You had the Dougie season ending injury early, the goaltending debacle, the Michael McLeod and Cal Foote shit stain with the sexual assault case, the Timo Meier invisible man season, the Lindy Ruff firing, the four raw rookies on D and now the Jack Hughes shoulder surgery...despite the pre-season projections of a top 2-3 team in the league everything that could go wrong did for the Little Debbies.
Remember that Bettman is a reflection of his owners, and the mix has changed significantly over time. If this was anything other than 10th or 11th biggest US media market, then this would have been put to bed a long, long time ago. I've heard that the new expansion market owners and most of the rest of the newer owners are fed up with what they see as market manipulation that hurts the value of their franchises. The owners do not have a unified front on the Phoenix market anymore. They'll give Morello his last shot at the project he's selling, this time adjacent to his dream micro-market in Scottsdale, but if there's ANY hitches in that process then I think they're finally going to wash their hands of this mess.
Lots of factors play in to NJ's demise, but it starts with the boneheaded decision to stick with Ruff and letting him replace Brunette with that idiot Travis Green instead of forcing him to go with a forward thinking technician when Bruno went to Nashville. THAT move put them behind the 8 ball before any of the other stuff hit the fan.
For me, no. If I'm paying that much for a first pairing defenseman, I'd vastly prefer that he reliably produce more offensive impact. But at least he's a dependable, steady presence that you can trot out for high risk minutes. He's not in Slavin's class as a partner elevator, but he pairs well with a high risk partner.
No state income tax makes that bag all that much bigger
Pound for pound Sid the Kid and his contract may be the best value contract in hockey when you look at what he has been paid vs his career production. Many would argue Sid has been a bit underpaid for most of his career when you look at things even closer.
Wondering how this affects negotiations with Skjei (assuming they want to keep him). Similar GP, G, A, P, +/- the last 4 years or so. Skjei is older and not needed as a top pair guy here.
Hanifin is averaging nearly 2 minutes per game more than Skjei. The Canes balance allows them to spread the minutes out better. Burns leads with 21:38, Skjei is at 21:17. But Burns is only 57th in the league among dmen, Skjei 62nd. Slavin and Pesce are both over 20 minutes too. Can Skjei play more minutes? Absolutely. And if the Canes can only sign 1 of Pesce or Skjei, they should prioritize Skjei.
I hope he doesn't end up homeless after he retires, for all those years he was underpaid.
If you don't lose your mind on a house, yes. Pro athletes often blow that State tax benefit by buying too much house and paying almost as much as they're saving on State income tax in property taxes ... which are inflated to make the math work for the State.
Yeah, Texas touts their lack of income tax as a benefit, but my daughter’s property tax bill was nearly $5,000 in 2018 on a 1,350 square foot house on a 7,000 square foot lot about halfway between Austin and San Antonio.
I've maybe missed a few, but I think all of the drafted prospects coming out of US college have gotten that early bump.
When I lived in Dallas the sales tax was nearly 9% also.
I went back and looked at the 2018 Draft becuase I knew there was a high 1st rounder from college. Brady Tkachuk and K’Andre Miller didn’t get that first year bump. Quinn Hughes and Oliver Wahlstrom both played right after college. More recently, Jake Sanderson did get it so maybe it’s been a post-pandemic thing?
