NHL '16/'17 Thread

[Jagger69]

So the Pens win their 4th Stanley Cup. Congrats to them. Hot-diggity dog for them. So, now what? What do you see regarding your team's needs and possible moves in the off-season to become more competitive? Hitch is coming back and it's obvious to me that the Blues need another big scoring threat....preferably a winger. The Sharks shut down Tarasenko and there went our offense. I'd love to see Kucherov or Voracek wearing the note next year but right now, we need to deal with some contract issues first, specifically Backes and Brouwer. Would not be surprised to see Shattenkirk dealt for another forward....the Blues are loaded with defensive talent in the AHL. In actuality, the Blues may have that high-scoring forward on their team already in the person of Robby Fabbri. He's only 21 and played like a seasoned vet in the playoffs. I could see him being a 30-plus goal scorer. I think we're good in goal and would expect to see Allen emerge as the go-to guy more and more next year. Should be interesting to watch.

How about your team?

 

[feller469]

Bruins need defense and at least one speed winger. Not holding my breath on getting a speedy winger.

 

[rodfarva]

Oilers need: DEFENCE DEFENCE DEFENCE

It has been our greatest need ever since we lost Chris Pronger (because he's an asshole) following our ill-fated (yet ever so exciting and memorable) 2006 Stanley Cup Finals run and that need has only deepened as the years have gone by. I was quite happy to get rid of Justin Schultz (and would've been thrilled to get a bag of pucks for him) and lo and behold he plays pretty well with his new team in Pittsburgh (and wins a Cup, no less...)... the story of the Oilers roster moves; give them time and time and time to develop their potential, finally get fed up with how bad they are, trade them, and BAM! they're stars wherever they go next (or at least very good players) and sometimes the transition is instantaneous (Matt Greene, Joffrey Lupul, and the worst of all Devan Dubnyk).

I see only one player on the roster as untouchable, and that's Connor McDavid. Everyone else is up for grabs. There are a couple of others I don't want to see go (such as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who has been my favourite player the past couple of seasons, and Leon Draisaitl), but given the right package and/or a solid defenceman I'd be happy for team management to pull the trigger and move them out. I really think Jordan Eberle will be gone this offseason, and we may see that move on draft day in Buffalo.

That being said, defencemen are so expensive these days, and in order to acquire/sign one it is going to cost a lot of money/talent, so it'll be tough to build a serviceable defence core on this team in just one offseason. And, frankly, the depth of upcoming free agent defencemen is pretty thin... There are a number of good RFAs we could target, such as Torey Krug, Tyson Barrie, Sami Vatanen, Seth Jones, Rasmus Ristolainen, Hampus Lindholm, et cetera, but they're likely to be re-signed by their respective teams or those teams will match any offer we or other teams make, so it'd really be wiser to look for a trade or a UFA. But the UFA market is really thin; the best available guys are going to be old and expensive (Brian Campbell, Alex Goligoski, Keith Yandle, et cetera).

It has been extremely frustrating being an Oilers fan the past ten years, but at least a bunch of clowns aren't running the show anymore (Kevin Lowe, good riddance), so we'll see how this offseason goes...

 

[Bloodshot Scott]

A little surprised the Blues got Yeo. IMO that's a step down from a Ken Hitchcock.


The Wild will just be generally the same team, I reckon, over the next season or two. We'll be a 6-8 seed in the West, maybe catch a series and then get bounced.


Parise is not getting younger, although I don't foresee his producitivty falling off noticeably just yet - I suspect he'll continue to produce nicely for us. There is no harder worker in the NHL than Parise, and that is a fact.


We really could used just one more elite forward or two - that would do us right. Our defense is pretty solid, Dubnyk seems to be solid - as I said, I think an elite forward or two could get us to the Cup Finals, and I think for sure BB (Boudreau) is a definite step up for our club to be sure.

 

[Jagger69]

A little surprised the Blues got Yeo. IMO that's a step down from a Ken Hitchcock.

He and just about everybody south of Scotty Bowman or Toe Blake is a step down from Hitch so who would you suggest they go after? This is Hitch's last season, Yeo slated to take over next year. He's a good coach. Did an admirable job with the Wild and I watched him take the Aeros to the Calder Cup finals a few years ago. Could do worse....like a Mike Kitchen or Davis Payne. :eek:

 

[Bloodshot Scott]

Yeo was alright - I guess he did do more with what he had to work with at times, but literally every season the last three seasons there was always that proverbial lull in which we would go on painfully long losing/bad droughts...


Yeo was wanted out of here years ago, and he was given a somewhat long leash, for whatever reason Fletcher gave him it. I'm glad his days are behind us though - BB is a definite step up for our club, and the best coach we have coming in here since the great J. Lemaire (who brought us to the Western Conference Finals in only our third season as a franchise)...

 

[Jagger69]

Yeo was alright - I guess he did do more with what he had to work with at times, but literally every season the last three seasons there was always that proverbial lull in which we would go on painfully long losing/bad droughts...


Yeo was wanted out of here years ago, and he was given a somewhat long leash, for whatever reason Fletcher gave him it. I'm glad his days are behind us though - BB is a definite step up for our club, and the best coach we have coming in here since the great J. Lemaire (who brought us to the Western Conference Finals in only our third season as a franchise)...

Name a team that has not gone into some sort of lull or losing streak during any NHL season and I'll eat a frozen puck without any condiments. Not specifically advocating for Yeo, just saying he's probably as good a choice to succeed Hitch as anybody who is available. He's won a Stanley Cup so that certainly doesn't look bad on his resume. If he can do the same with the Blues, he'll be my hero for life.

 

[barebeaverlover]

Leafs have the first overall pick & will take Auston Matthews. With local boy Stephen Stamkos a free agent, there is a thought he may sign here. They'll take a good look at last year's first round pick Mitch Marner who destroyed the OHL this year. The Leafs have some talent in their system for the first time in years.

 

[Bloodshot Scott]

Hey Jagger, why did Elliot get traded?



Record 12 Americans in the first round of the draft this year, is that correct?

 

[barebeaverlover]

Hey Jagger, why did Elliot get traded?



Record 12 Americans in the first round of the draft this year, is that correct?

Three Finns taken in the 1st round too. Bad year for Canadian players, only 11 taken in the 1st round & only 2 taken in the top 10.

 

[Bloodshot Scott]

Yeah. I heard about the Finns as well. Surprised the Wild didn't draft all of them (inside joke about the Wilds, for those who aren't aware lol)

 

[Jagger69]

Hey Jagger, why did Elliot get traded?

You know how this works. It's a numbers game. We have to free up some cap space to try and resign guys like Backes, Brouwer and Schwartz so something has to give. If we can't resign some (or any) of them, it gives us some cash to go after some top-flight FA talent. Plus, rumor has it that Vladimir Sobotka is done with the KHL and is coming back to the NHL. The Blues own his rights. We could sure use him up front. Jake Allen is more than ready to take over as the #1 goalie and he costs way less than a vet like Elliott. Don't be surprised to see Shattenkirk moved as well. Lindbohm is ready to move up as a regular D-man now at a lot less money for the time being. Plus, Parayko, with that big shot, needs to be point man on the first PP unit so Shat-deuces becomes expendable. Sorry to see Els go....he was a fantastic goaltender for us and will do a great job for Calgary if they can play any type of D in front of him. That 35th pick we got in return for him is nothing to sneeze at either so a good deal for all I would say. Good luck to Els!

 

[Jagger69]

Additional research shows that Elliott's agent had asked for a trade if the Blues were going to continue to use a tandem goalie system (which they are even though I expect Allen to be the #1). Here's GM Doug Armstrong's comments:

https://www.nhl.com/blues/video/armstrong-on-elliott-deal/t-280972110/c-44272603

It will be interesting to see who they target as Jake's partner in net. They currently have Anders Nilsson penciled in as the #2 but we'll see if Army makes a move on someone more established although I don't see any potential Patrick Roy's on the UFA list this year. Nice to see us take a high-upside pick in the first round with Tage Thompson at center.

 

[Jagger69]

I would add that "Els" is what what his teammates called him so I should retract that reference. The fans call him "Moose"....so long and good luck, Moose. You Flames fans just got yourself one helluva good goaltender.

 

[Jagger69]

I was extremely surprised to see an expansion franchise granted to Las Vegas of all places! Seattle or Houston would have been much better choices IMO. Apparently, no local ownership group stepped forward for either of those cities (thanks for nothing once again, Les Alexander!) so Vegas gets the team.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/hockey/ct-nhl-las-vegas-expansion-spt-20160622-story.html

By the way, this is another reason the Blues decided to deal Brian Elliott since a team is only allowed to protect one goaltender in the expansion draft and they likely would have lost Moose without getting any compensation at all for him. Smart move by Doug Armstrong.

 

[barebeaverlover]

I was a little surprised to see Vegas get a team too. Quebec City just built a new 18,000 seat arena in anticipation of the return of the Nordiques. Given the weak state of the Canadian $, I can see Vegas $'s beating out Canadian $'s. The NHL will have 31 teams when Vegas joins, so they'll have to expand soon to have an even number of teams. Maybe Quebec City will get their team then.

Any guesses where Stamkos ends up? The talk on the local sports radio stations is that it is between 3 teams: 1) he returns home to Toronto 2) Buffalo-tons of cap space, a good young team & close to home 3) Detroit-they freed up cap space by trading Datsuk's contract to the Coyotes, new arena in a year or 2, long history of making the playoffs.

 

[Bloodshot Scott]

I was extremely surprised to see an expansion franchise granted to Las Vegas of all places! Seattle or Houston would have been much better choices IMO. Apparently, no local ownership group stepped forward for either of those cities (thanks for nothing once again, Les Alexander!) so Vegas gets the team.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/hockey/ct-nhl-las-vegas-expansion-spt-20160622-story.html

By the way, this is another reason the Blues decided to deal Brian Elliott since a team is only allowed to protect one goaltender in the expansion draft and they likely would have lost Moose without getting any compensation at all for him. Smart move by Doug Armstrong.

Yeah I don't know about Vegas. Remeber this doozy (melted hockey rink and all):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkvpvWGxXrg

Good point on Elliot. Wasn't terribly familiar with the situation there but you're probably right.

 

[rodfarva]

The Las Vegas expansion has been in the works for many years and has been the "next" destination for an expansion franchise for many years. It may indeed increase the likelihood of expanding in Quebec City, which is good. It will be interesting to see how a hockey team does in Sin City, but it will be the only major sports franchise, and it's quite a big city. There may be tourist interest in it as well since hockey will be "foreign" to many visitors to the city. I don't have high hopes, however, that a hockey team will generate interest there. But many people felt that way about Nashville, and the fan base there grew very quickly and has not died off (even in tough years).

I'm surprised no one has posted yet about the two recent major trades and one major signing that went down. P.K. Subban to Nashville for Shea Weber (who moves to Montreal). And the seemingly quite lopsided trade of Taylor Hall from Edmonton to New Jersey for Adam Larsson. And Steven Stamkos re-signs in Tampa Bay for eight years at $8 million per season; he certainly could've gotten more money signing elsewhere (in Toronto, Buffalo, or Detroit, as were rumoured), but chose to take this deal and remain with the Lightning. What do people think about these deals?

A little bit of insight into the Hall-Larsson trade (from the Oilers perspective): the Oilers need D, and have depth in forwards, so acquiring a top-4 defenceman is a plus. Hall's departure frees up cap space, which will likely be used in part to sign Milan Lucic on Friday (when free agency opens up), and perhaps others (rumours abound about Jason Demers). Also, while the Oilers might've been able to trade Hall one-for-one (as they did with this deal) for a more accomplished NHL defenceman (such as Kevin Shattenkirk, for example), all such defencemen would likely carry with them contracts that expire in a year or two, and Larsson's doesn't expire until 2021, so we know he'll be stuck here, and let's face it, no one wants to play here these days. Larsson may have struggled early on after being drafted 4th overall by the Devils, but that's pretty typical with young defencemen in the NHL. He has developed quite nicely, and has been really good the past couple of seasons, and appears to be trending upward, and carries loads of potential. So while this may seem like a head-scratcher of a trade, I think only time will tell if Chiarelli made a good move or not.

P.S. Hall seems quite salty about it, but bottom line is that no matter how productive he was as a scoring LW with the Oilers, he did not help this team win, so I, for one, am not unhappy to see him go.

 

[Bloodshot Scott]

I had no idea Subban went to Nashville and Weber to Habs.

That's a bit of an odd one.

 

[Jagger69]

I had no idea Subban went to Nashville and Weber to Habs.

That's a bit of an odd one.

Yeah I'm a bit perplexed by that one as well. Similar players although Subban is not as big and is 3 years younger. I'd love to have either one of them on my blueline but I don't know that I'd trade one for the other straight up. No sweeteners for anyone on this deal?