2020-2021 NHL Regular Season Thread

[mister d]

In order of likelihood according to me:
1. Send him home, buyout after the year
2. Find a trade where either they take back a bad deal or retain 50% (won't use draft pick comp because the buyout isn't that punitive)
3. Player(s) intervene, taxi squad with a chance to come back

Three is obviously the worst option and the reports I saw all yesterday don't make it seem all that likely. Kreider and Trouba both seem like incredibly good dudes who are also major outliers from the athlete type. Kreider speaks like a half dozen languages and infamously tried to start a team bookclub and part of the reason Trouba, who is mentoring Miller, asked out of Winnepeg was for his wife's career. Where I bet a lot of teams would be willing to allow a guy like this back in if they thought he could help them win, I think the Rangers are in good shape to avoid that temptation.

Option 4 is they might outright him to the AHL and hope he refuses to show, but I don't think they'd let him report unless they think he'd quit within a week.

[rass]

Don't need to give the Rangers too much credit for giving him one less chance than "a lot of teams" would.

[BSF21]

He's a bottom 6 defenseman on a league minimum deal. Who the hell cares? Outside of keeping it in the news because it's "cancel culture", not that he as 6GP, 1 point, and a -6 the day they waived him.

Go rot somewhere else. He's an AHLer.

[mister d]

He's a bottom 6 defenseman on a league minimum deal. Who the hell cares? Outside of keeping it in the news because it's "cancel culture", not that he as 6GP, 1 point, and a -6 the day they waived him.

Go rot somewhere else. He's an AHLer.

I mean ... he's absolutely not an AHLer, he's a pretty standard offense only defenseman coming off what I'm sure will be his peak year. If he's not a massive asshole he's claimed 15 times and half the ones who don't its because of cap constraints.

Don't need to give the Rangers too much credit for giving him one less chance than "a lot of teams" would.

I think this should cost Gorton his job and the fact they have Drury, who gets calls on every GM opening, sitting right there makes it even easier.

[govmentchedda]

$4.8m/yr isn't league minimum.

[mister d]

League minimum without the baggage he's probably claimed by every team. This is a super outlier situation. The best comp would be like Gostisbehere getting dropped 6 games into 2016-17 or something.

[BSF21]

$4.8m/yr isn't league minimum.

I read cap friendly wrong. This is fair. He was on a basically league minimum deal last year before he got the 2 years at 4.8.

Either way. I just don't think there's any buzz about this if he's not a total dickwad of a human being. Same curve as it ever was. You're not getting yelled at at your job for 9/hr. You might put up with a little more the more that money moves up. He's not good enough to outrun his locker room issues.

If you said "You know Seth Jones is a real D bag off the ice", no one cares because he's actually a valuable teammate.

[BSF21]

League minimum without the baggage he's probably claimed by every team. This is a super outlier situation. The best comp would be like Gostisbehere getting dropped 6 games into 2016-17 or something.

I guess the Gostisbehere comp is fair. He did struggle out of the gate but he was also playing in his 2nd NHL season if you don't count the cup of coffee.

I think you kinda know what you had in Deangelo and he wasn't making the team better enough to offset being a cancer, plain and simple.

[BSF21]

Now I'm even heavier into the stats side. Deangelo shot 10%(!!!) last year before he got his contract. So if he somewhat returns to earth at any point (which he is), I stand by my thoughts that he's a bottom 6 defenseman on the majority of teams in the league. NYR should bury him in the A and eat the hit next year. 2 year deal was WISE.

[mister d]

My only rebuttal was that this wouldn't be a story if he weren't a dick, it would (atleast to hockey fans), but in a very different way because guys like him don't hit waivers very often. His ideal role is PP QB where the other non-1st pair RHD is a defense heavy guy like ... uh ... Michael Sauer? He's useful now as a complete defensive zero and I'm sure every org has a coach they think could work with him if, again, he weren't a pile of shit.

[rass]

Anyone made the ew-ing theory joke?

Weird game maybe tonight, with the rangers going through all this and the pens beat up on defense but learning their next 2 games (against NJD) are canceled.

[rass]

:(

[bapo!]

Thanks for the Roger Doucet clip, Degen.

I thought I had been reading too much about DeAngelo this season relative to his value. But maybe it was justified. Maybe he really is that terrible. Is there something wrong with him other than being a dick? Is there some sort of compulsion that causes someone to be that much of a dick? Anyway, I really like this Rangers team. And they're more likeable without DeAngelo.

On a more positive note, P.O Joseph has been fantastic for the Pens so far. 21-year-old rookie defenseman. Two weeks ago, he was on the taxi squad. Now he's playing 26 minutes on the top pairing. Yeah, it's because every other defenseman in the Penguins universe is injured, but Joseph looks like he belongs here. I love when this kind of thing happens.

[govmentchedda]

Sinclair is in a pissing match with Youtube TV, so I've seen very little live Bolts games. On the plus side, I've watched a ton of the True North division. Habs are fuuuuuunnnn.

[bapo!]

Sinclair is in a pissing match with Youtube TV, so I've seen very little live Bolts games. On the plus side, I've watched a ton of the True North division. Habs are fuuuuuunnnn.

That's frustrating. It shouldn't be so difficult to watch tv.

I, on the other hand, have watched too many Oilers games. Unfortunately, I've skipped the games when McDavid and Draisaitl have been otherwordly. Instead, I've only seen the games that make me question my decisions in life. That team troubles me.

[govmentchedda]

Sinclair is in a pissing match with Youtube TV, so I've seen very little live Bolts games. On the plus side, I've watched a ton of the True North division. Habs are fuuuuuunnnn.

That's frustrating. It shouldn't be so difficult to watch tv.

I, on the other hand, have watched too many Oilers games. Unfortunately, I've skipped the games when McDavid and Draisaitl have been otherwordly. Instead, I've only seen the games that make me question my decisions in life. That team troubles me.

I've had the same shit Oilers luck. They have not been good when I've watched.

[bapo!]

I've had the same shit Oilers luck. They have not been good when I've watched.

Yeah, it's weird that I've watched so many Oilers and Penguins games and have felt bored. That's not supposed to happen. Is this true with other teams? Playing conservatively because of a shortened preseason or whatever?

Beyond being dull, the Oilers have the same old problem of getting caved in on the bottom lines.

[govmentchedda]

I've had the same shit Oilers luck. They have not been good when I've watched.

Yeah, it's weird that I've watched so many Oilers and Penguins games and have felt bored. That's not supposed to happen. Is this true with other teams? Playing conservatively because of a shortened preseason or whatever?

Beyond being dull, the Oilers have the same old problem of getting caved in on the bottom lines.

When Dallas finally started, their games weren't boring. A lot of the North has been exciting. I haven't watched much of the West, but the little that I have seen of the Avs has been similar to the Oil. I must've just missed the good games. Vegas/ St. Louis had a very entertaining game go to OT a week or so ago. I almost never watch the Panthers, but they might be good. They're the last team in the league to not have a loss after 60 minutes.

[bapo!]

When Dallas finally started, their games weren't boring. A lot of the North has been exciting. I haven't watched much of the West, but the little that I have seen of the Avs has been similar to the Oil. I must've just missed the good games. Vegas/ St. Louis had a very entertaining game go to OT a week or so ago. I almost never watch the Panthers, but they might be good. They're the last team in the league to not have a loss after 60 minutes.

I haven't seen Dallas. Looking forward to watching them play. And the Avs are on tv tonight, and I always enjoy watching them. Curious to see how Byram fits on that team.

And I'll get to see Kirill Kaprizov for Minnesota. Kaprizov is the newer version of Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Russian kid I fell in love with at the World Juniors, then waited forever for him to come to the NHL. It's only been four years, but it feels like longer.

The mighty Sabres are on tv tonight, too. I've been meaning to email MaxWebster, but I guess just ask him here: how do they look? How is Taylor Hall? I was alarmed when I read a box score a couple of weeks ago and saw that Dahlin had played only 10 minutes, thought he had been injured, but it turns out he was benched. Is there concern there?

[MaxWebster]

it's all.... complicated. and weird.

Dahlin has been mostly horrible; tentative and scared. He's only 20 though. But it's hard when your once-proud franchise is knocking the door on an alltime franchise playoff-less skid. Eichel has the points but IMO has been terrible; admittedly his bar is higher than anyone else's but his decision making has been dreadful and i believe has cost them a win or two. The much-maligned (and rightly-so) Ristonainen has actually been the best player on the team this year (trade him now!). I'm not sure if that's good or a thumbnail of the general wtf-ness.

Hall has been... ok. I think he and Eichel together haven't been as good as expected - i'd like to see them continue to be on separate lines. Having Reinhart out the last 2 games really showed; I'm slightly biased but he's one of those players that will rarely excite anyone but he's a glue guy - good possession and a smart player overall. Need him on the first line every game.

Goaltending is a constant problem. Ullmark can look really good but *always* gives up one terrible goal each game. And considering just about every game has either been a 1-goal margin or having an empty netter, if the Sabres had a top 10 goalie they'd absolutely have at least 4 more points to date.

It's all so compressed though, it's really hard to analyze. The team is just weird. I see a ton of talent there and I think the sum isn't what it should be yet. I think best case scenario is finishing 4th in a really tough division.

The mighty Sabres are on tv tonight, too. I've been meaning to email MaxWebster, but I guess just ask him here: how do they look? How is Taylor Hall? I was alarmed when I read a box score a couple of weeks ago and saw that Dahlin had played only 10 minutes, thought he had been injured, but it turns out he was benched. Is there concern there?

[bapo!]

Thanks for the Sabres report, Max. Your description of Dahlin is sad. I realized a few weeks ago that there's so much talk about Makar, Hughes, Heiskanen, and this new wave of defensemen, but I never hear Dahlin's name mentioned in that group. But there are very few 20-year-old defensemen in the NHL, so he obviously has a lot of time.

[MaxWebster]

well the sabres/isles game has been postponed tonight. THANKS, DEVILS.

anyways Dahlin... it's impossible to tell - i mean, the guy for what, 18 months? was hailed as the next coming of Nik Lidstrom. Based on what i'd seen, rightfully so (if anyone deserves that, giving some leeway to draft-hype of course). And when he's on, he's so damn smooth. I don't know if it's a coaching or personnel issue - this year especially he has been so tentative. Let the kid carry the puck - you've got to be able to have the confidence to make mistakes, and he does not...which of course leads to more.

Thanks for the Sabres report, Max. Your description of Dahlin is sad. I realized a few weeks ago that there's so much talk about Makar, Hughes, Heiskanen, and this new wave of defensemen, but I never hear Dahlin's name mentioned in that group. But there are very few 20-year-old defensemen in the NHL, so he obviously has a lot of time.

[brian]

Sabres should trade for Fleury. Not even kidding. Though not sure he's on the market at this point. VGK seem content to juggle the cap however they have to to keep Lehner and Fleury.

[MaxWebster]

my friends have been yakking about that (Fleury) - i'm not sure how it would work cap-wise. Almost anything would be an upgrade at this point.

My buddies kind of get on me bc years ago i made a perhaps ill-timed point about how overpaying for a goalie is madness. I maintain it's not the same argument as *not having a good/reliable goalie* but they choose to not see it that way :D


we used to have a fairly glorious goaltending history - Crozier-Edwards-Barrasso-Hasek-Miller. In this decade of despair our goaltending has been bad but which came first?

[bapo!]

Well, that's disappointing. The Pens/Devils game has been postponed, too, of course. And MacKinnon is injured, so I won't see him tonight. My day is getting progressively worse. Should I just go back to bed now?

well the sabres/isles game has been postponed tonight. THANKS, DEVILS.

[MaxWebster]

seeing as I hung up on my daily standup meeting because i can no longer take the sociopathic asshole who runs them and laid down on the floor with my dog for 15 minutes..... yes. yes you should go back to bed. There's nothing for any of us out here today.

Well, that's disappointing. The Pens/Devils game has been postponed, too, of course. And MacKinnon is injured, so I won't see him tonight. My day is getting progressively worse. Should I just go back to bed now?

well the sabres/isles game has been postponed tonight. THANKS, DEVILS.

[bapo!]

Sometimes you feed my worst instincts, Max. (I wish I had a therapy dog.)

[mister d]

I thought I had been reading too much about DeAngelo this season relative to his value. But maybe it was justified. Maybe he really is that terrible. Is there something wrong with him other than being a dick? Is there some sort of compulsion that causes someone to be that much of a dick? Anyway, I really like this Rangers team. And they're more likeable without DeAngelo.

He's more extreme than even the standard Yandle-type in terms of having all of his value on the offensive side. Basically the real version of how certain fans will look at a star and if they didn't score, they sucked. DeAngelo actually has to lead to points for to cover up the expected points against.

Thanks for the Sabres report, Max. Your description of Dahlin is sad. I realized a few weeks ago that there's so much talk about Makar, Hughes, Heiskanen, and this new wave of defensemen, but I never hear Dahlin's name mentioned in that group. But there are very few 20-year-old defensemen in the NHL, so he obviously has a lot of time.

Have Fox or Miller crept in here yet? Fox should be in the talk already, although I think he's like a year older than your group. Miller has looked legit outstanding since his nervy first game. The play last night where he cut off his assignment to dive back in front of the open net is the kind of awareness Rangers fans aren't used to seeing, especially in a kid.

we used to have a fairly glorious goaltending history - Crozier-Edwards-Barrasso-Hasek-Miller. In this decade of despair our goaltending has been bad but which came first?

Vanbiesbrouck -> Richter -> (Dunham) -> Lundqvist
I've known non-elite goaltending for about two years of my entire fandom. Even our backups have been coveted by like 1/3 of the league.

[mister d]

Man its good to have the hockey gang back.

[sancarlos]

Good posts guys. Being on the west coast and being a late riser, I love to wake up to a full page of good posts.

Im hoping that the postponement of the recent Sharks/Knights games turns out to be a blessing. Sharks finally got to go home and sleep in ther own beds. And got time for some much-needed practice. Home opener, now, finally. Thanks, Vegas!

[BSF21]

Sometimes you feed my worst instincts, Max. (I wish I had a therapy dog.)

All dogs are therapy dogs. Dogs.

[MaxWebster]

ha i feel you - similar goaltending depth throughout much of the history (our "2nd stringers" include Bob Sauve, Gerry Desjardins, Daren Puppa finished 2nd in the Vezina one year ffs) and oddly I've never thought about the Rangers much; I don't mean it in a negative sense just that it's an organization that sometimes i'm like "oh yeah, they're a team" - i don't know why. maybe they're both a) not canadian and b) have never been in the sabres' division.

but thinking back to being a little kid, this comes to mind (i have this card too):

we used to have a fairly glorious goaltending history - Crozier-Edwards-Barrasso-Hasek-Miller. In this decade of despair our goaltending has been bad but which came first?

Vanbiesbrouck -> Richter -> (Dunham) -> Lundqvist
I've known non-elite goaltending for about two years of my entire fandom. Even our backups have been coveted by like 1/3 of the league.

[MaxWebster]

total threadjack but yeah, this. We got our dog a little over 2 yrs ago and honestly i don't know how deep i'd be mentally over this past year if we didn't have her.

(wasn't kidding about the lying on the floor btw)

Sometimes you feed my worst instincts, Max. (I wish I had a therapy dog.)

All dogs are therapy dogs. Dogs.

[bapo!]

Have Fox or Miller crept in here yet? Fox should be in the talk already, although I think he's like a year older than your group. Miller has looked legit outstanding since his nervy first game.

It's fun when a young defenseman steps in and plays well. Maybe because it's not always expected. I mentioned P.O Joseph last night. I had hoped that he would be good someday, but I'm kind of shocked at how good he is already. Getting minutes on the power play, penalty kills, as the lone defenseman in overtime. And didn't he get the assist on the goal that eventually led to DeAngelo's exit? Every Rangers fan should thank Joseph and Crosby for that.

Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for Evan Bouchard to even crack the line-up in Edmonton.



Somebody my sister knows just had puppies. Or, rather, her dog did. She just sent me a photo of a bunch of month-old Golden Retrievers. I want all of them.

[govmentchedda]

When Dallas finally started, their games weren't boring. A lot of the North has been exciting. I haven't watched much of the West, but the little that I have seen of the Avs has been similar to the Oil. I must've just missed the good games. Vegas/ St. Louis had a very entertaining game go to OT a week or so ago. I almost never watch the Panthers, but they might be good. They're the last team in the league to not have a loss after 60 minutes.

I haven't seen Dallas. Looking forward to watching them play. And the Avs are on tv tonight, and I always enjoy watching them. Curious to see how Byram fits on that team.

And I'll get to see Kirill Kaprizov for Minnesota. Kaprizov is the newer version of Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Russian kid I fell in love with at the World Juniors, then waited forever for him to come to the NHL. It's only been four years, but it feels like longer.

The mighty Sabres are on tv tonight, too. I've been meaning to email MaxWebster, but I guess just ask him here: how do they look? How is Taylor Hall? I was alarmed when I read a box score a couple of weeks ago and saw that Dahlin had played only 10 minutes, thought he had been injured, but it turns out he was benched. Is there concern there?

Kaprizov has been great. Very exciting. I worry that team may have slammed into an injury wall, but they were definitely one of the more entertaining (insane, right?) teams at the beginning of the season.

[mister d]

It's fun when a young defenseman steps in and plays well. Maybe because it's not always expected. I mentioned P.O Joseph last night. I had hoped that he would be good someday, but I'm kind of shocked at how good he is already. Getting minutes on the power play, penalty kills, as the lone defenseman in overtime. And didn't he get the assist on the goal that eventually led to DeAngelo's exit? Every Rangers fan should thank Joseph and Crosby for that.

Yeah, he's been super noticeable against the Rangers this year and maybe in one other Pens game I saw. Its always annoying when that team makes incessant mistakes and then not only get bailed out, but end up on the positive side.

Somebody my sister knows just had puppies. Or, rather, her dog did. She just sent me a photo of a bunch of month-old Golden Retrievers. I want all of them.

Living with a puppy right now, I would recommend a maximum of one. Probably a minimum of one as well.

[brian]

Good posts guys. Being on the west coast and being a late riser, I love to wake up to a full page of good posts.

Im hoping that the postponement of the recent Sharks/Knights games turns out to be a blessing. Sharks finally got to go home and sleep in ther own beds. And got time for some much-needed practice. Home opener, now, finally. Thanks, Vegas!

Yeah, Vegas got fucked by those postponements more than San Jose (which is fair, under the circumstances I suppose.)

[BSF21]

It's fun when a young defenseman steps in and plays well. Maybe because it's not always expected. I mentioned P.O Joseph last night. I had hoped that he would be good someday, but I'm kind of shocked at how good he is already. Getting minutes on the power play, penalty kills, as the lone defenseman in overtime. And didn't he get the assist on the goal that eventually led to DeAngelo's exit? Every Rangers fan should thank Joseph and Crosby for that.

Yeah, he's been super noticeable against the Rangers this year and maybe in one other Pens game I saw. Its always annoying when that team makes incessant mistakes and then not only get bailed out, but end up on the positive side.

Somebody my sister knows just had puppies. Or, rather, her dog did. She just sent me a photo of a bunch of month-old Golden Retrievers. I want all of them.

Living with a puppy right now, I would recommend a maximum of one. Probably a minimum of one as well.

As someone with 2.75 dogs, I can agree. It can get overwhelming at times.

[L-Jam3]

I'm a Flyers fan. What is this "goaltending" that you people are discussing?

[mister d]

Brian Elliott is actually playing pretty well this season ; )