Board 8 > NHL Discussion Topic Part 2 - We Didn't Purge Edition

(+) Yeah! (+)

McDonough to TB. And they're saying it's a massive deal
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NBIceman posted...

Tatar to Vegas, apparently for a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.

What in the hell?

xfd

enjoy george mcphee guys

keep thinking this random luck where the result he achieved was the exact opposite of what he was trying to achieve means he's good
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Chimera is a nice little steal for the Ducks. He always seemed to come up big for the Caps (well, to the extent that any Cap ever came up big for anything)
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George McPhee also punched a Blackhawks coach in 99 for some reason.
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I spoke to soon on there not being enough trades.

I had to do a triple take on that Tatar haul. What is Vegas doing?
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SmartMuffin posted...

NBIceman posted...

Tatar to Vegas, apparently for a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.

What in the hell?

xfd

enjoy george mcphee guys

keep thinking this random luck where the result he achieved was the exact opposite of what he was trying to achieve means he's good

I don't know. The picks are in '18, '19, and '21 respectively. It's not a massive overpay considering he's under contract for a while and we've got more picks than we knew what to do with anyway.

I don't love it but I understand it.
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I'm trying to decide which of the Nash and Tatar trades are worse.

I need to see what Tampa paid for Mcdonagh to fully come to a conclusion.
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It's not a massive overpay

Yes it is, because Tatar isn't great or anything. And Vegas definitely isn't in "all-in" mode. So much for the slow build. I'm telling you, this breakout regular season is going to be one of the worst things that could happen to this franchise. It's going to result in unrealistic expectations to the extreme.
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lol @ the Jackets being such buyers

I'm sure a couple crappy rental players will help you lose to Pittsburgh in 5 games instead of 4
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Jeff Gorton for GM of the year

This team could be really good in 2-3 years with the way he's fleecing people
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davidponte posted...

I'm trying to decide which of the Nash and Tatar trades are worse.

I need to see what Tampa paid for Mcdonagh to fully come to a conclusion.

They traded for him and JT Miller

A first, a conditional second that becomes a first if Tampa wins the cup, some random decent player, and two prospects

Like Boston did way worse

Vladislav Namestnikov

Yeah I looked that up again I was not going to spell that right
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Namestnikov is actually pretty good, isn't he?
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Namestnikov is a good player, but yeah Boston paid more for a less impactful asset in Nash.

Still, I can't get over a first, second, and third for literally Tomas Tatar.
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I don't think I'd be particularly happy as a Tampa fan either, though, unless you're fine with going all-in and mortgaging a chunk of the future.

It's going to be incredibly tough to come out of the Atlantic with 3 teams in the top 6 of the league standings.
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Eh, with Boston you can sort of understand them going all-in though. Chara is just about done. Rask and Bergeron are probably at the tail-end of productivity. It kinda makes sense for them to want one last cup run with this crew, and they're certainly close.

Tampa strikes me as a team that definitely should have just stood pat though. They don't have any pressing needs. And they're mostly still very young, that window is going to be open for a pretty long time. What's the point in giving up assets for someone like McDonagh?
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Actually the more I see that the stupider that looks for Tampa. A first, a second, AND Namestikov for McDonagh and a forward who is worse than Namestikov? WTF?
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Yeah, I agree. As a Leafs fan I was hoping they weren't going to trade for either of them, so I'm thankful for that. It's going to be very difficult to beat even one of ther other two Atlantic teams in the playoffs this year, so I'm glad they didn't mortgage their future.

The Leafs are on pace for a record in points, even with a suspest defense, but the top half of the division is just too good right now.
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davidponte posted...

Namestnikov is a good player, but yeah Boston paid more for a less impactful asset in Nash.

Still, I can't get over a first, second, and third for literally Tomas Tatar.

A first alone would've been bad so...
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Kuch, Gourde, and Point are all gonna be up for big raises after next season, and Stralman will be a UFA. They already have a whole bunch of good prospects. A late first and a late second (or another late first if they win) isn't a bad price for going for it.

And Miller might be an upgrade on Namestnikov.
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I guess if Ryan Hartman was worth a first, Tatar's gotta bring back more than that? I'm happy with that haul though, even though the first rounder will be really late in the round.

Sure wish Holland could've dealt Mike Green, though. Like, for anything at all.
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The fact that no team was stupid enough to take Mike Green is pretty impressive!
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I have a family member who was pissed that the Leafs got Plekanec and not Green, and decided I wasn't even going to attempt to have that conversation.
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I feel like Plenakec is a bit underrated. Yeah he's had a real shitty year and is kinda old, but prior to this year he was a pretty solid and consistent 2nd line sort of guy, right? And the Habs in general suck shit this year, across the board, so maybe he hasn't actually gotten any worse?
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He's not even expected to be a huge contributor either. My guess is he'll centre the fourth line and play big minutes on the PK.
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Devils got Patrick Maroon. Similar to Vegas, we've exceeded expectations and are ahead of schedule in a rebuild and going after rentals instead of sticking to the plan. I'm okay with it though. Vegas is building something from scratch, and we're returning to the relevance that is expected of us. We've also had a bit of a surplus in picks so we have the flexibility to do it and not destroy our future. We needed more than just the Hall-Hischier line to produce.
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Yeah, and my point is that I think he'd be one of the best 4th-line centers in the league. In the top half of 3rd-line centers. And not the worst 2nd-line center either. Nice to have depth at center, especially in the playoffs when people start going down/getting injured (do we really think Matthews is gonna make it through 4 series of playoff hockey?)
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DpObliVion posted...

Devils got Patrick Maroon. Similar to Vegas, we've exceeded expectations and are ahead of schedule in a rebuild and going after rentals instead of sticking to the plan. I'm okay with it though. Vegas is building something from scratch, and we're returning to the relevance that is expected of us. We've also had a bit of a surplus in picks so we have the flexibility to do it and not destroy our future. We needed more than just the Hall-Hischier line to produce.

Maroon isn't very good though.
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Just to put it in perspective for everyone, this is what VGK's dealing with draft-wise now.

https://twitter.com/SinBinVegas/status/968223763392225280

I get that 2018 looks kind of ugly, but by all accounts this is not a deep draft and our pick is going to be quite late anyway and there's virtually no way we don't make a few moves for picks come draft time as it is. Your average late first rounder isn't going to be significantly better than Tatar, especially if being in a more winning environment means he returns a bit to form. He's also under contract for a few years, which makes him nice insurance if one or both of Neal and Perron don't re-sign. Plus, we had three first-rounders in 2017 and a couple of guys in later rounds that are looking like they could be steals.

I'm not saying it wasn't an overpay. Detroit "won" this trade, but it's all relative. Tatar is a good scorer that fits into the team's playstyle, and we really didn't mortgage our future the way everyone's saying. It's a good deal for both teams on paper. Obviously, time will tell if it all plays out that way.
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I hope you feel the same way when Anaheim beats you in the first round.
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My life would be so much better if I could see into the future like you do.
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I honestly do plan on betting against Vegas in the first round, no matter who the opponent is. Please remind me when the playoffs start!
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Plekanec has taken two bad penalties already. Maybe the Habs sent him to the Leafs just to screw with them.
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On the subject of teams such as the Blues being in an unexpected position, the Flyers are now in first place in the Metro.

Where have I been the last few weeks? I assumed they were fighting for a playoff spot.
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That whole Metro division is screwy. I think every team is taking a turn at both first and last place in it this season.
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Well, the Pacific has temporarily re-claimed its wild card spot from the Central, and with Anaheim and Calgary both in the mix, looking like they might hold it.

Meanwhile, the Panthers might actually be making a run for the second wildcard in the east. They're at +4, with Columbus barely hanging on right now at +6, with the Islanders and Hurricanes both down at +2...
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Bump
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Taylor Hall is just ridiculous right now. Points in the last 23 games he's played.
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Wysh has been pointing out Hall's ridiculous numbers, especially compared to the entire rest of his team. Once you start to look at that, it's hard to not consider him a serious contender for the Hart.

Kucherov is literally surrounded by top-tier talent at every position. Hall is willing a mediocre team into the playoffs virtually by himself.
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Hall for Larsson remains one of the more hilariously stupid trades of all time.
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Cheering pretty damn hard for Philly/Pittsburgh to be the 2/3 matchup. Flyers are always the Pens kryptonite in the playoffs, because Crosby spends most of the game in the penalty box trying to match them in toughness and goonery.
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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DXTtRJCWsAAQv0p.jpg

Okay, that's kind of a weird graph, but it's basically showing that the gap between Taylor Hall and the second best player on the Devils is bigger than the gap of any other team's top two players in the league. Pretty much what SmartMuffin said but in graph form with comparisons.

I generally don't take a very literal definition of MVP, so I don't know if he should win the Hart, but he should definitely be in the conversation, and could definitely be argued that he is the "most valuable player" in the league.

Full article here if you're a subscriber:
https://theathletic.com/259536/2018/03/02/by-the-numbers-taylor-hall-making-a-case-for-league-mvp/
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I'm a diehard Leafs fan and I only realized that tomorrow is an outdoor game. There has been absolutely zero marketing of it here in Toronto.

Has there been any promotion in the Washington area for this thing or does literally no one care?
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MacKinnon would be another good choice but it seems unlikely the Avs will actually make the playoffs.
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Oof, Red Wings... that graph makes pretty clear the lack of top end talent they've been living with for a while.

Also, yeah, the NHL seems to have stopped caring about promoting these outdoor games. They introduced the Stadium Series to go along with the Winter Classic one year (I think 2014?), and talked up those games somewhat. Then, the next year, it didn't seem to be much of a big deal anymore and I kind of stopped hearing about any outdoor games until closer and closer to when they occurred. I just found out yesterday that the Toronto/Washington game is outdoors.
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Taylor Hall just scored.
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that Patrik Laine guy has a pretty good shot
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The Devils could really use another Taylor Hall.
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Those dark blue uniforms are snazzy. Would make a nice 3rd.
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The Leafs uniforms are so white it almost seems like they're glowing.
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I think their sweaters are boring but the white pants look kinda cool I guess.
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