Kadri/Barrie trade caps amazing free agent frenzy

[yave1964]

  Well this year the frenzy lived up to the hype. After several years of boring anticlimactic nothing much happening this year saw superstars such as Panarin and bob find new teams, a bigger collection of near stars finding new teams than ever before and it culminated tonight with the trade between the Leafs and Avalanche who in my opinion are the two biggest winners of the hectic frenzied day.

 

 Toronto dealt from strength, after drafting talented blueliner Bowen Byram to pair with matching crown jewel Calle Makar on the back end they dealt their all time leading scorer from the back end Tyson Barrie who is an elite puck mover along with talented young forward Kerfoot for the much needed 2C in Nazim Kadri and talented kid blueliner Rosen. It is the exact trade both teams needed.

 

 Here are, IMHO the three big winners and the three big losers of July first:

 

WINNERS 

 

Florida Panthers They got the goalie they desperately needed in Bobrovsky while clearing money to do so with Luongo retiring and moving out Reimer. They added quality forward Brett Connolly to a deep group and Anton Stralman who defines the role of defensive d-man and is much needed. Impossible to overstate how different the team looks now.

 

COLORADO AVALANCHE Needs going in were middle six forwards. Kadri, Burakovsky, Donskoi all added combining with holdover Compher to make secondary scoring a strength, defense led by two crown jewels was tweaked with Rosen and Connauten as well.

 

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS Kadri had to go after two straight postseason meltdowns, losing Brown hurts too bu the combo of Kerfoot, Spezza, Agostino should offset most of the loss on the third line. 

  But their defense long a weakness is now fantastic, Reilly will pair with Ceci as an elite top pairing and Barrie combined with Muzzin as a second pair is just sick. Youngsters Lilejgren, Dermott and Borgman are all skilled talented players ready to fight for time.

 Now if they can only sign that Marner fella...

 

LOSERS 

 

COLUMBUS BLUEJACKETS Lost them all. Duchene, Bread, Bob, all gone. Replaced with Nyquist and..... Well nobody actually. 

 

NEW YORK ISLANDERS They had a Vezina finalist nearly begging them to come back and they blew it signing the enigmatic Varlamov instead. They swung and missed on every free agent, they thought they had Panarin as late as noon but lost him to rival Rangers.

 

SAN JOSE SHARKS Lost long time star Pavelski who said all the right things about his teammates and the fans but left for Dallas. Lost Nyquist, lost Donskoi, literally signed nobody. Maybe Thornton plays another year, maybe Marleau stumbles around on the ice even slower in his one year return, signing Karlsson crippled this team financially. They slipped back mightily in the pack.

[ruxpin]

45 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

NEW YORK ISLANDERS They had a Vezina finalist nearly begging them to come back and they blew it signing the enigmatic Varlamov instead. They swung and missed on every free agent, they thought they had Panarin as late as noon but lost him to rival Rangers.

This one, for me, was the worst of the bunch. I know Columbus took it on the chin, but it wasn't for lack of trying.  The players just wanted brighter lights. 

 

The Islanders did the goalie thing to themselves. It's both astounding and inexplicable the self-harm that franchise visits upon itself.   Lehner for Varly is not a good move. 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Good stuff, @yave1964

 

I agree the Avalanche are clear cut winners in this signing and trading frenzy. They seemed to have covered most of their needs and the contracts given out reasonable given the talent, and the departed players reasonably replaced...……..all except Varlamov.

As good an off season as the Avs have had so far, I have to wonder if Phillip Grubauer is up to the task of being a full time number one.
He might be.  But if there is a question mark regarding the Avs during this frenzy, this would be it.

 

I also like the Panthers being listed as 'winners' so far in the off season. I've always felt this team comes to play hare every night, but depth (or lack thereof) has always plagued these guys....an injury here or there and they suddenly look very thin.
Not only did they address depth, but brought in flat out fantastic players, such as the mentioned Stralman and Bobrovsky, to do more than just "fill in".

That Noel Acciari signing for their bottom six could be an underrated boost too.....guy plays reasonably well, hits like no one's business, and is pretty good at NOT turning the puck over.

In fact, regarding the Panthers, I started a thread in the TB Lightning section talking about how maybe there really will be an in-state Florida rivalry between the Bolts n Cats (not that manufactured media crap) based on the fact that TB is already a contender, and the Panthers have taken great strides to become one...………. and Bob in net for the Cats.... man, the Bolts are gonna be up...way up...to play against that guy for the next several years!

As for my third winner, I will bump down Toronto (not that they didn't have a good signing/trade day), but to me, it looks more like they shuffled the furniture around a bit rather than truly progressed...…...and like you said, if they can't retain Marner, well, I think they aren't that much better off.
Don't get me wrong, they should still ice a very competitive regular season team....but IMO, not too much different than the one they iced last year....

 

So in the Leafs place, I will nominate as a winner, the NJ Devils.
I think they added much needed veteran leadership in Wayne Simmonds and PK Subban while losing no one of consequence, and those vets will be surrounded by a nice core of players that includes Hischier, Severson, Bratt, Coleman, Hughes of course, Palmieri, and in net, Mackenzie Blackwood.

If they can convince Taylor Hall to stay on, that will be icing on the cake for this team. They also have Will Butcher and Mirco Mueller as RFA's I think they'd be wise to hang onto.
Barring health disasters, I think the Devils should be MUCH improved this coming season and did lots of good things to get themselves there this off season!

[yave1964]

@TropicalFruitGirl26

 

Agreed the Devils had a Hell of an offseason, I am not a fan of Subban, I feel he is vastly overrated with massive holes in his game but the sucker can run a power play with anyone which they desperately need, I thought of listing them among the winners along with a couple of original six teams, the Rangers and especially the Hawks who added to their forward depth, picked up a couple of solid d-men and stole Lehner. The other team I considered for one of the three loser slots was the Jets, I felt they kind of flailed along, losing Myers and Trouba and Hayes without adding anything significant. 

 

@ruxpin

 I get it that Varly about every fifth game looks like a Vezina candidate but he has two medium games and two awful ones mixed in with no rhyme or reason for what to expect on a given night. A four year contract as well. Simply makes no sense. I know they have that Russian kid in net coming over next year and I think the hope is that Varly can mentor him but he is a head case. Varly as a mentor would be like going to Doctor Kevorkian for a bad cold.

[ruxpin]

51 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

@TropicalFruitGirl26

 

Agreed the Devils had a Hell of an offseason, I am not a fan of Subban, I feel he is vastly overrated with massive holes in his game but the sucker can run a power play with anyone which they desperately need, I thought of listing them among the winners along with a couple of original six teams, the Rangers and especially the Hawks who added to their forward depth, picked up a couple of solid d-men and stole Lehner. The other team I considered for one of the three loser slots was the Jets, I felt they kind of flailed along, losing Myers and Trouba and Hayes without adding anything significant. 

 

@ruxpin

 I get it that Varly about every fifth game looks like a Vezina candidate but he has two medium games and two awful ones mixed in with no rhyme or reason for what to expect on a given night. A four year contract as well. Simply makes no sense. I know they have that Russian kid in net coming over next year and I think the hope is that Varly can mentor him but he is a head case. Varly as a mentor would be like going to Doctor Kevorkian for a bad cold.

Jeffrey Dahmer as your nutritionist. 

Lindsey Lohan for alternative medicine. 

Stevie Wonder as your set interior decorator. 

Chuck Fletcher as your GM. 

 

Nevermind the last one. Now I'm just getting crazy. 

Edited July 2, 2019 by ruxpin

[J0e Th0rnton]

5 hours ago, yave1964 said:

  Well this year the frenzy lived up to the hype. After several years of boring anticlimactic nothing much happening this year saw superstars such as Panarin and bob find new teams, a bigger collection of near stars finding new teams than ever before and it culminated tonight with the trade between the Leafs and Avalanche who in my opinion are the two biggest winners of the hectic frenzied day.

 

 Toronto dealt from strength, after drafting talented blueliner Bowen Byram to pair with matching crown jewel Calle Makar on the back end they dealt their all time leading scorer from the back end Tyson Barrie who is an elite puck mover along with talented young forward Kerfoot for the much needed 2C in Nazim Kadri and talented kid blueliner Rosen. It is the exact trade both teams needed.

 

 Here are, IMHO the three big winners and the three big losers of July first:

 

WINNERS 

 

Florida Panthers They got the goalie they desperately needed in Bobrovsky while clearing money to do so with Luongo retiring and moving out Reimer. They added quality forward Brett Connolly to a deep group and Anton Stralman who defines the role of defensive d-man and is much needed. Impossible to overstate how different the team looks now.

 

COLORADO AVALANCHE Needs going in were middle six forwards. Kadri, Burakovsky, Donskoi all added combining with holdover Compher to make secondary scoring a strength, defense led by two crown jewels was tweaked with Rosen and Connauten as well.

 

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS Kadri had to go after two straight postseason meltdowns, losing Brown hurts too bu the combo of Kerfoot, Spezza, Agostino should offset most of the loss on the third line. 

  But their defense long a weakness is now fantastic, Reilly will pair with Ceci as an elite top pairing and Barrie combined with Muzzin as a second pair is just sick. Youngsters Lilejgren, Dermott and Borgman are all skilled talented players ready to fight for time.

 Now if they can only sign that Marner fella...

 

LOSERS 

 

COLUMBUS BLUEJACKETS Lost them all. Duchene, Bread, Bob, all gone. Replaced with Nyquist and..... Well nobody actually. 

 

NEW YORK ISLANDERS They had a Vezina finalist nearly begging them to come back and they blew it signing the enigmatic Varlamov instead. They swung and missed on every free agent, they thought they had Panarin as late as noon but lost him to rival Rangers.

 

SAN JOSE SHARKS Lost long time star Pavelski who said all the right things about his teammates and the fans but left for Dallas. Lost Nyquist, lost Donskoi, literally signed nobody. Maybe Thornton plays another year, maybe Marleau stumbles around on the ice even slower in his one year return, signing Karlsson crippled this team financially. They slipped back mightily in the pack.

Good god man!

 

Has anyone else seen the deterioration of Pavelski's skating but me? Well Doug Wilson has. We were not paying him a dime over 2 years at 5m. And I LOVE the guy. heart, soul, dedication and class he was. But his legs are shot and they have not even been injured. He is amazing at tipping Burns' point shots and will take a beating around the net to score a goal. he has in fact taken many back alley cross check muggings around the net. Too many and its showing in his back the same way it did for Mike Bossy. His decline is imminent. Im trying to think of the last person who left us for Free agency as a veteran who wanted money and term that Doug Wilson regretted losing. And I can't think of one.

 

We just resigned Timo Meier to a deal that pays 4 years at 6 million and STILL gives us 1 more year of RFA at the end of it and he is a better player now. Not equal to Pavs at his best, but pavs is 35 and fading fast and Meier is going exactly how I knew he would as a Mooseheads fan. He has the same drive, work ethic and dedication as Pavelski and more power forward skills. He reminds me of Cam Neely without the fighting the way he just bulldogs through people.

 

 

People are constantly harping on the sharks for keeping players past their prime and relying on an old core lol. But the core of this team is now a 30 year old Couture and a 27 year old Kane, but on the young superstar side a 25 year old Hertl, and a 22 year old Meier. I suspect 23 year old  Labanc will resign a bridge deal as well to become the 3rd young core member. I have high hopes for Gambrell and Sorenson as well. Kane was terribly distracted down the stretch with his wife losing her baby but he still matched his career year.

 

Couture and Hertl centered their own lines and were absolutely dominant when Pavelski was not there injured.

 

Losing Donskoi and Nyquist meant absolutely nothing to us. Neither player played above the 3rd line or made any serious impact. Thornton has basically told the media Wilson can sign whoever he needs to and he will take a min deal if that is all that's left and the running narrative is Marleau is going to do the same because he refused to waive his NMC unless he was going back to SJ or being bought out. Yeah they are old as i am but having a 3rd or 4th line with Thornton/Marleau would still be the best 3rd or 4th line in the NHL.

 

 

 

[yave1964]

6 hours ago, ruxpin said:

Jeffrey Dahmer as your nutritionist. 

Lindsey Lohan for alternative medicine. 

Stevie Wonder as your set interior decorator. 

Chuck Fletcher as your GM. 

 

Nevermind the last one. Now I'm just getting crazy. 

Wesley Snipes as your accountant

Tammy Fae Baker as your makeup artist

Karl Rove as your advisor

 

Too early. That's al I got, lol

[yave1964]

@J0e Th0rnton

 

Look I am not saying that the Sharks are chum in the water (pun intended) but they did take a step back today. Pavelski, slowing and all, Nyquist and Donskoi scored 55 goals, that is a significant drop. Hertl and Couture are monsters, anyone who doesn't love them doesn't follow hockey, the Sharks make a habit of building from within and adding pieces aggressively to fit need and should be the envy of the league but over ahlf a goal per game has just dropped off the roster without a single return. There are a few pieces still out there, Brassard, Ferland, a few others the Sharks took a hit today, they need to find decent replacements for them plain and simple. If one of Hertl or Couture takes any type of step back either due to injury or puck luck it would be a hard pill to swallow. To me the window just closed a tad with the losses taken today. Not saying they are not a contender, any team with the core the Sharks have will contend but they slipped back a bit.

[ruxpin]

48 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

Wesley Snipes as your accountant

Tammy Fae Baker as your makeup artist

Karl Rove as your advisor

 

Too early. That's al I got, lol

Ah screw it:

 

Donald Trump as your president

[J0e Th0rnton]

6 hours ago, yave1964 said:

@J0e Th0rnton

 

Look I am not saying that the Sharks are chum in the water (pun intended) but they did take a step back today. Pavelski, slowing and all, Nyquist and Donskoi scored 55 goals, that is a significant drop. Hertl and Couture are monsters, anyone who doesn't love them doesn't follow hockey, the Sharks make a habit of building from within and adding pieces aggressively to fit need and should be the envy of the league but over ahlf a goal per game has just dropped off the roster without a single return. There are a few pieces still out there, Brassard, Ferland, a few others the Sharks took a hit today, they need to find decent replacements for them plain and simple. If one of Hertl or Couture takes any type of step back either due to injury or puck luck it would be a hard pill to swallow. To me the window just closed a tad with the losses taken today. Not saying they are not a contender, any team with the core the Sharks have will contend but they slipped back a bit.

I simply believe with increased pp time Meier will take it to another level. And pavelski is going to drop due to age and injuries and being literally twice as slow as he used to be.

 

I have no doubt he is going to single out heiskanen and klingberg in practice to try to create the same tipping chemistry he had with burns. I just don't think he will be nearly as effective with them. His trajectory prediction from me is 29 goals then 26 goals then 20 and them regretting the last year of his contract.

 

Nyquist was not a good fit. No loss.

Donskoi has so much skill but reminds me of samsonov. No finish. We have bottom 6 guys who will effortlessly fill their roles.

 

I also think kane was playing way better before his family tragedy matters derailed it. And I think surgery will give us a healthy karlsson who we saw tear it up midseason.

 

Jones had his first bad season. I won't worry till I see 2 in a row. I lived through the niemi era