Quoting: BCAPP
So there are stupid bolts fans. Heres an idea. Don't over react to one 4 game series...
Everything what you said is true in this topic BCAPP, thanks for your comments.
I'm a huge Tampa fan (& AVS fan from this year
).
MisstheWhalers, believe me, that playoffs loss was shocking, and noone will get through it, until next playoffs probably. It's impossible...
Hedman's said in an interview couple of days ago, the loss vs
still hurts in the Stanley-Cup finals, and i agree with him.
Fans are always living in the moment and the disastrous playoffs perfomance is fresh in their minds. So they OVERREACT.
Now we know more about the playoffs loss ( Hedman,Point!!! + others were injured, Kuch suspension(MVP) etc...).
Just imagine Doughty+Kopitar getting injured before playoffs started, when
won the cup. Are you really sure they still win those 2 cups without those guys?
That loss vs
was against a team who went allin with multiple solid players signed for expensive assets at trade deadline(and they clicked at the perfect time) + they tried hard for their first playoffs win ever... even if we win in that series... we lose in the next rounds. Only 1 team can win the cup each year, doesn't matter if we are more stacked than any other team.
We can lose any series. I've just seen a model couple weeks ago, which predicted 60-40% chances in the TBL vs CBJ series...
So some advanced stats guy almost got it right. 40% is huge... CBJ had good chance to advance. CBJ = strong team for years...
Yes, for general public it looked liked, uhhh 62 wins, Tampa is in the 2nd round by deafult.... guess what... it's not working like that... never underestimate your opponent... i hope everyone in Tampa learned it for the next years...
NHL = all teams are super close who makes the playoffs most of the time.
NBA = completely different story...
You need a ton of luck... Like the refs forget their whistles in the playoffs(we had in 4 games only like 10 powerplays, they had like 15+...) and our success depended a lot on the powerplay... I can list 100 other things which contributed to the playoffs loss... But that doesn't matter now, so i won't.(handpass in other playoffs series = new rule change). So refs are a thing... You need to get lucky with them...
If next year we will have a weak playoffs = expect bigger changes, but 1 bad series: not the end of the world...
So yes, MisstheWhalers, we needed some small changes, and
our GM+coach did it with multiple changes in the lineup + tactics for the new season...
(defensive minded approach from 2019/2020 season from coaching staff + players, old defenders gone(like Girardi), Erne,lazy JT Miller gone, new backup goalie, Shatty,Maroon,Verheaghe? in etc...)
And the roster also can change midseason or trade deadline as well, if they'll see it's neccesary...(trade for Kreider, Hamonic, Faulk, Pulju... or other solid players). Remember the McDonagh trade?
About the trade in this topic:
Point stays in Tampa, he is an RFA. His only chance to play in other team= sitout whole year = never happening.
He likes everything in Tampa... Before Dec.1 he will sign any contract, otherwise he loses money...
RFA's in this league has no power, if the GM is good.
Looks like Sakic is good too = negotiating until the end...
Look what Boston achieved with McAvoy + Pastrnak + others.
Good contracts = the key for long term success... Buyouts are bad... Giving up 1st round picks for getting rid of bad contracts = bad.(marleau + toronto)
You can't pay 10 million $ or more for players when the cap is only 81.5 mill $, even if the players are demanding those kind of contracts...
So that's what you see with the remaining RFA's... Negotiating.... until they sign a good deal for the team...
Currently:
Rantanen = long term deal(6 years), close to 8.5 million $ it looks like...
Point = short term bridge deal(3 years), close to 6 million $...
Even if these offers are going up a little bit at end, still both will be way under 10 mill $ = good GM's.
Just in case you wonder about what BriseBois's answer would be to that Point for Byram offer:
Hard no.
When you want to aquire a player like Point: You need to overpay... a lot... not a fair deal at all... HUGE OVERPAY... not 2nd round pick value of assests... if he will have a 60-70 points season next year, his value will go down... but for now it's sky high...
Let me remind you: 4!!!! 1st round pick = offersheet and we are still matching that 99%... = declined offer(except if you're ottawa and almost guaranteed all top10 picks, then it's worth to think about matching or not). I'm talking here about real offersheets(still a myth), not a joke one, like Aho received...