- Cape Breton Bruins

This is not an inaccurate criticism. But it only seems wild because no GM has ever had the balls to try something like this.

Why does my head throb after reading Tanner's blogs?

This way of thinking is either incredibly brilliant or incredibly stupid...... and i have no idea which one it is!!!!
- donkscn

lol i agree,

I dislike the idea of moving picks while you JUST started rebuilding..
its like after 10 years everyone screaming " PLEASE LEAFS REBUILD PROPERLY!!"
and one year after we trade 3 first round picks......

It is intriguing to think about making some moves while the players are on entry level contracts, but IMO they can still make a really good team next year..
So much cap space, you only need to sign a few FA players, trade a few and that's it.. there's so much young talent coming up, that you only need a few established GOOD players (not michalek, bozak, hunwick) to stabilize the team (like Weber did for MTL so far).

So I believe they will make more moves next year. this year is strictly to see whats worth keeping, and what their needs are.
I'm confident that they have a future, especially the way they can put up goals.
(Mathews + Nylander 1st and 2nd in points as rookies)

None other than Andrew Saadalla.
- Cape Breton Bruins

This is not an inaccurate criticism. But it only seems wild because no GM has ever had the balls to try something like this.
- James_Tanner

They likely prefer keeping their jobs.

And in 95% of Cup Finals, it's two evenly matched teams. I don't expect to people to understand the effect of luck, so I'm not even gonna argue about it. Lots of fun reading on the subject if you're interested.
- James_Tanner

And another gutter trash article. Maybe one day Tanner will be a GM and he can "game" the system.

This is not an inaccurate criticism. But it only seems wild because no GM has ever had the balls to try something like this.
- James_Tanner

Love how you say McDavid only makes 900 000K


Shy of nearly 2M.

What recent Stanley Cup Winner has been built around players that are still on their Entry-Level deals?

This is not an inaccurate criticism. But it only seems wild because no GM has ever had the balls to try something like this.
- James_Tanner

I think the Leafs did some of this stuff and that's why theyre in the position they are....

lol i agree,

I dislike the idea of moving picks while you JUST started rebuilding..
its like after 10 years everyone screaming " PLEASE LEAFS REBUILD PROPERLY!!"
and one year after we trade 3 first round picks......

It is intriguing to think about making some moves while the players are on entry level contracts, but IMO they can still make a really good team next year..
So much cap space, you only need to sign a few FA players, trade a few and that's it.. there's so much young talent coming up, that you only need a few established GOOD players (not michalek, bozak, hunwick) to stabilize the team (like Weber did for MTL so far).

So I believe they will make more moves next year. this year is strictly to see whats worth keeping, and what their needs are.
I'm confident that they have a future, especially the way they can put up goals.
(Mathews + Nylander 1st and 2nd in points as rookies)
- spirovski

What you're describing is a more traditional way of doing things - it's the way things were done long before a cap system was in place.

What I am talking about is taking advantage of a system which most teams don't understand how to properly use.

It's not like we're talking about a marginal gain here. Marner, Mathews and Nylander will cost a minimum of $25 million dollars. Today they cost combined less than Komarov.

So you could get 3 more impact players in the next two years than you could otherwise.

The odds of getting an Auston Matthews in addition to a Marner and Nylander are essentially zero. This is a once in lifetime opportunity.

where does Rundlbad fit into that defensive unit?

Love how you say McDavid only makes 900 000K


Shy of nearly 2M.
- WaterBoy

Yeah but that includes bonus money which I am pretty sure gets applied to next year's hit? But so what? We're still talking about a massive difference.

I think the Leafs did some of this stuff and that's why theyre in the position they are....
- Garnie

No, they tried to skip the part where you collect prospects. They were short sighted, just in a dumb way, not a smart one.

What recent Stanley Cup Winner has been built around players that are still on their Entry-Level deals?
- nucks_94

Looked it up... Toews and Kane were still on entry level deals when the Hawks won in 2010. So in a sense, you could say that the Hawks did what you are talking about and went all-in to build around young stars and it worked out pretty well

What recent Stanley Cup Winner has been built around players that are still on their Entry-Level deals?
- nucks_94

None. But there's a winner ever year, no matter what. Your point is illogical.

This...is intriguing.

Looked it up... Toews and Kane were still on entry level deals when the Hawks won in 2010. So in a sense, you could say that the Hawks did what you are talking about and went all-in to build around young stars and it worked out pretty well
- nucks_94

They also unloaded a veritable all-star team of players the following year. Their other Cups were the kind where you build smart and hope to get lucky, but if they had of kept their first cup roster, how many Cups do they win? Five in a row?

No, they tried to skip the part where you collect prospects. They were short sighted, just in a dumb way, not a smart one.
- James_Tanner

yes...3 picks for Kessel who couldn't find his end of the rink for years.

They also unloaded a veritable all-star team of players the following year. Their other Cups were the kind where you build smart and hope to get lucky, but if they had of kept their first cup roster, how many Cups do they win? Five in a row?
- James_Tanner

I thought your point was to go all-in, damned the consequences, to win a single cup while your stars are still on entry level deals. The Hawks did that and it worked in 2010. The fact that they had to get rid of a bunch of people afterwards is besides the point

This is not an inaccurate criticism. But it only seems wild because no GM has ever had the balls to try something like this.
- James_Tanner

Sure they have. Glen Sather tried to do this every single year for almost 3 decades.

James Tanner: How the Leafs and Oilers Could Game the System for Instant Stanley Cups
- James_Tanner

2 words

Cody Franson


if one of those teams got him, they would be cup favorites for the next 5 years

yes...3 picks for Kessel who couldn't find his end of the rink for years.
- Garnie

To be fair, I'm not convinced he was looking for it.

Yeah but that includes bonus money which I am pretty sure gets applied to next year's hit? But so what? We're still talking about a massive difference.
- James_Tanner

No it applies to the year in which the bonus was attained. His cap hit is $3.775M.

So you're still saying trading Hall for Larsson was a bad trade when it's obvious the team is better?

To be fair, I'm not convinced he was looking for it.
- SolidGoldBricks

That was quite obvious.

Yet we venerate the winning of the short tournament and barely care at all who won the President's Trophy."

English league soccer does this. Each team plays each other twice...once home and once away. Whoever has the most points is champ. You lose the drama and iconic moments of the playoffs and sometimes the ending can be anti-climactic, but this truly makes it that the "best team" wins. You'd opt for this system over playoffs?