The Official NHL 2014 Offseason Thread

[The Jackal]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Niskanen to the Caps.

I don't like the terms for Orpik, but there's no doubt the Caps are a lot better than they were. Now they need to trade a wing for a 2nd center.

Getting Niskanen was big. If it was me, I'd try as hard as I could to re-sign Grabovski.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Hard time picking out the really good deals.

But FA is all about overpaying (in most cases).

The term and $ for Erhoff are awesome. But, if it's at the expense of a top 6 winger, as valuable as it is, the deal sucks.

35 year old Pascal Dupuis, coming off ACL surgery, is currently penciled in the top 6.

Still hoping/expecting:

1) Nik Kulemin signed
2) Rob Scuderi's lifeless body dumped somewhere
or
3) larger trade around Brandon Sutter (resigned Marcel Goc last night at about 1/3 of the cost) or maybe Paul Martin to free up space/bring in a top 6 winger.

[gstelmack]

Headline at hurricanes.nhl.com:

CANES AVOID FRENZY

That's putting an interesting spin on day 1 of FA...

[Danny]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

Hard time picking out the really good deals.

But FA is all about overpaying (in most cases).

The term and $ for Erhoff are awesome. But, if it's at the expense of a top 6 winger, as valuable as it is, the deal sucks.

35 year old Pascal Dupuis, coming off ACL surgery, is currently penciled in the top 6.

Still hoping/expecting:

1) Nik Kulemin signed
2) Rob Scuderi's lifeless body dumped somewhere
or
3) larger trade around Brandon Sutter (resigned Marcel Goc last night at about 1/3 of the cost) or maybe Paul Martin to free up space/bring in a top 6 winger.

Love what the kings did, got Gaborik at 4.8 and Green at 2.5 per all locked up before free agency began

[timmae]

Bolland... 5x5. Yikes.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Neuqua

Brad Richards to the Blackhawks for $2mil/1 year.

Who is he expected to play with?

[Neuqua]

Originally Posted by Logan

Who is he expected to play with?

The Blackhawks have been looking for someone to pair with Kane in the 2nd line for a while now. Shaw played well late in the WCF but I think they view him more as a winger. I think the idea is let Richards play C this year on that 2nd line and hope the young kid Teuvo Teräväinen is ready next season.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Logan

Who is he expected to play with?

Well, the Blackhawks have four great top six forwards: Kane, Toews, Sharp and Hossa. I would imagine that Richards would slot in as the second line center so you could have the following top two lines:

Bickell - Toews - Kane
Hossa - Richards - Sharp

Not sure if that's how the Blackhawks will go or not.

The Red Wings re-signed Kyle Quincey. I am not a fan of Kyle Quincey. The bloom is officially off the rose. Granted, that rose has bloomed for over 20 years, so it was a great run, but...

[Fidatelo]

Jets signed Mathieu Perrault to replace Olli Jokinen. Nice upgrade for the 3rd line centre position.

Jets also signed Chris Thorburn for 3 years @ 1.2/per. Whaaaaaat?!? It's not Orpik-level disastrous, but good grief that's a puzzling contract.

Jets also lost Zach Redmond to Colorado, which sucks. We never really gave him a proper shot, which I don't understand. I imagine he will flourish in Colorado.

Overall, unless Chevy still has a move or two in the wings, the Jets are in trouble. The rest of the division, with the exception of Nashville, appears to be improving, while the Jets are basically standing pat. They appear to be placing a lot of faith that a full year of Maurice plus the continued evolution of Scheifele and Trouba will make up that ground (and more). I hope they are right, but I don't see it.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Well, the Blackhawks have four great top six forwards: Kane, Toews, Sharp and Hossa. I would imagine that Richards would slot in as the second line center so you could have the following top two lines:

Bickell - Toews - Kane
Hossa - Richards - Sharp

Not sure if that's how the Blackhawks will go or not.

Speed-wise, this makes more sense than playing him with Kane. Richards is very slow these days so I was surprised to hear the Hawks viewed him as a 2C at this point.

[Danny]

West is going to be a dog fight, some really good teams, Kings, Hawks, Ducks, Stars, Blues, Avs. East looks pretty weak in comparison

[Suburban Rhythm]

In non free agency news, we've got this

Claude Giroux Reportedly Arrested After Ass-Grabbing A Cop

[Suburban Rhythm]

DOLA

Originally Posted by @ DownGoesBrown

Claude Giroux continues hockey's proud tradition of regretting the decision to chase after bums on July 1.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by The Jackal

I'm kind of sad Neal won't be doing dumb things for the Pens anymore.

No worries

Penguins sign right winger Steve Downie

[RomaGoth]

I love that the Wings did absolutely nothing yesterday, not addressing their need for a top 4 puck-moving righty defenseman. Instead, they sign Kevin Porter and in yet another panic move, re-sign Kyle Quincey to a 2 year deal for over $4mil/year. Yeah, go ahead and give a raise to arguably the worst d-man on last year's roster.

I was pretty much backing up Ken Holland the last several years despite his questionable decisions, but now it is painfully obvious he doesn't have a fucking clue how to manage a roster in the salary cap era. Especially when some of his understudies are kicking ass and taking names (Nill in Dallas and Yzerman in Tampa).

I do believe it is time for a GM change in Detroit before we become the next Calgary Flames/Toronto Maple Leafs. Or is it too late?

[The Jackal]

I didn't think they could do it, but the Flyers found a d-man with worse corsi and break-up stats than MacDonald. Huzza for Nick "I'm replacing the pylon in the press box" Schultz!

Now trade Vinny. Please. Pretty please.

[The Jackal]

That being said, the first above average move Hextall has made in the past couple of days is trading McGinn to SJ for a 3rd round pick. Not sure how he was worth a 3rd..

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by The Jackal

I didn't think they could do it, but the Flyers found a d-man with worse corsi and break-up stats than MacDonald. Huzza for Nick "I'm replacing the pylon in the press box" Schultz!

Now trade Vinny. Please. Pretty please.

Starting to think that Amaro has taken a second job...

[The Jackal]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

Starting to think that Amaro has taken a second job...

I mean, I can't complain about what's happened under Hextall. Holmgren left him in a really shitty position. Just have to hope we can trade Vinny and a couple of the overpaid/aging/slow defenseman over the next 1-2 seasons and then have a really solid young defense core coming up that hopefully doesn't miss the current forward group's prime.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by The Jackal

I mean, I can't complain about what's happened under Hextall. Holmgren left him in a really shitty position. Just have to hope we can trade Vinny and a couple of the overpaid/aging/slow defenseman over the next 1-2 seasons and then have a really solid young defense core coming up that hopefully doesn't miss the current forward group's prime.

Vinny for Scuderi...let's trade problems.

[The Jackal]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

Vinny for Scuderi...let's trade problems.

Listen we already have the most expensive defense in the league (though I think the Caps pass us after Pronger goes on LTIR, yay!).

3.375 aint even that bad. It would be 7th on the Flyers hahahaha. (edit: 7th on the Flyers DEFENSE, if that wasn't clear)

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by The Jackal

Listen we already have the most expensive defense in the league (though I think the Caps pass us after Pronger goes on LTIR, yay!).

3.375 aint even that bad. It would be 7th on the Flyers hahahaha. (edit: 7th on the Flyers DEFENSE, if that wasn't clear)

Of all the ways Shero mangled things, the Scuderi deal is the worst.

Dupuis and Kunitz extensions might end up bad, though both can be overpaid 3rd liners at the end of those. But Scuderi was more than a step slow. Then broke his ankle. He's not going to fit the system. He returned and it was banked on that he still had one discernible skill - down low on PK. He can't even do that.

If they can flip Scuderi + 3rd for a 4th or something like that, I'll consider it a win.

[The Jackal]

There goes Vrbata to VAN for 5x2. Flyers wouldn't have been able to give him that salary, so good for him. Not that they were ever linked to him.

Hextall keeps saying we are trying with one FA and as they keep disappearing it seems like it's going to be Steve Ott, grosssss.

Unless it was Nick Schultz, which is already pretty gross.

[EagleFan]

I keep forgetting about Holmgren handing out D contracts like he was dealing with Monopoly money.

[Suburban Rhythm]

At least we can say neither team gave Orpik $5.5

Only guys left who could maybe be considered top 6 wings:

Reclamations like Setoguchi, Penner, Leino, Booth

Old guys like Alfredsson or Whitney

Centers who probably wouldn't transition well like Roy and Ribeiro

[Suburban Rhythm]

DOLA

Add Stempniak. He played fine here, but ideally not in your top 6.

[The Jackal]

I wouldn't mind Booth at all.

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

Headline at hurricanes.nhl.com:

CANES AVOID FRENZY

That's putting an interesting spin on day 1 of FA...

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

At least we can say neither team gave Orpik $5.5

Only guys left who could maybe be considered top 6 wings:

Reclamations like Setoguchi, Penner, Leino, Booth

Old guys like Alfredsson or Whitney

Centers who probably wouldn't transition well like Roy and Ribeiro

Anyone who signs Setoguchi should be fired. He was absolutely awful and totally disinterested last year. Probably my least-favourite Jet ever (of either incarnation). That guy shouldn't see the NHL again as far as I'm concerned.

[The Jackal]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

Anyone who signs Setoguchi should be fired. He was absolutely awful and totally disinterested last year. Probably my least-favourite Jet ever (of either incarnation). That guy shouldn't see the NHL again as far as I'm concerned.

I honestly didn't even realize he was in the NHL last year.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Add him to the long list of Sharks with impressive debuts who go on to never be as good as they were as rookies.

[The Jackal]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

Add him to the long list of Sharks with impressive debuts who go on to never be as good as they were as rookies.

Didn't he have some ridiculous goal when he was a rookie that made us all think he'd be badass?

That being said, I think Hertl is legit.

[The Jackal]

There are still some solid free agents out there - I wonder if we're gonna see any trades happen. There's still rumors swirling. At this point I'm pretty resigned to Vinny being on the Flyers again next year. His contract sucks, but he doesn't suck. He scored 20 goals in an injury plagued season while dragging down pretty much everyone who played with him.

He can definitely be sheltered centering the "2nd" line though, since the Giroux/Coots lines can match anyone. Easier in the regular season than playoffs, but still. I'm not going to be upset if his talent is still around - and maybe it'll be easier to trade him at the deadline or next offseason after another 2m bonus.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by The Jackal

Didn't he have some ridiculous goal when he was a rookie that made us all think he'd be badass?

That being said, I think Hertl is legit.

He scores 30 with Thornton. Not sure if it was his rookie or 2nd season.

Still, he's no Cheechoo

[bronconick]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

Add him to the long list of Sharks with impressive debuts who go on to never be as good as they were as rookies.

Don't worry, they signed John Scott. That's a 4th line of Brown/Burish/ Scott.

I hate this team sometimes.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Toews and Kane each sign their extensions

8 years x $10.5m per, each

[mckerney]

Really happy with the Wild signing Vanek, makes up for adding Parise last year and will make me want to follow them this year.

[Neuqua]

Rumor was the Blackhawks were going to re-sign them at 10.8 per, having it at 10.5 is a nice surprise. Every few hundred thousand matters.

Regardless, nice to see them signed and locked up until 2023.

[The Jackal]

Originally Posted by mckerney

Really happy with the Wild signing Vanek, makes up for adding Parise last year and will make me want to follow them this year.

Why were you upset that they signed Parise?

[bronconick]

I'd guess it's a college hockey thing.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Parise >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Vanek

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by bronconick

I'd guess it's a college hockey thing.

Yep, really only follow Gopher hockey and don't care much about the NHL other than casually paying attention to the Wild. Hate North Dakota and Parise.

[The Jackal]

Originally Posted by mckerney

Yep, really only follow Gopher hockey and don't care much about the NHL other than casually paying attention to the Wild. Hate North Dakota and Parise.

Gotcha. I mean I hate the Devils so I wasn't exactly keen on Parise either. But Suter would have looked nice in a Flyers uniform.

[Chief Rum]

So in somewhat random news, apparently the Ducks signed Heatley to a cheap one year deal. I had frankly forgotten about Heatley, and he used to be a star. So I looked up his stats. Wow, he really sucked in Minnesota last year.

What the hell happened to this guy? He's only 33.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

So in somewhat random news, apparently the Ducks signed Heatley to a cheap one year deal. I had frankly forgotten about Heatley, and he used to be a star. So I looked up his stats. Wow, he really sucked in Minnesota last year.

What the hell happened to this guy? He's only 33.

Remember that time he killed a guy? I think that's what happened.

[bhlloy]

How so, considering his best seasons were after that?

I think he just got old and slower in a league that is becoming faster, which is pretty sobering news for Ducks fans expecting Cory Perry to outperform his contract. Think there's a lot of similarities between the two.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

How so, considering his best seasons were after that?

I think he just got old and slower in a league that is becoming faster, which is pretty sobering news for Ducks fans expecting Cory Perry to outperform his contract. Think there's a lot of similarities between the two.

You're probably more right.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Heatley was an averaging skating, faceoff dot range player who became a slow perimeter player.

Perry will still be good with his ass parked in the goalies face. Maybe not $8m good, but good enough.

[Honolulu_Blue]

The Red Wings have re-signed Dan Cleary to a 1 year $1.5 million (with another possible $1 million in bonuses) deal.

This deal makes no sense. Cleary was a warrior and decent player, but that time has passed. At 35 and after close to 1,000 NHL games, his body is broken down and he just doesn't have the skill set anymore to be an effective NHL player.

The Wings don't have to roster space for this. They now have 14 forwards under contract, including sure-to-be-re-signed RFA Tatar. If Alfredsson comes back that makes 15. This means Jurco will go back to the AHL, and the chances that out-of-AHL-option guys like Ferarro and Callahan to make the team are very slim.

Holland did the same thing last year. He had Bertuzzi, Samuelsson and Cleary, which forced guys like Nyquist to start the year in the AHL. He made all of these statements about how the NHL was a "man's game" and how Nyquist wasn't the "savior." Only, when he was called up he kind of was and led the team in goals despite playing a little more than half the season.

You would think Holland would have learned his lesson with all of this, but apparently not. He even admitted that he re-signed Cleary out of "loyalty" and that with loyalty comes "good and bad." I understand taking care of your own, but give him a front office position or something like everyone else (Draper, Maltby, Chelios, Fischer, etc.)

Between this, the Quincey re-signing and the last few years of mediocre-to-poor moves, I am slowly losing faith in Holland. The last really good thing he did was the Hossa signing, but, by all accounts, Hossa's agent reached out to Holland, not the other way around.

As a fan of a team that has had some very questionable management (the Lions), I think I have a pretty keen sense of when things are starting to slip.

Holland... You're officially on notice.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

The Red Wings have re-signed Dan Cleary to a 1 year $1.5 million (with another possible $1 million in bonuses) deal.

This deal makes no sense. Cleary was a warrior and decent player, but that time has passed. At 35 and after close to 1,000 NHL games, his body is broken down and he just doesn't have the skill set anymore to be an effective NHL player.

The Wings don't have to roster space for this. They now have 14 forwards under contract, including sure-to-be-re-signed RFA Tatar. If Alfredsson comes back that makes 15. This means Jurco will go back to the AHL, and the chances that out-of-AHL-option guys like Ferarro and Callahan to make the team are very slim.

Holland did the same thing last year. He had Bertuzzi, Samuelsson and Cleary, which forced guys like Nyquist to start the year in the AHL. He made all of these statements about how the NHL was a "man's game" and how Nyquist wasn't the "savior." Only, when he was called up he kind of was and led the team in goals despite playing a little more than half the season.

You would think Holland would have learned his lesson with all of this, but apparently not. He even admitted that he re-signed Cleary out of "loyalty" and that with loyalty comes "good and bad." I understand taking care of your own, but give him a front office position or something like everyone else (Draper, Maltby, Chelios, Fischer, etc.)

Between this, the Quincey re-signing and the last few years of mediocre-to-poor moves, I am slowly losing faith in Holland. The last really good thing he did was the Hossa signing, but, by all accounts, Hossa's agent reached out to Holland, not the other way around.

As a fan of a team that has had some very questionable management (the Lions), I think I have a pretty keen sense of when things are starting to slip.

Holland... You're officially on notice.

Seems like, especially with the bonus, they were bidding against themselves. Was anyone else even rumored to be interested?