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2020-2021 NHL Thread

CarltonTheBear said:
https://twitter.com/kevin_mcgran/status/1334188296772136965

A February 1st start date seems like the most optimistic scenario right now.

Wouldn't a January 1st start date have always resulted in training camp being held over christmas?

More generally though:

It's a 50/50 deal, and with the current deferrals and escrow numbers the players could be paying this balance back for years should the whole season go by with no fans. I guess the current players are ok with that because lots of them will be out of the league while the balance is being paid off.

What about players on an ELC now who end up with bigger salaries in years where the balance is being paid back, wouldn't they be harmed by the PA not agreeing to a higher deferral?
 
Deebo said:
Wouldn't a January 1st start date have always resulted in training camp being held over christmas?

Just me speculating here, but I wonder if the players' thought was: if we're going to have an 82 game season that starts January 1st we're willing to sacrifice Christmas. Now that January 1st and a full season seem off the table they don't want to give that up.

Deebo said:
It's a 50/50 deal, and with the current deferrals and escrow numbers the players could be paying this balance back for years should the whole season go by with no fans. I guess the current players are ok with that because lots of them will be out of the league while the balance is being paid off.

What about players on an ELC now who end up with bigger salaries in years where the balance is being paid back, wouldn't they be harmed by the PA not agreeing to a higher deferral?

The more I've thought and read about this the more I do understand why more of a deferral could potentially be seen as a smart thing for the players. With that said I think all of these questions were asked and considered within the PA back in the summer and this was the deal that they still agreed upon. The biggest thing I don't get with this talk is why anyone thought revenues were going to be any different back then.

So if the players do end up deciding that yes deferring more money would be the smart thing to do, then sure they should go ahead and accept or work with the NHL's request. If they don't though the league needs to move on and start figuring out when this season is going to start.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
The more I've thought and read about this the more I do understand why more of a deferral could potentially be seen as a smart thing for the players. With that said I think all of these questions were asked and considered within the PA back in the summer and this was the deal that they still agreed upon. The biggest thing I don't get with this talk is why anyone thought revenues were going to be any different back then.

So if the players do end up deciding that yes deferring more money would be the smart thing to do, then sure they should go ahead and accept or work with the NHL's request. If they don't though the league needs to move on and start figuring out when this season is going to start.

I think the sort of bubbling undercurrent to all of this is that the players really genuinely hate the current escrow structure of their compensation and they probably already had effectively budgeted for the year what they'd be earning. For the NHL to come back with "deferring more right now might be better for the PA as a whole years down the road" would then likely be a pretty tough sell to anyone who had sort of worked out what they were earning this year already, with the exception maybe of the younger guys who know the CBA well enough to know it might hurt their paydays down the line(Which, realistically, is none of them but their agents would be upset).
 
https://twitter.com/PierreVLeBrun/status/1336146907295600640?s=19

I really hope we get a season. I'm jonesing so hard. But I was listening to virologists talk about cooler conditions and enclosed space being somewhat unique to hockey and that it could pose challenges in keeping everyone healthy. We see how easily flu rips through some teams.
 
Bender said:
https://twitter.com/PierreVLeBrun/status/1336146907295600640?s=19

I really hope we get a season. I'm jonesing so hard. But I was listening to virologists talk about cooler conditions and enclosed space being somewhat unique to hockey and that it could pose challenges in keeping everyone healthy. We see how easily flu rips through some teams.
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/stalemate-nhl-nhlpa-agree-keep-economic-framework-new-cba/sn-amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Coming along!
 
https://twitter.com/DarrenDreger/status/1336301009644220416

So from the sounds of it they basically wasted multiple weeks of time they could have been preparing for the season, thus costing them their preferred January 1st start time, all for nothing.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
https://twitter.com/DarrenDreger/status/1336301009644220416

So from the sounds of it they basically wasted multiple weeks of time they could have been preparing for the season, thus costing them their preferred January 1st start time, all for nothing.

Sounds like its the PA that dragged this out. The report of the players being asked for further deferrals came quite some time ago. LeBrun says the PA just got back this last weekend with some other CBA changes in return for agreeing to a deferral, the NHL said no so they continiue with MOU.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
https://twitter.com/DarrenDreger/status/1336301009644220416

So from the sounds of it they basically wasted multiple weeks of time they could have been preparing for the season, thus costing them their preferred January 1st start time, all for nothing.

Yeah. If the owners are to be believed then they could have kept on preparing for a season regardless of what the players said about their suggestion and implemented any adjustments if and when anything needed to change.

Although, again, it's good to see that an entirely reasonable suggestion by the players to give some teams cap relief in exchange for the actual dollars and cents proposal the NHL apparently needed was rejected so out of hand. Really impressive all the damage this league is willing to do to itself in the Quixotic pursuit of cap parity.
 
Deebo said:
Sounds like its the PA that dragged this out. The report of the players being asked for further deferrals came quite some time ago. LeBrun says the PA just got back this last weekend with some other CBA changes in return for agreeing to a deferral, the NHL said no so they continiue with MOU.

The players' initial reaction to that proposal sure seemed like they dismissed it out of hand and they said "let's just do that thing we legally agreed to in July". Then there was that period of time where the two sides weren't speaking to each other. I'm assuming at that point the players said "fine we'll consider this deferral that you so desperately want in exchange for something else" and the league so "a compromise? no way jose let's just go back to what we legally agreed to in July".

I should stress, my read on this might not be 100% accurate.
 
Another thing to keep in mind is that on any issue, but especially on an issue as divisive and contentious for players as salary deferments and changes to escrow, the best answers the players could give would have to be "We'll have to consult our players and get back to you" and considering how scattered players probably are right now that wouldn't figure to be a quick process. That's why alterations to CBA's tend not to be brought up a week or so before you'd like to start a training camp.
 
https://www.tsn.ca/pittsburgh-penguins-told-ahl-coach-to-stay-quiet-about-wife-s-sexual-assault-lawsuit-says-1.1561342

Sklade was an assistant coach to Donatelli for the Penguins' AHL affiliate.

I removed some of the more graphic descriptions that are included in the linked story.

After the Skaldes and Donatelli had dinner together following a game on Nov. 11, 2018, and prepared to return to their hotel, the Skaldes allege in their claim that Donatelli sexually assaulted Erin when they were briefly alone, first putting his arm around her, calling her ?sexy? and pulling her close to him.

"Mrs. Skalde tried to fight off his sexual advances and told him to stop, but to no avail, as Mr. Donatelli escalated his attack, including <graphic description removed> and <graphic description removed>," the lawsuit alleges.

Skalde returned to his wife and Donatelli a few minutes later and they took a car-ride service back to the hotel. Donatelli insisted that he sit in the back seat with Erin for the ride, and that Skalde sit in the front.

"Still in shock and uncertain what to do in response to her husband?s boss sexually assaulting her, Mrs. Skalde fearfully entered the back seat of the car, trying to put as much distance between herself and Mr. Donatelli as she could, to avoid him again sexually touching her," the lawsuit says.

"Mr. Donatelli resumed his sexual assault and battery of Mrs. Skalde once he had her in the darkness of the backseat. He not only <graphic description removed>, but also <graphic description removed>, despite her efforts to push him away? Only later did Mr. Skalde find out what happened to his wife that night, shaking him to the core to learn that he had sat unknowingly in the front seat as his boss has sexually assaulted his wife."

Skalde alleges that seven months later, when the incident was brought to the attention of Penguins? assistant general manager Bill Guerin, whose duties included overseeing the NHL team?s AHL operation, Guerin told Skalde to keep quiet about the alleged assault. He alleges the NHL team has violated Pennsylvania?s whistleblower laws and fired him on May 5, 2020, because he complained to the team.



 
Nik said:
https://www.nhl.com/panthers/news/florida-panthers-hockey-operations-establishes-goaltending-excellence-department/c-319773818

Kind of an interesting idea from the Panthers. On the surface it just looks like having a bunch of goaltending coaches but maybe it will lead to something where instead of scouting being broken down by region you have specific G/D/F scouts? Or maybe people already do that.

I would assume that in regards to goaltending it's being done by other teams. I'm not sure if it'd be done for F's and D.
 
OldTimeHockey said:
I would assume that in regards to goaltending it's being done by other teams. I'm not sure if it'd be done for F's and D.

I assume that as well but I couldn't, for instance, name anyone who held that job for the Leafs for instance. Now that might be to shield a guy from public criticism if a Leafs Goalie pick turns out bad but I wonder if what Florida is doing is at least a step towards making that more defined.
 
Nik said:
OldTimeHockey said:
I would assume that in regards to goaltending it's being done by other teams. I'm not sure if it'd be done for F's and D.

I assume that as well but I couldn't, for instance, name anyone who held that job for the Leafs for instance. Now that might be to shield a guy from public criticism if a Leafs Goalie pick turns out bad but I wonder if what Florida is doing is at least a step towards making that more defined.

For goalies, teams' scouting directors usually consult the team goalie coaches (if applicable) with potentials to check out and get feedback on, as well as for pro-side decisions.

I imagine, within scouting departments, you've got regionality for practical eyeball coverage reasons, but also internal specialists who have a knack for identifying the defensemen your team excels at building (e.g. Anaheim) or forwards.
 
herman said:
For goalies, teams' scouting directors usually consult the team goalie coaches (if applicable) with potentials to check out and get feedback on, as well as for pro-side decisions.

I imagine, within scouting departments, you've got regionality for practical eyeball coverage reasons, but also internal specialists who have a knack for identifying the defensemen your team excels at building (e.g. Anaheim) or forwards.

I'd be interested in knowing what you're basing your statement on what usually happens is but even then I guess what I'm saying is that as front offices expand, it seems to me to make sense that you would have roving position-specific scouts who you could assign to look at particular players over the course of a year.
 
Nik said:
herman said:
For goalies, teams' scouting directors usually consult the team goalie coaches (if applicable) with potentials to check out and get feedback on, as well as for pro-side decisions.

I imagine, within scouting departments, you've got regionality for practical eyeball coverage reasons, but also internal specialists who have a knack for identifying the defensemen your team excels at building (e.g. Anaheim) or forwards.

I'd be interested in knowing what you're basing your statement on what usually happens is but even then I guess what I'm saying is that as front offices expand, it seems to me to make sense that you would have roving position-specific scouts who you could assign to look at particular players over the course of a year.

https://www.nhl.com/news/coyotes-director-of-goaltending-operations-nhl-trend/c-319463564
This one is fairly recent, featuring Brian Daccord getting an upgrade with the Coyotes as their Director of Goaltending after serving as the first full-time goalie scout under Lou/Leafs.

I don't think your suggestion of roving position-specialists is unusual and I expect it is already being done to varying degrees in most clubs (with money). Everything gets funneled to the front office and collaborated over anyway. I think it's pretty natural that each scouting department has recognized specialists whose experience and insight counts more for defense/forwards. Tapping your already in-house goaltending coach is an easy step to make for feedback on a shortlist of candidates that the scout and data teams have scrounged up.

I can't remember precisely where (probably one of The Athletic affiliated ones), but there was a podcast with Cat Silverman (InGoal Magazine) talking about her time with Arizona's front office as a goalie dev coach and getting asked for input into some of their picks and trade targets (Annti Raanta).
 
tsn.ca reporting that Pacioretty is on the block in Vegas.  3 years at $7m AAV left, $17.5m left in real dollars. 

I don't know what the market bears for this sort of player given Hoffman is still out there for free.

 
Frank E said:
tsn.ca reporting that Pacioretty is on the block in Vegas.  3 years at $7m AAV left, $17.5m left in real dollars. 

I don't know what the market bears for this sort of player given Hoffman is still out there for free.

The Blue Jackets should probably jump on this.
 

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