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Post by Grumpz on Mar 2, 2017 21:54:57 GMT -6
He was a good fit here, and wanted to be here. I don't care what the other 28 teams thought. How do you know 28 other teams weren't interested? From what I can recall, it was pretty interesting how the Stempniak thing went down. Jets tried to sign him as a free agent in the offseason preceding the year we acquired him, but he chose to sign with the Rangers instead. I can't remember why, I don't think it was for more money, I think he cited better chance to win or something like that. So that season Chevy went out to get him trade which was pretty interesting considering #1 Chevy almost never trades, and #2 Stempniak had just snubbed us. Season ends, Chevy says see ya...whether that was spite or pure business decision, only Chevy knows for sure. One thing for sure is he was better option than some of the other players we kept that season and in general better than players Chevy has shown irrational loyalty to for way too long IMO...thinking Tangradi, guys like that. Now Stempniak is flagged as a player not even the Jets want. That was despite the fact he played pretty damn well for us and everyone associated with the Jets knows that, but who else around the league does? So he ends up in the PTO pool, and follows up with a very good season, which I think was really no surprise to Jets fans. When I put all of these things together, maybe coincidences, maybe not, I was left with the impression (in the back of my mind at least) that under some circumstances the Jets may put their personal feelings ahead of cold, smart, business of hockey decisions. But that's probably a one-off that can't be demonstrated in any other personnel decisions they make. He had one good season, and is now... Hindsight is a beautiful thing, but the guy has been on 3 teams since he left the Jets. Each and every yr, he's moved to a new team. Sounds to me like he fluked one season, and now he floats. Imagine if Chevy would have signed him. Lol, there'd be more screaming. He would have been another Stafford, getting 30 points, taking a roster spot from guys like Armia, Copp and Dano, and members in here would damn Chevy even more. Nothing the guy does works out...ever. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.
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Post by Ric O. on Mar 2, 2017 22:42:09 GMT -6
Not sure why you're disparaging Stempniak's character. I hardly think he's a floater...career journeyman yes, with 448 points in 850 games. Bruins traded for him last year for the playoff run and gave up a 2nd and 4th for him; I hardly think they would give that up for a floater. They may give up a conditional 6th for a floater.
Both have similar career numbers but comparing Stempniak to where Stafford this year is not a good comparison at all IMO lol. He's got 28 points this season with the Canes (not exactly an offensive juggernaut of a team). That would have him 7th in Jets scoring right now, ahead of Perreault for example, because guess what, he's not always injured! I for one wouldn't be screaming about having him on our team, frankly I don't think many would mind having a steady, reliable, consistent player like that. And to this day he's one of the Jets 2.0 top playoff scorers and with the highest playoff +/-.
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Post by Grumpz on Mar 3, 2017 6:25:09 GMT -6
Not sure why you're disparaging Stempniak's character. I hardly think he's a floater...career journeyman yes, with 448 points in 850 games. Bruins traded for him last year for the playoff run and gave up a 2nd and 4th for him; I hardly think they would give that up for a floater. They may give up a conditional 6th for a floater. Both have similar career numbers but comparing Stempniak to where Stafford this year is not a good comparison at all IMO lol. He's got 28 points this season with the Canes (not exactly an offensive juggernaut of a team). That would have him 7th in Jets scoring right now, ahead of Perreault for example, because guess what, he's not always injured! I for one wouldn't be screaming about having him on our team, frankly I don't think many would mind having a steady, reliable, consistent player like that. And to this day he's one of the Jets 2.0 top playoff scorers and with the highest playoff +/-. It hasn't nothing to do with character. GMS making millions have not seen a reason to keep the guy more than a season. His numbers are weak. Boston also missed the playoffs so how good of a move was it? As for a comparison to Perreault, he's not being protected, so that tells me exactly what kind of room there is on this team for the 35 point getters of the world. Every single time you sign a guy, you take risk. I think it's unfair to peg certain things on a GM. Every single GM in this league has made mistakes. 2 GMs screwed the pooch on Ladd bag time! Did Chevy?
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Post by Ric O. on Mar 3, 2017 7:31:26 GMT -6
All GMs surely do make mistakes, overall I still think Chevy is doing a pretty good job getting talent. As far as Stempniak, "floater" speaks directly to character. He sure wasn't a floater for us, I know that for sure. You can say the guy is getting old as he surely is so maybe good reason pass on him for that reason now, but phillymike and me were talking about 2 seasons ago not now anyway as you know. Career-wise, I'm not sure how long you think the average NHL career is but 448 points in 850 games are not actually weak numbers at all and that kind of career longevity it tells me GMs actually do value him, for whatever reason. He's still producing pretty well, will probably end up with 40 or so points.
At around one mil, you're getting a lot of player for the money imo...he's not making 4mil like Perreault, 6 or 7 mil like Ladd...you can compare points, but not salary. He's not even making Thorburn or Maurice money (who we're extending), so really, what risk are you citing? Only risk is that he's maybe displacing a kid's development time (most of their numbers are also weak), but rookie development needs weren't really a consideration 2 years ago when Peluso and Thorburn were re-upped...now those guys have weak numbers!
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Post by Grumpz on Mar 3, 2017 9:08:16 GMT -6
All GMs surely do make mistakes, overall I still think Chevy is doing a pretty good job getting talent. As far as Stempniak, "floater" speaks directly to character. He sure wasn't a floater for us, I know that for sure. You can say the guy is getting old as he surely is so maybe good reason pass on him for that reason now, but phillymike and me were talking about 2 seasons ago not now anyway as you know. Career-wise, I'm not sure how long you think the average NHL career is but 448 points in 850 games are not actually weak numbers at all and that kind of career longevity it tells me GMs actually do value him, for whatever reason. He's still producing pretty well, will probably end up with 40 or so points. At around one mil, you're getting a lot of player for the money imo...he's not making 4mil like Perreault, 6 or 7 mil like Ladd...you can compare points, but not salary. He's not even making Thorburn or Maurice money (who we're extending), so really, what risk are you citing? Only risk is that he's maybe displacing a kid's development time (most of their numbers are also weak), but rookie development needs weren't really a consideration 2 years ago when Peluso and Thorburn were re-upped...now those guys have weak numbers! When I say floater, it's referring to how he's drifting around from team to team. As for his skill, he's just another guy that would steal development time away from the young guys. We don't have room for guys like him. 2 yrs ago, we already had Stafford and Perreault, and like it or not, they were contributing at a rate that made the team see them as valuable. How were they supposed to know Perreault would have injury issues, and Stafford pts production would drop off so quick, along with injury problems as well?
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Post by Ric O. on Mar 3, 2017 23:28:41 GMT -6
Stafford's best year was in 2010 and it's been all down hill with declining production and injuries ever since. Pretty much the same goes with Perreault, when was the last time he played even close to a full season?
I can see why Chevy would like both of these players, they're both talented, but the trends have been pretty clear I think with regards to games missed and failing production. Naturally when you like a player you might tend to think the issues they had are in the past and they'll have much better luck when they join your team, but a few highs and low, the average trends have pretty much continued without much of a pause.
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Post by Grumpz on Mar 4, 2017 1:06:48 GMT -6
Stafford's best year was in 2010 and it's been all down hill with declining production and injuries ever since. Pretty much the same goes with Perreault, when was the last time he played even close to a full season? I can see why Chevy would like both of these players, they're both talented, but the trends have been pretty clear I think with regards to games missed and failing production. Naturally when you like a player you might tend to think the issues they had are in the past and they'll have much better luck when they join your team, but a few highs and low, the average trends have pretty much continued without much of a pause. For sure, but the team needed plugs, to avoid rushing guys into the league. Now, with our youth, the plugs will have no room.
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Post by Ric O. on Mar 4, 2017 8:09:56 GMT -6
Right, and that brings us back to Stempniak, who two seasons ago, last season, probably even this season, compared to who they went with he was the perfect plug (I like that term!) in that sense: reliable, productive, consistent...I'm pretty sure we actually agree on that.
I know Stafford came with the trade, Perreault was a nice free agent addition, but once they became $4MM plugs, a $1MM guy like Stempniak made a lot more sense I think. Peluso and Thorburn signings were kind of questionable considering the amount of ice time they've gotten over the years (maybe the coach shares some responsibility there too) but at least they weren't breaking the bank.
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Post by Grumpz on Mar 4, 2017 9:55:15 GMT -6
Right, and that brings us back to Stempniak, who two seasons ago, last season, probably even this season, compared to who they went with he was the perfect plug (I like that term!) in that sense: reliable, productive, consistent...I'm pretty sure we actually agree on that. I know Stafford came with the trade, Perreault was a nice free agent addition, but once they became $4MM plugs, a $1MM guy like Stempniak made a lot more sense I think. Peluso and Thorburn signings were kind of questionable considering the amount of ice time they've gotten over the years (maybe the coach shares some responsibility there too) but at least they weren't breaking the bank. Sure in hindsight, Stempniak could also have been a good plug, but as I already said, the plugs we had, were also performing at his lvl, and we only found out after he was gone, that he's fluke 1 decent yr with NJ. But he was also getting top 6 minutes and PP time in Jersey. That absolutely wouldn't have been the case here.
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Post by lenny on Mar 4, 2017 10:36:21 GMT -6
Right, and that brings us back to Stempniak, who two seasons ago, last season, probably even this season, compared to who they went with he was the perfect plug (I like that term!) in that sense: reliable, productive, consistent...I'm pretty sure we actually agree on that. I know Stafford came with the trade, Perreault was a nice free agent addition, but once they became $4MM plugs, a $1MM guy like Stempniak made a lot more sense I think. Peluso and Thorburn signings were kind of questionable considering the amount of ice time they've gotten over the years (maybe the coach shares some responsibility there too) but at least they weren't breaking the bank. Stempniak would have been a great signing. Bad decision not to. He had the highest shooting % on the Jets for the time he was here. His current shooting % (has 29 pts) would be about where Ehlers is at 6th. He'd be around 6th or so with Perreault in Pts easily ahead of the entire 3rd line.
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