July NHL News - Free Agency

prizminferno

New Member
Jul 12, 2005
355
If you have to move a 1st and player with Backes and have no 1sts for the next 3 years (you can do 2 in 3 for the OS) you do it. I know it won't be popular, and there's ways to pick up a 1st elsewhere if you have to over time.
 

TSC

SoSH's Doug Neidermeyer
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Oct 25, 2007
12,280
Between here and everywhere.
You should be so proud. You must be one of those people that think offer sheets are greasy and a snake move by teams. Bruins need to get on offer sheeting Laine right now.

This should be in Laine's hands right now
No. I just think you’re an idiot who tries to cover up your idiocy by posting so many idiotic things we don’t have the bandwidth to call you an idiot on all them.

You’re basically the Trump of RMPS.
 

prizminferno

New Member
Jul 12, 2005
355
Whether it's wise or not, there's no way the Bruins would be interested in Laine. They just don't value guys who are bad defensively, no matter what they bring offensively. And he's really bad.
He's also 21. Maybe their philosophy needs a bit of an adjustment, too.

And you could probably see what kind of picks you can get for Krug to offset $/picks
 

Salem's Lot

Andy Moog! Andy God Damn Moog!
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Jul 15, 2005
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If you have to move a 1st and player with Backes and have no 1sts for the next 3 years (you can do 2 in 3 for the OS) you do it. I know it won't be popular, and there's ways to pick up a 1st elsewhere if you have to over time.
Don Sweeney is not giving up a 1st to move David Backes. He refused to trade a 1st at the deadline last March for an actual piece for a playoff run, so he’s definitely not giving up a 1st to dump a contract. Face it, he is on the books this season unless he’s on LTIR. The Bruins paid the bonus yesterday and still no one will take him even though they would only have to pay him $5 million in real money out of $12 million. I don’t even think another team would take him if the Bruins paid the rest of the cash (which I don’t think they are actually allowed to do). He’s on the team next year.
 

Haunted

The Man in the Box
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Aug 23, 2006
6,196
Yeah, unfortunately he is the definition of a sunk cost. Accept it. Work around it and stop smashing your head into it.
 

veritas

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Jan 13, 2009
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I think we're undervaluing Backes a bit. He's an above replacement level player still, IMO, and for teams not near the cap, it's really just $5 mil over two seasons. I don't think it'd take a 1st rounder to get rid of him. Marleau was bad last season and about to turn 40. Backes had decent underlying metrics, still good defensively for a winger.

And if they can't get rid of him, he's not the worst option to give 40 games to on the 3rd/4th line. He seemed to play much better when well rested. Maybe play him every other day while they ease a young player into the lineup.
 

burstnbloom

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Jul 12, 2005
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I think we're undervaluing Backes a bit. He's an above replacement level player still, IMO, and for teams not near the cap, it's really just $5 mil over two seasons. I don't think it'd take a 1st rounder to get rid of him. Marleau was bad last season and about to turn 40. Backes had decent underlying metrics, still good defensively for a winger.

And if they can't get rid of him, he's not the worst option to give 40 games to on the 3rd/4th line. He seemed to play much better when well rested. Maybe play him every other day while they ease a young player into the lineup.
Marleau was also on an over 35 contract and would only play for one team and that team couldn't afford him at $6m. There is little precedent for how valueless an asset he was to 29 other teams. If Backes will waive his NTC, he will want to play.
 

cshea

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Nov 15, 2006
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Sharks RFA Kevin Labanc signs for 1-year, $1 million.

That seems insane. The only upside for him I guess is he’ll have arbitration rights after the season. Otherwise, he had 56 points last year. Similar position as Kasperi Kapanen who got $3.2 million from the Leafs. Labanc is the better player, he left a ton on the table. I guess he’s just really betting on himself that he’ll cash in next year when he has arb rights?
 

cshea

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That is a terrible deal for Chicago in my opinion.

Edit: Nylander has a 165 game track record of pretty average results in the AHL. Jokiharju as a rookie was a decent defender NHL getting 19 minutes a game for roughly half a season before they sent him down. Chicago has a lot of players on D so they probably had to move someone but you’d figure he’d be one they’d like to keep since he’s waivers exempt and has showed promise.
 
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PedroSpecialK

Comes at you like a tornado of hair and the NHL sa
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Dec 12, 2004
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Yeah Dreger has $3.5m AAV. In a vacuum, not an atrocious salary figure for Ferland, but good grief that roster construction is bad.

Canucks forward and AAVs

Loui Eriksson: $6m (3 years left)
Bo Horvat: $5.5m (4 years left)
J.T. Miller: $5.25m (4 years left)
Brandon Sutter: $4.375m (2 years left)
Tanner Pearson: $3.75m (2 years left)
Micheal Ferland: $3.5m (4 years left)
Sven Baertschi: $3.37m (2 years left)
Antoine Roussel: $3m (3 years left)
Jay Beagle: $3m (3 years left)
Tim Schaller: $1.9m (1 year left)
Josh Leivo: $1.5m (1 year left)

$37.645m right there. Out of those, I would submit that Horvat and maybe Leivo are the only good contracts. Roussel was good last year but I still think he's trash by the time that deal's done.

They also have Boeser as an unsigned RFA with $5m in space left, after factoring Ferland and the Luongo recapture penalty in. Benning and Fenton must have some serious kompromat to still be employed.
 

TFP

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Dec 10, 2007
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Not sure where else to put this, but read an article on the Athletic by Dom about the 10 current worst contracts in the NHL based on future expected value for the cost. So past production doesn't count, just how much future production you should get for the remaining years/$. It's all objective based on his model (which he admits is imperfect) but there's no qualitative judgement here. What's really interesting to me is that there are 4 UFA contracts from the summer 2016 in the top 10...and NONE of them are Backes. What a disaster that summer was, but it at least explains how his contract got signed.

For reference, here is the list with the $ remaining, the ones from the 2016 summer are asterisked
  1. Brent Seabrook - 6 X $6.875M
  2. Drew Doughty - 8 X $11M
  3. Kyle Okposo* - 4 X $6M
  4. Marc-Edouard Vlasic - 7 X $7M
  5. Milan Lucic* - 4 X $6M
  6. Mike Matheson - 7 X $4.875
  7. Cam Fowler - 7 X $6.5M
  8. Loui Eriksson* - 3 X $6M
  9. Bobby Ryan - 3 X $7.25M
  10. Andrew Ladd* - 4 X $5.5M
 

DJnVa

Dorito Dawg
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Dec 16, 2010
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He also has article about 10 best contracts and Bruins are at 1 and 2.
 

cshea

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I also found it amusing the Sebastian Aho offersheet was in the top 10 for best contracts. Good one, Habs!

Backes escaped the top 10 bad side largely because there are only 2 years left.
 

j44thor

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Aug 1, 2006
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Erik Karlsson and Drew Doughty have near identical contracts, actually EK is $500K more per season for same term.
I wonder why he is so much higher on EK who is 6 months younger than Drew. EK doesn't have quite the wear and tear but he also isn't as big as Drew.

I think they are a coin flip as far as who will be the better player the next 8yrs though EK will certainly look better for the foreseeable future playing on a much better team.
 

j44thor

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Aug 1, 2006
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Really surprised Dzingel didn't get more than that. Even if he was overrated at the trade deadline he is still worth 4+ M in today's market and only 2yrs at 27YO though perhaps that was his desire to hit FA before 30.
 

cshea

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They’re going two years though because of the US TV deal and Seattle’s expansion fee’s. The cap is supposed to jump after the 20/21 season when a new US tv deal is in place. Plus there’s the $650 million Seattle expansion fee that will be in the owners back pocket. The Dzingel’s and Johansson’s of the league got squeezed a bit this year due to a lower cap and changing RFA market, but their hope is to take another crack at it when theoretically more money should be in the system. Of course, this assumes labor peace. They have to actually get through a CBA negotiation without a work stoppage for it to work.
 

veritas

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Jan 13, 2009
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Dzingel is also one of the worst defensive forwards in the league, just absolutely terrible. That's likely a big reason for his low money relative to his offensive production.

He'll be an interesting fit on Carolina, who were a dominant possession team last year. He can really shoot the puck though, and they need someone who can do that.
 

cshea

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Nov 15, 2006
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Sweet Melnyk move today. Send trade Zack Smith to Chicago for Artem Anisimov.

Both players under contract for 2 years. Anisimov has the higher cap hit at $4.55 million, but Chicago paid out a bonus on 7:1 so he is only owned $5 million in real cash over the 2 years. Smith has a $3.25 million cap hit but it is all salary so the Sens end up saving $1.5 million in real money in the move.
 

Jettisoned

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May 6, 2008
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Sweet Melnyk move today. Send trade Zack Smith to Chicago for Artem Anisimov.
Thwre is a 100% chance Meldick made this trade for money, but I actually like it from a hockey perspective. Anisimov is better than Smith and we could probably get a decent pick for him at the 2020 draft or 2021 deadline.
 

cshea

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Melnyk trade for Calgary, they are saving $7 million in cash. That’s all I can think for the reasoning, Neal is cheaper and the better bet to produce.

Lucic- 4 years, $6 million cap hit, $16 million in cash left to be paid.

Neal- 4 years $5.75 cap hit, $23 million left to be paid.
 

Dummy Hoy

Angry Pissbum
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Jul 22, 2006
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Melnyk trade for Calgary, they are saving $7 million in cash. That’s all I can think for the reasoning, Neal is cheaper and the better bet to produce.

Lucic- 4 years, $6 million cap hit, $16 million in cash left to be paid.

Neal- 4 years $5.75 cap hit, $23 million left to be paid.
I think Neal was killing the room...they wanted to clear him out before he soured the kids.
 

veritas

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Jan 13, 2009
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I like the trade for Calgary. Neal definitely didn’t fit there, he’s a general shitbag, and based on last season, not as good at hockey as Lucic.

Lucic’s contract is terrible, but he’s a valuable bottom 6 guy in a vacuum. His defensive metrics are very solid still. If Neal isn’t good enough to play on a a scoring line, he’s useless. Maybe he’ll bounce back, but he might just be useless. It’s a much more high risk/reward bet
 

veritas

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Jan 13, 2009
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St. Louis signed Oskar Sundqvist, 4 years, $2.75 per. Think that’s a bit of an overpay for a 25 year old coming off a career year with unsustainable shooting percentages.
 

NYCSox

chris hansen of goats
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The big difference is that the Neal contract can be bought out on the usual terms (2/3 total AAV over 2X years). Looch OTOH ....
 
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cshea

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Nov 15, 2006
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My favorite part of the trade is the conditional pick. The Flames get a 3rd if Neal scores 21 or more goals and Lucic scores 10 or more less than Neal.
 

PedroSpecialK

Comes at you like a tornado of hair and the NHL sa
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Dec 12, 2004
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Who knew that Nathan Horton and David Clarkson would be the Leafs’ secret weapon for cap compliance?

This 2+ years on full season LTIR nonsense needs to be addressed next CBA, obviously
 

cshea

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Not sure I would’ve done it, but at least Vasilevskiy is 25. Their goaltending is now set for the next 8 years. I think it is a little less risky than the Price and Bobrovsky contracts. Also, bad goaltending can derail a season no matter how good the skaters are. I kinda understand just locking the guy up and not worrying about the position for the next several years. I may have chosen to ace money at that position and then roll the dice on finding a Dubnyk, Lehner type in UFA or the draft but I do understand where Tampa is coming from in locking him up.

Elsewhere, NYR signed Buchnevich over the weekend for 2 years, $3.25 AAV. NYR now $4.1 million over the cap with Tony DeAngelo left to sign. They have a new buyout window that closes soon, some speculation that Shattenkirk could get bought out but I don’t think that happens since the year two buyout cap charge is like $6.3 million. I was hoping for a Beleskey buyout but as far as I can tell he isn’t eligible. According to Cap Friendly any buyout during the 2nd window has to be someone with a cap hit north of $3.45 million.
 

PedroSpecialK

Comes at you like a tornado of hair and the NHL sa
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Dec 12, 2004
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Beleskey's cap hit is still above it at $3.8m, it's just shared by Boston and NYR - been hoping they can still buy him out with that in mind.