Around the League Thread part V

[Steve Zissou]

 

[Kudelski37]

Eichel:. I'm tired of playing for a loser.
The Devil:. How about a trade to Vegas?
Eichel:. Yes.
The Devil: Mooaaaahhahahhaha
Eichel :. What?
The Devil:. Oh nothing. Lol.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

They have their young players already proven as anything from very good players to borderline stars.

Ottawa starts the next stage of their rebuild this season with Stuetzle(20) as the 1C, Norris (23) as the 2C and Tkachuk (22) as the top wing all proven. These were there top 3 scorers last year. They also have Chabot on D and they are hopefully optimistic that Sanderson is a star too.

LA started the next stage of their rebuild with no young proven top 6 forwards and no player under 25 who would be considered even close to a star. Ottawa is hopeful that 1 prospect can be a difference maker next to the ones they already know are. LA is hopefully optimistic that 4-5 prospects become difference makers but they are all question marks.

It’s shocking how many people on this forum don’t understand this.

 

[johnjm22]

Whenever the Kings play Vegas, I'm always surprised by just how dangerous Pacioretty is.

I think that's a good low risk move by Carolina.

 

[Brodeur]

Philly & NJ fans RIP

Devils and Islanders fans: "We didn't want him anyways."

I guess it's time to backtrack to Palat or Niederreiter for the Devils.

 

[Peter James Bond II]

LOL!!!!!!

 

[KINGS17]

I mean who wouldn’t trade a 32 year old for a 24&25 year old entering their primes, and locked up. Not that outrageous of a take there.

It wasn't meant to be outrageous, but it follows a theme. The Kings are not going to win jack with Kopitar and Doughty on their current deals, so what was the point?

 

[ScoreZeGoals]

Choosing to play in Columbus Ohio, for less money, for a bad team, and still not be all that close to home, it's all so weird

 

[KINGS17]

Well sh*t, Edmonton just got a lot better with Soupy in goal.

They have their young players already proven as anything from very good players to borderline stars.

Ottawa starts the next stage of their rebuild this season with Stuetzle(20) as the 1C, Norris (23) as the 2C and Tkachuk (22) as the top wing all proven. These were there top 3 scorers last year. They also have Chabot on D and they are hopefully optimistic that Sanderson is a star too.

LA started the next stage of their rebuild with no young proven top 6 forwards and no player under 25 who would be considered even close to a star. Ottawa is hopeful that 1 prospect can be a difference maker next to the ones they already know are. LA is hopefully optimistic that 4-5 prospects become difference makers but they are all question marks.

They are going to stay question marks, if they don't start playing them in more meaningful roles.

 

[DryIslandBartender]

Edmonton, Detroit, Seattle, Ottawa did pretty well in FA so far. It’s easy to do well when you have cap space and a lot of needs but Edmonton really nailed it with Soup in net.

 

[cyclones22]

LOL!!!!!!

You take the good, you take the bad,
you take them both and there you have...Kraken life.

 

[KopitarFAN]

Eichel:. I'm tired of playing for a loser.
The Devil:. How about a trade to Vegas?
Eichel:. Yes.
The Devil: Mooaaaahhahahhaha
Eichel :. What?
The Devil:. Oh nothing. Lol.

That roster has fallen off considerably since 2019.

 

[ScoreZeGoals]

Campbell is madly overrated by some of you, at best he's equal to Smith. After the first two months, Campbell was one of the worst goalies in the league

 

[cyclones22]

Choosing to play in Columbus Ohio, for less money, for a bad team, and still not be all that close to home, it's all so weird

I'm assuming that he just doesn't hate Calgary and wanted to get the hell out of there. But this looks like a lesson in getting a commitment from another team to sign you before declaring that you're not coming back. I know it's against the rules but wink wink nudge nudge type of thing.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I'm a little hesitant to give the title "winners" to teams that just spent an assload of money and term on UFAs.

Some of those contracts are going to age very very poorly and quickly in some cases.

 

[Kingspiracy]

That roster has fallen off considerably since 2019.

cough roids cough

 

[DryIslandBartender]

That roster has fallen off considerably since 2019.

Wonder if they saw the Kings fall off for keeping their guys after three WCF appearances/2 Cups. Decided to go in the opposite direction there by changing it up every offseason.

 

[Master Yoda]

Some strange moves today.
Carolina trading for everybody including Pacioretty for a bag of pucks.
The biggest free agent (Gaudreau) of the year signing with Columbus.
Tampa giving away 8 year deals like Tootsie roll on Halloween.
Edmonton actually getting a real goalie.
Kings signing a fifth goalie for Ontario.

 

[KopitarFAN]

cough roids cough

Im not even talking about that, just that they are constantly sacrificing the depth they had to chase the next shiny toy.

 

[BigKing]

Well sh*t, Edmonton just got a lot better with Soupy in goal.


They are going to stay question marks, if they don't start playing them in more meaningful roles.

Exactly. Not that the Kings had a bunch of cap space to play with today but I don't understand the desire to pick up old guys at $4MM a year or whatever that are not the type of players to put this team over the top but are the type of players that will block the youth from getting minutes.

Fiala wasn't a free agent but everyone knew he was available and that was Blake's big move. The top priority for this team should be the development of Byfield et al. but from a current on-ice perspective, scoring and the power play were at the top of the list. Fiala just put up a season that Kopitar has only surpassed once when it comes to total points and Kopitar has led this team in scoring for like 15 seasons. You would hope that Fiala will help both the scoring and the power play issues with the latter also being helped by Sturm's "promotion" and a new PP coach hire.

As for toughness, they retained Lemieux while paying him less than he made last season. Fiala doesn't play like a little p***y either. I'm the first one to rail on about how soft the team is but my hope is that these young guys got a taste of playoff hockey and realize that you have to go to another level. It's baby steps but I like Kaliyev crosschecking that Duck in the back of the head...I like Anderson tackling Draibaby. There will need to be some more beef on this team eventually so you hope that Helenius is NHL ready sooner rather than later.

Regardless, you aren't fixing all of the issues in one off-season. Scoring and the power play were addressed, the team didn't get softer and some middling veteran fodder wasn't added to block prospect development.

 

[Chazz Reinhold]

Smith has been equal to or better than Campbell each of the past 3 seasons. I think you guys are overrating what an improvement Campbell is.

 

[BigKing]

Smith has been equal to or better than Campbell each of the past 3 seasons. I think you guys are overrating what an improvement Campbell is.

Yep. We all like the guy and hate Smith but Campbell isn't amazing by any stretch of the imagination.

He actually looks just like another eventual failed attempt by Edmonton to secure the goaltending position.

 

[kingsfan28]

Frickin' Lumbus!

Congrats to anyone who had Lumbus on their Johnny Gaudreau bingo card.

 

[Telos]

Choosing to play in Columbus Ohio, for less money, for a bad team, and still not be all that close to home, it's all so weird

It kind of just screams to me that he wanted to get paid the most he could away from Calgary. He must have really wanted out...

 

[Kingspiracy]

Frickin' Lumbus!

Congrats to anyone who had Lumbus on their Johnny Gaudreau bingo card.

Thats got to be a kick to the nuts for the Flames. What is going on over there, has Sutter broken them already?