Around The League Thread | Let the Games Begin

[bossram]

What's the prize? so.... not really a reason to be excited about it.

What's the prize for any sporting event? Pride, mostly.

 

[Vector]

What's the prize for any sporting event? Pride, mostly.

In hockey, the players receive a bonus for each round. But yeah, pride.

 

[Ernie]

Ian Cole, top pairing defenceman.

This is not great news for the Canucks, if they are still planning on competing this season they'll need to be very aggressive on the trade market.

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

Brutal news for Utah. They made some big moves to upgrade their blueline, and saw them evaporate 2 weeks into the season.

I've caught a few Utah games.

Cole has been reliable and Kesselring is definitely showing top 4 potential (LOL Edmonton).

Sergachev has lost a ton of mobility in recent years and now seems unwilling to employ and physicality. Valimaki and Kolyachonok are junk.

 

[ManVanFan]

Ian Cole, top pairing defenceman.

This is not great news for the Canucks, if they are still planning on competing this season they'll need to be very aggressive on the trade market.

Van can offer them Jett Woo.

 

[bossram]

I've caught a few Utah games.

Cole has been reliable and Kesselring is definitely showing top 4 potential (LOL Edmonton).

Sergachev has lost a ton of mobility in recent years and now seems unwilling to employ and physicality. Valimaki and Kolyachonok are junk.

Yeah, Kesslering has been a revelation for them. They'd be really dead in the water without him.

But Sergachev is not a #1 and can't handle this level of responsibility. There's not much else behind him though.

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

Yeah, Kesslering has been a revelation for them. They'd be really dead in the water without him.

But Sergachev is not a #1 and can't handle this level of responsibility. There's not much else behind him though.

Arizona made a few good moves, then they moved to Utah and the group wanted to make a big splash. This trade is looking disastrous for that franchise.

Moser 3.375mil
6 GP 2G 4A 6 P +8

Sergachev 8.5mil
7GP 0G 4A 4P -1

They would have been better off trying to acquire Cernak who is at least a shutdown guy.

 

[thecupismine]

I don't know how a Tanev type player is going to teach Hutson not to make massive turnovers and blow coverage

I get that Montreal is a high profile team and any prospect is going to get a lot of press, but this guy thinks he's a star already and is acting like it on the ice. Martin St Louis is doing him no favours by playing him 23 minutes a night. Maybe the guy figures it out but he's going to have to learn that the stuff he could pull off in college isnt going to work in the NHL and he needs to go back to basics.

It’s more that having that guy on the ice and in the room helps a young player realize what they’re doing wrong, and get punished for their mistakes less so it doesn’t kill their and the coaches confidence.

You’re completely right though, if St. Louis just enables this kind of play and behavior it won’t matter in the end.

 

[VanillaCoke]

Yeah, Kesslering has been a revelation for them. They'd be really dead in the water without him.

But Sergachev is not a #1 and can't handle this level of responsibility. There's not much else behind him though.

Kesselring has been good since his ahl years, oilers could sure use a guy like that ..

 

[bossram]

Arizona made a few good moves, then they moved to Utah and the group wanted to make a big splash. This trade is looking disastrous for that franchise.

Moser 3.375mil
6 GP 2G 4A 6 P +8

Sergachev 8.5mil
7GP 0G 4A 4P -1

They would have been better off trying to acquire Cernak who is at least a shutdown guy.

I very critically panned the Sergachev trade. Thought it was a big win for TB. Moser is honestly an equivalent, if not better player at 5v5. Getting Geekie to replenish their youth as a throw-in was also a shrewd move by Brisebois.

Kesselring has been good since his ahl years, oilers could sure use a guy like that ..

The Mcleod trade was also not good for the Oilers. I was pretty critical of that deal from the Oiler's end as well. Caught a lot of flak for that take. Pretty much crickets from those folks...

Savoie has one goal in the AHL. Mcleod would be the Oilers leading goal scorer.

I guess McDavid being the shadow-GM isn't actually a good idea.

 

[NailsHoglander]

Unknown if this is some terrible slow start or a regression due to a loss of good two-way depth over the off-season.

There's also the element of a post-cup run hangover which can lead to an underwhelming start. Guys like Perry, Ryan, Ekholm, Hyman, and Henrique aren't really young, and have played an insane amount of hockey over the years.

The loss of Broberg and Holloway are a much bigger than their overrated GM anticipated. Podkolzin is likely not going to fill that gap one iota.

 

[tyhee]

... I'm enjoying them piss away McDavid's prime.

Has there ever been a more unlikeable superstar in any of the major professional sports?
...

Ty Cobb and Eddie Shore immediately come to mind.

 

[Bojack Horvatman]

I very critically panned the Sergachev trade. Thought it was a big win for TB. Moser is honestly an equivalent, if not better player at 5v5. Getting Geekie to replenish their youth as a throw-in was also a shrewd move by Brisebois.

I think it was a risky trade. Great a couple seasons and looked like a first pairing guy, but struggled last year before and after breaking the leg. They took a gamble that Sergachev would return to form. It backfired though. Sergachev’s career arc is looking a bit like OEL in that lower body injuries effected his ability to play top minutes and now being tremendously overpaid for what they bring. Sergachev at least is a few years younger than when we traded for OEL. Looking really bad now though giving up Geekie, 2nd, and a lot of cap space to not get an improvement in D like Utah hoped.

 

[MS]

I don't want any Canucks to go. Just get to a beach, relax, and let nagging injuries heal.

Unfortunately, you can probably write Hughes, Miller, Pettersson into their respective rosters in bold ink.

Small chance for Hoglander and Garland. Demko I'd assume would turn it down to rest given the other elite US goalies.

Thankfully Czechia wasn't invited to this thing (bizarrely) so Hronek gets a rest.

 

[Vector]

Thankfully Czechia wasn't invited to this thing (bizarrely) so Hronek gets a rest.

Are there enough Czech NHLers to ice a full team?

Just checked (Czeched?) and 18 skaters have played in the NHL this year.

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

Are there enough Czech NHLers to ice a full team?

Just checked (Czeched?) and 18 skaters have played in the NHL this year.

Ok now do Russia!

 

[Regress2TheMeme]

Doesn't Utah have an endless supply of picks and prospects? Surely they'll cash in some of those chips to salvage this season.

 

[MS]

Are there enough Czech NHLers to ice a full team?

Just checked (Czeched?) and 18 skaters have played in the NHL this year.

Yeah, they probably wanted to keep it to entirely NA-based players but that shouldn't have been a problem given guys playing in the AHL etc.

It's just weird to have Finland playing and not the Czech Republic given that they have such similar profiles and histories, and weird to not have a guy like Pastrnak playing in this.

 

[bossram]

I think it was a risky trade. Great a couple seasons and looked like a first pairing guy, but struggled last year before and after breaking the leg. They took a gamble that Sergachev would return to form. It backfired though. Sergachev’s career arc is looking a bit like OEL in that lower body injuries effected his ability to play top minutes and now being tremendously overpaid for what they bring. Sergachev at least is a few years younger than when we traded for OEL. Looking really bad now though giving up Geekie, 2nd, and a lot of cap space to not get an improvement in D like Utah hoped.

Part of my criticism is that I don't think there ever really was some kind of "return-to-form" upside.

Sergachev has never been a guy you can lean on in a tough minutes role. Bringing him on to do that was never going to succeed.

 

[VanJack]

I love it. Broberg, McLeod and Holloway are having a major impact with their new teams. And in Oilers Nation they're still making excuses as to why they had no choice but to dump them.

Nobody is blaming Stan Bowman.......at least not yet. But how long can the honeymoon last?

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

They need to bring back Duncan Keith to the dressing room again. That or hire Coach Q.

 

[Nick Lang]

I don't know how a Tanev type player is going to teach Hutson not to make massive turnovers and blow coverage

I get that Montreal is a high profile team and any prospect is going to get a lot of press, but this guy thinks he's a star already and is acting like it on the ice. Martin St Louis is doing him no favours by playing him 23 minutes a night. Maybe the guy figures it out but he's going to have to learn that the stuff he could pull off in college isnt going to work in the NHL and he needs to go back to basics.

It's definitely possible he can figure it out. If you recall Hughes had an absolutely brutal season himself several years back before coming back with a completely revitalized defensive performance. Hughes himself also had Tanev to help him out in his first season.

I think a stabilizing partner would be a great idea for him and bet he improves as he definitely looks prolific offensively.

 

[MS]

The fact that Edmonton only has 3 forwards under the age of 30 (Draisaitl, McDavid, Podkolzin) is freaking nuts.

By comparison, we only have 2 forwards *over* 30 (Miller, Blueger).

That team is soooooooo old.

 

[VanJack]

The fact that Edmonton only has 3 forwards under the age of 30 (Draisaitl, McDavid, Podkolzin) is freaking nuts.

By comparison, we only have 2 forwards *over* 30 (Miller, Blueger).

That team is soooooooo old.

If this season goes completely off the rails in Edmonton, you have to wonder about the future of McDavid.

At this point in his career, it's all about 'winning a Cup'. And if he concludes it won't happen with the Oilers, will he re-sign there?

The Oil could be a lot closer to 'a rebuild' than a return to the Cup Finals.

 

[sandwichbird2023]

Arizona made a few good moves, then they moved to Utah and the group wanted to make a big splash. This trade is looking disastrous for that franchise.

Moser 3.375mil
6 GP 2G 4A 6 P +8

Sergachev 8.5mil
7GP 0G 4A 4P -1

They would have been better off trying to acquire Cernak who is at least a shutdown guy.

That is why they went out and acquired Marino though, he was the shutdown component, whereas Serg was the offensive component.

I guess they envision Sergachev can at least play 18-20 5-on-5 mins and run their #1 PP, while Marino/Cole do most of the defensive work. A top 5 of Serg/Druzi/Marino/Kesseling/Cole isn't world-beating but would be acceptable for a bubble team. They started out the season well but losing Druzi and Marino long term is going to hurt them and expose Sergachev.