aly
Junior Member
Posts: 26
Status: Offline
Joined:
pm
| | Lonzo Ball Ucla (10th Sep 20 at 2:13am UTC) | | "In the time since the NHL's decision to suspend its season, it has become all too evident that the only thing we know for certain is that we know nothing. We don't yet know when the league will be back in operation, what the format will be when, or if, the league decides to resume the regular season and how the league intends on playing out the post-season, if indeed the post-season is played at all.
To be sure, several ideas have been bandied about. There's been talk of pushing the beginning of the resumed campaign back to August, suggestions about ways to play a condensed regular season, proposals about fast-forwarding straight to the playoffs and, if that's the case Jimmy Butler Marquette Jersey, possibly even extending the field from its regular 16 teams to a 24-team tournament.
And while any tack the NHL takes will have an impact on the league and its teams, how the league proceeds also stands to have an effect away from the ice and on any of the many sportsbooks that have taken NHL-related betting action. Already, of course, sportsbooks have taken a hit with the loss of day-to-day action. According to Mohawk Online CEO Dean Montour, whose company operates Sports Interaction, business is down by substantial margins with leagues across the globe pressing pause on or outright cancelling events.
“We're all at the mercy of the pandemic right now,” Montour said.
But beyond the day-to-day, there's another wrinkle to the present situation and the uncertainty that surrounds it. Throughout the past several months, dating back to the pre-season, bettors have been laying money on futures and prop bets of all manners, most notably division winners Kevin Durant Texas Jersey, playoff entrants, conference champions and an eventual Stanley Cup champion. However, most bets, if not all, were made under the assumption the NHL would play an 82-game regular season, not an abridged schedule. Thus, with the league in limbo, the sportsbooks find themselves in a similar position.
For right now, it's been status quo despite the season suspension. Sportsbooks are operating under the assumption the NHL season will be completed, and the belief is that once conference champions and a Stanley Cup champion is crowned, the tickets will be paid out. At this time, no refunds are being issued on those futures bets. “Where it does get to be a little unorthodox and unique is in regard to regular season win totals or, in the case of the NHL, point totals,” said Todd Fuhrman, a former oddsmaker and now co-host of the ‘Bet the Board' podcast. “That if the entire regular season isn't finished, those tickets will become refunds based on stipulations that basically say, generally speaking, that you have to play the entire regular season for those bets to have action.”
Montour said internal discussions have led to the same conclusions. “If (the NHL) does get shut down altogether and there is no season, I think the only thing is to void the bets,” he said. “Call it a push, call it a void, call it what you will, but I think unless the whole season played out, it's almost impossible.”
There are some instances, however Kyrie Irving Duke Jersey, where certain wagers will pay out. Available to bettors are props that include a team reaching certain milestones. To wit, a bettor who was bullish on the Boston Bruins or Washington Capitals entering the season may have laid down money on the club reaching the 40-win plateau. Both teams have done so, and if that bet was made, it will pay out, Montour said. “But if the result still isn't determined and they have to cancel the season, the only thing we're probably going to be able to do is push or void the bet,” he added.
Far less certain is what will happen should the NHL adopt an expanded playoff format and how sportsbooks will navigate that potential reality. As noted, there has been chatter about the NHL potentially nixing the remainder of the 2019-20 regular season and opening the doors to the 12-best teams in each conference. The resulting 24-team field would mean that several clubs who were set to finish on the outside looking in will have miraculously punched their tickets to the post-season.
“The one market that I'll ultimately admit I have no idea how they'll ultimately grade is yes-no props (for) teams to make the playoffs,” Fuhrman said. “I know the NHL has kicked around the idea of expanding the playoff format to 24 teams should they not pick up resumption of the regular season. That's a market that I'm honestly not sure how it will get graded because it's such a unique circumstance.”"
"These are getting harder by the squad, and Russia's roster was the toughest to construct through the first three parts of the series. Talent-wise, you couldn't go wrong. But right off the bat, the inclusion of Artemi Panarin, who is a must-have for this Russian team, wreaked havoc on the salary structure due to his $11.6-million cap hit. Obviously, one can't leave the Hart Trophy favorite who is in the midst of a career year off the squad, but bringing him along means liberties needed to be taken elsewhere.
Let's start with the players who didn't make the cut. Vladimir Tarasenko would obviously play a key role on a real Russian national team, but with a shoulder injury limiting Tarasenko to just 10 games this season, it was difficult to justify his $7.5-million cap hit. Also absent is Sergei Bobrovsky, and I can give you 10 million reasons why he didn't make the cut, even if he would be likely to sneak onto a real Team Russia. Conspicuous by their absences, as well, are Alexander Radulov and Nikita Gusev. That should give you an indication of how challenging it was to piece this group together.
So, if those are the players who were left off the roster, who found their way into the cap-compliant Russian team? Panarin, Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Nikita Kucherov and Evgeni Malkin all land on the team and combine to eat up more than $33 million of the team's available budget Lonzo Ball Ucla Jersey, but it's worth every penny. Between that group, there are five Stanley Cup championships, five Hart Trophies and a host of international titles, too. As far as offense goes, it doesn't get much better than this.
Finding the best center depth was a challenge, though. After Malkin and Kuznetsov, only one other Russian pivot, Ivan Barbashev, had hit the 50-game mark this season, and Vladislav Namestnikov, who has struggled and spent most of his time this season on the wing, wasn't going to cut it. Nikolai Prokhorkin is a natural center who, despite modest performance on a weak Los Angeles Kings team this year, showed great promise in the KHL and might still be a hidden gem - and at $925,000, the price is right. And for other additions up front Michael Jordan North Carolina Jersey, price played a major part in their selection, and Andrei Svechnikov's entry-level deal and Ilya Kovalchuk's league-minimum contract transformed them from obvious selections to absolute no-brainers.
That's the offense. The defense is another story. Would you rather have a dominant offensive group or employ Nikita Zaitsev or Dmitri Kulkov? Don't even bother thinking twice. The group below clearly has its flaws and a lack of experience is evident, but there's no real way around it.
For as good as the team is up front, the goaltending is absolutely killer. Having Andrei Vasilevskiy, the 2019 Vezina Trophy winner, followed up by two of the best rookie goaltenders in the league gives Russia three high-caliber options in net. In fact, Igor Shesterkin could challenge for the starting role on a few of the teams in this fictional six-team event. For this exercise, it's a godsend that Vasilevskiy's $9.5-million hit doesn't kick in until next season. If it did, Russia's roster would look vastly different.
Once the core construction was completed, the roster was looking at a cap hit of $82,640,443 - just a tad bit over the cap. Where do you go from there? Do you cut Dmitry Orlov, one of the best Russian defenders in the league, and replace him with Nikita Zadorov? No, so the attention moved back to the forward group.
Evgeni Dadonov has seen a significant dip in production since his 70-point campaign last year, hitting just 47 in 69 games in 2019-20. Dropping him seemed like the right move, even if he's still a valuable asset. Gusev would have been a great replacement, but his $4.5-million cap hit gets in the way. Thus, the decision was made to drop Dadonov and insert a rejuvenated Valeri Nichushkin as the 13th forward.
But once the cap was re-calculated Michael Jordan Unc Jersey, it became apparent that there was money to burn and space to bring Dadonov back into the fold if another sacrifice could be made. And it could, as Pavel Buchnevich was given the axe in favor of putting Dadonov back on the squad. While there's a mere one-point spread between the two players, Dadonov played some of his best hockey alongside Panarin in international play and it's a connection ripe for re-ignition. That left the Russians with about $1.26 million in cap space."
| |
|
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
