NHL Offseason Part 2

[PaulS]

Some of us Leafs fans thought that Nonis was perhaps a secret genius for taking Mark Fraser to arb. Why? It allowed him an extra buyout to comply with unexpectedly large judgments. You know, like Fraser getting anything over 800K. This way, he could limit the damage from his DISASTROUS summer buying out Liles and being able to retain both Kadri and Franson. Well, the buyout window is now closed.

 

The Leafs went from one of the best cap situations to one of the worst. They are MUCH weaker at C, they will be weaker on D after being forced to give away Franson, and it's about a wash (albeit, with a much more expensive and future albatross in Clarkson) at W. They seriously upgraded the one position that was least in need of an upgrade, and in the process told a kid who carried the team, "Sorry, our new CEO is sorta familiar with this guy, the backup from his old team, so we're giving him the job."

 

Leiweke also got them to sign his useless so-in-law to a minor league deal. He's an assclown, Nonis is an assclown, Carlyle is an assclown who has no idea how his team succeeded last year and who was responsible. Also, the window for winning slams shut after this year, because Kessel/Phaneuf/Gardiner are all key, and I see them losing two of them.

 

Fuck this summer.

[Death From Above]

I want to make fun of the Leafs so much but the Oilers are the Oilers and the only team I'm sure we are better than right now is Calgary, who might not be able to beat a team of random people walking the streets of any Canadian town at this point.

 

But seriously, if the Oilers don't show some improvement this season they're going to have to blow things up again, right? Maybe not so much on the ice because you're always going to want to keep at least some of your young players, but I imagine the front office should be on stand by.

[The Man Known as Dan]

I still stand the Oilers best play is trading one of their top young forwards for s D-Man. Phoenix would have to strongly consider Eberle for Yandle, right?

[PaulS]

I still stand the Oilers best play is trading one of their top young forwards for s D-Man. Phoenix would have to strongly consider Eberle for Yandle, right?

 

I suggest the same thing, but I don't know if Eberle is the guy I'd trade.They may part with Yandle since they already have OEL locked up. Maybe offer Nuge?

 

Maybe offer Nuge for Franson??? C'MON, DO IT MAC T.

[Death From Above]

They are randomly replaying Canada Cup 87 again on TSN because who needs to air real current sports when you can air 80's hockey, but I just have to repeat this might have been the best hockey team ever assembled.

 

The Russians weren't too shabby either.

 

It's also shocking seeing how little holding is allowed compared to now. People actually think defensemen now have improved technique, it's hilarious. Granted, positioning is talked about much more now, but a lot of it is just grabbing people. Goaltending has got a lot better, defensemen have just got bigger and cheat more.

[Dolfan in NYC]

http://deadspin.com/report-nhl-to-take-over-the-devils-1066154112

 

The NHL is about to take over the Devils.

[Death From Above]

As the article says, not a surprise, but it is sad.

 

I hear the new building in New Jersey is actually pretty awesome, but it might be in the worst neighborhood in all of New Jersey, which is saying something.

[Jiji]

It must be sweet being a North American sports owner. Show up when the times are good and when the team starts to lose money, disappear. 

[Charlie M.]

Somehow Cory Schneider managed to leave one gong show and end up in a worse situation.

[Jiji]

Even if the ownership problems and Kovalchuk situation didn't happen, it would still suck for him to sit on the bench in favour of old man Marty. He's only there for two years and then he can sign for stupid money as a 29-year-old free agent.

[Charlie M.]

A 29 year goalie who has never been tested with a full work load?  He might miss his window to get stupid money.

[Death From Above]

Philadelphia will sign him to a 16 year $88 million dollar deal, probably.

[Jiji]

He'll play the '14-'15 as Jersey's number one. He could/likely will outplay Marty for the starter's job this year and get the lion's share of games as well. If he gets injured again, then yeah, there may be some warranted criticism directed his way for being a lightweight.

[sabremike]

As the article says, not a surprise, but it is sad.

 

I hear the new building in New Jersey is actually pretty awesome, but it might be in the worst neighborhood in all of New Jersey, which is saying something.

It's not nearly the worst area. It's not great but there are far worse areas in Newark. Not to mention that on gameday the place is crawling with cops. Worst part about the building is the molestation you receive when you enter it (it's like going to an airport). And the security there are morons: I actually had a ticket to a suite for a Seton Hall game but decided to go down to the $10 seats (and this wasn't a student section, it was the cheapest seats in the building) so I could leave sooner. Keep in mind that the section (and arena) are sparsely populated. Security comes, asks to check my ticket, and then tells me I can't stay there. They just delight in busting people's balls which is why I hate going there so much.

[caley]

Bettman and Daly both say the report is inaccurate and they're not about to take over the Devils.  Devils beat writer thinks the team could be sold quick two potential buyers already, possibly to the owner of the 76ers.  He said both are not interested in moving the team and want to keep it in Jersey.

[Death From Above]

These tweets were actually not related to each other at all but just happened to pop up side by side on my things I follow list and I thought it was funny:

 

[Charlie M.]

The whole Gretzky trade retrospective week is a bit silly but it was an excuse for the NHL Network to air non-stop Gretzky games from his whole career this week.

 

I saw a couple passes he made in tight spaces that would make Datsyuk's wizardry look second rate. 

[PaulS]

 

As the article says, not a surprise, but it is sad.

 

I hear the new building in New Jersey is actually pretty awesome, but it might be in the worst neighborhood in all of New Jersey, which is saying something.

It's not nearly the worst area. It's not great but there are far worse areas in Newark. Not to mention that on gameday the place is crawling with cops. Worst part about the building is the molestation you receive when you enter it (it's like going to an airport). And the security there are morons: I actually had a ticket to a suite for a Seton Hall game but decided to go down to the $10 seats (and this wasn't a student section, it was the cheapest seats in the building) so I could leave sooner. Keep in mind that the section (and arena) are sparsely populated. Security comes, asks to check my ticket, and then tells me I can't stay there. They just delight in busting people's balls which is why I hate going there so much.

 

I saw a game there a couple of years ago, and encountered none of this. We bought a space in the adjoining parking garage with its own private entry gate. The neighbourhood around it doesn't look super great, but the parking garage eliminated those concerns.

 

It's a nice building, and the only things I remember is how much the guy next to me hated Henrik Tallinder, seeing Alexander Vasyunov's only NHL goal, and how much they REALLY fucking hated the Rangers in the smoking area.

[Charlie M.]

Just going to leave this here for a potential future Avatar bet.

 

[Death From Above]

Gabriel Landeskog gets a 7-year extension from the Avalanche.

[Jiji]

Good thing they shortened the length of contracts, huh.

 

Hey, guys, why hasn't Mikhail Grabovski signed with a team yet?

[Death From Above]

I don't think Grabovski is that good but all the same I am kind of surprised he's still just sitting out there. There are certainly some teams that could use an extra secondary scorer. I wonder if he just signs with a KHL team at this point.

[Charlie M.]

I think he's likely just a bit delusional about where he fits on a good team.  He's a tweener second/third line centre on a good team but based on his post-season interview, he's a pain in the ass when he's not given top six minutes.

[Death From Above]

Yeah I sort of get the impression the comparable for him is being the third Kostitsyn. He's not physical, he doesn't really work hard, but when he actually gets his knobs all twisted in the right direction rarely he's a very good player.

 

The rest of the time he's just a less talented Petr Klima. Though he's probably not *that* lazy. I'm not sure anyone ever was.

 

He's also a guy that starts shit on the ice and expects his team mates to clean it up for him, so I can imagine he's not Mr, Popular with his team mates.

 

To be honest I'm much more surprised about Kadri. What else could he have done last year that you'd realistically expect from the guy? Just sign him already.

[Jiji]

He's a legitimate second line center. He was playing some of the worst minutes the league (same with Double Dion) and put up good possession numbers despite this. For all his failings, Ron Wilson used him properly and he was putting up 50+ points. He's a much better center than Tyler Bozak in every way other than faceoff ability, and that's overvalued (see: Gordon, Boyd [he's pretty good defensively, that too... but c'mon!]). He works his balls off, so I don't get the Klima comparison.

 

NHL executives have shown a reluctance to go with guys that have any bad marks against them. This added with his camp wanting too much money are likely why he's still available. Still, I think $4-4.5 up to 3 or 4 years is fine value for him.

 

The Leafs don't use much in the way of advanced stats from what I've read and looking at their moves, but even they have to be negotiating from the standpoint that Kadri (and his teammates) were scoring at unsustainable rates.