2023-24 NHL Season Thread.

[Rennadrel]

Well, my work hockey pool did not go well this year. Out of 40 people I came in 38th. It didn't help at the end 10 of my 21 guys were injured. Hopefully, there will be a playoff pool so I can redeem myself.

I feel your pain, I am 48th of 53 people...

[Tradewind]

Mike Gillis fired
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=448707

Called it.

[Stommped]

Well Leafs fans you somehow topped the collapse from last year in game 7. Someone needs to go down hard for the last two month shit show. I think it's bye bye Carlyle

[Epuration]

Trevor Linden is the new president, Hopefully this will get the guys to play harder next year.
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=448779

[Skippy88]

Well Leafs fans you somehow topped the collapse from last year in game 7. Someone needs to go down hard for the last two month shit show. I think it's bye bye Carlyle

For me even before the collapse I don't think they had a team that could go deep into the playoffs let alone win it so while I would rather them get into the playoffs for the experience I don't think this changes too much. They just need to figure out where things went wrong and tweak some stuff. For starters it all started with Bernier going down. For the most part they weren't getting blown out but there were quite a few games where they were giving up 4 or 5 goals and only scoring 2 or 3. Last week's Boston game was the first time since March 8th they scored 4 or more goals. I do wonder what the Olympic break played a factor too.

For sure they need to look into it but I'm not so sure firing everyone is the right thing to do either.

[draynay]

They could stop giving up 40 shots/game. Maybe not being the worst in the league in shots against would be a step in the right direction. That way they can quit expecting their goalies to be miracle workers and not crucify them when they fall short.

[Toxigen]

Well Leafs fans you somehow topped the collapse from last year in game 7. Someone needs to go down hard for the last two month shit show. I think it's bye bye Carlyle

Probably, but a lot of Toronto players are just underplaying and are overpaid.

Especially David Clarkson, that dude has looked so bad this year compared to the beast he was with NJ.

edit: shortly after I wrote that, I found - http://www.thestar.com/sports/leafs/..._shows_it.html

[Zeoni]

He is the same player he was in New Jersey, he's just not playing with Parise, Kovalchuk, Elias anymore. Dude is a 3rd liner and when you put him on the 3rd line he's going to score 3rd line points. Leafs fire Carlyle and hire Trotz is my prediction.

[draynay]

He was never worth what they paid him, I went nuts when I saw that contract, I've been talking shit about it since they announced it, it was amazing bad.

going back and looking in this thread the Toronto fans were real uneasy about it too [except renn]

[Zeoni]

I don't think anyone in the hockey world thought it was a good contract, every radio station I listen to was bashing it. He's the type of player that you'd want on your team, he's just not the type of player you'd want to throw 5.25m/year at. Even if he was scoring 30 goals, it's still a bit of an overpayment. If you look at comparable contracts like Sharp and Hossa, Clarkson isn't even close to the same league as those 2 guys. It's just a major flaw of the system. Players get overpaid all the time and will continue to get overpaid unless something changes. Player like Clarkson hits the open market and SOMEONE is going to pay him what he wants, it just happened to be the Leafs.

[draynay]

The way the salary cap is gonna bump up next year there will probably be at least one contract as bad as the Clarkson deal, maybe not as bad in result (11 points), but as bad in how overvalued they are.

[Deleted]

Forget about the money, I'd be more worried about the term. That is the real soul crusher right there. And apparently the deal is structured in a way that makes it really painful to buy out with lots of money in guaranteed bonuses. What the hell was Nonis thinking when they signed that contract?

[Zeoni]

Forget about the money, I'd be more worried about the term. That is the real soul crusher right there. And apparently the deal is structured in a way that makes it really painful to buy out with lots of money in guaranteed bonuses. What the hell was Nonis thinking when they signed that contract?

He probably got lessons from the guys who wrote up Luongo's contract

[Nazrark]

Scott Gomez at 7.2 mill per year is still the worst contract ever. Hate to burst the Clarkson bad contract.

[Greeney]

He is the same player he was in New Jersey, he's just not playing with Parise, Kovalchuk, Elias anymore. Dude is a 3rd liner and when you put him on the 3rd line he's going to score 3rd line points. Leafs fire Carlyle and hire Trotz is my prediction.

When you put him on the second line to try and justify his contract (while breaking up Kadri, Kulemin, and Lupul who are working well together) you get 4th line points? :P

[Zeoni]

When you put him on the second line to try and justify his contract (while breaking up Kadri, Kulemin, and Lupul who are working well together) you get 4th line points? :P

Exactly! Just convince Kovalchuk and Parise to reuinite on the Leafs and he'll start performing again.

And Detroit just clinched. Doubters beware.

[Rennadrel]

Probably, but a lot of Toronto players are just underplaying and are overpaid.

Especially David Clarkson, that dude has looked so bad this year compared to the beast he was with NJ.

edit: shortly after I wrote that, I found - http://www.thestar.com/sports/leafs/..._shows_it.html

We have known that contract was a terrible signing from the get go. Too bad they burned a compliance buyout on Komisarek, would have been better used on Clarkson after that bust of a season and eating some of the cap hit from having Komi in the minors.

- - - Updated - - -

Forget about the money, I'd be more worried about the term. That is the real soul crusher right there. And apparently the deal is structured in a way that makes it really painful to buy out with lots of money in guaranteed bonuses. What the hell was Nonis thinking when they signed that contract?

Do you really think that one of the wealthiest teams in the league cares about $30 million if it came down to a buyout? That shit is pennies to them.

[draynay]

Do you really think that one of the wealthiest teams in the league cares about $30 million if it came down to a buyout? That shit is pennies to them.

There are the competitive balance issues, considering the Maple Leafs play against a bunch of other teams that aren't paying Clarkson a million dollars per goal and having their cap space consumed in doing so.

[Deleted]

Do you really think that one of the wealthiest teams in the league cares about $30 million if it came down to a buyout? That shit is pennies to them.

The Leafs have more money than god, they don't care about the $30M. They should care about this though. Even if they buy him out they don't get a significant cap relief because the majority of Clarksons payment is in guaranteed signing bonuses that count against the cap anyway. It's useless buying him out, you don't get any benefit from it. It looks like they are stuck with him for a few years.

[Alexeiblu]

Exactly! Just convince Kovalchuk and Parise to reuinite on the Leafs and he'll start performing again.

And Detroit just clinched. Doubters beware.

I "might" have woken every person up in my neighborhood last night when Sheahan scored but you know what? I.Just.Dont.Give.A.Fuck!

also, sorta still at a loss to how someone scores a goal by losing the puck in a shootout, gets control and then your goalie poke checks the puck in