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2023-24 NHL discussion thread


tomh009

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3 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said:

I think he can be a combination of Souray and Odelin - offensive/big shot and defensively responsible. He also seems to have the drive to develop into a dependable 2nd pairing dman on a GOOD, and not just because there are injuries and we have no one else. You can’t teach drive and resolve, and he has it in spades.


Lyle Odelein might be the best comparison I’ve heard of yet. 
 

 

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1 hour ago, hab29RETIRED said:

Ovechkin finally scores - great to see the goal come against the leafs!

Yeah, standing at the post tapping one in. It looked like they were trying to set him up to get him a goal, because that's not his normal position on PP.

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10 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

I don’t remember Odelein having that booming slapper, though? I think he has more offensive upside than ol’ smiley.

 

I think the original post was that Arber was a combination of Souray/Odelein  which I think is accurate because he does have the size of Souray and a big shot and he has the heart and combative nature of Odelein.  

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I think people are remembering that one outlier season by Smiley. 🤷‍♂️ I like my Bieksa comparison better, but hey, I could be wildly optimistic. 

 

(I did like Odelein, though, and thought it was an absolutely idiotic move to trade him for that basket-case Richer. I also remember the French press being all cowabunga for the trade at the time; within a couple of years they were scratching their heads over how come Odelein seemed so good in Jersey while Richer was not really doing much in Montreal. DUH).

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12 hours ago, DON said:
 

 

Theoretically ... remember this is the. NHL ... it would allow them to put on a better show with fans and the stage in closer proximity.

Although I would prefer a big video screen in the arena, with the teams making their own announcements ... each team could have a podium with either a standard 2024 NHL Draft background or a team-customized background.

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1 hour ago, GHT120 said:

 

Theoretically ... remember this is the. NHL ... it would allow them to put on a better show with fans and the stage in closer proximity.

Although I would prefer a big video screen in the arena, with the teams making their own announcements ... each team could have a podium with either a standard 2024 NHL Draft background or a team-customized background.

 

It will suck, just like everything else the NHL does.

 

G*ddamned Bruins, I was hoping they’d take a step back this season 😡 

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Having taken the trip to Nashville last year with my two young boys I can safely say we are all devastated. 
 

Having the awards and draft back to back was gold. 
 

Walking the streets and running into reporters, players and upper level management was a great experience. 
 

It helped humanize both players and the league. 
 

Might it still be fun?  Perhaps; but knowing the NHL decision makers I’m not holding my breath. 

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The Habs can use Calgary's 1st round pick this year if it's between 20-32 but it's looking (still early) like the pick will not be in that range which is OK as 2025 is supposed to be a better draft year. 

 

Nazem Kadri has 1 assist in 8 games, ouch!  Huberdeau only 4 points.  Maybe Sutter wasn't the problem. 

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41 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

The Habs can use Calgary's 1st round pick this year if it's between 20-32 but it's looking (still early) like the pick will not be in that range which is OK as 2025 is supposed to be a better draft year. 

 

Nazem Kadri has 1 assist in 8 games, ouch!  Huberdeau only 4 points.  Maybe Sutter wasn't the problem. 

 

The Kadri signing was terrible at the time, and predicated on the assumption that they were all-in to win NOW (i.e., three years ago). The longer it went on, the worse it was going to get.

 

Huberdeau is another matter. I was one of those who thought the Flames had turned a sow’s arse into a silk purse, somehow maximizing return on Tkachuk against all odds. Unfortunately it looks as though Huberdeau just isn’t the player he seemed to be. Or maybe he is just aging out early like Gomez did. 

 

It’s always so hard for teams to know when to pull the plug and rebuild. In retrospect, the obvious time to do it was when Gaudreau and Tkachuk wanted out. It was equally obvious that MB should have pulled the plug when Price and Weber checked out. In both cases, though, the GM (and the owner, no doubt) clung to the fantasy that they could keep competing. Now the Flames are stuck with brutal long-term contracts. Not benefiting from the Habs’ insanely “good” luck vis-a-vis LTIR and the Price/Weber contracts, they will be in purgatory for a looooong time.

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9 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

The Kadri signing was terrible at the time, and predicated on the assumption that they were all-in to win NOW (i.e., three years ago). The longer it went on, the worse it was going to get.

 

Huberdeau is another matter. I was one of those who thought the Flames had turned a sow’s arse into a silk purse, somehow maximizing return on Tkachuk against all odds. Unfortunately it looks as though Huberdeau just isn’t the player he seemed to be. Or maybe he is just aging out early like Gomez did. 

 

It’s always so hard for teams to know when to pull the plug and rebuild. In retrospect, the obvious time to do it was when Gaudreau and Tkachuk wanted out. It was equally obvious that MB should have pulled the plug when Price and Weber checked out. In both cases, though, the GM (and the owner, no doubt) clung to the fantasy that they could keep competing. Now the Flames are stuck with brutal long-term contracts. They will be in purgatory for a looooong time.

 

I don't know what to think of Huberdeau, starting to think his 115 point season was definitely an anomaly, everything just went right that year and he was able to turn it into a big contract. Maybe playing under the bright spotlight of a Canadian market is not good for him.   A smart move by Florida to trade him at peak value for a younger and much more effective Mathew Tkachuk. The future doesn't look bright in Calgary right now. 

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1 hour ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

The Habs can use Calgary's 1st round pick this year if it's between 20-32 but it's looking (still early) like the pick will not be in that range which is OK as 2025 is supposed to be a better draft year. 

 

Nazem Kadri has 1 assist in 8 games, ouch!  Huberdeau only 4 points.  Maybe Sutter wasn't the problem. 

The contracts to both of those players illustrates the risk of signing UFA’s to longterm deals as they near 30.


I’m hoping Kadri and Huberdeau continue to suck and do even worse next year!

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1 minute ago, hab29RETIRED said:

The contracts to both of those players illustrates the risk of signing UFA’s to longterm deals as they near 30.

 

 

I-M-O an even bigger lesson is signing players to contracts valued on their having just had an outlier season ... in his last season in Florida Huberdeau had 8 goals and 48 points more than he had previously averaged per 80 games (the number he played that final year with FLA) ... in Colorado, Kadri had 8 goals and 42 points more than his NHL career 71 game average (number he played his last year in COL).

 

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39 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

 

I-M-O an even bigger lesson is signing players to contracts valued on their having just had an outlier season ... in his last season in Florida Huberdeau had 8 goals and 48 points more than he had previously averaged per 80 games (the number he played that final year with FLA) ... in Colorado, Kadri had 8 goals and 42 points more than his NHL career 71 game average (number he played his last year in COL).

 

 

I think both valid lessons, an outlier season and giving big long term contracts to 30 year olds, Calgary failed on both counts. 

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Now this is interesting.  Connor Brown has absolutely sucked so far this year.  If he plays 10 games than his 3.25M bonus is good and counts toward the cap next year. I think Holland thought he was being creative but that will really hurt the team next year.  Are the Oilers all in this year??  You bet they are.  There is talk of sending Connor Brown down before he hits 10 games. What a mess. 

 

 

A breakdown of how Connor Brown’s performance bonus affects the Edmonton Oilers salary cap situation - OilersNation

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I'd be surprised if Edmonton was that ruthless with Brown.  I haven't seen him this season but that contract made a lot of sense to me at the time.  Notably, they're not in LTIR so as long as that stays the case, they can at least absorb some of that $3.25M on their books this year.

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The Habs are now ranked 12th in the league for power play (22.6%) and 20th for penalty kill (75.6%), in spite of the early struggles. Who saw this coming?

 

Yes, yes, still early and a small sample size ... but the special teams have actually looked better, too, in the last few weeks.

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8 minutes ago, dlbalr said:

I'd be surprised if Edmonton was that ruthless with Brown.  I haven't seen him this season but that contract made a lot of sense to me at the time.  Notably, they're not in LTIR so as long as that stays the case, they can at least absorb some of that $3.25M on their books this year.

 

According to cap friendly they have $382,000 in cap space so I don't think they can absorb much plus I think Holland will likely look at doing something at the deadline. 

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