Would imagine this is the nail in the coffin for Tuukka's career in Boston. Not because he played badly this series, but because the Bruins lack of secondary scoring was really exposed this year and they can't pay him and add anyone else.
Hell of a series win for the Islanders. Probably the best game they’ve played in the playoffs tonight and their defense was stifling most of the night. Facing Tampa again will be a very difficult task but hopefully the isles can learn something from last season’s matchup.
islanders are pests. I mean that in the best way. The lightning are even more comfortable than last year at playing these 1-0/2-1 type games but I think that makes this series closer than last year. Series could come down to how the games are called and special teams. Lightning have been getting a lot more power plays this playoffs than in previous years. If that continues I like our chances. If they start calling it like previous playoffs, this one is very close. I still can’t believe the capitals let trotz go. Best coach in hockey.
Maybe. But you traded a top end forward for what is essentially a very good minor leaguer. Fucking Dorion.
Islanders have an identity that makes them a pain in the ass in the playoffs. The problem for the Islanders is if the refs call it even, they have zero shot against Tampa. You cannot get into a ST battle with the Lightning; it won’t work.
I mean, Hasek could very well be the best goalie of all time. Vasi might be headed to the the HOF, but to compare anyone favorably to Hasek just isn't fair to Hasek.
Tampa brings so much attention to state income taxes and cap circumvention in ways that other teams just don’t. I guess that’s what happens when you win.
My issue is his organization is trying to strong arm a top 5 coach in the league into a bottom 5 coaches salary, so I don’t have any sympathy for the Hurricanes franchise.
I don’t think Dundon would even allow Carolina to explore going that far over the cap, based on how he runs his business.
Meh, player salaries are the only thing Dundon hasn’t been a cheap bastard on. Aho got an 8.4 AAV just last year and it wasn’t really in question that he’d get what he wanted to re-sign. Svechnikov will likely get a big pay day this year too. Hamilton will have to decide if he wants 8+ which means he’s leaving Carolina, or if he wants to stay at 6-7 AAV with a building roster. Most teams don’t have the luxury of leaving an MVP on IR all season and still making the playoffs, allowing them to keep all that money off the books, so it isn’t really worth considering for the Canes.
But the issue is all teams can do what TB did if they draft and develop well. It’s not like the rule says you can use LTIR only if your team is located in Tampa Bay. People are just mad because Tampa has a stacked roster, most of which came from great drafting by the way. They haven’t gone out and spent wildly on FA. They drafted guys, made good trades and created an environment that makes guys want to stay put.
I think people are mad because they kept together a stacked roster when other teams haven't been able to because of the salary cap. They aren't a little over the cap, they are about 21% over the cap.
It’s a pretty simple fix if teams are going to use that to manipulate the cap, those players aren’t allowed to play in the playoffs gives much less incentive
Or just give a carryover penalty. Want to be $18 mil over, well 50% (or whatever percentage) of that number carries over to the next season.
Sure, but to even get that far above the cap took clever cap management. Using a third team to get Savard is just smart business. The NHL needs more forward thinking organizations.
Whats needed is a more flexible salary cap so you wouldn't have GM's looking to circumvent the cap so much. Also not sure how clever it was to say hey Kucherov, instead of being out 60% of the season, just chill until the playoffs and we'll park your $9.5 million cap hit.
I also think more people should be up in arms about the teams who have to circumvent the cap to hit the cap floor. It’s total bullshit and absolutely waters down the product.
teams can be forward thinking all they want but it’s up to the league to maintain the competitive balance. I think this situation requires a fix.
They should have a soft cap like the NBA. But in the example of Kuch, he did have hip surgery, which isn’t exactly a minor surgery. And also, had there not been Covid, he would have probably been back during the season, making this discussion a moot point. I am not sure you’ll ever see that happen again.
The problem was waiting until the deadline to trade a player who was not returning to Ottawa. But Eugene being delusional for some reason refused to allow him to be traded. Nobody is offering you anything at the last minute.
Sucks it came to this. Would have been fun to see a full scale bidding war for Eichel. Hard not to think this doesn't end up being a trade for pennies on the dollar. Also, Buffalo needs to make sure they learn from the mistake the Rockets made with Harden. Take high end futures over a lesser NHL ready player. The NHL caliber players that are going to be offered in exchange for Eichel are going to have obvious flaws and will set that franchise back another 3-5 years. Commit to a full scale rebuild around Dahlin and whoever they pick at #1 in this draft.