toby91_ca

TSN's mock expansion draft has Mantha going to LV.

The reality is, it really isn't economically possible to run a building like this these days without other tenants. 40 events in the year just doesn't cut it. I know there would be more factoring in pre-season / playoffs, but not substantially different.

I have no idea, I haven't even considered potential draftees for next year at this point, however, from what I've heard from the experts, the 2017 draft year looks pretty weak (take that with a grain of salt though, hard to project 17/18 year olds).

I'm the wrong person to ask that question as I'm in an industry where the payroll is likely closer to 90% of total revenues (that's a total guess though).....professional services firm.

I'm not sure who told you about 50% being some general rule, because it just can't be. That will be far too much for some businesses and far too little for others. Every business is different. I suppose you can go industry by industry and try to generalize that way, but 50% as a general rule doesn't really exist.

Regarding Dreger's tweet, I have to imagine the "he took the discount" really meant that he was looking for more on the open market, but settled for less. That's the only way it makes sense as the contract looks like overpayment, definitely not a discount. I think it is a fair question as to what other offers he had.....other teams being very interested doesn't mean any of them offered or were willing to pay close to $4M. I suspect that was used simply to get more out of the Wings. Not sure why we're being so hard on DD for asking the question, but I suspect I've missed a lot of drama earlier.

But at this very moment, aren't they a .500 team (8 wins, 8 losses) and are sitting just out of the playoffs?

10 goals would be a bit much to expect from Larkin at this point. You can be disappointed I suppose, but he's doing fine. Expectations of him being a prolific/elite scorer have been overblown a bit too much, having that expectation will lead to disappointment. There are currently only 5 players in the league (2 on the same team) that have 10 goals. Ovechkin isn't one of them, he has 7. By the way, his 7 goals is at a pace for 40 goals. The guys with 10+, this is what they'd be on pace for over a full season: - Crosby - 91 - Pastrnak - 59 - Laine - 53 - Grabner - 51 - Scheifele - 48

Probably unfair to consider "on pace" after 7 games too . Crosby is currently on pace for 90 goals, but, you know, doubt he scores that many this year.

Actually, it should be even more than 6-4 over the past 10 years. Of those 4 that didn't have a 30 goal scorer, it's really only 1 that didn't have one if you think about it. The other 3 went like this: 1 - a 29 goal scorer and a 27 goal scorer (27 goals in 72 games though...so that's really a legit 30 goal guy) 2 - a 28 goal scorer and a 27 goal scorer (27 goals in 61 games though...same story, that's really a legit 30 goal guy) 3 - this was the lockout year, there were actually 3 guys that would have easily had more than 30 over 82 games, 2 guys that would have flirted with 40.

I don't think this is true at all. Perhaps 20 years ago, but not today. The biggest difference between the AHL and NHL is speed of the game and that doesn't just mean ability to skate faster, it's doing everything faster. That's really always been the case, but more recently, there is less of an issue with smaller/quicker guys being able to be effective in the NHL. The bigger guys will still have some advantages, but the guys that produce in the AHL, but can't make the jump are not mostly players that are small and skilled. I think the separation really comes down to: - overall skill (basic) - skating ability I've seen and known guys that have all of the skill, would be at the high end in terms of NHL ability (shot for example), but skating ability was below par...comparatively speaking when talking NHL level. Size is a non issue here. The other would be guys that have size, can skate, but don't have NHL level skill....these guys actually might have a better shot of making it and filling some specialized role though.

TSN article has Ken Holland on the hot seat right now (along with their list of 9 others)

Which has been my concern for a while. He's had injury troubles and I doubt that is going to get any better as he ages...that, combined with nature decline due to age...makes the contracting troubling on the back end. I'm wondering if he'll end up playing it out. If he's still struggling and battling injury, I doubt he sticks it out. He still has another $7 million to collect next season but then it drops to $3M, then to $1M and $1M the following 2 years after that. Not a lot of motivation to keep playing unless he feels good. If he does play though, I doubt you are going to get the value out of him that you'd want with a $6+ million cap hit. Edit - on Mantha, I'm not getting too bent out of shape yet, he really hasn't proved much yet in the AHL. I'm not sure what his contract situation and waiver rules are that may inhibit calling up and sending down, but if there are no limitations, then I'd give him a shot if their is roster room due to injuries. Other than that, if there's any risk with being able to move back and forth, I don't do anything yet. 7 goals in 7 games is great, but it's the AHL and it's 7 games.

I joined in '02, but shortly after the Finals. I have no idea what badges are or how to acquire though. Regarding basketball, I have no issues with it. It wouldn't negatively impact the ice. The key is having the arena planned for hockey from day 1 vs planned for basketball and adjusted to fit hockey, that's when you'd be risking ice conditions. It's difficult to try and fix flooring for ice after the fact.

They are looking at other arena deals? After just making the move? After spending 40+ years in Uniondale, they made the move (which was a tough one for a lot of people) and now they are looking elsewhere after 1 year?

Why? Panik had 2 goals and 3pts in 3 games, Anisimov had 4 goals and 7pts in 3 games.

Before last night's game, Vancouver had played 3 games and didn't lead any of those games at any point. They hadn't had a lead for a single second yet on the season, yet they were 3-0. They won last night as well and are 4-0, but they held a lead in last night's game for some time.

I highly doubt Green is going to score more than 31 goals or 76 points this year.

He was coaching the Ducks for the entire year last year...was fired after the playoffs. Ducks scored 1 goal in their first 4 games....10 goals in their first 10 games.

Sounds eerily similar to last year

I'm not sure they concluded he wasn't a fit earlier, otherwise, perhaps they would have made a trade. Also, it's entirely possible that they have been trying to trade him for a while. For every trade that happens, I'd bet there are 20 that don't work out. In terms of AHL, it's literally meaningless. My friend lead the AHL in scoring one year, was the top goal scorer in another year (scoring almost 60 goals) and was an AHL MVP. He also led the NHL in scorer during pre-season (again, meaningless). He finished his career having played a total of about 40 NHL games.

You'd still have people complaining of course....giving up on someone. Hindsight is easy to say that now, but as I said above, the only way you trade someone at that point is to pick up someone you are targeting, not to dump a guy for an asset...the asset you get back is highly likely to be no better than what you've got....if you've already figured out you don't want him and he isn't going to develop into much, other teams are going to likely conclude the same (although you do have GMs out there that think they can turn someone into something)

Exactly, I don't get why so many don't understand this. Nobody wanted him bad enough to give up an asset for him. There was a good chance the Wings wouldn't want him on the roster, so he's have to hit waivers, then another team could grab him....take a chance at a very low cost (just salary). There's no guarantee in getting the player that way though as several teams could put in claims. If teams really want a guy, they'd make a trade for them. He literally had no trade value, if he did, one would have been made. Now you could complain that he could have been traded at some earlier point when he had trade value, but that's hindsight. You have an asset that you are hoping develops into something, the only way you trade someone that you think has potential is to get another player you have your eye on, you don't just give someone like that up to get a pick. It's not like he was a high potential guy when they drafted him. He was a long shot to develop into anything when they got him. You draft people in later rounds in hopes they develop into something beyond what they projected on draft day. More often than not, they don't.

Don't inflate it now, he only played 7:20. He had more ice time than Dalpe though, he only played 7:01.

1 - Wings make the playoffs, or don't make the playoffs....haven't decided which prediction to go with yet - both could be considered bold depending on who you talk to. 2 - Zetterberg retires at end of season. 3 - Edm makes the playoffs, lose in first round