Follow @james_tanner123 Since +/- is the NHL's worst stat, I thought it would make sense to appropriate it and make it useful as we review the best and worst of the past week in the NHL.
PLUS: The Leafs signing Brad Boyes to a PTO. I have always been a fan of Boyes and I think this is a super-smart value signing. I recommended the Coyotes get him months ago, but they passed on Franson and Boyes to sign Downie and Michalek.
Hurray!
PLUS: Marcus Stroman, sweeping the Yankees and a nearly empty Yankee Stadium last night in the 9th inning.
MINUS: The idea that we can judge a player based on the contract he has or the difficulty he has had in obtaining one. This summer, John Scott got a contract, while Tlusty, Boyes and Glencross did not.
The probable best defenseman that was available had to sign a two-year deal in September. In my opinion, this has less to do with Franson as a player and more to do with 19 teams being within $5 million dollars of the cap and a third of the league is within $2 million of the cap. I also think that this year was a correction year for the last several off-seasons of teams throwing money around like drunken Pirates.
There are also still a lot of people who look at Fransons game and then his stats and decide that they don't match up enough with what we expect effective defensemen to look like. He's sneaky good, and after watching him for years in Toronto, I'd take him on my team any day. MINUS: Here is a sweet pre-complaint about the length of the preseason.
MINUS:The movie Dumb and Dumber 2. What a piece of crap. Honestly, one of the worst movies I have ever sat through. Unfunny, boring and idiotic. I've never seen such an unnecessarily blatant cash-grab.
I liked Dumb and Dumber back when I was a kid. This movie was worse than the Love Guru.
PLUS: Thanks to Jim Sr. for sending me this recommendation.
The Coyotes - with a creative, progressive GM at the helm - would be in such a great position to build a fantastic team. They have a ton of prospect capital, they have a ton of cap space and even quite a few tradable assets.
Instead they have Don Maloney.
PLUS: I have decided to become a hippie, so here are some positive vibes.
MINUS: Just kidding, I'm actually becoming an astrologist.
MINUS: Speaking of ol' Maloney, the trade he made this week was brutal. We're talking inexplicably bad, non-nonsensical etc. Again, I just don't believe there wasn't a team in the NHL who could have at least provided the Coyotes with something other than a fourth right-shooting defenseman. At least pick up a guy who can fill the black hole that is the Coyotes' left-side defense, after OEL, or at worst, get a lottery ticket in the form of a draft pick.
MINUS: The Leafs haven't yet traded JVR, and people are acting like they aren't going to. This is insane. He is their only tradable asset and they need to get another high-end defensive prospect. There aren't a lot of 30 goal wingers on great contracts available and for a guy who can't really play any good without the puck, I think the Leafs could get a lot for him and accelerate their rebuild.
PLUS: The Shangri-Las
PLUS: Strome and Domi. The Coyotes actually having a first line. I don't honestly remember when you could say that. Too bad they are almost certain to make Strome waste another year in junior.
PLUS: Seven Days in Hell. This is an HBO documentary about former tennis great Aaron Williams, adopted brother of Serena and Venus. It's just about the greatest tennis documentary I've seen that isn't about John McEnroe. By the way, my love for McEroe transcends my hatred of men's tennis, which I consider to be like a more boring version of watching golf.
MINUS: The boys at poker were not digging the Jesus and Mary Chain the other night. I suppose it's time to pick up some Lincoln Park or something.
Good times.
PLUS: One team I really look forward to watching this season is the Florida Panthers. The trio of Barkov, Huberdeau and Ekblad is fantastic and for whatever reason doesn't get a lot of hype around the league.
I would look for the Panthers to be an excellent team this year because they also have $11 million in cap juice, should they be willing to spend it.
PLUS: Finally, thanks to all the guys who joined up to Tanner's 2016 Fantasy Jam, and apologies to those who didn't get in. We had some good times at the draft - it was early, obviously, but the whole point is to get in a practice draft that's more skillful than a mock draft - and one crazy son of a gun decided to take OEL in the first round, seventh overall.
My team rules, but I think I'll keep it a secret for now.
Thanks for reading.