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Post by PTH on May 28, 2024 21:19:37 GMT -5
We're going to have a Final with Lundell and Lindell, and play by play guys constantly confusing them, aren't we....
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Post by seventeen on May 28, 2024 22:29:05 GMT -5
As before, I hope both teams destroy each other physically. Rangers/ Panthers that is.
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Post by Boston_Habs on May 28, 2024 23:46:42 GMT -5
Hard not to like Florida’s top end. Barkov, Tkachuk, Reinhart all with >80 points and then Verhaeghe, Bennett and some good role players. On the back end it’s Montour, Forsling, and then Ekblad and Ekman-Larsson are both big dudes.
They play at a high level and have pretty much controlled the play in the series. Shesterkin is keeping this series close.
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Post by seventeen on May 29, 2024 0:04:37 GMT -5
It's a strong group that will have to be broken up for CAP reasons.
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Post by Boston_Habs on May 29, 2024 9:48:08 GMT -5
They have Reinhart and Montour as UFAs this summer. Two core guys. Reinhart seems like a he had a variance year. A career 25-30 goal guy with an average shooting percentage of 15% busts out for 57 goals and a 25% shooting percentage. Seems unsustainable but as a 28-year old UFA he'll get a lot of offers. He's an ideal 2nd line winger on a contending team. Montour had that huge year last season with 73 points and only 33 points this year in 66 games, but he's been good in the playoffs (9 pts in 15 games). I like his game.
The other thing I notice is they really don't have any bad contracts. Their big money deals are all for guys in their 20s or productive players. No Brendan Gallagher or Josh Anderson deals.
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Post by Tankdriver on May 29, 2024 10:50:33 GMT -5
They have Reinhart and Montour as UFAs this summer. Two core guys. Reinhart seems like a he had a variance year. A career 25-30 goal guy with an average shooting percentage of 15% busts out for 57 goals and a 25% shooting percentage. Seems unsustainable but as a 28-year old UFA he'll get a lot of offers. He's an ideal 2nd line winger on a contending team. Montour had that huge year last season with 73 points and only 33 points this year in 66 games, but he's been good in the playoffs (9 pts in 15 games). I like his game. The other thing I notice is they really don't have any bad contracts. Their big money deals are all for guys in their 20s or productive players. No Brendan Gallagher or Josh Anderson deals. That Huberdeau + Weager deal for Tkachuk really worked out well for them. Calgary didn't have very many options though. |
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Post by jkr on May 29, 2024 10:54:36 GMT -5
They have Reinhart and Montour as UFAs this summer. Two core guys. Reinhart seems like a he had a variance year. A career 25-30 goal guy with an average shooting percentage of 15% busts out for 57 goals and a 25% shooting percentage. Seems unsustainable but as a 28-year old UFA he'll get a lot of offers. He's an ideal 2nd line winger on a contending team. Montour had that huge year last season with 73 points and only 33 points this year in 66 games, but he's been good in the playoffs (9 pts in 15 games). I like his game. The other thing I notice is they really don't have any bad contracts. Their big money deals are all for guys in their 20s or productive players. No Brendan Gallagher or Josh Anderson deals. Re: your comment about contracts. This is where Zito took advantage of the Flames situation with Tkachuk wanting out. Florida didn't want to give a long term deal to Huberdeau even though he was coming off a big year. They acquire a talented player that is 5 years younger & give him the big contract. Treliving complicates things for Calgary by giving Huberdeau that long term deal. Then he leaves & Conroy is left to clean up. |
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Post by Boston_Habs on May 29, 2024 11:39:48 GMT -5
What a great deal for Florida. They got the younger, better, and cheaper player in the trade, which is bad enough but Huberdeau has been a massive disappointment at $10.5mn. Just a franchise crushing trade if you're Calgary. Plus they lost Gaudreau. I almost feel sorry for them, but I've never liked the Flames.
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Post by Andrew on May 29, 2024 12:04:27 GMT -5
And the common denominator of Huberdeau (then) and Reinhart (now) having career years is Barkov. That guy is a license to print money if you're a line-mate looking for a UFA payday. Reinhart should acknowledge that he'll never have as good a spot as he does in Florida and prioritize situation over maximizing his earnings.
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Post by seventeen on May 29, 2024 12:29:49 GMT -5
And the common denominator of Huberdeau (then) and Reinhart (now) having career years is Barkov. That guy is a license to print money if you're a line-mate looking for a UFA payday. Reinhart should acknowledge that he'll never have as good a spot as he does in Florida and prioritize situation over maximizing his earnings. I want him to maximize his earnings. I want Florida to have a completely different roster next year as Tarasov, Kulikov, Reinhart, Montour all find greener pastures and Zito has to replace them with with expensive UFA's or kids who aren't ready yet. Florida has to miss the playoffs next season. Speaking of kids, in order to build up this team, Zito has had to part with a few picks. they don't have a first or second this year. The only decent prospect in their pool is Mackie Samoskevitch, a winger who projects as middle 6. Their top young player is Anton Lundell. He may have been pushed down because of other guys ahead of him, but from what I've seen he doesn't have a lot of offensive ability. Thirty five points in 78 games this past season and he'll be 23 at the start of next season. If he doesn't take a jump, he'll finish as a 3rd line centre who can sub in at the second line for short periods. Nope, their future is not exactly bright, but they might get a lottery pick next season  . Oh, they'll end up as a playoff team normally, because with decent D (as they have) and the elite centre in Barkov, that's a playoff recipe every year (except when bad chemistry and injuries hit). Barkov is and always has been the key to that team. In the mold of Kopitar, but slightly better at both ends. A real beast. But he has missed games in the past. I've got the voodoo doll out right now, preparing it to look like a pin cushion starting in October. |
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Post by Boston_Habs on May 29, 2024 12:31:21 GMT -5
It will be interesting to see if GMs are any smarter these days. The analytics would probably say that Sam Reinhart's career year was built on an outlier shooting percentage and his production will likely revert back to his career average. And then you factor in how much playing with Barkov contributed to the volume of his quality chances.
The Athletic posted their Top UFA's for 2024 and Sam Reinhart is #1, with an expected contract of 7 years at $10.9mn AAV. I wouldn't touch that. Too much risk that his production falls back to his career average or he won't produce unless he has an elite 1C supporting him.
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Post by seventeen on May 29, 2024 12:40:52 GMT -5
That shooting percentage is completely unsustainable. 27 of his 57 goals came on the PP. Those goals count as much as any other, but if you end up on a team without as good a PP as Florida, that will drop. In 7 years with Buffalo, Reinhart had 46 PP goals. In 3 seasons with Florida it was 59. I don't think GM's will be stupid, but some will be desperate and a Reinhart signing looks good in the press. Zito is helped substantially by the lack of taxes in Florida. (Do those people have any services at all? Is every road a toll road?) Thank god the heat and weather disasters are going to drive everyone inland into Arkansas so DeSantis can rule over a small village.
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Post by Boston_Habs on May 29, 2024 13:09:43 GMT -5
Florida is a cesspool, but they do have state sales tax, property taxes and also collect more than most states in hospitality taxes and tourist related income. Most state income tax rates in the US are around 5%, so playing in Florida is a money saver especially for the uber rich like professional athletes. 5% on a $5 million salary is $250K a year in tax savings, which is a pretty good salary for most people.
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Post by folatre on May 29, 2024 21:39:05 GMT -5
Edmonton is the driver seat going into the third tonight. And if Tanev has a broken foot, the Stars would be losing an integral piece.
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Post by jkr on May 30, 2024 5:25:04 GMT -5
And they win despite Skinner allowing the first shot of the game again. We will have to give him Jake Allen's nick name.
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Post by CentreHice on May 30, 2024 10:59:03 GMT -5
And they win despite Skinner allowing the first shot of the game again. We will have to give him Jake Allen's nick name. And when the 4th or 5th shot made it 2-0 (off Nurse, through Skinner's 6-hole)...you could sense the letdown of the overall Oilers' fan base. He played well the rest of the way....some big rebounds....but he got the job done. Far from over, though, in terms of "Skinner's back in the groove." |
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Post by jkr on May 31, 2024 5:47:04 GMT -5
Florida edges NY 3-2 to take the lead in the series. Kreider gets his 1st goal of the series, a SH goal, but Zibinajad and Panarin still have not scored. In the parts that I have watched Panarin especially, has not looked dangerous.
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Post by Boston_Habs on May 31, 2024 9:10:03 GMT -5
Panthers are just flat out better than the Rangers. By a pretty significant margin, IMO. Shesterkin is keeping the Rags in the series and the games have been close enough that NY could still pull this out.
But I'm totally impressed with Florida. They play with pace, aggression, disciplined on defense, they have elite top end guys, and great middle of lineup guys like Lundell, Forsling, Luostarinen.
A play that really stood out to me was the final sequence. NY had cut the lead to 3-2 and the puck went to the corner in the FLA zone. In that situation, you often see the dman make the "safe" play and fire the puck out for an icing but the FLA guy calmly pushed the puck to the wall and the Panther forwards just converged on that area to make the sure the puck stayed pinned there for the last 10 seconds. Just a smart play. If that was Michel Therrien behind the bench the instructions would have been "ice the puck!". But the Panthers are a confident bunch and well-coached. The smart play in that situation was to keep the puck in the zone and end the game right there. An icing and a faceoff would have given the Rangers a legit shot for a scoring bid.
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Post by Tankdriver on May 31, 2024 10:53:30 GMT -5
Florida is just a better all around team. I saw the schedule for the finals and prepare for a longgggggggg series. Basically it is 2 days off for every time the city changes. I really hope Edmonton advances, as they are my western conference team and favourite number 2 team going back to the years where they where consistently 8th seeded underdogs. 90's
Can't wait for draft and free agency season.
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Post by jkr on May 31, 2024 17:24:39 GMT -5
Hard not to like Florida’s top end. Barkov, Tkachuk, Reinhart all with >80 points and then Verhaeghe, Bennett and some good role players. On the back end it’s Montour, Forsling, and then Ekblad and Ekman-Larsson are both big dudes. They play at a high level and have pretty much controlled the play in the series. Shesterkin is keeping this series close. I just noticed that with Ekblad, Reinhart & Bennett they have the number 1, 2 and 4 picks from the 2014 draft. So the talent is there. |
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Post by Tankdriver on May 31, 2024 17:30:29 GMT -5
I hate to say it, but I have heard others say it out loud. The Panthers are playing like the late 70's Habs. They can play however their opponent wants and they just make it so hard for them until they just end up taking over the game.
Checking game, skilled game, rough stuff, this Panthers team can do it.
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Post by folatre on May 31, 2024 18:11:05 GMT -5
Yeah, for sure, the Panthers are dominating the series. They seriously tilt the ice 5v5. But part of that is on the Rangers and their big guns.
I wonder if Tanev is playing tonight. Hockey is the ultimate team sport, but it just seems like he is one guy Dallas cannot afford to be without against Edmonton.
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Post by IamCanadiens on May 31, 2024 18:56:51 GMT -5
The game time decision for Tanev will be huge tonight. He has been a such key player for the Stars. Curious if they can freeze that (ankle?) up and lock it in that skate tight......The playoff fever in Northern Alberta is a ton of fun this year.
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Post by jkr on May 31, 2024 19:57:22 GMT -5
I tune in CBC just now & discover that despite the fact a Canadian team us in a conference final, they are showing the Canadian screen awards instead. 🙁
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Post by jkr on May 31, 2024 19:59:26 GMT -5
Checked the lineup sheet & it looks like Tanev is in.
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Post by folatre on May 31, 2024 20:56:51 GMT -5
Finally the Oilers power play comes alive. And now it is 3-0. Unless Skinner starts doing stupid things, this one should get put in the freezer.
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Post by PTH on May 31, 2024 21:50:47 GMT -5
I tune in CBC just now & discover that despite the fact a Canadian team us in a conference final, they are showing the Canadian screen awards instead. 🙁 Same. Star Trek reruns it is, then. |
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Post by seventeen on May 31, 2024 23:33:28 GMT -5
The single thing about Florida that I have noticed is their speed. The Rangers haven't been able to attack on the rush or in transition because there's always a fierce back check. Assuming the Oilers can close out the series Sunday, they are also a fast team so it should be interesting to see how Florida handles a team that's just as fast as they are. The Panthers really move the puck quickly too, but that may also be a function of their speed. They will be facing a PP that is really dangerous, though, so that's another facet to watch for. The Rangers had a good PP, but Florida has stifled it. They really pressure hard, but if you can move the puck quickly enough, that outnumbering you in a small space means there are open guys elsewhere. The opponent has to be able to get the puck to those open guys quickly enough and the Panthers haven't allowed that yet. Edmonton is a faster team than Dallas, so I hope they get through. I do not want to see a Tkachuk or Bennett or Cousins raising that Cup.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Jun 1, 2024 19:27:40 GMT -5
I hope the flying elbows get sent packing tonight.
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Post by folatre on Jun 1, 2024 19:28:10 GMT -5
No Rempe tonight. I like size, physicality, and intimidation in hockey. But Drury and Laviolette must have had an honest conversation and concluded that putting a guy in the lineup in the playoffs who is playing significantly less than even the most minimal floor (7-8 minutes) just does not make any sense.
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. Oh, they'll end up as a playoff team normally, because with decent D (as they have) and the elite centre in Barkov, that's a playoff recipe every year (except when bad chemistry and injuries hit). 
