2019 NHL Offseason Thread

[Commandant]

37 minutes ago, dlbalr said:

It's looking like quite a few teams are going to be needing to clear out money fairly quickly.  I have the Rangers, Flames, Stars, Canucks, Penguins, Golden Knights, and Coyotes (seriously) as teams that need to shed a contract.  The Capitals and Sharks could make it work with what they've got but they'd probably like to free up a bit of wiggle room as well.  I wonder if that's now going to be the target for the Habs (and other teams with cap room).  Can they leverage an extra asset or two out of a team that needs to save money?  Unfortunately, aside from Vegas (if Gusev does go), most of the players that would be getting moved would be complementary pieces in all likelihood which doesn't exactly fit Montreal's needs.

 

I've been saying this for a while.  The Leafs and Tampa could be in the mix too depending on what Marner and Point get.  

This large number of teams needing to shed money and the relatively low number of teams that can take money makes this a great situation for Bergevin.  He has a lot of leverage here.  Lots of teams need cap space, and he's one of the few teams that has it. He can make out like a bandit here.  Columbus is another team that can really make out well, with all the extra cap space they have.

[Prime Minister Koivu]

Considering that Toronto paid a 1st to rid themselves of 1 year of Marleau....

[DON]

5 hours ago, TheDriveFor25 said:

The Tatar and Suzuki trade might be a homerun.

Tatar, Suzuki, Mattias Norlinder (64th pick) & Jacob Leguerrier (126th pick) for Pacioretty.

 

Norlinder might be good one (the other d-man seem slim odds);

 

"Great skater with good offensive instincts. Has a great first pass and good shot from the point. Uses his skating ability and good hands to get the puck into the offensive zone. Not that physical in the defensive zone but uses his positioning and stick work to solve defensive situations. (Erik Ohlsson, EP 2019)

Norlinder often makes plays through defenders and has the vision to execute tough passes., Corey Pronman - The Athletic 2019

He is both quick and fast. He can win races to loose pucks and he can skate well over long distances to help create zone entries, McKeen's Hockey 2019

With his excellent vision and awareness, he finds partners with great deceptive pass, Future Considerations 2019

He creates space for himself on the blueline by flawless lateral movement to find an open lane to shoot or find a pass.," Hockeyprospect.com 2019

[tomh009]

4 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said:

Yeah big loss if credibility when you are on an iPhone and get autocorrected

 

Turn offthe autocorrect and just have the phone flag (underline) what it thinks are misspellings. I did that years ago, as soon as I saw that it was mangling all foreign names and other words.

[DON]

4 hours ago, Commandant said:

Guys... their names are TATAR AND HUDON.

 

Not Tartar and Hundon.

 

You ruin your credibility when you cant even spell the players name... and its just 5 letters.  Its not that hard a name.

How bout that russian kid they drafted, spell that one off top of head.

[tomh009]

47 minutes ago, DON said:

How bout that russian kid they drafted, spell that one off top of head.

 

Sergachev?

 

Then there is Gostisbehere, makes Lehkonen look easy!

[Commandant]

1 hour ago, DON said:

How bout that russian kid they drafted, spell that one off top of head.

 

Arsen Khisamutdinov

[John B]

4 hours ago, dlbalr said:

It's looking like quite a few teams are going to be needing to clear out money fairly quickly.  I have the Rangers, Flames, Stars, Canucks, Penguins, Golden Knights, and Coyotes (seriously) as teams that need to shed a contract.  The Capitals and Sharks could make it work with what they've got but they'd probably like to free up a bit of wiggle room as well.  I wonder if that's now going to be the target for the Habs (and other teams with cap room).  Can they leverage an extra asset or two out of a team that needs to save money?  Unfortunately, aside from Vegas (if Gusev does go), most of the players that would be getting moved would be complementary pieces in all likelihood which doesn't exactly fit Montreal's needs.

I don't have a problem with Bergevin doing this.  I'm hoping for more quality than quantity though.  I liked the Mason deal last season, but I would have preferred a 2nd round pick or a good prospect to a 3 piece package of middling value.  

[DON]

24 minutes ago, Commandant said:

Arsen Khisamutdinov

Show off...

[DON]

14 minutes ago, John B said:

I don't have a problem with Bergevin doing this.  I'm hoping for more quality than quantity though.  I liked the Mason deal last season, but I would have preferred a 2nd round pick or a good prospect to a 3 piece package of middling value.  

A noticable upgrade on Meat-Kulak-Chiarot on the left side, at a minimum, before Oct would do it, for me anyways.

[John B]

4 hours ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

Considering that Toronto paid a 1st to rid themselves of 1 year of Marleau....

That was a good deal for Carolina.  Really wish the Habs had done this.  If Marleau agrees to play, the Habs have a good versatile veteran leader that play in the middle six and help mentor the young guys for a year.  If he decides that he doesn't want to play for the Habs, he gets bought out and his cap hit is only for next season (as opposed to spreading it out over multiple seasons) and the Habs save a roster spot/contract slot.  It would have been win win.

[John B]

1 hour ago, DON said:

A noticable upgrade on Meat-Kulak-Chiarot on the left side, at a minimum, before Oct would do it, for me anyways.

That would certainly work for me too.

[Trizzak]

10 hours ago, dlbalr said:

I have the Rangers, Flames, Stars, Canucks, Penguins, Golden Knights, and Coyotes (seriously) as teams that need to shed a contract. 

 

Rangers: They'll stash Beleskey in the minors, but they could still trade Kreider. I guess it would be nice to have him run into goalies opposite to Price. 

Flames: Gotta think they'd like to trade Frolik out. Brodie was a part of the Kadri deal that Nazem nixed. And of course... The Real Deal. 

Stars: Doubt they want Hanzal on the team anymore, but I don't know what they have to give up to get him off the team. 

Canucks: Eriksson wants out but is weilding his NTC. Benning has threatened him to play ball or go to the AHL. I can't imagine who they have lined up for that deal. 

Penguins: I reckon they're not attached to Bjustad. Someone might want him.

Golden Knights: It's gotta be Ryan Reaves, right? Unless Vegas is going to fall into the "heavy won the cup" trap.

Coyotes: They can put Hossa on LTIR. They can still add depth pieces without moving anyone out.

 

I'll add the Bruins as a team in need. 8 million is not enough to sign McAvoy and Carlo. They'd probably give up quite a bit to get rid of Backes.

[BCHabnut]

2 hours ago, Trizzak said:

 

Golden Knights: It's gotta be Ryan Reaves, right? Unless Vegas is going to fall into the "heavy won the cup" trap.

 

Washington were heavy too. This is a copy cat league. I bet if 2020 is won by a heavy team, we will start seeing more premium on big players again in the future. 

[dlbalr]

11 hours ago, Trizzak said:

Rangers: They'll stash Beleskey in the minors, but they could still trade Kreider. I guess it would be nice to have him run into goalies opposite to Price. 

Flames: Gotta think they'd like to trade Frolik out. Brodie was a part of the Kadri deal that Nazem nixed. And of course... The Real Deal. 

Stars: Doubt they want Hanzal on the team anymore, but I don't know what they have to give up to get him off the team. 

Canucks: Eriksson wants out but is weilding his NTC. Benning has threatened him to play ball or go to the AHL. I can't imagine who they have lined up for that deal. 

Penguins: I reckon they're not attached to Bjustad. Someone might want him.

Golden Knights: It's gotta be Ryan Reaves, right? Unless Vegas is going to fall into the "heavy won the cup" trap.

Coyotes: They can put Hossa on LTIR. They can still add depth pieces without moving anyone out.

 

I'll add the Bruins as a team in need. 8 million is not enough to sign McAvoy and Carlo. They'd probably give up quite a bit to get rid of Backes.

1

 

I knew I was forgetting someone - Boston would be it.

 

The Rangers need to do more than send Beleskey down.  Trouba alone will eat up most of their remaining cap space (if not all of it) and they still have Buchnevich, Deangelo, and Lemieux to re-sign.  A post-arbitration buyout is an option but the two candidates had front-loaded deals so that's a risk.  I think Vladislav Namestnikov is quietly being dangled again.

 

Dallas can LTIR Hanzal if they have to (he won't play next season) but with Perry, Heiskanen, and Sekera having achievable bonuses, there's some risk.  Mattias Janmark is coming off a tough year and I could see him being the cap casualty.

 

I'm not sure what's happening with Eriksson (had they not gone and signed three d-men in free agency, an Alzner/Eriksson swap could have made a bit of sense).  They're trying to move Brandon Sutter but that's not going to happen either.  I wonder if Baertschi is the guy that goes.

 

I agree on Bjugstad being the Pittsburgh option.  He didn't fit in too well with them (compared to McCann) and his contract isn't too onerous.  The Habs have shown interest in the past.

 

I think Eakin is the preferred trade chip for Vegas - they really like Reaves for some reason.  Most teams seem to be holding out for Gusev.

[Prime Minister Koivu]

19 hours ago, DON said:

A noticable upgrade on Meat-Kulak-Chiarot on the left side, at a minimum, before Oct would do it, for me anyways.

 

If MB addresses this through trade which LD would you include in that trade (not saying we need to trade one of them but if we had to include one)?

 

Mete likely has more value than Kulak so we would need fewer extra pieces but are we willing?

 

I really like Kulak's game and if he was the D to go then we would need better extra pieces (more like Kulak would be the extra piece).

 

I would trade either without question if it meant a true upgrade but all things considered which would you trade?

[DON]

50 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

 

If MB addresses this through trade which LD would you include in that trade (not saying we need to trade one of them but if we had to include one)?

Any of them.

Mete likely has more value than Kulak so we would need fewer extra pieces but are we willing?

But, they just went out and got Chiarot, only need 3, so flip a coin on Kulak-Mete.

I really like Kulak's game and if he was the D to go then we would need better extra pieces (more like Kulak would be the extra piece).

I love Mete's quickness and Chiarot likely will replace Kulak next to Petry anyways (at $3.5m/yr he should be able to).

I would trade either without question if it meant a true upgrade but all things considered which would you trade?

 

Mete has more value, so depend if Kulak and a pick would be enough to help deal done, along with some forward (say Lehkonen or Byron).

[Prime Minister Koivu]

19 minutes ago, DON said:

 

Mete has more value, so depend if Kulak and a pick would be enough to help deal done, along with some forward (say Lehkonen or Byron).

 

Yeah my mind was kind of thinking along the lines of

 

Mete and Byron or Kulak and Tatar type of comparison.

 

Not sure which I would do

 

 

[Habber31]

Why would this team trade Mete. He's just coming into his own and is a prototypical D-man, in today's game. 

 

You can't subtract from a position that's already a weakness. 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 14, 2019 by Habber31

[DON]

54 minutes ago, Habber31 said:

Why would this team trade Mete. He's just coming into his own and is a prototypical D-man, in today's game. 

He should be playing 2nd pairing minutes and matchups.

[Commandant]

35 minutes ago, DON said:

He should be playing 2nd pairing minutes and matchups.

 

Thats not a reason to trade away a 21 year old. 

[Habber31]

Exactly. People seem to forget how young this kid is

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Interesting that Gardiner is still unsigned. That back must be spooking  a lot of GMs.

 

If he can't get the coin/term he wants, I wonder if he just throws in the towel and re-ups in TO?

[dlbalr]

34 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

Interesting that Gardiner is still unsigned. That back must be spooking  a lot of GMs.

 

If he can't get the coin/term he wants, I wonder if he just throws in the towel and re-ups in TO?

 

I wouldn't be surprised if that's near the top of his list right now but the Leafs may have to clear money out on Marner's deal as it is.  It's hard to imagine them being able to keep Gardiner, even at a rate below market value.  They don't have access to the second buyout window either.

[DON]

From By Dom Luszczyszyn in The Atlantic has Habs as very low among teams "Wins Added"...so far.

 

Montreal Canadiens

In: Nick Cousins, Ben Chiarot, Keith Kinkaid, Phil Varone
Out: Andrew Shaw, Jordie Benn, Antti Niemi, Nicolas Deslauriers
Wins Added: -1.1 wins
Salary Added: -$0.2M

Andrew Shaw had a surprisingly remarkable season last year and would’ve been good to keep around, but with the team’s forward glut I don’t blame Montreal for selling high. That’s the main reason the team sees a 1.1 win drop in value, as the rest is mostly a wash. Keith Kinkaid isn’t great, but he’s a marginal improvement on Antti Niemi. Ditto for Nick Cousins over Nicolas Deslauriers, though that’s mostly a depth move. On defense, I don’t think Ben Chiarot is the answer and he’s likely a downgrade over Jordie Benn at a higher cost. If they wanted a one-dimensional left-handed defender at a premium for three more seasons, they already had Karl Alzner sitting right there.