Around the League Thread | The one where the NHL once again is the worst.

[Vector]

To go further with this Chris Patrick hiring, it's interesting. His father, Dick Patrick, was President of the Capitals and in this re-shuffle was moved up to Chairman. They are both part of the famous Patrick clan. They are direct descendants of Lester and Frank. Chris Patrick is not just in the old boys club, his great grandfather invented it!

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

Pittsburgh will just play out the rest of the 2020's being a mediocre team. Not good enough to make the playoffs and not bad enough to get elite talent via drafts.

Not that I have sympathy for their fans. From Lemieux and Jagr to Crosby and Malkin. 5 cups in 16 years.

 

[Burke's Evil Spirit]

Pittsburgh will just play out the rest of the 2020's being a mediocre team. Not good enough to make the playoffs and not bad enough to get elite talent via drafts.

Not that I have sympathy for their fans. From Lemieux and Jagr to Crosby and Malkin. 5 cups in 16 years.

It's funny, both Washington and PIttsburgh seem to trying to do the same things, but I would argue Washington is doing a much better job of it.

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

It's funny, both Washington and PIttsburgh seem to trying to do the same things, but I would argue Washington is doing a much better job of it.

Well, the best possible outcome for Washington would be if Oshie and Ovechkin retire. It was downright comical seeing how they would get caved in 5 v 5 against the Rangers.

I am aware the primary objective for the Capitals is for Ovechkin to break some regular season records.

 

[MS]

To go further with this Chris Patrick hiring, it's interesting. His father, Dick Patrick, was President of the Capitals and in this re-shuffle was moved up to Chairman. They are both part of the famous Patrick clan. They are direct descendants of Lester and Frank. Chris Patrick is not just in the old boys club, his great grandfather invented it!

Chris Patrick was also hilariously drafted by Washington in 1994 despite being not even good enough to hold down a NCAA roster spot.

This is the nepotism hiring of all nepotism hirings. Dude was basically spoonfed this job since he was 18 years old.

 

[krutovsdonut]

To go further with this Chris Patrick hiring, it's interesting. His father, Dick Patrick, was President of the Capitals and in this re-shuffle was moved up to Chairman. They are both part of the famous Patrick clan. They are direct descendants of Lester and Frank. Chris Patrick is not just in the old boys club, his great grandfather invented it!

to me the caps still play in the patrick division.

 

[krutovsdonut]

It's funny, both Washington and PIttsburgh seem to trying to do the same things, but I would argue Washington is doing a much better job of it.

i agree with this. caps are being way more decisive and aggressive. pens look lost.

they are both trying to navigate what benning was facing in 2014 with the sedins. benning tried to split his resources between a retool and a rebuild. he failed the retool moves which improved the rebuild moves.

 

[StreetHawk]

i agree with this. caps are being way more decisive and aggressive. pens look lost.

they are both trying to navigate what benning was facing in 2014 with the sedins. benning tried to split his resources between a retool and a rebuild. he failed the retool moves which improved the rebuild moves.

Wash at least has a clear goal in getting Ovy the goal scoring record. 42 goals away. Beefed up the team to secure a strong season in 24/25 to not repeat the slow pace in the first 35 games.

Sid is signed til he's 41 at the conclusion of that extension (yes, his Bday is Aug, but let's call it what it is). He's 404 points away from 2000. 101 avg per season when he's just done 93/94 in back to back years. That should still leave him over 30 points behind and that's assuming health during the 4 years. So, no milestone for him aside from getting 108 more goals (27 per year) to get to 700 goals.

But, it's what he wants. Good for the Canucks in that he's not demanding a move to the Avs. But, sad for Hockey that he will end his career fighting for a PO spot and likely not making it.

Just this season is Pitt better than 4th place in ATL in TB, Fla, Bos, Tor? Not better than NYR or Car. So, they need to secure 3rd or the other WC over NJ who seems to be trying to fix their holes and if Hughes remains healthy, they should be that 3rd spots in the Metro. Then it's a fight with NYI, Phi, Was, plus the 5th place team in ATL in any of Buf, Det, Ott (if they get their act together).

 

[Vector]

Chris Patrick was also hilariously drafted by Washington in 1994 despite being not even good enough to hold down a NCAA roster spot.

This is the nepotism hiring of all nepotism hirings. Dude was basically spoonfed this job since he was 18 years old.

Is it really nepotism if your family created the modern version of the sport?

Yes, of course it is. To the point where we know that at least one of Chris' four daughters will be a future GM of the Capitals.

 

[Bojack Horvatman]

Wash at least has a clear goal in getting Ovy the goal scoring record. 42 goals away. Beefed up the team to secure a strong season in 24/25 to not repeat the slow pace in the first 35 games.

Sid is signed til he's 41 at the conclusion of that extension (yes, his Bday is Aug, but let's call it what it is). He's 404 points away from 2000. 101 avg per season when he's just done 93/94 in back to back years. That should still leave him over 30 points behind and that's assuming health during the 4 years. So, no milestone for him aside from getting 108 more goals (27 per year) to get to 700 goals.

But, it's what he wants. Good for the Canucks in that he's not demanding a move to the Avs. But, sad for Hockey that he will end his career fighting for a PO spot and likely not making it.

Just this season is Pitt better than 4th place in ATL in TB, Fla, Bos, Tor? Not better than NYR or Car. So, they need to secure 3rd or the other WC over NJ who seems to be trying to fix their holes and if Hughes remains healthy, they should be that 3rd spots in the Metro. Then it's a fight with NYI, Phi, Was, plus the 5th place team in ATL in any of Buf, Det, Ott (if they get their act together).

Disagree that Sid has no milestones to chase. I'd say passing Jagr for 2nd in points is a huge milestone. He needs 325 points or 82 points a year. Very tough but possible. Even passing bald asshole and Howe would also be a milestone if he falls short of Jagr.

 

[supercanuck]

Completely off topic but I was looking at Sid's stats and he is +217 for his career. Bobby Orr had one season where he was +124. That's just mind boggling. Really wish I could have watched him play.

 

[Vector]

Completely off topic but I was looking at Sid's stats and he is +217 for his career. Bobby Orr had one season where he was +124. That's just mind boggling. Really wish I could have watched him play.

The talent gap for the generational players like Orr and Gretzky was far more extreme than Crosby and McDavid. Which is not a knock on the previous generations but makes the accomplishments of Crosby and McDavid (and whoever else you want to include like Ovechkin and Kucherov) even more impressive.

 

[Szechwan]

To go further with this Chris Patrick hiring, it's interesting. His father, Dick Patrick, was President of the Capitals and in this re-shuffle was moved up to Chairman. They are both part of the famous Patrick clan. They are direct descendants of Lester and Frank. Chris Patrick is not just in the old boys club, his great grandfather invented it!

Wow sounds like this young man is surely the most qualified for the job, should go well for the Caps

 

[ChilliBilly]

Completely off topic but I was looking at Sid's stats and he is +217 for his career. Bobby Orr had one season where he was +124. That's just mind boggling. Really wish I could have watched him play.

I was at the game where he broke the previous record, and had 6 assists in one game. At the end he was pissed though, because someone scored for VCR and he crosscheck the guy in the head for ruining the shutout.

 

[ChilliBilly]

The talent gap for the generational players like Orr and Gretzky was far more extreme than Crosby and McDavid. Which is not a knock on the previous generations but makes the accomplishments of Crosby and McDavid (and whoever else you want to include like Ovechkin and Kucherov) even more impressive.

Yeah, but if Orr had played today they would have done a better job of the surgeries on his knee, and he would have had a brace that would have protected him.

He probably would have played 5 - 6 more seasons, and not have missed as many games.

 

[Hit the post]

Yeah, but if Orr had played today they would have done a better job of the surgeries on his knee, and he would have had a brace that would have protected him.

He probably would have played 5 - 6 more seasons, and not have missed as many games.

Dr McCoy goes back in time again to find out just how they did surgeries on Orr's knees:

 

[VanJack]

The Leafs and Preds are really rolling the dice with mid-30's players......maybe former Canucks Tanev and OEL will work out on the Leafs blueline; and maybe Stamkos and Marchessault will be able to light it up in Nashville.

But seems to me there's a big red flag with all these guys. At some point they're going to hit the wall. And the Preds and Leafs better pray it comes 'later' rather than 'sooner'.

 

[RandV]

For all the complaining about tampering, the system is probably working as it should.

You don't want players being talked to while they're still playing, but after that it makes no sense for them to spin their wheels for up to 2 months. Nothing is legal until July 1 and the NHL gets its big day but also gets a good run up of speculation. It's obviously not fait accompli or teams wouldn't be spending assets to obtain rights. That said, if exact contract details are being leaked prior to July 1 the league should be conducting an investigation - that keeps everyone somewhat honest. It is a bit of a disadvantage for players who are still playing late into the playoffs but players on successful playoff teams are usually at a premium regardless.

Yeah this is a topic I find a lot of fans don't really seem to get. Another good example is when Dan Hamhuis signed here, I'm pretty sure his rights were traded twice before July 1st.

I think there's two key points to consider. First, while teams/agents/player have ways to get around direct communication, until the ink is to contract on July 1st nothing is guaranteed. There's a risk there to either side if they think because they played a bit of footsie it's a done deal.

Second, the league needs rules it can actually enforce. A member of the media may leak a 'rumour' that may have been fed to them by a team or player, but the media is independent and the league doesn't control them. Just try handing out discipline based on media speculation.

Overall it creates a grey area that all parties are happy to operate in. And no one's going to step too far out of line because if a team actually does play foul and break gets caught breaking the unwritten agreement the league is going to come down on them with the wrath of god. For example that's how Scott Stevens ended up in New Jersey in the 90's, when St. Louis was caught tampering on Brendan Shanahan.

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

Great pickup for Florida.

 

[StreetHawk]

Great pickup for Florida.

Low risk on Boqvist. But, he is being brought in to run a PP I would imagine and take over from Montour. Not known for a shot, kind of like Hughes coming out of the draft. See if this is another Zito pro scouting staff hit.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Yeah this is a topic I find a lot of fans don't really seem to get. Another good example is when Dan Hamhuis signed here, I'm pretty sure his rights were traded twice before July 1st.

I think there's two key points to consider. First, while teams/agents/player have ways to get around direct communication, until the ink is to contract on July 1st nothing is guaranteed. There's a risk there to either side if they think because they played a bit of footsie it's a done deal.

Second, the league needs rules it can actually enforce. A member of the media may leak a 'rumour' that may have been fed to them by a team or player, but the media is independent and the league doesn't control them. Just try handing out discipline based on media speculation.

Overall it creates a grey area that all parties are happy to operate in. And no one's going to step too far out of line because if a team actually does play foul and break gets caught breaking the unwritten agreement the league is going to come down on them with the wrath of god. For example that's how Scott Stevens ended up in New Jersey in the 90's, when St. Louis was caught tampering on Brendan Shanahan.

i don’t doubt that unchecked tampering has been happening as long as there’s been free agency

but i think if we’d really been able to communicate with hamhuis, we wouldn’t have had to trade for ballard a week earlier. and then so much would have been different… sigh

 

[krutovsdonut]

really good move by boqvist as well as florida. can't imagine a better chance for him to grab pp1 time on a good team with plenty of defensive help and make his bones. for florida it's a low risk gamble with a huge potential payoff.

 

[tantalum]

Yeah this is a topic I find a lot of fans don't really seem to get. Another good example is when Dan Hamhuis signed here, I'm pretty sure his rights were traded twice before July 1st.

I think there's two key points to consider. First, while teams/agents/player have ways to get around direct communication, until the ink is to contract on July 1st nothing is guaranteed. There's a risk there to either side if they think because they played a bit of footsie it's a done deal.

Second, the league needs rules it can actually enforce. A member of the media may leak a 'rumour' that may have been fed to them by a team or player, but the media is independent and the league doesn't control them. Just try handing out discipline based on media speculation.

Overall it creates a grey area that all parties are happy to operate in. And no one's going to step too far out of line because if a team actually does play foul and break gets caught breaking the unwritten agreement the league is going to come down on them with the wrath of god. For example that's how Scott Stevens ended up in New Jersey in the 90's, when St. Louis was caught tampering on Brendan Shanahan.

I also think that as soon as a team and player come to that final impasse, know there is no further movement to be made and likelihood of moving rights is very low (it;s really only top pending UFAs that have rights moved) then I imagine there are agreements made between team and agent that they can begin talking to others. That's where I think a lot of the pre-July rumours come from. Not just third parties being used.

 

[EpochLink]

Completely off topic but I was looking at Sid's stats and he is +217 for his career. Bobby Orr had one season where he was +124. That's just mind boggling. Really wish I could have watched him play.

Larry Robinson had a +120 on the iconic 1977 Montreal Canadiens team.

 

[ameselare]

vegas are actually pretty deep at forward still so it depends on stone's health probably

they've got eichel, hertl, karlsson and roy down the middle and stone, barbashev, holtz, dorofoyev, howden, olofsson, kolesar and rondjberg on wing. brisson definitely has a shot at cracking that group tho

That makes sense, thanks. I'm interested to see how that all shakes out. He doesn't strike me as a bottom six guy, and I doubt he wants to be stuck in the AHL forever.

Pittsburgh will just play out the rest of the 2020's being a mediocre team. Not good enough to make the playoffs and not bad enough to get elite talent via drafts.

You underestimate their ability to acquire elite/generational talents. They'll get McKenna in 2026 or a guy like DuPont in 2027, mark my words lol