NHL Offseason Thread

[Nightwing 0]

From the looks of things, Andreas Lilja was signed for insurance reasons if Brad Stuart couldn't be resigned and if the up-and-coming guys in Grand Rapids weren't ready at training camp. If you are in need of a defenseman, Lilja is likely to be on the trading block soon.

 

And in all honesty, I'd probably put Samuelsson up there, too. We have a logjam of possible talent (Quincy, Meech, Ericsson on D, Helm, Kopecky, and possibly Leino up front) and we need to start moving guys out. Mikael is a judgment call, but he's underperformed pretty badly during his tenure with the Wings (Especially considering that the guy is damn big and rarely gets big hits out. Kronwall would KILL people to have that sort of size!) and keeping Kopecky and either Downey or McCarty would likely be better in the long run.

[Zetterberg is God 0]

From the looks of things, Andreas Lilja was signed for insurance reasons if Brad Stuart couldn't be resigned and if the up-and-coming guys in Grand Rapids weren't ready at training camp. If you are in need of a defenseman, Lilja is likely to be on the trading block soon.

 

And in all honesty, I'd probably put Samuelsson up there, too. We have a logjam of possible talent (Quincy, Meech, Ericsson on D, Helm, Kopecky, and possibly Leino up front) and we need to start moving guys out. Mikael is a judgment call, but he's underperformed pretty badly during his tenure with the Wings (Especially considering that the guy is damn big and rarely gets big hits out. Kronwall would KILL people to have that sort of size!) and keeping Kopecky and either Downey or McCarty would likely be better in the long run.

 

Couldn't agree more with everything you said. I was really surprised they resigned Lilja instead of giving one of the younger guys a shot, unless it was for insurance as you said. And if getting rid of Sammy means more playing time for Helm (or any of their forward prospects for that matter) I'm all for it. Kopecky was also looking pretty solid right before he got hurt so I'd hang on to him to see if he continues his development. And if either Downey or McCarty (or both) take two way deals they should be brought back as well.

 

[Annabelle 0]

i think most of the young guys will need to clear waivers next year if they are sent down. thats why meech stayed up all years instead of quincey. i think. i bet lilja is gone. can we assume chelios won't be back?

[Zetterberg is God 0]

I keep reading that Ken Holland and Chelios are sitting down soon to talk contract so he'll be back but most likely in a limited/mentor role.

[Red Baron 0]

Chelios is going to play until he breaks Gordie Howe's record.

[Zetterberg is God 0]

Alexander Radulov going back to Russia

Jay Feaster done as Lightning GM

[Guest]

Dean Lombardi had a neat little interview in a local paper, here's a quote.

 

"And the other thing is, too, I don't think they're coming for the right reasons. I've had people call here, pretty good players who want to come, and I say, 'Why?' 'Well, he likes the weather.' I say, 'Goodbye.' I've had enough of this crap. There's too much of this nonsense.

 

"I hung up on two agents. I said thank you, but no thank you. I don't care if he's a good player and would fit here. You're here because of the weather right now? That's the last thing I need around my kids. Goodbye. But when we do, like I said ... I remember watching Shaq and Kobe when they had it going. All those guys came here because they had a chance to win, first and foremost. Now you give them that, and I've got this (gesturing out his window)? I'll get anybody. I'll get anybody to play here. You're out of your mind if you don't want to play here.

 

His interviews always make a believer out of me.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

I think Phoenix had the same problem also. Older players like warm weather.

[Zetterberg is God 0]

Ted Nolan out as Islanders coach

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

Come on Ted, move to LA and save the Kings.

[Guest]

Love him as a coach, but he doesn't like playing young guys.

 

fuuuuuuuck no

[Zetterberg is God 0]

Dallas Drake retires. Glad to see him go out on top.

[Red Baron 0]

Love him as a coach, but he doesn't like playing young guys.

 

fuuuuuuuck no

 

 

He'd fit well in LA with all the young talent. There isn't any ego's there except Lombardi.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

Rumor is that the Kings are getting Terry Murray.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=243535&amp...=headlines_main

[Red Baron 0]

Anyone else heard the possible three way deal between Ottawa, LA and Chicago.

 

Meszaros and Gerber will head off to LA. Kopitar would go to Chicago and Khabibulin and either Brent Seabrook or Cam Barker would go off to the Sens.

[Red Baron 0]

Oh and IMO, the NHL fucked up by not giving Montreal and outdoor game this year in Montreal. Not taking away from Chicago at all, which is real nice to see the city getting back into hockey.

[Guest]

I heard, but that's not the one that is based in reality. Obviously because one team would soon be without a GM, as he would be killed and his body shall be lain at the base of the Wayne Gretzky statue in front of Staples Center.

 

When this deal happens, it'll look something like

 

Ottawa: Khabibulin, Barker

Chicago: Neil, Ersberg, Priessing

LA: Gerber, lower level prospect

 

If you wanna hope for the biggest trade possible, Frolov or O'Sullivan out and Seabrook in. Personally, I don't see any reason to get involved in a three-team deal. We don't have the NHL forward depth to dish out for an NHL defenseman, even though we desperately need one.

[Red Baron 0]

I think its more of LA trying to hit cap floor if anything.

 

 

Am I right, somewhat?

[Guest]

They won't trade Kopitar, but trying to hit the cap floor, yeah. Lombardi backed himself into such a corner that we will ice a AHL defense now, even with acquiring someone to hit the cap floor. The way I see it is, we only need to add about 2 million in salary from some trade and re-sign the rest of our RFA's to hit the cap floor. There is no way to acquire a top pairing defenseman (which we need, but genius over there fucked up) without taking us either further away from the cap floor, or severely weakening the future of this franchise.

 

But you can't trade Kopitar for anything less than a straight swap for someone like Jonathan Toews, which would never happen. Teams don't toss away 21 year old franchise centers for the return that's been rumored.

 

Murray hire is a bad one, btw. He will not be around when this team matures into contenders. He has a big mouth, and is just as big a hard ass as Crawford. Hasn't been an NHL head coach for 8 years, and his teams have always been laden with veterans. I don't know where this organization is headed.

[Red Baron 0]

Can I coach LA?

 

I have no actual playing experience, but I do play video game hockey enough.

[Guest The Elements of Style]

Sorry, that only qualifies you to coach the Chicago Bulls.

 

Though come to think of it, weren't the Hawks briefly coached by a Finnish playwright? I remember some coach being asked about the home record and replying "Home. What is 'home?'"

[Red Baron 0]

Sorry, that only qualifies you to coach the Chicago Bulls.

 

Though come to think of it, weren't the Hawks briefly coached by a Finnish playwright? I remember some coach being asked about the home record and replying "Home. What is 'home?'"

 

Alpo Suhonen from Finland. Coached Chicago during the 00-01 campaign briefly until he left the team with heart problems.

 

He wrote Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

I play roller hockey. Can I coach? Anyway, even I know that trading Kopitar away is bad. Gerber going to the Kings is also very bad.

[nl5xsk1 0]

Oh and IMO, the NHL fucked up by not giving Montreal and outdoor game this year in Montreal. Not taking away from Chicago at all, which is real nice to see the city getting back into hockey.

While I agree that it would make sense for MTL to have the outdoor game in their centenniel year, I can see why the NHL would want to go somewhere else with it, (1) the Habs were just in an outdoor game a few years ago, so to have them in another now would be a bit much when there's so many other teams that want to be in one & (2) Montreal suffers from a definitive lack of America, and I think Bettman's NHL would rather have two American teams play.

 

And I got a good chuckle when I first heard of the alleged three-way trade that was discussed yesterday ... LA giving up Kopitar for so little is asinine. If he was available, and I think it's safe to presume that he's not, there'd be a line of teams ready to give up a whole lot more than the package of mediocrity that was heading West.

[Guest The Elements of Style]

Doesn't Montreal already have the 2009 All-Star Game in honor of le centennial? Granted, the Winter Classic is a bigger feature than the All-Star Game these days, since one is on NBC (and presumably CBC) during a holiday and one is on Versus on a weeknight, but you can't give Montreal both showcase games. Might as well automatically hand them the Stanley Cup while we're at it, too. (This wouldn't even be the worst NHL outcome ever.)

 

The more I think about it, the less crazy I am about the Winter Classic at Wrigley. The whole appeal of the park and its neighborhood is that it's a fun and pretty place to be in the summertime. When the Cubs got saddled with that fuck-ton of late March/early April home games, it was pretty bleak: it was cold, overcast, windy, rainy, the ivy was dead, just general unpleasantness all around, by all accounts. (This is why I feel the Cubs should start their season with a 12-game road swing and concentrate home games on June and July, but I'm an idiot, and this isn't a baseball thread.) Being at Wrigley Field in the dead of winter could be totally miserable. The sightlines won't be ideal, and I can't imagine anyone wanting to sit up on the Waveland/Sheffield rooftops to watch, either. Maybe I'll be totally wrong, though, since the hostile weather--BEAR WEATHER!--at Soldier Field is not just tolerated but embraced for football, and maybe it will be for hockey, too. Anyway, I think it'll be an awesome hockey season.

[nl5xsk1 0]

Yes, Montreal has the ASG this season ... and the draft next summer, so they're getting plenty of attractions even without the Heritage Classic. I'm presuming, though, that most Habs fans would choose the outdoor game over either of the other two events.

 

And I think the NHL is banking on the allure of Wrigley to compensate for any level of discomfort or unattractiveness associated with the location & weather. Plus it's not like Buffalo or Edmonton provided any real scenery above & beyond the ice on a football field. At least Wrigley will have the ivory & the scoreboard and ... uh ... a partial view of the L from the third base upper deck section. And you know Chicagoans, Czech - they'll be too drunk to notice the weather regardless.

[Guest The Elements of Style]

The ivy is dead in January. I said that already. There isn't any ivory, either, unless that's a piano bar behind those windows where the juniper bushes used to be.

[nl5xsk1 0]

Ivy/Ivory ... you knew what I meant. Although I'm not quite sure how I typed in such a noticably incorrect word. I must be off my game, as I normally message board much better than that.

 

And the ivy being dead is easily fixed:

[Red Baron 0]

Ryan Miller is staying with Buffalo for another five years worth 31.5 million and Jonathon Toews is the new Captain of the Chicago Blackhawks.

[Red Baron 0]

Flyers fans get excited.

 

 

Joffery Lupul signed a four year extension with you guys.