yave1964

Love the defense, Edvisson coming off hip surgery needs to start the year in the AHL to rehab will be first callup when injuries occur. Glad petry gets a chance to play for hometown Detroit. Yeah that was pathetic defense, only thing as bad was our forward crew lol.

My first memory of Petry the youngery was watching a Wings/Oilers game, Petrys first game Dan was in the Tv booth as the proud papa reminiscing about the 84 Tigers and talking about his son when BOOM Jeff scored an own goal by misplaying a puck badly and tipping it into his own net. The wings announcers were tripping over their own words trying not to embarrass his dad who was sitting with them while explaining what an awful play had just occured. About five minutes later he almost tipped another one in. I remember thinking that this would be a short career lol.

True. Kings drafted extremely well retooled rather than a full rebuild, then aggressive with free agents and through trades, put a deep solid team together hired a great coach for a young team and Petersen was the ultimate flop. He signed for 5x5 and was supposed to take the net from Quick, failed so spectacularly that he was demoted to Ontario and damn near had a shrink for a roommate because he lost his game so badly. Reminds me of Mason in Columbus when he fell apart, both even finally donated to Philly. Anyway, if Petersen had lived up to the hype they would be cup contenders for five years instead, up against the cap they have a career minor leaguer who misspells his own first name and a 36 year old retread who cannot stay healthy playing key positions on a great roster.

FINAL RECORD 47-25-10 104 points, 2nd in Pacific, Lost in first round to the Oilers. plus 23 goal differetial ADDITIONS They seemed to bid against themselves, but added their man in Pierre Luc dubois and signed him to an eight year deal. Gavrikov who came over at the deadline signed a long term deal. Cam Talbot came aboard to be part of the goalie tandem, bringing not so big game Dave Rittich with him. Trevor Lewis returns to the place where he won a couple of championships. DEPARTURES Korpisalo traded places with Talbot, going to Ottawa. Quick was dealt right before the deadline and is this years long term King who has moved on. Durzi lived in Scott Stevens doghouse for two years because of defensive lapses, in spite of enormous potential he was dealt to Arizona. Edler is likely retiring. Iafallo, Lizotte and Kupari were dealt for PLD. They found a team willing to take Petersen. Zach McEwen has moved on. ROOKIES AND PROSPECTS Remember the name Brandt Clarke, he is a real deal puck mover on the back end who has all the tools in his toolbox, he is the primary reason Durzi was dealt, he is my darkhorse candidate to win the Calder trophy this year. Jordan Spence and Moverare are decent defensive prospects, both will be given a chance to stick when/if injuries occur. Alex Turcotte will finally be given a chance to win a middle six winger spot. Samuel Pagemo has quietly thrust himself into the conversation as a 4th line body who can score a tad. Deep bunch of prospects of mixed pedigree who will all stick within the next year or so. SO, ARE THEY A CUP CONTENDER? No team in the game is deeper down the middle than the Kings with Kopitar, PLD, Danault and Byfield. If doughty continues to age like fine wine and Clarke explodes on the scene the defense could be fantastic. They have three legit scorers on the wing. Lots to like. STOP BEATING AROUND THE BUSH, ARE THEY LEGIT CONTENDERS OR NO? I love Scott Stevens as a coach, love half the team but they have a bitter poison pill which will leave them an also ran. I see them with 98 points, 3rd in the Division and a first round out because of their goaltending. Does anyone seriously think that Pheonix Copley who came back from the ashes of a less than mediocre career is going to repeat and go anywhere near 24-6-3 again? It is never in a million years going to happen. Cam talbot was good at his best, that was years ago. He is 36 coming off a mediocre at best season, he is capable of putting up slightly better numbers with a very good team around him, but he will doom the club to a first round exit.

Wow that was quick. Detroit just add d Jeff Petry for Gustav Lindstrom and a 4th rounder going the other way. Term of money retention was not announced. Wow the Wings bluelne. Lindstrom was expected to be a the 7th D playing as an injury filler. Now Detroit has to sit one of Seider. No way no how Petry doubtful. Great get Chiarat 2 years remaining grit Damn Holl the new toy fresh three year deal Maatta resigned two years was damn solid last year Wallman was fantastic last year Ghostisbehere gonna play every night. Who sits? Which of thes is the nightly healthy scratch? Do you rotate the vets to stay fresh? Love adding Petry. Middle pair damn solid puck mover, responsible in his own zone. His dad Dan pitched for a decade for the Tigers. Edvisson is a lock for another year in Grand rapids, same with Wallinder and Johansson, all great bluelne prospects. Wings back end depth out f this world. Tatar rumored to be going to either Pittsburgh or Detroit this week as well.

Again,we share a braincell

According to his agent last fall Amirov came to Toronto where doctors gave him six months to live. Kyle Dubas wanted to fulfill the kids dream of playing in the NHL in a preseason game against Ottawa, both sides were informed that contact would be forbidden. In the end he was too weak to lace them up and play. Kyle Dubas just went up about ten notches in my book. I remember the draft in 2020, Mariner introducing the pick. I remember Amirov looked like a baby. F&$# cancer. Life does not have to be fair but it doesn't have to suck.

Sadness. Former first round pick Rodion Amirov lost his battle to brain cancer at the tender age of 21. He was starcrossed with injuries and Covid while playing in the KHL the brain tumor diagnosis occured in February of 2022. He missed all of last year, the Leafs had agreed to loan him to his hometown team for 2023-24 as he planned his comeback before his symptoms came roaring back Dead at 21. Jesus. A first rounder with life by the bolls cut down in his prime. Sometimes life just sucks, this was one of those times.

2022-23 RECORD 37-38-7 81 points, 14 points out of a playoff spot. minus 38 in goal differential ADDITIONS Kevin Hayes comes over from the Flyers to replace Ryan O'Reilly. Oskar Sundqvist comes back to bring grit and hardness to the 4th line. Joel Hofer comes up from the AHL to push Binnington in net as a B rated goalie prospect. SUBTRACTIONS Greiss retired. The big ones were Taresenko went to rhe Rags at the deadline, O'Reilly and Acciari went at the deadline to the Blues. Barbachev was dealt to the Knights. PROSPECTS tHE TOP BOYS ARE years away from providing help, Bolduc may make the team as a goal scorer on the wing but if so will be raw and score about 15 goals and be a negative defensively at least at the start of the year. Zach Dean came over from the Knights in the Barbachev deal and looks like a potential 3rd line center but again, very raw. SO,,,,,, WHERE ARE THEY? On the way down. Hayes is not O'Reilly. Vrana is not Taresenko. Binnington no longer is Binnington. Faulk sure as Hell is not Pietrangelo. It has only been four years since the Blues shocked the world with a Stanley Cup, only four players are still here from the improbable run. The rookies ready to step in now are pedestrian, save possibly Hofer and the few prospects they have who are good to very good are several years away. tHEY WILL HAVE 79 POINTS and finish 7th in Division. They are essentially irrelevant for the next several years.

22-23 RECORD 42-33-7 91 points missed the playoffs by a single point continuing the leagues longest missed playoff streak. minus four goal differential ADDITIONS Connor Clifton and Erik Johnson, a couple of veteran stay at home guys were brought in to hopefully righten up the defense. Thats it. End of list. SUBTRACTIONS Jack Quinn will begin the year on IR and miss most of the season. Craig Anderson retired. End of list. This team has a talented bunch of young forwards led by Tage Thompson, Cozens and Mittelstadt. Two number one picks in Power and Dahlin lead the blueline. They also have 22 first rounder Savoie and 23 first rounder Benson who fell to them at 13. Both are outstanding forward prospects but wont be on the roster for a few years. The talent here is simply scary and their time is going to come. So the question, do they make the playoffs? My answer is no. I feel the teams who they are fighting with, Ottawa and Detroit both significantly improved while buffalo essentially stood still, and Boston took a step back but is still better.. Skinner has hot/cold years and scored 35 last year, he will slip. Tuch and Thompson had surprising career years and will likely slip as well. The defense was a clown show, bringing in Clifton and the five hundred year old Johnson does not change that. I like Levi, like really like him, I have him rated as one of the top five goalie prospects in the league but my opinion is Buffalo takes a small step back due to career year players finding their level and Levi going through growing pains. They had holes that needed filled and did nothing about them. 7th place 90 points, the best 7th place team in Hockey but the missing the playoff streak will continue.

22-23 SEASON 46-33-3 95 points. plus 22 goals for/against. Lost in first round in five very quick games to the Golden Knights. ADDITIONS Iafello, Vilardi and Raspari came over from the Kings, all are forwards, different levels of talent and expectations. Niederreitter came aboard as a third line winger. Namestnikov joins as a 4th line winger who can play up the lineup a bit. SUBTRACTIONS Longtime original Jet Wheeler was unceremoniously bought out and left for the Rangers. PL Dubois made it clear he was not coming back and went for a huge package to the Kings. PROSPECTS 2020 fIRST ROUNDER Brad Lambert and second rounder Daniel Torgersson are two very talented middle six forwards but will likely have to wait a year as the team has plugged five forwards in while losing two. Both are solid prospects. Ville Heinola seems to have been a prospect for a decade but is only 22, he is out of options, he either must stick or will be claimed on waivers. WHATS THE PROBLEM? The problem is simple, nobody wants to play or live in the frozen tundra of Manitoba. Dubois is gone, the heart and soul of this team is Mark Scheiiele and Connor Hellybuyck. Both are entering the final year of their contracts, both have made it clear that they plan on not only playing out their option but neither will return. The Jets are in the unenviable position of being forced to trade arguably their two best players at some point during the season or lose them for nothing. PREDICTION A sad year for the Jets, whose ship has sailed. The return for Dubois was deep but not particularly great. A bunch of average forwards. Vilardi is currently listed as the 2C on the team in spite of being a winger in all but name. He cannot play center on any team that is to be taken seriously. They also have eight NHL defenseman, will lose either Stanley or Heinola if they try to sneak them through waivers and send them down. I see the Jets finishing in 7th place with 82 points and be the subject of trade rumors all year as the deadline aproaches. Before the year is over the team will be in full rebuild with Hellboy and Scheifele gone and prospects picks added to the roster.

Saw that. I think he replaced Stolarz as a veteran backup allowing Dostal to get 75 percent of the starts in the aHL until Gibson is traded. IMHO the most overrated player in the game is Gibson. Two years ago he had 28 games in a row of giving up at least 3 goals. He looks like a goalie, like Carey Price he was announced as a great but really has not been. He is league average at best, most seasons his backup puts up better numbers so you cannot simply say it is the team. At his term/salary nobody should give anything for him. He is an overpaid underperforming average goalie nothing More. Period .

Well you know what they say about great minds lol....

LAST SEASON 42-31-9 93 points, made playoffs. Lost in first round to Hurricanes in six games. plus 21 goal differential ADDITIONS None. Absolutely none to speak of SUBTRACTIONS Long time Islander Josh Bailey was let go. Zach Parise is likely to retire. Thats it. Other than that, the entire team returns TOP PROSPECTS No GM in the NHL in the past twenty plus years has drafted anywhere near as poorly as Lou consistently. None. He took over the team in 2018, five years ago, he drafted Noah dobson when he slipped to him in 2018, other than that not a single Lou player has played significant minutes since he took over the club. The cupboards in the minors are near empty. According to Insidetherink who do a fantastic job of ranking prospects, the Isles top prospects are Matt Maggio and William Dufour who are a couple of former fifth round picks who are considered 'late bloomers' who 'might help in a small role. No GM in history is as overrated as Lou Lamoriello. He won a few cups in Jersey because of two words- Martin Brodeur. He has gotten by on reputation for literally decades. OFFSEASON HEADSHAKERS They signed the entire team to long term contracts essentially crippling any chance of ever getting better or worse. They are a 90ish point team for the forceable future. A good year is nipping someone out for the last playoff spot and losing in the first round. A bad year is missing a playoff spot by a year or two. This offseason signings Horvat signed 8x8.5 million Pullock 8x6.125 million Pelech 8x5.75 million Mayfield 8x3.5 million Varlamov 4x2.75 million Sorokin 8x 8.25 million Engvall 6x3 million Seriously, those were the Islanders moves. a team in desperate need of offense signed a bunch of veterans who are all fine players but other than Sorokin none are what I would call needle movers (maaaaybe Horvat) to long term contracts, half of which will age badly. Meanwhile, they have exactly zero cap space left, ZERO. And looming on the horizon, arguably the teams two top players along with Barzal (who is also signed to an eight year deal) Brock Nelson, the teams only goal scorer and Noah dobson have their own contracts looming over the team in the next year and with these deals at least one will almost certainly have to be traded. This team disgusts me. They are happy being in the middle, nothing will change. They hope that a full season of Horvat will help the offense and it might, a bit, but the cost was a decent winger in Beauvillier, a decent prospect in Raty and a first round pick. I say 90 points, 6th place in the division. If things break right they lose to Jersey in six in the first round and Lou calls it a good season and goes back to sleep. Move along. Nothing to see here.

LAST SEASONS RECORD 28-40-14 70 points minus 71 goal differential. 13th in the West, 25 points out of a playoff spot. OFFSEASON SUBTRACTIONS Ghost was dealt at the deadline, as was Chychrun. Christian Fischer took his heavy game to Detroit. Nobody else of any consequence was moved out OFFSEASON ADDITIONS Logan Cooley signed his ELC contract and will make the team as a sniper capable of winning the Calder as the leagues top rookie. Jason zucker brings his 27 goals and solid 200 foot game to Arizona. Nick Bjugstad came back after a deadline move to Edmonton to center a bottom six line. Matt Dumba comes aboard on a one year show me deal. Sean durzi replaces Ghost and should score 50 points quarterbacking the power play. Alex Kerfoot comes over from Toronto and IMHO will be a surprise top six forward with 50 points. 19 year old Conor Geekie will be given a chance to bring his highly skilled game to the second line and if given a chance could be a fantastic player for the Yotes this year. Soderstrom, Crotty and Maveric Lamoreaux are all skilled young blueliners, at least one or more of them will get a shot at top four roles in the blueline. Holdovers that are being added to are Hayton who finally showed signs of developing into a top six center last year. Crouse and Keller are brilliant young top six wingers to build around. Schmaltz is a solid forward who can play any position in the top six. Mattias Maccelli came out of nowhere and was a fantastic playmaker on the wing. Dylan Guenther took his lumps last year but people love him. The forwards are young hungry and their top nine could be among the leagues best if the breaks go their way. Moser surprised a lot of folks last year running the point on the power play. Weaknesses are simple but glaring. Even with Moser, Dumba and Durzi, the defense is porous and does a very poor job keeping pucks out of the net. The goaltending is below league average but really not terrible. Vejmelka and Ingram return as a not so dynamic duo in net, but not the worst ever. They drafted hulking defenseman Dmitri Simashev in the first round, he is several years away but is the goods. They also drafted Daniil But 12th overall, a six foot five sharpshooter. Most pundits rank the Coyotes draft in the top three or four in the league this year, My point is the Coyotes are deeper and more talented than they have been in a decade. They will be very, good, not that anyone will notice as they inexplicably remain in Phoenix/Flagstaff/Prescott/Turscon or wherever the Hell they are playing these days. My prediction for the Coyotes is that they finish in 5th in the division, outside of the playoffs but with 90 points and a deep pool of young talented players. They are absolutely tracking the right direction; 90 points is a realistic expectation for a team without an arena. Worst nightmare for the league would be for the Coyotes to actually play slightly better than I think they will and make the playoffs and the team/league actually has playoff games in a college arena. I like this team. I think they are a year away from being a consistent playoff team for half a decade or more. I see them pretty much exactly where I saw the Kings/Rangers a couple of years ago. They are on the rise, tons of young talent, glaring deficiencies but enough assets to move out to fix the defense and the goaltending isnt as bad as some think.

Maybe the Hoffman's can rent out the Karlsson home......

San Jose a first, Hoffman (who if you remember had a wife feud with Karlsson) Granlund and Rutta. Basically they got very little in return, three overpriced vets not only a year to go on both forwards who they can move at the deadline for assets. The big thing is getting rid of Karlsson and his massive contract. Montreal in exchange for taking on salary they get the overpriced but capable petry a second, a decent mid level prospect in legare and a quality backup goalie in DeSmith. Honestly I like their return quite a bit more than what San Jose got. Lastly Pittsburgh got Karlsson, third, a 13th forward in pitlick and a middle ng prospect. Honestly I think San Jose did a poor job, this more or less offer has been on the table for literally two months. Grier has swung two Massive deals, I felt he did ok in the Meier deal but I felt he got killed in this one. Montreal has to be grinning IMHO they killed this one. As the third party to help make the deal happen they did a great job. Pittsburgh got the best player, got rid of bloated contracts and other than a top ten protected pick gave up nothing they could not live without. This deal adds yet another aging star as the Pens have a three year window at most at the end of the Crosby/Malkin era.

I had him in very thick pencil Carolina bound to play with Aho and Svechnikov thought it was a perfect fit, love Ottawa top six now. Great get.

Great get. Aggressive Taresenko should offset loss of debrincat nicely. 30 goals very realistic.

I feel your pain bro, I remember when Datsyuk left with two years still in his deal, broke my heart. Honestly bergeron has always reminded me of Datsyuk with his beautiful two way game. Condolences one hell of a player, simply a class act.

He did not deserve the selke this year, not even close by far the games best defensive forward counting anyone is the Devils incredibly gifted Nico Hischier. Watch an entire Devil game once and concentrate on him and you will come away wowed. He plays the game like a young...... Bergeron. Bergeron winning was a combo of lazy voting and the equivalent of giving an employee his gold watch as a send off. I hate Boston, I loathe Brady and the Pats, if Fenway sunk into the mire taking all Sox fans with it I would not shed a tear. When the Celtics underachieve in the postseason year after year I raise a glass . The Bruins made my decade with their epic collapse last year. I feel we should give Boston back to the British lol. All that said, bergeron was and is a class act who I have grudgingly admired, he played the game the right way every night. One of the smartest and skilled players ever who never took a shift off. He played through injuries that a lesser player would have been on the trainer table for weeks. I just woulda liked/loved him better in about any other city. I now literally have absolutely nothing to admire about Boston now that he is gone which for me is the silver lining.

Hronek will never win a Norris for his defense, but he is better defensively than Ghost. Hronek can also score slightly better than the average defender. Ghost has clear defensive deficiencies. What he brings to the table is he is better offensively than any defender we have had for years. He has had offensive seasons of 46 points (65 games) 51 points, 42 points and 65 points. Hronek broke 40 points just once in his career. Here is why i feel Ghost is a better fit for us for this season Ghost 106 power play points in 381 games, average of 22 per season. Average points of 47 per 82 game season Hronek 63 PPP in 309 games, avg of 15 per year. Average points of 42 per 82 game season. So more offense on a team that needs offense. A power play specialist on a team that struggled mightily to score on the power play. With no offense to Hronek who i feel did a damn fine job for the Wings in his Detroit career, I believe Gostisbehere will have a defined role with the Wings and fill a role that we need filled. I often thought that Hronek was misused out of necessity because for several years he was the only defender who seemed to be able to move a puck so we threw him out there too much which led to him wearing down by seasons end. So a player who is ten percent better offensively and more so on the powerplay, for a traded player who is five percent better defensively. Some teams would prefer Hronek, some would prefer Ghost, I just feel Ghost is exactly what we need and Hronek while talented was a bit of a square peg in a round hole. Throw in the fact that the actual return for Hronek was a first round pick which we used for the top offensive defender in the draft, Axel Sandin Pellikka.