NHL Offseason Omnibus 2014

[Death From Above]

In related news I was reminded a lot this year that the Ducks once offered to trade Corey Perry to the Oilers for Mike Comrie and a pick and the Oilers turned it down because the Ducks wanted the Oilers to eat some of Comrie's salary.

 

lol

[The Man Known as Dan]

Thanks Feaster!

 

For all my questions about the Blues, that trade for Bouwmeester was still highway robbery.

[Jiji]

In related news I was reminded a lot this year that the Ducks once offered to trade Corey Perry to the Oilers for Mike Comrie and a pick and the Oilers turned it down because the Ducks wanted the Oilers to eat some of Comrie's salary.

 

lol

*Insert picture of Comrie and Hilary Duff on the balcony*

Dude has the best smile, for good reason.

[caley]

In related news I was reminded a lot this year that the Ducks once offered to trade Corey Perry to the Oilers for Mike Comrie and a pick and the Oilers turned it down because the Ducks wanted the Oilers to eat some of Comrie's salary.

 

lol

I thought it was that Edmonton wanted Anaheim to give them money on top of Perry for Comrie, but I could be wrong.

[sabremike]

Florida wins lottery. Doesn't hurt us much as we still have the #2 pick and Ekbland is a defenseman (a position that we have a lot of talented prospects at). We need someone who will help put the puck in the net. Reinhart looks most likely, any of you guys who see juniors care to give me a scouting report?

[Death From Above]

 

In related news I was reminded a lot this year that the Ducks once offered to trade Corey Perry to the Oilers for Mike Comrie and a pick and the Oilers turned it down because the Ducks wanted the Oilers to eat some of Comrie's salary.

 

lol

I thought it was that Edmonton wanted Anaheim to give them money on top of Perry for Comrie, but I could be wrong.

 

 

Whatever the story is... can you fucking imagine.

[caley]

I know the consensus is that it should go Ekblad-Reinhart-Bennett-Draisaitl (In whichever order, it's rumored that Edmonton LOVES Draisaitl and Reinhart, Buffalo's assistant GM LOVES Ekblad while the GM prefers Reinhart).  But after watching a lot of Jake Virtanen this year, I'd start champing at the bit to take him if I had a Top 3 pick.

 

My assessments (Not necessarily where I'd rank them) of the consensus Top 10 CHLers.

 

AARON EKBLAD: Big defenceman, plays a lot of minutes, has some good offensive ability.  The concern on him is two-fold: first, defencemen taken first overall are very often not the best defenceman taken in the draft; and, second, Ekblad's been basically man-size since he was fifteen so there's some belief that a lot of his success came down to him being bigger than his opponents and he won't have that advantage in the NHL.

 

SAM REINHART: Love this guy.  I've seen some Patrice Bergeron comparisions and that makes the most sense.  He's incredibly smart (Watched him kill 40 seconds of a penalty all by himself by stickhandling and skating the puck out of the zone backwards), and has great vision and instincts.  I've seen him make passes that were Gretzky-esque in that he passed to guys who weren't even in position yet and would find the puck on their stick before they were even expecting it.  He should be even better in the NHL than the WHL when he gets linemates who can think the game at a higher level.  He's not a flashy guy, though, there's some questions about his skating, and he's not a real intense guy (11 PIM in the WHL is insanity).

 

SAM BENNETT: Scouts are enamored with this guy because he's a big-time scorer (91 points) but he's also really scrappy and feisty (Was suspended a couple times and had over 100 PIM).  I haven't seen a ton of him, so a lot of my knowledge of him is second-hand (Every time I saw him, he didn't really do much).

 

LEON DRAISAITL: He's a fun guy to watch.  Maybe the best passer not currently in the NHL, he makes incredible passes whether on the forehand or backhand (he's equally adept at both) and, like Reinhart, he's probably going to be better when he gets linemates on his level (I can't begin to count the times I've seen him lay a perfect pass tape-to-tape to a teammate who stares at the puck and loses it).  There's some questions about his skating (overstated in my opinion, he's not a speedster, but he gets where he needs to without any problems) and his intensity (A more valid question as some nights you don't notice him much).  Has a massive frame but doesn't play physical, though when he does get angry, he's pretty impressive.

 

MICHAEL DAL COLLE: A big speedy offensive forward.  Handles the puck amazingly well, and should get bigger, too.  My biggest question with him is 'is he this good, or is a by-product of playing for one of the best teams in the CHL?'  Some nights I feel like he's more of a complimentary player who can't shoulder the load by himself.  Over nights he looks like the guy.

 

JAKE VIRTANEN: Probably my favourite player in the draft.  He's big, he's mean, he's arguably the best skater in the WHL, and has a lethal shot.  I saw him so many times take the puck up the wing and quite literally skate right over opposing defenders (Including guys 2-3 years older and bigger than him).  Knocks against him are consistency (He was pretty much invisible in his team's first round playoff loss, though some speculation he was battling an injury after getting in to a fight in his last game), a lack of creativity (He generates nothing off the cycle, most of his goals are power moves to the net) and some whispers about attitude (Craig Button seems to really dislike him (Has him ranked in the 40s) without giving reasons, which leads me to believe he's heard some things around Calgary).  But he's a power-forward who scored 45 goals last year.  45.

 

BRETT RITCHIE: Another guy I like, somehow this guy is just turning 18 this year and already 220+ pounds.  A big, mean power forward with a great shot.  He's not as fast as Virtanen, but a little more creative.

 

HAYDN FLEURY: A big reason I'm terrified of the Oilers drafting Ekblad is that I think, eventually, Fleury might end up being the better defenceman from this draft.  Fleury can skate like the wind and, though he's often been pegged as a defensive defenceman, he broke out of that mold this year and had some amazing end-to-end rushes.  Despite his size, I'm not sold on his physical play.  To me, he looks like a young Jay Bouwmeester: big, rangy, great skater, maybe lacking high-end offensive ability.

 

NIKOLAJ EHLERS: Maybe the best skater at the CHL level that I've ever seen (Yes, better than MacKinnon and Hall).  What's truly remarkable about Ehlers' skating is watching him skate up the ice at top speed, then take a puck on his stick without slowing down a bit.  Had over 100 points this year, which some may attribute to him playing with last year's high pick Jonathan Drouin, though he wasn't necessarily a passenger when they played together.  Knocks on him are a lack of physical play and a small frame.

 

ROBBY FABBRI: Brendan Perlini should probably go here because a lot of scouts seem to LOVE him (Though I'm, frankly, a little baffled by the love as his play fell off a cliff in the second half and he had 1 single assist in his team's first round playoff loss) so I'm gonna go with Fabbri here.  Fabbri is tiny, speedy and just legitimately great offensive talent.  He plays a similar game to Josh Ho-Sang (whom I also love) but Fabbri's game is more translatable to the NHL, I feel, where Ho-Sang will need to adapt his game.  Fabbri skates, shoots, and passes at an elite level.  He's tiny, though and has been hurt a couple times this year after nasty hits and illegal plays.

[Death From Above]

Draisaitl is a "big" center that's the same size as Taylor Hall (who also isn't big even though he gets called a power forward for some weird reason) so I'm resigned that the Oilers will take him instead of doing the right thing and trading out entirely.

 

Reinhart is literally the only guy I see any reason for them to be excited about today but they're not getting him at 3. This notion that Ekblad will walk into the NHL on the OIlers and do anything is retarded and the more I think about it the less I want to do with it, so luckily that will also be irrelevant from 3. There's just not enough veteran support there already and Schultz, Marincin (who made mistakes this year but still impressed a lot, I would call him one of the few Edmonton bright spots this year), and Kleffbom are almost surely on the roster. Nurse is also a legitimate good prospect that they seem committed to not rushing, I hope. I actually see center as a much, much thinner position for Edmonton going forward, especially when you combine how small the combo of RNH and Gagner is.

 

I would trade the pick for the right price because we need a larger army of children like a hole in your pocket, but I somehow doubt it happens.

 

I also think it's pretty telling that when today Craig MacTavish listed his core guys, Yakupov wasn't mentioned. I like Yakupov, I really do. But there are questions.

[caley]

Draisaitl is a "big" center that's the same size as Taylor Hall (who also isn't big even though he gets called a power forward for some weird reason) so I'm resigned that the Oilers will take him instead of doing the right thing and trading out entirely.

 

Reinhart is literally the only guy I see any reason for them to be excited about today but they're not getting him at 3. This notion that Ekblad will walk into the NHL on the OIlers and do anything is retarded and the more I think about it the less I want to do with it, so luckily that will also be irrelevant from 3. There's just not enough veteran support there already and Schultz, Marincin (who made mistakes this year but still impressed a lot, I would call him one of the few Edmonton bright spots this year), and Kleffbom are almost surely on the roster. Nurse is also a legitimate good prospect that they seem committed to not rushing, I hope. I actually see center as a much, much thinner position for Edmonton going forward, especially when you combine how small the combo of RNH and Gagner is.

 

I would trade the pick for the right price because we need a larger army of children like a hole in your pocket, but I somehow doubt it happens.

 

I also think it's pretty telling that when today Craig MacTavish listed his core guys, Yakupov wasn't mentioned. I like Yakupov, I really do. But there are questions.

He did say that they were committed to developing Yak, though, and that he still felt they made the right decision with the #1 pick.

[Dolfan in NYC]

Florida wins lottery. 

Yay

[sabremike]

Calgary's AHL affiliate is leaving Abbotsford, and the smart money is on the team heading to Glenns Falls, NY. Would be glad if that happens as they are losing Phantoms and deserve a team.

[Newb82]

They totally need to be called the Glenns Falls Hacksaws.

[Charlie M.]

2x4 beer night, the tough guys, it all works.

[sabremike]

Hope they buy the rights to the Adirondack Frostbite name from Barry Melrose (Trasher's most bitter rivals from the old UHL).

[Jiji]

They totally need to be called the Glenns Falls Hacksaws.

Dildo blender as the mascot. 

[Death From Above]

"Female fan appreciation night"

[hammerva]

The Caps spring cleaning has finally occurred as both McPhee and Oates are gone.   Got the feeling there will be some players out as well. 

[Freudian_Slap]

I am not surprised by this, but they've gone through Three coaches, one who is doing very well for himself in Anaheim, one who hated the team so much it was palpable and then Oates who to be honest I am not sure how he did, not well obviously, but the track record of the team speaks more to the players than it being a coaching problem.

Wonder who the replacements will be

[RIPPA]

Someone already called in and said the Caps should hire Mike Keenan

I love this town

[odessasteps]

I have no doubt Teddy Log_on wants a BIG name either as coach or GM.

[Death From Above]

John Shannon waited about 8 seconds before starting a Gretzky to Washington rumor.

[The Man Known as Dan]

Does anyone have a beer? Like, all the beer?

[caley]

Carolina just announced a press conference for tomorrow morning.  It's expected they will name Ron Francis as GM with Jim Rutherford moving upstairs/leaving altogether.  I would assume this is likely the end for Kirk Muller, as well.

 

I've seen a handful of different theories on Washington's new Coach/GM.  Shannon said Gretzky as President hiring his own staff.  Greg Wyshinski figured it would be Nashville Assistan GM Paul Fenton as GM with Barry Trotz as coach.  Elliotte Friedman also figures Trotz, but thinks Mike Gillis might get consideration as GM.  I dunno if Mike Gillis the GM you want for a team that basically just alienated both its goalies, he has not shown a ton of knowledge/patience when it comes to dealing with goaltending situations...

 

Also, the U-18 hockey championships are over (US won, btw) and Brendan Shanahan, Trevor Linden, Dave Nonis, and all the other management guys are either back home, or on their way back home, so if we get firings for Randy Carlyle and John Tortorella, they're expected to come down this week.  I'm not sure you can sell Toronto fans and media on bringing back the coach and GM, so I expect Carlyle to be gone.  I think Torts is finished, too, especially with the rumor that Vancouver negotiated a deal with him where he gets a 5 year deal, but they only have to pay him half the money owed if he's terminated early.

 

My guesses

CGY: Harltey as Coach, Dave Poulin as GM, Burke as President

CAR: Rod Brind'Amour as Coach, Ron Francis as GM

VAN: Doug Houdas as Coach, Jim Benning as GM, Linden as Prez

TOR: Marc Crawford as coach...nah just kidding, though I don't think he's be bad with an offensive team, more likely let's say John Stevens as Coach, Nonis as GM, Shanahan as Prez

WAS: Barry Trotz as Coach, Paul Fenton as GM, Wayne Gretzky as President

[Freudian_Slap]

Has Brind'Amour been coaching somewhere? That's a real interesting pick

[Jiji]

How is Jeff Gorton not an NHL general manager?

 

In his few months as interim GM of the Bruins, he basically built that team into what they are now. I also like what New York has done since he came on board. Except for the Nash trade, because fuck Rick Nash... Alvin and the Chipmunks lookin' motherfucker. I'd love it (not going to happen though) if Linden hired him before Slats retires and Gorton becomes GM of the Rangers. 

 

Edit: Burke hires Brad Treliving and Treliving was his only interviewee. Typical Burke.