NHL 2010-2011: Rick Rypien

Philly has gone insane. From a near-contending team they just traded their two best centres on reasonable (though incredibly long) contracts. They then go out and sign Ilya Bryzgalov to a contract worthy of a top-5 goaltender the way the goaltender market has been.

Insane. I like the return they got for Richards (though I think of Richards as probably a top-10 NHL centre... so I would have wanted more) but wow. Not a single defenseman in return either. The East just got a little bit weaker.

Jesus...I mean...wow. This is insane.

Habs re-sign Markov. 3 years, $5.75 million/year. This makes me very happy. Two #1 defensemen under contract for the Habs.

Looking at the Philadelphia moves, I can't wrap my head around it. They now have a young forward corps that needs a few years to develop into their prime, their top defensemen are aging, and they gave a Dipietro-esque contract to an above-average goaltender.

It has to be ownership/Ed Snider meddling. I think too highly of Holmgren to think he's this stupid.

Fun nerd fact: LA and Columbus can choose to not be bound by the Richards and Carter no-trade clauses because they were dealt before the clauses went into effect. Small clause in the CBA.

Who's the Habs other #1 defenceman?

Vector wrote:

Who's the Habs other #1 defenceman?

IMAGE(http://intenttoblow.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/subban.jpg)

Dysplastic wrote:
Vector wrote:

Who's the Habs other #1 defenceman?

IMAGE(http://intenttoblow.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/subban.jpg)

and he is. No one argue.

as for the Richards/Carter moves people are speculating that maybe their 'character' was a problem.

If so long term Philly got out of their long term contracts, made cap space to sign a goalie now and resign other players now, and collected allot of young talent.

http://www.capgeek.com/

great for nerding it up over hockey. Still a good team who have Giroux tied up for 3 years at 3,7500,000....

I am happy at getting Richards. Kings now have 2 #1 centers.
Simmonds took a step back last year but he is a tenacious player. Schenn might be a Richards some day. I think he is a bit overrated prospect.

jowner wrote:
Dysplastic wrote:
Vector wrote:

Who's the Habs other #1 defenceman?

IMAGE(http://intenttoblow.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/subban.jpg)

and he is. No one argue.

Post-Christmas he certainly was. He racked up the points but more importantly he was matched-up against the opposition's best lines with Hal Gill... and he made Gill capable of doing that.

as for the Richards/Carter moves people are speculating that maybe their 'character' was a problem.

If so long term Philly got out of their long term contracts, made cap space to sign a goalie now and resign other players now, and collected allot of young talent.

http://www.capgeek.com/

great for nerding it up over hockey. Still a good team who have Giroux tied up for 3 years at 3,7500,000....

The deals made sense to me up until the Bryzgalov signing. It's not like Bryzgalov is a clear-cut top-5 goaltender, and the marginal difference between an above average goaltender and an average goaltender is almost nothing. I mean, comparing Bryzgalov to his backups by lookingat even-strength save percentage (which has less volatility than normal save percentage which includes all situations):

Bryzgalov: .92587
His primary backups: .92589

Bryzgalov faces slightly tougher competition and it's over more games, but still.

Plus Bryzgalov isn't even the best UFA goaltender on the market this year. Vokoun is.

I won't argue but I don't think anyone outside of Habs fans really consider Subban a #1. He might become one next year and his play got a lot better but not quite at that level.

Philly, philly I'm so confused...

And now the west has to deal with Richards more frequently, and he is one tough center-man. Godamnit.

From what I have seen Subban is very talented and has a ton of potential. I hope he curbs that Montrealesque diving bullshi*t, a guy with his talent doesn't need to develop in that direction.

SwampYankee wrote:

From what I have seen Subban is very talented and has a ton of potential. I hope he curbs that Montrealesque diving bullshi*t, a guy with his talent doesn't need to develop in that direction.

Montreal-esque? I'll use the same argument you guys used when I called the Bruins violent and reply with "every team does it"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjDPE...

The Habs are the Eastern Conference gold-standard in diving - In my humble opinion.

Marchand? - Yeah - Also a rookie and immature.

My favorite diving video:

Yes, I know - Jack Edwards is a tool, but he's OUR tool...

Don't hate the player, hate the game. If the refs actually called penalties (including diving), diving would seldom occur.

I am still all a glow from hearing Chipman announce the Winnipeg Jets. God I love that team name. It seriously rocks! Some friends and I went in on season tickets. We are looking forward to picking our seats, and I am looking forward to watching a few Jets games this year.

SwampYankee wrote:

The Habs are the Eastern Conference gold-standard in diving - In my humble opinion.

Marchand? - Yeah - Also a rookie and immature.

PK Subban is also a Rookie and immature, and that didn't stop the entire Bruins lineup from whining about him non-stop. Total double-standard - in my humble opinion

Dysplastic wrote:

that didn't stop the entire Bruins lineup from whining about him non-stop.

They're just trying to keep up with you in that department.

I think the only bad part about Winnipeg's return is their division placement, which will be fixed for 2012-2013. Checking out the Devils schedule there's 2 at The Rock and 2 at The Peg. The Southeast Division travel will be brutal.

I'm still waiting for the first re-alignment blog for Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western divisions. Canadian teams + Buffalo and Boston, etc., but I think they're heading to time-zone based re-alignment.

imbiginjapan wrote:
Dysplastic wrote:

that didn't stop the entire Bruins lineup from whining about him non-stop.

They're just trying to keep up with you in that department. :nicekiss:

But...but...Swampy started it!

Gotta love to have a team to hate, huh guys?

MaxShrek wrote:

I think the only bad part about Winnipeg's return is their division placement, which will be fixed for 2012-2013. Checking out the Devils schedule there's 2 at The Rock and 2 at The Peg. The Southeast Division travel will be brutal.

I'm still waiting for the first re-alignment blog for Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western divisions. Canadian teams + Buffalo and Boston, etc., but I think they're heading to time-zone based re-alignment.

The schedule isn't all that bad travel-wise for Winnipeg, at least compared to Western Conference teams. Florida is surprisingly the team in the Southwest division that gets a raw deal:

http://www.ontheforecheck.com/2011/6...

Dysplastic wrote:
imbiginjapan wrote:
Dysplastic wrote:

that didn't stop the entire Bruins lineup from whining about him non-stop.

They're just trying to keep up with you in that department. :nicekiss:

But...but...Swampy started it!

Gotta love to have a team to hate, huh guys?

My favorite rivalry.

A bunch of stuff happened recently that I haven't commented on, sorry if this has already been covered:

- The Flyers are patently insane for giving Bryz a contract like that. He's way overrated and mentally fragile. Philly fans are well known for tearing their goaltenders to shreds, and won't be shy to boo him nightly. This is especially because his arrival will be tied to the departure of Richards and Carter - he'll be blamed for it if the team isn't as good this year. I just don't see this going well for either side.

- The Flyers locker room troubles you heard whispers of during the season were clearly much worse than anyone let on. Otherwise why trade Richards? Carter I get, he was expendable, but Richards was the heart of the team - supposedly. He must not have been living up to expectations in as a captain off the ice. Even so, I don't get this deal, the Kings are lucky to have him.

- Winnipeg chose not to retain Dudley as their GM, and the Leafs brought him into their front office. That makes, what, 4 guys in there who have the credentials to be a GM? Toronto is clearly operating on the idea that if they can't spend their piles of cash on the players on the ice, they'll spend it on the organization. There are a lot of excellent hockey minds in the Leafs organization now. I kind of wonder how Burke will keep it all together - I suspect that the blueprint of how he works with Dave Nonis is very helpful with this.

- Toronto traded for John-Michael Liles in return for the second round draft pick they got for Kaberle and the Bruins reach the Stanley Cup Finals. He's a player they've wanted for a while and it makes it pretty obvious they don't intend to try to pick Kaberle back up during free agency. Not a bad return for the Kaberle rental to the Bruins.

- The salary cap is going up $5 million to $64.3 million and it's definitely already causing waves across the league. Players with heavy contracts are suddenly movable again, as everyone has more breathing space. A lot of GMs are positioning themselves to be able to make big offers to UFAs. It seems clear Brad Richards is going to get a big payday.

nihilo wrote:

- Winnipeg chose not to retain Dudley as their GM, and the Leafs brought him into their front office. That makes, what, 4 guys in there who have the credentials to be a GM? Toronto is clearly operating on the idea that if they can't spend their piles of cash on the players on the ice, they'll spend it on the organization. There are a lot of excellent hockey minds in the Leafs organization now. I kind of wonder how Burke will keep it all together - I suspect that the blueprint of how he works with Dave Nonis is very helpful with this.

It's keeping the NY Mets afloat this baseball season.

IMAGE(http://l.yimg.com/a/p/sp/editorial_image/c3/c32c1f2dc760d66ff2d0d52591921a9e/jaromir_jagr_joins_philadelphia_flyers_rejecting_penguins_over_money.jpg)

HAHAHAHAHAHA! Cannot wait for the Flyers and Pens to meet next season.

Philly is opening the wallet wide so far this off season.

I was a bit disappointed that the Sabres didn't get into the room with Brad Richards, but Leino is a decent consolation prize.

Also, I love that the Leafs gave Connolly $4.75 million for two years.

Enjoy paying Christian Erhoff $9 million for the next two seasons despite taking a cap hit of something like 4.

4xis.black wrote:

Enjoy paying Christian Erhoff $9 million for the next two seasons despite taking a cap hit of something like 4. :(

Yeah, the Erhoff contract is ridiculous. If the league wasn't okay with the Kovalchuk contract, how are they okay with this one? It's crazy.

Sounds like Richards was pretty set on the Rangers, as pretty much everyone was reporting for the last couple weeks. The Leafs apparently offered him more money, but he didn't bite. They got Connolly instead, who was basically the last centre available. The Leafs clearly needed somebody, but he's no Richards. I'm okay with 4.75, because it's for 2 years. Probably overpaying, but everyone is getting overpaid this free agency and if Toronto is going to do it, at least it'll only be 2 years. Definitely couldn't afford another season with Bozak centring Kessel.

The Leafs robbed the Predators today. Not only did they get a team to take Brett Lebda off their hands, they actually got a good return for him. Matthew Lombardi and Cody Franson from the Preds, Lebda and Robert Slaney to Nashville.

Nashville was basically looking to get Lombardi off their books, and the Leafs could care less if they are paying a player to sit on injured reserve. If he plays, so much the better for Toronto - the Leafs have openings in the centre position. Cody Franson is the real value though - he's 23, and on his way to be a top 4 defenceman. An excellent prospect in return for eating $7 million in Lombardi's salary.

And Brett Lebda is no longer a Leaf! This is a good day. Burke once again getting creative finding ways to leverage Toronto's piles of cash to get good hockey players. Anyone else want to give Toronto prospects in return for burying off-the-cap contracts? I like this trend.

The Wild traded disappointing scorer Martin Havlat to the Sharks for disappointing scorer Dany Heatley. I think Heatley will probably be better than Havlat but he's a dirty Badger. I am not pleased.