Where should the Habs try to move Allen

[folatre]

In a non-cap league, I believe Hughes would already have a handful of decent offers for Allen. But essentially the teams that need a goalie have no cap space. And I cannot fathom Hughes taking Campbell for three additional seasons at $5 million or Korpisalo at $4 for four more years.

New Jersey, because of the Hamilton injury, would be able to take Allen, who is better than what they have. I think Montreal would have to take Vanacek (1 more season at $3.4, which is sort of a pain in the arm if Hughes actually believes in Primeau. I have an old university buddy who has been a Devils fan forever, bleeds green and red, and he said everyone is excited about the young German they have down in the AHL. But would Tommy Fitzgerald really want to go to war in the playoffs with a struggling 23 year old Schmid who has a tiny sample size in the NHL and a 22 year old total rookie?

Even in the case that Jersey wants Allen and Hughes is willing to take Vanacek, I would still caution against high expectations on the return. Goalie values are notoriously soft so I think this scenario would be, best case, like a 2025 second.

[drkcloud]

I don't think there's much of a market for Allen. Do GMs think he is a better option than what they're struggling with? I sure don't and if they did, he'd be gone by now.

Also, if we do find a landing spot, his value can't be more than a 5th

[folatre]

Cloud, I agree. At full freight, Allen is not valued at anything more than a late round pick. If Montreal retains half, then I could see a needy team offering a 4th. The only reason I would say best case in a scenario with the Devils could be a 2nd is because I assume Hughes would have to chew on Vanacek, which is basically an identical contract, thus leaving New Jersey cap room to get another reinforcement on defense or up front at the deadline.

[seventeen]

Yoohoo....how about Buffalo? A team with two young goalies, neither of which is proven at this point and could use a veteran that is at least posting a +.900 save percentage, is reasonably priced and poses no CAP implications. The Sabres had high hopes this year, but their goaltending is holding them down. Either Luukonen or Devon Levi could use a mentor. Do you think you could pry a 2nd out of the Sabres?

[seventeen]

Just saw a tweet about goals saved vs Expected. The worst team, in order, are Ottawa, Carolina, Edmonton, NJ, Tampa, Seattle and Dallas ( ). One of those teams is the target.

[Willie Dog]

Dec 18, 2023 13:45:11 GMT -5 seventeen said:

Just saw a tweet about goals saved vs Expected. The worst team, in order, are Ottawa, Carolina, Edmonton, NJ, Tampa, Seattle and Dallas ( ). One of those teams is the target.

And all of them except Seattle have playoff aspirations

[folatre]

Yeah, Ottawa had high expectations and naturally their fans are feeling a mixture of rage and resignation this season. However, if you are Staois at this point you know perfectly well your team is not playing .650 hockey the rest of the way unless prime Hasek or Price walk though the door.

Buffalo seems logical because how can that organization not exhibit more urgency when this is year 12 or 13 with no playoffs. But oddly Adams seems to only feel comfortable with a slow rebuild, hoard picks approach so now with their underwhelming start to the season in the tough Atlantic and East, I doubt they bother to get involved.

Tampa has no cap space and also lacks asset juice to do anything. Edmonton is cap tied too so Holland cannot acquire a goalie in Allen's price range unless he pays crazy assets to get someone to take Campbell.

Carolina, New Jersey, and Dallas could all do something if they feel it is needed. Who knows, the Kings could get involved too because as good as Talbot has been he is not really capable of starting 2/3 of their games at age 36.

[Willie Dog]

Red wings might be interested in Allen, they lost 2 goalies in back to back games

[seventeen]

Oilers lose 3-1 to the Isles. Skinner with an .850 save %. Despite a 32-20 shot advantage.

Time’s running out Ken.

[seventeen]

Columbus routs Buffalo 9-4. Levi at .778. Luukkonen at .688.

Is Buffalo tanking?

[folatre]

Tanking or not, a game like emits a horrible stench.

Adams sat around all summer and did not help his team because apparently he just wants to hold onto draft picks and every prospect (plenty of whom are not A level types) in their system. So now when the verdict is in and the team is nowhere near being capable of making the playoffs, I would imagine he has no incentive to trade for a vet goalie.

[jkr]

Dec 19, 2023 22:18:09 GMT -5 seventeen said:

Columbus routs Buffalo 9-4. Levi at .778. Luukkonen at .688.

Is Buffalo tanking?

The fans think so. The arena was almost empty and the ones that stayed were chanting for Granato's firing. Does Pegula give a damn about the team or is he too focused on the Bills and his daughter's tennis career?

[folatre]

Aaron Dell on a PTO in Carolina. Michael Hutchinson signed by the Wings. Some teams trying, at least at this stage, to cover the emerging cracks on the cheap.

Regarding Buffalo and Ottawa, both of these teams are shockingly indifferent about playing hockey with structure and sacrifice (e.g. blocking shots, defending instead of cheating for points). One cannot help but wonder about the composition of the core of each of them.

[seventeen]

Jets now leading Detroit 3-1. Reimer in goal. Sporting an .875 save % so far. Detroit remains in the battle for a wild card spot but it’s sketchy. The Devils will sort themselves out. Tampa and Carolina are warming up. So many teams needing a stable, veteran goalie who just won’t cost you a game.

And they’re being cheap. Warning to those teams: often the cheapest solution is the immediate one. Waiting ends up costing more.

Oh well.

[folatre]

I think Allen could be plenty solid for teams like Carolina, Dallas, or LA. And he could probably hold up well enough in New Jersey and Edmonton to win games. But the way Buffalo and Ottawa throw structure and common sense decision-making to the wind, to be honest I think Allen would be in dire straights backstopping those outfits.

[seventeen]

Dec 20, 2023 21:24:07 GMT -5 folatre said:

I think Allen could be plenty solid for teams like Carolina, Dallas, or LA. And he could probably hold up well enough in New Jersey and Edmonton to win games. But the way Buffalo and Ottawa throw structure and common sense decision-making to the wind, to be honest I think Allen would be in dire straights backstopping those outfits.

Kind of like the Habs?

[folatre]

Jeje, you could say that.

I think the Habs forwards backcheck with more seriousness than Ottawa or Buffalo's. But Montreal is still taking too many dumb penalties and in general at 5v5 there are guys getting lost in the d-zone, reading danger too slowly and making the goalie trio face an incredible amount of fire from the slot.

One of the key assignments for management is to make sure it gets the composition of its future d-corps right. For me NHL hockey is not a beauty contest or skills competition alone. Teams need some puck movers on the back end, but the need for strength, length, and nastiness is also real.

[seventeen]

When the playoffs roll around, you need some of that size and nastiness. I believe Arber is going to get a lot of rope to try and improve himself for those very reasons. It's nice to have Lane Hutson driving the PP, but when big forwards are introducing you to the boards, you need to be able to resist successfully. Guhle has that nastiness, Xhekaj has it, Savard and Struble have it. I don't think Barron does, or Hutson. I don't know about Kovacevic but he does get beaten in a lot of board battles. Who knows about Reinbacher or Engstrom. They are Euros, but some Euros are more than a little nasty.

I think overall, we should have a good balance of defenders who are playoff quality. Space and time diminish in the playoffs and the refs don't give a damn.

[seventeen]

Reimer at .812 so far vs Philly. All these patient GM’s need to get off their hands after the freeze is over and do something before they fall out of the race.

[jkr]

I know it's unrelated to the topic of this thread but you did mention Detroit. I see that Kane and DeBrincat are doing their thing tonight. Debrincat has 3 helpers while Kane has 2 goals and an assist.

I wonder if Kane signed in Detroit because he and DeBrincat meshed so well in Chicago.

[seventeen]

Samsonov doing his best to sink the good ship Maple Leaf. Five goals on only 19 shots. Leafs could sure use a capable goalie except they don’t have anyone we’d want.

[Willie Dog]

Dec 29, 2023 21:48:16 GMT -5 seventeen said:

Samsonov doing his best to sink the good ship Maple Leaf. Five goals on only 19 shots. Leafs could sure use a capable goalie except they don’t have anyone we’d want.

Samsonov played well in the ot... that D corp is beyond useless

[seventeen]

Hard to excuse a .714 save %.

[Willie Dog]

Dec 30, 2023 1:32:27 GMT -5 seventeen said:

Hard to excuse a .714 save %.

I agree but save % much like +/- is affected by those around you, Samsoniv struggles but he also has a crap D corp and Saperlipopettety defensive structure in front of him... they played waaaay better for Woll

[folatre]

I am not sure what Treliving is thinking. My brother-in-law believes they will ride out the situation with Martin Jones. Time will say. His reasoning is management wants to save their limited assets/cap space for Tanev and perhaps a 3C.

New Jersey called up the Daws kid (sent down Schmid) and he played well in Ottawa last night. It seems like Fitzgerald wants to exhaust all of his in house options before resorting to making a trade.

Almost half way through the season, Edmonton is no doubt distressed about where they reside in the Western Conference standings. And Skinner has just been really inconsistent this season, while pacing to endure a heavy workload (58-60 starts). So I think common sense would suggest management really wants a steady vet to stabilize the situation, but the Oilers cap reality is that everything has to adhere to the money in/money out principle.

[jkr]

Dec 20, 2023 20:33:06 GMT -5 folatre said:

Aaron Dell on a PTO in Carolina. Michael Hutchinson signed by the Wings. Some teams trying, at least at this stage, to cover the emerging cracks on the cheap.

I saw Dell today playing for Canada in a Spengler Cup semi. The Czech team scored 3 times in less than 4 minutes to win the game. Dell imploded and looked awful doing it.

He was wearing his Sharks gear by the way.

[seventeen]

Dec 30, 2023 9:27:56 GMT -5 Willie Dog said:

they played waaaay better for Woll

or Woll played way better for them.