http://naturalstattrick.com/playerteams.php?fromseason=20202021&thruseason=20202021&stype=2&sit=5v5&score=all&stdoi=oi&rate=r&team=CHI&pos=D&loc=B&toi=300&gpfilt=none&fd=&td=&tgp=410&lines=single&draftteam=ALL

Is this a joke?

Analytics don't tell the whole story. Neigther does the eye test. You need both. For example:

Analytics say kieth is very bad but hawks fans will tell you from the eye test that he is a lot better than analytics say he is

Analytics say Zadorov is a good defenceman but hawks fans will tell you from the eye test that he is not

@rpain read the intro

Zadorov played the toughest comp and zone starts and did ok. Nobody is saying he's a good defenseman.

Keith got easier comp and zone starts but got caved. I know he's an icon in Chicago but the fact is he had a really poor season. And at 38, there's little chance he bounces back.

Those are some pretty awful looking fancy stats. With this lack of interdivisional play, I really can't say much on the eye test part with Keith. I do still have time for Keith at 50% retained.. aside from the analytics I still think he could be effective if asked to play 18-20 minutes per night instead of 24 (looking at their game logs for the season quickly, 24+ was very common which at his age is a ton of ice time). We've seen it before with other players where due to lack of depth they just get played into the ground due to lack of other options. I do see him as an upgrade over a Jones/Lagesson/Koekkoek/Kulikov. There are also the intangibles of bringing in a guy that was a key part of 3 cups and a couple Olympic golds with a Conn Smythe in his trophy case. He'd cost more than Corey Perry made in Dallas and Montreal but those type of guys can raise up players around them.

The issue with your trade is that while Neal's buyout is better, he can't play in the league anymore and is 100% going to be bought out and potentially comes back next year on a PTO for league minimum if he even makes a team. Keith is still likely to play out his contract as an overpaid player for 2 years so the buyout is unlikely to happen, especially with it's structure. More than likely he gets traded with 50% retained since that's close to what his market value likely is. If for whatever reason Chicago bought Keith out, he would still no doubt have a job in the NHL next year.

They may end up buying him out if they can't come to terms with either Edmonton or Seattle.

Even at 50% retained and no assets out I'm not sure its worth doing - that $2.77M would likely buy a better defenseman in free agency. Think about it - if Keith gets bought out and will only sign with Edmonton or Seattle, would either team give him more than $1.5M?

I'm just a little jaded with free agency. Edmonton has so much trouble attracting quality free agents for market value that the top end of the market that would be an upgrade is unlikely to consider us and we typically have to overpay the mid tier guys and regret the contract later. I think best case would be Chicago buying out and us signing for $1.5mil. Chicago is hesitant to retain but that buyout calculator shows a cap hit of like $4mil/year for the next 2 with the buy-out. From their perspective it'd be way better to trade at 50% even if they got nothing back than to buy out. Will be interesting to see what comes out of this.

I don't buy that narrative at all. It may have been true at one time, but I don't think it's true anymore.

It's definitely improved, it's how we signed Barrie last year. I'd say as recently as like 2019 we were probably 31/31 for desirability to sign with. The team has shook the dysfunctional label but if I had to throw a number at it I'd still say we're in like the 25th range. Can't change things like climate, city size, distance from other major cities that matter to a lot of the players. Edmonton and Winnipeg have the biggest uphill battle in that regards.

That's not what player agents are saying though. One was on Edmonton radio a little while ago and the host mentioned that players don't want to come to Edmonton and the agent just about came unglued at him. The opposite is true in his experience - players would LOVE to come to Edmonton but there hasn't been the cap space to get a deal done.

Don't underestimate the power of McDavid & Draisaitl. Sure they haven't had much playoff success, but if I thought I could be that "missing piece" I'd be all over the phone when Holland's number comes up.

Lets see what the summer brings.

https://www.naturalstattrick.com/playercompare.php?fromseason=20192020&thruseason=20192020&stype=2&sit=5v5&score=all&stdoi=oi&rate=n&p1=8470281&p2=8476472&loc=B&gpfilt=none&fd=&td=&tgp=410&lines=single

What's your point? That Keith is as good as a guy with a (possibly career-ending) shoulder ailment? Or that he'll be on LTIR for the remainder of his contract?

Youre the guy that only relies on analytics... my point is if you only rely on analytics...then Keith at 37 is just as good as Klef's at 26. EDM is the team that played the same player on the top pair.

Not when he was 26 they didn't. He's been 2nd pairing since 2017.