TropicalFruitGirl26

Hmmm....only Julien Brisbois would know for sure, but I don't think moving Erne and going, "Hey, we can replace him with a veteran winger for cheap!" was the plan. I think moving Erne because the Bolts had ALEXANDER VOLKOV in the AHL ready (similar player to Erne, but with a bit more offensive upside) was the plan. But then, Maroon just sorta fell into their lap, and for 900K, they couldn't pass up the chance to sign a SC forward who has some of the makeup of what they need (and lost) by not having either Erne or Callahan around. As for the goalie situation, yes, that is an odd situation, but since I saw McBackup signed, I did give this some thought....nothing I read about, nor do I have any insider info...……………………...I'd need a subscription to The Athletic, have a podcast, or be highly opinionated and feel like I am the smartest 'know all' in the room for that ...………….but, just some thoughts... The Bolts simply weren't completely convinced that Louie Domingue was happy being just a backup. Furthermore, while Domingue DID do some good work, he was also subject to some comebacks by the other team where he was just flat out beat by the shooting forwards (and made to look pretty bad in the process), only to be saved by TB's high scoring offense. Given that, the fact that Vasilevskiy is going to be to the Lightning what Brodeur was to the Devils (i.e. playing 162 games per season...not quite the Cup winner....yet), AND the Bolts felt they'd be better off with a travelled veteran like McElhinney who won't be asking for much in salary and is content in working once a week maybe...….PLUS, Domingue might at least fetch the Bolts a 4th, 5th or 6th round pick in a trade with a goalie starved team, and I think I see why McBackup is there and Domingue basically is odd man out. Condon and Wedgewood are purely AHL fodder....but CAN be brought up in a pinch should either Vasy or McB go down...no more career AHLer Eddie Pasquale to put in net on a SC potential team. My take on all that anyways.

Hopefully, his plan is to be a back to back Stanley Cup champion. Presumably, he and his family are fine financially, he has a ring, so its not about the money, but rather for a legit shot (with him playing a big role) at another Cup. And since it is only for one season, he doesn't have to relocate his family (unless they ARE doing that for his post career)….and then maybe sail off into the sunset....LITERALLY....when things are done. Because even if the Bolts don't win, he STILL has a fresh Cup ring. I've always thought Maroon was a bit overrated, however, that isn't to say he doesn't have value. And at 900K, you just simply can't get better value than that: a proven SC winner who can score a bit, hit, and hopefully, still has the heart of a champion on the ice.

@yave1964 You said it...For love of the game. And what tough love it must be, because hockey isn't exactly easy on the body. I've played sports myself (softball, volleyball, and of course, competed in minor Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido tourneys in Florida), but never ice hockey (pick up street ball hockey doesn't count, I don't think...haha), and there is definitely a mindset that has to go into what you are doing in order to not only be good at it, but to have the fortitude to continue on even when things aren't going your way. The tougher the sport, the more iron willed you need to be. This man must have a titanium steel will to keep going in pro hockey like he has. Hard not to root for someone like that. I'm sure he would like to be paid more for doing what he does, but apparently, even what he does make is enough for him to continue doing what he loves. For him, beats the hell out of working at a Home Depot somewhere. Home Depot frowns upon taking someone into the boards and skating away with their shopping carts after all....

Patrick Maroon. Lightning continue to add veteran talent on the cheap. Tampa, FL is the latest stop for the well travelled Maroon who is coming fresh off a Stanley Cup win. $900K on a one year deal. When the Bolts moved out Adam Erne just over a week ago, some wondered where the needed "grit" would come from....well, if he stays healthy, here is Erne's replacement. From NHL.com https://www.nhl.com/news/pat-maroon-signs-contract-with-tampa-bay-lightning/c-308097054?tid=281072352 I never was a big fan of Maroon (like Kevin Shattenkirk), but, once again, for the price, and the term, even I can't complain. And if Maroon can help bolster and add "the missing ingredient" to the forward ranks, then it may be the best 900K TB has ever spent on a player contract! Maroon, Shattenkirk, Witkowski, Luke Schenn…. all seem like "spare parts" But that is $4M spread out over four players that could end up playing key roles in supplementing the Lightning's main core and MAYBE enough to push them to a Cup this season. And if the Bolts don't like what any of them brings, they are all done after this season, with the exception of Witkowski, to whom the team gave an extra year at $700K to. So, I guess "Welcome to Tampa Bay Pat Maroon?"

Great....another "can't miss Paul Fenton 1 for 1 deal..." Oh wait.....

Yea, not terribly excited over this, but hey, as a "show me" type deal, not bad. Plus, when Seattle comes a-calling, would EEK be eligible to be taken? If he can up his value just enough where he shows even a bit of promise, and Minnesota thinks Seattle might want to take him, maybe they should.....so they don't end up with another Tuchtacular "black eye" as a franchise...

Thanks for this. Interesting read. I thought the author was a bit overblown on some things (Guerin facing an uphill battle on player contracts? Nah, not so much...more like the uphill battle is convincing Leipold that some players may need to go...or for the owner to understand not to meddle in GM or coaching business), but other points he made regarding minutes reallocation and getting younger (still possible....but again, new GM will have to convince Leipold that moving out certain players is good for the team in the long run), make all the sense in the world. If Bruce Boudreau still really has his heart in coaching, and Guerin believes in him, then he should absolutely try to get the coach what he wants so he can ice a competitive team...even if building on the fly is being done in the short term. And the author points out the aging vets, and at the point those vets no longer are NHL viable, THEN hopefully, Guerin gets the freedom to do what a GM is supposed to do: go full rebuild. Pittsburgh has been famous for retooling on the fly so if Guerin has learned anything over there working under such business practices, then things don't necessarily have to hit rock bottom for this team to see improvement. But the "uphill battle" is, again, convincing the owner. I really am hoping Guerin's personality combined with his former player union rep persona, mixed in with his asst GM/GM experience can talk Leipold "down from the ledge"...

Thanks @pilldoc , for the auto renewal I do intend to come back this season to play. I haven't logged into the league yet, but that is on my to-do list in the next day or two. Welcome back to all....returning players and new ones! Looking forward to another fun FHL season

I know lineups will likely change from now till Opening Night, and you Wings fans would know better who will likely be with be whom, but here is, according to dailyfaceoff, how they have the Wings' lines set up on the forward ranks. Adam Erne slotted in the 3rd line seems about right to me though. Erne played 3rd and 4th line minutes in TB, and he had the occasional top six wing position as Jon Cooper tried to find ways to either expand Erne's offensive repertoire, or more likely, had him there to try an open up space for his scoring linemates. But his skillset thus far suggests he fits best as a checking, sometimes scoring contributing, bottom six forward. Maybe with more experience and the Wings not being as deep as TB, he will see more time doing other things more often.

@SpikeDDS You aren't obtuse....just missed it. It happens. There is an Erne thread started up under Around the NHL, Rumors, Trades, Signings. I'll merge and put in in this forum for ya, since the subject is more of interest to Wings fans....and myself as I rather liked Erne's playstyle.

As per @hf101 's post on the Buffalo Sabres new sweaters (yes, Jefe, we DO have a thread for this.. ), here are the "golden" jerseys the Sabres will be using as thirds this coming season...and I agree, they DO look nice.

@mojo1917 I hear ya...not having a lot of news is a bit dull for us fans, but in the long run, if it means ownership and players are making the best possible decisions regarding what player they are keeping and the salary involved, then so be it. I suspect there are different reasons why all these RFAs have remained unsigned to this point....no two cases are the same. Because I've been naturally following the Lightning's situation the closest, I understand that contracts are being moved around behind the scenes in order to ensure the Bolts don't need to waive anyone or otherwise cause roster issues once the season starts. Probably why we saw Adam Erne moved for a 4th rounder and why the club is looking to try and move Louie Domingue and get something, even if it's another 4th or a 5th rounder in return. The money is there for Point now, no doubt...then of course, is the bridge or not to bridge, and for how much, though I would imagine with precedents being set with other players taking less than market value to remain, the amount part shouldn't be all that hard to come to an agreement on. Marner? McAvoy? Werenski? Completely different cases....Marner is probably wanting the same uber amounts others on the team got (hard for Toronto to do because they are a cap ceiling team like the Lightning...BUT, players aren't taking discounts to stay there)...and clubs or even the players, regarding McAvoy and WSki, are trying to decided whether they are going to be kept long term, or in the case of Werenski, are the Jackets going to remain competitive, and would he want to be part of a long term rebuild, etc, etc. Good news is, players and teams don't have much time left to decide. Training camps start very soon, and while I am not sure where the other clubs are with their RFA's regarding how close they are in agreements, TB management has said repeatedly that Point will be signed and ready to go by the beginning of training camp. They've been good on their word in the past, so I have confidence they will get this done, whether bridge form or long term form, before the Bolts need to focus on pure hockey.

Hey...whatever a team has at their disposal to get a player to stay....should be fair game to use! Tax free state? SC contending team? First rate ownership and management teams? Non Toronto-style media circus market? Beaches, golf, auto raceways, and Disneyland where the coldest you'd ever have to worry about in the winter is maybe 45-50 F?? Check, check, check, check, and check.

Some of what he has done numbers wise at the NHL level, courtesy of hockey reference.

UPDATE: Not too long after I posted the above, we now have Adam Erne officially signed by the Red Wings after being acquired as an RFA. Looks like a one year "show me" contract, or a possible short bridge till Yzerman and the coaching staff can see where he really fits in at the NHL level. He is just 24 and even after this one year deal will still be an RFA

A couple links, one from the Bolts side of things, other from the Wings: Wings: https://www.wingingitinmotown.com/2019/8/14/20805850/red-wings-acquire-forward-adam-erne-from-tampa-bay-for-a-4th-round-pick Lightning: https://www.rawcharge.com/2019/8/14/20805838/tampa-bay-lightning-trade-adam-erne-to-detroit-red-wings-for-draft-pick-nhl-news Looks like Steve Yzerman didn't completely get all his "stuff" when he moved out of the TB GM's office..... well, he just got a player he drafted in the 2nd round back in 2013...Adam Erne. Looks like a minor deal on the surface, and in the grand scheme of things (i.e. projection for him as an NHL'er) it may be just that...minor. However, from the Bolts' POV, this frees up a valuable roster spot to have a serious look at some of the forwards in Syracuse to see who comes out on top to break camp with the Lightning instead of the Syracuse Crunch this coming season.....and boy do the Lightning have a number of guys who are itching to get to the big club. From the Wings POV, they will be getting an admittedly bottom six NHL'er, but one who is pretty rugged, and if paired with decently skilled linemates (as he was from time to time in TB....he even played a bit on the TOP line with Stamkos), he can actually chip in points too. He isn't your traditional tough guy fighter type, but he will drop the gloves and is more in line with the modern hybrid of checking/enforcer that we see in the NHL today. At 6'1 and 210 pounds, there is nothing fancy about his game...he sees bodies, he hits bodies, he sees an open teammate, he passes to open teammate...if he is near the net he looks for rebounds and tries to smash one in. I think the Bolts may miss some of his grit though....and I can see Erne being a thorn in the side of Bolts' scorers and defenseman as he no doubt will enjoy putting the checks on his former teammates. No...Erne by himself won't change the fortunes of the Wings' offense, but, he is sort of like a Justin Abdelkader in the sense that, he is the type of teammate who will go to the trenches with you and is classic blue collar all the way with a touch of offense under the right circumstances. For the price of a 4th rounder, I think the Wings did well here. His cap hit last season was around 800K, but even with a raise (he is still currently an RFA), he shouldn't put too much of big dent in the Wings' cap space...and I suspect they get a lot of player for the money, whatever that amount is, they will be paying out. Good luck to Erne (but not against the Lightning )....a very likeable, unselfish, good soldier. Steve Yzerman saw what he had in him when he was Bolts' GM and sure enough, saw the opportunity to add him to a still developing Wings' team and did just that.

Glad to see we finally see eye to eye on something.

Agreed. As long as @JR Ewing doesn't go around telling Wild fans what a mistake hiring Peter Chiarelli would be, all is well. After all, Wild fans aren't sure they need that from an Oiler fan

I'm ok with this. Really didn't think Waddell was going to be the guy to do anything with this franchise. Still would rather see a Hextall, Mellanby, or Drury get a shot...although, I read that the Rangers put the kabosh on any possible Drury poaching. Wish I read a story that said Chiarelli had been hired somewhere else and the Wild are just gonna have to be severely disappointed he is no longer available (snicker)

Not a bad list at all. Cases can be made for every single player on there and nothing jumps out at me as being ridiculous. That said, if I were to remove one player and add another, it would have to be putting in Jonathan Toews and removing Elias Pettersson. How the heck you leave off an in-his-prime SC winning top line center, who incidentally put up career highs in G, A, and overall points, while STILL maintaining ridiculously good FO win % numbers, NOT turning the puck over and is still a consummate leader on the ice is beyond me. Sure, Toews +/- had suffered (well below his career averages), but the Chicago defense and goaltending overall has not been top tier the last two seasons or so. Toews plays a fantastic two way game and has for years, and I expect he will continue to do so for a few more yet. He should be on there. Pettersson? Great, great rookie season, but at this stage, that's all it is...one season. Granted, he has the ceiling and skillset to be a regular on a list like this, but others on here, including the omitted Toews, have been doing it for YEARS and look like they could keep getting it done for the foreseeable. Nothing against young Pettersson, but one season shouldn't land him on list like this......two or three years from now, he might own the top spot here though... Also, in a nod to Flyers fans, yes, I would say Sean Couturier can have a case for being on here. Last season, his numbers matched very close to Toews' and seems to now play the same kind of game, top to bottom. And since he has done it for the last two years, on an iffy defensive squad like Philadelphia, it can't be called a fluke. If he does it yet again this coming season, he officially should be in the top 20 no questions asked, but yea, I could see him being nudged into this list even now.

Looking over at the roster, and considering things like skill level, tenure, and long term viability, I'd have to agree that Larkin seems the obvious choice. Of course, guys like Abdelkader may have some say in the locker room and someone else's opinions like Mike Green, Danny DeKeyser, and even Valteri Filppula may hold some weight, but none of those guys check all the boxes like Larkin seems to. So yea, if Larkin feels he is ready for "The Mantle", I am sure Steve Yzerman would love to put that to rest and get on with building a contender.

A couple things bother me here: "I haven't been able to help the team win".... he was quoted. Ok...it's called a rebuild, with a bunch of young players and still weeding out veterans who aren't in the long term plans. He is NOT the only one who 'couldn't help the team win'.....it's an entire process. So...is that cause for him to want to go elsewhere? Leave because things are tough right now and not wanting to be part of the solution? Also... The media HAS been speculating on whether he will be a long term Sabre or not. No secret. That's is what the media does...speculates, stir up stories...they need SOMETHING to write about. Does that REALLY bother Mr. Ristolainen? And so he finds the hockey "not enjoyable"...and he thinks maybe a change of scenery would help? Like to where? A bigger market with an even bigger microscope on him? Fact is, Buffalo has treated him as a #1 defenseman and frankly, he isn't that. Nice skillset, but probably a #3 or #4 second pairing guy at best on a deeper team. That's not on him that the Sabres dumped #1 responsibilities on him....they simply had no other options. Now the Sabres are slowly gaining other options, though none still stands out as a true #1 D yet. What IS on Ristolainen is his own play. I don't care what else is going on around him, basic decision making with the puck, playing SMART when it comes to checking and positioning, and helping with goal prevention by any means necessary are things he struggled with....and things that make a good NHL defenseman. I don't care where he goes...if he struggles with those things, he won't find the "hockey enjoyable" elsewhere either. Obviously, I don't have all the facts, don't know what the Sabre front office is thinking or what is truly in Risto's heart, but this sorta makes him sound a bit like a whiner.... "It's too tough...what are these other defensemen doing here.....I'm no having fun...we aren't winning....blah, blah, blah" I wouldn't want a guy who seems to fold under the bit of pressure that a market like Buffalo provides. Imagine if he played for markets like Toronto, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago.....he'd probably be a minus 85, and it wouldn't matter if his teammates were HOF skaters. Sheesh...get a grip, Risto. You are 24 on a young rebuilding team....just work on what you need to work on and let the FO do whatever the FO is going to do.

From Yahoo sports: https://sports.yahoo.com/dylan-larkin-feels-ready-for-red-wings-captaincy-170925016.html What say you, Wings fans? Is 23 yr old Larkin ready to take the full on captaincy? I am a firm believer that the "leader" of the locker room and on the ice is always determined by the players themselves, no matter who is appointed the actual letters. Let's face it.....players know who they should be following and leaders are natural, they come to the surface no matter what and don't need a letter on their sweaters for them to be who they are. But there is something special about wearing the C for the Red Wings. Yes, you guys know it all comes from the winning history of the Red Wings behind one very famous captain who just happens to be the GM of the team now. Larkin was given an "A" last season, along with two other guys, but I believe Yzerman would like the team, moving forward, and as he helps mold the team into a winner once again, to have a stalwart captain figure on and off the ice....and young Mr. Larkin feels he might be ready to do just that. Great thing is, he doesn't come off as arrogant about it. Seems to be taking everything in stride and highlights what he can help do for the team more on the ice than being a guy "in charge of the locker room". Captains are chosen for all different kinds of reasons....some legit, some, well, not so much. Skill. Tenure. Attitude. Player following....sometimes sadly, for marketing purposes. I don't think a man like Steve Yzerman is going to mess around with gimmicks. He wants a real deal leader and I am sure he has his fingers on the pulse of the locker room and will talk to coaches and players and make the next man wearing the "C" more than just a gimmick or a placeholder. Is Dylan Larkin and his ever improving skillset the guy?

Some good points. And see, that's the thing...we all know guys like Koivu and Parise are going to need time off due to some ailment or the other....that leaves the door open for someone to show what they can do. Unfortunately, in the past, guys haven't done enough to take over any positions they have been given the opportunity to lock down. Granted, that won't account for "misusing" a guy for whatever reasons at the moment, but still, young guys WILL get opportunities...just a matter of can they take the ball and run with it. As for Koivu, it hadn't occurred to me he may not even begin the season with the team due to something not being right with him. If that is the case, definitely opens up a C spot right from the gate. And I agree 100% Rask shouldn't be on the 4th line....but again, I just had no where else to put him. If he could just show something, anything that suggests he might be useful higher up, that would be wonderful. Defense pairings? Yea, I don't believe in "popcorn guys"...it is ridiculous. Would be cool to see the Wild have some sort of defensive rotation going if they are going to carry more than 6 defensemen. Worked pretty well in Tampa Bay. Yes, yes, entirely different team structures, but point being, TB had some lower tier defensemen they didn't want sitting around collecting dust...so they set up a three man rotation where one guy sat while the other two played. Kept everyone engaged, involved, and it really gave the team a sense of who or what they had for those bottom spots....helped them make decisions who to re-sign and hang onto THIS season. Wild could benefit from some such rotation, I believe. I am interested to see if you may be right on some waiver wire activity. Chances are, the players we see listed on the roster now are not the only ones from here to the beginning of the season...and some may not be on there at all.