There are plenty of professional leagues around. Nobody is forcing anyone to "work" in the NHL. They can go earn some rubles if they don't like the pay structure in the NHL.
- all-pgh

Kovalchuk and Putin have approved this message.

It's actually a free market attitude
- PhillySportsGuy

No, it's an entitlement attitude. Just because you "worked hard" doesn't mean you get to go wherever you want to go.

Seeing as this team has a mediocre defense at best, I think the poison best picked here is the conservative (defensive) one, not the more interesting skill (offensive) one. I'll take boring Brandon Manning with his mere one (awesome) goal and AMac, who I don't think is near as bad as some think, over Medvedev and his skills at this stage in the game.
- Andrew_21

i dont think conservative and defensive are the same thing. he is most certainly conservative in every aspect of the word, but he still isnt even a good defensive defenseman. he needs to be as sheltered as any defenseman on the team, which i guess isnt terrible with Ghost as his partner to be in as many offensive situations as possible. but i cant help but notice how it always seems amac is committing a turnover, or is indecisive, or missed keeping a puck in the zone. yes he blocks shots, but half of those blocked shots come from his softness of letting attacking players in the zone so easily, or turning it over and then having to fix his own mistake.

i know medey isnt perfect, but he plain and simple brings much more to the table.

Kind of, but you don't get the final say, and you definitely don't necessarily get where you want simply because "you're the best of the best and you worked hard."
- Scoob

I don't even understand how this relates to anything I was saying about abolishing the draft, but you be you.

i dont think conservative and defensive are the same thing. he is most certainly conservative in every aspect of the word, but he still isnt even a good defensive defenseman. he needs to be as sheltered as any defenseman on the team, which i guess isnt terrible with Ghost as his partner to be in as many offensive situations as possible. but i cant help but notice how it always seems amac is committing a turnover, or is indecisive, or missed keeping a puck in the zone. yes he blocks shots, but half of those blocked shots come from his softness of letting attacking players in the zone so easily, or turning it over and then having to fix his own mistake.

i know medey isnt perfect, but he plain and simple brings much more to the table.
- sjk540

This.

It's gonna be really (frank)ed up if TO gets him via hiring his dad and drafting his bro, lol.
- Tomahawk

Put that on the "be careful what you wish for, kid" list. lol

Actually watching hockey games is so 2013. You really need to get with the program, move into the modern era, join the team, go for the big win.
- Doc_Sarcasm

I developed my own pair of glasses that removes the numbers from their jerseys and replaces them with their Corsi. It makes it much easier to focus on what is really important

The argument I'm making is that if you're worth $8M over 8 years then you should be able to make that amount. Why do players have to wait when no other industry forces people to wait?
- PhillySportsGuy

There is no rookie alive who is worth that much.

No, it's an entitlement attitude. Just because you "worked hard" doesn't mean you get to go wherever you want to go.
- Scoob

I feel like you're turning this into something it isn't and you desperately want to follow it up with an "entitlement generation" post.

All I'm saying is that players should be free to negotiate with any team they'd like and teams should be free to negotiate with any player they'd like instead of a draft.

Exactly. Although, I would say it's more socialist, but yeah, GMs like Homer will sign you to a 12 year deal then trade you the next day, but, god forbid, a player changes his mind after agreeing to sign with the Preds.
- PhillySportsGuy

It's crazy that Eric Lindros had no choice but to play for Quebec when he told them flat-out he didn't want to. If only he has some other option, like choosing to not sign with them.

There is no rookie alive who is worth that much.
- Scoob

The market would have dictated the price. I imagine the Sabres would have paid a pretty penny for him.

Stretch includes time missing Giroux, Jake, and MDZ so sorry, but I am completely lost as to how a teams record shows anything besides how the team is playing.
- YuenglingJagr

What's different now is this team plays with the puck more and plays in a system that caters to the strength of available personnel. Also you have considerable growth in secondary guys like Schenn, Coots and Ghost, and special teams has regressed back to the mean.

There are still weak links (Amac is still one), but they won't sink the ship as easily as they used to when Berube was at the wheel.

I swear to god the fancy stats annoy the piss out of me because its like people stop watching the game itself. stats don't always tell the story.
- nastyflyergirl

I'm not interested in them in the least. Don't care. Never will.

I think the flaw in your argument is the whole idea of "worth". To piggyback off an earlier conversation, is AMac worth the money he is earning? Is McDavid worth more than G?
- wolfhounds

The major flaw is that they're thinking of this as if the players don't have a choice when in fact they do. There are a dozen other leagues in the world for whom you can sign and play.

When you sign a contract, you sign an NHL contract not an Edmonton Oilers contract. They've made you a job offer. You can sign and work for us but if you do you'll be making X for the first three years and playing in Edmonton. Here's your workers handbook and here are the rules we've set forth for our employees. We've worked this out with our Union of which you'll become a voting member when you sign.

The KHL, the Swedish Elite League... they'll all offer contracts if you decide that's the company you want to work for. You might even make more money.

It's crazy that Eric Lindros had no choice but to play for Quebec when he told them flat-out he didn't want to. If only he has some other option, like choosing to not sign with them.
- jmatchett383

He never had an opportunity to shop himself around to various teams and field multiple offers maximizing value.

He chose NOT to play for a particular franchise.

well he is always right...

I would go more with not hurting to probably helping depending on the opponent and situation. The post you quoted was harsh on purpose, but I had stated previously how I felt about MacDonald.
- YuenglingJagr

With that said though, I would like to see Med back in the lineup at some point in the remaining games. At whose expense? I am not sure.

Mfw my professor does a poop job at lecturing about acute lymphocytic leukemia so I check the clinical guidelines and it's a 103 page pdf

he is most certainly conservative in every aspect of the word, but he still isnt even a good defensive defenseman. he needs to be as sheltered as any defenseman on the team, which i guess isnt terrible with Ghost as his partner to be in as many offensive situations as possible. but i cant help but notice how it always seems amac is committing a turnover, or is indecisive, or missed keeping a puck in the zone. yes he blocks shots, but half of those blocked shots come from his softness of letting attacking players in the zone so easily, or turning it over and then having to fix his own mistake.

- sjk540

I don't disagree with your assessment of AMac. I guess where we differ is I think Amac's mistakes are, on the whole, less costly than Medvedev's. Just from what I've seen in the games. I'm not a stats guy.

There is no rookie alive who is worth that much.
- Scoob

I disagree. Connor McDavid could have signed for more than that in Toronto. You don't think the Leafs would have ponied up 10+ to put that kid in Blue and White?

The KHL, the Swedish Elite League... they'll all offer contracts if you decide that's the company you want to work for. You might even make more money.
- mayorofangrytown

Transfer agreements kind of prevent this from happening. Unless a kid goes undrafted, isn't draft-eligible yet, or unsigned, they really aren't free to go wherever they want. And even in those circumstances (Auston Matthews), people will still blow a gasket over it.

Mfw my professor does a poop job at lecturing about acute lymphocytic leukemia so I check the clinical guidelines and it's a 103 page pdf
- Giroux_Is_God

Better you than me, amigo

He never had an opportunity to shop himself around to various teams and field multiple offers maximizing value.

He chose NOT to play for a particular franchise.
- PhillySportsGuy

True, but still holds that you're not bound to play for the team that drafts you. So yes, you can't shop yourself, but again, the NHL is the exact opposite of capitalistic. They are in it to maximize revenues for all companies (teams) in the industry (league) and for them all to be equally competitive.

Also, no engineer/doctor/etc. is going to make the money that these 18-22 year olds are making when they're "forced" to play for teams, so I'm not going to shed tears for them.

I don't even understand how this relates to anything I was saying about abolishing the draft, but you be you.
- PhillySportsGuy

Because you said the draft isn't fair (because a player can't go where he wants to go, especially to avoid horrible situations such as being X number of miles too far away from family and friends) and compared it to the real world (where you seem to think one actually can go wherever he wants to go.)

My position is that the draft is fair, and the real world isn't how you think it is.

Me being me.

I'm not interested in them in the least. Don't care. Never will.
- hammarby31

we agree there

I developed my own pair of glasses that removes the numbers from their jerseys and replaces them with their Corsi. It makes it much easier to focus on what is really important
- YuenglingJagr

Constantly changing jersey numbers. Nice use of technology. What if two guys have the same number? Are they simply then interchangeable apples? Also, do the numbers have a preceding #?