leafman101
Well-known member
You can't trade for real first line centers.
The (Around the League) Playoffs Thread
- Thread starter WellPlayed
- Start date
BKerr
Banned
MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
Pretty much this. When anything resembling a 1st line C does get traded, it costs something like Seth Jones.
JohnnyHolmes
Banned
Ceci is not terrible. He may not be a top pairing guy yet, but he's not terrible.
JackBurton
Well-known member
This was the Sens one shot. it's over. They don't have the young core the Leafs do to look forward to multiple years of contention.
ColinM
Member
Karlsson is only 27 and has 2 more years under contract. He'll be able to anchor a competitive team.
We can also look forward to the decline of certain Eastern Teams (Washington/Columbus) who likely also peeked last year.
leafman101
Well-known member
Karlsson gives them a shot every year. He's arguably the best player in the world. But one thing in the run no one is talking about is the division stunk this year. Ottawa had to get through Boston, Montreal and the Rangers. We all knew it would be an easy path to the third round. Thats why we didn't want the wild card, and why the Rangers did.
Nice run and all, but it just as easily could have been the Canadiens, Rangers, Bruins or Leafs. Meanwhile Pittsburgh got beat up going through the 1st and 4th best teams in the league.
Nice run and all, but it just as easily could have been the Canadiens, Rangers, Bruins or Leafs. Meanwhile Pittsburgh got beat up going through the 1st and 4th best teams in the league.
BKerr
Banned
Not always.
Sometimes a first line centre is traded for Alex Chiasson, Alex Guptill, Nicholas Paul and a second-round pick
LeafGm
Well-known member
Declining, poor-skating, fairly one-dimensional 31 year-old pending UFA's with $7M cap hits will naturally be cheaper on the trade market.
Even taking all that into consideration though, that trade was still kind of a rip-off for the Sens.
hockeylover
Well-known member
Columbus peaked after one year in the playoffs? Heh, well that was a small window.
MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
Jones-Werenski-Savard-Murray on the blueline
Saad-Wennberg-Jenner-Atkinson-Bjorkstrand...with PLD on the way up front.
All 27 or younger and in most cases much younger.
They lack in elite skill in the forward group (but have a handful of 50-65 point talent), but that blueline could be the new Nashville very shortly and they're set in net.
Those banking on the decline of Washington are probably wrong for a few more years as well. They can replace the Alzner's and Oshie's. They're still going to be a legitimate contender for a few more years, their predisposition to choking in the playoffs notwithstanding.
JohnnyHolmes
Banned
All Ottawa proved is that anything can happen in this league.
You're never going to have an easy time facing a loaded team like the Penguins, they have 3 of the best players in the world on their roster.
And still it came down to double overtime in game 7.
Of course they could get back there next year. They could also miss the playoffs. Welcome to 2017.
You're never going to have an easy time facing a loaded team like the Penguins, they have 3 of the best players in the world on their roster.
And still it came down to double overtime in game 7.
Of course they could get back there next year. They could also miss the playoffs. Welcome to 2017.
JackBurton
Well-known member
The pens had a ton of injuries and a horribly weak D. The Sens lost a golden opportunity.
JackBurton
Well-known member
LeafGm
Well-known member
To some degree it's true that in a lot of instances, the NHL is a coin-flip league when it gets to playoff time. Still, I think it'll be quite some time before the Eastern conference is as wide-open as it was for anybody on the Atlantic division side of the bracket this year.
I expect Tampa to be back with a vengence next year. Florida's another bounce-back candidate, now that their off-ice circus appears to be over, and with them being in tough to have worse injury luck than they had this year.
The Leafs should benefit from the maturation of their young players, and the abundance of cap space they have to play with this summer. Next year might also finally be the year the Sabres get their shit together and take that next step.
It's also a good bet that whoever comes out of the Metropolitan side of the bracket next year won't be as injury-riddled as the Pens were, and that the Eastern conference champion won't be facing off against a 16th place team in the Stanley Cup final.
I expect Tampa to be back with a vengence next year. Florida's another bounce-back candidate, now that their off-ice circus appears to be over, and with them being in tough to have worse injury luck than they had this year.
The Leafs should benefit from the maturation of their young players, and the abundance of cap space they have to play with this summer. Next year might also finally be the year the Sabres get their shit together and take that next step.
It's also a good bet that whoever comes out of the Metropolitan side of the bracket next year won't be as injury-riddled as the Pens were, and that the Eastern conference champion won't be facing off against a 16th place team in the Stanley Cup final.
JackBurton
Well-known member
Age does not matter. Do you feel that core can do this again next year? I don't. (And this from a guy who picked them as a serious threat in the east and to beat the Pens)
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MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
Depends on what you think about Barkov or Ekblad going forward really. Not so long ago Ekblad looked like the 2nd coming of Chris Pronger and Barkov was starting to look like a #1C