Around the NHL 2024-2025

[WeWentBlues]

Crazy seeing Buium already playing in the NHL. Blues won just a few too many games in 23-24.

 

[mk80]

Interesting to see the EBUR have to come into the game. Hopefully the linesman who was shaken up is ok going forward

 

[TruBlueFan1970]

VGK and Minny looks like it’s got the makings of a good series.

 

[Thallis]

Crazy seeing Buium already playing in the NHL. Blues won just a few too many games in 23-24.

We could and should have traded up for him

 

[bleedblue1223]

We could and should have traded up for him

Not really. Philly traded back 1 spot because it still guaranteed them their guy. If they were dead set on getting Luchanko, Minnesota was always going to get Buium.

 

[Thallis]

Not really. Philly traded back 1 spot because it still guaranteed them their guy. If they were dead set on getting Luchanko, Minnesota was always going to get Buium.

If they were dead set on Luchanko, why would Minnesota trade up then? When they start entertaining offers they're telegraphing that they're not going for Buium, idk why Minnesota would pay value when they can get him at 13. That aside, there's a long list of assets I would give up in our system to try and sway Philly, I was of the opinion Buium would have instantly been our best prospect.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

If they were dead set on Luchanko, why would Minnesota trade up then? When they start entertaining offers they're telegraphing that they're not going for Buium, idk why Minnesota would pay value when they can get him at 13. That aside, there's a long list of assets I would give up in our system to try and sway Philly, I was of the opinion Buium would have instantly been our best prospect.

Why would Philly be honest about who they were going to take in that situation? If you can get your guy and also squeeze an ambitious team for an extra pick, why not play coy about who you want to take?

If Philly had multiple suitors, and they took Minnesota up on a 2025 3rd round pick, that means either (a) that was the best offer they got at all, or (b) that was the best offer they got from teams they wanted to deal with. I.e. they knew Luchanko would be there if they traded back one spot, but weren't sure that Minny, Buffalo, or Detroit, wouldn't pick him if they traded back with us.

 

[Thallis]

Why would Philly be honest about who they were going to take in that situation? If you can get your guy and also squeeze an ambitious team for an extra pick, why not play coy about who you want to take?

If Philly had multiple suitors, and they took Minnesota up on a 2025 3rd round pick, that means either (a) that was the best offer they got at all, or (b) that was the best offer they got from teams they wanted to deal with. I.e. they knew Luchanko would be there if they traded back one spot, but weren't sure that Minny, Buffalo, or Detroit, wouldn't pick him if they traded back with us.

I don't think they needed to be honest. Buium was the last highly rated player on the board, if they wanted him they wouldn't be trading the pick. I get the trade from Philly's perspective, just not from Minnesota's. It would seem obvious, at least in hindsight, that if they're trading the pick, they're not taking Buium.

 

[STL fan in MN]

If they were dead set on Luchanko, why would Minnesota trade up then? When they start entertaining offers they're telegraphing that they're not going for Buium, idk why Minnesota would pay value when they can get him at 13. That aside, there's a long list of assets I would give up in our system to try and sway Philly, I was of the opinion Buium would have instantly been our best prospect.

While I agree with you on going after Buium as I really wanted him too, I’ll offer this as to why Minn would’ve been willing to give up a 3rd to move up 1 spot even if they knew Philly wasn’t after Buium. And it’s probably the reason why GMs voted to move away from the in person draft. Guerin could easily see that Army and Briere were talking. Maybe he had an idea who Army wanted, maybe he didn’t. But he knew he wanted Buium. He wouldn’t know what Army was offering but the going rate would’ve been a 2nd or maybe 2nd and 3rd to swap 1sts. So he offered Philly a 3rd to basically not take the STL deal. Maybe Briere would’ve said no to Army anyway but Guerin wasn’t taking any chances. He wanted Buium. And getting a 3rd from MIN guaranteed they’d still get Luchanko. I know I’d definitely take a guarantee of getting my guy and a 3rd over maybe getting my guy and a 2nd and 3rd.

MIN trading a 3rd to move up just 1 spot probably looked pretty silly at the time but it was a pretty shrewd move IMO.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

I don't think they needed to be honest. Buium was the last highly rated player on the board, if they wanted him they wouldn't be trading the pick. I get the trade from Philly's perspective, just not from Minnesota's. It would seem obvious, at least in hindsight, that if they're trading the pick, they're not taking Buium.

Every team's draft board is different. The fact that Philly traded out of the ability to draft Buium, and took Luchanko (who was a consensus pre-draft 1st rounder, but was generally ranked in the 20s), means that they had approximately equivalent grades on them. At 12, they knew they would get one or the other, and a future 3rd rounder was enough to tip the scales in Luchanko's favor, provided that they would get one or the other. They clearly valued Luchanko more highly than the public draft analysts. They were partially vindicated in that, given that he made a Tortorella-coached team out of camp this year.

So let's say we offered Philly the Lukas Fischer pick from last year's draft to move up from 16 to 12. I don't know that they go for that, even though it would have been a big overpayment from us, if they thought they would miss out on both players. The back-half of last year's draft 1st round was pretty weak, so it's likely that Buium and Luchanko were the last two players Philly had a 1st-round grade on, in the same way that Jiricek was probably the last player we had a 1st-round grade on.

 

[bleedblue1223]

If they were dead set on Luchanko, why would Minnesota trade up then? When they start entertaining offers they're telegraphing that they're not going for Buium, idk why Minnesota would pay value when they can get him at 13. That aside, there's a long list of assets I would give up in our system to try and sway Philly, I was of the opinion Buium would have instantly been our best prospect.

Because they knew they could get something for it. We know Minnesota and at least us were involved in those trade talks. Luchanko was the top guy left on their board, but you are at least going to call teams to see if they will overpay for the pick to get Buium as he was going to be gone at 13. It's the balance of guarantee the guy you want with a little extra in a 3rd, or a deal with us where there is still a chance of getting your guy, but greater value in the additional piece to cover the risk of not getting Luchanko.

Minnesota was probably told that to get Buium, they'd have to make some sort of a deal. Maybe Philly was bluffing, maybe they weren't, but it was an easy spot to be in to get an extra pick, and Minnesota was thrilled to get a guy that had top 5 talent IMO, so who cares if you pay a 3rd to guarantee you get him.

Kind of like us making that trade to ensure that Edmonton didn't match either offer-sheet. Maybe we didn't need to, but it was still well worth it in the end.

 

[Quaz]

Looks like Quinn Hughes isn’t willing to sign long term extension with VAN as he wants to play with his brothers. Will be interesting to see what VAN does.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Looks like Quinn Hughes isn’t willing to sign long term extension with VAN as he wants to play with his brothers. Will be interesting to see what VAN does.

I have zero problem with this. Its commendable to be so transparent about it, and probably end up costing him some potential earnings, but if a team wants all of them its his prerogative to live that dream.

 

[Brian39]

Looks like Quinn Hughes isn’t willing to sign long term extension with VAN as he wants to play with his brothers. Will be interesting to see what VAN does.

What a complete and utter dumpster fire the Canucks organization is. I assumed this was going to be some anonymous rumor or a reporter jumping to a conclusion based on a throw away comment from Hughes. I did not expect it to come from Jim freaking Rutherford holding a presser about how Quinn wants to play with his brothers. Quinn is under contract for 2 more years and isn't even eligible to sign an extension for another 14+ months. Somehow the team president still managed to start a 5 alarm fire about him leaving while simultaneously telling 30 other franchises that they shouldn't expect to be able to extend him if they trade for him.

I'm starting to believe more and more that their front office hates ownership and is actively trying to run their franchise into the ground.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

What a complete and utter dumpster fire the Canucks organization is. I assumed this was going to be some anonymous rumor or a reporter jumping to a conclusion based on a throw away comment from Hughes. I did not expect it to come from Jim freaking Rutherford holding a presser about how Quinn wants to play with his brothers. Quinn is under contract for 2 more years and isn't even eligible to sign an extension for another 14+ months. Somehow the team president still managed to start a 5 alarm fire about him leaving while simultaneously telling 30 other franchises that they shouldn't expect to be able to extend him if they trade for him.

I'm starting to believe more and more that their front office hates ownership and is actively trying to run their franchise into the ground.

There is some irony that this is coming from the organization that orchestrated drafting both Sedins and played them as a single entity their entire careers.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

VAN is also not going to sign Willander to his ELC this year, so he's going back to Boston for his junior year. Friedman implied it's because they can't come to terms on an ELC, which probably means performance/signing bonuses. Or, at least you hope it's over bonuses and not like AHL salary or something like that. Either way, not a great foot to start on with your recent 11th overall pick.

 

[STL fan in MN]

What a complete and utter dumpster fire the Canucks organization is. I assumed this was going to be some anonymous rumor or a reporter jumping to a conclusion based on a throw away comment from Hughes. I did not expect it to come from Jim freaking Rutherford holding a presser about how Quinn wants to play with his brothers. Quinn is under contract for 2 more years and isn't even eligible to sign an extension for another 14+ months. Somehow the team president still managed to start a 5 alarm fire about him leaving while simultaneously telling 30 other franchises that they shouldn't expect to be able to extend him if they trade for him.

I'm starting to believe more and more that their front office hates ownership and is actively trying to run their franchise into the ground.

Same. I was about to ask where this came from and expected it to be some random unreliable rumor but…why in the world would Vancouver’s own GM volunteer this information??! Sorry Jim but that was just plain stupid. Why reduce your leverage with 31 other teams by giving that away. And then he essentially tampers by suggesting trading for the other 2 brothers would be an option.

 

[Majorityof1]

Same. I was about to ask where this came from and expected it to be some random unreliable rumor but…why in the world would Vancouver’s own GM volunteer this information??! Sorry Jim but that was just plain stupid. Why reduce your leverage with 31 other teams by giving that away. And then he essentially tampers by suggesting trading for the other 2 brothers would be an option.

Senior moment? He even said afterwards he probably crossed the line with tampering. It seriously seemed like an overly honest moment and then he was like "oh shit, what did I just say".

Giving a ton of the benefit if the doubt, I'd say the reason he'd say that is to get in front of it if it was going to leak. But he didn't do a great job of that.

I can see an intended meaning of:"Hey Canuck fans, we know we need to keep Quinn. We'll pay what we need to, we'll try to trade for his bros. But if we can't sign him, don't get too pissed. Our hands were tied".

 

[stl76]

Live look at the canucks org:

Also, smh at Ron Francis failing upwards in Seattle. If you haven’t seen, he was relieved of GM duties and from what I can tell “promoted” to some BS senior management job. It’s times like this that I’m most thankful for how well the Blues franchise has been run for a long time now.

 

[WeWentBlues]

Live look at the canucks org:

Also, smh at Ron Francis failing upwards in Seattle. If you haven’t seen, he was relieved of GM duties and from what I can tell “promoted” to some BS senior management job. It’s times like this that I’m most thankful for how well the Blues franchise has been run for a long time now.

Fingers crossed that whoever takes over in Seattle is a long-time buddy of Army and we can work out some trades between the two orgs. Jared McCann come on down!

 

[BadgersandBlues]

VAN is also not going to sign Willander to his ELC this year, so he's going back to Boston for his junior year. Friedman implied it's because they can't come to terms on an ELC, which probably means performance/signing bonuses. Or, at least you hope it's over bonuses and not like AHL salary or something like that. Either way, not a great foot to start on with your recent 11th overall pick.

We've talked about a lot of other targets for a RHD to help fill out our prospect pool, but Willander is still a guy I'm extremely interested in who has flown under the radar a bit for us on these boards. A second pairing of him and Lindstein would be a great shutdown/transition duo imo - then with Broberg we can afford to have a more offensive minded D next to him, such as Dobson or possibly Jiricek if he pops. Broberg really carried Faulk pretty hard this year defensively imo, if we could get a guy with way more offense then Faulk to put next to Broberg I think it could be a legit top pairing.

 

[BadgersandBlues]

Fingers crossed that whoever takes over in Seattle is a long-time buddy of Army and we can work out some trades between the two orgs. Jared McCann come on down!

I honestly think Seattle might make a solid trade partner for us - they have three young Centers and are in need of wingers and we have wingers and are in need of Centers. We could help each other fill areas of need from areas of strength.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

We've talked about a lot of other targets for a RHD to help fill out our prospect pool, but Willander is still a guy I'm extremely interested in who has flown under the radar a bit for us on these boards. A second pairing of him and Lindstein would be a great shutdown/transition duo imo - then with Broberg we can afford to have a more offensive minded D next to him, such as Dobson or possibly Jiricek if he pops. Broberg really carried Faulk pretty hard this year defensively imo, if we could get a guy with way more offense then Faulk to put next to Broberg I think it could be a legit top pairing.

Idk about other people, but I haven't brought up Willander because who in their right mind would trade a prospect like that? He's got a good draft pedigree, he's had back-to-back excellent WJC tourneys, and he's been solid at Boston. He plays a premium position very well. Seems like the kind of guy you would want to keep happy, but I guess they do things a bit differently in Vancouver.

But I believe since he's gone the college route, he could technically just say "I'm leaving school," wait 30 days for any offer from Vancouver to expire, and then proceed to unrestricted free agency. I don't think we've seen any players do that yet, but the possibility spooked Philly so much that they traded Cutter Gauthier before it ever got to that point.

Willander would definitely fit in well here.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Idk about other people, but I haven't brought up Willander because who in their right mind would trade a prospect like that? He's got a good draft pedigree, he's had back-to-back excellent WJC tourneys, and he's been solid at Boston. He plays a premium position very well. Seems like the kind of guy you would want to keep happy, but I guess they do things a bit differently in Vancouver.

But I believe since he's gone the college route, he could technically just say "I'm leaving school," wait 30 days for any offer from Vancouver to expire, and then proceed to unrestricted free agency. I don't think we've seen any players do that yet, but the possibility spooked Philly so much that they traded Cutter Gauthier before it ever got to that point.

Willander would definitely fit in well here.

That’s not how it works. Unless there’s something different because he’s a Euro, he’d have to wait until August 15, 2027 to become a UFA. I doubt that happens.

I’d love to have him but agree that the Canucks would be silly to trade him now. Only if they know internally that Willander doesn’t want to sign there (and Rutherford then kills his leverage and blabs that too).

 

[Stelmacki]

Kings coming in with what will probably be the biggest choke of the playoffs.