The funny thing in that video was that he still curses in Finnish when he lets one in! "Jumalauta!"
Yeah I can see some of the posters going the usual way...."we gave up our best d-prospect for an injury prone, blind goalie who has rather average numbers" and being all sour about it.
I'll offer a different view. You got the most talented goalie since Dominik Hasek, and with a bit of luck, he might actually turn out just as good in the long run. It happened to Hasek, it happened to Kiprusoff....there are others who have struggled in their first team and then went on to be absolute elite in the league, and if there's one goalie in the league that has the potential to become the next Roy, Hasek or Brodeur...you just got him. Of course potential alone doesn't do much, but that's all your team gave in return also. At least Lehtonen is an above average goalie in the NHL already when he can play. What you gave up for him was not even that.
Don't get me wrong most of us know the potential elite goalie Lehtonen can be, and to be honest he was the goalie I was hoping we ended up with out of the available ones on the market. The issue for me is that we've (fans) waited soooo long for IV to make the roster, management didn't want to rush him, and wanted him fully develop in the minors and now good or bad we won't see what he can do on the Stars roster. I think expectations for the kid were going to haunt him here anyway, he kind of got dubbed as the second coming of Zubov and that isn't fair to anyone to try to live up to that.
I also agree that the KHL issue was very real, remember when they called him up last year to sit on the bench for no real reason? I don't think it would be a far reach to think he would have bolted to the KHL next year if he didn't make the big club full time, and we all know how much of a logjam there already is there with all the young defensemen and then add in Larsen and it further complicates the matter. I also wish he would have developed a bit better defensively this year then he did. An issue I have is Joe dealt a high prospect from a position we are very shallow at, aside from Larsen there is no one else.
It's not that I'm not excited to get Lehtonen it's just that I'm disappointed that IV never really got a shot on the big club.
Apparently Flyers Fans don't know that Dallas is strapped for cash this season. They're all proposing Briere/Hartnell for Turco deals where Dallas actually takes in 6.5 mil. or 4.25 mil. of extra salary. Which is just absurd. I'm surprised they don't know our owner is broke. Doesn't every team in the NHL know that by now? Guess not...
Apparently Flyers Fans don't know that Dallas is strapped for cash this season. They're all proposing Briere/Hartnell for Turco deals where Dallas actually takes in 6.5 mil. or 4.25 mil. of extra salary. Which is just absurd. I'm surprised they don't know our owner is broke. Doesn't every team in the NHL know that by now? Guess not...
yeah well Philly fans are alot like Boston fans - they aren't aware of much outside their little sphere.
Love the trade,
finally a reason to play my nhl 10 stars franchise, I don't have to stare at stupid turco anymore.
(I know I can make any trade I like, but I don't like to do that)
Joe is going to really look stupid and I doubt ownership is going to be happy with him if/when the stars have to trade/waive Auld because theres no place for Turco to go.
Joe is going to really look stupid and I doubt ownership is going to be happy with him if/when the stars have to trade/waive Auld because theres no place for Turco to go.
I doubt there isn't a market for Turco out there. His value isn't great, but he's seemingly bounced back the past two weeks.
I think a Lehtonen/Auld combination would be complementary twosome.
I doubt there isn't a market for Turco out there. His value isn't great, but he's seemingly bounced back the past two weeks.
I think a Lehtonen/Auld combination would be complementary twosome.
I think we'll let Auld go in the summer and sign a different FA goalie who can we can rely on to play 30 games in the event Lehtonen explodes into tiny glass shards. Or we'll re-sign Turco for league minimum and hope to Stevie Y he doesn't suck that badly as a backup...
I think a Lehtonen/Auld platoon could be a very good situation for Dallas. Forgive me but I don't know much about your team but I do know a bit about both goalies. Behind a competent defense both Lehtonen and Auld should thrive with around 40 games. I've watched and followed Lehtonen since he's broken into the league. I think he has the skillset to be as good as Hasek was. However his mental approach to the game is limited. In my opinion it seems more like maturity issues than anything. As has been mentioned previously in this thread if he could learn how to live and condition himself like an NHL goalie he'd be fantastic. If the Stars are able to handle him right, I could see him being a top ten goalie.
I doubt there isn't a market for Turco out there. His value isn't great, but he's seemingly bounced back the past two weeks.
I think a Lehtonen/Auld combination would be complementary twosome.
I dont see how there can be much of one. Most teams dont need a goalie and most teams dont have enough cap space to take on Turco. Stars best bet is to likely have to take a bad contract back in return. They may find a good trade for Turco, but it isnt going to be easy as there wont be many teams in the running, and those teams will likely see better options available.
Well Nieuwendyk doesn't make this trade unless Hicks approves the finances, so I wouldn't worry about him being "forced" to make any others. Nieuwendyk will probably be shopping several players at the trade deadline, who knows - he might find a team willing to give Turco a chance with an expiring contract. St. Louis was supposed to be in the chase for Lehtinen, maybe they'll take Turco.
As i told in other thread Lehtonen is big steal for you guys if he manages to stay healthy. He has very high skill level and looks calm in the net. He has strong playoff records except he has played once in NHL playoffs but atlanta never was a good team. IF he stays healthy he can play good career in stars and im sure you guys will love him. Hes the guy u build winning team around him.
You also have to wonder if, behind the scenes, Vishnevskiy was threatening to go to the KHL if he wasn't with the Stars next year.
If he saw many Stars games and watched Niskanen make the same kind of mistakes the organization was worried Vishnevskiy would maybe make, then I can't blame the guy if he did. I'm kind of bummed we traded him with so few NHL games, because even if he never becomes the all-around defenseman, I still think his offensive potential is pretty high. High risk trade for us considering some of the issues with Lehtonen.
I think a Lehtonen/Auld platoon could be a very good situation for Dallas. Forgive me but I don't know much about your team but I do know a bit about both goalies. Behind a competent defense both Lehtonen and Auld should thrive with around 40 games. I've watched and followed Lehtonen since he's broken into the league. I think he has the skillset to be as good as Hasek was. However his mental approach to the game is limited. In my opinion it seems more like maturity issues than anything. As has been mentioned previously in this thread if he could learn how to live and condition himself like an NHL goalie he'd be fantastic. If the Stars are able to handle him right, I could see him being a top ten goalie.
Hes skillset is actualy top 5 in this league. Mentally hes been quite strong too( Won FEL as a starter in draft year, in lockout year he managed to get his team to calder cup finals when AHL were the best league in the world and he got wc silver medal as a starter. Atlanta was just a very weak team and its hard to play when you can't play full seasons.
I think you guys need to realize what his upside is.
For a 10-day stretch last March in 5 starts - he went 5-0 with 2 shutouts - .965 sv% and a 1.01 gaa.
Yeah, there's a ton of question marks - but the potential is there to be at the very top of the league. That performance was less than 12 months ago. It's not ancient history.
Apparently Flyers Fans don't know that Dallas is strapped for cash this season. They're all proposing Briere/Hartnell for Turco deals where Dallas actually takes in 6.5 mil. or 4.25 mil. of extra salary. Which is just absurd. I'm surprised they don't know our owner is broke. Doesn't every team in the NHL know that by now? Guess not...
Even more apparent that they didn't know their GM shot that rumor down last night anyways.
I like this deal. I have been feeling increasingly apprehensive about vish all year. No call ups has just set off red flags this year. Whatever the issues with vish are, he has become a volatile asset, no matter his potential and I am thrilled to get talent of Lehtonen's caliber in return.
