• Moderators, please send me a PM if you are unable to access mod permissions. Thanks, Habsy.

Updates and Rumours from around the League

Outside of using the option of a compliance buyout, the Tampa Bay Lightning is likely stuck with forward Vincent Lecavalier for the long haul. As part of a lengthy discussion with the Tampa Bay Times, Lecavalier recently hinted that he wasn't at all willing to waive his no-movement clause.

"Yeah, I want to be here. I want to play here the rest of my career and I've always said that and will keep saying it. I've been here for 15 years now. I'm proud to be part of this organization."

Earning an average-annual salary of $7.727 million (depreciating in genuine value from $10 million in 2015-16 to $1 million in his final season), Lecavalier is signed until 2020. The 33-year-old was off to his best start in years before taking a Sami Salo slapshot of the ankle Feb. 2. He still finished the regular season with 32 points in 39 games.
Click to expand...


.
 
Montana said:
It's in any players best interest, who are amnesty options, to use their NTC's to prevent their teams from trading them away.......thus increasing the odds they're bought out, allowing them to hit the open market and double dip.
Click to expand...

Definitely. Vinny getting bought out is a 25M paycheck to him. As long as he signs a deal like 4/16, he'll make more than his current deal pays him.
 
Penguins should punt Fleury
Despite past success, present struggles argue Pens need new netminder
By Neil Greenberg

Drafting a goalie in the first round is a gamble, but the Penguins and then-general manager Craig Patrick felt it was worth the risk, trading up to make 18-year-old Marc-Andre Fleury the No. 1 overall selection in the 2003 entry draft.

Four years later the gamble began to pay off, with Fleury winning 19 of 35 games and posting a .921 save percentage in the regular season. The Quebec native also played a pivotal role for Pittsburgh in their run to the 2008 Cup final, where he stopped 569 of the 610 shots (.932) he faced until inadvertently deflecting a Henrik Zetterberg attempt across his own goal line, giving the Detroit Red Wings their 11th Stanley Cup championship.

The following season Fleury redeemed himself by making a miraculous, diving save across the crease to deny four-time champion Nicklas Lidstrom of the Red Wings with two seconds left, giving Pittsburgh the first win by the away team in a Game 7 final since 1971 and Steel City's first Stanley Cup since 1992.

But you can only milk a Stanley Cup victory for so long. Since then, Fleury's struggles have begun to mount -- particularly in the postseason -- and it is past time for Pittsburgh to relieve Fleury of his starting responsibilities and possibly his place in the Pittsburgh organization.

After winning the Cup, when Fleury stopped 623 of 686 shots (.908 save percentage) in the playoffs, his postseason save percentage hasn't been above the .900 mark, a main reason the Penguins have won only one postseason series with him in the crease since.

Fleury's abysmal playoff performance last season prompted the Pittsburgh Penguins to go out and get Tomas Vokoun, a proven, veteran goalie as a backup. And they would need him after Fleury gave up six goals on only 24 shots during Pittsburgh's 6-4 loss to the Islanders in Game 4 of their first-round series. Vokoun would go on to win four straight before losing in double overtime to Ottawa in Game 3 of the second round, stopping 166 of the 175 shots he faced (.949 save percentage) in those five games.

But does the loss mean Pittsburgh should go back to Fleury in net? Absolutely not, because continued disappointments by Fleury are more the norm than aberrations. In fact, an argument could be made Fleury has been one of the game's worst among netminders playing at least 10,000 even-strength minutes since the 2008-09 season.

An average NHL goalie should be able to stop 92 percent of the shots he faces during even-strength (an EV SV% of .920), and Fleury is right about there. However, using his goals for (2.7) and against (2.2) in the Pythagorean win expectation formula, we can see that the increased goal support Fleury received led him to an expected win percentage of .588. If Pittsburgh provided just average goal support (2.2), then they would be barely above .500 with their top goalie in net.

Vokoun, on the other hand, has done more (.930 even-strength save percentage) with less (just 2.2 goal support per 60 minutes) during the regular season. Give him the same goal support Pittsburgh gave Fleury over the same time frame and Vokoun likely has a .650 win percentage or better, which is why his 4-1 record with an NHL-best .949 save percentage so far this postseason shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

Fleury has two more years remaining on his contract at $5 million per season while Vokoun is signed next year at $2 million. Paying a backup netminder $5 million in a year the salary cap declines doesn't make much fiscal sense, so using the amnesty buyout on Fleury may be the best move Pittsburgh can make. That would free up cap room to re-sign 2013 trade deadline acquisitions Brenden Morrow and Jarome Iginla, plus make it a little easier to keep Evgeni Malkin, who is an unrestricted free agent in 2014.

Winning one Stanley Cup is great, but when your goalie prevents you from being in the hunt for others, it is time to move on.
Click to expand...
 
Sens should aim for Vokoun's mask all night just to get a shot at Fleury. Then again, it's not like they haven't been able to score on Vokoun.

Doesn't really matter who Pittsburgh has in nets.
 
JohnnyHolmes said:
Sens should aim for Vokoun's mask all night just to get a shot at Fleury. Then again, it's not like they haven't been able to score on Vokoun.

Doesn't really matter who Pittsburgh has in nets.
Click to expand...

The Sens have scored a total of 6 goals in 11 periods against Vokoun, who has a 943 SV% against the Sens.

It does matter who is in net.
 
JohnnyHolmes said:
Sens should aim for Vokoun's mask all night just to get a shot at Fleury. Then again, it's not like they haven't been able to score on Vokoun.

Doesn't really matter who Pittsburgh has in nets.
Click to expand...

Well you guys haven't been shutout but I'd hardly say the Sens have had an easy time scoring. Vokoun has been very good.

In 3 games against you guys he has an under 2 GAA and a .943 sv%.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top