I completely missed that Ilya Mikheyev got 5x4. It always felt like the majority of UFA signings were overpays but this offseason it feels like 90%.
some mtl fans wanted him so bad, I want no part of that guy. He will have a few good seasons with a lot of goals but he is a negative when he is on the ice almost all the time. I also believe that his game will fall off a cliff fairly early
ridiculous, for two overrated guys that will make their team average so they will miss the playoffs every year and won’t draft in the top 10
There's an argument to be made that Bjorkstrand provides more value than Laine and at a 4m lower AAV.
Huberdeau and Weegar are both UFAs after next season. Florida must’ve known they weren’t gonna stick around. Still a brutal trade for them.
I mean they didn’t have the money to pay both Huberdeau and Weegar. So they got a younger top tier winger for what they would have paid Huberdeau. It absolutely makes them worse this year but they are in much better shape cap wise going forward.
So the team is in its current Stanley cup window (and towards the end of it, imo), and they made themselves worse and gave up a 1st on top of it. Bad trade. Better cap management would’ve avoided this.
Well no shit. But that’s Tallon’s fault for signing Bob and Matheson. I’m not sure if this was the right way to go, but it’s certainly a big swing by zito. they also now have a 24 year old Tkachuk and a 27 year old Barkov for the next 8 years at a combined 19.5 million aav. Imo that’s a good place to be. Now can they survive not having a 1st round pick for 4 straight years? Let’s find out.
Florida’s D is now woof. Did the Panters have a feel for what Huberdeau was going to want to sign for?
Tkachuk + Barkov will be an absolutely dominant 2 way line. I don’t think it’s a terrible trade for Florida considering the long term
On paper, it looks like a “good hockey trade” (such a dumb term) but beneath the surface it feels like two insecure teams just trying to make the most of their situations - ala the Laine/PLD trade. Florida has a history of thinking guys actually want to play there long term and then getting burned. They give up two all stars with questionable status as long-term Panthers for one who actually has term. And while that probably helps their future vs potentially losing out on resigning Huberdeau and/or Weegar, it makes them immediately worse while they’re a competitive organization. Just seems like a desperate move to actually have a star player willing to stay in your organization long term. On the Calgary side, they seemingly had no leverage so returning what they got seems like a great deal for them - at least asset wise. But both of the players are likely just rentals. The best move they can probably make with both is trade at the TDL with salary retained for a huge group of assets, because it’s also a bit unlikely they actually stay in Calgary regardless of the cap space available. This does not make Calgary competitive in the short or middle term, but it does signal the opportunity to have a plethora of young top prospects/picks by the end of next season. They could have a massive rebuild on the way if they play their cards right. All in all though, just two teams who fail to keep star players around long term just trying to optimize that murky scenario.
Good assessment. Calgary is now deep with D so I could see one of them getting moved. One of my first thoughts when I saw the trade was this may make it easier for Ottawa to acquire Weegar. At first glance it looks like a hefty price to get MT but he’s signed going forward and is 5 years younger than JH. Fla will still challenge for the top of the division; they couldn’t go into the season /TDL with those two as potential UFA’s. Calgary can.
Huberdeau would be 30 and weeger 29 next summer and both would expect big contracts but it seems like Florida overpaid on this one. Maybe if the pick and prospect were going the other way. Florida will have to find a way to replace weeger but Florida definitely gets the best player over the long term in the deal.
This is my take as well. everything coming out of Florida was that the Huberdeau extension was going to get done and Weegar was going to be a self rental. Instead zito decided to do this. Imo it’s not really a debate that Tkachuk signed for 9.5 x 8 is better than Huberdeau at the same deal considering age. Was it worth Weegar and a first to do that? No clue. It’s easily the most aggressive trade in south Florida history. One that includes pat Riley.
Their 2nd pairing right now is one of if not the worst in the league. They need to figure out something to do there.
Kinda surprised about the draft picks involved but otherwise you can easily see why this helps both teams. And given huberdeau/weeger in the playoffs I’m not even that convinced the planters are worse short term due to the trade. No they won’t win the presidents trophy but this may be a better poised team for a run plus whatever they do at the deadline again. The unspoken thing here is fan reaction. This is not a franchise fan base that trusts the organization and for good reason. The marlins could make a huge value trade but south Florida doesn’t trust them either. Same thing here. All people will hear is the panthers got rid of huberdeau and that will not be received well.
Very surprising deal. I was a little surprised Huberdeau wasn’t extended when free agency started but I guess it makes sense now. Has anything come out if he and the Panthers had been talking about it at all? Tkachuk will probably be the better player in a few years but I thought Huberdeau was going to spend his whole career there. Gonna be interesting to see what moves follow since the Panthers have to get under the cap and I’d imagine they’re going to try to do something to improve their blue line.
Everything from the insiders was that a deal was coming in the near future. This came out of absolutely nowhere.
NHL’s 10 best contracts, 2022 edition: Johnny Gaudreau, Cale Makar and others - The Athletic (As Dom explains, term left matters a lot in his rankings here) Basically, the best players in the league are underpaid for the value that they bring, but you still can't pay them more because the market is set on overpaying second/third tier players.