NHL Offseason Thread: Plugged Up Cat Butts and Unknown Russians

[Obsidian]

Don Cherry thinks Calgary has the best defense in the league with the addition of Dougie. I... I don't want to be counting any chickens =\

It's a pretty solid group (especially for a team "rebuilding"), but I think the Ducks have everyone beat on D.

[Sepukku]

There is a very, very, very, very fine line between being a 'shot blocking defenseman' like 2009 Rob Scuderi or 2015 Kris Russell and being a 'too slow' defenseman like 2015 Rob Scuderi. I wouldn't count on Kris Russell being a dependable defenseman for 5+ years.

I have nothing bad to say about Mark Giordano or TJ Brodie though other than I question the cause behind a sudden emergence of a player at Giordano's age followed by a freak injury like a bicep rupture or w/e it was.

[Deader2818]

It's a pretty solid group (especially for a team "rebuilding"), but I think the Ducks have everyone beat on D.

Is this 2007?

The Ducks were 20th in defense last season lol.

They havent made any upgrades there either.

[Vaspinne]

There is a very, very, very, very fine line between being a 'shot blocking defenseman' like 2009 Rob Scuderi or 2015 Kris Russell and being a 'too slow' defenseman like 2015 Rob Scuderi. I wouldn't count on Kris Russell being a dependable defenseman for 5+ years.

I have nothing bad to say about Mark Giordano or TJ Brodie though other than I question the cause behind a sudden emergence of a player at Giordano's age followed by a freak injury like a bicep rupture or w/e it was.

Oh, Russell takes a beating every single game. No way he has a long, sustainable career. And that's the thing, it's great that he blocked the most shots in a single game, and set records and the like, but that just means the Flames allowed a shit-ton of shot attempts which is nothing to brag about. If he blocked 15 whatever shots it was, and the opposing team only got like 10 shots on goal all game, than that would be a big accomplishment. Compared to the actual game where he blocked so many and the opposing team still probably got near 30 shots on.

Hamilton and Brodie both being young and really fucking good are both big pluses. Gio... yeah, I hope he can play that well for another couple years but we'll see. Wideman is the oldest of the bunch I'm pretty sure and will decline. Russell takes a beating. Engelland is Engelland. But I'm excited to see how Tyler Wotherspoon and Kenney Morrison do this year. We also have some decent other D-prospects that could have a chance to make an impact. Schlemko was okay last year and Smid was solid too, but I dunno if he'll even play anymore. His injury kept him out for the bulk of the season.

Overall, how well the team does on Defense will ultimately be determined by how well the Offense can turn their possession game around. I expect them to be better. Treliving is a smart doode, he knows the team was piss-poor in that regard and I'm sure he's stressed to Hartley how that needs to change.

[Vaspinne]

So I just dug into the archives to find the March 5th game against Boston Russell blocked 15 shots in. Here are some fun facts:

Russell blocked 15 shots, but a bunch of other players had blocks too;
Wideman had 8
Bouma had 4
Engelland had 3
2 players had 2
3 players had 1
So a total of 37 blocked shots.

Boston also had 37 shots on net. That's 74 shot attempts right there in a single game. Not including shots that went wide and weren't blocked/tracked by stats. So it could have been potentially quite a bit higher. Even if you keep it at 74 and factor in that the game went to a SO, that's still over a shot attempt a minute for Boston in the game.

Comparatively Calgary had 32 shots as well as 10 blocked shots. Again, not counting shots that went wide and weren't tracked. That's still a 74 to 42 shot taken ratio which like I said earlier, while it's great Russell set a shot blocking record, that's still not something to be proud of at all =/

[Wulfgang]

Perds defense will rule them all in a couple years.

[Sepukku]

Pens extend cole three years, 2.1 cap hit

[BadKarma]

Dallas just overpayed super hard for Niemi

[Ratatapa]

Dallas just overpayed super hard for Niemi

3 years 13.5mill

[BadKarma]

They now have the most money invested in goalies per season in the league

[Thoronas]

Dallas just overpayed super hard for Niemi

4.5 for three years. It's not that terrible if you compared to what Hiller and Miller got last year.

[Cail]

Jay Beagle ba k with the Caps for 3 years. Didn't see a $ total

[Thoronas]

Jay Beagle ba k with the Caps for 3 years. Didn't see a $ total

$5.25 mil total.

[Cail]

I'll take that all day

[Judai]

that's like half a mil per year too much, donotlike, especially if we don't keep Ward.

[Xajii]

that's like half a mil per year too much, donotlike, especially if we don't keep Ward.

1000% disagree, Beagle is a way way way bigger asset to the team than fans give him credit for. Faceoff and PK godliness and he showed up in the playoffs big time, not to mention versatility and veteran expereince. Good player, good price.

[Ratatapa]

Kings terminate contract with Mike Richards

[Judai]

1000% disagree, Beagle is a way way way bigger asset to the team than fans give him credit for. Faceoff and PK godliness and he showed up in the playoffs big time, not to mention versatility and veteran expereince. Good player, good price.

wat, he missed 2 wide open basically empty net goals(yea he had a nifty off multi-skates goal). He's a solid guy and I like him but he's a fourth liner, and you can get those anywhere. Half the reason the Caps are unable to get another top 6 guy is because 3/4 liners like chimera/brouwer are paid too much atm. You like Beagle but I'm pretty sure you complained about MoJo, who upped his game tremendously last season and then was even better in the playoffs.

I like keepng Beagle but it's just a little too much.

[Xajii]

wat, he missed 2 wide open basically empty net goals(yea he had a nifty off multi-skates goal). He's a solid guy and I like him but he's a fourth liner, and you can get those anywhere. Half the reason the Caps are unable to get another top 6 guy is because 3/4 liners like chimera/brouwer are paid too much atm. You like Beagle but I'm pretty sure you complained about MoJo, who upped his game tremendously last season and then was even better in the playoffs.

I like keepng Beagle but it's just a little too much.

Fact is there is nobody at all to replace him in terms of PK and faceoff ability, which are two things that the caps excelled at and helped us get tot he point we got. I'm judging his playoff performance not by goals alone but how things went when he was on the ice - he grinded out hard and fought for every puck and made smart plays often.. He's never going to be a true goal scorer, and that's fine by me.

Mojo did get better, and I'd like to see him stay at the right price, but Mojo doesn't have the same versatility as Beagle and it's easier, frankly, to find a middle tier scoring talent than it is to find an elite faceoff/PK specialist for the right price.

Of course, I dont' care about ANY of this until we sign Holtby.

[NynJa]

Kings terminate contract with Mike Richards

Key word is "terminate" and not "buyout", they're saying he breached the contract somehow.