tomh009

Excellent news!

If the plan is to trade him, would a three-year contract make sense? Would a (little bit) longer contract make him more attractive to another team?

I did find it interesting that the two of you had effectively polar opposite views of how Gainey performed as a coach. (And Carbonneau, to a lesser extent.)

They do need cheap talent ...

I wonder what the rationale is for changing the lottery format. Good for the bottom-five teams, bad for us, yes -- but why would they change it now? Would it in some way be better in a COVID year?

So, basically, he'll be an inexpensive signing for one year, and you need to hope you have made a good enough impression in that first year for him to be interested in staying.

Is Bergevin reading this forum? 🤣 One-year ELC -- and then an RFA, I hope? With arbitration rights?

I like his attitude. He says he needs a fresh start, and he's willing to do what it takes to succeed, even if it means playing in the ECHL at first. Some of the nuances of what he's saying are surely lost with Google Translate, though.

I was actually pretty pleased with how Lindgren played toward the end of the season, once he started getting some starts. Much better than I expected. And better than Kinkaid for sure, and probably good enough for a backup for at least some NHL teams. But what he doesn't have is a track record showing that he can do that over a whole season. Which might make him a throw-in, yes ...

And that's based on an $84M cap. That's not very likely, is it?

I think we'll be lucky if we get a full 2020-21 season.

Full face shields for everyone? No contact? Seriously, I agree with you. I very much doubt we'll see any further hockey for this season. Let's just hope that we will be able to do that for the start of the 2020-21 season.

With goalies one never knows.

It's not where things are made. Stores keep less stock now and rely on JIT (just-in-time) delivery, planned well in advance, and based on usual sales volumes. A rush to buy TP will quicklyu empty out the shelves, and increasing purchasing volumes doesn't happen so quickly as the suppliers have their volumes planned, too. Things have calmed down somewhat now, though, and most things (apart from hand sanitizer and rubbing alcohol) can be found fairly easily. Even TP.

I expect it'll be all virtual, with video links between all the team locations and NHL central etc, something that wasn't really as practical yet in 2005. I don't think they'll want to bring a thousand (or more) people into a hotel, either.

I agree with all of that, even if I didn't explicitly say that in my post. 😃

Signing a two-year Liiga contract makes sense for him: if he doesn't make it to the NHL a year from now, he will still have at least one more year under contract with Ilves. I don't think Ikonen is particularly injury-prone but he has had some bad luck. But at this point I do agree that the injuries will make the road to the NHL harder for him. He may end up staying in Europe or playing in the KHL yet unless 2020-21 is fabulous. How well has he recovered from the injury, and how good will his training (prior to the season) be? We'll know more in six months or so.

While I was a hockey fan in the 60s already, I don't think I saw a game -- any hockey game! -- on TV until the Sapporo Olympics in 1972. So, watching players really started in 1977 when we moved here. 1. Lafleur 2. Dryden 3. Gainey 4. Robinson 5. Savard

I think it's a pretty safe assumption that there will be no in-person draft. I expect the NHL has a tech team working on logistics for a virtual draft already. But 2021 ... odds are that it would be in Seattle, so Montreal might end up getting the 2022 event instead.

Very few NHL owners are hurting for cash. And paying arena employees (at least something) would not be much in the big picture. Do the players get played for the (potentially) cancelled games?

That boredom shouldn't be any worse than the usual off-season.

Liiga - rest of the season cancelled, no championship will be awarded DEL - rest of the season cancelled, no championship will be awarded

I’d be OK if we at least still had the AHL.

The conditional pick is looking less likely now.

I didn’t say I agreed with his opinion ...