General Hockey Talk - Injuries, signings, factoids + other news from around the league

Hoags wrote:

Big Ev wrote:
Maybe if we got anything of value for him in return.

How about not having that massive contract on the books for the next few years for an ever declining performance ?

Bingo. Not to mention Michalek's a heck of a player if the poor bastard could stay healthy.

NEELY wrote:Michalek is a better player than Healtey, plain and simple. Michalek was coming off a knee injury and was sitll on pace to hit the 20 goal mark at basically 1/2 the cost of Heatley. Add in that he is a better skater, more physical, had a better attitude, and just generally plays the game better than Heatley does.

Sure, Heatley may put up a few more points but the fact of the matter is he provides nothing else, he's a cancer, his contract is one of the worst in The NHL now, and Ottawa is in better shape without him than they ever could be with him.

A few more points? He had more goals than Michalek had points last year. We're just gonna throw out every year Heatley has had before this season? The Sharks have been weird as a team the whole season...even Jumbo Joe only has 52 points. I know Michalek does things better than Heatley, but overall I feel it's not even close still. They wouldn't have traded Michalek if they thought he was better than Heatley.

Chris Kelly does all those things better than Heatley too...does that make him a better player? No.

Big Ev wrote:

NEELY wrote:Michalek is a better player than Healtey, plain and simple. Michalek was coming off a knee injury and was sitll on pace to hit the 20 goal mark at basically 1/2 the cost of Heatley. Add in that he is a better skater, more physical, had a better attitude, and just generally plays the game better than Heatley does.

Sure, Heatley may put up a few more points but the fact of the matter is he provides nothing else, he's a cancer, his contract is one of the worst in The NHL now, and Ottawa is in better shape without him than they ever could be with him.

A few more points? He had more goals than Michalek had points last year. We're just gonna throw out every year Heatley has had before this season? The Sharks have been weird as a team the whole season...even Jumbo Joe only has 52 points. I know Michalek does things better than Heatley, but overall I feel it's not even close still. They wouldn't have traded Michalek if they thought he was better than Heatley.

Chris Kelly does all those things better than Heatley too...does that make him a better player? No.

Comparisons are flawed because we're comparing very different salaries, and unfortunately the going rate cannot be normalized to goals scored or points -- what I mean to say is that a 30 goal scorer will cost you more than double a 15 goal scorer, and a 50 goal man will be more than double a 25-goal man (which, incidentally, shows that Fisher -- a 20-25 goal scorer, was overpaid at $4.2M).

Heatley was world class 3, 4 seasons ago, no doubt. Right now, Michalek is a better all around player than Heatley.

The difference between Michalek and Kelly is Michalek has proven he is a 25, 60 point guy. So he does all the thing Kelly does but with a lot more offense and plays on the top line. Heatley is not the same player he was at the begning of last year. During the year last year he slowed down a ton and in the playoffs it was pretty obvious he was done as a elite talent.

The cap hit makes it an absolute no brainer along with the attitude.

At the time of the trade Heatley was obviously superior to Michalek, he was good for 40 plus goals basically every year... from this point on he will be lucky to hit 30 in any given year. He and Michalek will be producing at a very similar rate going forward and Michalek is better at every other aspect of the game.

I still think Heatley can return to being an 80-point player, the Sharks have just been slumping offensively the whole season. I won't write him off until he has another year like this one (he started off quite good this year as well).

Michalek is not a proven 25 goal, 60 point player in Ottawa. He has also declined a lot just like Heatley, and even worse, he has had a slew of injuries. His future is up in the air with all the injuries he's had.

I don't know if it's right to say they both will be producing at the same rate. Heatley still has had a better season than Michalek and he isn't that old. I'll wait and see before making a final judgment on both players though.

Big Ev wrote:I still think Heatley can return to being an 80-point player, the Sharks have just been slumping offensively the whole season. I won't write him off until he has another year like this one (he started off quite good this year as well).

Michalek is not a proven 25 goal, 60 point player in Ottawa. He has also declined a lot just like Heatley, and even worse, he has had a slew of injuries. His future is up in the air with all the injuries he's had.

I don't know if it's right to say they both will be producing at the same rate. Heatley still has had a better season than Michalek and he isn't that old. I'll wait and see before making a final judgment on both players though.

I'll literally bet anything you wish on that.

As for Michalek, he plays at about a 25 goal pace every year, including being in Ottawa.

Well that's the big thing, a 25 goal *pace*. He'll have missed 40 games in his Sens career after this year. At least Heater plays every single game.

Big Ev wrote:Well that's the big thing, a 25 goal *pace*. He'll have missed 40 games in his Sens career after this year. At least Heater plays every single game.

He literally doesn't move from one spot on the ice in 2 of the 3 zones. Michalek is coming off a major knee opperation and in the last 2 months he has looked every bit as dangerous as Heatley offensivly. Heatley looks disinterested basically every night, isn't being player 1st line mins any more, and for a guy that's never been a great skater to begin with his knee's are clearly going.

Anyways, I would take Michalek over Heatley if they were making the same amount of money. I'll take the all around game with offensive upside, work ethic, and a solid team first attitude over Heatley and his (for the sake of argument) 30 goals and 80 points per year.

Heatley's playoffs are not even taken into consideration here where he is awful every single year.

Big Ev wrote:I still think Heatley can return to being an 80-point player, the Sharks have just been slumping offensively the whole season. I won't write him off until he has another year like this one (he started off quite good this year as well).

Michalek is not a proven 25 goal, 60 point player in Ottawa. He has also declined a lot just like Heatley, and even worse, he has had a slew of injuries. His future is up in the air with all the injuries he's had.

I don't know if it's right to say they both will be producing at the same rate. Heatley still has had a better season than Michalek and he isn't that old. I'll wait and see before making a final judgment on both players though.

Doubt it. It's clear the west has started to be too competitive to have one line dominating a conference, which basically what Heatley would need to get those points.

I think both players have huge question marks over them. Can Heatley recover even a little of his former offensive flair? He is a one-trick pony (quick, heavy shot) and that shoulder injury may have taken that away for ever. Michalek certainly has more tools, but none of them are as high-end as Heatley's used to be, except for his speed. And with 3 (or is that 4?) major knee operations at his *still young* age is more than a little alarming.

Sure, Michalek looks to have now fully recovered (well, full recovery is probably two years, but he's gone far enough now that he can play through the pain/discomfort at pretty much the same level as before). But will he have an injury-free season next year? And if not, is the next one going to be the one that ends it all?

Heatley, may be showing signs of continuing slow-down, but it also could be other factors (team is generally playing poorly, different lines, reduced minutes).

IMO, it's too early to say with any confidence. What's always been clear, though, is the character.

Edmonton beats Nashville in the SO. Nashville gains a point , but more importantly, Edmonton gains 2 on us.

Also, Columbus is going to earn at least one point tonight, to stay close to the Predators. Basically, I am rooting for the entire bottom half of the Western Conference, with the exception of the Predators.

Florida has 9 players under contract for next season representing $16.6M. They're going to have to go after some big names just to make the cap floor.

[quote="spader"]Florida has 9 players under contract for next season representing $16.6M. They're going to have to go after some big names just to make the cap floor.[/qute]

I'm sure Kovalev would be happy to oblige them. Plus, with Kovalev, they'd be able to keep right on tanking.

spader wrote:Florida has 9 players under contract for next season representing $16.6M. They're going to have to go after some big names just to make the cap floor.

Scott GOmez for a 7th rounder
Chris Drury for a 6th rounder

Attendance in the Minnesota @ Islanders game: 7,098!!!!

Trevor Gillies gets a 5 and a game for a retaliation boarding on Clutterbuck in his first time out after serving 9 games.

Most useless hockey player in The NHL. Has more PIM then total time on ice as they said on TSN last night. Give him the rest of the regular season.

wprager wrote:Trevor Gillies gets a 5 and a game for a retaliation boarding on Clutterbuck in his first time out after serving 9 games.

Hmm, is Cal Clutterbuck trying to give Parros a run for his money as the best facial hair in the NHL? I think so.