• Moderators, please send me a PM if you are unable to access mod permissions. Thanks, Habsy.

The Official 2026 Off-Season Thread: Revenge of the Nerds

Preston said:
One of the reasons he fell out of favor with the flyers is that he really struggled in the playoffs so there were fears about his size and stuff. Looking at the numbers, yeah, he kind of sucked despite favorable zone starts. Which feels very Liljegren-ish.

I'll just go ahead and blame his partner, Nick Seeler tho. He was even worse.
Click to expand...

He’s a good bet, but yeah the thing about midget Ds is you can’t go into playoff wars with too many of them. So he has to work as your one midget D. Teams like the Flyers had that position filled.
 
CH1 said:
He’s a good bet, but yeah the thing about midget Ds is you can’t go into playoff wars with too many of them. So he has to work as your one midget D. Teams like the Flyers had that position filled.
Click to expand...
Yeah especially when they're not supremely skilled. If I'm a flyers fan, I'd have some regrets that they never really gave him much of an opportunity, but I wouldn't be suicidal about trading him either just because his upside is second pair d, and even then, probably one that's fairly limited and needs a perfect situation to excel.

Obviously the right play for the Leafs though. Such a huge upgrade for them.
 
Swapping out Rielly for Byram makes them younger at least. But in the end, they're perhaps similar guys at both of their peaks. Rielly was better offensively and Byram better defensively tho.
 
Preston said:
Swapping out Rielly for Byram makes them younger at least. But in the end, they're perhaps similar guys at both of their peaks. Rielly was better offensively and Byram better defensively tho.
Click to expand...

eh i dunno about that - he's had by far the worst defensive ratings on that buffalo D, with only good far from great offensive ratings.
 
Well if they truly get Byram then I think it'll add credence to the Rielly stuff. So he'd be their new flawed, and not cheap top 4 LD for the foreseeable future.
 
Or just wait for next offseason where you’re the highest bidder if you want him. Instead of dealing with the bullshit that is Ferris for a year. Once’s he’s signed long term that’s it.
 
If the Leafs are scouring heaven and earth trying to identify d-men with top-pair upside, in theory Byram is the kind of guy that could make a shortlist. He's got the pedigree and the skills. But of course they'll be using analytics to do that, and it seems like his nerdies aren't that great. That contract sounds horrific as well, I don't see what he's done so far to deserve $9.5m per season. We do have the capspace, and it's less of a commitment with the rising cap... but they still need to get this right as they can only probably take one big money swing.

Fox and Werenski are a bit of a pipe dream, both Americans who their teams should not be moving out ... I think Fox already forced himself off a Canadian team, and it seems fairly likely he won't want to play in Canada.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top