NHL (2020-2021) v. Draft, sign, & trade.

[jingle.boy]

I hate the Sharks.  That's all.  Every time in the last few weeks in the rare occasions the Kings win a game and I feel good about where this team is going (not necessarily thinking post-season, but in general moving forward in the future), they face the Sharks in a game that they need to win and assert a form of dominance against this particular Sharks team and they end up getting the L.  Only like 1 game out of 7, this season, they were able to dominate against the Sharks.  That hurts.  A lot.

That's kinda how I feel when Toronto plays Ottawa.  They should be crushing them every time, yet the Leafs are 4-2-1, and 3 of those 4 Ws were by 1 goal.  Hopeful that tonight is them laying the smack down.

[KevShmev]

Just like the Blues to make us think all hope is lost and then pull out something like last night.  That destruction of the Wild was fun as heck, but let's see how they follow it up today.

[gmillerdrake]

Just like the Blues to make us think all hope is lost and then pull out something like last night.  That destruction of the Wild was fun as heck, but let's see how they follow it up today.

No kidding. They’ve looked pretty good the last two games and it’s coincided with Mike Hoffman being a healthy scratch in both games and Binnington being sharp as a razor.

What sucks is Robert Thomas taking that awkward hit and probably being out again. He looked great lately.

[KevShmev]

Yeah, poor Robert Thomas just can't seem to stay healthy.  Such potential, but you need to stay healthy and on the ice.  I hope he can make it back soon for the potential playoff run (dare to dream!).

[TAC]

@ Chad..I noticed on tonight's highlights that Matthews was wearing the A and Marner was not. Is that something new? Are they alternating? Seems every time I see the Leafs or their highlights that it's Marner wearing the letter.'

[KevShmev]

To paraphrase Michael Corleone, just when I was ready to stop believing, they pull me back in.  Helluva win by the Blues tonight.

[TAC]

You guys are insufferable. There's no way the Blues don't make the playoffs.

[KevShmev]

You guys are insufferable. There's no way the Blues don't make the playoffs.

Eh, you obviously have not been watching their games for the last month prior to this week (not like I watch a lot of Bruins games in the regular season either).  They looked like a team in free-fall a week ago and not a team that was obviously going to make the playoffs.  Never assume anything when it comes to sports (except Tom Brady playing till he's 60).

[Anguyen92]

Hey, the Kings won against the Sharks.  They also scored in the last minute of the second so that free McFlurry coupon on the McDonald's app for their McFlurry minute promo kicks in.  Might as well get it when it's available only for tomorrow.  Haven't had one in a long time.

[jingle.boy]

@ Chad..I noticed on tonight's highlights that Matthews was wearing the A and Marner was not. Is that something new? Are they alternating? Seems every time I see the Leafs or their highlights that it's Marner wearing the letter.'

Yeah, they alternate.  Marner, Matthews and Reilly are all the Alternates.  I'm not sure what the 'schedule' is of who wears it, but they do switch it around.

You guys are insufferable. There's no way the Blues don't make the playoffs.

Given the injuries, it wasn't hard to think they might not.  Arizona has certainly made it interesting.  San Jose is within reach as well.

Fugly win by the Leafs last night, but a W is a W.

[TheCountOfNYC]

@ Chad..I noticed on tonight's highlights that Matthews was wearing the A and Marner was not. Is that something new? Are they alternating? Seems every time I see the Leafs or their highlights that it's Marner wearing the letter.'

Yeah, they alternate.  Marner, Matthews and Reilly are all the Alternates.  I'm not sure what the 'schedule' is of who wears it, but they do switch it around.

A lot of times what teams do in this situation (I know the Rangers do this) is have one guy be a home alternate captain and the other be an away alternate captain.

[pg1067]

Hey, the Kings won against the Sharks.  They also scored in the last minute of the second so that free McFlurry coupon on the McDonald's app for their McFlurry minute promo kicks in.  Might as well get it when it's available only for tomorrow.  Haven't had one in a long time.

Great result, but the timing sucks.  Yesterday was one of those twice a year days when my wife came to me and asked, "what do you think about picking up McDonald's."  Oh well, the win is more important...or, you know, not really since they're not making the playoffs.

[TAC]

@ Chad..I noticed on tonight's highlights that Matthews was wearing the A and Marner was not. Is that something new? Are they alternating? Seems every time I see the Leafs or their highlights that it's Marner wearing the letter.'

Yeah, they alternate.  Marner, Matthews and Reilly are all the Alternates.  I'm not sure what the 'schedule' is of who wears it, but they do switch it around.

A lot of times what teams do in this situation (I know the Rangers do this) is have one guy be a home alternate captain and the other be an away alternate captain.

Yeah, the Bruins have done that as well over the past few years, so I do understand. It just seemed like every time I see Leaf highlights, Marner has it, so I thought that was how it was.

[TAC]

Leafs pick up Foligno. Nice move.

[King Postwhore]

Leafs pick up Foligno. Nice move.

I loved seeing his first goal in the NHL and seeing him do the leap in honor of his dad. What a touching moment. 

[jingle.boy]

This is a good deal .. gives them some more forward depth for the playoffs. I still think they need another D-man.  Their 7th defence man is an absolute dud. If any ot their top-6 get hurt, they’re in dire straits.  God help ‘me if more than one gets injured.

Still, once Tampa gets Kuch back, everyone is screwed. I hear he’s healthy enough to play, but they can’t put him on the roster until the playoffs because of they’re already at max cap.

[Anguyen92]

It looks like a solid deal for both Columbus (getting the 1st round and 4th round from Toronto which is probably what they need if they don't make it to the playoffs and not able to resign Laine)  and Toronto (getting a player that can round the forward group to get ready for playoffs).  I'm not sure what the heck the Sharks are doing.  They basically gave up a player in the AHL for a 4th round pick and taking in $1.4 M in cap space?  Although, I don't know how it translate in actual dollars paid by the Sharks, so maybe this is actually a money saving move on them.  I don't know.



Edit: Ok, I just looked up the guy the Sharks gave up.  So, this guy is 28 years old that was mainly in the AHL for their season.  I guess it won't hurt them much and they get a pick for their efforts to help the Leafs retain salary on Folino.

[TAC]

So they bought Toronto's 4th round pick this year for 1.375m?

[jingle.boy]

So they bought Toronto's 4th round pick this year for 1.375m?

Here’s the thing, it’s just cap space, not actual wages. If the Sharks have the room, they it’s no impact to them. So it (might) literally cost the Sharks nothing. In any trade, the acquiring team must take at least 50% of the remaining AAV. With so many contending teams right up against the limit, this is why we’ve seen a couple of 3-way deals now.

[TAC]

I confuse. Are the Sharks paying or not paying the 1.375m? And if they're not...who is?

[Anguyen92]

They take in the $1.375 M cap space.  In terms of how much actual dollars the Sharks pay, I don't know.  That's some complicated math based on how much of the season is left and how much is actually been already paid and stuff that we actually don't need to really care about.

So to sum it up.  This is the breakdown.

Leafs take $1.375M of cap space and get Folino and the Sharks player in the AHL
Sharks take $1.375M of cap space and get the Leafs 4th round pick in 2021
Blue Jackets keep the $2.75M remaining cap space and get the 1st round pick and the 4th round pick in 2022.

Edit: Oh my goodness, there are some talks about trading Jeff Carter to the Penguins??  Per Bob McKenzie below.  We all love Carter for what he's done in LA and all, but he's sorta never been the same since he had a big injury in late 2017 that nerfed his speed (age doesn't help as well).  If this is true, I don't even mind it if the Kings retain salary.  He only has one year left on his deal after this season (which only pays $2 million in salary).  Also, it does give one of their prospects to crack the main roster and try to give some life to this team.

https://twitter.com/TSNBobMcKenzie/status/1381434937237180419

Edit x 2: I love the trade deadline.  This is the part where GMs just drinks a magic bleach and throws caution to the wind and make these trades and hope they hit gold and we laugh at them if they wiffed hard on it.

Taylor Hall is going to the Bruins, per Elliotte Friedman.

Edit x 3: Now, it's official.  Per the Kings' Twitter.  For a conditional 3rd-round pick in 2022 & a conditional 4th-round pick in 2023, Carter is going to the Penguins.  Kings retain 50% of the cap hit which is around $2.6M.

https://twitter.com/LAKings/status/1381482252362788870

[jingle.boy]

As Anguyen said, what the Sharks actually have to pay depends on how much of Foligno's contract was a signing bonus, how much is made in lump-sum payments, how much is weekly/monthly wages.  None of that really matters to anyone except the club and their cash-flow - it's the AAV cap space that us fans see an impact around.

What a dud Hall was for the the Sabres.  Coin toss as to whether it really helps the Bs or not.  I doubt he's going to make enough of a difference to lift them out of 4th in the East, and I wouldn't see them slipping to 5th if without Hall.  It's a gamble, imo.

[King Postwhore]

It's amazing in 2 years how his game has slipped Chad.

[pg1067]

Edit x 3: Now, it's official.  Per the Kings' Twitter.  For a conditional 3rd-round pick in 2022 & a conditional 4th-round pick in 2023, Carter is going to the Penguins.  Kings retain 50% of the cap hit which is around $2.6M.

https://twitter.com/LAKings/status/1381482252362788870

Really seems like they could've gotten a bit more for him.

That leaves only four players from the two Cup winning teams.

[Anguyen92]

^^ I think the conditional upgrades from 3rd to 2nd (if the Penguins make it to the cup finals and Carter plays 50% of the playoff games, quite unlikely they make it that far, but you never know.) and upgrades from 4th to 3rd in 2023 if Carter plays at least 50 games in 21-22 season.

[pg1067]

Still not much when retaining 50% of his cap hit.

[romdrums]

Sort of interested in seeing what happens in the last half hour before the deadline.  This year's deadline has been kinda quiet outside of the Foligno and Hall trades.

[romdrums]

And there's the blockbuster I was waiting for. Wings send Anthony Mantha to the Capitals for Jakub Vrana, Richard Pannik, Capitals 2021 1st and 2022 2nd.  I liked Mantha on the Wings, but I think a change of scenery is going to do him some good.

[jingle.boy]

Quite the flurry in the last hour - Mantha going to Washington being the biggest trade / name.  Everything else was just rounding out the edges and teams filling the depth they needed.

I'm quite glad that Chevy didn't get a named d-man (at least it looks that way at the moment) - Wpg is the only team that worries me, but that defence is suspect at best.  I like the three moves the Leafs made, gives them exactly the depth they needed at all three areas.

All the contenders made some worthy moves.  But I still think the Cup is the Bolts to lose.

[gmillerdrake]

Big old fat yawn from the Blues.....I can't believe they couldn't dump Hoffman onto someone. He's a horrible fit for the Blues system. He will score some goals but there is no other aspect to his game that fits the way Berube wants the team playing. There's a ton of scuttlebutt going on between Hoffman and Berube also. Berube claiming they've had conversations about his game and how he needs to improve then Hoffman saying I've never been spoken to. Last week after his second healthy benching Hoffman changed his social media profile pics from him in a Blues uniform to a dog.....then removed all mention of him being a St. Louis Blue. Anyway......looks like Armstrong is content in possibly squeaking into the playoffs and just see what happens with this crew then get to work on next season after they get bounced.

[jingle.boy]

Big old fat yawn from the Blues.....I can't believe they couldn't dump Hoffman onto someone. He's a horrible fit for the Blues system. He will score some goals but there is no other aspect to his game that fits the way Berube wants the team playing. There's a ton of scuttlebutt going on between Hoffman and Berube also. Berube claiming they've had conversations about his game and how he needs to improve then Hoffman saying I've never been spoken to. Last week after his second healthy benching Hoffman changed his social media profile pics from him in a Blues uniform to a dog.....then removed all mention of him being a St. Louis Blue. Anyway......looks like Armstrong is content in possibly squeaking into the playoffs and just see what happens with this crew then get to work on next season after they get bounced.

Doesn't matter ... If there's any division where the first round is already decided, it's the West.  I see no possibility of the Avs or LVK losing in the first round.  I mean, I know ... I know.... Bolts got swept 2 years ago, but in this year where everyone has played each other 8 times already, nobody is going to be caught by surprise in the first round.

[gmillerdrake]

Big old fat yawn from the Blues.....I can't believe they couldn't dump Hoffman onto someone. He's a horrible fit for the Blues system. He will score some goals but there is no other aspect to his game that fits the way Berube wants the team playing. There's a ton of scuttlebutt going on between Hoffman and Berube also. Berube claiming they've had conversations about his game and how he needs to improve then Hoffman saying I've never been spoken to. Last week after his second healthy benching Hoffman changed his social media profile pics from him in a Blues uniform to a dog.....then removed all mention of him being a St. Louis Blue. Anyway......looks like Armstrong is content in possibly squeaking into the playoffs and just see what happens with this crew then get to work on next season after they get bounced.

Doesn't matter ... If there's any division where the first round is already decided, it's the West.  I see no possibility of the Avs or LVK losing in the first round.  I mean, I know ... I know.... Bolts got swept 2 years ago, but in this year where everyone has played each other 8 times already, nobody is going to be caught by surprise in the first round.

Yep. Those two teams are just powerhouses right now. It'd take a massive choke job from their players in order for them to lose a series. Which I guess 'could' happen.....and if I had to pick one of the teams to choke it'd be the AV's because most of the Knights players have been there and done that. The AV's are still (in my mind) unproven. They're doing good and seem to be cruising but the playoffs are a whole other level of butt pucker.

[KevShmev]

Big old fat yawn from the Blues.....I can't believe they couldn't dump Hoffman onto someone. He's a horrible fit for the Blues system. He will score some goals but there is no other aspect to his game that fits the way Berube wants the team playing. There's a ton of scuttlebutt going on between Hoffman and Berube also. Berube claiming they've had conversations about his game and how he needs to improve then Hoffman saying I've never been spoken to. Last week after his second healthy benching Hoffman changed his social media profile pics from him in a Blues uniform to a dog.....then removed all mention of him being a St. Louis Blue. Anyway......looks like Armstrong is content in possibly squeaking into the playoffs and just see what happens with this crew then get to work on next season after they get bounced.

I didn't know about all of that nonsense from Hoffman, but I am guessing the Robert Thomas injury is why he wasn't moved. 

[jingle.boy]

Yep. Those two teams are just powerhouses right now. It'd take a massive choke job from their players in order for them to lose a series. Which I guess 'could' happen.....and if I had to pick one of the teams to choke it'd be the AV's because most of the Knights players have been there and done that. The AV's are still (in my mind) unproven. They're doing good and seem to be cruising but the playoffs are a whole other level of butt pucker.

I dunno.  I don't totally disagree, but there's something about the Avs this year.  There's been a lot of turnover by the Knights since they played Washington 3 years ago, and the Avs could've / should've gone further last year if not for having their 3rd string goalie in net.  Clearly Sakic made sure that was NOT going to happen again this year with the move to get Dubnyk.

[gmillerdrake]

Yep. Those two teams are just powerhouses right now. It'd take a massive choke job from their players in order for them to lose a series. Which I guess 'could' happen.....and if I had to pick one of the teams to choke it'd be the AV's because most of the Knights players have been there and done that. The AV's are still (in my mind) unproven. They're doing good and seem to be cruising but the playoffs are a whole other level of butt pucker.

I dunno.  I don't totally disagree, but there's something about the Avs this year.  There's been a lot of turnover by the Knights since they played Washington 3 years ago, and the Avs could've / should've gone further last year if not for having their 3rd string goalie in net.  Clearly Sakic made sure that was NOT going to happen again this year with the move to get Dubnyk.

For sure. That was a solid move and I can’t imagine they don’t put a solid run together. Playoffs are a whole different beast as we’ve seen and it really comes down to who’s playing the beat ‘team’ game.....plain and simple.

Oh and good goaltending helps.