Forget Ekblad

[a smell of green grass]

Florida has 2 TOP5 draft selections on their roster. Per BluesTalk, the most notable aspect of teams with TOP5 selections is that they TANKED, and will continue to TANK, and will be remembered for TANKING. We pity those poor fans.

Does anybody remember now when Florida TANKED? When you think of Florida now, what do you remember, TANKING or 2 consecutive cups?

[brianstlou2]

He gets $9 easy on the open market. That is a humongous discount. Shows that if you create the right culture, players will leave money on the table to stay.

This is a guy who on avg the last 5 years has missed 33% of games or roughly 27 games a year bc of injury or suspension. That deal is going to be rough in short and long term especially if it starts getting worse as he ages. There’s a lot of miles on those legs. I wouldn’t have wanted him on that deal with the Blues.

[TAFKAP]

But now looking at their roster they are in a bit of a bind.

They have 4.9 million left in space, and 5 positions to fill. They got Tarasov to be a back up, he's an RFA so he's due about a mil or so which puts them at 3.5 with 4 players to sign.

It's a safe bet that Marchand isn't coming back, and even with that they are going to have to trade someone like an Evan Rodriguez for nothing.

That's how the depth erodes away.

Not necessarily. They will have to get creative this year for sure, maybe someone gets hurt until the playoffs. The majority of the roster is signed into the 2030's. The only notable UFA next year will be Mikkola and they'll have an extra 8.5 million to work with, followed by 9.5 million the next. Can you imagine this roster 2 years from now with an extra 18 million in cap space?

[TheJackBurton]

Florida has 2 TOP5 draft selections on their roster. Per BluesTalk, the most notable aspect of teams with TOP5 selections is that they TANKED, and will continue to TANK, and will be remembered for TANKING. We pity those poor fans.

Does anybody remember now when Florida TANKED? When you think of Florida now, what do you remember, TANKING or 2 consecutive cups?

Yes. They missed the playoffs and were the butt of jokes for very well close to a decade. That just doesn't get wiped because of 2 Cup wins.

They missed the playoffs 16 out of 20 years and in the 4 they made never made it out of the first round.

They dealt with incredibly poor attendance, very few UFA signings, and talk of possibly being relocated.

It eventually paid off for them, and good for them, but to act like no one will remember it is quite frankly not smart.

[TheJackBurton]

But now looking at their roster they are in a bit of a bind.

They have 4.9 million left in space, and 5 positions to fill. They got Tarasov to be a back up, he's an RFA so he's due about a mil or so which puts them at 3.5 with 4 players to sign.

It's a safe bet that Marchand isn't coming back, and even with that they are going to have to trade someone like an Evan Rodriguez for nothing.

That's how the depth erodes away.

Not necessarily. They will have to get creative this year for sure, maybe someone gets hurt until the playoffs. The majority of the roster is signed into the 2030's. The only notable UFA next year will be Mikkola and they'll have an extra 8.5 million to work with, followed by 9.5 million the next. Can you imagine this roster 2 years from now with an extra 18 million in cap space?

Yes, they will only have 13 players under contract though. They will have 28 million to sign 10 players, while the roster is another year older.

The cap will do what the cap is designed to do, even when it goes up. They will start to lose depth, the low draft picks means odds are a good amount of their prospects aren't massive difference makers, they've traded away numerous picks so they are getting fewer and fewer prospects and players will leave for more money because they won't be able to offer as much.

Now if I were a Florida Panthers fan would I have any issues with that? Not a one.

[Frank Underwood]

That is awesome. I’m not much of an Ekblad fan, but I think it’s great these guys are taking less to stay together.

[stljrs]

I’d take Lundell off their hands……

[MiamiLaw]

He gets $9 easy on the open market. That is a humongous discount. Shows that if you create the right culture, players will leave money on the table to stay.

This is a guy who on avg the last 5 years has missed 33% of games or roughly 27 games a year bc of injury or suspension. That deal is going to be rough in short and long term especially if it starts getting worse as he ages. There’s a lot of miles on those legs. I wouldn’t have wanted him on that deal with the Blues.

You just haven't watched much of him if you wouldn't take him at $6.1. Freakin Krug got $6.5+ years ago, prior to the cap increase. His time missed has not been a lingering issue but even so, at $6.1 he is absolutely more than worth it.

[MiamiLaw]

Florida has 2 TOP5 draft selections on their roster. Per BluesTalk, the most notable aspect of teams with TOP5 selections is that they TANKED, and will continue to TANK, and will be remembered for TANKING. We pity those poor fans.

Does anybody remember now when Florida TANKED? When you think of Florida now, what do you remember, TANKING or 2 consecutive cups?

Yes. They missed the playoffs and were the butt of jokes for very well close to a decade. That just doesn't get wiped because of 2 Cup wins.

They missed the playoffs 16 out of 20 years and in the 4 they made never made it out of the first round.

They dealt with incredibly poor attendance, very few UFA signings, and talk of possibly being relocated.

It eventually paid off for them, and good for them, but to act like no one will remember it is quite frankly not smart.

It is absolutely incredible what that Matt Tkachuk trade did. I truly mean that. It is probably the biggest trade of the last 20 years and was a big gamble at the time.

Zito is the best GM in the business right now. Nill winning the GM of the year, though he is good, was a robbery.

[TheJackBurton]

Florida has 2 TOP5 draft selections on their roster. Per BluesTalk, the most notable aspect of teams with TOP5 selections is that they TANKED, and will continue to TANK, and will be remembered for TANKING. We pity those poor fans.

Does anybody remember now when Florida TANKED? When you think of Florida now, what do you remember, TANKING or 2 consecutive cups?

Yes. They missed the playoffs and were the butt of jokes for very well close to a decade. That just doesn't get wiped because of 2 Cup wins.

They missed the playoffs 16 out of 20 years and in the 4 they made never made it out of the first round.

They dealt with incredibly poor attendance, very few UFA signings, and talk of possibly being relocated.

It eventually paid off for them, and good for them, but to act like no one will remember it is quite frankly not smart.

It is absolutely incredible what that Matt Tkachuk trade did. I truly mean that. It is probably the biggest trade of the last 20 years and was a big gamble at the time.

Zito is the best GM in the business right now. Nill winning the GM of the year, though he is good, was a robbery.

Yeah without a doubt. Players demanding to be traded there certainly helps without a doubt, but still have to be able to pull off the trades.

I posted my feelings on the Nill idiocy.

[MiamiLaw]

8 x $6.1 is $48.8 mi
7 x $9 is $63 mil

I mean, he won't be hurting for money but walking away from at least $14.2 million is nuts to me. And he would have been highly, highly sought after on the open market. A bidding war was almost certain because almost every team needs a Top 4, top pairing capable, RHD.

[TheJackBurton]

8 x $6.1 is $48.8 mi
7 x $9 is $63 mil

I mean, he won't be hurting for money but walking away from at least $14.2 million is nuts to me. And he would have been highly, highly sought after on the open market. A bidding war was almost certain because almost every team needs a Top 4, top pairing capable, RHD.

There is something to be said for fostering a winning atmosphere.

[BalotelliMassive]

[theograce]

Yes. They missed the playoffs and were the butt of jokes for very well close to a decade. That just doesn't get wiped because of 2 Cup wins.

Nobody in the hockey world is thinking about that. The Blues have one Cup in their much longer history and fell apart after that win.

[BalotelliMassive]

Florida has 2 TOP5 draft selections on their roster. Per BluesTalk, the most notable aspect of teams with TOP5 selections is that they TANKED, and will continue to TANK, and will be remembered for TANKING. We pity those poor fans.

Does anybody remember now when Florida TANKED? When you think of Florida now, what do you remember, TANKING or 2 consecutive cups?

Yes. They missed the playoffs and were the butt of jokes for very well close to a decade. That just doesn't get wiped because of 2 Cup wins.

They missed the playoffs 16 out of 20 years and in the 4 they made never made it out of the first round.

They dealt with incredibly poor attendance, very few UFA signings, and talk of possibly being relocated.

It eventually paid off for them, and good for them, but to act like no one will remember it is quite frankly not smart.

They were an expansion team back when it was impossible to be good for ten years minimum.

[TheJackBurton]

Florida has 2 TOP5 draft selections on their roster. Per BluesTalk, the most notable aspect of teams with TOP5 selections is that they TANKED, and will continue to TANK, and will be remembered for TANKING. We pity those poor fans.

Does anybody remember now when Florida TANKED? When you think of Florida now, what do you remember, TANKING or 2 consecutive cups?

Yes. They missed the playoffs and were the butt of jokes for very well close to a decade. That just doesn't get wiped because of 2 Cup wins.

They missed the playoffs 16 out of 20 years and in the 4 they made never made it out of the first round.

They dealt with incredibly poor attendance, very few UFA signings, and talk of possibly being relocated.

It eventually paid off for them, and good for them, but to act like no one will remember it is quite frankly not smart.

They were an expansion team back when it was impossible to be good for ten years minimum.

That was a ways after their expansion season. Also remember they went to the Finals in their first 2 seasons and lost against the Avs. It was the 2000's where they weren't even profitable and average attendance was in the mid teens.