Ryan Wilson: All tank team - Pacific Division All tank team - Pacific Divsion

Lucky Number Slavin is an awesome movie.

And I love the John Wick series but they are nothing more than Gun-Fu movies. Definitely not “best ever” material.

Out of all the tank teams so far, this one will trigger Grinder the most.

Lucky Number Slevin is a great movie

Lol at the Grinder comment

I did say initially that the Metro tank team wasn’t so bad and it’s miles ahead of these other teams imo

Lucky Number Slavin is an awesome movie.

And I love the John Wick series but they are nothing more than Gun-Fu movies. Definitely not “best ever” material.
- j.boyd919

Agreed. Shoot’em dead stuff but I dig them.

Ryan Wilson: All tank team - Pacific Division
All tank team - Pacific Divsion
- Ryan_Wilson

Well Ryan they may not score too many goals but this lineup will beat the pi$$ out of you after the score is run up in the first period.

Gusev to NJ ...

Agreed. Shoot’em dead stuff but I dig them.
- Doogs

Oh for sure. I enjoyed every one of em.

Gusev to NJ ...
- chimpira

Maybe we can take Shero back...j/k. He made some good moves this offseason except that Simmonds contract.

Maybe we can take Shero back...j/k. He made some good moves this offseason except that Simmonds contract.
- 123Kid

Simmonds contract is one of his smarter deals. It’s a 1 year deal. No long term commitment and they still have like 12 mil in cap space after the Gusev signing.

Maybe we can take Shero back...j/k. He made some good moves this offseason except that Simmonds contract.
- 123Kid

Some people are getting hung up on the Simmonds contract but I don't think it matters at all. It's one year for a team way under the cap and adds toughness and vet leadership.

Wat a joyous day for RW. He gets to bash two of his old whipping boys, Sutter and Reaves, in one blog.

PS, Reaves probably had the best year of his career last year: 20 points and 54 corsi and fenwick

Simmonds contract is one of his smarter deals. It’s a 1 year deal. No long term commitment and they still have like 12 mil in cap space after the Gusev signing.
- j.boyd919

I don’t know about smarter deals. Shero has made some pretty darn good moves in the past. But yeah the Simmons deal is inconsequential. If the NHL had an NBA-like salary cap structure the deal would be a stroke of genius, though.

Simmonds contract is one of his smarter deals. It’s a 1 year deal. No long term commitment and they still have like 12 mil in cap space after the Gusev signing.
- j.boyd919

Agree, nothing wrong using cap space this way to save it for next year.

Sucks to miss out on Gusev... a lot of pressure on Chucky this year...

Wat a joyous day for RW. He gets to bash two of his old whipping boys, Sutter and Reaves, in one blog.

PS, Reaves probably had the best year of his career last year: 20 points and 54 corsi and fenwick
- Tojo.

Which is odd that they couldn't move him and his $2.7 mil 1 year contract to make room for Gusev. It doesn't make any sense to me.

I don’t know about smarter deals. Shero has made some pretty darn good moves in the past. But yeah the Simmons deal is inconsequential. If the NHL had an NBA-like salary cap structure the deal would be a stroke of genius, though.
- Victoro311

Just for kicks... if Shero was still here... you think he would have learned from his mistakes? Or would we have continued to underachieve?

Maybe we can take Shero back...j/k. He made some good moves this offseason except that Simmonds contract.
- 123Kid

I think the Simmonds contract was a great one. New Jersey is not high on the list of where players want to sign. You can basically guarantee that he won’t be extended. Shero will either use him for a playoff race which boosts revenue or more likely he’ll mentor the kids and then Shero will retain salary and flip him at the deadline. It’s just like when he signed Jagr years ago

Just for kicks... if Shero was still here... you think he would have learned from his mistakes? Or would we have continued to underachieve?
- YouMeAndDupuis9

Nah I think his firing was pretty formative for him. Also I stand by that Bylsma was the bigger issue and Shero’s affinity for him was what got him eventually. If he didn’t tie himself to an Old Boy’s coach that loved his plugs, maybe the roster is constructed better on top of better coached.

Who knows, this could still be an issue in NJ. Hines has never had a team that you can reasonably expect to do anything. I think this year will say a lot about who Hines is an actual coach. If Hines flounders and Shero doesn’t do anything about it, then it’s still same old Ray.

Which is odd that they couldn't move him and his $2.7 mil 1 year contract to make room for Gusev. It doesn't make any sense to me.
- Hockey66

They have $1MM in space with a 22 man roster. So basically if they traded Reaves they’d need a league minimum D man and then for Gusev to settle for $3MM which rumor is he didn’t want to do

I said it a while ago: they already have Stone, Patches, Stastny, Karlsson, Smith, Marchy, in their top 6 and Eakin at 3C with Pirri and Tuch who can move up as needed. Cody Glass looks ready to make the jump too. To me I figured it was Gusev or Tuch, someone had to go and it seemed like Gallant and Gusev weren’t going to mesh whereas Gallant has shown quite a bit of trust in Tuch

That D unit isn’t exactly stellar. This year screams regression imo for the team defensively and in net. The saving grace is how solid of a coach Gallant is

I think the Pacific is 100% up for grabs. I think all of these teams have great coaches (save for Tocchet who in all fairness gets better each season) but LA aside all of these teams have great strengths and great weaknesses. A couple minor tweaks could see some of these teams catapult upward

Which is odd that they couldn't move him and his $2.7 mil 1 year contract to make room for Gusev. It doesn't make any sense to me.
- Hockey66

I don't think anyone expects Reaves to repeat that, just wanted to point out he had a great year. Helps he played on such a deep team of course.

Just for kicks... if Shero was still here... you think he would have learned from his mistakes? Or would we have continued to underachieve?
- YouMeAndDupuis9

Shero probably made more bad moves in a few months than he did his whole tenure. Two seconds for Murray. A top prospect for Morrow (even if he didn't turn out great). Long term deals for Scuderi, Dupuis, and Adams who were all in decline (same with Kunitz but that had some good years).

Just for kicks... if Shero was still here... you think he would have learned from his mistakes? Or would we have continued to underachieve?
- YouMeAndDupuis9

Shero had to go. Just like Disco had to go. I'm believer in the "fresh set of eyes" approach. When things are waning or going sideways it's not easy for powerful executives to honestly critique themselves. We have some of this going on with Rutherford now. People that make a mess are rarely able to fix the mess because they don't view their actions/decisions as mistakes. They always cut themselves too much slack.

They have $1MM in space with a 22 man roster. So basically if they traded Reaves they’d need a league minimum D man and then for Gusev to settle for $3MM which rumor is he didn’t want to do

I said it a while ago: they already have Stone, Patches, Stastny, Karlsson, Smith, Marchy, in their top 6 and Eakin at 3C with Pirri and Tuch who can move up as needed. Cody Glass looks ready to make the jump too. To me I figured it was Gusev or Tuch, someone had to go and it seemed like Gallant and Gusev weren’t going to mesh whereas Gallant has shown quite a bit of trust in Tuch

That D unit isn’t exactly stellar. This year screams regression imo for the team defensively and in net. The saving grace is how solid of a coach Gallant is

I think the Pacific is 100% up for grabs. I think all of these teams have great coaches (save for Tocchet who in all fairness gets better each season) but LA aside all of these teams have great strengths and great weaknesses. A couple minor tweaks could see some of these teams catapult upward
- WSCTeton17

Ok, I was figuring that they could make it work after sending a couple of players down but that's not how it works.

Are you surprised they didn't get more than a 2nd and 3rd? I figured someone would at least throw a 1st+ at him.

I'm a little surprised that a team on the cusp didn't make a stronger play for him. I'm not sure the Devils are a contender by the time his two year contract is up. Sure, they can flip him if he excels and the Devils are floundering and not expected to re-sign or they also have the inside track to offer him a better contract when the time comes.

The Metro keeps getting stronger...

Shero had to go. Just like Disco had to go. I'm believer in the "fresh set of eyes" approach. When things are waning or going sideways it's not easy for powerful executives to honestly critique themselves. We have some of this going on with Rutherford now. People that make a mess are rarely able to fix the mess because they don't view their actions/decisions as mistakes. They always cut themselves too much slack.
- madmike71

Definitely agree. We weren’t going to course correct with Ray. I think he’s definitely a better GM than Rutherford but he has only himself to blame for getting fired here.