Around the League - 2024-2025

[ULF_55]

15-17% of the season is complete ...

Teams get hot, cold, settle in to what they are gonna be.

Early.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Seem to recall he had a chance to rejoin the Leafs around 2020 after his first season in Tampa, but Kyle couldn't fit him in and he went to Florida. Oops, nice one.

That's not true, of course. There was no indication that he wanted to come back to the team that dumped him for trash, but the Leafs weren't prevented by cost. He only cost 1m back then, because he wasn't very good.

 

[fahad203]

Oilers lmao. Puck watching by Bouchard and lazy backchecking by the Draisaitl line on the GWG. Shocker

They're just not doing anything creative in the offensive zone. Empty calorie possessions.

They totally overachieved last year. Kunitz was tied to Crosby's hip and scored 35 goals once. Even with the Pens he could never repeat. Hyman was on a different world last year. He's finally scoring again, at best, he'll score 25-30 goals

Bouchard is coming back to earth. I really hope though he gets 90+ points. So they can sign him to an 8 year 12 million. Him and Nurse are just treat to watch

 

[MCR74]

They totally overachieved last year. Kunitz was tied to Crosby's hip and scored 35 goals once. Even with the Pens he could never repeat. Hyman was on a different world last year. He's finally scoring again, at best, he'll score 25-30 goals

Bouchard is coming back to earth. I really hope though he gets 90+ points. So they can sign him to an 8 year 12 million. Him and Nurse are just treat to watch

If Bouchard can get over $10M, it'll be the most expensive, useless D corps in the league.

 

[MSZ]

We can laugh at Edmonton but when you look at the standings, the Leafs are only 3 pts up over those guys.

 

[Seath The Scaleless]

Oilers have zero depth. The top of their team is elite when they want to be, but if they aren't going the whole team suffers. They also got softer and Skinner is just too inconsistent a goalie. Chance Skinner gets hot and McDavid, Draisaitl, and Bouchard find their games again and Ekholm remains elite but it doesn't seem like an "everything goes right" type of season for them right now like last year. Special teams are also atrocious right now, lost too many PKers in the off-season.

They totally overachieved last year. Kunitz was tied to Crosby's hip and scored 35 goals once. Even with the Pens he could never repeat. Hyman was on a different world last year. He's finally scoring again, at best, he'll score 25-30 goals

Bouchard is coming back to earth. I really hope though he gets 90+ points. So they can sign him to an 8 year 12 million. Him and Nurse are just treat to watch

Yeah, it does seem like everything went right for them last year, including health. They were the healthiest team by a wide margin, as the only impactful injury was McDavid missing a couple of games early in the season. All of their top 6 D played 78+ games.

They also lost a ton of speed in Foegele, McLeod, and Holloway.

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

I didn't think Nashville was going to be very good, and thought that Stamkos for them was a mistake. He's been a terrible 5v5 player for some time, but had his stats supported by Kucherov and the Tampa PP. 67% Ozone starts, and -10!!!!! 5v5 0.9 GF/60 4.0 GA/60 $8 million for a player who has been in decline for some time, for four years. Ouch.

Around the League - 2024-2025

Trades & Free Agency Thread: Off-season Edition

Robertson + Timmins for Drew O’Connor

forums.hfboards.com

Yeah... there were a few people saying that.

In hindsight it was a pretty easy call. Good on you for making it. Every now and then I get one right myself.

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.

 

[Fogelhund]

""

Rookie scoring leader Michkov scratched. Philly 32nd in the league. It seems Torts infamous short best before date has already expired.

 

[Peasy]

Am I the only one that doesnt think the scratch is insane lol? No one will care or think about it in 2 months. The dude has been god awful at 5 on 5 and has just been a pp merchant so far which is why his numbers look so impressive.

OFC Trots isnt going to let someone slide by, especially a rookie with such awful 5 on 5 play. Man literally scratched Couturier a few weeks after they named him captain and Konecny last season.

I'd rather my younger player get some accountability than have whatever the f*** is going on in Montreal where they can just do whatever they want and ingrain bad habits into their game even further.

 

[MCR74]

Am I the only one that doesnt think the scratch is insane lol? No one will care or think about it in 2 months. The dude has been god awful at 5 on 5 and has just been a pp merchant so far which is why his numbers look so impressive.

OFC Trots isnt going to let someone slide by, especially a rookie with such awful 5 on 5 play. Man literally scratched Couturier a few weeks after they named him captain and Konecny last season.

I'd rather my younger player get some accountability than have whatever the f*** is going on in Montreal where they can just do whatever they want and ingrain bad habits into their game even further.

Ditto. This is the big league. Players get scratched, even top flight rookies. There are coaches who would let him slide. People bag on Tortorella because he's brutally honest.