NHL 2018 Off Season Thread

[Arfguy]

WOW! What a crazy last few days in hockey news!

Erik Karlsson gets traded for basically peanuts. Tyler Seguin signs a massive contract. Steve Yzerman steps down as the GM of Tampa Bay.

Astonishing how much has gone on!

[Arfguy]

I don't mind it. Wheeler is the guy that leads the team, and he has the numbers to support it.

How about the Vegas/MTL deal? I'm not sure how I feel about that, but it feels like Montreal loves to blame it's leaders for team failures, rather than coaching and management.

Damn, I completely forgot Pacioretty got traded. This has been a crazy week.

Honestly, I think Montreal got about as much as they could have hoped for, given how badly they handled the situation. I don't understand how wanting to trade a player immediately leads to public knowledge that he would not be offered a contract extension. The guy is a quality winger without a legitimate centre to play with. Montreal, if they wanted to get rid of Patches, could have played this so much better. They could have done it like they did with P.K. Subban...as in out of nowhere they trade one of their core guys.

I do like the Suzuki pick-up, as I think he has the potential to be a good number 2 centre if Kotkaniemi pans out to be the number 1 centre they are projecting him to be. I don't mind the Tatar pick-up and a draft pick. I look at that trade and wonder WTF Dorion is doing with his star players. How can you give away Erik Karlsson for basically nothing? How can you give away Erik Karlsson without even trying to see if you can get Ryan Merkley?

[sirmarkus]

I feel for Dorion. His owner is basically screwing him and every other GM in the league knows he's operating without proper support. Until the Sens get sold they won't see success. I hope Karlsson does well in SJ. It's been a crazy few days in the NHL. Wow.

[Arfguy]

I feel for Dorion. His owner is basically screwing him and every other GM in the league knows he's operating without proper support. Until the Sens get sold they won't see success. I hope Karlsson does well in SJ. It's been a crazy few days in the NHL. Wow.

Despite what happened, almost everyone within the Senators organization (aside from the owner, of course) seems to do a good job. I think they draft very well and they manage their players pretty well. I think they accomplish more with less. This is a team that seems to always draft a great player. Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, Erik Karlsson, Marian Hossa...hell, before he went straight to the dumps, Alexei Yashin was a pretty good player. They don't seem to be able to develop goalies very well, though.

I don't know what kind of handcuffs Dorion is working with, but it might explain why the Karlsson trade yielded such poor returns. I do think Demelo might end up being a surprise player in the trade. They also drafted some pretty good players in Formenton, Batherson, White and Brown that will give them some competitiveness in the near future. I also don't think they will finish dead last this season. Despite the owner, I think the Senators are a pretty well structured organization.

[sirmarkus]

Well, Pre-season is in full swing. I was happy with how the Flames B squad played. The did ok in Edmonton, and were solid in Vancouver. Nice to see the prospects show some potential. Especially Dube.

[Arfguy]

Well, Pre-season is in full swing. I was happy with how the Flames B squad played. The did ok in Edmonton, and were solid in Vancouver. Nice to see the prospects show some potential. Especially Dube.

Dube has been looking so good so far, I'm inclined to make him my dark horse Calder trophy winner.

My Oilers haven't looked too bad, either. Ty Rattie looks like he's finding some nice chemistry with the McNuge line.

[sirmarkus]

Dube has been looking so good so far, I'm inclined to make him my dark horse Calder trophy winner.

My Oilers haven't looked too bad, either. Ty Rattie looks like he's finding some nice chemistry with the McNuge line.

Oil have looked surprisingly good, as have the Flames. However, it's just pre-season.... anything could happen come October.

[Arfguy]

Oil have looked surprisingly good, as have the Flames. However, it's just pre-season.... anything could happen come October.

Yeah, I'm not going to get my hopes up with the pre-season performance. Still, I gotta say that Dube has looked lethal and I can only see him getting cut from the final roster if the Flames say they are deep enough with 4 strong lines.

The Hockey News posted the following article, stating the top first lines from each team:

https://thehockeynews.com/news/artic...eams-no-1-line

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Stop me if you've heard this before, but the Flyers goalie situation going into the new season is in flux. Yeah, I know, what a shock, right? I mean, that's only been going on for the last thirty plus years now since our current GM manned the nets for the orange and black. Here's the current skinny:

--Brian Elliott: Expected to be the #1 goalie had abdominal surgery in February and hip surgery in the offseason. He's played all of 20 minutes in the preseason.
--Michal Neuvirth: Injured yet again is a question mark. Another shock. Why the Flyers keep him around is a mystery to me.
--Anthony Stolarz: Coming off knee surgeries that cost him all of last season looks to be rounding into form and might break camp as Elliott's backup
--Carter Hart: The team's 20 year old goalie of the future could get a lengthy look in what's left of the preseason

Every year, there's some sort of drama with Flyers' goalie, and the tradition continued this season. I hate it.

[Arfguy]

Stop me if you've heard this before, but the Flyers goalie situation going into the new season is in flux. Yeah, I know, what a shock, right? I mean, that's only been going on for the last thirty plus years now since our current GM manned the nets for the orange and black. Here's the current skinny:

--Brian Elliott: Expected to be the #1 goalie had abdominal surgery in February and hip surgery in the offseason. He's played all of 20 minutes in the preseason.
--Michal Neuvirth: Injured yet again is a question mark. Another shock. Why the Flyers keep him around is a mystery to me.
--Anthony Stolarz: Coming off knee surgeries that cost him all of last season looks to be rounding into form and might break camp as Elliott's backup
--Carter Hart: The team's 20 year old goalie of the future could get a lengthy look in what's left of the preseason

Every year, there's some sort of drama with Flyers' goalie, and the tradition continued this season. I hate it.

This was considered the year where potentially reliable goalies who had been back-ups but ready to step up and play number 1 goalie minutes. Goalies like Carter Hutton and Philip Grubauer. Hell, I don't know why the Flyers didn't go after Jonathan Bernier!

If they are looking for a decent goalie who might be able to give the Flyers a chance to win every night, I'd see what the Leafs are looking for to part with Calvin Pickard. Hell, the Flyers should have gone after Zach Fucale, who the Canadiens foolishly just let go for basically nothing. Watch the Vegas Golden Knights turn this one promising goalie into an NHLer.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

This was considered the year where potentially reliable goalies who had been back-ups but ready to step up and play number 1 goalie minutes. Goalies like Carter Hutton and Philip Grubauer. Hell, I don't know why the Flyers didn't go after Jonathan Bernier!

If they are looking for a decent goalie who might be able to give the Flyers a chance to win every night, I'd see what the Leafs are looking for to part with Calvin Pickard. Hell, the Flyers should have gone after Zach Fucale, who the Canadiens foolishly just let go for basically nothing. Watch the Vegas Golden Knights turn this one promising goalie into an NHLer.

I can only guess the Flyers were content with the likes of Elliott and Neuvirth until they determined that Hart was ready to take the reins full time. Meanwhile, the team unveiled their first ever mascot yesterday, I give you....GRITTY!



Stupid, isn't it? Looks like one of those monsters from the old Ultraman TV show. I know mascots are more for kids, but damn, if I were a youngster, that thing would scare the bejesus out of me!

[Starter Set]

Stupid, isn't it?

And creepy. The damn thing looks completely demented.

[Arfguy]

Gritty is my new favourite mascot!

[sirmarkus]

Gritty is my new favourite mascot!

Gritty is nightmare fuel, yet strangely appropriate for the Flyers.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Gritty is my new favourite mascot!

Well, I'm glad somebody likes him!