As an addendum to my recent post on the wisdom of trading Tomas Plekanec, the objection I hear is that he's better than David Desharnais, who's the centre who should rightfully be traded.
I've defended David Desharnais a lot in the past, and still like him as a person and a player, but I do think he's topped out, his development didn't stay on the same encouraging curve we saw early on, when he was piling up points at a faster rate than another naturally comparable diminutive undrafted free agent, Martin St-Louis. After his first full season when he eventually settled in with Max Pacioretty and Erik Cole and put up 60 points, it now seems that 45-50 points is more what should be expected from him.
Now, David is the guy who works very hard, but the way the game is played, the way it's called by the referees late in the season and the playoffs works against him. Defencemen can hook and hold more, they crosscheck with impunity, and David can't really thrive in those circumstances.
A poster on social media commented that if David was traded and brought back a second-rounder and a decent prospect, that should be enough to deal him. TSN's Bob McKenzie, in contrast, doesn't think that there's much of a market for him right now.
I’d be delighted if he brought back either a second or a decent prospect, so if it was both I’d shake on it and run before the opposing GM could change his mind. (“No backsies!”)
Trading David would solve so many problems, the congestion at centre. The need to shift Chucky over on the wing. The need to give him offensive-zone starts, since that’s what he’s good at, and to relegate Lars and Tomas to more defensive assignments, just because that’s what’s left of the pie.
I don’t think he’d bring much return though. The West is obsessed with size at centre, to go up against Anze Kopitar and Ryan Getzlaf and Joe Thornton. To add him to their roster would be apostasy.
The Eastern teams might be more inclined, more now that the Lightning showed size ain’t all that, but then they want a generous helping of speed. David is quick and agile, he can dart into tight spaces, but he’s not really swift.
I think the value of David in trade is more like an old reliable car that has zero Bluebook value, but it still starts and runs and gets you places. It doesn’t make sense to junk it, it still has value to you, but no one else will give you anything worthwhile to acquire it. So you keep it and you drive it until it doesn’t drive any more.
As far as Tom Gilbert goes, how about we send him to Edmonton and they send back the 2nd-rounder they extorted out of us in the Jeff Petry trade?
I know some of you will cluck that it was a reasonable price to pay, but really, did they need Jeff Petry to finish third-last? It’s not like they were using him for any tangible purpose. Didn’t we do them a favour by taking him off their hands, greasing the skids for them to fall ass-backwards into Connor McDavid?
We helped them out, how about they return the favour? All thems youngs prospects in their system is bound to gum up the works, they should stem the tide a bit, ease off, clear out a second-round bluechipper off their board. Give their AHL coaches a chance to catch their breath.
And if they won’t do the #57 pick, since there’s a guy there they like who’d be in range, we’ll make do with the #33 pick.
Friday, 19 June 2015
Thursday, 18 June 2015
Should the Canadiens target Phil Kessel in a trade?
I'm reading on social media like HockeyInsideOut.com that the Canadiens would do well to obtain Phil Kessel from the Leafs. He would meet many needs, a high-scoring, offensively-gifted player on the right wing.
And as can be expected, there are many detractors to this position, this idea.
I feel like this discussion, like many others on social media, circles around aimlessly because both camps fail to address the other’s concerns, if not downright ignores them.
Sure, as the pro side mentions often, he’s gifted, talented, offensively productive player, things we desperately need.
What the pro-Kessel side glosses over and misidentifies is how he is negligent about his conditioning, and his cap hit, and his contract which runs him long into his thirties.
This isn’t just a couple of haters online who don’t like Phil Kessel because he’s fat, it’s been a constant throughout his career. Elliotte Friedman and Pierre LeBrun did some even-handed analysis of this at the end of the season, how the Leafs think ‘he’s leaving a lot on the table’, or words to that effect, and that they approached him to discuss in a cooperative manner, how he could play better for longer as he approaches his thirties if he was better conditioned.
And this isn’t just an off-year. This isn’t due to a divorce which was a distraction and which prevented him from doing what he usually does to prepare for a season. He’s always been chubby, he’s never quite bought in like other NHL’ers to the new way of doing things, to the need for advanced training and strict nutrition. This was something he was questioned about as far back as his draft year, when meeting with the Columbus scouts, they challenged him on that, on his poor combine results.
So to make a case for a Phil Kessel trade, you have to allay the concerns about a player earning $8M for seven more years, as his performance and effort wanes. That’s a potential Scott Gomez albatross of a contract for a team which takes it on, a player who was worth it before but whose skills are declining. With no amnesty-buyouts on the horizon.
The other objection, about how Phil is moody and doesn’t quite get along with the media and others is also a concern, is something that’s dogged him again since his young days, and which he had to answer to before the draft. He’s done relatively well in Toronto, but he’s obviously no Brandon Prust, no Jonathan Toews, no ‘yessir-crash through the wall’ player.
I think it was Elliotte Friedman who tried to make excuses for him, saying that maybe he could be a two-way player if he was better conditioned, that he wouldn’t have to manage his effort only on the offensive side, that maybe his attitude and coachability improve if he’s more fit, but again, character concerns are something that needs to be addressed by the pro camp if you’re mounting a challenge. How does Marc Bergevin ignore the character issue if he’s going to make that trade.
Reading up on the 2015 draft, we see a lot of writeups from journos and fan-scouts who caution that evaluations about problem players have been wrong before, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry are examples trotted out often. The knocks on Phil though are eerily prescient though, when you read “Future Greats and Heartbreaks”. All the things about Phil are bang-on, a singular talent, exciting player, dynamic offensive threat, but dressing room issues and poor fitness and awkward mannerisms and relationship with others, with teammates.
To me, in a vacuum, I’d like to see Phil Kessel on the right wing opposite Max Pacioretty, sure. But factor in the conditioning and character issues, the contract, and what it would cost to bring him aboard, and the whole discussion is a non-starter.
We talk about drafting and development and being patient with our kids and managing the cap, but we want to hit a homerun with three or four savant trades, damn the torpedoes.
We talk about stability and process, but we want that after we fire the coach and overhaul the roster.
And as can be expected, there are many detractors to this position, this idea.
I feel like this discussion, like many others on social media, circles around aimlessly because both camps fail to address the other’s concerns, if not downright ignores them.
Sure, as the pro side mentions often, he’s gifted, talented, offensively productive player, things we desperately need.
What the pro-Kessel side glosses over and misidentifies is how he is negligent about his conditioning, and his cap hit, and his contract which runs him long into his thirties.
This isn’t just a couple of haters online who don’t like Phil Kessel because he’s fat, it’s been a constant throughout his career. Elliotte Friedman and Pierre LeBrun did some even-handed analysis of this at the end of the season, how the Leafs think ‘he’s leaving a lot on the table’, or words to that effect, and that they approached him to discuss in a cooperative manner, how he could play better for longer as he approaches his thirties if he was better conditioned.
And this isn’t just an off-year. This isn’t due to a divorce which was a distraction and which prevented him from doing what he usually does to prepare for a season. He’s always been chubby, he’s never quite bought in like other NHL’ers to the new way of doing things, to the need for advanced training and strict nutrition. This was something he was questioned about as far back as his draft year, when meeting with the Columbus scouts, they challenged him on that, on his poor combine results.
So to make a case for a Phil Kessel trade, you have to allay the concerns about a player earning $8M for seven more years, as his performance and effort wanes. That’s a potential Scott Gomez albatross of a contract for a team which takes it on, a player who was worth it before but whose skills are declining. With no amnesty-buyouts on the horizon.
The other objection, about how Phil is moody and doesn’t quite get along with the media and others is also a concern, is something that’s dogged him again since his young days, and which he had to answer to before the draft. He’s done relatively well in Toronto, but he’s obviously no Brandon Prust, no Jonathan Toews, no ‘yessir-crash through the wall’ player.
I think it was Elliotte Friedman who tried to make excuses for him, saying that maybe he could be a two-way player if he was better conditioned, that he wouldn’t have to manage his effort only on the offensive side, that maybe his attitude and coachability improve if he’s more fit, but again, character concerns are something that needs to be addressed by the pro camp if you’re mounting a challenge. How does Marc Bergevin ignore the character issue if he’s going to make that trade.
Reading up on the 2015 draft, we see a lot of writeups from journos and fan-scouts who caution that evaluations about problem players have been wrong before, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry are examples trotted out often. The knocks on Phil though are eerily prescient though, when you read “Future Greats and Heartbreaks”. All the things about Phil are bang-on, a singular talent, exciting player, dynamic offensive threat, but dressing room issues and poor fitness and awkward mannerisms and relationship with others, with teammates.
To me, in a vacuum, I’d like to see Phil Kessel on the right wing opposite Max Pacioretty, sure. But factor in the conditioning and character issues, the contract, and what it would cost to bring him aboard, and the whole discussion is a non-starter.
We talk about drafting and development and being patient with our kids and managing the cap, but we want to hit a homerun with three or four savant trades, damn the torpedoes.
We talk about stability and process, but we want that after we fire the coach and overhaul the roster.
The Phoenix Coyotes have an opportunity to leave Glendale, hit the reset button.
To me, the Glendale City Council did the Coyotes a huge favour. I don’t know if the team’s squawking is genuine or sabre rattling, pre-negotiations posturing, but they now have an even easier out clause from their lease. The city doesn’t want them, is begging them to go.
The consensus from observers is that the problem with the franchise isn’t so much the greater Phoenix location as much as the Glendale arena’s location, too far and too traffic-congestioned from the businesses in downtown and the retirees in Scottsdale.
So now the team can approach the city, negotiate a three-year window or so during which they play in Glendale while a new arena is built in a better location.
Elliotte Friedman conjectured last week that maybe the Coyotes could work on a joint arena with the Suns, who themselves are exploring a new arena, or that maybe the Gila River Casino, which is apparently a thing down there, had looked into building a rink on their grounds before just buying the naming rights to the Glendale arena.
Best-case scenario for them, the Coyotes share a brand-spanking new arena custom-designed for them, in a downtown location or somewhere preferable, and share it with the Suns like the ‘Hawks do with the Bulls, and the Leafs do with the Raptors. The rink pays for itself, the League maintains a better East-West balance, Canadians retain a sunny destination to go watch hockey games, the NHLPA retains a preferred destination for UFA’s, and Gary Bettman continues his Sunbelt Strategy.
The consensus from observers is that the problem with the franchise isn’t so much the greater Phoenix location as much as the Glendale arena’s location, too far and too traffic-congestioned from the businesses in downtown and the retirees in Scottsdale.
So now the team can approach the city, negotiate a three-year window or so during which they play in Glendale while a new arena is built in a better location.
Elliotte Friedman conjectured last week that maybe the Coyotes could work on a joint arena with the Suns, who themselves are exploring a new arena, or that maybe the Gila River Casino, which is apparently a thing down there, had looked into building a rink on their grounds before just buying the naming rights to the Glendale arena.
Best-case scenario for them, the Coyotes share a brand-spanking new arena custom-designed for them, in a downtown location or somewhere preferable, and share it with the Suns like the ‘Hawks do with the Bulls, and the Leafs do with the Raptors. The rink pays for itself, the League maintains a better East-West balance, Canadians retain a sunny destination to go watch hockey games, the NHLPA retains a preferred destination for UFA’s, and Gary Bettman continues his Sunbelt Strategy.
P.K. has a new website, wants to win the internet.
Regarding P.K.'s new website, I have no problems at all with a smart young player maximizing his earnings in different ways. It's a brain new world out there, opportunities abound, good on our boy for finding a way to capitalize on Montréal's passion for hockey, their team, and their favourite sons. Maybe he'd pay less in tax in Dallas, but he wouldn't generate the amount of clicks or sell as many ball hats there.
Take that, Gary Bettman's Sunbelt Apathy!
My qualm might be that he seems to want to trademark the celebration pose. I'm always skeptical of the staged celebration, how it is a distraction to the player, more concerned with highjinks than the actual game. Think Brandy Chastain jersey-doffing after a routine penalty kick, or Joe Horn's cellphone in the upright padding, or Chad Johnson's entire career.
Johnny Manziel spoke with reporters yesterday, suitably chastened after a train wreck of a season last year. One of the things he mentioned was how he wouldn't do the money thing with his fingers anymore, that it was too much of a target. It was proving to be a distraction.
P.K.'s celly is not the same kettle of fish, it's great when it's a relatively spontaneous explosion of joy. Often, P.K. doesn't do the celebration, he just hightails it to a teammate for a more organic expression. I want it to stay that way. I don't want P.K. to be thinking of branding and clicks when he's on the ice.
Take that, Gary Bettman's Sunbelt Apathy!
My qualm might be that he seems to want to trademark the celebration pose. I'm always skeptical of the staged celebration, how it is a distraction to the player, more concerned with highjinks than the actual game. Think Brandy Chastain jersey-doffing after a routine penalty kick, or Joe Horn's cellphone in the upright padding, or Chad Johnson's entire career.
Johnny Manziel spoke with reporters yesterday, suitably chastened after a train wreck of a season last year. One of the things he mentioned was how he wouldn't do the money thing with his fingers anymore, that it was too much of a target. It was proving to be a distraction.
P.K.'s celly is not the same kettle of fish, it's great when it's a relatively spontaneous explosion of joy. Often, P.K. doesn't do the celebration, he just hightails it to a teammate for a more organic expression. I want it to stay that way. I don't want P.K. to be thinking of branding and clicks when he's on the ice.
Monday, 15 June 2015
Goaltending is still crucial, but not necessarily hard to obtain.
I understand that neither Henrik Lundqvist nor Pekka Rinne nor Carey Price appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals, but I think we're getting carried away a little bit with the nouveau idea that goaltending isn't valuable, that All-Star goaltenders are replaceable. After all, you can get a decent goalie at half the price of a Lundqvist, so why should you overpay.
That's what the Oilers did last season. They bought low on Victor Fasth and had traded for Ben Scrivens the preceding season. And that tandem laid an egg. Their team save percentage was .892. And they're back to the drawing board this summer.
It's easy to say that you can find a Devan Dubnyk on the scrap heap, but the scrap heap has so many heaps, which one do you choose? It wasn't that obvious, he went from Edmonton to Nashville to Montréal to UFA to Phoenix before he became the revelation that he was in Minny.
The Leafs thought they'd bought themselves their goalie on the cheap. They got Jonathan Bernier, a former first-rounder the Kings had developed, for a second round pick, Matt Frattin and Ben Scrivens, it's almost one of those trade proposals you find on social media: "I'd love it if we could get Evander Kane, but I wouldn't give up Sven Andrighetto, trade Christian Thomas or Martin Reway instead..."
And now the Leafs are disenchanted with both Mr. Bernier and Mr. Reimer, and have to review their goalie situation.
So before we turn up our nose at an Eddie Lack as a trade target, a steadily-improving goalie who paid his dues in the minor, and has now started 80 games in the NHL, at the thought that he could get a second-rounder in return, we should remember the Anti Niemmis out there, the Anders Lindbacks, the cheaper options that don't get a team anywhere.
Sometimes you get a cheap veteran and it turns into a Devan Dubnyk-in-Minnesota season, but sometimes it turns into an Ilya Bryzgalov-in-Minnesota season.
Having said that, I do understand the idea that the difference between the best goalie in the league and the average goalie is practically negligible. It's defensible, but the pendulum may be swinging too far in that direction.
I believe that the goalie position in hockey is as important as the quarterback position in the NFL or CFL. If you have a top quarterback and the other team doesn’t, you’ll almost certainly win. Same as if you have a top goalie and the other team doesn’t, you’ll win, maybe not certainly one game, but assuredly a series.
The big difference is that there are no replacement quarterbacks anywhere to be found. The dropoff between a starter and a backup is huge. The dropoff between the Top 10 or 12 QB’s in the NFL and the guys in the bottom 10 is impossible to make up.
Meanwhile, the improvement in the goaltending position in hockey, the athleticism and coaching they receive and the improved equipment, there isn’t that huge dropoff. A Carey Price and a Jonathan Bernier or Ben Scrivens are much more evenly-matched than an Andrew Luck versus a Blake Bortles or Jay Cutler.
The Phoenix Cardinals lose Carson Palmer and their season is over. The Ranger lose Henrik Lundqvist and plug in Cam Talbot, the Canucks lose Ryan Miller and sub in Eddie Lack, and they keep right on ticking.
That's what the Oilers did last season. They bought low on Victor Fasth and had traded for Ben Scrivens the preceding season. And that tandem laid an egg. Their team save percentage was .892. And they're back to the drawing board this summer.
It's easy to say that you can find a Devan Dubnyk on the scrap heap, but the scrap heap has so many heaps, which one do you choose? It wasn't that obvious, he went from Edmonton to Nashville to Montréal to UFA to Phoenix before he became the revelation that he was in Minny.
The Leafs thought they'd bought themselves their goalie on the cheap. They got Jonathan Bernier, a former first-rounder the Kings had developed, for a second round pick, Matt Frattin and Ben Scrivens, it's almost one of those trade proposals you find on social media: "I'd love it if we could get Evander Kane, but I wouldn't give up Sven Andrighetto, trade Christian Thomas or Martin Reway instead..."
And now the Leafs are disenchanted with both Mr. Bernier and Mr. Reimer, and have to review their goalie situation.
So before we turn up our nose at an Eddie Lack as a trade target, a steadily-improving goalie who paid his dues in the minor, and has now started 80 games in the NHL, at the thought that he could get a second-rounder in return, we should remember the Anti Niemmis out there, the Anders Lindbacks, the cheaper options that don't get a team anywhere.
Sometimes you get a cheap veteran and it turns into a Devan Dubnyk-in-Minnesota season, but sometimes it turns into an Ilya Bryzgalov-in-Minnesota season.
Having said that, I do understand the idea that the difference between the best goalie in the league and the average goalie is practically negligible. It's defensible, but the pendulum may be swinging too far in that direction.
I believe that the goalie position in hockey is as important as the quarterback position in the NFL or CFL. If you have a top quarterback and the other team doesn’t, you’ll almost certainly win. Same as if you have a top goalie and the other team doesn’t, you’ll win, maybe not certainly one game, but assuredly a series.
The big difference is that there are no replacement quarterbacks anywhere to be found. The dropoff between a starter and a backup is huge. The dropoff between the Top 10 or 12 QB’s in the NFL and the guys in the bottom 10 is impossible to make up.
Meanwhile, the improvement in the goaltending position in hockey, the athleticism and coaching they receive and the improved equipment, there isn’t that huge dropoff. A Carey Price and a Jonathan Bernier or Ben Scrivens are much more evenly-matched than an Andrew Luck versus a Blake Bortles or Jay Cutler.
The Phoenix Cardinals lose Carson Palmer and their season is over. The Ranger lose Henrik Lundqvist and plug in Cam Talbot, the Canucks lose Ryan Miller and sub in Eddie Lack, and they keep right on ticking.
Torrey Mitchell signed to a very affordable contract by the Canadiens.
The Canadiens have signed defensively-oriented centre Torrey Mitchell to a three year deal, reported to be worth $1.2M per season.
You have to like that Marc Bergevin retains assets whenever possible. He flipped a 7th rounder to Tim Murray for Torrey Mitchell, along with Ultimate Throw-In Jack Nevins, a gunslinger in an age when the sheriff don't allow no gun play no mo'. But, same as with Jeff Petry, the trade for Torrey now isn't just a rental, a sacrifice of draft picks on a pyre, a lottery ticket that didn't pay out and now lies torn up on the ground. We derive more value from the trade by having the player next season and beyond.
I like that Torrey's a veteran right-handed centreman, it balances out the lineup, all of our other centremen are lefties. He can play the part of Manny Malhotra, he won't exactly replicate the dominance in the faceoff circle, but he'll bring other tools to the table: more quickness, speed, more offensive awareness and production.
He's not as big as Manny, but the game now is all about speed and forechecking and not being out of position and playing the system. So his average stature will only matter when taking draws against a Brian Boyle or Ryan Getzlaf, or when we're facing off against Cam Neely's Everything Old Is Bruins Again.
I really like that Torrey's a homeboy. That's important to me. Kids need to know their heroes, brush elbows with them and be thunderstruck by it, know that they can grow up big and strong like them and one day too wear le bleu-blanc-rouge. We can derive an advantage by having kids growing up dreaming of being a Canadien.
So now our GM has a body, a cheap contract in his arsenal, a veteran player to offer up his coach. I thought we could save pennies by foregoing Torrey, relying on Michaël Bournival and other AHL'ers to staff the fourth line. I'll trust the management team to have evaluated the players involved and made the right decision, that it was cost-effective and beneficial to our team to retain his services.
Another qualm I had on first perusal of the details was how the contract is three years long, how if Torrey's effectiveness nosedives, we could struggle with that term and cap hit. Maybe a two-year deal at a slightly higher cost would have been better? After all, he was a marginal player on an abysmal Sabre team, maybe he's topped out?
Reflecting on this though, I realized there's no use worrying about it, this contract contains its own buyout, essentially, it's like a ship with a self-destruct capability.
At $1.2M per season, let's say Torrey hits a wall next season and the only option would be to cut him loose, buy him out, we couldn't dump his contract on anybody.
Without CapGeek to rely on, that buyout would be 2/3 of the remaining amount, $2.4M spread out over four years, so $1.6M/4. The Canadiens would incur a $400 000 cap hit for the next four years, a sum that's not trivial, but certainly manageable.
But such gymnastics wouldn't even be necessary. The Canadiens, if it came to that, could just send him down to the AHL, and 'hide' $950 000 of his full salary there, as the rules allow.
So the Canadiens could get an even smaller cap penalty, $250 000, by sending him down to the IceCaps, for half the time of an outright buyout.
With this in mind, we realize that this is a contract with very low risk. If he plays well, he'll be an affordable, valuable veteran. If he fades, he can be sent down to the AHL. If, as Marc Bergevin often says, a kid or kids make the decision for him and win a job, their path won't be blocked by Torrey Mitchell because he's making too much money.
So again I tip my hat to our brain trust, their handling of their personnel. This is a far cry from the Bob Gainey years, when we let Alex Tanguay and Saku Koivu and Sheldon Souray and Marc Streit and Mike Komisarek and Alex Kovalev and more, walk off as free agents without compensation or even offers in some cases. This is a refreshing change from the former practice of 'Trade 2nd-rounder for rental, lose him on July 1, rinse, repeat next season.'
You have to like that Marc Bergevin retains assets whenever possible. He flipped a 7th rounder to Tim Murray for Torrey Mitchell, along with Ultimate Throw-In Jack Nevins, a gunslinger in an age when the sheriff don't allow no gun play no mo'. But, same as with Jeff Petry, the trade for Torrey now isn't just a rental, a sacrifice of draft picks on a pyre, a lottery ticket that didn't pay out and now lies torn up on the ground. We derive more value from the trade by having the player next season and beyond.
I like that Torrey's a veteran right-handed centreman, it balances out the lineup, all of our other centremen are lefties. He can play the part of Manny Malhotra, he won't exactly replicate the dominance in the faceoff circle, but he'll bring other tools to the table: more quickness, speed, more offensive awareness and production.
He's not as big as Manny, but the game now is all about speed and forechecking and not being out of position and playing the system. So his average stature will only matter when taking draws against a Brian Boyle or Ryan Getzlaf, or when we're facing off against Cam Neely's Everything Old Is Bruins Again.
I really like that Torrey's a homeboy. That's important to me. Kids need to know their heroes, brush elbows with them and be thunderstruck by it, know that they can grow up big and strong like them and one day too wear le bleu-blanc-rouge. We can derive an advantage by having kids growing up dreaming of being a Canadien.
So now our GM has a body, a cheap contract in his arsenal, a veteran player to offer up his coach. I thought we could save pennies by foregoing Torrey, relying on Michaël Bournival and other AHL'ers to staff the fourth line. I'll trust the management team to have evaluated the players involved and made the right decision, that it was cost-effective and beneficial to our team to retain his services.
Another qualm I had on first perusal of the details was how the contract is three years long, how if Torrey's effectiveness nosedives, we could struggle with that term and cap hit. Maybe a two-year deal at a slightly higher cost would have been better? After all, he was a marginal player on an abysmal Sabre team, maybe he's topped out?
Reflecting on this though, I realized there's no use worrying about it, this contract contains its own buyout, essentially, it's like a ship with a self-destruct capability.
At $1.2M per season, let's say Torrey hits a wall next season and the only option would be to cut him loose, buy him out, we couldn't dump his contract on anybody.
Without CapGeek to rely on, that buyout would be 2/3 of the remaining amount, $2.4M spread out over four years, so $1.6M/4. The Canadiens would incur a $400 000 cap hit for the next four years, a sum that's not trivial, but certainly manageable.
But such gymnastics wouldn't even be necessary. The Canadiens, if it came to that, could just send him down to the AHL, and 'hide' $950 000 of his full salary there, as the rules allow.
So the Canadiens could get an even smaller cap penalty, $250 000, by sending him down to the IceCaps, for half the time of an outright buyout.
With this in mind, we realize that this is a contract with very low risk. If he plays well, he'll be an affordable, valuable veteran. If he fades, he can be sent down to the AHL. If, as Marc Bergevin often says, a kid or kids make the decision for him and win a job, their path won't be blocked by Torrey Mitchell because he's making too much money.
So again I tip my hat to our brain trust, their handling of their personnel. This is a far cry from the Bob Gainey years, when we let Alex Tanguay and Saku Koivu and Sheldon Souray and Marc Streit and Mike Komisarek and Alex Kovalev and more, walk off as free agents without compensation or even offers in some cases. This is a refreshing change from the former practice of 'Trade 2nd-rounder for rental, lose him on July 1, rinse, repeat next season.'
Sunday, 14 June 2015
Can the Canadiens trade for Red Wings prospect Anthony Mantha?
Damien Cox reports that, after being considered an untouchable prospect, Anthony Mantha, the Red Wings' huge scoring winger, might be available in trade talks. Even after a drubbing in the media, that doesn't mean that he'll come cheap.
In a relatively deep draft in 2013, it's surprising that a player of his size and offensive talent lasted until the 20th pick. The knocks on Anthony Mantha were inconsistent production and effort, and the fact that he was a late birthday player, meaning he was close to a year older than some of the guys he was up against in his draft class, yet wasn't correspondingly better.
At the draft, he was on the floor being interviewed by La Presse and RDS accompanied by his grandpa, former Canadien André Pronovost. The kid said all the right things, that he accepted the criticism as a challenge, that his grandpa spoke to him about going all out 100% effort and that he vowed to do so, and everyone was all smiles and the future seemed great. He seemed like a great character kid with a strong family background who was learning how to be a pro, a player.
Sure enough, the next season Anthony did take a huge step in terms of effort and veteranship, and scored at a goal per game pace and led the Foreurs to the Memorial Cup tourney, and shone there too. The Wings seemed to have a keeper, and we all claimed we knew we should have moved up to nab him.
And based on that clip of Jarmo Kekalainen, the Columbus GM, having a terse conversation with Marc Bergevin and telling him he didn't want to trade his pick, and based on Marc Bergevin's appearance on Dave Morissette, I have a strong hunch that the Canadiens GM did try to move up in the 2013 draft to get him, and a season later regretted not trying harder.
Fast-forward to now, and loose cannon Jim Devellano shot his mouth off again and blemished the young prospect somewhat. He didn't take to the AHL as well as they might have hoped, apparently had an up and down year but with decent enough production.
To me, I'd evaluate his first pro season as evidence that the kid is greatly talented but still needs to work on his effort level, on consistency, as he stated he would and did his last CHL season. It's still a work in progress, you be patient with him, you work with him, but still accept that he sees the play and the ice differently. Like when some observers knock Max Pacioretty for not killing guys in the corners or mucking it up in front of the net, it just may not be his style, the best use of his talent, despite the size. Maybe he's the guy who lurks like a shark for a loose puck, finds the open spot, like Luc Robitaille did. You don't ask that guy to be Travis Moen, you just demand that he play hard and responsible, but hold it there.
Maybe, and I'm going to stretch it immensely here, he's a bit of a project like Stéphane Richer, tremendously talented but with holes in his game, and inconsistency, but you live with it, because no one else around can do what he can, not by a long shot. So if he has a 23 goal season one year, you take a breath, be patient, keep working with him, hold him accountable but show a little flexibility, since the year before he scored 45, and next season he might get you fifty if he's cruising.
This is all pretty much academic to us, if you ask me, since I believe the Red Wings would want to trade him as part of a package to move up in the draft, or hit a giant trade for some help in their current lineup, not our spare parts we're trying to unload for cap relief.
In a relatively deep draft in 2013, it's surprising that a player of his size and offensive talent lasted until the 20th pick. The knocks on Anthony Mantha were inconsistent production and effort, and the fact that he was a late birthday player, meaning he was close to a year older than some of the guys he was up against in his draft class, yet wasn't correspondingly better.
At the draft, he was on the floor being interviewed by La Presse and RDS accompanied by his grandpa, former Canadien André Pronovost. The kid said all the right things, that he accepted the criticism as a challenge, that his grandpa spoke to him about going all out 100% effort and that he vowed to do so, and everyone was all smiles and the future seemed great. He seemed like a great character kid with a strong family background who was learning how to be a pro, a player.
Sure enough, the next season Anthony did take a huge step in terms of effort and veteranship, and scored at a goal per game pace and led the Foreurs to the Memorial Cup tourney, and shone there too. The Wings seemed to have a keeper, and we all claimed we knew we should have moved up to nab him.
And based on that clip of Jarmo Kekalainen, the Columbus GM, having a terse conversation with Marc Bergevin and telling him he didn't want to trade his pick, and based on Marc Bergevin's appearance on Dave Morissette, I have a strong hunch that the Canadiens GM did try to move up in the 2013 draft to get him, and a season later regretted not trying harder.
Fast-forward to now, and loose cannon Jim Devellano shot his mouth off again and blemished the young prospect somewhat. He didn't take to the AHL as well as they might have hoped, apparently had an up and down year but with decent enough production.
To me, I'd evaluate his first pro season as evidence that the kid is greatly talented but still needs to work on his effort level, on consistency, as he stated he would and did his last CHL season. It's still a work in progress, you be patient with him, you work with him, but still accept that he sees the play and the ice differently. Like when some observers knock Max Pacioretty for not killing guys in the corners or mucking it up in front of the net, it just may not be his style, the best use of his talent, despite the size. Maybe he's the guy who lurks like a shark for a loose puck, finds the open spot, like Luc Robitaille did. You don't ask that guy to be Travis Moen, you just demand that he play hard and responsible, but hold it there.
Maybe, and I'm going to stretch it immensely here, he's a bit of a project like Stéphane Richer, tremendously talented but with holes in his game, and inconsistency, but you live with it, because no one else around can do what he can, not by a long shot. So if he has a 23 goal season one year, you take a breath, be patient, keep working with him, hold him accountable but show a little flexibility, since the year before he scored 45, and next season he might get you fifty if he's cruising.
This is all pretty much academic to us, if you ask me, since I believe the Red Wings would want to trade him as part of a package to move up in the draft, or hit a giant trade for some help in their current lineup, not our spare parts we're trying to unload for cap relief.
Thursday, 11 June 2015
The Phoenix Coyotes won't leave, like a guest who overstayed his welcome.
The 19-year saga of the Phoenix Coyotes, one which we were assured by spin-ster Gary Bettman was now concluded, launched a new chapter last night when Glendale city council voted to revoke the lease agreement it has with IceArizona, one which sees the city pay $15M a year to the owners for...for what exactly?
Anyway, evidently this will land before the courts, with the Coyotes suing the city for the right to remain, and the Glendalians wanting them gone.
This is Bizarro World. Le monde à l’envers.
I’ve seen cities suing owners and leagues to keep their teams, to prevent owners from absconding with their teams (Jim Irsay, Art ‘Weasel’ Modell, Al Davis, Marcel Aubut, Jeffrey Loria), but are we going to witness a team refusing to leave an apathetic fan base and hostile city? Are they going to sue to remain in place when they’re not wanted? Are they going to act like toddlers who flop and play dead and tantrumate when you try to pick them up when it’s time to leave?
The $15M yearly payment from the city to the team is supposedly to compensate the ownership for the cost of maintaining and managing the arena. Sure, I expect there’s a margin of profit built in, but doesn’t it set off alarm bells when the team tries to cling to that payment? Like maybe there’s a lot of fat in that contract, the margin might be overly generous?
Especially when you consider that Évenko, the Canadiens arena management team, was rattling its sabre about not being allowed to bid on the management contract for Le Colisée, they wanted to pay Québec City for the privilege of running the place. Somehow it’s the other way around in Glendale.
Never mind that somehow Fortress Investment, a rapacious hedge fund run by twits in New York is somehow involved in all of this, that apparently the $15M is apparently being pocketed by them instead of, you know, paying for paint and lightbulbs and stuff. After witnessing first-hand their star turn in bleeding Whistler Blackcomb dry, I don’t find this very hard to believe.
Gary Bettman assured us that the IceEdge guys were serious, solid investors, and said the same when it became IceArizona. Until a year later, they'd sold 51% of their interest to Andrew Barroway, and we were told this was to secure the investment, give the franchise even more stability. But really, they didn't have that money, they borrowed it froma loan sharkFortress.
I missed the Gary Bettman between-periods interview with Scott Oake last night, and don’t really have the stomach to expose myself to toxic levels of his special brand of oily obstreperousness, but Stéphane Langdeau on L’Antichambre said he was combative, and lectured the citizens of Glendale on what they should and shouldn’t do.
Right on Gary! Keep making friends.
Anyway, evidently this will land before the courts, with the Coyotes suing the city for the right to remain, and the Glendalians wanting them gone.
This is Bizarro World. Le monde à l’envers.
I’ve seen cities suing owners and leagues to keep their teams, to prevent owners from absconding with their teams (Jim Irsay, Art ‘Weasel’ Modell, Al Davis, Marcel Aubut, Jeffrey Loria), but are we going to witness a team refusing to leave an apathetic fan base and hostile city? Are they going to sue to remain in place when they’re not wanted? Are they going to act like toddlers who flop and play dead and tantrumate when you try to pick them up when it’s time to leave?
The $15M yearly payment from the city to the team is supposedly to compensate the ownership for the cost of maintaining and managing the arena. Sure, I expect there’s a margin of profit built in, but doesn’t it set off alarm bells when the team tries to cling to that payment? Like maybe there’s a lot of fat in that contract, the margin might be overly generous?
Especially when you consider that Évenko, the Canadiens arena management team, was rattling its sabre about not being allowed to bid on the management contract for Le Colisée, they wanted to pay Québec City for the privilege of running the place. Somehow it’s the other way around in Glendale.
Never mind that somehow Fortress Investment, a rapacious hedge fund run by twits in New York is somehow involved in all of this, that apparently the $15M is apparently being pocketed by them instead of, you know, paying for paint and lightbulbs and stuff. After witnessing first-hand their star turn in bleeding Whistler Blackcomb dry, I don’t find this very hard to believe.
Gary Bettman assured us that the IceEdge guys were serious, solid investors, and said the same when it became IceArizona. Until a year later, they'd sold 51% of their interest to Andrew Barroway, and we were told this was to secure the investment, give the franchise even more stability. But really, they didn't have that money, they borrowed it from
I missed the Gary Bettman between-periods interview with Scott Oake last night, and don’t really have the stomach to expose myself to toxic levels of his special brand of oily obstreperousness, but Stéphane Langdeau on L’Antichambre said he was combative, and lectured the citizens of Glendale on what they should and shouldn’t do.
Right on Gary! Keep making friends.
"Diving" in hockey is an ugly practice that's easily fixed. Unless you're Colin Campbell and the NHL.
There’s a tolerance to flopping in the NHL that’s in opposition to the stated goal of the league and its talking heads. They unanimously decry embellishment, but it happens routinely in games now, and it’s to the detriment of player safety.
Some have taken to lying on the ice for a few seconds, acting dazed when they receive what they think might be a questionable hit, trying to draw a penalty. Ben Bishop is a frequent offender.
It would be so easy to end that practice. Just punish embellishment, immediately and sternly, any clear incidence of diving when it shows up on game tape. Let the on-ice officials punish the offenders if they can, when they see it, but tell them not to worry about it unduly, concentrate on the game, and let the league deal with it after the fact, as supplemental discipline.
Some argue that it’s hard to tell if someone flopped or not, but that’s not a valid reason to not try. The same goes for questionable hits or slashes, but the league doesn’t just throw up its hands and say it’s impossible, it tries its best, punishes the clear transgressions.
Do the same for the floppers and thespians. Guys who jump into their dive, Shawn Thornton when he’s all noble and a guy who plays the right way play-acts a full-body spasm two seconds after getting emelined, stick them with a suspension and fine.
Hit the coaches and teams with graduated fines and suspensions as well, along with the GM’s, punish these guys with loss of drafting privileges somehow, the more their team dives the more it affects their draft picks. Now diving isn’t just something that Claude Julien can make a big stink about while Brad Marchand embarrasses himself with the same histrionics, it’s something the Bruins coach actively stamps out, there’s no two ways about it. A player could dive himself off the team and back down to the AHL in a hurry, if a Peter Chiarelli gets told that his second-round draft pick now got bumped down to the third round, and the next instance will mess with the first-rounder.
The argument that the players will just flop a little less, be more sly about it, misses the mark. None of those guys are trying to overact, they just put on a little extra mustard to draw the eye of the ref. They do their best to act natural, for their flop to go undetected, but it’s often so evident, it’s like the four-year-old who says he didn’t steal the chocolate but the proof is all over their face. If a player can fall just right after a hook, and not get caught, good on him I guess, but the next time he’ll probably set off the alarm. Make the punishment harsh enough that no one will dare try.
Players will go the extra mile, bend or break the rules to try to win, we’ve all done it, deflated footballs, put gunk on our necks or forearms while on the mound, luciced someone in the groin. The way to deal with that is to make that action a losing proposition. Make the risk and reward analysis easy for players: the chance of getting caught should be too great and the penalty so costly that players will not try to dive anymore.
And for Pete’s sake when a goalie acts as he’s been shot after being brushed by, send him to the quiet room for the mandatory check. If he’s shaken up, take him out of the game. He can return once the protocol has been completed. No more will players theatrically lie on the ice for a minute, wait for the trainer, check to see if the ref has called a penalty, skate to the bench for a breather, and then get back on the ice for the resultant powerplay.
There’s no downside: the cheaters will stop pretending to be hurt, and the truly rattled players’ safety will be enhanced by ensuring they’re sent to the Room, where it can be determined if they suffered mild brain trauma, or just got the breath knocked out of them or banged up their shoulder.
Some have taken to lying on the ice for a few seconds, acting dazed when they receive what they think might be a questionable hit, trying to draw a penalty. Ben Bishop is a frequent offender.
It would be so easy to end that practice. Just punish embellishment, immediately and sternly, any clear incidence of diving when it shows up on game tape. Let the on-ice officials punish the offenders if they can, when they see it, but tell them not to worry about it unduly, concentrate on the game, and let the league deal with it after the fact, as supplemental discipline.
Some argue that it’s hard to tell if someone flopped or not, but that’s not a valid reason to not try. The same goes for questionable hits or slashes, but the league doesn’t just throw up its hands and say it’s impossible, it tries its best, punishes the clear transgressions.
Do the same for the floppers and thespians. Guys who jump into their dive, Shawn Thornton when he’s all noble and a guy who plays the right way play-acts a full-body spasm two seconds after getting emelined, stick them with a suspension and fine.
Hit the coaches and teams with graduated fines and suspensions as well, along with the GM’s, punish these guys with loss of drafting privileges somehow, the more their team dives the more it affects their draft picks. Now diving isn’t just something that Claude Julien can make a big stink about while Brad Marchand embarrasses himself with the same histrionics, it’s something the Bruins coach actively stamps out, there’s no two ways about it. A player could dive himself off the team and back down to the AHL in a hurry, if a Peter Chiarelli gets told that his second-round draft pick now got bumped down to the third round, and the next instance will mess with the first-rounder.
The argument that the players will just flop a little less, be more sly about it, misses the mark. None of those guys are trying to overact, they just put on a little extra mustard to draw the eye of the ref. They do their best to act natural, for their flop to go undetected, but it’s often so evident, it’s like the four-year-old who says he didn’t steal the chocolate but the proof is all over their face. If a player can fall just right after a hook, and not get caught, good on him I guess, but the next time he’ll probably set off the alarm. Make the punishment harsh enough that no one will dare try.
Players will go the extra mile, bend or break the rules to try to win, we’ve all done it, deflated footballs, put gunk on our necks or forearms while on the mound, luciced someone in the groin. The way to deal with that is to make that action a losing proposition. Make the risk and reward analysis easy for players: the chance of getting caught should be too great and the penalty so costly that players will not try to dive anymore.
And for Pete’s sake when a goalie acts as he’s been shot after being brushed by, send him to the quiet room for the mandatory check. If he’s shaken up, take him out of the game. He can return once the protocol has been completed. No more will players theatrically lie on the ice for a minute, wait for the trainer, check to see if the ref has called a penalty, skate to the bench for a breather, and then get back on the ice for the resultant powerplay.
There’s no downside: the cheaters will stop pretending to be hurt, and the truly rattled players’ safety will be enhanced by ensuring they’re sent to the Room, where it can be determined if they suffered mild brain trauma, or just got the breath knocked out of them or banged up their shoulder.
Off-season training: It's not where a NHL player trains, it's how hard he trains.
Gary Roberts apparently runs a great off-season training program in Toronto for NHL players. He gets great press from a lot of sources, and the fans have taken note. Some of them seem to think it's first-class, and not attending his facility and following his methods is tantamount to negligence for a professional hockey player.
But it's not the only way to go. P.K. seems to be doing well with Clarence Laylor in Toronto. Max trains with Ben Prentice and gets great results too, it's the same gym where Martin St-Louis trains and obtained his ESPN magazine physique.
Looking on YouTube, Kris Letang trains in Montréal at the same gym where George St-Pierre trains at, and Bokondji Imama is training there already this spring, he's Instagramed some pictures.
There's more than one way to skin a cat. Some of these trainers/gyms/programs might be better for one athlete than it is for another, but I think the differences are marginal. The biggest factor by far in my mind is the dedication, the intensity with which one trains.
Pierre Allard also deserves a nod. The kids rave about the programs and the attention they get from the Canadiens' staff. Mr. Allard is a former hockey pro who went back to school to get his kinesiology degree, and rapidly moved up to the top of his profession due to his results.
Also, and I've posted on this before, the Canadiens have been avoiding injuries for a few seasons now. I remember when the Canadiens were struck with so many injuries you thought they'd crossed a wrathful deity at some point. Pretty much at the same time, the Canadiens changed their rock-hard rink board and glass system in Brossard and the Nouveau Forum for one with more 'give', and they released their entire training staff, and hired Pierre Allard, and some new physio guys.
From one season to the next, my sense is the Canadiens have been remarkable healthy, no more hamstring pulls and bulging disks and other ailments like that. They used to set records for man-games lost, now they're at the bottom of the standings for that.
We gripe about how the Canadiens get so many days off, how many times Michel Therrien chooses to rest his guys. Sure, the NHL CBA-mandated days-off clause triggers quite a few of those, but the Habs go above and beyond, some of the optional practice/light skate days surprise us.
I don't think this is done in a vacuum though. I'm strongly inclined to believe that the training staff is on top of this, they know when to push the boys, when to ease off and let them recuperate, based on objective measures, the testing and measuring they do.
So if Devante Smith-Pelly or other Toronto boy goes to train with Gary Roberts, great stuff, I'll applaud, but any gym with a qualified trainer will do. Work on your explosiveness Devo, work out intensely, on your stamina. Lean up a bit if that's what Pierre Allard and the coaches want.
But it's not where you sweat, it's how much you sweat that's the important factor.
But it's not the only way to go. P.K. seems to be doing well with Clarence Laylor in Toronto. Max trains with Ben Prentice and gets great results too, it's the same gym where Martin St-Louis trains and obtained his ESPN magazine physique.
Looking on YouTube, Kris Letang trains in Montréal at the same gym where George St-Pierre trains at, and Bokondji Imama is training there already this spring, he's Instagramed some pictures.
There's more than one way to skin a cat. Some of these trainers/gyms/programs might be better for one athlete than it is for another, but I think the differences are marginal. The biggest factor by far in my mind is the dedication, the intensity with which one trains.
Pierre Allard also deserves a nod. The kids rave about the programs and the attention they get from the Canadiens' staff. Mr. Allard is a former hockey pro who went back to school to get his kinesiology degree, and rapidly moved up to the top of his profession due to his results.
Also, and I've posted on this before, the Canadiens have been avoiding injuries for a few seasons now. I remember when the Canadiens were struck with so many injuries you thought they'd crossed a wrathful deity at some point. Pretty much at the same time, the Canadiens changed their rock-hard rink board and glass system in Brossard and the Nouveau Forum for one with more 'give', and they released their entire training staff, and hired Pierre Allard, and some new physio guys.
From one season to the next, my sense is the Canadiens have been remarkable healthy, no more hamstring pulls and bulging disks and other ailments like that. They used to set records for man-games lost, now they're at the bottom of the standings for that.
We gripe about how the Canadiens get so many days off, how many times Michel Therrien chooses to rest his guys. Sure, the NHL CBA-mandated days-off clause triggers quite a few of those, but the Habs go above and beyond, some of the optional practice/light skate days surprise us.
I don't think this is done in a vacuum though. I'm strongly inclined to believe that the training staff is on top of this, they know when to push the boys, when to ease off and let them recuperate, based on objective measures, the testing and measuring they do.
So if Devante Smith-Pelly or other Toronto boy goes to train with Gary Roberts, great stuff, I'll applaud, but any gym with a qualified trainer will do. Work on your explosiveness Devo, work out intensely, on your stamina. Lean up a bit if that's what Pierre Allard and the coaches want.
But it's not where you sweat, it's how much you sweat that's the important factor.
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