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2019 NHL Off Season News Thread

So Jesse Pulujaarvi and his agent have said they cannot go back for another year of hardship with Edmonton and are demanding a trade. The asking price per TSN has apparently come down to as low as a second round draft pick, he was the fourth overall pick in the draft not too long ago and has never really seemed to fit in for whatever reason with the Oilers. He was Aho's linemate in Finland with at least one World Junior team where they tore it up alongside Laine.

This would seem like a low risk gamble for the Canes if it was as simple as second round pick. I still think the guy has tons of potential and he has the skill and size to be a great player, but coming off the hip surgery at year end would be a bit of a risk.
 
CanadaCanes said:
So Jesse Pulujaarvi and his agent have said they cannot go back for another year of hardship with Edmonton and are demanding a trade. The asking price per TSN has apparently come down to as low as a second round draft pick, he was the fourth overall pick in the draft not too long ago and has never really seemed to fit in for whatever reason with the Oilers. He was Aho's linemate in Finland with at least one World Junior team where they tore it up alongside Laine.

This would seem like a low risk gamble for the Canes if it was as simple as second round pick. I still think the guy has tons of potential and he has the skill and size to be a great player, but coming off the hip surgery at year end would be a bit of a risk.
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I'd take him for a low 2nd rounder in a heartbeat. And he really does need to get out of there sooner rather than later if he's ever going to be an NHL player of any substance. That's a dead end for him.
 
JFG said:
And since we have, what is it? 4 second rounders, where's the risk?
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If the guy is serious about rehabbing his game and working hard, then he'd be willing to take a short term deal and work his way up. If not, then ... pfft. But there's no way I'd trade for him without assurances from his representation that he's going to work harder than he has done for the last three years. The risk would be that he's just a bad fit in an "earn it" team culture. But even then, you bury the guy in the minors and send him down the road ... so long as he was willing to sign a short term deal in the first place.
 
jeffbear said:
If the guy is serious about rehabbing his game and working hard, then he'd be willing to take a short term deal and work his way up. If not, then ... pfft. But there's no way I'd trade for him without assurances from his representation that he's going to work harder than he has done for the last three years. The risk would be that he's just a bad fit in an "earn it" team culture. But even then, you bury the guy in the minors and send him down the road ... so long as he was willing to sign a short term deal in the first place.
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Maybe the influence of Aho and Turbo could straighten him out. For a 2nd, I’d take a chance.
 
Sure. Look at it this way, what 2nd rounder are you gonna draft with that quality of 1st round talent who's an NHL player straight out of the box? Nobody, that's who.
 
jeffbear said:
Sure. Look at it this way, what 2nd rounder are you gonna draft with that quality of 1st round talent who's an NHL player straight out of the box? Nobody, that's who.
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The other weird wrinkle being reported by McKenzie and Dreger on TSN is the Oilers have mild interest in Mrazek as a tandem in goal with Koskinen and were kicking the tires in acquiring Mrazek's negotiating rights if the Canes were not going that route on a new contract for him. How about a second round pick and Mrazek's rights to the Oilers for Pulujaarvi!

https://www.tsn.ca/insider-trading-toronto-maple-leafs-in-the-thick-of-the-trade-talk-leading-up-to-nhl-draft-1.1326143
 
CanadaCanes said:
The other weird wrinkle being reported by McKenzie and Dreger on TSN is the Oilers have mild interest in Mrazek as a tandem in goal with Koskinen and were kicking the tires in acquiring Mrazek's negotiating rights if the Canes were not going that route on a new contract for him. How about a second round pick and Mrazek's rights to the Oilers for Pulujaarvi!

https://www.tsn.ca/insider-trading-toronto-maple-leafs-in-the-thick-of-the-trade-talk-leading-up-to-nhl-draft-1.1326143
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They actually did inquire about obtaining his rights in order to talk with him, but offer was refused by Waddell in order to give the Canes more time to talk with Mrazek's agent.

I'll find a source and add it as an edit later, but that's the essence. [EDIT: Source -> LeBrun...nevermind. :sarcasm ]

Had seen on fan trade boards the fan's interest quite a while ago in obtaining him to platoon with their goalie as a 1a / 1b.

Add in their GM will throw "somebody else's problem" money at 'em to keep his job for at least a little while, and you have our main competitor identified, in my opinion.

Anyone else would have to be looking at him as a backup (not going to match the money expected) or desperately as a starter ready to carry a heavy load.

Wait a minute...
 
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CanadaCanes said:
The other weird wrinkle being reported by McKenzie and Dreger on TSN is the Oilers have mild interest in Mrazek as a tandem in goal with Koskinen and were kicking the tires in acquiring Mrazek's negotiating rights if the Canes were not going that route on a new contract for him. How about a second round pick and Mrazek's rights to the Oilers for Pulujaarvi!

https://www.tsn.ca/insider-trading-toronto-maple-leafs-in-the-thick-of-the-trade-talk-leading-up-to-nhl-draft-1.1326143
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Let me get this straight. Pulujaarvi is either available for a 2nd rounder OR the rights to Mrzazek. Yeah, why give them the rights to Mrazek if you have any thoughts of still signing him before July 1? That would be massively dumb. And Edmonton won't be offering him starter money anyway, so it would be pointless for them. Whatever. Silly season nonsense.

Here's the problem for Mrzazek. Carolina is the best competitive option he's got, but we apparently don't want to hit his money or term target. So, does he turn down a proven, good situation to take the cash in a worse situation?
 
jeffbear said:
Let me get this straight. Pulujaarvi is either available for a 2nd rounder OR the rights to Mrzazek. Yeah, why give them the rights to Mrazek if you have any thoughts of still signing him before July 1? That would be massively dumb. And Edmonton won't be offering him starter money anyway, so it would be pointless for them. Whatever. Silly season nonsense.

Here's the problem for Mrzazek. Carolina is the best competitive option he's got, but we apparently don't want to hit his money or term target. So, does he turn down a proven, good situation to take the cash in a worse situation?
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All about term over dollars I bet, just like the NHL Network radio guys today were discussing the same issue with Robin Lehner on Long Island, less about the dollar amount and more about the term where the player and team are apart.
 
And Lehner is another guy that presents a trust issue. As much as I admire the way he bounced back from pretty serious issues, you have to look past a LOT in his history to commit to him for 5 or 6 years. Ditto Mrazek ... just without the mental health issues. Throwing long term deals at either one is a risk of one kind or another.
 
The Hurricanes goalie situation was discussed by Kevin Woodley yesterday on NHL radio. He said that Mike Bales' resume has two Stanley Cup goalies on it and that management approached him about his contract-- wanting a cut. Reportedly Bales was not too pleased with the ask. Indicated that Bales had a solid role in getting Mrazek's play more focused and stable than what he'd done prior to arriving. Hence, the decision to move on.

When it came to Mrazek, Woodley re-affirmed what most believe here. His resume has more bad years than good and his numbers last year were average. It was unclear if he had done enough to be a stand-alone starter, because the platooning system worked to the Canes advantage and some of those adverse tendencies of Mrazak are still exposed. He thought the Canes got lucky once with McIlhenney and Mrazek and not sure if Waddell could do it twice.
 
SlapShots said:
The Hurricanes goalie situation was discussed by Kevin Woodley yesterday on NHL radio. He said that Mike Bales' resume has two Stanley Cup goalies on it and that management approached him about his contract-- wanting a cut. Reportedly Bales was not too pleased with the ask. Indicated that Bales had a solid role in getting Mrazek's play more focused and stable than what he'd done prior to arriving. Hence, the decision to move on.
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Just noting that Bales had another year remaining on his contract so this story is not really holding water.

I think it has far more to do with working for someone that was the assistant GM during his Penguin years instead of the change of regime that happened since he was hired by Francis, et al.

Titling him as an assistant coach and paying him under the traditional salary structure that Botterill probably utilizes must have appealed moreso than negotiating an extension here, especially with the goalie situation being completely unknown.

Could easily be some version of a face-saving Bill Peters exit: "good for you!".
 
Bales was here 2 years with 1 year left on his contract. You gotta figure he was giving input on the goalies both of the past 2 years, and the overall record isn't exactly stellar. The best of those two years was at least average statistically and that was in front of a pretty solid defense corp, but the first of those years was abysmal. Not saying you can blame him for the bad or credit him for the average.

I sincerely doubt the Canes would have already been talking to him about his next contract - to what end? If you want to reup the guy early, you wouldn't offer him a lower rate unless he asked for a longer term commitment and they came (back) to him with a lower salary but longer term.

Based on the timing, it sure felt like he must have had an offer from Buffalo in hand when he resigned.
 
I can guarantee that if they wanted to cut Bales's salary then they also wanted to cut his responsibilities. For him to spin thins like somebody insulted him after not a soul in this organization said a bad word about him last season when we had HISTORICALLY BAD goalie results on is watch is ... let's call it bad form. Suck it dude. I hope the Sabres tank. Wait. Check that. I hope they finish 12th for the rest of time. Tanking gives them too many good draft picks.
 
Agreed... If Bales wants to get credit for Mrazek and McElhinney, he's also got to accept the albatross of Darling and Ward during his first year.
 
Look ... there's a reason they cut Bales loose in Pittsburgh and it's NOT just because he was Fleury's "boy." Because if that was the case then the obvious move would have been for him to go to Vegas ... didn't happen.

Don't cry over this one. Just go hire another guy.
 
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