Friday, June 12

There are four camps of players in the NHL, and they’re: stars, potential stars, solid players and lineup fillers. Until general managers stick to their guns and only pay star money to stars, these contracts will continue to be denounced.

 

Now, a savvy general manager who has a feel for his team will be able to overspend at times on certain “solid players” because they fill gaps in the lineup. Ryan Callahan‘s deal is a prime example.

 

The Lightning couldn’t have counted on the growth from all of Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Nikita Kucherov and Cedric Paquette when they signed Callahan. Callahan was signed to play a significant role to bridge the gap, and an annual cap hit of $5.8 million for a player who brings everything Callahan does isn’t horrendous.

 

Valtteri Filppula‘s deal might be even better, though. Most importantly here, too, is that Filppula and Callahan have adopted secondary roles, at least in terms of scoring, so criticizing their offensive production is unjust, at least partially.

 

Where are the Lightning without Filppula and Callahan?

 

It is likely they’re in the same spot they would be if the youngsters didn’t breakout this season.

 

Their Stanley Cup opponents have largely built their team around the four camps of players.

 

The Chicago Blackhawks paid their stars, and they’ve lost a lot of very good players because they couldn’t/wouldn’t pay them star money. Another salary dilemma looms, but given their success over the past seven seasons, it is difficult to argue with how they’ve accomplished it.

 

Wrapping up with a fantasy spin, there is a reason the stars and scrubs lineup approach is utilized in daily hockey. And while obviously it would be foolish to leave it at that, there is a lot to be said about the relation of that lineup assembly strategy and what the Blackhawks have done the past six years.

 

Chicago has spent up on a core and filled around it. They paid their stars and solid players accordingly, and they added fillers to round out their lineup. Always having potential stars at reasonable cap hits is what has kept the run going for Chicago.

 

Similarly, you’ll win daily fantasy if your fillers chip in, your potential values do their part and your stars are stars. It isn’t rocket appliances. It is just difficult to figure out who the stars and values are on a nightly basis in the daily racket.

 

 

***

 

 

I try to catch Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown four times a week and listen whenever he is hosting. Luckily, his time slot aligns with my USA Today Hot off the Wire shifts, and it is a nice back drop when I’m pounding out player updates.

 

Tuesday, and I suspect it was an off-the-cuff comment, Bobcat said something along the lines of not being able to tell whether Jon Cooper was smart or dumb. It wasn’t necessarily in regard to anything specific, but Steven Stamkos was the initial topic which led to the comment.

 

I immediately jotted it down, because really, is there an in between, especially given the stakes?

 

And then, the potential stupidity couldn’t have been more evident than during the Lightning power-play setups with Stamkos playing slot decoy in Game 4 Wednesday. Mike mentioned it in yesterday’s ramblings, and anyone who has seen Stamkos shoot a puck would have to question the justification.

 

Add the fact Tyler Johnson is injured, and it just doesn’t make any sense. Stamkos was visibly frustrated, and for good reason. Shooters shoot, and unless there is a lot of footage I’m unaware of, Johnson isn’t a shooter, at least in the Brett Hull-Stamkos class.

 

Minutes aren’t the issue with Cooper’s usage of Stamkos, either, it is Cooper’s refusal to find him favorable minutes with Palat and Kucherov. Joel Quennville is mixing and matching up and down his bench, and Copper is consistently sending out an undersized pivot — who cannot take draws and won’t attempt a one-time shot — between his two best wingers. It just doesn’t make any sense.

 

It isn’t about breaking up the Triplets, either, it is about giving your best player, and four-time 40 goal scorer, opportunities. A healthy Johnson changes things, but he isn’t healthy, so adaptations are required. One bench made them throughout Game 3 and Game 4, and the other bench tried to make a few swaps late in Game 4, but it was too late.

 

Taking another angle, if Stamkos fires three pucks on net during the power play opportunities, he either scores or he scores in the final minute on one of those chances. Or he scores earlier in the game.

 

Again, shooters shoot, and shooters want to shoot, and they typically get better as the game goes along when they’re consistently shooting.

 

It is stupid to put your best shooter in the middle of the other team’s four players when you have the man advantage.