I understand that you're joking, but in case anyone doesn't know, contract terms longer than seven years are now prohibited (with one eight-year exception that doesn't apply here) by the CBA, article 50.8(b)(4).

I agree that with the cap set to rise a lot, it will be livable. But it is suboptimal, by several million.

its true that the cap going up makes it a lot more alright

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

Ference for Gus ?

Ference for Gus likely won't happen...

a) Gus is a UFA at the end this year, and the Oilers are not exactly buyers this year...
b) Ference is getting paid 3X what Gus is getting paid. FOR 3 MORE YEARS (shoot me).
c) Detroit has no cap space

from puck drop last night:



https://twitter.com/GeorgeRichards/s.../photo/1/large

i imagine more wandered in, but nothing close to the 10k they announced
(tho maybe 10k tickets were "sold"?)

the situation there seems kinda tricky, and i'm guessing another top-3 pick isn't the solution

also USA Hockey named their WJ camp roster

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2...r-camp-roster/

light on big names, but i'm guessing they'll have a good team anyway

Caps D Connor Carrick, Devils F Stefan Matteau, 'Hawks 1st Ryan Hartman, 'Yotes 1st Henrik Samuelsson who i could have sworn had represented Sweden previously, & Rag$ 1st Brady Skjei are the highlights.

also superstar Brandon Pirri sent down to the minors, lol Grind!

Panthers have made the playoffs once since 2000. The time to worry is when they can't draw anyone if they are any good - Phoenix drew people for the playoff run but not really after they stopped being good. Who wants to see a Florida-Ottawa game on a weeknight? No one, apparently.

as for WJCs, yeah their team will be decent, but again Canada is a huge favorite.

its 10k including all the tickets they try to give away i imagine

sub-optimality is not a big deal if you have at least some cap room. it's not a true liquid market. most players who would be in the running for those couple of million are locked up by other teams.

i thought matteau went full ****** or something. guess usahockey thinks they need a bit of crazy on the roster.

is it weird that Lundqvist's contract is flat, salary-wise?
i would have assumed he'd push for some sort of front-loaded deescalating deal based on whatever is allowable now
maybe he tried but couldn't get it?
i mean he'll be 39 when that contract ends, wonder how long the King thinks he'll be playing

panthers wouldnt exist anymore t if florida wasnt a top destination for good old habs grandpas

I guess she prefers to swallow?

Also, very strong return for the NHL Sorting Hat. 5 star performance.

Still, that market absolutely sucks. For everything. It's not a sports city.

This is a good point that is hard to account for properly, I admit. As we saw this past year, and probably just about every other, the fact that a team has money to spend (or even burn) doesn't mean there's someone worthwhile on whom to spend it.

So I guess my point is not so much that the Rangers made a mistake, it's that people saying they did great are wrong. It's meh.

(If the market were liquid it would be awful, because the few goals saved, even assuming Lundqvist is as good as his numbers, are far less important than those that could be scored by spending on forwards or saved with defensemen. The difference between a star goalie and an adequate one just isn't that great.)

Caps slappys,

My Dad sent me this picture from the airport. Any idea who the guy leaning against the cylinder is? Apparently he has a nice shiner.

Re the cap space issue: totally true, but it can be gotten around by the Oilers keeping some of Ference's (or whomever's) salary. Not that they would in a straight up trade, I assume, but I'm saying that if a possible trade like that came down to space only, it can be dealt with.

Not that Ference looks like the answer to the Wings' problems, obviously.

Given that Gustavsson is, as you say, in the final year of his contract (at $1.5 per, which is going to be going up a lot), and will be a UFA, it's not clear what he's worth. But it is clear that he's worth more to someone else than to Detroit. We don't need a backup goaltender as much as some other teams need a starter (or even a backup — again, we have Mrazek). Surely there is some deal that can be done, somewhere.

Detroit may weather this storm adequately. Hell, maybe Stephen Useless will start producing — how awesome would that be? But that doesn't mean that there isn't some value to be had by trading Gustavsson — value to both teams. Just a matter of finding the right one, and then conjuring the space.

warm weather places can struggle as sports towns

i mean if the team sucks, you can just save your money and go do something else

has always seemed to be the case in Florida, Atlanta, etc

Geddy gets the line I was too tired to work out.

$90,000,000 cap coming. Which means $400.00 tickets?
And the cap floor at $60,000,000 also makes Florida untenable.

Does the Atlantic Division alignment concede Florida? Did we miss that?