody Glass, and Eeli Tolvanen could continue to make strides and further compliment the core of Forsberg, Granlund, Johanson, Duchene up front.

Also added to the Preds were Zach Sanford and Nino Niederreiter for some extra special checking fun!
In fact, the Preds could re-create two third of one of the GREATESTE Wild lines every by having Nino and Granlund on the same line!
Too much? Ok, sorry bout that.....

Vancouver played VERY well for Bruce Boudreau last season. They were ultimately done in a poor start under Travis Green prior to that and the fact that their defense, and overall team toughness were about as sturdy as store brand single ply toilet paper.

Not so sure they really addressed the 'soft' issue, but they did add Travis Dermott to the back end, Andrei Kuzmenko and Curtis Lazar to the forward units, and Brock Boeser, underperforming worse than any NY Islander player (ok, ok, he was sidelined much of the season with rib issues, but still), and given a whole season with Bruce behind the bench, and these guys could turn out to be players in the Pacific for a post season spot.....even if the overall team outside of Luke Schenn and JT Miller are softer than a load of laundry dosed with fresh Downey....

Totally agree about Columbus and Vancouver...Gaudreau will help Laine for sure because that's what Gaudreau does he makes others better so maybe they won't be the next whatever but they should at the very least have earned to be the next 1st line and 1st power play line too for the entire season.

As for Gudbranson...too many teams overlook real toughness and leadership such as what Lucic and Gudbrandson bring to teams...I think Columbus fleeced Calgary twice in row and having more real toughness will benefit Gaudreau and others...I'm thinking Columbus at least makes the playoffs this year and they'll probably make more moves now too that they have Gaudreau...

Florida will surely improve their defence somehow since teams with players like Gaudreau and Tkachuk are always within their playoff window.

Vancouver will improve again this year because coaches like Boudreau and Sutter have that effect on teams just steady improving year after year.

I think Minnesota and the Islanders will continue to be playoff teams but still won't be able to get very far post season. New Jersey will make moves to improve but still won't be enough to make playoffs yet since the East is so tough...

9 hours ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

I'm talking about the last 4 with a caphit of 10.5 mill and 32 mill of signing bonus money paid out in them years.

 

Going to be hard to sign someone to pick up the slack with 3rd liner making that much bread...

 

Maybe we can buy him out or something by then...I still think it better to sign him first because it won't be till years later like you said till we got those problems...like the Giordano cap hit I wouldn't have minded keeping him too knowing that he'd resign for the league minimum later on...

1 hour ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

You might like it the first 4 but you're going to hate it the last 4.

Nah...by then there'll be others to pick up the slack...

Mangepanne and Kylington signed at least at reasonable rates...

Jarnkrok is a good deal at that price wish Calgary would have kept him at least for another year to see what he could do playing on same line as his cousin Lindholm...

6 hours ago, JR Ewing said:

 

I'm guessing that was directed at @FireDillabaugh, but I'll comment all the same. No way, no how. $3.5M on a 4th liner, in a salary cap league, is preposterous. Never mind his $5.25M AAV this year. That's a spot that should be filled by a bargain contract.

Well...we'll just have to agree to disagree there...I think Lucic is worth more than other 4th liners...having him and Gudbrandson allowed players like Tkachuk and Mangepanne and Dube etc play with more confidence and toughness and even Gaudreau had more room to play with teammates that can intimate the other team...I don't think it's any coincidence that all those players and the entire team had record seasons with toughness throughout the lineup it's not that Lucic alone makes all the difference it's the sum of the parts being with more and if Calgary just had 1 tough guy...it's like 1 tough guy is good but 2 tough guys is exponentially better for the team and so on...it's about the right combinations and right fit of course but if Calgary let's Lucic test free agency I don't see him getting less than 3-3.5M there will a be team willing to pay that or more for him...

6 hours ago, JR Ewing said:

 

 

 

July 27/21: Edmonton buys out the contract of James Neal, saving $5M AAV per year.

July 28/21: Edmonton signs Zach Hyman to a contract with a $5.5M AAV

I know it happened as you posted but I don't agree the Neal was beneficial for the sake of that..that like saying if I leased Lada for 5M/year a year ago and now I want to lease a Mercedes instead so I payed extra to get out of my previous lease I could lease the Mercedes instead...it would have been better not to have leased the Lada in the first place is my point...anyways we'll just have to agree to disagree that Edmonton won that trade too...

6 hours ago, JR Ewing said:

 

 

For the Oilers, that signing was made possible because of the Neal/Lucic trade. For the Flames, it meant that they lost out on being able to sign Blake Coleman AND another player in that salary range...

 

 

I like Calgary's roster, too, and I'd be surprised if they didn't make the playoffs.

 

I don't think Calgary getting both Hyman and Coleman is a realistic scenario...Hyman is better than Coleman and Lucic for sure but they all bring different skills...Hyman is 1st or 2nd line scoring and Coleman and Lucic are 3rd line...I think Sutter and Treliving want to keep Lucic for how he is a good influence on developing younger players too...even if the Lucic trade did not happen Calgary is stuck with Neal and can't get both Hyman and Coleman anyways...

8 hours ago, FireDillabaugh said:

Really?  For a 14 min ATOI what should be a 20-30 point 4th line center forced into a 3rd line center because of roster deficiencies?  I'm guessing he's the 3rd line center with Rooney as the 4th line center.  Can't say I agree he's worth that type of money just because he's being forced into a role he doesn't seem to be capable of earning as of late.  Injury or not.  Because he's in a position he shouldn't be in doesn't mean he's worth more money.

 

Edmonton was able to get rid of Lucic.  Sorry, but I don't think there's any doubt which team made out in that deal, no matter what the return was, or where it currently is.

 

What?  Lmao.  Ok.  You have serious over-evaluations on what you believe some talent is worth in today's NHL.  Because there's no way that a 34 year old Lucic is worthy of a 3 or 3.5 mil cap hit contract.  That's just Chuck Fletcher crazy right there.  As bad as Monahan is, he's worth more than what Lucic is worth.  And, imo, Monahan shouldn't be offered anything over a 2 mil per contract.

 

 

6 hours ago, JR Ewing said:

 

-Due to Lucic's contract status, Calgary was forced to protect him in the Seattle expansion draft, and lost Mark Giordano. This is a player who is universally respected, and who was only two years removed from a Norris Trophy and one year removed from a Mark Messier award.

-Edmonton was able to buyout Neal's contract and use that money on Zach Hyman, who scored 6-2-8 in 5 games against the Flames in the playoffs. All of this while Lucic went scoreless, playing the 2nd-fewest minutes on the team.

 

Even Ed Whelan would have called that a loss for the Flames.

Nah...Lucic has been good for Calgary and being the heavyweight champ of the NHL is worth 3.5M at least...Giordano just signed for 1M for another year so it's reasonable that other older guys will take part cuts too...Hyman is a good signing for sure but that's not because for the Neal/Lucic trade that's just Edmonton literally paying more to get rid of Neal to create cap space Calgary had cap space to afford him too but he chose Edmonton so Calgary took Coleman instead...and I don't see the Edmonton playoff series as what last season for Calgary is judged on I still like Calgary line up better than Edmonton...just bad luck that Calgary didn't play tough against Edmonton like they did against Dallas...anyways we'll see what Calgary does but I think they'll re-sign then both and Calgary will do worse than last year because of the changes from last year's roster but should still make the playoffs...

6 hours ago, JR Ewing said:

Good news for the Flames:

 

 

@Villella McMeans

Hold on... You want the Flames to extend Lucic after 2023? He had 6 points after the All-Star break, and Sutter was forced cut his minutes back with every month that went by, to the extent that he was under 10 minutes in the playoffs. If I'm Brad Treliving, I'm excitedly marking every day on the calendar in red until I have him off my payroll, especially since the trade to acquire him hurt so badly this past Spring.

 

 

Yeah extend him if cheaper of course like around 3M or 3.5M I think Calgary being the toughest team in the league helped them and because Lucic wasn't playing tough with Edmonton because he's friends with all of them they tricked Calgary out of their game of beating everyone up to win like they did to Nashville...it was like they made some secret agreement not to fight in the playoffs...anyways it wasn't just having Lucic he can't do it all himself is having Gudbrandson too and Ritchie for under a million and Zadorov the toughness is spread out everywhere over 2 forward lines and the defence...for Sutter hockey to win they have to play like they did against Nashville and intimidate other teams by fighting not just hard checks...

3 hours ago, JR Ewing said:

 

Cheese moment in sports: when the Oilers and Flames agreed to the Neal/Lucic trade, they agreed on a condition which stipulated that the Oilers must send a 3rd round pick if James Neal scored 20 goals. He scored 19, but the NHL decided to pro-rate Neal's totals, meaning that the conditions were meant for the 3rd round pick to go to Calgary. You can take the league out of the bush, but you can't take the bush out of the league.

 

It sucks, but doesn't matter in the end. The trade worked out handsomely for Edmonton.

Handsomely for Calgary you mean...?

10 hours ago, J0e Th0rnton said:

Lol. Why would he WANT to extend Monahan?

 

The guy has been nothing but downhill for 3 years. He's a 4th liner production who was playing with superstars

Haha yeah...but he'll probably take less now and at at around 2.5M or 3.5M for him isn't bad plus he might do better after surgery...hoping so at least...

15 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

I still say Florida and Calgary have to make some other deal to compliment this big one they did with each other.

I want to say Florida got the "best player in the deal moving forward", but Jonathan Huberdeau is no slouch in the production department either for Calgary.
Thing is, Tkachuk is such a combination of workmanlike grind and goal scoring, plus being 5 years younger, that I think it puts him over the top as the best player in this deal.

But back to more deals....
Florida's Achilles Heel seems to be that defense, though some may want to put Bobrovsky as being a weakness as well, though you wouldn't know it by his regular seasons anyway.
As good as Tkachuk is, he doesn't address Florida's weak points.
And abuse of the Florida defense is one of the  main reasons the Lightning swept away the President's trophy winning Panthers.
They should be on the prowl to add a solid defenseman somehow.

As for Calgary, if they can manage to keep both Weegar and Huberdeau on past this coming season, then one could say they did very well as has been mentioned by others already.
But, they would need a contingency plan if one or both of those players decided they want to go elsewhere after the 22-23 season.
So, I'd look for Calgary to try and get some up n coming player to add to their roster, some RFA maybe they can trade the rights for.

Or maybe even just pick up some project player they can start working with right now.
An Ondrej Kase, Sonny Milano, or Sam Steel whom Anaheim left unsigned.

If the Flames can ride things out this season, they will have Milan Lucic and Sean Monahan coming off their books (around 11.5M in cap space), so that will create room for other signings.

Treliving will probably extend Monahan for less money now that he can bargain him down...which isn't bad depending on how low he can sign him for...hopefully same for Lucic if Treliving can sign Lucic for cheaper I'll be really happy...Huberdeau and Weegar we probably won't be able to extend but we could trade them for something depending on how the season goes...I think Tkachuk will help Florida alot this year so I don't think Florida made a bad deal but I just keeps making me think what Calgary could have gotten for Gaudreau...

3 hours ago, Hockey Junkie said:

Put this on the record.  BOSTON WILL REGRESS.  They are in for a long season.  I promise you.  First the stupid firing of coach and then they lost some key players.  They are going down.  I believe Ottawa is better than Detroit but the Red Wings have Hossa to sort of bring things more even.  But I fear Ottawa more. 

Can't agree about Buffalo it's just unimaginable...Ottawa I could agree with but not Buffalo they're typecast now...I do agree about Boston regressing though...

1 hour ago, FireDillabaugh said:

Both of which are set to be UFAs in '23-24, with Hubey being 30 and Weegar being 29 when that time arrives.

Yeah but at least we'll have the year to see what they can do to help and figure out where to send trade if they don't want to stay either...really appreciate Tkachuk for letting Calgary know beforehand he wouldn't stay...

Worried whose leaving Calgary next...

...and you're right aboutit still hurting though...wonder whose next...

Now Tkachuk...at least got Huberdeau and Weegar though...

17 hours ago, JR Ewing said:

@Villella McMeans

 

Canadian sports teams face many disadvantages when compared to just about any US destination, such as taxes, climate, and not having to deal with frenzied fans. I have to admit to a special sort of annoyance, when teams like the Flames and Oilers contribute financially to maintaining perpetually unwatched and unprofitable southern teams while fans in Edmonton and Calgary pay high prices for tickets and a drink, and must work overtime to get and keep good players. We're at the stage of the game where Canadian teams really need to consider the birthplace of the player they're drafting because, to the extent that I'm not very attracted to the idea of living in the US, US-born players can't be faulted for desiring to live close to their families and the culture they know.

 

---

 

The Flames are now in a pickle with Matt Tkachuk, and it's not their fault at all. If they want to keep him, they will have to pony up the sort of money that elite players get, and while I think he's very good, I don't think he's in that range where they want to pay out the same kind of cash that goes to players like Connor McDavid or Auston Matthews.

 

Yeah...and at least Tkachuk has let Calgary know what his future plans are earlier too allow a trade too...I'll always be wondering what Calgary could have gotten from Columbus for Gaudreau in a trade instead of losing him to free agency...

...and despite losing to Edmonton this year I'll always consider this year one of the best for Calgary especially the regular season really showed what Sutter can do with a team and I'll be excited to see what he can do losing these key players and more...

36 minutes ago, JR Ewing said:

Matthew Tkachuk has told the Calgary Flames that he won’t be re-signing with the club, multiple sources tell The Athletic, making a trade of the 24-year-old All-Star forward likely to happen soon.

Tkachuk has not officially asked for a trade, but the fact that the restricted free agent is unwilling to make a long-term commitment to Calgary would be the driving force behind the decision to move him now.

 

In addition to making the Flames aware that he won’t be re-signing with the organization that picked him at No. 6 in the 2016 NHL Draft, Tkachuk has supplied them with a list of teams with whom he would agree to a long-term contract, according to multiple sources. Tkachuk does have some power over where he might land, given that teams likely won't want to pay as large of a trade price for him as a rental.

 

One source familiar with Tkachuk’s list said that St. Louis, Vegas, Florida, Nashville and Dallas are options. New Jersey and the New York Rangers are also among the other teams that have expressed interest in the past.

 

This week, Calgary filed for club-elected arbitration. A hearing is expected to be held between July 27 and Aug. 11. The date for Tkachuk’s case has not yet been announced. If the team and Tkachuk did go to arbitration, a one-year contract would be awarded.

 

That procedural step gave the Flames time to work out a deal — either a sign-and-trade, which would allow for a maximum eight-year extension and perhaps increase the size of the return, or just a traditional trade including his signing rights. A long-term contract would likely carry at least a $9 million annual average value for Tkachuk, who had 42 goals and 104 points in 82 games last season. The left winger was voted a second-team All-Star.

 

At this point, it appears highly unlikely that the Flames could convince Tkachuk to re-sign, even if they offered him a huge contract and the captaincy. One source said it’s expected that Tkachuk will definitely be dealt before the arbitration hearing.

 

https://theathletic.com/news/tkachuk-trade-likely-flames-sources/pH0rzGF2cZYs/

 

-----

 

Ouch, and I mean that with 0% sarcasm. As a fan, I've been there.

 

I'll never hate Johnny Hockey he didn't have to write that and I'd still cheer for him wherever he goes...but it's good of him to write that...things like not being able to go his grandfather funeral etc are high prices to pay for being a professional...I wouldn't be able to make all the time sacrifices that's for sure...just too bad his family and I mean his parents etc wouldn't want to spend more time in Calgary...his dad was already living with him during the season and the playoffs...they could have bought their parents homes in Calgary and I'm sure they all considered all that...oh well...naturally stars that can choose like Tkachuk will all go back to wherever they choose...but if it were me I would've forced my parents and wife to live in Calgary with me hahaha yeah I'm more selfish than Johnny Hockey in that way but he's more selfish in wherever way that made him leave and start the end of this Cup window for Calgary...as a fan I'll miss Johnny Hockey and respect him more for this letter even though I still don't agree...just like I'll always be cheering for Calgary even if they were last in the league...

Might as well turn my mind to the rebuild and who we might get for everyone that's planning to leave...