Official 2009-2010 NHL Thread!

Lets Go Caps! C-A-P-S Caps Caps Caps

 

I know that Victor Kozlov and Sergei Fedorov departed for KHL.

 

It is REALLY early for this thread...LOL!

I was going to start an offseason thread but my Bruins did not do a whole hell of a lot (and still have to resign Hunwick and Kessel) so I skipped it.

 

And the lone remaining Isles fan still stands

At least now there's some direction and cause for optimism with this franchise. No owners fraudulently trying to say they have the money to buy the team, no cheapskate owners, no idiot GM trading away oodles of talent...just a gm that understand how to bulid through the draft which is fine. Go Garth go, keep stockpiling picks and building up the farm system. The maturation of Bailey, Tavares, Okposo, Joennsu, etc will be fun to watch. While we'll probably be bad again this year another draft or so and we should at least have the players in place to be developed.

 

I think they get them both but they have to work some cap magic. Hunwick is going to arbitration and will likely get in the 1.5 million range which would leave about 2 million in cap room, not enough for Kessel (that's why he is still unsigned). They have to make a deal. I think Chuck Kobasew gets moved for a pick and a prospect, clearing over 2 million to give Kessel.

 

I think Kessel takes a crummy one year offer and hits arbitration next year. I'd like to see him do what Krejci did and essentially buy out his arbitration years with a reasonable, but still lucrative, 3 year deal.

 

They have done nothing whatsoever. Losing Federov is gonna hurt because thats a whole lot of experience that the team loses. Hopefully the younger guys can step up like Backstrom/Semin. Also, hopefully Varlamov keeps playing the way he did. He was outstanding last season.

 

Lets go rangers!!!! Anybody residing in fla... Are they selling stamkos jdrseys? I cant find any that are patches not iron press name and numbers
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They signed Hunwick today (2 years with a 1.35 million dollar hit). They essentially have no cap room to speak of.

Kessel is in a tight spot. He can accept his qualifying offer (which is around 900,000), walk away from it and play overseas for the year or the Bruins move him. I'd love to see him sign a Krejci contract as well but the only way they can do that is by moving salary (Kobasew, Ference, Ward).

It's gong to be interesting.

 

Slappy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Yeah, about $2M in cap room. So they'd have to clear another $2M to have enough to sign Kessel. Trading Kobasew or Ward is really the only way that would happen, now that Sturm has said he'd refuse to waive his no trade clause.

 

Its early but my sc prediction is bos over cal now onto my rangers, cant wait to see how gabby does in a wide open offense high risk high reward on gabby im so scared that hes gonna get hurt
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I think Gaborik gets hurt clipping his nails, for crying out loud.

 

A healthy Gaborik might be the most skilled player in the league, better than all of them. He just can't stay in one piece though.

 

Nah he's not better then Ilya, Heatley or Zetterberg on the wing, let alone guys like Crosby, Malkin, Datsyuk down the middle. Hes probably somewhere in the top 15 forwards if he could stay healthy. He's a tremendous player but we may never get to see just how good he is. He could end up being a player like Patrik Elias who everyone thought was restricted by the system he plays in but who really hasnt excelled outside said system.

Also, if anyone was going to ask me why the Isles signed their 3rd starting caliber goalie (Dipi + Roloson (2yr/5M) + Marty Biron (1yr/1.4M)) I have no idea. Unless its because they think Dipietro won't be ready for the start of the year. Biron could be an interesting trade piece at the deadline once they know Dipietro is healthy.

 

Offensively, I think Gaborik has more skill then everyone you mentioned accept Malkin and Crosby. The dude is a pure sniper who might be one of the 5 fastest players in the World. When healthy and motivated he is a nightmare to deal with.

I think your Isles are hedging against Dipietro not being ready. That said, Biron is a bit of a headcase. He can be really good for a few weeks and then turn into a total sieve.

 

"Oh, you think so, doctor?"

However, I see that the Biron deal is 1 year at $1.4M, which is quite a bargain for a quality netminder. They might have felt like they were set, then figured "ah what the hell, let's throw a 1 year deal at Biron, we're not going to use that money anyway...what, he took it? Really?"

 

The B's dealt Aaron Ward to the Hurricanes for a 4th round pick and cap room. They got Patrick Eaves, then bought him out. Got to think that a deal for Kessel is in the works.

Edit: OK, maybe a deal for Kessel isn't in the works. Boston is apparently using the cap savings from dealing Ward to sign Derek Morris, though it's not final yet. Link

 

He may have more skill but hes not better then any of the guys I mentioned. To a top player you shouldnt have to be "motivated"

Ya Im pretty sure the Isles are hedging bets on Dipi. Roloson I am pretty sure will be there for both years of his 2 year deal because he and Dipi had previously worked together on team usa. Dipi felt like he learned a lot from Roloson and it was reported that he wanted the signing. Therefore, its very possible that Biron will be trade bait for a team at the deadline looking to sure up their goaltending. Thats what I'm betting on anyway

 

Morris to Boston is official: 1 year, $3.3M. Link

So, whither Phil Kessel?

 

I think I like what the B's are doing. Morris is generally an upgrade over Ward, and certainly healthier. They're essentially making sure that every defense pairing has one skilled, puck-moving D: Morris probably pairs with Chara, Wiedman with Ference, Hunwick with Stuart.

I say "I think" because if they're more skilled on defense, they're indisputably softer. Out go Ward, Hnidy and Montador, and in come Morris, and Boychuk. That's a big increase in speed and skill but a decent loss in toughness and size.

 

When I saw the Ward deal and the buyout of Eaves I was ELATED because I thought Kess was next.

You're right about being "softer" on defense. I think Ference is on the way out. Morris is essentially the same player without the constant injury issues.

They still need to shed cap to sign Kessel.

 

Yeah, I assumed the same thing: Ward deal meant Kessel signing. Chiarelli obviously felt that a puck-moving D was a priority. He was right in that it probably cost Boston the Carolina series, but by the same token, Hunwick and Ference were both hurt, leading to poor Chara getting double-shifted constantly (25 min ice time in the playoffs), and Steve Matador, er, Montador logging tons of ice time, and Shane Hnidy, of all people, getting regular shifts. If Hnidy is on the ice to do anything other than fight, it's probably a mistake. A healthy Hunwick and Ference probably mean Boston goes to the East finals.

But Ference makes Marian Gaborik look rugged by comparison. Okay, maybe not quite, but he's obviously brittle. So if he's a top 6 defenseman, you'd better have a quality 7th defenseman, because he's going to play a lot. So, we'll find out soon how much faith they have in Boychuk. If they think he's the real deal, they go into the season with the current 7. And that seems to be the indication.

I don't think they'll move Ference; he's got a reasonable contract ($1.5M, IIRC), so there's not a lot to be gained by his departure unless it's a precursor to signing another defenseman of similar price with an eye towards making the D more durable. Ward has missed 30 games in the last 2 years, after all, and will turn 37 in January, so it is possible that they were looking for more durability on D as well.

I'm not sure what happens with Kessel now. They keep saying they'll match any offer, but that probably means they go into camp over the cap and have to deal Kobasew to the highest bidder.

 

Rink Rap floats the idea (not a rumor; just an idea on his part) of a whopper of a trade: Savard and Kessel for Kovalchuk and a #1 pick. WOW.

 

Lets Go Rangers!!!

Good to have Brashear on our side.

 

I'd slit my own wrists. We'd enter the season with Patrice Bergeron (concussion issues) and nothing else at center because Krejci will miss the first 2 months.

 

Yeah, that's pretty much what I thought. Kovalchuk's a fine player, but that's just too much of a price to pay.

 

Lets go Canes! Welcome back Ward!

 

Ward lobbied for the trade just so he could beat the **** out of Scott Walker every day during practice, rather than having to wait for Bruins-Hurricanes games.

 

It's funny, i dont remember who else we picked up, but it was another guy that Walker used to get into it with, it would be funny to watch the puck drop in the first game and walker and Ward start going at it, the refs just look at each other not knowing what to do!

 

The Ward trade shows the class of Peter Chiarelli, Jim Rutherford (even though I hate his team) and Ward. Chia went to Ward and asked him where he'd like to be moved because they needed cap room. Ward did not kick and scream or go public, he said Carolina and Rutherford made it happen. A win win for both parties involved...

...such a change from the days of Harry ****ing Sinden.

 

I was suprised that Ward left Carolina in the first place, he kept his house here along with his family, i look forward to seeing him in the Canes jersey again. Always liked him, great person too!

 

It's from the NY Post, so take it with a salt lick, but...

We can probably assume one is Edmonton; the Oil tried mighty hard to land Dany Heatley, I would bet Kessel is Plan B.

 

Way early cup prediction boston over calgary
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Rumor rangers sign zherdev trade him to tor for ian white or stempniak
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