NHL 2018-2019, rebuild, retools, and retreads, oh my!

[gyedid]

Bad day if you're a Wings fan.

Henrik Zetterberg, captain since 2013 and one of the last remaining players from the days when they were still a powerhouse that was competitive every season,
has called it a career due to a degenerative back conditions.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/red-wings-gm-henrik-zetterbergs-hockey-career/

cheers,

Gabe

[wantec]

So how long until he gets traded to the Coyotes? Or do the Red Wings not need cap space that badly?

[gyedid]

So how long until he gets traded to the Coyotes? Or do the Red Wings not need cap space that badly?

Um, what?

The article made pretty clear that he's done as a player.  If he's retiring for health reasons, why would the 'Yotes be interested?

cheers,

Gabe

[wantec]

Um, what?

The article made pretty clear that he's done as a player.  If he's retiring for health reasons, why would the 'Yotes be interested?

cheers,

Gabe

Because the Coyotes has extra salary cap room and even if he never plays for them, Arizona agreeing to take on his salary cap hit is an asset the Coyotes can trade.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/how-the-nhls-salary-cap-has-created-a-secondary-market-of-injured-players-and-costlycontracts/article36220762/

[JadeHellbringer]

Because the Coyotes has extra salary cap room and even if he never plays for them, Arizona agreeing to take on his salary cap hit is an asset the Coyotes can trade.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/how-the-nhls-salary-cap-has-created-a-secondary-market-of-injured-players-and-costlycontracts/article36220762/

Based on what the Yotes did in terms of taking steps towards their rebuild, I'm hoping (fingers genuinely crossed) that their time of taking on cap space to get around the cap system and not have to spend real money are finally over. I don't think they're a playoff team, not for another couple of years at least- the West is kind of spooky- but the steps they're taking are a very good sign.

[gyedid]

Because the Coyotes has extra salary cap room and even if he never plays for them, Arizona agreeing to take on his salary cap hit is an asset the Coyotes can trade.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/how-the-nhls-salary-cap-has-created-a-secondary-market-of-injured-players-and-costlycontracts/article36220762/

Thanks, I didn't know about this.  How devilishly clever from a business standpoint--but how demoralizing for the player.  And I see from the article that the Wings already went down that road with Pavel Datsyuk.

Maybe the Habs can use this mechanism to unload Ales Hemsky and spend up to the cap?

Cheers, Gabe

[gyedid]

I don't think they're a playoff team, not for another couple of years at least- the West is kind of spooky- but the steps they're taking are a very good sign.

Their first preseason game wasn't an auspicious sign.

OTOH, nice to see Max Pacioretty already working to impress his new team.

Cheers , Gabe

[Firesprocket]

The article made pretty clear that he's done as a player.  If he's retiring for health reasons, why would the 'Yotes be interested?

Because the Coyotes has extra salary cap room and even if he never plays for them, Arizona agreeing to take on his salary cap hit is an asset the Coyotes can trade.

At this time it's not in the cards for the 'Yotes to take trade for another player that would be on LTIR.  The Coyotes hit their cap of 50 SPCs and would only be able to take another contract on if they moved someone in the process.  NJ and Carolina would really be the places that have the various space and salary available to make such a move.

[JadeHellbringer]

The Great Wheel Of NHL Justice may be getting its first spin of the year already.

https://deadspin.com/max-domi-sucker-punched-aaron-ekblad-1829191699

[gyedid]

The Great Wheel Of NHL Justice may be getting its first spin of the year already.

https://deadspin.com/max-domi-sucker-punched-aaron-ekblad-1829191699

And they told us Domi wasn't like his old man.

cheers,

Gabe

[Firesprocket]

The Great Wheel Of NHL Justice may be getting its first spin of the year already.

I want an NHL DoPS video narrated by Townsend Coleman now.  (reference https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112196/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm)

[Firesprocket]

The Flyers have a mascot and he looks like Youppi went on a 3 week, non-stop acid bender.

https://twitter.com/GrittyNHL

That is one scary mascot.

[Fat Guy]

They should have called it Goonie.


The Flyers never take a day off from being goons. They're goons all the time.

[JadeHellbringer]

The Flyers have a mascot and he looks like Youppi went on a 3 week, non-stop acid bender.

https://twitter.com/GrittyNHL

That is one scary mascot.

[gyedid]

The Flyers have a mascot and he looks like Youppi went on a 3 week, non-stop acid bender.

https://twitter.com/GrittyNHL

That is one scary mascot.

I think it looks more like the bastard child of Youppi and Animal from the Muppets.  ;D

cheers,

Gabe

[JadeHellbringer]

I think it looks more like the bastard child of Youppi and Animal from the Muppets.  ;D

cheers,

Gabe

I think they simply re-signed Scott Hartnell and wanted to make a big deal about it.

[Firesprocket]

The Hurricanes are having a Whalers night Dec. 23 (https://www.nhl.com/hurricanes/news/hurricanes-to-host-whalers-night-on-december-23-boston/c-300443024).  I don't get it and I live in town where we we have a baseball team due to relocation.   I like me some Whalers jerseys, but I feel like this is a more elaborate scheme to troll Hartford, Ron Francis, or both at the same time!  Admittedly for a Sunday game right before Christmas against Boston that's a fairly good gimmick and will probably get some out of town audience that would be in the area for the holiday.

[wantec]

The Hurricanes are having a Whalers night Dec. 23 (https://www.nhl.com/hurricanes/news/hurricanes-to-host-whalers-night-on-december-23-boston/c-300443024).  I don't get it and I live in town where we we have a baseball team due to relocation.   I like me some Whalers jerseys, but I feel like this is a more elaborate scheme to troll Hartford, Ron Francis, or both at the same time!  Admittedly for a Sunday game right before Christmas against Boston that's a fairly good gimmick and will probably get some out of town audience that would be in the area for the holiday.

Because it gives them a chance to sell a jersey they think is popular enough to make them a bunch of money

[JadeHellbringer]

Hell, if I had spare money I'D get one. I used to love Bruins/Whalers games as a kid.

[gyedid]

The Hurricanes are having a Whalers night Dec. 23 (https://www.nhl.com/hurricanes/news/hurricanes-to-host-whalers-night-on-december-23-boston/c-300443024).  I don't get it and I live in town where we we have a baseball team due to relocation.

Yeah.  It used to be my burg's team.  :(

At least the mascot stayed behind and found himself new digs.

cheers,

Gabe

[Firesprocket]

I'm glad the Habs gave him a home when the Expos left.  Which, while I'm located near their new home and a fan, I felt bad for the Montreal fans.  Their best team never got to play for a possible title because of the mid 90s strike wiped out their post season.

Non Expos news, Tom Wilson just took a dumb penalty and blindsided someone in the preseason. How long do you think the suspension will be?  I'm going to guess at least 5 games.

[Charlie 6]

I'm glad the Habs gave him a home when the Expos left.  Which, while I'm located near their new home and a fan, I felt bad for the Montreal fans.  Their best team never got to play for a possible title because of the mid 90s strike wiped out their post season.

Non Expos news, Tom Wilson just took a dumb penalty and blindsided someone in the preseason. How long do you think the suspension will be?  I'm going to guess at least 5 games.

Five, maybe more.  He should have to watch the banner get raised from a box seat.

[JadeHellbringer]

If he didn't have prior offenses, a couple of games. He does, of course- regularly. If he gets less than six it's an act of mercy.

[Kit deSummersville]

The Hurricanes are having a Whalers night Dec. 23 (https://www.nhl.com/hurricanes/news/hurricanes-to-host-whalers-night-on-december-23-boston/c-300443024).  I don't get it and I live in town where we we have a baseball team due to relocation.

They are clearly the best of all of Connecticut's former pro teams.

[Firesprocket]

They are clearly the best of all of Connecticut's former pro teams.

I suppose where success is measured in championships that much is certain.  In the pantheon of team logos I have to say the Danbury Trashers might be a cut above all others.

http://www.courant.com/courant-250/throwback-thursday/hc-pictures-defunct-connecticut-sports-teams-photogallery.html

[Firesprocket]

Only 19 hours away from opening night face off and this season is going to hit the ground running.  Leafs and Habs drop the puck tomorrow and the championship banner is raised in Washington.  But before all that happens, Joe Thornton is having a mid-life crisis and Brent Burns shaved his beard to 'start something new'.

Maybe he forgot they have something new in Erik Karlsson.  Maybe he lost a bet with Gritty.  Who knows!?  San Jose was my pick to win the cup because of Joe and the magic of his beard.  Its gone now so we will just have to find another suitable team to get that first time cup swagger.  Anyhow everyone probably has a $5 pool out there somewhere and there's no better way to waste it then to bet on these picks for the year:

Eastern Conference

Atlantic
1 Tampa Bay
2 Toronto
3 Boston
4 Florida
5 Buffalo
6 Detroit
7 Montreal
8 Ottawa

Seems reasonable to me.  Toronto and Boston finish tied for points with Toronto the higher seed on tie breaks.  Boston then beats them in the first round again, because, why not?

Metropolitan
1 Pittsburgh
2 Washington
3 Columbus
4 Carolina
5 New Jersey
6 Philadelphia
7 NY Rangers
8 NY Islanders

Honestly I could see any of those 4-8 teams in any order in those slots.  Washington will drop off, Columbus will have unexplained issued scoring again, and Carolina despite starting the season with goal tending of dubious quality sneaks its way into the playoffs based off the fact the rest of the teams in this division just aren't that great.

Playoff bound EC teams: Carolina and Florida

Western Conference

Central
1 Nashville
2 St Louis
3 Winnipeg
4 Minnesota
5 Chicago
6 Colorado
7 Dallas

Other than Nashville I think the rest is are all hit or miss.  St Louis looks good on paper, but another bad season from Jake Allen could easily have them sitting outside the playoff bubble.  Winnipeg, I think, is actually marginally worse than last year, but come playoff time I'd expect them to beat the Blues in the first round.  4-7 misses the playoffs as the Pacific gets 5 teams in this year.  Bruce Boudreau's team misses the playoffs by 3 points and he gets canned at the end of the season.

Pacific
1 San Jose
2 Vegas
3 LA
4 Anaheim
5 Calgary
6 Edmonton
7 Arizona
8 Vancouver

San Jose's off season moves get them the top seed in the Pacific barring a rash of injuries.  Vegas has a drop, just not that significant.  LA and Anaheim is just a bunch of old guys that get bailed out by the goalies and Calgary gets into the playoffs despite having an ancient guy in net.  Edmonton's still better than 2 other teams.  I wanted to pick Arizona higher, but then I looked at their team and while its improved, it just isn't all that good. Vancouver, sorry, your bad, just not Ottawa bad.

WC: Anaheim and Calgary because why not?

Conference finals:

EC- Tampa Bay v Pittsburgh

WC San Jose v Nashville

Cup San Jose v Pittsburgh

Winner San Jose.  Thornton gets his cup, Tampa Bay loses in the ECF, Nashville finally lets Rienne go at the end of the season and signs Bobrovsky at the end of the season.  The end!

[JadeHellbringer]

20 games off for Wilson's boneheaded preseason antics.

Bye, Felicia.

[Firesprocket]

My reaction to the Wilson suspension:

1) this sucks

2) only 20 games?  What the hell?  Seems rather light a suspension.

[gyedid]

Hey, we're underway here!  Where was Hellbie's "LET'S DO THIS!" message?

So, 2 games down now.

Is it maybe, just maybe, possible that the Habs and Sens will NOT be the tire fires everyone was predicting?

And that the Leafs will spend the season continually being overconfident and underestimating their opponents, and keep getting burned for it?

cheers,

Gabe

[JadeHellbringer]

Hey, we're underway here!  Where was Hellbie's "LET'S DO THIS!" message?

Did you see opening night for Boston? My enthusiasm took an early punch in the danglies.  ;D

A few thoughts from the first few nights of the season:

+That opening night debacle for Boston was just ugly in every way, but they've righted the ship a bit anyway. Nothing cures a bad outing like playing Buffalo the following evening, and Bergeron's hat trick carried them yesterday against Ottawa. Interesting note- other than the Caps on opening night, Boston doesn't face another team that made the playoffs last year until Nov. 3 (Preds). Hopefully they get a nice cushion of points going, because that means the late stretch is going to be heinous.

+Watching the Kane/Mathews taunts back and forth at each other was just wonderful, the league needs more of that kind of thing- not angry blowhard taunting, but the kind of fun stuff that fans can get fired up for. Made for a great bit of fun.

+Don't look now, but in two games Matt Murray has let in ten goals for the Penguins (five each against Washington and Montreal). It's early, but that won't fly- Pittsburgh has to be a little nervous right now at how shaky their net has been. (Then again, Boston can't be overly happy with Rask either)

+Tomas Hertl's goal on Wednesday was ridiculous. One of those great goals where someone just kind of decides "Yeah, I want a goal" and doesn't let anything stop him.

+All offseason I kept hearing about how much better Buffalo was going to be this year. I'm waiting.

+All offseason I kept hearing about how much better Carolina was going to be this year. I'm waiting.

+All offseason I kept hearing about how much better Toronto was going to be this year. NO KIDDING.

+As happy as I was about the Ducks switching to their current black/orange look several years ago, the throwback Ducks logo unis looked pretty great last night.

+The Bergeron/Marchand/Pastrnak line is still the best line in hockey, fight me over this. They certainly haven't missed a beat- following that opening night dud, they've been utterly dominant. The problem is, they've been utterly dominant because the other lines aren't doing their part. David Krecji looks like he's totally confused right now, David Backes might as well have his face on milk cartons... it's a long season, things can turn around quick, but if Boston has to rely on the top line for their offense all year long the results won't be pretty.