Kris Russell, hockey culture and Jimmy Vesey (Puck Daddy Countdown)

(Ed. Note: The column formerly known as the Puck Daddy Power Rankings. Ryan Lambert takes a look at some of the biggest issues and stories in the NHL, and counts them down.)

5. Overplaying your hand

As I write this it’s been about 266 hours since the free agency period opened and Kris Russell still doesn’t have a contract for next season.

Not surprising, given that he is maybe a No. 6 defender on any reasonably good team who was allegedly seeking something resembling Alex Goligoski’s contract. We’ve heard a few reports since July 1 that such-and-such a team is kicking the tires, but he’s a guy who just doesn’t help very much, and so if he’s still out there, it might be because he’s not budging as much as teams would like on the whole “price point and term” thing as teams would like. His actual value was always out of step with his reported ask, and now we’re seeing the result.

On the other hand, it’s a little surprising, because there was reportedly something of a market for Russell even with the acknowledgement that blocking shots isn’t what makes you a good defenseman (not-having-to is), no matter what Bob Hartley thought.

A good rule of thumb, then: If you’re setting your value based on how your demonstrably bad coach uses you, you’re probably pricing yourself out of a lot of markets.

4. Spin

“I think our fans are gonna really appreciate the improvements.”

That’s Geoff Molson talking to the media about the P.K. Subban trade that’s almost universally hated in Montreal, after saying that he believes Bergevin has improved the Canadiens this summer. I might be inclined to agree with the last part, about the improvements, were it not for the whole “Traded P.K. Subban” issue that Molson seemed to have forgotten about in the 20-something seconds since he began addressing the media.

Hmm, nah.

Because what Bergevin himself thinks he did in getting rid of Subban and bringing in guys with capital-P “pedigree” like Shea Weber (Gold Medals!) and Andrew Shaw (Stanley Cups!) is make his team better in the room if not on the ice:

This idea that Chicago has three Stanley Cups since 2010 because they “hate to lose” is pervasive in hockey, and also insane. It ignores that they also “have world-class players at every position.” You know who hates to lose? Basically every professional athlete. The idea here is that Subban’s exit is in part because he didn’t mind losing all the time. Like it didn’t affect him at all, and meanwhile Max Pacioretty was sitting in his stall watching the wrist-cutting scene from Royal Tenenbaums on a loop after every game.

And it’ll probably even look like they made the right call, because Carey Price won’t get hurt again next year (probably) and the team won’t have the worst goaltending in the league for pretty much the entire season. And they’ll all say, “See, it’s because we traded P.K. and he was so bad in the room.” Meanwhile they’ll probably still miss the playoffs unless Price stands on his head for 65 games again (possible!) because the roster has one good-ish defenseman on it and their coach doesn’t really make a lot of smart decisions.

But hey, at least you got rid of the guy who gave $10 million to a children’s hospital.

3. Fallacies

Okay, I just want to expand on this idea of culture: If Chicago wins primarily because of “Culture” then that implies it does “Culture” better than anyone else, right? So why didn’t that Culture help them get out of the first round of the playoffs this year? Why didn’t it win them every Cup between 2010 and present?

It’s easy to attribute success to something beyond “they’re really good,” because we like to ascribe narratives to things. But when really good teams falter, it’s always just excuses made for them. The idea of intangibles is nice because it helps show why players are merely good instead of great. (In much the same way, the idea that Jonathan Toews could score 90 points every season if he wanted to, but chooses not to, is widespread and very silly.)

Guys can indeed have bad attitudes or be disliked in the room, but when they’re out on the ice, those tend to go away to some extent. For example, if a guy is having trouble at home, he’s not going into the corner against Shea Weber thinking, “Ah jeez, my life sure is rough right now.” It might affect his preparation, but not his performance, per se.

And regardless, intangibles such as they are probably have a relatively minor impact on individual games, let alone entire postseasons or regular seasons, despite the fact that they are so heavily sought-after.

Put simply, if most teams are made up of guys who are Good In The Room then the effect of that for each team largely cancels itself out, if it exists at all. And at that point, talent takes over.

It’s a well-worn idea at this point — and I believe it was originally advanced by Tyler Dellow in the infamous Steve Simmons radio faceoff — but the idea that you can become like Chicago by overpaying for Chicago’s cap casualties is plainly wrongheaded.

2. Setting yourself up for a letdown

Man, all these people seem to be really losing their minds over the Sabres maybe signing Jimmy Vesey come Aug. 15. But here’s a question: Should they be?

It’s a more or less free, NHL-ready asset if they get it, but let’s be honest about what Vesey is, right? He’s a kid who wasn’t the best player in college hockey in his draft-year-plus-five, and who some familiar with the prospects game think of as being roughly on the same level in terms of quality both now and in the future as Kevin Hayes. Hayes, by the way, was at least not-the-best-player-in-college-hockey in his DY+4.

And look, there’s nothing wrong with Kevin Hayes. He’s perfectly good as a depth forward, and has done most things well over the course of his career; he’s a roughly 40-point player who drives possession and all that, and who’s going to score in the mid-teens for goals. Vesey’s ceiling might be a little higher than that — he certainly displayed more a goalscoring aptitude over his whole college career than did Hayes — but maybe not by much.

Any team would have been lucky to get a player like Hayes for what is effectively nothing. The Sabres got Vesey (maybe) for a little more than that, since they gave up a pick to acquire his rights and pitch him on Buffalo for the next month or so. But if you’re buying billboards for the guy, or slotting him into your top six already, you’re only setting yourself up to be disappointed, regardless of whether he actually signs. The player you think he is and the player he actually is are not the same thing.

1. Unfair labor practices becoming fair

Earlier this month, Nova Scotia became the third province in Canada to grant CHL teams exemptions from minimum wage laws, helping both Halifax and Cape Breton get out of paying the teenagers they pretty much employ full-time. It joined Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and Washington State among the homes of CHL franchises to allow this exemption.

“To be frank, we saw the class-action suit killing junior hockey in the Maritimes,” Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil told reporters. “The fact is that junior hockey here is important to us. We believe these changes will keep it here. Teams know they have the responsibilities to the players in treating them well. They’ll continue to do so… Every kid that I know would want to go play, as a matter of fact they’d pay to play for the Mooseheads.”

Now, CHL players get stipends, and that’s worth noting. A little walkin’ around money is something players didn’t get in college hockey until very recently. And the size of those stipends? Man, it’s a whopping $35 a week for kids under the age of 18. Those age 18 get $50, 19-year-olds get $60, and overagers get $150. What a life!

And now it’s even more legal than it was before. These kids are high on the hog!

(Not ranked this week: Boston College.

The BC Eagles made the national semifinals once again this past season because that is what the BC Eagles generally do. Next year they might be hard-pressed to make the semifinals Hockey East.

So far this summer, the Eagles have had a whopping seven players from last year’s team leave early: Washington’s Zach Sanford signed with the Capitals earlier this week. He joins Minnesota’s Alex Tuch and Adam Gilmour, New Jersey’s Miles Wood and Steve Santini, Florida’s Ian McCoshen, and Vancouver’s Thatcher Demko on the way out the door.

So that’s both of their two best defensemen, three top-six forwards, and the best goaltender in the country out the door. And it’s entirely possible some other teams might come calling for the likes of Colin White or even Ryan Fitzgerald (and hey by the way, what are the odds Fitzgerald shoots 15 percent again next season?).

And they might come calling too. It could get real ugly.)

Ryan Lambert is a Puck Daddy columnist. His email is here and his Twitter is here.

(All statistics via Corsica unless otherwise noted.)