Yashin was not a "Ted Nolan" player. Everytime I saw the Isles play and Yashin had the C on I would think is their a worse C in the NHL. He's skilled but I wonder if he'll want to play for around 3 mil a year.
This is going to be a back-handed compliment towards Euros; they're probably the most offensively skilled players as a whole in the NHL. Though I just watched the Sabres with a ton of Euros turn up soft. I see Jagr play when he wants. I'm not going to talk about a team that I don't know so i'll bring up a Sabres example. Spacek had good numbers with Edmonton and alot of people thought he'd be able to replace McKee. Though he was playing next to nothing vs Ottawa in the playoffs. If somebody asked me before the season who the Sabres were going to miss the most i'd say Dumont. Through the season they didn't miss anybody. The game has changed but teams still need "grinders" and Buffalo missed Mike Grier as much as McKee in the playoffs.
It'll be interesting to see who teams go after. Sean Avery did nothing in playoffs but he made a difference for the Rangers. I think teams like SJ, Buffalo, Ottawa, Detroit, who I think are the next "tier" behind Anaheim will go after. Vancouver is also in this group but I think they could use a scorer after watching them in the playoffs. After the teams mentioned I put Pittsburgh and Dallas as teams who with a couple moves will be there. I'm not sold of Fleury yet. If he has a breakout year they're right there. Dallas needs a scorer, IMO. They're almost where Vancouver is but Loungo is the best goalie in the league, IMO. So they get the nod.
I don't think the top 5 in the East will change but the West is just a crap-shoot. If Forsbeg decides to play for Colorado and they get consistent goaltending I think they'll be a contender also.
hmmm then you have teams who have only grinder types like the isles, save for maybe 3 players (Yashin formerly, satan, Robitaille) yet there comes a point that regardless of how good a player is on offense, you have to reealize the game is different during the playoffs and in the case of this player his skill level and health are just not what they were 5 years ago. Even guys like Blake and Smyth are grinder types who will battle in corners and play defense. I think we want more of those types.
Personally, the isles have over 25m in cap space this offseason, and if they did nothing more then sign a 1st line C (Drury or Gomez for 6-6.5m), retain Smyth (6m), Resign Poti (3m per tops), and sign a couple grinders like Zubrus (2.5m) and Avery (1.5m) Id be thrilled. Id consider resigning blake too but only if his outlandish demands come down. A 34 year old crash and burn style winger, with moderate at best playoff success isnt worth the 3/18m hes looking for so 2.5-3m is the highest id consider giving him. If they could trade for an upgrade or two on D without taking on a huge contract that'd be great too. Just cause you have the cap space doesnt mean you have to use it all or spend outlandishly. But when you have that kind of cap space you better spend it smartly because its going to shape your franchise for a few years. Regardless this team needs to get deeper and faster without sacrificing the physical aspect so thats how the money should be spent.
GM Garth, once the butt of all jokes has done well so far shedding junk like Zhitstick and York (over 5m in contracts) for cheap young players, and then being smart at the deadline giving failed 1st round picks and picks in a weaker draft, for guys who could make an immediate impact like Smyth and Zednik.
One point on Yashin: He wont only be playing for whatever he gets from his new team. If he signs a deal for like 3m per, hes still receives 2m+ per from NYI for each of the next 8 years as they are on the hook for 2/3rds of his old contract, 17m out of 26m was the actual figure.
I think the buyout happened now for 3 reasons though:
There were rumors that smyth wouldnt resign here as long as Yashin was here and though there was nothing to substantiate the claim except rhetoric if you read between the lines you can figure it out. Every interview Smyth says he loves it here and that his wife really loved it. During the playoffs (after game 4 i think) Smyth said something to the effect of "certain players just didnt leave everything on the ice". And every fan knew he was referring to Yashin because as with many of these euro's they seem to play when they want and get easily frustrated by smaller rinks and the more physical game.
The second thing was that it happened to be a year where we had like 20m in cap space before the Yashin buyout, now there's even more space.
The last reason ties in with number two. It was clear by midseason that Yashin was not a fit with what Nolan wants from his players. They went 10-2-2 during one extended stretch without him not because the players they sub'ed in were better, but because they played the way nolan wanted and bought in. So if they hadnt cut Yashin now, they would have had to wait 2 years because the rumor was that it was either Yashin or Satan were gone. If it had been Satan that buyout would have covered 2 years meaning they would have had to wait 2 until yashin could be bought out. After what they gave up for Smyth I think theyre looking to keep him happy and here regardless of what it costs.
:cpatch:
...forgot about Billy.