Let's not make it out like Hank is a saint here though. Yes, he most certainly could have left this team in pursuit of a Cup. But he also is handicapping this team with his $8.5 million cap hit. That is a TON of money we have tied up in him, and then add on what we have tied up with our dmen (who have idiotically been given NTC and NMC as if they're free candy) and you have the situation we are in now. Up against the cap with no wiggle room and no tradeable pieces that we would want to move, ie Boyle, Staal, Girardi (not saying all should be traded, but just moving one would clear up a good amount of cap space). Problem is, and has been, Sather is great at trades usually, but typically sucks with contracts. I don't blame Step for wanting to get paid, everyone wants to, but he's doing so at the cost of the team and organization. This team will not win a Cup with so many me first players that want to maximize their money over winning a championship, and that includes Hank.
You could make a case for Girardi also. He could have gotten more on the market. He was real fair with his contract. So was D. Moore.
Girardi could have gotten more on the open market, but probably not a NTC/NMC like he did with us which hurts the team.
good point by 94 on Henrik. When we talk reasons why we're cap tight Henrik's name doesn't get brought up much, but he's the biggest paycheck on the team. As i've said before i don't think you need a Henrik-type stud in net anymore to win the Cup, so while widely unpopular and even less likely to happen, i would not be opposed to a Henrik trade
Henrik deserves every penny he gets. Without him this sorry ass team probably wouldn't have made the playoffs half the time it did. He's been carrying this team for almost a decade.
eh, we got beat by Ben fking Bishop this year and while Henrik is not the reason we lost we could use that money to upgrade the areas of need and still have a capable goalie in net. I don't want to put much stock into it, but when Henrik went down to injury Cam did just fine for us. Not saying they're the same goalie and that Henrik isn't better, just that i really don't think elite goalies are the hot commodity / must-have that they used to be.
Hank is the last person anyone should blame, big salary cap or not. If we are going to blame players with big cap hits for this team not getting it done in the post season start with Nash and his $7.6m hit and poor post season resume
7.8 hit for Nash...so a little more.... To me Girardi and Staal both took less to stay Rangers. I think Zucc did as well. Brass we locked up just at the right time. Today he would get more, but last season it was the right amount IMO. The issue with the D is while those deals are both good AAV wise, we don't need both G and Staal locked up long term with McD and Klein also locked up, that's the issue IMO. I was against signing Staal for a long time, then I was for it when he signed and said good move, now I think I was right the first time when I said not a good move to lock him up long term when G and the other dmen I mentioned were locked up already. I think having so much tied up in the D, and in the goalie position as well, really hurts our cap and ability to have good forwards and enough depth.
I am a huge Marc Staal fan and still think all things being equal, it's a good deal. He's another one who would have gotten at least that on the market and probably more if a team wanted him as first pair (which he can do) But with Yandle here now, I'm not sure keeping Staal makes sense (assuming AV will not play a dman on his offside). Yandle on the third pair is a waste, and will be even more wasteful if we end up extending him. Like I said I really like Staal, but his skillset isnt all that unique whereas Yandle's is. I'm not thrilled with the make-up of the D right now, in terms of expense and pairings.
From what I've been reading it seems like they're ready to go with what we have. Friedman said something along the lines of we're turning away calls for Klein. Yandle isnt being traded. Looks like we got what we got. Can't say I'm thrilled.
Like Chuck had mentioned the salary cap is unfortunately restrictive. Not in the way it's meant to be either.
Personally I think the NHL cap should be in between the NBA and current NHL cap. The NBA cap allows you bird rights to go over the cap to resign your own players. It also allows you exceptions to add players when you are above the cap. AND if you go too high over the cap there is a big tax, and the tax gets even bigger if you go over the tax threshold for consecutive seasons. Maybe they don't allow the exceptions to still add players if you are over the cap, but they should allow teams to go over the cap some to resign their own players. Otherwise teams are going to lose their identity players very often. It will never happen with the attitude in the NHL, but it should. The NHL and NBA caps are essentially the same amount, but you just cannot keep enough of your players long term in the NHL. It's a shame, but the NHL is very concerned about parody. I would argue the smaller market teams would get a lot of extra money from teams that had to pay taxes for higher payrolls, but the NHL wants every team to be just about the same talent wise, so that's how they have setup their cap. Shame because I think we are heading down a bad road here...
It would make sense but if it doesn't cater to the Canadian teams the board of directors isn't interested. They could even do something like you can go over the cap to sign your RFA with the amount over the cap being subject to a luxury tax. There's no reason not to do it. It then not about raiding other team's talent but just being able to keep your team together.
I'm not saying Hank can't make a lot of money. But if we're going to talk about big contracts that are probably too much, his has to at least be mentioned. I think he's earned it, yes. But at the same time, giving 8.5 million to a goalie in today's game when scoring is more important (as seen by Bishop beating us and Price losing to him as well and an average goalie like Crawford winning a Cup again) is always going to hurt a team. If he makes 6 thats 2 million more to play with for this team. Or if Sather isn't a fucking idiot and giving out NTC and NMC to every single player, we aren't in the position we're in. This team, as constructed now, is lucky if they are the 3 seed in the Met. We didn't address ANY of our needs while other teams in the division that are competitive with us did. The Pens are the biggest losers to me in that they tied up even more money in forwards with Kessel when they needed more defense. But the Isles are better, and the Caps RIGHT NOW are the favorite I think to win the Met this season. They've gotten much better and they finally have OV playing two way hockey which, if he continues to do so, makes them the best team in our division. It's going to be a long season if we don't move a defenseman for some scoring. As for McIlrath. I think he is what we need here, but as I've stated for two years now to my friends and multiple times on this board, he is NOT an AV type of dman. AV does not like stay at home dmen. He likes offensively aggressive dmen that can move the puck and skate well, not crease clearing dmen, which is really what we need on this team in the East. Out West, where there's more skill and finesse to the game and not as much banging around you can get away without a McIlrath. In the East, not so much. Regardless, if he doesn't have a spot here, then move him for something because he WILL get claimed off waivers and then we lose a first round pick (which was fucking idiotic to use on him anyways) for nothing.
Sounds like Stewart signed with the Ducks for 1 year at 1.7 mill. I don't love Stewart, but that is a great no risk move by them. I am not thrilled either. I simply do not think we have enough upfront to win a cup. We have so many IF's IMO. Sure if they all hit we are good, but what are the odds of that? We are lacking a top 6 forward. As it is I would guess Fast plays on the 2nd line and Etem on the 3rd line, and that isn't good enough. ANYTHING can happen in the NHL where the difference between winning and losing is so tight, but it is hard not to say the BJ's and Caps are better than us right this second. And at the very least the Isles and Pens are right on the same level. If the cup is THE goal, I don't think we are good enough. All I can really say.
When I see Columbus to something then I'll worry about them. Frankly, I'm getting tired of the this team and that team is better shit.
