I know Cogliano is the quick and easy comp, but you gotta wonder how much of a late start Hyman type is capable of being crafted out of Steel.
27 & just entering his prime, not alot of space for radical change to his game, but plenty of time for fit and form within the lineup.
The legend of Kivi-Fucking-Ranta was built partially off being an unknown to opossing scouting departments and the ability to find "queit ice" as an exploit. Steel seems poised to do that professionally and not just as an exploit of a shifting peice in game plans, but as a defensively sound player who can find and create those quick quiet exploit points that our system is set up to make.
I don't see him reaching juniors level scoring prowess, but I could see him having a relatively similar impact too Hyman, with a more mature Stankoven or Bourque on the 3rd line.
I think you're way overrating Steel's offense. It's worth remembering that Radek Faksa was also a point per game player in his draft year. Sometimes scoring simply doesn't translate. In juniors, you don't always need creativity and vision to score, and Steel just doesn't have any of that. What's weird is that it's not obvious until he moves up the lineup. I thought for sure he'd look good next to Benn and Dadonov, or Bourque and Stankoven. Instead all I can remember is how lost he looked in the OZN. I would love to be wrong, but if he really had offense in his game, it would have been unlocked when he centered Kaprizov and Zuc.
Steel with Stank & Bourque is undersized and got bodied in the O-Zone with the rookies still learning how to leverage their size in a bigger faster game & Steel isn't creative enough to unlock the offense of Benn & Dadonov.
I don't think there's some fountain of goals waiting to be found, but I could see him being the 3rd line equivalent of Hyman, too Bourque's McDavid. (Poor man's version, and what not.)
Hemming seems like the perfect fit too make an effective 3rd line trio, but i wouldn't expect that to come to fruition until the final year of Steel's deal. Idk who you try to fit in next season, but I could see Bourque dragging Steel too a 40pt season before that deals done. (Maybe Seguin in the playoffs makes a fit for next season?)
It feels a little high but I don't hate it. I have to think Blackwell must be the odd man out now though. Back would be a fine scratch but he's cheaper and maybe has a little growth left.
With the salary cap rising so sharply and league revenues up, I think people are going to have to readjust their perception of what players “should get.” $2.1 million for a young-ish reliable bottom six guy is almost certainly the new normal.
I agree. It's still weird to me that this happened AFTER he got healthy scratched though. That's my only "gripe." I'm not paying above minimum to anyone who isn't a surefire bet to make the lineup. Granted, I don't think Steel will be healthy scratched again, but there's also no guarantee.
I’m not sure I put too much stock into a random healthy scratch here and there when they have plenty of bottom six guys. If it’s a constant thing, then yeah, it’s a problem (looking at you, Matthew Dumba). But here or there, it just seems like a night off so he isn’t fried for the playoffs.
This is probably the new $1.5m contract which will be the new 1.2 contract. For a guy seeing the ice most every night in double digits it is fine. Heck even if he is the next Faksa, at that price it’s a steel. The main knock against the fox was his price and the coaching staffs over use of the FCC. Can’t really blame the guy for that.
He’s 27. He is, statistically speaking, on the downhill slope and past his prime. But it’s a two year extension. The downward slide isn’t so extreme at this age that a two year deal is a concern.
I thought they are varying degrees of split decisions with the exception of the last.
Tkachuk vs. Hagel: Easily the best scrap. Really impressed with Hagel getting his hands free against the taller man. Good head movement too. Tkachuk might have looked like the aggressor, but he didn't land anything.
Tkachuk vs. Bennett: Easily the worst scrap. Punches thrown with ill intent, but zero technique from Bennett, who is a good scrapper, while Brady is a technically solid scrapper, but struggles to find his aim.
Parayko vs. Miller: This is as close to Beat vs. Stock or Probert vs. Domi as we're gonna get in the modern day. Parayko isn't a powerful puncher, but he domed Miller with a few rabbit shots while Miller just wheelhoused his arms around hoping to accidentally catch Colton. Which explains why he accidentally hit himself.
All in all, they were good fights for the modern game, which are usually just glorified wrestling matches. Nobody was looking for the tackle too early, and the punches were thrown to hurt instead of score points like in karate.
Nill I think likes to get these deals done first to set the boundaries for the big negotiations. Sure the agents can point to all of the open cap, or project elc types to fill out the roster but Nill doing this doesn’t give them a chance. Worst case he has to make a trade to get Johnston 8 years (I see a bridge deal there being a loss).
I'm on the other side of that Johnston bridge deal argument, and I think getting Mavrik on an 8 year or 6 year (to line up with Hintz) would be the big brain move of the offseason. Forward equivalent of the Klingberg deal, if you will.
2 year bridge on Johnston lines him up with Seguin off the books too ensures his raise, while opening up cap space to wedge Benn & Dutch back into the mix or go big name UFA hunting. It would also leave a fair amount of meat on the bone for a Robertson & Stankoven extension in the interim.
Jason Dickinson ended up being a 30 point player in a bigger role. Steel couldn't even crack that even with Kaprizov and Zuccarello. I know I'm just splitting hairs, and I like your comparison in theory -- but Steel really IS just another Faksa.
I know Cogliano is the quick and easy comp, but you gotta wonder how much of a late start Hyman type is capable of being crafted out of Steel.
27 & just entering his prime, not alot of space for radical change to his game, but plenty of time for fit and form within the lineup.
The legend of Kivi-Fucking-Ranta was built partially off being an unknown to opossing scouting departments and the ability to find "queit ice" as an exploit. Steel seems poised to do that professionally and not just as an exploit of a shifting peice in game plans, but as a defensively sound player who can find and create those quick quiet exploit points that our system is set up to make.
I don't see him reaching juniors level scoring prowess, but I could see him having a relatively similar impact too Hyman, with a more mature Stankoven or Bourque on the 3rd line.
I think you're way overrating Steel's offense. It's worth remembering that Radek Faksa was also a point per game player in his draft year. Sometimes scoring simply doesn't translate. In juniors, you don't always need creativity and vision to score, and Steel just doesn't have any of that. What's weird is that it's not obvious until he moves up the lineup. I thought for sure he'd look good next to Benn and Dadonov, or Bourque and Stankoven. Instead all I can remember is how lost he looked in the OZN. I would love to be wrong, but if he really had offense in his game, it would have been unlocked when he centered Kaprizov and Zuc.
Steel with Stank & Bourque is undersized and got bodied in the O-Zone with the rookies still learning how to leverage their size in a bigger faster game & Steel isn't creative enough to unlock the offense of Benn & Dadonov.
I don't think there's some fountain of goals waiting to be found, but I could see him being the 3rd line equivalent of Hyman, too Bourque's McDavid. (Poor man's version, and what not.)
Hemming seems like the perfect fit too make an effective 3rd line trio, but i wouldn't expect that to come to fruition until the final year of Steel's deal. Idk who you try to fit in next season, but I could see Bourque dragging Steel too a 40pt season before that deals done. (Maybe Seguin in the playoffs makes a fit for next season?)
It feels a little high but I don't hate it. I have to think Blackwell must be the odd man out now though. Back would be a fine scratch but he's cheaper and maybe has a little growth left.
It's gonna be really interesting to see who the odd man out is IF Dallas goes far enough for Tyler Seguin to play.
I wonder if they don't figure out a home road split for the rookies & vets in the playoffs.
Depends on what your guys thrive on, do they revel in the joy of quieting a road barn or do they excell under the thunderous roar of the home crowd?
Also, does it better serve too protect certain players from an isolation game plan that can be exploited by last change advantage on the road?
I like our lineup, but I wouldn't mind grabbing a few extra depth peices too modify our approach too road games for the playoff run.
With the salary cap rising so sharply and league revenues up, I think people are going to have to readjust their perception of what players “should get.” $2.1 million for a young-ish reliable bottom six guy is almost certainly the new normal.
I agree. It's still weird to me that this happened AFTER he got healthy scratched though. That's my only "gripe." I'm not paying above minimum to anyone who isn't a surefire bet to make the lineup. Granted, I don't think Steel will be healthy scratched again, but there's also no guarantee.
I’m not sure I put too much stock into a random healthy scratch here and there when they have plenty of bottom six guys. If it’s a constant thing, then yeah, it’s a problem (looking at you, Matthew Dumba). But here or there, it just seems like a night off so he isn’t fried for the playoffs.
This is probably the new $1.5m contract which will be the new 1.2 contract. For a guy seeing the ice most every night in double digits it is fine. Heck even if he is the next Faksa, at that price it’s a steel. The main knock against the fox was his price and the coaching staffs over use of the FCC. Can’t really blame the guy for that.
2.2% of the cap on this deal, after a 1.36% deal last time.
Decent raise for a middle 6 guy who's coming into his prime.
He’s 27. He is, statistically speaking, on the downhill slope and past his prime. But it’s a two year extension. The downward slide isn’t so extreme at this age that a two year deal is a concern.
Dudes only gonna be 29. Steel has put too much work into the defensively responsible side of his game for it to fall off before 30.
Break down of last night's fight card?
I thought they are varying degrees of split decisions with the exception of the last.
Tkachuk vs. Hagel: Easily the best scrap. Really impressed with Hagel getting his hands free against the taller man. Good head movement too. Tkachuk might have looked like the aggressor, but he didn't land anything.
Tkachuk vs. Bennett: Easily the worst scrap. Punches thrown with ill intent, but zero technique from Bennett, who is a good scrapper, while Brady is a technically solid scrapper, but struggles to find his aim.
Parayko vs. Miller: This is as close to Beat vs. Stock or Probert vs. Domi as we're gonna get in the modern day. Parayko isn't a powerful puncher, but he domed Miller with a few rabbit shots while Miller just wheelhoused his arms around hoping to accidentally catch Colton. Which explains why he accidentally hit himself.
All in all, they were good fights for the modern game, which are usually just glorified wrestling matches. Nobody was looking for the tackle too early, and the punches were thrown to hurt instead of score points like in karate.
Parayko didn't seem all that invested in the show of it all, while Miller looked extra froggy in the wake of the Tkachuk boys show peice, imo.
I think had Parayko been as amped up, and not just reacting to a face wash session turned up to 11, Miller would have been in a world of hurt.
Great move by Nill...but he still has to do a bigtime move to improve the blueline, which I doubt he'll pull off.
Nill I think likes to get these deals done first to set the boundaries for the big negotiations. Sure the agents can point to all of the open cap, or project elc types to fill out the roster but Nill doing this doesn’t give them a chance. Worst case he has to make a trade to get Johnston 8 years (I see a bridge deal there being a loss).
I'm on the other side of that Johnston bridge deal argument, and I think getting Mavrik on an 8 year or 6 year (to line up with Hintz) would be the big brain move of the offseason. Forward equivalent of the Klingberg deal, if you will.
2 year bridge on Johnston lines him up with Seguin off the books too ensures his raise, while opening up cap space to wedge Benn & Dutch back into the mix or go big name UFA hunting. It would also leave a fair amount of meat on the bone for a Robertson & Stankoven extension in the interim.
Great deal. I see him more as a Jason Dickinson type (yes, lesser version…) who can move up and down the lineup.
Jason Dickinson ended up being a 30 point player in a bigger role. Steel couldn't even crack that even with Kaprizov and Zuccarello. I know I'm just splitting hairs, and I like your comparison in theory -- but Steel really IS just another Faksa.