NHL 2017 Off-Season Thread

[rdnk]

Had Holland traded Green, or Nyquist before his NTC kicked in on July 1st, they would have been fine concerning their cap situation. However, they have the delusion that 2017 was the aberration, as opposed to looking at the previous four seasons, where they never finished higher than the 6 seed and only made it out of the first round once. It looks like sad time ahead for the Tigers and Wings, but at least the Tigers aren't entirely misguided about their standing in the league.

[Money99]

Quote: Originally Posted by rdnk

Had Holland traded Green, or Nyquist before his NTC kicked in on July 1st, they would have been fine concerning their cap situation. However, they have the delusion that 2017 was the aberration, as opposed to looking at the previous four seasons, where they never finished higher than the 6 seed and only made it out of the first round once. It looks like sad time ahead for the Tigers and Wings, but at least the Tigers aren't entirely misguided about their standing in the league.

IMO, Wings management has no faith in their fanbase to support their team through a rebuild.
Maybe they're right. I haven't purchased a ticket or spent a dime on NHL hockey since the last lockout. And I want to continue doing that until the game opens up.
But I'd be far more inclined to buy a ticket if I knew the Wings would play their young players more and allow them to skate and generate offense.
The Leafs did it last year and they became the only team I'd waste any time watching because of it.
I know the Wings don't have a Matthews, Marner or Nylander.
But they do have Larkin, AA and Mantha. Three pretty entertaining players.
It's time to take the plow off their back and let them go.
As I stated, I'd much, MUCH rather watch my team lose 6-5 in a shootout than 2-1 in a boring defensive battle.

[Majingir]

Quote: Originally Posted by Money99

IMO, Wings management has no faith in their fanbase to support their team through a rebuild. Maybe they're right. I haven't purchased a ticket or spent a dime on NHL hockey since the last lockout. And I want to continue doing that until the game opens up. But I'd be far more inclined to buy a ticket if I knew the Wings would play their young players more and allow them to skate and generate offense. The Leafs did it last year and they became the only team I'd waste any time watching because of it. I know the Wings don't have a Matthews, Marner or Nylander. But they do have Larkin, AA and Mantha. Three pretty entertaining players. It's time to take the plow off their back and let them go. As I stated, I'd much, MUCH rather watch my team lose 6-5 in a shootout than 2-1 in a boring defensive battle.

I think many are like that too. But Wings are one of few in NHL I think should actually be more inclined for a rebuild because of their big loyal fanbase. It's why I'm surprised it took Leafs so long to do theirs. Win or lose, you're not gonna have trouble selling tickets, so if you can't compete, you can afford to lose.

What Leafs showed though is the good and bads of rebuilding. Their fake rebuild when they got top picks and started drafting Kadri,Schenn and others but then turned around a year or two later and dealt unprotected 1st picks to try and win now simply because management/ownerships thoughts on rebuild were stupid.

Then their current one where they have full backing by ownership, and a management team fully committed to a rebuild and sticking with the franchise and trying to implement a full revolving system where you can have both the NHL team competing and have strong farm system. This year was first and probably only year ever you'd see Leafs fans still so happy after losing in the 1st round of the playoffs for that very reason. Fans can recognize when team has a proper plan in place.

[Psyblast]

Just how loyal are the Wings' fans, though?

[Money99]

Quote: Originally Posted by Psyblast

Just how loyal are the Wings' fans, though?

If I'm being honest, I'm not sure it's a great fanbase.
We know there are diehard Wings fans who will be there no matter what.
But I don't think Detroit is like Minnesota where the fans can be counted on through thick and thin.
I think ownership is hoping this new building will keep fans coming until the rebuild starts paying dividends.

I'm old enough to remember how empty the Joe was in the early-to-mid 80's.
My mom's workplace had seasons tickets and we got to watch a lot of games because nobody else wanted them.
And most games, we could throw a grenade without hurting anyone in an entire section.

[Majingir]

According to Friedman, Flames seem to be in on Jagr.

It's almost September and Jagr,Doan,Iginla are all FAs. Would suck if none are signed. Perfect world would've had Jagr back in Pittsburgh, Doan back in Winnipeg, and Iginla back in Calgary.

But Jagr on Calgary would still be good. People argue that Jagrs legacy would be so much bigger had he played in Canada(or at very least played more entire seasons after leaving Pittsburgh on a high TV priority team), so if he plays even just 1 season in Canada, you know he'll be getting so much more recognition.


And in Wings news, sounds like Zetterberg could retire in 2 years. The way his contract was structured under the old CBA, he's gonna get just 2M in his final 2 years combined(despite having a cap hit over 6M) so no point staying around for 2 more years at age 38 to get the final 2M of your 70M+ contract. Good news for Wings in 2019 would be that Zetterberg,Howard,Kronwall,Nyqvist would all be coming off the books. Bad news would be the fact that they'd still have over 25M in cap spent on guys who are already in their 30s.

[TheMatrix31]

It was already fun to watch Flames games aside from that thug Matthew Tkachuk, and now they're signing Jagr.

Really nice addition I think. Can help lead the young guys to consistent performance and get them to "the next step."

If they get good goalie play, watch out.

[Majingir]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheMatrix31

If they get good goalie play, watch out.

They got Smith from Coyotes, but he's a temporary solution. They have 5 or so goalies in the minors, so they're obviously hoping at least 1 becomes a good NHL starter. Parsons especially was one I wanted Leafs to draft, especially based on where he ended up going, but even he might be a handful of years away.