Youth and Lord Stanley's Cup

[Variable]

Holy god almighty, yes I know, I understand all that Jim. I never put forth that notion. Point out where I did. All I meant was, in light of exactly what you're talking about, that when players say stuff like that after getting a new contract, one which is comparable to what other players got, it just sounds bad. Nothing to do with jealousy, nothing to do with thinking they shouldn't try to get as much as they can (if that's their prerogative), its just I can't take them seriously when they say that given the circumstances. Its not a big deal, it was just something I remembered due to the topic and one of the points being brought up.

 

[LordKOTL]

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I would have to think you include MacKinnon in that core as well.  And, provided he doesn't fall off a cliff, when he's up for a new contract that's pretty much a guaranteed 5-6 million raise in cap hit alone. Just going off the money already committed to players, the type of money that will be needed to committed to other important players and the vast difference in their depth in forwards compared to their defensemen, you can already see the timing isn't the best for the Avs. Which, like Pez said, is incredibly tough to predict or work out. A lot of things have to fall the right way, there's definitely a bit of luck or chance involved in situations like this that ended up working out like with the Hawks.</p>
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The only reason I didn't use Mackinnon is because he's not (yet) signed long-term.  It's like with us--you could pretty much say the core is Toews, Kane, Keith, Seabs, Hammer, and much to some people's dismay, Crawford.  Guys like Leddy, Shaw, Smith, Saad, etc., probably not.</p>


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Even if we include MacKinnon in the Avs core, he is likley due for a good raise and for the Avs, much like us or any other club, it's all about finding the right core balance in terms of skill vs. cap dollars, and having a critical mass of players (of which on the Avs MacKinnon could be considered one of) play beyond what they're actually paid.</p>


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IMHO the playing beyond what they're being paid is the key element to a cup winning team.  In the cap era I really don't think any team will win a cup unless they have a couple of players doing so--regardless of the age of their core.</p>

 

[MassHavoc]

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