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The Everything NHL Thread

I don't mind the inane predictions and comments so much as the extended intentional trolling between people I have to delete.


Great signing for LA if Gagne stays relatively healthy, Kopitar and Richards need some wingers to pass to and he was the best remaining FA winger. The Kings really seem to be turning a corner here roster-wise, once they lock Doughty up this team is awfully good... San Jose is still the team to beat in that division but the top 6 in LA right now would be some combination of Kopitar and Richards in the middle and probably Williams, Brown, Gagne, and Stoll or Penner on the wings, which is competitive with anybody, even though this is a team built around defense. I think ideally they'd find one more winger and be able to move both Stoll and Penner down to line 3 and run something like Gagne-Kopitar-Williams x-Richards-Brown above them, but man this team seems ready to at least get into the second or third round next year. Blueline is pretty underrated past Doughty and JJ too, people might be surprised by how good they are this year.



Lot of teams haven't been making much of a FA splash that I would have expected to (most notably Detroit, who I think would be lucky to be the 6 seed in the West right now). Curious if that means we'll see some trades, lot of teams have needs free agents won't fill. Or maybe someone will grow a pair and fire an offer sheet since like everything you could ever want to win long term instead of for 2 years with a FA is available in an RFA right now.

Notable still FAs: Vokoun, Kaberle, McCabe, White, Prospal, Miettinen, Kovalev, Drury, Vrbata, Bergfors, Langenbrunner, Samsonov, Turco (man this list got boring in a hurry)
Notable still RFAs: Stamkos, Doughty, Parise, Weber, Yandle, Schenn, Bogosian, Marchand, Callahan, Turris, Dubinsky, Ladd, Bozak, Simmonds, Brouwer, many, many more!



EDIT: Also Connolly may be not such a bad pickup from a health perspective; he's played about 70 games the last two years which is pretty good. He's not the world's best backchecking center which would be more my worry, but I think he certainly does help Kessel's goal totals plenty.

EDIT 2: lol Detroit signed Ian White gg Chicago maybe we'll be competitive with you in 2012-13. Looking forward to Canucks or Sharks first round...
 
Um...does anybody understand why the Caps signed Vokoun? Also, does anybody understand why Vokoun isn't even worth 2mil?

Mike Smith, possibly the worst goalie in the entire NHL, will be starting for the Coyotes making 2mil a year.
Tomas Vokoun, one of the most underrated goalies in the NHL, will now be battling with Neuvirth and Holtby for playing time and only making 1.5mil a year.
 
CaptainKishimoto said:
That's fine, the Leafs only play well in the second half anyways.

Also I don't mind Eradd's comments, he sounds like a bandwagoner but he's no where near as bad as J-man and his attempts to erect a statue of every Red Wings player in existence.
Click to expand...
My goodness, what did i do? I was actually TEARING down players (IE Ericsson)

Also, Caps are scary now with Vokoun in net...
 
I'm torn on the Vokoun thing as a Caps fan; to me this reaffirms that we really need to more Mike Green basically immediately for picks+prospects because his defensive liabilities make it unlikely we can win at all with him and Vokoun's surprisingly small added salary means we're just barely able to fit Alzner and Brouwer under the cap if we do get rid of Green without taking salary back. I have no idea how this is going to work in any other scenario; Alzner is an important piece of the future of the franchise -- probably the #2D to Carlson over the next ten years -- and we just gave a first for Brouwer. How is this all gonna get back under the cap? I love having Vokoun in the sense that it leaves probable future #1 Holtby in the AHL an extra year where he can get more time, and Neuvirth could probably stand to learn from a veteran for a year or two since the Caps haven't had one since Kolzig left, but damn...

I'd be pleased with this Green-less roster...

ovechkin-backstrom-knuble
semin-johansson-brouwer
chimera-laich-ward
fehr-hendriks-halpern

carlson-alzner
hamrlik-wideman
schultz-poti

Vokoun

scratch: beagle, king, erskine, collins, neuvirth

Shocked at the price though... he either really wants to win and believes in the Caps due to the division rivalry or the other teams in the league are absolutely insane.
 
He may have been asking for too much until he realised everyone that needed a goalie went for more affordable options.. which left him with no other choice than signing a 1 year contract for this little money.
 
Synre said:
Shocked at the price though... he either really wants to win and believes in the Caps due to the division rivalry or the other teams in the league are absolutely insane.
Click to expand...

What I heard happened was Colorado told him "don't talk to anyone else because we want you bad" so he didn't talk to anyone. Colorado then told him a few hours later "oops sorry we got Peter Budaj" and by then Phoenix got Mike Smith and Florida got Vokoun, so this was all that was left.
 
Buzzcut said:
What I heard happened was Colorado told him "don't talk to anyone else because we want you bad" so he didn't talk to anyone. Colorado then told him a few hours later "oops sorry we got Peter Budaj" and by then Phoenix got Mike Smith and Florida got Vokoun, so this was all that was left.
Click to expand...

So you heard Colorado got Budaj and Florida got Vokoun which contributed to (some other?) Vokoun having no other choice but to accept a shitty deal with Washington?

If there was any truth to this story initially, it certainly got lost in the confusion.

-Colorado got Varlamov and Giguère
-Montreal got Budaj
-Florida got Théodore
 
Maybe Vokoun was so tired of being the best player on his team for his entire career that he threw a call over to the best team with immediate goalie concerns and then took one for that team considering its cap situation.

I'm gonna be an optimist and think Vokoun is an absolute angel and did that because I've always rooted for him anyway.

That said, agreeing that Kings are nasty this year. Burns to San Jose still makes them #1 in that division, but man, if Quick / Bernier grow more and there are no chemistry issues (Ryan Smyth as a great leader for Mike Richards' questionable locker room presence might be an issue)...potentially scary.

Gagne - Kopitar - Williams
LW - Richards - Brown (though kopitar and brown did have chemistry last year)
Penner - Stoll - RW

I know they're high on Scott Parse, and they have first rounder Trevor Lewis and second rounder Kyle Clifford to fill out spots...damn this team is exciting.

If they want to use a line that worked in limited action last year, Parse - Kopitar - Brown works. They could even front load on two lines and move Penner up to Lw2 and run Penner - Richards - Williams for a nice mix of skill and grit. So many options to play with :X

I know what team I'm gonna root for out of the west next year!

EDIT: Question...who is playing C for the flyers next year? Moving Briere back to C...then who?
 
Vineon said:
So you heard Colorado got Budaj and Florida got Vokoun which contributed to (some other?) Vokoun having no other choice but to accept a shitty deal with Washington?

If there was any truth to this story initially, it certainly got lost in the confusion.

-Colorado got Varlamov and Giguère
-Montreal got Budaj
-Florida got Théodore
Click to expand...

No I'm just retarded and can't google which free agent went where lol.
 
Briere has been center on that line and will presumably C for Hartnell again, surprised they didnt work harder to keep Leino to keep that line alive... assuming Giroux will be the other top 6 C with JVR, wonder if they'll be the ones who get Jagr?

Also on the Kings line combos it was brought to my attention Gagne and Richards have been linemates before, wonder if we won't see them back together. Would love the size with them and Brown on the same line...
 
O btw, love the Commodore and White signings for the Wings. I know everyone hates Commodore's contract with the jackets and people are like "wtf white for rafalski," but I'd take the combo of Commodore and the ever improving White over last year's injured Rafalski anytime. Sacrifice some offense for a much more in your face, shot blocking, gritty style.

Honestly a Lidstrom, Ericsson, Kronwall, White, Commodore, Stuart line up of 6 defensemen is arguably the deepest in the league, with only the Canucks and maybe the Bruins (draft included) able to join the debate.

Also, a healthy Gagne - Richards - Brown line is SICK. Then front load with Penner - Kopitar - Williams as your line 1 (line 1a?) and bring up Clifford / Lewis / Parse to play with Stoll line 3?

Well whatever they do, they have a ton of nice options. As a devil's fan, I'm slightly jealous :X
 
I'm really excited for this season with both LA and SJ looking so good, I desperately need that division to be strong so the 10:30 games are worth watching and between those two and the Canucks I'll have good evenings this year. The West seems ridiculous as ever...

I'm a little less optimistic about Detroit's blueline just because they continue to not be very large in a league where most of the best teams (SJ, LA, PHI, BOS) are rather large up front. I don't mind the Commodore signing from a value perspective - he played fine in Columbus, he just got too much money and too high a spot on the depth chart- but I worry about his dynamic with Babcock. White had a good playoffs at least but i'm not big on anything but the length there -- 2 years will be a good point to reevaluate since Lidstrom will be gone and Kindl and Smith will have NHL experience.

Still anxious about how my Eastern team is going to end up under the cap... I doubt this is Washington's year but in spite of overpaying them I like seeing Laich resigned and Ward on the roster; those are the types of players you need to win in the playoffs.

Also rofl that trade, hi5 popemobile delicious Lebda back in the Central. Capgeek sucks on my phone but I assume this is a salary dump so the Preds can resign their RFAs? Lebda is pretty overpaid though...
 
Though the Leafs end up eating a contract of a player who probably won't play, getting rid of Lebda is well worth it. Only Brett Lebda can be a -3 in a 9-3 blowout. I like Franson alot, but god damn our D core is slow...Jason Allison could probably skate by them.
 
Aldaron said:
O btw, love the Commodore and White signings for the Wings. I know everyone hates Commodore's contract with the jackets and people are like "wtf white for rafalski," but I'd take the combo of Commodore and the ever improving White over last year's injured Rafalski anytime. Sacrifice some offense for a much more in your face, shot blocking, gritty style.

Honestly a Lidstrom, Ericsson, Kronwall, White, Commodore, Stuart line up of 6 defensemen is arguably the deepest in the league, with only the Canucks and maybe the Bruins (draft included) able to join the debate.

Also, a healthy Gagne - Richards - Brown line is SICK. Then front load with Penner - Kopitar - Williams as your line 1 (line 1a?) and bring up Clifford / Lewis / Parse to play with Stoll line 3?

Well whatever they do, they have a ton of nice options. As a devil's fan, I'm slightly jealous :X
Click to expand...

As a Hurricanes fan, I have a bit of experience watching Commodore and White play.

Commodore provides NOTHING on offense and he has been useless defensively since the lockout rule changes. He was good at holding up forwards at the blue line, but now that they can chip it by without being hit, he is seriously useless. He is very slow and gets caught out of position all the time because of this.

White can make good outlet passes, but that's about as far as his offensive skills go. He doesn't really provide a very good shot from the point. He is way too small to do anything on defense. He doesn't get caught out of position very much. He doesn't really mess up on defense and doesn't do anything great.

I'm not sure why you think either of these additions are useful in any way. It is basically 3-4 million down the drain. AHL callups can perform the same tasks as these guys at a much lower price.
 
SJ basically slightly downgrades one of their wingers for an extra 2.5 mil of cap space. Havlat will also probably put up some better numbers with the Sharks playing with jumbo joe
 
This seems stupid as shit to me on SJ's end unless they have a plan for the cap(though some of it will go to Couture and Burns after this year) since it seems like a pretty clear downgrade, Heatley receeding a bit or not. I think the real winner here is Mikko Koivu-- Havlat wasn't playing on his line anyway, so now he potentially has Heatley, Setoguichi, or both to give him some competent offensive help this year. Im not sure I think the Sharks are better now than last year(though they certainly didn't step back the way I think Philly did), but I guess only time will tell.

It seems like Heatley's struggles have been largely injury based so I wonder about replacing him with Havlat... he's a groin pull from erasing what little advantage there is here with the Sharks claiming to have done this for speed.

I'm interested in seeing the Wild if Bouchard is healthy, with him, the two ex-Sharks, Koivu, and Cullen they have five(5) top 6 forwards! What a concept! I don't know if they have any top 4D but whatever score some goals Minnesota. Especially against Colorado. I want that lottery pick.

Unrelated, but apparently Doughty specifically wants to be the highest paid player on his team. Likely the best and thus deserving, but major unprops for that one, when you're making that much isn't winning supposed to be more important?
 
So I was trying to figure out scenarios that get the Caps under the salary cap, since they're about 550k away from the cap with Alzner and Brouwer to resign. I'm still in favor of dumping Green, but since I doubt McPhee will actually do that I was trying to think of rosters where we might be able to win even with him! My favorite requires one more FA signing and would require careful contract negiotiations but I mean if he got Vokoun for 1.5 why not...

Fehr(2.2), Poti(2.875), and probably King(.637) need to get dropped for futures which leaves 6.256m to sign Brouwer, Alzner, and super fun 4th line FA option Chris Clark. Similar to before, but roster would look like this...

Ovechkin-Backstrom-Knuble
Brouwer-Johansson-Semin
Chimera-Laich-Ward
Beagle-Halpern-Clark

Carlson-Alzner
Hamrlik-Wideman
Green-Schultz

- Line 4 would end up with two former Capitals captains and be a pretty respectable energy line with the two veterans and Beagle or enforcer Hendricks.
- I think we're very likely to see this third line no matter what the Caps do and it should be one of the best checking lines in hockey. Fast, physical, gritty... good at the things the Caps are bad at it in the playoffs.
- The top 6 almost looks like the weak spot since Brouwer is on his offwing and 20 year old 2nd year Johansson is playing line 2C. I feel like he's the weak link here and that the team would be a lot better with Arnott back and in that slot, but he'll need top 6 minutes to keep developing and the guy got 6p in 9gp in the playoffs, so maybe it'll work out. Hopefully Ovechkin and Semin stay split to make it harder to defend them this year.
-Could easily give all 3 pairings even time and be OK, best the Caps would be defensively in a very long time and five of them can actually defend people. All pairings have decent offense and defense... which will be important to help make up for Green losing one on one five to ten times a game.
- lol Vokoun for 1.5m
- Are you sure we can't fire Bruce?


Cautiously optimistic
 
Yandle re-signed for 5 years, $26.25mil but he doesn't have a no-trade clause. Channeling my inner homerism... go trade for him Holland! lol

Also, Kaberle in and Corvo out in Carolina. Eagerly awaiting Justin's thoughts.
 
I'm still not too sure what I think about this. The Hurricanes have needed a top line winger to play next to Eric Staal for FOREVER. I was hoping that this would be the year that they go out and get that guy, but it isn't. This is the year where they decide it is time to clone Joni Pitkanen.

Apparently once Cole left, Corvo had a talk with the GM and said that he wasn't getting younger, he wants to win, etc. He took a hometown discount to stay with the team last year, so I guess they decided they would be nice and send him to Boston for a low price. This is basically the reason why the Hurricanes went after Kaberle.

What worries me about Kaberle is basically everything I've read any Leafs fan say about him. They say that he never shoots the puck. They say that he has defensive lapses. He sounds identical to Joni Pitkanen. I'm just not sure if I can handle 2 Joni Pitkanens on the same team. I've seen Pitkanen pass up soooo many great wide open shots just to make that one extra pass. I don't understand these guys that just refuse to shoot the puck. It's very frustrating. When he is in his own zone, he tends to float around, just watching the puck and not keeping track of the guy he is supposed to be covering. If the other defenseman is behind the net, he has no issue at all going behind the net and leaving Cam Ward out to dry. I mean, Pitkanen is a great defenseman on the rush. He never ever gets beat 1 on 1 by anybody because he is such a smooth skater and a big body. I've never heard this about Kaberle though. Can he effortlessly skate and stop the elite snipers in the Southeast like Pitkanen? I highly doubt it. I have a feeling that he is going to be nothing more than a 3rd line pairing/PP specialist for 4.25 a year. That is something the Hurricanes should not be spending that much money on as a small market team.
 
Kaberle doesn't really have more defensive lapses than the average defencemen, most of them are actually due to his partner(s) being out of position (and that's not really his fault). He's usually in a pretty good position, but outside of that he won't really dazzle you with his large stick (<3 you Pierre) or shot blocking. He won't shoot, which is a shame because when he does, he almost always creates a goal scoring chance.
 
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