Cup Takes, Stafford and Rumours
For a site like HB it doesn’t take long for the silly-season to amp up after the Stanley Cup has been awarded, however we should pause and give a few ‘hot takes’ on the run that was the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs.
With all respects to statistics, probabilities and parity I don’t know if I can say luck played as much a role in the outcome of the cup winner as others can. Maybe I’m still naive or perhaps I don’t really understand the ‘science’ behind luck but the Blackhawks have it, but they also have something else. The have the skill, coaching, and personnel to tilt luck in their favour and as Garret Hohl said on Twitter last night the outcome may be the coin was weighted to the Blackhawks more than the Bolts,
Of the top 8 players on the Blackhawks, Toews, Kane, Hossa, Keith, Seabrook, Hjarmlasson, Sharp, and Saad how often are those players not in the top 6 or 4 of any other team in the league should any one of them move on?
That’s an outstanding level of depth to have and it comes at a cost, we’ll see how big once the dust settles on this championship but 2010 was similar and it only took 3 years to be back again.
While the western conference likes big, strong teams like Anaheim and San Jose and the Kings it’s the better balanced Hawks that keep winning or getting close to the top year after year since 2009. Is there a team in the west set to look like the Hawks in the future? My bet would be on Calgary first but perhaps Edmonton not long after and a revisit to battle of Alberta glory days of the 1980s. The fact is this, the Hawks have done what no team has really done since the 80s, win consistently year after year and collect championships- this should spark some copycat moves by rival teams.
The Lightning deserve much credit but head coach John Cooper needs to reflect a bit on some of his decisions. He too is part of the learning curve that many say players need before they can win it all. Hindsight is always perfect but we can still learn from it, and should learn from it- hopefully the Bolts do.
Drew Stafford
I’m not sure what Jets fans want or expect from Stafford but let’s be clear he will not be the guy who had 19 points in 26 games with Winnipeg for the course of another season. Too many things went right for him here and that would lead to a 60 point season over 82 games. His high water mark was 52 in 2010-11 when he was 25.
The always astute Elliote Friedman put in his 30 thoughts on Sunday that contract talks are happening to re-sign Stafford as a Jet and the speculation comes as to for how much and how long. If either the price or term starts with a ‘4’ then the Jets are making a potentially big mistake. It’s not that Stafford isn’t worth keeping, it’s the cost and term.
Last year the Jets arguable made one of the best off-season signings when they got Mathieu Perreault for 3 years at 3 million per year. If you follow me on witter you will have seen three tweets about the Perreault’s deal and what Stafford could and should be paid. Here’s the issue for the Jets…
At the time of Perreault’s signing he was 26 years old and came off an 18 point 25 assist season and earned him a 3 year $9 million deal that was signed in the middle of the peak production ages of 25-27.
Stafford is coming off a 18 goal 25 assist season too and some believe he could command 4 million at 4 years as a soon to be 30 year old. If that’s what happens a 4 year 16 million deal what does that say to Brian Little and how much do you have to pay Perreault in 2 years? If you pay Stafford more than Perreault what are you using to justify that salary? I need that explained to me and then perhaps a glass of that koolaid.
To make things a bit more foggy why pay Stafford that when you have 2 1st round picks in a deep draft and several teams needs cap relief with decent assets to trade? If Chevy can get Stafford at 3 years for $6 million there’s a good chance no one regrets the decision but at Stafford’s age and likely production he could become another placeholder at a steep price.
Rumours
Frolik
It’s all but certain that Frolik moves on. He’s not in town right now and is apparently strategizing with agent Alan Walsh. This is Frolik’s chance to earn his windfall contract and if the Jets have an internal budget for his expense the player may have decided he needs to test the waters and see who comes to the plate at UFA time. There is a courting period for 5 days before July 1 and it does not mean he and the Jets cannot talk again but it would appear that happens only if other offers are not forthcoming.
Burmistrov
As far as anyone who knows anything there’s no news on him. None. In fact the whole scenario is a mystery so it’s more wait and see.
Byfuglien
Before Jets fans start trading him all over the place remember this- every July he submits a list of 5 teams he will not be traded too. There has been some conflicting information about if it’s 5 teams not to be traded or he allows. Right now it appears the former is accurate and I had it wrong in previous blogs and tweets- my apologies. This gives Chevy 24 options to work with should this be a direction he and ownership choose to pursue. Remember this Byfuglien is the highest paid Jet next season at 6 million salary (5.25 cap hit) so I’m sure calls are happening.
I’ll leave this here as my paraphrase of a Kevin Cheveldayoff quote from his presser after the trade deadline… “I had some discussion where some ideas were presented that we agreed to revisit later, after the season…. Why this quote needs to be remembered is because Chevy was active coming down to the trade deadline and it suggests potentially bigger, different things could happen.
If you’re a fan you either believe in one of two things with the Jets: stay the course of draft and develop or capitalize on the good work done there and begin releasing assets for different value. With Chevy being more active on the trade front in his 4th year as GM than ever before, it appears he might be able to do more now that he has more to work with. Combine that with holes to fill through free agency and the composition of the roster, there’s good reason to believe that with teams in cap trouble and Jets sitting on assets and cap space much could be talked about in the coming weeks involving Winnipeg.