yave1964

6 hours ago, ruxpin said:

Holy crap what a group. I'm still shocked about Zadina. I really liked him in his draft year.

 

I'm still on why no one tried. It really would have amounted to a one year "show me" and then waive him if not.   I can't imagine want either Philly or Arizona have to lose.  

 

You have a better vantage. Is he simply not an NHL player or is there something "culture" that is scaring teams off?

Blashill when he left Detroit made a comment about 'uncoachable' players which many, if not most took to refer to Mantha, as the two of them had a hate/hate relationship, but as Mantha was gone for a year before the axe finally swung on Blashill, it likely was code for a roster player currently on the roster when Blashill was whacked, I have seen several people think it was Rasmussen but imho it has to be zadina.

  In juniors he loved to use a burst of speed down the right side and fire it through the goalie from just inside the right faceoff circle high and glove side, if you watch his predator video it is his major move, challenging goalies from there one on one NHL goalies are too good to allow anyone to beat them regularly with that shot. After four years it's still his go to, he has made no adjustments to the NHL game, he still thinks he is in juniors. He has no idea how to set a screen, how to look for the trailer, he still thinks his junior game will eventually start working in the NHL. 

Just now, Podein25 said:

 

At what price point, if any, do you think a team might have claimed him?

I genuinely was a bit surprised he was not claimed by a team fighting to get to the cap floor such as Arizona or Philly or San Jose, a shade under two million a year for two years, honestly he might have been worth taking a shot. 

  Man the wings in Holland's later years were dreadful with first and second rounders, mantha is meh and is probably the best of a bad lot. Cholowski, Frk, Rasmussen, jurco, Oullet, Givani Smith, Zadina and Svechnikov were some of his glaring swings and misses. Yeah I know, Larkin but every now and then a blind squirrel finds an acorn. He left a scorched Earth and the pipeline is finally becoming restocked.

cleared. Nobody claimed him. Says it all.

Played for Torts for Torts entire run in New York. Signed to be a drinking buddy on the road lol. 

  Seriously tho, never a fan, always thought he got by on his family name until he was traded to Detroit then I watched him. A bit washed up but technically sound he was an excellent mentor for the young defense. 

4 hours ago, Podein25 said:

 

Dunno, it's not a team I follow much. Maybe @yave1964 could weigh in with some insight.  6th overall and so much excitement about him after he came over to play in Halifax. 

in a game that has gotten softer as the years have went by, he is taking it to extreme. Honestly, i think covid screwed his development up for a year or two, he never got traction, injuries have hit at the wrong time, essentially snakebit. That said, the Wings have given him every opportunity in the world, he has never grabbed it. 

Glad to see him finish his career where he started. Woulda been nice to see them sign Wheeler and Kessel as well.

Versatile super pest Ross Colton was dealt by Tampa to Colorado for a second rounder, pick number 37 which sakic and the Avs received the day before for partial payment of Alex newhook.

  Colton can play any forward position, scores 20 goals on average per year and lives to hit. At this point and time he is newhook who loves to hit although Colton has likely peaked and newhook has more upside. Essentially they replaced newhook with a similar player and came out with a late first for free. 

Blake wheeler is being bought out today, the last original Jet unceremoniously dropped. Teams best player Scheifele likely traded today to either Boston or Detroit.  All star goalie Hellboy wants out as well. 

  All that said, and that is a lot, the Jets did very well in the deal.  As the Hockey Guy said in his YouTube video, for Dubois they added an entire line. About as well as could be expected all things considered. I am not as high on kupari as some but his name only came into the deal late, you kind of felt like after Montreal dropped out that the Jets had the kings bidding against themselves. Oh, and they managed a second rounder as well.  Very nice.

Hey you beat me to one lol. 

  Love it for the Devils, toffoli exactly the type of experienced playoffs performer you need to come out of the East. Sharangovich is ok but a third liners is his suited role while toffoli can play any of the top three lines as needed gives the devils nice versatility. 

 Flame fans will love sharangovich for something like a timely goal or a wicked hit that he does every couple of weeks but toffoli is steady and boring and proven and like punching a clock, you know he is gonna score 25 goals and provide leadership and stability. Nobody loves a toffoli except his coach and GM and teammates. 

Pld is a king, 8.5 for eight years. Harkins along for the ride, a solid ahl scorer who has not taken advantage of chances with the jets. Kings now have the deepest most talented centers in the west and possibly in the game 

  The jets added solid wingers is tell and vilardi and former first round center kupari who has done very little when given a chance.

  Love the deal for both, jets get rid of headache in Dubois, add two solid wingers I am weary of who their centers will be especially if they trade scheifele to Boston or Detroit.  The kings are incredibly deep at center and still strong on the wing.

Blackwood lost the net in Jersey last year, was just dealt to the sharks for a sixth round pick. 

  Sharks get a talented goalie in need of a change for not a lot. He replaced reimer and will split the net with kahkonen. He lost his game to injuries and confidence issues over the last two years, little risk for the sharks smart pickup by GM Grier.

59 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

I actually don't think this is a terrible deal for the Canadiens.

Yes, they gave up quite a bit in potential picks, but then again, they DID have two first rounders to begin with, and they kept the more valuable one they own, sending Florida's to the Avalanche.
They get, in Newhook, a guy who could potentially slot in as a 1 or 2C...likely 2C if Suzuki holds up as their top center, and have a nice 1-2 punch down the middle.
And Newhook already has what anyone they would have picked with a late 1st rounder or early 2nd round DOESN'T have...NHL experience, playing with high end talent, at such a young age still.

Now, that all said, it will still fall on the Canadiens to compliment not only Newhook, but their other young talent (Caufield, Pezzetta, Slafkovsky, Dach, and the aforementioned Suzuki) with the RIGHT veterans, as well as getting a solid, stable goalie.... and that will determine how well they really did here.
MTL is shaping up to be possibly be one of the fastest skating teams in the league.

Avs are smart in getting ahead of any cap crunches while keeping the roster young, but they are also taking a gamble that the young players they pick may turn out to be average at best.

Time will tell, but right now, I like this for both.

 

Newhook has been given a shot at the 2c spot after kadri left. His faceoff pct was 5th from the bottom of anyone who took at least 500 draws. Compher passed him and stole his role. With Compher likely unaffordable as a free agent, instead of circling back to newhook they traded for retread Johanson coming off his worst year ever and dealt newhook. I trust sakic who is one of the sharpest minds in the game. If he says Johanson is better, I believe him.

  That said, I truly don't think newhook has a future at center but I think he could have a good career as a winger. He is smallish but responsible defensively, he has a solid shooting pct. And can play up and down the lines. I think a first and second was too much but it seems to be the going rate for third liners who are versatile and can score a bit, look at jeannot in Tampa last year. Third liners with some, not a lot but some upside. I wouldn't have done it and I think he is joining a really crowded group of forwards in Montreal but I can see the case. Still think that sakic wins this one but newhook is not a bad player.

Look, I like Alex newhook, nice player but a first and second and a middling prospect seems excessive. His career high is 33 points, 14 goals. 

 The 31st and 37th pick? Colorado made a great deal

   A handshake deal between yzerman and Dorion has been reached with a few wrinkles to iron out.

  Debrincat will be coming to Detroit as long as a contract is worked out which seems certain as he is a Farmington hills boy. Ottawa gets the 17th pick in the draft, Filip zadina and either the 44th pick in this year's draft or Boston's first in next year's draft. It will not become official until the draft tomorrow night but it is over as long as debrincat signs. 

  Good deal for both, wings need offense, Ottawa gets nice futures for a player who was not going to resign.

Hayes to blues for a sixth, fifty percent retained. 

Well deserved. I think this was a foregone conclusion by New years day. 

Bruins added three B minus or C plus defensive prospects yesterday.... tells me that at least one of the top four defenders is a goner in they add Schefiele. I am betting Carlo would have to be one of the pieces going the other way. Originally I thought Lindholm but his contract is too big and he has a no move. I could see Debrusk/Carlo. Other teams are in on Schefiele, he has term left on a very reasonable contract and will command a hefty price....

25 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

Ahh, silly me...
Nick Foligno part of the deal.

I think he MIGHT be treading on 'husk of' territory, @yave1964.
I could be wrong.

But, if anyone can show young players how to be a prepared professional each and every game HE, not Hall, is the guy who could do some mentoring.

Agreed. Not the most talented player but can play any forward position, never takes a shift off, not the player he once was but agreed, he leads by example, kind of like Staal in Carolina.

With a ton of RfaS AND a bunch of UFAs that they would like to keep and no cap space, the Bruins have donated Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno to the Hawks for a couple of B or C defensive prospects in Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula.

  It gives the Bruins the much needed cap space to sign Swayman and Debrusk and they still have a chance to sign UFAs Hathaway and Orlov. 

  Chicago gets a former number one pick in Hall to play on a top line with Connor Bedard.  He is not the player he once was but can still score a bit and the hope is that he and Foligno bring experience to a young team.

  Nothing out yet if picks/ money are involved i tge deal

Sean Durzi was dealt to Arizona a couple of days ago for a 2024 2nd rounder.

  The Coyotes as buyers seems strange but Durzi is cheap at a bit under two million and the totes retain his rights for two years. He is a puck mover with a nice shot and fits the Arizona/Houston/Atlanta/Hamilton model. He looks like a 40-50 point a year ppqb.

  In LA, coach Scott Stevens hated his game. He is smallish and the kings want players who are aggressive and physical on the back end. Twice he was sat down for his less than physical game, getting away from Stevens might allow him to flourish.

  It also means that former first rounder Brandt Clarke is a lock to make the team. 3 inches taller than Durzi, he skates like the wind and is pure offense on the back end. Read this carefully, in only 31 games for Barrie in the OHL last year, Clarke scored 65 points or over two per game.  Then in the playoffs in only 12 games he amassed a staggering 23 more.

  I like it for the yotes, young cheap puck mover albeit a bit small do not grow on trees a solid get. Love it for the kings, a second rounder and clearing space for Clarke is a great idea.in fact, if healthy I have Clarke in my top five preseason Calder candidates. It also frees a bit of cap space as they are zeroing in on Pierre luc Dubois. With Clarke stealing his ice time Durzi was bound to see a decrease in ice time and production so dealing him now for a second shows foresight. Solid move for both.

My two cents

Lundqvist is a rock solid absolute no brainer first ballot hall of famer

Zetterberg barely missed last year. He slides in with his countryman the King

Alexander Mogilny finally gets the call after being criminally overlooked for so many years.

Boris Mikhailov gets in, truthfully he should have went in way ahead of countryman Yakyuchev who inexplicably made it four or five years ago.

Some woman i have never heard of and wont remember five minutes after the election.

Builder category i am going out on a limb and choosing Ken Hitchcock. 

Dark horses would have to be JR and Tkachuk who both appear to have the numbers but never the votes. A lot of people like CuJo but i see him as a long lasting goalie who had good but not great numbers. 

  When most teams reach the point where the Jets are, first round fodder in a good year, barely missing the postseason in a bad, most teams continue to attempt to retool and rebuild on the fly to stay relevant. It appears the Jets are going another route.

Pierre Luc Dubois will not come back, he has told the team that he will not resign. Rumors have him going everywhere in all likelihood before the draft as the Jets want draft capital in this very deep draft.

 Connor Hellebuyck wants out as well and may be gone on or around the draft. The Kings have kicked tires, so has Edmonton but money is a bad fit for both. It remains to be seen where he winds up.

  And the one that most intrigues me as a Wings fan is Mark Scheifele who grew up idolizing Steve Yzerman and has made no bones of his desire to play for the Wings.

Well.

  Scheifele has two years remaining on his current deal  at a very reasonable 6.1 million per season. I have heard that Yzerman wants to have a four year extension in place before swinging the deal, likely somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 million per year. 

  The Wings can easily afford him, they have over 30 million in available cap space with none of their own free agents coming back, they can make a splash, or even two, possibly more depending on where Yzerman sees the team in what is the games deepest division. 

  Yzerman played under Bowman who built the best four man depth chart at center that we have ever seen or are likely to ever see, Yzerman, Federov, Larionov and Draper, three hall of famers and arguably the greatest fourth line center in the game. If the Wings add Scheifele it would make them one of the games deepest down the middle with

Larkin

Scheifele

Copp

Rookie Marco Kasper

Simply wow.

  So what would the cost be? The Wings have two first rounders, their own at 9 and the Islanders at 17, one of those would certainly be a part of it. Lucas Raymond has been whispered, after coming in second in Calder voting two years ago, he had a sophomore slump season but still has massive upsde. Truthfully the Jets losing their top two centers would more than likely ask for Marco Kasper instead as a young, cheap cornerstone to begin the rebuild around. 

So Kasper and the 17th pick? Maybe. Raymond and the 17th? Again maybe. The Jets certainly have no interest in simply giving away such a player.  Berggren and the ninth? RRR, very possible as well.

  So the Wings have assets to deal, Berggren and Wallinder and a second might get it done, dealing from depth to acquire a star talent would be huge. Debrincat supposedly wants to come to Detroit as well but the Senators are less likely to deal him to a division rival and while he is a sniper who looked disinterested and as if he were sleepwalking in Ottawa last year who does not want to return. Ottawa gave up an absolute ton to get him only a year ago so the asking price is going to be insanely high, i think he would be plan B because of that.

1 hour ago, notfondajane said:

Hope your day is better than mine 

hang in there bro

Back atcha!

23 hours ago, NHL HHOF said:

 

But Phil Kessel has 3 Stanley Cup rings, and 430 goals, and 579 assists. 17 seasons in the NHL, should play 3 more for 20, but he should lose weight. Future Hall of Famer. Yandle is not a future hall of famer.

One other knock.

  Kessel played the first four games of the playoffs and then, William Carrier returned and Kessel hit the bench and did not appear in another game. Yes his regular season streak is intact but Vegas did not play him in a single game after the first round Jets series. They preferred the smothering defense that carrier provided. 

  You know who he reminds me of? Dave Kingman. King Kong could belt some insanely long homers but contributed little else. Kessel is a fantastic interview and Kingman was a pure ass with reporters but both had a few fantastic skills but glaring deficiency everywhere else.