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BestGMBenning

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Oct. 11, 2021
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Forum: Armchair-GMMar. 8 at 12:25 p.m.
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>LuckyMoneyPuck</b></div><div>Defense should be taken out of the story here. Statistically they decline earlier but much slower than forwards which is why I think teams are much more likely to to extend defense longer, and the more pressing need. The Helly extension is what it is. They needed a goalie. My guess is that will not age well (like Price) on the backend but you never know. Goalies are weird, some can play a high level for a long time, others crash and burn after a few seasons. A lot of it tends to be injury based.

I think the Huberdeau extension is a telling story that most GM don't want to repeat. I don't think anyone is looking at Jake being on the same level as some of the 35+ contracts that are actually working out.
A list of players at 36+ https://www.capfriendly.com/browse/active/2024/games-played?stats-season=2024&amp;limits=age-36-46 and you can see pretty clearly most guys aren't going to be worth 9-10 mil at that age. Matter of fact the only one that actually looks like he might be is Crosby right now. Nothing against Jake but he's no Crosby.

The worst thing is to get stuck into a TJ Oshie like deal, he's making almost 6 million and putting up 18 points in 38 games for the year and looks cooked.
So it's pretty clear those contracts don't end well. On a 7 year deal for Jake you are probably looking at 3 years 35,36,37 of that contract not being worth the 9-10 million he wants. I'm not sure that is going to fly. Which is why I say when he hits FA his expectations are probably going to come down a bit. Because I don't know anyone who's going to say Jake will play well till 37 and be worth 9-10 million in those years.
At best he'd be worth maybe 6 and putting up 50 points 60 games in like a lot of that list above at 36, at worst the tires are completely off like Oshie and he's not worth his contract at all.
That's why I think a 5 year deal is most likely at the 8 million range is sort of a fair deal for all. But I think he wants a Pasta like deal. But he signed that at 26 and it will end at 34. I don't think it's hard to see pasta playing well to 33. Which is most of the contract. Even if he's not worth 11 million in his last year, he'll be worth it for most of it.

But we'll see when he goes to FA, as I think teams are a bit more risk adverse now at signing guys 30+</div></div>

There’s always going to be hit and misses. But I don’t think Jake is going to be a miss. He’s not just a product of Sid. Him and Sid made each other better.
Forum: Armchair-GMMar. 8 at 2:36 a.m.
Forum: Armchair-GMMar. 7 at 10:01 p.m.
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>LuckyMoneyPuck</b></div><div>Geno and Kessel never got into anything, matter of fact they still share photos of them fishing together in FL.

Geno didn't want in the middle of Sully and Kessel. He even stated that.
Sully wanted people to play "his way" which was dumb as hell and Kessel refused. Mainly because Kessel knew what the hell he was doing.
Notice how the PP absolutely died the day Kessel walked out.
The only reason it worked was because Kessel refused to play "the right way."
Not that there weren't parts of Kessels game that were flawed, there were. He was defensively not great. But he more than made up for all of that.
It was the same with Cole. Cole refused to play "the right way" aka soft. Yeah Cole took the penalty.... he was also the guy who would put people into the wall for being an ass.
Sully couldn't put up with it, and off Cole went.
Fact is Sully chased guys out. People can deny that but it's true. As for Brassard, I think him and Smith, and aa whole list of others are probably very telling.
You get traded to a team, you are there for a limited time, and here is the coach who's well, a prick. How hard you going to play?
Even the team that is there now is tired of listening to him. That part is clear. He's lost the room years ago. How much worse do they not have to care before he gets run out.
I'm pretty sure a 37 year old Malkin who is a future hall of famer could give a crap about what Sully has to say at this point.
They really need a more player reasonable coach who can give them useful help at this point in breaking down the other team. Not someone telling them "the right way" to play.</div></div>

And yet Kessel and Cole never wanted to leave Pittsburgh and at the end of the day they’d put differences aside to win games. They know Sully is a good coach and still had good relationship with him despite any kind of conflicts that had happened. The power play had one decent season after Phil though. When Ian Cole was traded it was due to the team really wanting to get better which backfired big time. When Phil was traded it was because the team needed change. But unfortunately Phil only wanted to be in Arizona cause of Tocchet and the return for him was gonna be garbage. Let’s not forget they were heavily out skated and out played by the Islanders when they were swept. They barely put up a fight. 2020 was a year everyone forgot I feel like. 2021 Pittsburgh put up a hell of a fight against the Isles and were playing Sully playoff hockey except for Jarry. 2022 Pittsburgh lost Sid, Rakell, Dumo, Jarry(improved from year before), and DeSmith to injuries and before Sid getting hurt were well on their way to beating the Rangers. Last year and this year are just the consequences of having Hextall as a GM.