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2017-2018 NHL Thread

CarltonTheBear said:
The issue with Doughty is that, like you sorta brought up, calling him only the 4th best defenceman in the league is seen as an insult to Doughty-fans.
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True. There does seem to be an awful lot invested in holding him up as one of the league's elite defensemen. If maybe only to drive the preferred old school narrative as to why LA was so good for a while there(as opposed to the less interesting "as a team they had outstanding possession numbers).

I think also it's a question of, you know, is Doughty even on that Hedman/Karlsson/Subban and occasionally guys like Burns or Keith tier or if he's maybe just behind that with guys like Josi and Byfuglien.
 
Nik the Trik said:
CarltonTheBear said:
The issue with Doughty is that, like you sorta brought up, calling him only the 4th best defenceman in the league is seen as an insult to Doughty-fans.
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True. There does seem to be an awful lot invested in holding him up as one of the league's elite defensemen. If maybe only to drive the preferred old school narrative as to why LA was so good for a while there(as opposed to the less interesting "as a team they had outstanding possession numbers).

I think also it's a question of, you know, is Doughty even on that Hedman/Karlsson/Subban and occasionally guys like Burns or Keith tier or if he's maybe just behind that with guys like Josi and Byfuglien.
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Did anyone watch the LA-Vegas series? Doughty did not look good at all. He is definitely behind that group and I would take Josi over him but not Byfgulien. Who I am also not that fond of.
 
TimKerr said:
Did anyone watch the LA-Vegas series? Doughty did not look good at all. He is definitely behind that group and I would take Josi over him but not Byfgulien. Who I am also not that fond of.
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I think he's inconsistent. I've watched him at times and been not all that impressed but I also think he was Canada's best defenseman at the 2014 Olympics and was pretty freaking good there.
 
Nik the Trik said:
TimKerr said:
Did anyone watch the LA-Vegas series? Doughty did not look good at all. He is definitely behind that group and I would take Josi over him but not Byfgulien. Who I am also not that fond of.
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I think he's inconsistent. I've watched him at times and been not all that impressed but I also think he was Canada's best defenseman at the 2014 Olympics and was pretty freaking good there.
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That was 4 years ago, although I do agree. My point overall is, there has been a lot of talk of trying to sign Doughty to a long term deal in Toronto. I think that's a bad idea and doesn't help the team in the long run. I just don't think he's going to be that good.
 
TimKerr said:
That was 4 years ago, although I do agree. My point overall is, there has been a lot of talk of trying to sign Doughty to a long term deal in Toronto. I think that's a bad idea and doesn't help the team in the long run. I just don't think he's going to be that good.
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I think it depends on how you look at it. I agree it would be a lot of money for someone heading into the back 9 of his career. I also agree that given what he's likely to cost you'd effectively be tying your hands elsewhere and putting a ton of eggs in that one basket. However, on the plus side I think there are three notable points:

1. He's better than anyone the Leafs have.

2. He's probably better than anyone else who is likely to be on the market.

3. He's capable of playing at a level that could give the Leafs the short term success they want.

So while I agree it's not the slam dunk some people might think, I think it becomes an attractive option once you realize he could open up some alternative paths for the Leafs(trade Rielly or Gardiner?) and when some people are really talking about giving ice time to Justin Holl.
 
cabber24 said:
Guru Tugginmypuddah said:
Zee said:
Hey I just realized that John Tavares will be a free agent in 3 weeks.
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Ummmm, no.  He will be a Toronto Maple Leaf.
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The Stamkos thread reached 166 pages, Tavares is at just 10 pages... we clearly don't want him.
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There's a Tavares thread?  Who is this young whippersnapper i've never heard of?
 
cabber24 said:
Guru Tugginmypuddah said:
Zee said:
Hey I just realized that John Tavares will be a free agent in 3 weeks.
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Ummmm, no.  He will be a Toronto Maple Leaf.
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The Stamkos thread reached 166 pages, Tavares is at just 10 pages... we clearly don't want him.
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The Stamkos thread was less about signing him, and rather the long term affects of signing him at that time.  At this point, signing Tavares doesn't really hurt their chances of getting a high draft pick because they already did that to themselves.
 
Sometimes I look at Vegas' success and think, "wow. Maybe McPhee really is a genius who simply outsmarted and out-GM'ed every other team in the league". Then I see things like this...

https://twitter.com/knightsonice/status/1005887356212273158

... and remember that this years Vegas team will probably go down as one of the biggest flukes the NHL has ever seen.
 
https://twitter.com/Prospects_Watch/status/1006531410679795712

tenor.gif


Any GM that even thinks about giving Jack Johnson even close to $6mil or $5mil or even $4mil should be instantly banned from the league. McKenzie's intel there has to be wrong... right?
 
CarltonTheBear said:
Any GM that even thinks about giving Jack Johnson even close to $6mil or $5mil or even $4mil should be instantly banned from the league. McKenzie's intel there has to be wrong... right?
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It sure seems unlikely but I would never underestimate the stupidity of NHL GMs on July 1st.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
Any GM that even thinks about giving Jack Johnson even close to $6mil or $5mil or even $4mil should be instantly banned from the league. McKenzie's intel there has to be wrong... right?
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I mean, he did put up 47 points over the last 3 seasons. In total.
 
https://twitter.com/JapersRink/status/1008786457165729798
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1008786044156764160

I still refuse to believe Friedman's lip-reading report was correct but here we are.

Interesting that this is mostly because the Capitals didn't want to match the increasing salary standards for head coaches around the league. It's suspected that his previous salary was $1.5mil.
 
The next Washington coach sure has a lot to live up to.  Unless you win the Cup, you're a failure compared to the previous guy.
 
Frank E said:
I think Lou will make a phone call...and that would certainly signal something positive to the Tavares camp.
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Can't imagine he'd leave the defending Stanley Cup champs if he didn't have something else already lined up... and with the Islanders being the only team with a coaching vacancy...
 
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