NHL 2022-2023: FA July 13th - LET IT BEGIN

[Anguyen92]

I feel like Rob Blake and the Assistant GMs had lost the plot at this point.  I liked what they did getting Danault, Arvidsson, and Fiala, but this move really pushed them out of the target point.  It still doesn't even address goalie needs.  They only have $4.5M of cap space and 16 roster spots filled up.  It's very morbid to say this early, but this team is so f***ed.

[jingle.boy]

I think he's sneaky important for the Leafs. The guy they need to shed is Tavares, if they need to lose one of the big four of Mattews/Marner/Tavares/Nylander.

We've had this discussion.  They are stuck with him for 2 more years.  I agree with you wholeheartedly by the way... if they could, they should/would.  But it ain't gonna happen.  I didn't like the signing in the first place - he wasn't the 2nd best player in the league in 2018, and he isn't the 7th best player in the league right now.  Hindsight is 20/20, but I kinda wish he chose San Jose.

Just to rub salt in the would for you Kings fans... I forgot to mention that PLD has been clear with 2 YEARS LEFT ON HIS CONTRACT that he wasn't going to re-sign with the Jets.  Now, to give him some credit, he played full on and had a pretty good year so that he could maximize his RFA value... and Blake bought into it.  Not sure there's this much upside.  This guy is making more that TimStutzle, Jack Hughes, Jason Robertson, Tage Thompson, Dylan Cousins, Elias Petterson, Nico Hischier, Andrei Svechnikov.  What a joke.  This guy should be making $7M tops.  Probably more like $6.

[axeman90210]

In other news, Tyler Toffoli got traded from the Flames to the Devils and didn't cost much for the Devils to acquire him.  I like how this Devils group is loading up.

Yeah, really happy with our offseason so far. We shipped out Damon Severson, a pending UFA we weren't going to be able to sign, for a third-round pick. Then we packaged that pick with Yegor Sharangovich, a pending UFA we weren't going to be able to sign, and ended up with Toffoli. Getting Bratt signed to term was great, only thing left is to hopefully ink Meier for 8 years.

[Stadler]

If Armstrong can move Krug he won’t have to do anything else this off-season for me to consider it a win.

Krug has removed all indicators of him being a St. Louis Blue from his social media……and reports late last night was that there was some movement in him budging on his NTC. Rumor is it has to deal with Florida being a third team that Philly would then flip him to.

There's some rumbling that David Pastrnak is making waves about wanting Krug here in Boston.  Ugh.

I told my step son what you said Gary ("I mean, who doesn't want..."), and he thought that was hilarious.   

[TAC]

Did anyone watch the NHL Awards the other night? I had it on, and it was cheesy AF, but there was nothing else on.

I thought it was kind of embarrassing that after Jim Montgomery's passionate speech about overcoming alcoholism, they come right back after the next commercial break and Dierks Bentley plays Beers On me, and there's a large swath of girls walking down the aisles handing out what was supposedly beer?. One girl had a big sign that read Free Beer!.

WTF NHL??

[TAC]

Speaking of the NHL Awards, here's a link to who voted for who..

https://www.thephwa.com/2023/06/27/phwa-reveals-2023-nhl-awards-ballots/

[Stadler]

Did anyone watch the NHL Awards the other night? I had it on, and it was cheesy AF, but there was nothing else on.

I thought it was kind of embarrassing that after Jim Montgomery's passionate speech about overcoming alcoholism, they come right back after the next commercial break and Dierks Bentley plays Beers On me, and there's a large swath of girls walking down the aisles handing out what was supposedly beer?. One girl had a big sign that read Free Beer!.

WTF NHL??

Wow, that IS shitty.  His is a great story, and ought not to be undermined like that.

[jingle.boy]

Thanks for that Tim.  I was just in the midst of posting "who put Connor McDavid FIFTH!?"  Never heard of this clown from Pitt, and I suspect he just made his last NHL Awards vote.  What a fucking clown.

[TAC]

Thanks for that Tim.  I was just in the midst of posting "who put Connor McDavid FIFTH!?"  Never heard of this clown from Pitt, and I suspect he just made his last NHL Awards vote.  What a fucking clown.

I'm going to dig through it.

The Selke was not even close. Wow!


Looking at the Norris, I'm happy that Hampus Lindholm got some recognition, even a number of First Place votes. Not to be a homer, but his two way game was the best I've seen in a Boston uniform since Ray Bourque, and he dominated his shifts all season.

And I simply don't get the Adam Fox love. I really try to key in on him when the Rangers are on to try and see what everyone else is seeing, but I just don't. He's solid as hell for sure, but the top D-man in the league?

[SchecterShredder]

Thanks for that Tim.  I was just in the midst of posting "who put Connor McDavid FIFTH!?"  Never heard of this clown from Pitt, and I suspect he just made his last NHL Awards vote.  What a fucking clown.

Complete clown just looking for attention. No one in their right mind would have McDavid at 5th, and that type of vote just tarnishes the integrity of the voting system. It's one thing to use the loose definition of "most valuable to their team" to justify a vote for Pasta. It's another thing entirely to say the best player in the league by a significant margin had less impact on their team than Jason fucking Robertson or Ilya Sorokin. Utter nonsense!

[SchecterShredder]

The same dude, Seth Rorabaugh, also voted a touch silly on the Norris. This one is a little more reasonable in that highest scoring d-man isn't necessarily the "best" d-man, but not having Erik Karlsson in your top 5 for voting is silly. He scored 100 points dammit!

[pg1067]

Thanks for that Tim.  I was just in the midst of posting "who put Connor McDavid FIFTH!?"  Never heard of this clown from Pitt, and I suspect he just made his last NHL Awards vote.  What a fucking clown.

Complete clown just looking for attention. No one in their right mind would have McDavid at 5th, and that type of vote just tarnishes the integrity of the voting system. It's one thing to use the loose definition of "most valuable to their team" to justify a vote for Pasta. It's another thing entirely to say the best player in the league by a significant margin had less impact on their team than Jason fucking Robertson or Ilya Sorokin. Utter nonsense!

Sounds like the guys who vote for the baseball HOF and think it's legit not to vote for an obvious HOF'er for the sole purpose of ensuring the no one (other than Mariano Rivera) is a unanimous selection.  "Because if Babe Ruth wasn't unanimous, then no one else should be."

The same dude, Seth Rorabaugh, also voted a touch silly on the Norris. This one is a little more reasonable in that highest scoring d-man isn't necessarily the "best" d-man, but not having Erik Karlsson in your top 5 for voting is silly. He scored 100 points dammit!

For the same reason the Selke exists, they really ought to create...I don't know...the Coffey Trophy for best offensive defenseman.

[TAC]

For the same reason the Selke exists, they really ought to create...I don't know...the Coffey Trophy for best offensive defenseman.

Been saying this for years.

Karlsson was winning Norris trophies while not even killing penalties.

[gmillerdrake]

For the same reason the Selke exists, they really ought to create...I don't know...the Coffey Trophy for best offensive defenseman.

Been saying this for years.

Karlsson was winning Norris trophies while not even killing penalties.

Exactly. Norris should be for defensive defenseman…..it’s always frustrating to watch these guys like Karlasson win it when they’re just basically forwards who play defense…..poorly.

[pg1067]

For the same reason the Selke exists, they really ought to create...I don't know...the Coffey Trophy Cup for best offensive defenseman.

How I missed that is beyond me!   

[jingle.boy]

Thanks for that Tim.  I was just in the midst of posting "who put Connor McDavid FIFTH!?"  Never heard of this clown from Pitt, and I suspect he just made his last NHL Awards vote.  What a fucking clown.

Complete clown just looking for attention. No one in their right mind would have McDavid at 5th, and that type of vote just tarnishes the integrity of the voting system. It's one thing to use the loose definition of "most valuable to their team" to justify a vote for Pasta. It's another thing entirely to say the best player in the league by a significant margin had less impact on their team than Jason fucking Robertson or Ilya Sorokin. Utter nonsense!

Sounds like the guys who vote for the baseball HOF and think it's legit not to vote for an obvious HOF'er for the sole purpose of ensuring the no one (other than Mariano Rivera) is a unanimous selection.  "Because if Babe Ruth wasn't unanimous, then no one else should be."

The same dude, Seth Rorabaugh, also voted a touch silly on the Norris. This one is a little more reasonable in that highest scoring d-man isn't necessarily the "best" d-man, but not having Erik Karlsson in your top 5 for voting is silly. He scored 100 points dammit!

For the same reason the Selke exists, they really ought to create...I don't know...the Coffey Trophy for best offensive defenseman.

Well, technically it should be the Orr Trophy, but he's as good a d-man as an offensive player (2nd all-time +/- to Robinson).  Maybe the Leetch trophy would be more aptly named: 7th all-time PPG, but a mere +25.  I was just looking at the all-time D-man PPG leaders.  Karlsson is 8th, with a -103 +/-.  He's played on some bad teams.

[Stadler]

Thanks for that Tim.  I was just in the midst of posting "who put Connor McDavid FIFTH!?"  Never heard of this clown from Pitt, and I suspect he just made his last NHL Awards vote.  What a fucking clown.

He's not fifth, but I'm not sure I'd have him number one, either.   I look at a guy like Matthew Tkachuk and then watch what I saw in the playoffs (where Draisitl made McDavid look like a third liner) and it's not as obvious as some of you are making out.

I do, though, strongly object to the sort of faux statements (like the Rivera one).   Just shut up and vote.

[King Postwhore]

Thanks for that Tim.  I was just in the midst of posting "who put Connor McDavid FIFTH!?"  Never heard of this clown from Pitt, and I suspect he just made his last NHL Awards vote.  What a fucking clown.

He's not fifth, but I'm not sure I'd have him number one, either.   I look at a guy like Matthew Tkachuk and then watch what I saw in the playoffs (where Draisitl made McDavid look like a third liner) and it's not as obvious as some of you are making out.

I do, though, strongly object to the sort of faux statements (like the Rivera one).   Just shut up and vote.

Vote are done before the playoffs Bill.  You can't take the playoffs into consideration.

[jingle.boy]

Thanks for that Tim.  I was just in the midst of posting "who put Connor McDavid FIFTH!?"  Never heard of this clown from Pitt, and I suspect he just made his last NHL Awards vote.  What a fucking clown.

He's not fifth, but I'm not sure I'd have him number one, either.   I look at a guy like Matthew Tkachuk and then watch what I saw in the playoffs (where Draisitl made McDavid look like a third liner) and it's not as obvious as some of you are making out.

I do, though, strongly object to the sort of faux statements (like the Rivera one).   Just shut up and vote.

Vote are done before the playoffs Bill.  You can't take the playoffs into consideration.

Came in here to post exactly this.  The awards are for regular season performance only.  You didn't see Bobs get any consideration for the Vezina.  If the Panthers don't make the playoffs on the last day of the season, just how valuable was Tkachuk?  He doesn't even sniff the top 3 in Hart voting if Pitt beats Chicago in the last week of the season.

196 professional hockey writers had McDavid at #1.  Seems statistically relevant.

[Stadler]

Thanks for that Tim.  I was just in the midst of posting "who put Connor McDavid FIFTH!?"  Never heard of this clown from Pitt, and I suspect he just made his last NHL Awards vote.  What a fucking clown.

He's not fifth, but I'm not sure I'd have him number one, either.   I look at a guy like Matthew Tkachuk and then watch what I saw in the playoffs (where Draisitl made McDavid look like a third liner) and it's not as obvious as some of you are making out.

I do, though, strongly object to the sort of faux statements (like the Rivera one).   Just shut up and vote.

Vote are done before the playoffs Bill.  You can't take the playoffs into consideration.

Came in here to post exactly this.  The awards are for regular season performance only.  You didn't see Bobs get any consideration for the Vezina.  If the Panthers don't make the playoffs on the last day of the season, just how valuable was Tkachuk?  He doesn't even sniff the top 3 in Hart voting if Pitt beats Chicago in the last week of the season.

196 professional hockey writers had McDavid at #1.  Seems statistically relevant.

I didn't know when the cutoff was, so there's that, but my point goes a little farther than that:  MVP isn't REALLY "most Valuable player", it's "best player".  Connor was, probably the best player, but Edmonton never scared me at any point in the season.  Matthew Tkachuk scares me when my team is playing against him. 

[jingle.boy]

So, hypothetically... you're the GM of the 33rd franchise in the league, and can pick any player to be a member of your team, you'd pick Tkachuk over McDavid?

[gmillerdrake]

I didn't know when the cutoff was, so there's that, but my point goes a little farther than that:  MVP isn't REALLY "most Valuable player", it's "best player".  Connor was, probably the best player, but Edmonton never scared me at any point in the season.  Matthew Tkachuk scares me when my team is playing against him.

Lova ya' Bill but you're WAY off here. There's no universe where you pick anyone over McDavid....especially right now. He's only 26....I doubt we've seen his best hockey yet. I 'get' the sentiment behind tkachuk because he is tenacious and brings a certain moxi with him....but....there isn't a player playing hockey today in the NHL or AHL that you could justifiably pick over McDavid. He is a threat every single time he touches the puck.

MVP doesn't mean 'best' player.....it means the player most valuable to their teams success....it's another justifiable win for him. He'll probably get another three before it's all said and done.

[jingle.boy]

I didn't know when the cutoff was, so there's that, but my point goes a little farther than that:  MVP isn't REALLY "most Valuable player", it's "best player".  Connor was, probably the best player, but Edmonton never scared me at any point in the season.  Matthew Tkachuk scares me when my team is playing against him.

Lova ya' Bill but you're WAY off here. There's no universe where you pick anyone over McDavid....especially right now. He's only 26....I doubt we've seen his best hockey yet. I 'get' the sentiment behind tkachuk because he is tenacious and brings a certain moxi with him....but....there isn't a player playing hockey today in the NHL or AHL that you could justifiably pick over McDavid. He is a threat every single time he touches the puck.

MVP doesn't mean 'best' player.....it means the player most valuable to their teams success....it's another justifiable win for him. He'll probably get another three before it's all said and done.

I was just looking at the last 22 years of Hart and Art Ross winners, and 8 times this millennia the Hart winner did not win the Art Ross - so there is precedence.  When 196/197 vote the same way, I'd say it's pretty clear.  Especially when it seems pretty clear the one outlier vote was making it as a statement - putting four other players ahead of him.

[KevShmev]

Change of direction, but I remember when Crosby won this 3rd ring, there was the assumption that he was automatically the best player of his generation and possibly a top 5 player all-time (no freaking way), but fast forward to now and I doubt he will be remembered as being better than Ovechkin.  Crosby has the edge in championships won (3-1), but that doesn't mean nearly as much in hockey as it does in football or basketball for example, and Ovechkin has a good shot now to go down as the greatest goal scorer in the history of the league (unless injuries start hitting him hard, I suspect he will play long enough to pass Gretzky).

[TAC]

I didn't know when the cutoff was, so there's that, but my point goes a little farther than that:  MVP isn't REALLY "most Valuable player", it's "best player".  Connor was, probably the best player, but Edmonton never scared me at any point in the season.  Matthew Tkachuk scares me when my team is playing against him.

Lova ya' Bill but you're WAY off here. There's no universe where you pick anyone over McDavid....especially right now.

I could be talked into Matthews.

[gmillerdrake]

I didn't know when the cutoff was, so there's that, but my point goes a little farther than that:  MVP isn't REALLY "most Valuable player", it's "best player".  Connor was, probably the best player, but Edmonton never scared me at any point in the season.  Matthew Tkachuk scares me when my team is playing against him.

Lova ya' Bill but you're WAY off here. There's no universe where you pick anyone over McDavid....especially right now.

I could be talked into Matthews.

Maybe prior to watching him vanish in this years playoffs I could have been. But, he's not a crunch time performer. He's a regular season player. McDavid at least showed up in the playoffs and competed and acted like he wanted to win.

[pg1067]

Well, technically it should be the Orr Trophy, but he's as good a d-man as an offensive player (2nd all-time +/- to Robinson).  Maybe the Leetch trophy would be more aptly named: 7th all-time PPG, but a mere +25.  I was just looking at the all-time D-man PPG leaders.  Karlsson is 8th, with a -103 +/-.  He's played on some bad teams.

I thought about Orr (because, duh), but my sense was that Orr was a more complete player (what with four seasons of 80+ +/-), so I went with the first dman I thought of who was mostly an offensive player (and note that I didn't see Coffey when he was with Edmonton).

Ovechkin has a good shot now to go down as the greatest goal scorer in the history of the league (unless injuries start hitting him hard, I suspect he will play long enough to pass Gretzky).

I think it's all but certain at this point (unless injuries happen).  He needs 72 more goals and is under contract through 2025-26.  Over the past two seasons (in which he played 77 and 73 games), he scored 92 goals.  Over the past 6 seasons, he's scored 0.6197 goals per game, so his pace is not slowing.  Since the lockout, he's played 95.5% of Washington's games.  If he continues at that pace, he'll tie Gretzky right around game 40 or 41 of the 2024-25 season.

[SchecterShredder]

Change of direction, but I remember when Crosby won this 3rd ring, there was the assumption that he was automatically the best player of his generation and possibly a top 5 player all-time (no freaking way), but fast forward to now and I doubt he will be remembered as being better than Ovechkin.  Crosby has the edge in championships won (3-1), but that doesn't mean nearly as much in hockey as it does in football or basketball for example, and Ovechkin has a good shot now to go down as the greatest goal scorer in the history of the league (unless injuries start hitting him hard, I suspect he will play long enough to pass Gretzky).

I still think Crosby will land in the discussion for top 10 all time,  but you're absolutely right about Ovechkin over shadowing him. I thought Gretzky's goal record was unbeatable.  No doubt in my mind Ovi will beat the record,  and go down as the greatest twine tickler the league has ever witnessed. It must absolutely grind Don Cherry's gears that the record will almost certainly fall to a Russian.

[jingle.boy]

Well, technically it should be the Orr Trophy, but he's as good a d-man as an offensive player (2nd all-time +/- to Robinson).  Maybe the Leetch trophy would be more aptly named: 7th all-time PPG, but a mere +25.  I was just looking at the all-time D-man PPG leaders.  Karlsson is 8th, with a -103 +/-.  He's played on some bad teams.

I thought about Orr (because, duh), but my sense was that Orr was a more complete player (what with four seasons of 80+ +/-), so I went with the first dman I thought of who was mostly an offensive player (and note that I didn't see Coffey when he was with Edmonton).

I was with ya ... until I saw that Coffey was a career +298.  Top 20 of all time.  Not too shabby.  Leetch as a Top 10 scorer, and barely on the + side of +/- seemed a more 'offensive-only' choice.

[gmillerdrake]

I think the concussions derailed Crosby's 'greatness' so to speak.

As far as Ovechkin and the goal record....I mean.....he does have a great shot and is a world class goal scorer....but it wouldn't hurt my feelings if the injury bug or some other scenario rained on his parade.

[jingle.boy]

As far as Ovechkin and the goal record....I mean.....he does have a great shot and is a world class goal scorer....but it wouldn't hurt my feelings if the injury bug or some other scenario rained on his parade.

I'm with ya there.  I got nothing against him, and it will be most impressive for anyone to break any of Gretz's records thought to be unbreakable ... but I'd just a soon see it stay with the Great One.

Then again, Brodeur broke Sawchuk's shutout record, so I guess all any record is made to be broken.

[pg1067]

Well, technically it should be the Orr Trophy, but he's as good a d-man as an offensive player (2nd all-time +/- to Robinson).  Maybe the Leetch trophy would be more aptly named: 7th all-time PPG, but a mere +25.  I was just looking at the all-time D-man PPG leaders.  Karlsson is 8th, with a -103 +/-.  He's played on some bad teams.

I thought about Orr (because, duh), but my sense was that Orr was a more complete player (what with four seasons of 80+ +/-), so I went with the first dman I thought of who was mostly an offensive player (and note that I didn't see Coffey when he was with Edmonton).

I was with ya ... until I saw that Coffey was a career +298.  Top 20 of all time.  Not too shabby.  Leetch as a Top 10 scorer, and barely on the + side of +/- seemed a more 'offensive-only' choice.

Fair enough.  While I think the Coffey Cup would be great, I think it's because I first knew Coffey from his Pittsburgh years and the 60 games he spent with the Kings.  He was +275 in 7 seasons with the Oilers and then put up a -50 in 4-plus seasons in Pittsburgh.  After the ill-fated stint with the Kings, he was +72 in 3-plus seasons with the Wings.

Then again, Brodeur broke Sawchuk's shutout record, so I guess all any record is made to be broken.

Gretz's goal record will fall, but his assist record ain't gonna be touched in any of our lifetimes.  He's got more than 700 more assists than #2.  The highest active player, Methuselah Thornton, is 800 behind, and the next highest active player, Crosby, has less than half of Gretz's total.

[jingle.boy]

To be fair to Paul, he was with the Pens in the late 80s when they were mediocre-to-shyte.

Man, he was quite the journeyman after Detroit.  I didn't remember he bounced around so much.

[axeman90210]

In other news, Tyler Toffoli got traded from the Flames to the Devils and didn't cost much for the Devils to acquire him.  I like how this Devils group is loading up.

Yeah, really happy with our offseason so far. We shipped out Damon Severson, a pending UFA we weren't going to be able to sign, for a third-round pick. Then we packaged that pick with Yegor Sharangovich, a pending UFA we weren't going to be able to sign, and ended up with Toffoli. Getting Bratt signed to term was great, only thing left is to hopefully ink Meier for 8 years.

Ask and I shall receive  8 years and less than 9MM AAV is something I can certainly live with. The entire core of this team is now basically locked in for the next 4 years (and many for 5+)

[pg1067]

To be fair to Paul, he was with the Pens in the late 80s when they were mediocre-to-shyte.

Man, he was quite the journeyman after Detroit.  I didn't remember he bounced around so much.

He was still there when they won their first Cup in '91 (he was traded at the deadline of the second Cup season).  In 90-91, he scored 24 and 74 but had a -18.  Earned him 5th in the Norris voting (everyone ahead of him had a positive +/-).  The year before, he had 29 and 74 and a -25, which was good for 4th in the Norris voting (everyone ahead of him had fewer points but at least a +13).