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Around the League 2019-2023 Edition

I think it's actually a matter of different time frames...

GMs don't necessarily have any assurance they'll be around for long; so they might not care about how the contract ages.

They measure success year over year...and frankly, some short sighted and impatient owners do as well.

The smart owners are like Jeff Bezos of Amazon...he gives no fuks about next quarter's earnings, he's thinking 5 years beyond.

Good post but Bezos doesn’t have a cap to work with and isn’t afraid to lose his job

Jeff is a smart guy , he knows Okposo or Eriksson make no fuken difference to the bottom line and are soon to be shit employees and need not be retained long term

There isn’t one player on that list that will save anyone’s job , that’s the funny part .

It’s one thing to blow your brains out on Pietrangelo and deal with the contract down the road on a contender

The above are hot trash
 
Is it dumb gm’s or the owner forcing moves to be made

Dumb GM's

I think the root cause is kind of split between two things:

1) It's easy for us to sit back and take a long term view of things. We know that signing a mediocre (or worse) 30-31 yr old UFA to a 5 year contract is a fucking mistake. But the GM himself is thinking far more short term than that. He currently holds one of the very few 7 figure management jobs in hockey and if he has a mandate to compete, make the playoffs (a lot of owners want that sweet playoff revenue. Even just one round can be the difference between losing money and making money on the year), etc...then that's what he's trying to do. If he sees a hole in his middle 6 that can be filled by 30 yr old David Backes, but Backes wants 6 years...that's a problem for later right? This year it might help make the playoffs, maybe win a round, and create a few more years of 7 figure job security. It's really hard to look beyond your own bank account, especially if the boss isn't willing to be patient.

2) There are a lot of legacy hockey people around that still value the wrong things. If you run around throwing hits, you've got "jam" and you "play the right way" results be damned. If you chase the puck around in your end but throw cross-checks into the kidneys in front of the net you're "hard to play against". If you're willing to block shots with your face, you're a leader, warrior, etc. Just look at that list of questionable as fuck contracts. Pull up capfriendly and look at most of the worst contracts on the books around the league, most of them are that guy or stars that age poorly.
 
Good post but Bezos doesn’t have a cap to work with and isn’t afraid to lose his job

that’s my point — most GMs aren’t given 5 yr windows so part of their moves are fear based

or...sometimes the team exceeds expectations in year 2 (due to luck) so a new plan is hastily jotted on a napkin based on unfounded optimism and the careful 5 yr plan is forgotten

TL;DR short term emotions often get in the way of logic
 
And there are some GMs who even if they were given a 5yr window, would still elect to hold on to the Shea Webers and Carey Prices because, as former players themselves, those GMs absolutely love having those type of guys on their team

It’s not a coincidence that a guy like Kyle Dubas saw his playing days hit a wall when he was 14.
 
Dumb GM's

I think the root cause is kind of split between two things:

1) It's easy for us to sit back and take a long term view of things. We know that signing a mediocre (or worse) 30-31 yr old UFA to a 5 year contract is a fucking mistake. But the GM himself is thinking far more short term than that. He currently holds one of the very few 7 figure management jobs in hockey and if he has a mandate to compete, make the playoffs (a lot of owners want that sweet playoff revenue. Even just one round can be the difference between losing money and making money on the year), etc...then that's what he's trying to do. If he sees a hole in his middle 6 that can be filled by 30 yr old David Backes, but Backes wants 6 years...that's a problem for later right? This year it might help make the playoffs, maybe win a round, and create a few more years of 7 figure job security. It's really hard to look beyond your own bank account, especially if the boss isn't willing to be patient.

2) There are a lot of legacy hockey people around that still value the wrong things. If you run around throwing hits, you've got "jam" and you "play the right way" results be damned. If you chase the puck around in your end but throw cross-checks into the kidneys in front of the net you're "hard to play against". If you're willing to block shots with your face, you're a leader, warrior, etc. Just look at that list of questionable as **** contracts. Pull up capfriendly and look at most of the worst contracts on the books around the league, most of them are that guy or stars that age poorly.
I think this is mostly true, but what I've wondered (and we'll never really know outside of rumors/speculation) is how much meddling the owners do. Due to the nature of how close some franchises are to the profit/loss margin, I believe that there are always a few owners that mandate making the playoffs no matter what. Ron Hextall was building up the Flyers slowly and when they wanted to speed things up, Hextall said no and got fired.

I look at a recent example in Ottawa. You have their owner, Dumbfuck McGee, saying they'll be Cup contenders soon. I don't know this for a fact, but I have a very hard time believing anyone except him would have traded a 2nd round pick for Derek Stepan.
 
that’s my point — most GMs aren’t given 5 yr windows so part of their moves are fear based

or...sometimes the team exceeds expectations in year 2 (due to luck) so a new plan is hastily jotted on a napkin based on unfounded optimism and the careful 5 yr plan is forgotten

TL;DR short term emotions often get in the way of logic

That’s fine, so CH1 is named GM of the Buffalo Sabres

WTF is Okposo going to do on this AHL caliber team that is 6 players away from being NHL caliber

You wouldn’t sign Skinner to that deal , you got a better odds of shorting 3 stocks on Monday entering the wrong symbol .
 
The best thing that could happen for the league is for Dubas to win a cup.

Then the rest will finally follow.
 
I'd probably laugh hysterically if Buffalo re-signed Hall to a long-term deal.

Buffalo would be even more fucked than my Habs would be if they did that.
 
The best thing that could happen for the league is for Dubas to win a cup.

Then the rest will finally follow.

Julien BriseBois already won a Cup, tho.

Sports lawyer who never played the game.
 
The best thing that could happen for the league is for Dubas to win a cup.

Then the rest will finally follow.
I'd agree but then you'd benefit from the cup win so on second replay I'm overturning that agreement.
 
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