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2019 NHL Off Season News Thread

jeffbear said:
I think Hall just wants to keep his options open. If things go well for the Devs when they add Hughes or Kaaako up front, he could well end up signing a new deal.

And I do like the Flyers to be in position to make a move. That team never gave up on the season this year, despite how frustrating it must have been for them. They've got good bones on that roster and if Hart can be solid in net, Fletcher should be able to add a couple of parts to get them to improve a notch or two. I also think Montreal could be poised to improve. They aren't far off and are unlikely to be taking a step backwards. They need mobility on D and one or two creative forwards ... nothing too fancy. And Florida is a wildcard. If they do add Bob and Panarin then look out ... because, like the Flyers the bones of the lineup are solid and that team plays HARD.
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With Q in Florida now and the owner willing to spend money on goaltending and maybe Panarin, look out indeed. Florida has been a lot like the Canes, a great collection of young talent on the cusp of a playoff spot but inconsistent goaltending that sat just outside the playoff bubble.
 
CanadaCanes said:
With Q in Florida now and the owner willing to spend money on goaltending and maybe Panarin, look out indeed. Florida has been a lot like the Canes, a great collection of young talent on the cusp of a playoff spot but inconsistent goaltending that sat just outside the playoff bubble.
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Yeah ... I went back and fleshed out my comments. Florida is definitely looking to make a leap and well set up to do it. Montreal, too.
 
Florida's goaltending situation is one of the reasons a couple of mock drafts expect them to snag Spencer Knight at #13.
 
Punzil said:
Florida's goaltending situation is one of the reasons a couple of mock drafts expect them to snag Spencer Knight at #13.
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Yeah, I get that but from all I'm seeing on Knight, taking him at 13 would be a heck of a reach. Still, with goalies you just never know since the traditional over-valuing of goalies in the draft pool renders a lot of those rankings fairly meaningless.
 
Rumors out of Buffalo claim that Skinner and the Slugs are close to an eight-year, $72 million deal. No confirmation yet.
 
As I said earlier, good luck with that deal Buffalo.

I'm sure they are thinking that with Eichel, Skinner will score 35+ goals every single year of that deal. And maybe he does exactly that. But man, if you are paying a guy $9 million per, don't you want him to be a big difference maker out there? Sure your biggest trick can be scoring goals, that is the name of the game after all, but Skinner doesn't really dominate anything out there. He's crap in his own zone. Crap in the corners. Crap coming back to play defense. Disappears for massive stretches. Doesn't kill penalties.

$9 million per would put Skinner 14th in the entire NHL for forwards in terms of average cap hit. That of course is skewed by when players signed their mega deals and the ever increasing cap, but look at the list and you will see why I'm glad its not us considering giving Jeff Skinner $9 million per:

1. Connor McDavid $12,500,000
2. Auston Matthews $11,634,000
3. John Tavares $11,000,000
4. Jonathan Toews $10,500,000
5. Patrick Kane $10,500,000
6. Jack Eichel $10,000,000
7. Anze Kopitar $10,000,000
8. Tyler Seguin $9,850,000
9. Alex Ovechkin $9,538,462
10. Nikita Kucherov $9,500,000
11. Jamie Benn $9,500,000
12. Mark Stone $9,500,000
13. Evgeni Malkin $9,500,000

JEFF SKINNER?????

14. Sidney Crosby $8,700,000
15. Corey Perry $8,625,000
16. Steven Stamkos $8,500,000
17. Leon Draisaitl $8,500,000
18. Claude Giroux $8,275,000
19. Blake Wheeler $8,250,000

Good for Jeff if/when he gets that money. And good luck Buffalo, because Jeff Skinner is NOT the guy you give 11% of your cap space to. Y'all been hoodwinked, snookered, fooled into thinking he should be paid like some sort of complete multi-dimensional dominating superstar. Better you than us.
 
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cmaleski2 said:
Good for Jeff if/when he gets that money. And good luck Buffalo, because Jeff Skinner is NOT the guy you give 11% of your cap space to. Y'all been hoodwinked, snookered, fooled into thinking he should be paid like some sort of complete multi-dimensional dominating superstar. Better you than us.
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There's no bigger Skinner supporter than me, and I agree with you. I mean, go get your money Jeffrey ... but he's not a centerpiece kind of player. He just isn't. He can't drive his own line and needs somebody else to do the dirty work, even in purely offensive settings. Just look at that list. The teams with two guys on the list are teams that are either serious Cup contenders now, or have been in the recent past. Is Buffalo anywhere near that with Skinner and Eichel? Lightyears away, man ... and in a small to medium market. That's the kind of stuff that gets GMs fired.
 
That's quite the list, Cmal. Almost any guy (not an Eichel fan!) on that list is worthy of building a team around and some teams have, but no way Skinner belongs there. He is not a guy you build around, he's a good supplemental piece, especially given the the things he does not do. He's a scorer and meshed well with Eichel, but are Eichel and Skinner the leadership/skills tandem that gets you through to the Cup??
 
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Buffalo must feel like they have little choice as they are thin for real forward talent (Eichel, Reinhart, Skinner...??)

However, does feel like they are addressing what might be only a short-term or mid-term problem with a long-term solution.

Fans on their boards feel like this is a deal that needs to get done and they are worried that Skinner will go UFA. However, even they are swallowing hard at $9M/yr.

They think the 8-year term should get them a slight discount since it's a larger contract total. But it doesn't really work like that since total 8-year contract has to be compared to 7-year contract and the statistical likelihood of what might be earned that 8th season if still serviceable and on the market as a UFA.

Does give them a slight edge...but that's all...a slight edge. Geography (proximity to family and GF working in Toronto) might help as much as that contract edge.

Mostly they poor-mouth their team and wonder why anyone would want to play there?

Oh, wait...that's just me. :sarcasm
 
Elsker said:
Buffalo must feel like they have little choice as they are thin for real forward talent (Eichel, Reinhart, Skinner...??)

However, does feel like they are addressing what might be only a short-term or mid-term problem with a long-term solution.
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Nice. I agree 100%
 
SlapShots said:
That's quite the list, Cmal. Almost any guy (not an Eichel fan!) on that list is worthy of building a team around and some teams have, but no way Skinner belongs there. He is not a guy you build around, he's a good supplemental piece, especially given the the things he does not do. He's a scorer and meshed well with Eichel, but are Eichel and Skinner the leadership/skills tandem that gets you through to the Cup??
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Probably does not even get them to a foot in the crease.
 
Per CapFriendly, here are the details. The first 6 years are $10 million per, with $7.5 million signing bonus in the 2nd and 4th years.

2019-20: $10M Base
2020-21: $2.5M Base $7.5M SB
2021-22: $10M Base
2022-23: $2.5M Base $7.5M SB
2023-24: $10M Base
2024-25: $10M Base
2025-26: $7M Base
2026-27: $5M Base
 
Don’t forge the full NMC.

Every free agent winger just texted Skinner to thank him.


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That is a great deal for Skinner and a horrible one for Buffalo. I know someone earlier said they were not an Eichel fan, but I think he is pretty special and plays a great two-way game. Eichel can cover up a lot of what is bad about Skinner's game. Take Eichel away and try to play Skinner on another line and that deal looks even worse for Buffalo. I think we all agree he is a buyout candidate during the last 2 years of the deal and likely a fan favorite to complain about very soon if he disappears again like the last 2 months of this season. All that said, not sure Buffalo had any other options but to sign him.
 
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