toby91_ca

1 - $10M isn't close to a max contract
2 - He's not worth that kind of money
3 - Even if he was currently, he's too old to be signing a 7 year contract for that type of money

1 - $10M isn't close to a max contract
2 - He's not worth that kind of money
3 - Even if he was currently, he's too old to be signing a 7 year contract for that type of money

Yeah, it's getting pretty bad.  I was looking at that stat earlier in the year, but hadn't paid much attention recently.  They are firmly in last place by quite a margin, but that stat is even worse.  They are -122, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th worst teams are a combined -130.

I think Gretzky lead the league 5 times, not 4.  At the same time, I've never really thought about him as the best goal scorer because that was not the type of player he was.  He put up huge goal totals just because he was that good....but goal scoring was secondary for him (same for Mario, but to a lesser extent).  So I'm somewhat biased into thinking Bossy and Ovechkin are better goal scorers simply because that's their game.  I mean, Ovechkin has 700ish goals and 570 assists.  When Gretzky had 700 goals, his assist total was 1,400+....so you look at it a bit different.
To set the record straight a bit on Gretzky's stats though, his goal scoring didn't go down that much at 26....yes, he scored 40 goals that year, but only in 64 games, he scored 54 in 78 games the next year, then 41 in 73 games the following year.  The biggest turning point in his career was when he was 30 and got hit from behind into the boards by Gary Suter (international play).  He was never the same player after that.  His goal scoring (because as I suggested, was secondary) seemed to take the biggest hit.
All that said, I think Ovechkin is the greatest goal scorer, most pure goal scorer.  I would have liked to see what Bossy could have done if his career wasn't cut short.

I think Gretzky lead the league 5 times, not 4.  At the same time, I've never really thought about him as the best goal scorer because that was not the type of player he was.  He put up huge goal totals just because he was that good....but goal scoring was secondary for him (same for Mario, but to a lesser extent).  So I'm somewhat biased into thinking Bossy and Ovechkin are better goal scorers simply because that's their game.  I mean, Ovechkin has 700ish goals and 570 assists.  When Gretzky had 700 goals, his assist total was 1,400+....so you look at it a bit different.
To set the record straight a bit on Gretzky's stats though, his goal scoring didn't go down that much at 26....yes, he scored 40 goals that year, but only in 64 games, he scored 54 in 78 games the next year, then 41 in 73 games the following year.  The biggest turning point in his career was when he was 30 and got hit from behind into the boards by Gary Suter (international play).  He was never the same player after that.  His goal scoring (because as I suggested, was secondary) seemed to take the biggest hit.
All that said, I think Ovechkin is the greatest goal scorer, most pure goal scorer.  I would have liked to see what Bossy could have done if his career wasn't cut short.

Here's my basic logic...which is a cop out really, but it's true at the same time.  Those suggesting Larkin has proven himself as a 1C.....I want to say are wrong, but at a minimum, would have a hard time supporting that.  I'm not going to say he won't prove to be one over the course of his career, but he hasn't shown the consistency yet to suggest he's "proven".  Did it look like he was well on his way last year after building and improving on 60+ points the year before?  Absolutely.  I'm guessing he'll bounce back at this year is just a stumbling block.  Bad teams or not though, that can't be a big excuse.  There are + and - in terms of being able to produce based on how good your team is.
On the flip side, has this season proven anything regarding his ability to be a 1C going foward?  Absolutely not, however, it's fair for people to be concerned.

Here's my basic logic...which is a cop out really, but it's true at the same time.  Those suggesting Larkin has proven himself as a 1C.....I want to say are wrong, but at a minimum, would have a hard time supporting that.  I'm not going to say he won't prove to be one over the course of his career, but he hasn't shown the consistency yet to suggest he's "proven".  Did it look like he was well on his way last year after building and improving on 60+ points the year before?  Absolutely.  I'm guessing he'll bounce back at this year is just a stumbling block.  Bad teams or not though, that can't be a big excuse.  There are + and - in terms of being able to produce based on how good your team is.
On the flip side, has this season proven anything regarding his ability to be a 1C going foward?  Absolutely not, however, it's fair for people to be concerned.

All star game and selection is not what it used to be....I'm sure 90+% of that is because what it used to be is when I was a kid, so much different perspective, but for me, part of looking at player accomplishments is how many all star selections they have....which really doesn't make sense anymore.  The best players don't always get selected anymore....didn't use to be that way.  How does the #5 scorer not make the all star team?
Is it annoying when players say stuff like what Larkin said?  Sure.....easy to disparage him for that.  However, since I don't care enough anymore, I'll just give him the benefit of the doubt and look at it this way:  If I'm in Larkin's shoes....I'd be thinking to myself "please don't vote me in"....I'd be embarrassed being selected when I clearly don't deserve to be there....I'd be dreading showing up to the event.  The John Scott was a completely different scenario....everyone had fun with that.

All star game and selection is not what it used to be....I'm sure 90+% of that is because what it used to be is when I was a kid, so much different perspective, but for me, part of looking at player accomplishments is how many all star selections they have....which really doesn't make sense anymore.  The best players don't always get selected anymore....didn't use to be that way.  How does the #5 scorer not make the all star team?
Is it annoying when players say stuff like what Larkin said?  Sure.....easy to disparage him for that.  However, since I don't care enough anymore, I'll just give him the benefit of the doubt and look at it this way:  If I'm in Larkin's shoes....I'd be thinking to myself "please don't vote me in"....I'd be embarrassed being selected when I clearly don't deserve to be there....I'd be dreading showing up to the event.  The John Scott was a completely different scenario....everyone had fun with that.

Could always look at it as the team is chasing history this year.....could they have the worst season in their history?  It will be close, but I don't think they can pull it off due to the 3 point game in today's era.  They have the best chance to pull off worst GF vs GA stat in history though.  Currently sitting at -62, on pace for -159.....lowest in team history was 85/86 season at -149 and that makes this year look even worse as there was a lot more goal scoring in 85/86, so easier to get blown out and run up a huge -

My philosophy is that the fans pay everyone's paycheck.....they bought tickets, they have the right to boo.

Not missing your point at all.  Age is not the major factor here.  I guarantee you, GMs, coaches, etc. do not look at age to determine readiness.  You need to consider experience and at what level of hockey.  The better comparison is really to look at where a player has progressed since being drafted. 

That's a terrible example because I doubt you'd ever see a 20 year player being drafted at 6th overall.  If a player is 20 years old and hasn't been drafted yet....more often than not, they don't get drafted at all and may make their way to the NHL as a free agent (rare)......but if they do get drafted, not sure how they would all of a sudden be drafted so high.
You absolutely have to base comparisons on draft year.  It's very difficult to compare a player born at the beginning of the year to one born at the end of that same year.   In that case you have almost a full year difference anyway, but it gets more challenging when you get towards the middle....in pure age...may not be a big difference, but hockey experience gets impacted by cut-offs.
Take the biggest comparison players of the last 15 years....Crosby vs. Ovechkin.  Everyone sees these guys as the same age, coming into the NHL at the same time.  But Ovechkin is almost a full 2 years older.  He was only drafted 1 year earlier though because of where their birth dates fell.  If Ovechkin had of been playing in North America, even though he's almost a full 2 years older than Crosby, he really would have only had 1 additional year of major junior experience due to the cut-off.

Reality is though, teams were very close.  Almost every team in the playoffs from the East was a 100pt team.  The worst had 99pts and 98pts respectively.   Carolina had 99pts and won just two fewer games then the Caps and Isles over the course of an 82 game season.

Looks bad for sure, they did go for it, but I think it was more of a need to just get into the playoffs and win a round maybe.  Coming into this year, in their 17 year history, they were out of the playoffs in 13 of those years and out in the first round in the other 4.  They never won a playoff series in their history, they had won a total of 5 playoffs games in their existence.  This season, they won a series and put up 6 total wins (6W, 4L).  For that team, it has to count for something I suppose.

Was just wondering what you meant by “look where Edmonton was before they got Gretzky “....they didn’t exist.  Not sure the oilers are much further ahead now before and after getting McDavid either.  I half agree with you though...Edmonton isn’t going anywhere, but not sure I am as optimistic on their future as you...closer to your thinking then leaning towards them being bad though 

Yet their operating income is in the top half of the league (close to top ten).

Yet their operating income is in the top half of the league (close to top ten).

Yet their operating income is in the top half of the league (close to top ten).

Umm....Mrazek had a pretty darn good regular season.  If he didn't play as well as he did (there is no question he was well above league average)....they don't make the playoffs.  Them finishing 7th and squeeking into the playoffs is not a knock on Mrazek, it is a positive....they don't make the playoffs without his strong play.  Not sure what the future holds, but in comparison to Howard, his season was certainly better than Howards and moving forward, not sure, but odds are in Mrazek's favour.....simply due to age.

Umm....Mrazek had a pretty darn good regular season.  If he didn't play as well as he did (there is no question he was well above league average)....they don't make the playoffs.  Them finishing 7th and squeeking into the playoffs is not a knock on Mrazek, it is a positive....they don't make the playoffs without his strong play.  Not sure what the future holds, but in comparison to Howard, his season was certainly better than Howards and moving forward, not sure, but odds are in Mrazek's favour.....simply due to age.

Umm....Mrazek had a pretty darn good regular season.  If he didn't play as well as he did (there is no question he was well above league average)....they don't make the playoffs.  Them finishing 7th and squeeking into the playoffs is not a knock on Mrazek, it is a positive....they don't make the playoffs without his strong play.  Not sure what the future holds, but in comparison to Howard, his season was certainly better than Howards and moving forward, not sure, but odds are in Mrazek's favour.....simply due to age.

By "Bobfather", do you mean Bob McKenzie?  If so, this is what he reported:
May 1 - "It seems there is a whole new round of, could Pavel Datsyuk return to the NHL next season, in Detroit?  Short answer is it's probably quite unlikely but since Datsyuk will actually be in Detroit tomorrow, worth mentioning"
May 1 - "Datsyuk is visiting his agent Dan Milstein in DET.  They will talk about Datsyuk's plans to finish his career and where that will happen.  Datsyuk recently announced he's leaving SKA in KHL, but the belief is he plans on finishing up with hometown Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg."
May 1 - "There's apparently been no dialogue between Milstein and the Wings on Datsyuk and certainly nothing since Steve Yzerman took over as GM.  In any case, Milstein and Datsyuk will get together and figure out Pav's next step.  It's probably Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg."
 
Maybe you meant someone else's reporting?  Looks like Bob McKenzie was spot on.

Wouldn't turn my nose up at 40-50 points, but I don't think that is very likely either.

Wouldn't turn my nose up at 40-50 points, but I don't think that is very likely either.