GHT120

But nice to know that it (supposedly) went well.

Who played 4th line minutes (11:40 TOI 5-on-5) in the playoff run ... and in the bubble last fall (11:23) ... and barely 3rd line minutes last season (9th amongst forwards ... 5 seconds ahead of #10 Caufield) ... its not that I don't like Armia as a player ... but with Gallagher, Drouin, Anderson, Toffoli and Caufield ahead of them, Habs will be paying $6.8M to a pair of 3rd/4th liners in Armia and Byron, more than Petry makes ... seems like roles that could/should be filled by less expensive options.

And he is FINNISH ... looks like a solid option for the 3rd pairing ... and shouldn't break the bank ... maybe not even the "bury" threshold.

Democrats and Republicans are all Americans, but ...

I tend to agree ... 5 of the top 9 wing spots are filled ... as it is, one of Armia or Drouin end up on the 4th line ... perhaps both if the Habs were to acquire a 3rd one winger who is a more consistent scorer ... even one of them on the 4th line is a cap issue IMO

I know ... I thought context would be clear I meant now.

Or wants to see what the roster looks like in a few days ... hope that he will have more leverage to get a better contract from the Habs ... or hopes for an offer sheet?

If so, Barrie is the best option available to MB for the top 4

I highly doubt he gets that offer from MB either

Surprised that Bowman didn't manage to squeeze something from Vegas to take the contract off their hands ... especially if he isn't at least getting a season from Fleury ... OR ... perhaps the Hawks facilitate MAF moving to a team for which he would play ... lots of "talk" about Pittsburgh wanting him back.

Don't know that it is obvious ... at something similar to a "deadline deal" price a one year rental would be fine with me.

Sounds like a done deal

Hence the "+" ... but not certain I would consider KK or TT, Gaudreau is currently a one season rental ... what the Flames would want depends largely on where Calgary is going ... re-tool for 21-22 playoff run ... re-tool to go for playoffs in 22-23/23-24 ... rebuild ... too many scenarios for me to speculate

Ritchie is an interesting name ... 6'2", 230 ... 15 goals, 26 points in 56 games last season Maybe Donato or Khaira (if size, willingness to drop gloves is desired),

Angela Price (@byangelaprice) • Instagram photos and videos byangelaprice Verified ✌🏽 NY The last couple months have been crazy and stress levels have been at an all time high. Playoffs, the expansion draft and then the unknown of Carey’s knee surgery on top of the stressors of every day life in a COVID world...it’s all felt like a lot. Carey and I were in NY for his surgery, we went in with a lot of unknown, luckily coming out of surgery the doctor said everything was best case scenario given the circumstance 😅 His rehab and having another person to take care of I’m sure will have it’s challenges but feeling like it’s finally time to just relax, decompress and mentally start preparing for our return to Montréal for the next hockey season here in a couple weeks. Even though this trip was far from a vacation it was nice to get away without the kids, have a date night (first one since Aug 2019), sleep in, and to be able to just reflect on the last couple months. Now back to normal life and back to my babies

Interesting ... 24 hrs 3 minutes to go ... not certain he fits with habs ... maybe in deal that sends Drouin+ west ... but also not certain I see Drouin as a fit for Calgary

Let me add my thanks ... interesting read ... sent me looking for the Sobolev Twitter video ... no luck, but found this ... will be interesting to see what he can do in the OHL next season

Bettman is no more a dictator than any other league commissioner/president ... he is effectively a puppet whose strings are controlled by the Board of Governors ... he does nothing that they have not expressly or generally approved ... and gets well paid both for hope well he executers their orders and for being the punching bag who takes the shots when fans are unhappy.

Agreed ... and I expect Paquette would be signed as being intended to be the 12/13 forward but with the Laval option.

THAT trade would start with KK, Suzuki, two of the Habs four best defence prospects and 2-3 first rounders ...

Just keep the AAV at or below $1.125M so he can be buried off the cap in Laval if necessary.

True ... but that financial planning will occur under the current cap system, a revised cap system or no cap system ... the specific cap inequality intended to be addressed is that teams currently have to use up different percentages of the cap to provide players the same paycheque ... everything else is beyond the bounds of NHL policy.

His "net take-home pay" AAV would not be its current $7,857,143, it would be whatever the conversion process to "net take-home pay" produced (see below) ... but whatever the figure, it would stay the same just as his regular paycheque stays the same ... however, the Habs would have to report his gross salary to the Quebec and Canadian governments as whatever amount would produce the net salary, with appropriate deductions. It is not intended to create complete equality ... to do that a system would have to be far, far more complex, and include many elements beyond the salary-cap itself (e.g., expanded revenue sharing) ... there would still be inequalities, there always will be ... but while the habs would have to spend more real dollars, Webers contract would take up the same percentage of the habs cap as it did the Predators, and would take up the same percentage of another team if he was traded there ... basic player "real $$ take-home pay" would always remain the same ... the specific inequality of the current cap system that this concept seeks to address is that, using your example, Montreal would have had to commit a greater percentage of their cap to have signed Weber to a contract that provided him the same actual paycheque than did Nashville ... the actual internal budgets owners allow GMs temperate within would always be determined by each owner. Conversion: my concept is that current contracts would be converted to "take-home pay AAVs" based on the tax situation under the tax terms of the state/province and country (and city/county if it imposes income tax) of the team with which the contract was signed at the time it was signed (i.e., the take-him player the player was agreeing to when the contract was signed) ... but more expert financial minds with the NHL and NHLPA might find a better process.

The NHL can do nothing to combat tax loopholes but it can control its own processes ... and these loophole inequalities already exist ... a revised salary cap does not create them ... it just addresses the ONE element that the NHL can control.

I am not proposing that at all ... nor was I proposing perfection ... it is simply an alternative to a system under which teams can sign players for reduced AAVs because of their tax situation ... but clearly maintaining the system under which "no-state tax" teams will continue to be able to sign players for lower AAVs than other teams is perfect.