Quoting: Skyraider112
I thought Arizona didn't want to take back any money in a Chychrun trade, yet the next day they go out and acquire an 8+ mil player? Regardless, big Arizona dub. If Voracek plays next season and plays decently, they can retain 50% and get a mid-round pick. Arizona is stockpiling picks, not sure it will work in their favour but I applaud the effort
That’s the gamble. All signs are that Voracek’s career is over. Not like you can rehab a concussion. Can’t even monitor it with blood work, vitals, or an EPT kit from Walmart. Plus, given the sports landscape in 2023, I sure wouldn’t want to be the team even nudging a player w/ concussion concerns to resume his career. Ever.
Perhaps at some point, Jake and Jake alone will come to the decision that he misses hockey, needs hockey, and wants to return to play in the NHL. But he has two young sons (born ‘16 and ‘19) for whom he wants to be present, literally and figuratively, which he will undoubtedly consider in any decision. One would think exile to Arizona decreases the likelihood of his return, but it actually gives him the best scenario personally. He no longer is tethered to the emotional obligations tied to the team that drafted him AND traded a very popular player to reacquire him. (Despite appearances, Cam Atkinson and Voracek are only months apart in age.)
Now, if he wants to return, he can actually go anywhere: Arizona would much rather trade him than play him. That puts him in a location of his choosing, presumptively with a contender. If and only if he wants. In the meantime, he can live and recover in Czechia.
My best bet—most assuredly NOT going out on a limb here—Voracek looks back on his 1000+ NHL games with pride and calls it a career in North America. He’ll probably test the frozen waters back home at some point down the road, with assurances from Jagr that anyone taking a shot at Jake will disappear deep into the Vltava. In that scenario, ARZ does not “win the lottery” and flip him for far more value than they paid. (They have made SOME savvy moves. See: 👻 🐻) But the Yotes real goal is to just kill time while they’re stuck in a peewee rink, hover barely above the cap floor while paying less in real world dollars, and field as bad of a team as possible to maximize the value of their own picks. Jake’s real money variance is nowhere near as great as Weber’s, but it does help the other agendas.
Really overlooked CBJ in this, because the analysis is mostly the obvious combined with the aforementioned. They moved a $8.25M cap hit off the books for next year, a player they were NOT going to push to play. And yes, the dirty, unspoken secret that manifests too apparently to be a true secret: CBJ’s ownership group tends to idolize Scrooge McDuck, particularly since the founder/patriarch passed. So while other teams would have just utilized Voracek on LTIR, that was an undesirable path for this team. Werenski’s LTIR went entirely unused this season (maybe will be a bit now with the Gus and Quick retentions). In fact, had they desired, the Jackets could have dipped well beyond $20M into LTIR with their injuries, but it was never a consideration. How many 3rd, 4th, 5th round picks did they miss out on by avoiding brokering deals? And I never fully believe a story sourced out of Boston, but if they indeed refused to take on Craig Smith (or Jesse Puljujärvi), look at the capital it cost them.
Finally, as for Gilles the goalie, I hope/presume he’s just a space filler in the AHL while CBJ rotate Tarasov, Greaves, and Lalonde through the main roster down the stretch, just to get a sense how unprepared each are to back up the already inept Elvis next season. 🥅