OffThePost.org

Once again, a post of mine pissadears. Oh well.

From Dmitri Filipovic's Twitter:



Yeah...Avs knew they weren't going all the way.

We'll see what happens, they still have their first rounder, which I believe is around 29th overall but should climb considerably given that most of the teams ahead of them in the draft are still playing. Whether they actually use the pick or parlay it to bolster the roster remains to be seen.

Bednar and the team have been extremely vague regarding Gabriel Landeskog's future.

No word whatsoever on Valeri Nichushkin's status.

Yay...uncertainty!

Alternative Headline: 2 Grus, 1 Cup.

Players returning:
MacKinnon (new extension that boosts his salary from $6.3 million to $12.6 million AAV kicks in)
Rantanen
Makar
Nichushkin (under contract at least)
Landeskog
O'Connor
Makar
Toews (final year of his contract, currently making $4.1 million AAV)
Girard
Manson
Georgiev
Francouz
MacDermid (uuuugggggghhh)

RFAs
Malgin (arb rights, which teams really seem to hate nowadays)
Newhook
Byram

UFAs
Compher
Eller
Rodrigues
Cogliano
Helm
Nieto
E. Johnson
J. Johnson

I think there is a more than good chance that Helm, Cogliano, and Jack Johnson all retire. Same goes with the longest-tenured Av, Erik Johnson, and given how emotional he got following the Avs' elimination I think he knows it's probably time.

Guessing Compher, Eller, E-Rod, and Nieto are all gone. Both E-Rod and Compher are likely due for raises and the Avs don't have the cap space.

No idea about the RFAs though the Avs will likely do their damndest to re-up Byram, even though he once again missed significant time. Probably a bridge deal of some kind. Newhook may or may not be moved, he was far and away the biggest disappointment this season. That's not all on him but regardless, I don't see a key player there at all.

There will likely be a trade or two in the works. I don't anticipate the roster not undergoing a big shakeup, something has to give.

Injury news is trickling out. A Finnish outlet says Artturi Lehkonen was playing on a broken toe, he had missed most of the final stretch of the regular season with a broken finger. I'm sure more will be coming out (or maybe not) in the coming weeks.

Ouch...Landeskog undergoing some cartilage transplant and will miss all of next season as well.

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No AI has been used in the making of this post

And that may be it for him. This surgery hardly seems like a sure thing, if it doesn't take and he eventually requires knee replacement, he's done.

Avs holding a presser, there had better be some clarity on the Nichushkin situation now.

No clarity on the Nichushkin situation whatsoever. Speculation on HF points toward the team wanting him to enter rehab/Player's Assistance and him resisting.

In other news, Jonas Johansson (the 2nd player in Avs history to bear that name) opted to return to Sweden. Did well enough as a third/fourth option in net for the Avs and did okay in the AHL as well. The disconcerting thing is that top netminding prospect Justus Annunen didn't really play much better this year or last, and was ventilated his last time he played in the NHL. I don't see a viable backstop option going forward there, it would be nice if they quit half-assing the drafting and development of goalies going forward.

After that situation, how the hell could anyone resist rehab?

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

First step toward recovery is admitting you have a problem. If he's not willing to do that, there's a real issue.

Don't know if I mentioned this already but this seems very, very analogous to the situation between the Red Wings and Jakub Vrana. Reportedly Vrana did not enter Players' Assistance of his own volition, when he came back there appears to have been a huge rift, so much so that he was demoted and waived back to the AHL after his rehab stint in the AHL didn't go well, then traded with 50% retention for pennies on the dollar. The longer this goes, the uglier it gets.

Have no idea if they have insider information but the guys at the DNVR podcast reportedly said that if the Avs had won Game 7 against the Kraken, Nichushkin would have been available for the second round.

Right, but I mean how can one not admit they have a problem when they have sex workers ODing in their place? I guess the defense is that SHE ODed, not him.
I always wonder how much better these guys could be without the drugs. Or if the drugs help them in some way.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Still remember the quote about Bryan Fogerty from Mats Sundin that Fogerty could skate faster, shoot harder and pass crisper drunk than the rest of his teammates could sober. I'm sure that there is the odd guy it might help but for the majority it seems very self-destructive. Especially with what we saw with enforcers.

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Thanks Chuck, E.L. and Harmy!

Nichushkin battled some major injuries all year and was clearly not 100%, I feel a little remiss speculating like this about some dude I don't know at all but it's entirely possible whatever addiction he has or the team believes he has might be tied in with that.

The thing that's rather disconcerting in hindsight is that there were games where he just wasn't checked in at all, fumbling routine passes like a Mini-Mite and fighting the puck all over the place, and then there were games where he just flat-out dominated.

I should have clarified- I was talking cocaine. Isn't that what Nich was on? And Kuznetsov was it? One of the Russian Capitals... I also think of Grant Fuhr.

Most enforcers take sleeping pills & ridiculous amounts of pain killers to help them be able to actually sleep before games in which they know they'll have to fight another heavy weight. Or sleep through injury pain resulting from fights. After reading the bio that Boogard's father wrote, I haven't been too keen on the enforcer role at all. The shit they go through... Frigging gladiators on ice.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Painkillers are a huge problem, and the league has been trying to mitigate travel to ease player use of Ambien, which, if you talk to our long-gone Benefactor Cali about it (not him, someone he knows), is a drug that can get you into some real deep shit if you're not careful.

We don't know for sure what, if anything, Nichushkin was on. All we know is he had a very intoxicated escort in his hotel room who is likely the victim of sex trafficking.

And yeah, Kuznetsov over in Washington had an issue with cocaine, which I'm told is a pretty widespread drug in pro sports anyway.

I think it was David "Skywalker" Thompson who once said "Cocaine is God's way of tellin' you ya got too much money."

I understood what you meant, I didn't mean to say that Fogerty being hammered helped his play.

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Thanks Chuck, E.L. and Harmy!

Gotcha. And I didn't take your statement to mean Fogerty being hammered helped him. Thought you thought I meant being under the influence of downers might help play... I was strictly talking uppers.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

https://www.9news.com/article/news/loca ... 8b52f1a9b3

Heavily edited body cam with off duty Colorado cops sweeping it under the rug.......

He's a bad man!

Yikes!!!!

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Bettman and Daly say Nichushkin is eligible to play next season. For now.

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In other shocking news, water is wet.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Too lazy to find the link but bodycam footage has been made available. I'm not sure it has added any more insight based on what I've read or been told.

I mean, we know whatever it is, it was serious enough to send away a hugely important player right in the middle of a playoff series. It had to be pretty bad. As to whether there will be lasting consequences, only time will tell.

Team confirms Valeri Nichushkin will return next season.

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