Jonathan Cheechoo Depreciation Thread

Hoags wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

With Cheechoo there were no expectations. Therefore he is probably exceeding expectations.

Murray did say they wanted 20ish goals from Cheech, when the Douchebag trade was announced.

Clouston pretty much ripped into Cheech before the Calgary game, so I think yes there are expectations on him.

He needs to keep it up against the Caps.

That was window dressing. What do you think he will say? "I agree that Cheechoo is a piece of Dung and I pretty well got fleeced in the deal. Seasons tickets are on sale NOW!"

I heard Clouston's comments and he was hardly ripping into him. Just said they wanted more out of Cheechoo. What is "more"? No one knows.

MurderOnIce wrote:

hemlock wrote:

MurderOnIce wrote:I am not an Anti-Cheech-ite...

I just think that, salary aside, and despite his efforts he is truly a low third- high fourth liner. He is what he is, any expectation beyond that is unrealistic and unfair. Remember many nights we have seen the best player be someone lower on the totem pole. They don't move up on the pole until they produce results consistently.

It's hard to believe you are not anti-Cheechoo when 1) you started this thread and 2) You refered to him as "poison" and reeking of the stench of "not good enough".

You're right that lower guys on the totem pole need to produce consistently in order to move up. Cheechoo showed last night that he can play a bigger role and produce. No, he didn't score but he was buzzing all night and made his line better for being there. Simply put, he made the most of the opportunity. The beauty of it was it allowed Clouston to line up Kelly with Fisher and Alfie to shut down Iginla's line.

Bottom line for me (and a few others who aren't ready to drop the axe on Cheechoo) is that he plays hard, and put in the right circumstances, can produce offense. Combine that with the fact that he works his Donkey off, and you've got a guy who everyone will be cheering their asses off for come playoff time. That's when we'll see what he's truely worth to this team imo.

I think he has proven that he has a flash or two when he has good games. On the whole he doesn't produce offensively and hasn't for a few years now. I agree that I started all of this on the point that we would have been better to trade him off early than to have kept him around. Everyone can dance around the fire of his glory for the past couple of games, on the whole however, beyond hardwork and 'nice guy' he is just never going to justify his salary. Say what everyone wants about 'throw the money out of the equation' but you can't in a cap world.

And I am not anti Cheechoo, business is business here and he doesn't add to the team. I would still rather have seen Donovan in the lineup every night that he was scratched and Cheechoo was in. Tell me money is not part of that equation...

Money is always a consideration, but until Murray is completely screwed cap wise, I don't see Cheechoo's salary as a problem. The day Murray can't re-sign a key player or bring in a marquee player via FA or trade is the day I start looking at current salaries as a problem. Having said that, Cheechoo isn't the only salary that gives me cause for concern.

Let's put it this way. If what we are seeing this season is all we ever get from Cheechoo, I'd be more than happy to re-sign him for $1.5 a year going forward. This is a guy who plays a very nice 3rd/4th line role and has the ability to do very effective spot duty when the injury bug hits.

Another point to consider about Cheechoo is that despite the fact that he works hard and battles along the boards, he's taken very few penalties (10 minors) this season. I'd much rather a player like that then a goon who's going to constantly kill momentum with untimely penalties.

SeawaySensFan wrote:
That was window dressing. What do you think he will say? "I agree that Cheechoo is a piece of Dung and I pretty well got fleeced in the deal. Seasons tickets are on sale NOW!"

I heard Clouston's comments and he was hardly ripping into him. Just said they wanted more out of Cheechoo. What is "more"? No one knows.

While we had to take Cheech for the salary cap hits to work out in the Cheatley trade, you really don't think Murray was hoping that Cheechoo would revive his production somewhat here ?

If Michalek hits around 30 and Cheech would pot 20, Heatley's production would be more or less made up.

And I probably should have used a different term than ripping, but CC was clearly disappointed by Cheech in his past games.

Last but not least Cheech is disappointed in his season as well, he expects more too.

cheechoo will be traded and we will miss his slugish play, all though cheech hasn't missed a game this season that has to mean something.

Hoags wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:
That was window dressing. What do you think he will say? "I agree that Cheechoo is a piece of Dung and I pretty well got fleeced in the deal. Seasons tickets are on sale NOW!"

I heard Clouston's comments and he was hardly ripping into him. Just said they wanted more out of Cheechoo. What is "more"? No one knows.

While we had to take Cheech for the salary cap hits to work out in the Cheatley trade, you really don't think Murray was hoping that Cheechoo would revive his production somewhat here ?

If Michalek hits around 30 and Cheech would pot 20, Heatley's production would be more or less made up.

And I probably should have used a different term than ripping, but CC was clearly disappointed by Cheech in his past games.

Last but not least Cheech is disappointed in his season as well, he expects more too.

If he truly believed that, I would recommend that he vacate his office at Scotiabank Place and book a room at one of Chartwells many fine facilities to live out his twilight years.

I'm pretty sure his strategy for making up some of Dung's offense was signing l'Artiste.

sens4win wrote:cheechoo will be traded and we will miss his slugish play, all though cheech hasn't missed a game this season that has to mean something.

Less games for Z.Smith?

SeawaySensFan wrote:
If he truly believed that, I would recommend that he vacate his office at Scotiabank Place and book a room at one of Chartwells many fine facilities to live out his twilight years.

I'm pretty sure his strategy for making up some of Dung's offense was signing l'Artiste.

Believed ? No

Hoping ? Yes

But, see what happens when you put him with Spezza? If you LEAVE him there, maybe he can get some confidence back. If you leave him on line 4 with 8 minutes a night, you might as well waive him this summer and buy him out, because you can get a kid like Z.Smith to do it for 600K combined with his buyout is 1.6 million cap hit instead of 3.

It's the only way Cheechoo can survive here IMO. Every time Spezza steps on, so does Cheechoo.

PP1? Yes sir, Cheechoo - Spezza - Kovalev with Alfie and Kuba (barf) on the point.

SpezDispenser wrote:

sens4win wrote:cheechoo will be traded and we will miss his slugish play, all though cheech hasn't missed a game this season that has to mean something.

Less games for Z.Smith?

if smith had played the amount of games cheech has he would have double the amount of points then cheecho

I don't think it's confidence as much as him being on a line that generates a lot of scoring chances.

Cheech is a fairly simple player, he gets open he shoots and he (hopefully)scores.

Playing a talented passer like Spezza is what's worked in the past, and they also create more room on the ice for him.

He's not a grinder, there's others that do it for less.

SpezDispenser wrote:But, see what happens when you put him with Spezza? If you LEAVE him there, maybe he can get some confidence back. If you leave him on line 4 with 8 minutes a night, you might as well waive him this summer and buy him out, because you can get a kid like Z.Smith to do it for 600K combined with his buyout is 1.6 million cap hit instead of 3.

It's the only way Cheechoo can survive here IMO. Every time Spezza steps on, so does Cheechoo.

PP1? Yes sir, Cheechoo - Spezza - Kovalev with Alfie and Kuba (barf) on the point.

I was thinking the exact same thing last night. I don't think too many people on this board would disagree that he works hard, but putting a guy like Cheechoo with 3rd or 4th line guys and then expecting him to generate 30 points is ridiculous. It would be the same as expecting Heatley to produce playing on the 3rd or 4th line.

Give him quality setup guys to play with and I expect he would drastically improve his point totals.

Just my 2 cents.

Devo

hemlock wrote:


Money is always a consideration, but until Murray is completely screwed cap wise, I don't see Cheechoo's salary as a problem. The day Murray can't re-sign a key player or bring in a marquee player via FA or trade is the day I start looking at current salaries as a problem. Having said that, Cheechoo isn't the only salary that gives me cause for concern.

Let's put it this way. If what we are seeing this season is all we ever get from Cheechoo, I'd be more than happy to re-sign him for $1.5 a year going forward. This is a guy who plays a very nice 3rd/4th line role and has the ability to do very effective spot duty when the injury bug hits.

Another point to consider about Cheechoo is that despite the fact that he works hard and battles along the boards, he's taken very few penalties (10 minors) this season. I'd much rather a player like that then a goon who's going to constantly kill momentum with untimely penalties.

My concern salary wise is what is the opportunity cost? What deals could we have made without his salary on the books? I wouldn't personally have wanted it but, would or could we have been in on the Kovalchuk sale? Maybe?! However, I agree Cheechoo's salary is not the only concern when it comes to salary.

I also agree I would sign him again for a reasonable dollar value (with him understanding his role and expectations).

When it comes to penalties, on the whole he has been okay, he did cost us one game with two stupid neutral zone penalties. Can't remember the opponent... but in the end I would much rather a Donovan who is going to create momentum by banging the body and creating turn overs with speed and puck pursuit. I also like the fact that Donovan is cheap and great in the room. Chummy is probably one of the best 'room guys' there are. If it came down to next year's choice being say goodbye to Donovan and keeping Cheechoo, it is a no brainer for me. Donovan is part of this conversation more than Spezza (to other's points).

Cheechoo definately cripples us in landing any top players via trade or UFA signing.

He either takes up the cap room preventing the signing or he would have to be coming back the other way via trade which makes the trade far less attractive for the other team.

That being said he'll most likely be gone by the summer one way or another.

Donovan is competing with guys like Winchester and Smith for 4th line duty.

Is Donovan good for another year you think?

TheAvatar wrote:Is Donovan good for another year you think?

retirement is fast approaching

I think this time you might be pleasantly surprised with Cheechoo's game. IF he's allowed to remain on Spezza's wing. Spezza doesn't need room to make a pass, Cheechoo can remain still gliding next to the net - and as long as he has his stick on the ice, there will be tons of opportunities. One of the problems is his confidence and that may have led to his sights being off, because I've never see anyone miss as much as he does.

Yesterday he made a nice move to wrap the puck around on Kipper, then when he wrapped it, it was right in the middle of the net, not along the post as it should have been. That 'miraculous' save Kipper made with his stick was a desperation move where he thought 'boy, I hope he doesn't put it right up against the post, or high' - and lo and behold, Cheechoo hits Kipper's stick with it. I was shocked and a little pissed that he messed that one up, but he came back strong and you could see his confidence rising.

TheAvatar wrote:Is Donovan good for another year you think?

You know, it would be nice, but I don't think so. I'd love for him to remain in the organization as a coach or a player development guy.

It's up to Cheech to stay on Spezza's wing, keep generating scoring chance.

What's the consensus ? Was he robbed by Kipper ? Or was he too slow/not shooting high enough on his shots ?

ie. making the goalie look good ?