E2016 Playoffs Round One

[sk8er]

perfect ending to my day! Little bitch kesler is gone from the playoffs!!! My trifecta is complete!!
Too bad for kev though, I could stand him winning it.

[Todd Bersnoozi]

Love it! The Anaheim Dicks are out. NYR out. Blackcocks out. Queens out.

I hope Rinne talked some smack to Kesler.

Our old buddy Kes can go crying @ the golf course.

[ukcanuck]

"To the last, I grapple with thee; From Hell's heart, I stab at thee; For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee."

-a Canuck fan on his deathbed somewhere today

[Mickey107]

Wrath of Khan.............

[Hockey Widow]

It really was the best loss of all. They need better goaltending before their window closes

[Arachnid]

Love it! The Anaheim Dicks are out. NYR out. Blackcocks out. Queens out.

I hope Rinne talked some smack to Kesler.

And oh yeah, we're going to gain some cap, possibly get a FA or two and add another great prospect to our expanding pool on our way to a quick rebuild/retool. Loving this genius tank ride

.....

Um....

Don't piss off the Hockey Gods™

[Topper]

It is sad cheering for losses by ex Canuck's who screwed over the team with their disloyalty and personal aspirations instead of cheering for Canuck victories.

[Cornuck]

It is sad cheering for losses by ex Canuck's who screwed over the team with their disloyalty and personal aspirations instead of cheering for Canuck victories.

Yeah... but it's all we got until the lottery... (which sounds even sadder).

[Carl Yagro]

Yes, it's so sad...

[Mickey107]

It is sad cheering for losses by ex Canuck's who screwed over the team with their disloyalty and personal aspirations instead of cheering for Canuck victories.

I, for one, gave a few fist pumps when we beat those 3 Calif. teams.

[Aaronp18]

Brad Richards was considered an elite centre at the time of his buyout with only a $6.6M cap-hit.

That's a pretty tough argument to make. Richards was playing well below his cap hit in 2014 when he was bought out managing 51 points in the 82 games he played. Someone likely wouldve offered him something similar after the buyout but he signed for $2M.

Ehrhoff was still at the top of his game on a mere $4M cap-hit.

Lecavalier (same age as Thornton) was considered a dominant top-6 centre on relatively small $7.7M cap-hit.

Ehrhoff sucked nuts in Buffalo, he stats alone are terrible - obviously partially because of the horrid team he was on but the year he was bought out he finished a -27 and was a complete liability. You could clearly see he was on a downhill slide in his career, still was a good cap hit but his play has gotten consistently worse where he's been sent to the minors this season. It was a shitty deal for Buffalo from the outset.

Lecavalier was once considered a dominant centre, definitely not when he was bought out. He was putting up decent numbers, but he was also aging and injuries were adding up. In the 168 games before his buyout he netted 135 points, that's decent but not dominant. And not worth his $7.7M cap hit, let alone the $38.5M in real salary the next 4 years.

These guys play had clearly dropped below what their cap hits were worth and the teams felt it would get worse. I'm sure the GMs thought they would retire early, you could see they would be in the NHL for the whole length of their contract because their game was dropping so dramatically.

They weighed the pros and cons and the buyout was the best option. In no small part because they were also due so much salary in the next few years that the teams were going to have to pay anyways! Why not buy them out and have available cap space? It also completely negates the cap recapture.

The difference being, Luongo is still playing really well. And is well worth his cap hit and even his real salary! Gillis weighed the pros and cons and his contract wasn't worth buying out.

And let's be totally honest here, these GMs likely knew they probably wouldn't be around when the cap recapture actually affected their team. Like coaches they are hired to be fired!

See how the bolded part speaks against your "No Probs, Just Chuck em on LTIR Theory"?

I would barely even call it a theory, more of a hopeful wish.

It would be very convenient! And it has happened. Pronger cannot play any longer, they aren't forcing him to retire. Hell you can even trade his LTIR contract!

All Luongo, or anyone else who has these contracts, has to do is suffer from some injuries. What doc is going to say you have to play if you complain about joint problems, groin soreness, etc. Hell I've never played in the NHL and my shoulders are screwed from hockey and baseball, it would be really easy to stick me on the LTIR - no doc would want me playing full contact hockey anymore.

He doesn't even have to make up an injury, he just has to find the game has taken a toll on his body and he just can't play anymore. Guys do this all the time.

Why doesn't Pronger just announce his retirement? The team holding his contract doesn't want him to because he signed it after he was 35 and the full amount counts against the cap, also you can't go over the cap unless he stays on LTIR. IIRC

Unless I'm missing something.

[Island Nucklehead]

Why doesn't Pronger just announce his retirement?

He wouldn't get paid if he (officially) retired.

And for a team like Arizona, paying Pronger 575K to NOT play is worth $4.9M to their cap, helping them reach the floor. They want nothing to do with LTIR, just want to artificially lower their cap floor.

[Todd Bersnoozi]

@ Kesler

[Strangelove]

That's a pretty tough argument to make. Richards was playing well below his cap hit when he was bought out

At the time of the buyout Richards was leading the Rags in ice-time among forwards by a country mile.

He was also their de facto captain after Callahan was traded.

Great cap hit at the time.

Ehrhoff sucked nuts in Buffalo... still was a good cap hit but

Agreed.

Lecavalier was once considered a dominant centre, definitely not when he was bought out...$7.7M cap hit

Yet Lecavalier, after the buyout, was immediately signed to a 5-year $22.5M contract.

(and twas strongly rumoured he could have gotten a lot more if he were willing to play elsewhere)

Don't forget these contracts were designed to be awesomely-low cap-hits for only the first few years.

These guys play had clearly dropped below what their cap hits were worth and the teams felt it would get worse. I'm sure the GMs thought they would retire early...

Well of course they were going to retire early, that was the whole beauty of these contracts (pre Lou Rule).

They weighed the pros and cons and the buyout was the best option.

Right, cuz trying to stash em (eventually) on LTIR wasn't an option.

Which brings us back to... the point.

The difference being, Luongo is still playing really well. And is well worth his cap hit and even his real salary! Gillis weighed the pros and cons and his contract wasn't worth buying out.

And let's be totally honest here, these GMs likely knew they probably wouldn't be around when the cap recapture actually affected their team. Like coaches they are hired to be fired!

Richards' buyout was $20M, Lecavalier's buyout was $33M, etc.

No doubt it's the owners that make these calls, but whatever...

See how the bolded part speaks against your "No Probs, Just Chuck em on LTIR Theory"?

I would barely even call it a theory, more of a hopeful wish.

So now it's the "No Probs, Just Chuck em on LTIR Wish"?

Yeah well, not gonna happen...

It would be very convenient! And it has happened. Pronger cannot play any longer, they aren't forcing him to retire. Hell you can even trade his LTIR contract!

Pronger has suffered from severe concussion symptoms for 5 years now.

To this day he has to limit his activity.

All Luongo, or anyone else who has these contracts, has to do is suffer from some injuries. What doc is going to say you have to play if you complain about joint problems, groin soreness, etc.

Wishful-thinking again?

If the doc can't find a provable serious long term injury, they'd have to stick him on the IR or healthy-scratch him.

LTIR is serious business.

Besides, Lou would have to give up his golfing, partying, and poker-playing.

Not. Gonna. Happen.

Why doesn't Pronger just announce his retirement? The team holding his contract doesn't want him to because he signed it after he was 35 and the full amount counts against the cap, also you can't go over the cap unless he stays on LTIR. IIRC

Unless I'm missing something.

As IN stated, Pronger wouldn't get paid if he retired.

He's legit injured, so why should he?

Say, have you seen my "Panthers Buyout Lou and Canucks' Recapture Penalty Goes Poof Theory".

[Aaronp18]

Great cap hit at the time.

I disagree, and wouldn't have wanted him on the Canucks at that cap hit - which is sort of my litmus test I guess.

Yet Lecavalier, after the buyout, was immediately signed to a 5-year $22.5M contract.

(and twas strongly rumoured he could have gotten a lot more if he were willing to play elsewhere)

Which is more than $3M less than his previous cap hit. That's a substantial drop, and his numbers continued to decline once signing in PHI and he was eventually traded and is now retired.

I get the rationale for the front end loaded contracts but he should still be making $8.5M next season if his contract wasn't bought out. Lecavalier's play deteriorated faster than anticipated which is why the buyout made a lot of sense, along with the other reasons (cap recapture, total money owed, etc).

Right, cuz trying to stash em (eventually) on LTIR wasn't an option.

But if they do suffer from a series of injuries that doesn't enable them to play any longer!? I get that teams didn't want to hedge their bets on this happening, hence the buyout.

No doubt it's the owners that make these calls, but whatever...

Hey, you brought up GMs not me!

So now it's the "No Probs, Just Chuck em on LTIR Wish"?

No it's the "No Probs, Just Chuck em on LTIR if he's suffering from an injuryWish"

The fake injury was clearly tongue in cheek and I realize that's not likely to happen. However, odd are the longer a guy plays the more likely he is to suffer from either nagging or a long term injury! And as I stated before goalies in particular can suffer from a bunch of minor injures that won't allow them to perform any longer.

Besides, Lou would have to give up his golfing, partying, and poker-playing.

I can think of a few injuries that wouldn't allow you to play goal at the NHL level but still enable you to do those things.

As IN stated, Pronger wouldn't get paid if he retired.

His salary for this season and next season is $575,000. I really don't think getting paid is the reason any longer. He's probably getting paid more than that working for the NHL.

Say, have you seen my "Panthers Buyout Lou and Canucks' Recapture Penalty Goes Poof Theory".

I hope it happens. Or Luo suffers from some nagging injuries that won't allow him to play goal any longer but still maintains a decent lifestyle so he goes on the LTIR!