Running NHL 2023-24 regular season thread

A fucking third-round pick? That’s all the Caps could get for Kuznetsov after all of this bullshit? Could have gotten so much more a couple of years ago. What a colossal waste. Maybe Orlov can keep him from hitting the slopes.

 

Watching Sharks fans melt down over the Hertl trade has been entertaining

 

They're speaking louder with announced attendance around 10K twice this week.

Seriously, why sign Hertl to a long-term deal, just to trade him, and to all teams, VGK? And paying 17 percent of his salary for what's left of it? All the while promising a lengthy rebuild? Some things aren't adding up.

 

Perhaps it is not news, but I hadn't heard it before. Ducks GM Pat Verbeek, at a season-ticket holder gathering this morning, said there is discussion of revamping the LTIR system for the playoffs. Currently, there is no salary cap once the regular season ends. And, as Verbeek said, guys who are hurt at the end of the season suddenly get healthy for the playoffs. Despite an $84.5M cap, teams have rosters with salaries more than $90M for the playoffs. Tampa and Vegas have benefitted by this.
Verbeek said that for playoff games, there are thoughts of requiring teams to use a 20-man roster that is under the salary cap. It can change from game to game, but for each game, the on-ice players have total less than the salary cap. I thought that was interesting.

 

That has always seemed like a very doable, sensible solution, which makes me think it won’t ever be implemented.

 

Went from smart organization to the dumbest in the league.

 

There was no solution to be had

 

Why should smart teams be punished?

 

Why should the cap no longer apply for the playoffs?

 

I was certainly surprised when I first found out about this a few years ago. It seems the NHL always has some sort of addendum to the addendum's addendum to cover any situation (such as, trades being completed 2 hours after the trading deadline because of "clerical issues"). I do not blame teams for taking advantage of a flawed rule. But I do blame Bettman for coming up with ways to manipulate the league to his liking.

 

Why isn’t that a good solution? The one where the collective cap hit of the 20 guys in the lineup can’t exceed the cap, I mean.

 

The game is already geared to small market teams. Do we really want teams to be hamstrung by injuries?