Around the NHL 2024-25 regular season Part II

[Bleedred]

Grubauer finally waived.

Really thought it was happening about 16 days ago......

 

[JrFischer54]

Petr Sykora and Brendan Morrison were the first prospects I followed when my interest ramped up in the mid-90's. I always credit/blame having NHL '95 for PC and I could edit lines and add new players. I had a classmate who had moved from Michigan and he was talking up Morrison, so I watched Michigan's run in 1996. Pretty sure I saw the Mike Legg lacrosse goal live. Naturally with it being 1996, the easy comparison for Morrison for me was Paul Kariya who was tearing it up in Anaheim.

Fast forward to 2000 and I was actually bummed that we included Denis Pederson in the Mogilny deal. I was still a noob when it came to prospects, so I think I overvalued Pederson if only for being a former 1st rounder. Pederson was an alternate captain to start that season but he seemed at odds with Lou. Since he was one of the few RH forwards, Pederson got shifted to RW but he preferred playing center. Lou was juggling 15 NHL forwards so at some point Pederson stayed longer on IR despite being healthy because Lou had to make a corresponding roster to free up a roster spot. At the time I thought Pederson would have the career that John Madden ended up having.

My memory is foggy, but I seem to recall the HF 2000 reaction being positive for the Devils since getting Mogilny was a move to put us over the top. But to this day, a Morrison Michigan jersey is still on my wish list.

man i love stories like this brings me back to my teens and simpler times. i bet pederson would've been a bigger downer on here being included in the trade.

cap going up i'm sure they will take realistic contracts to all be on the same team during a cup contending window it really wouldn't be hard at all besides the point they would all be worth the contracts they sign anyway its not like one of them would be a bum on a big contract to just keep the others.

devils would be foolish to let the cap stand in the way of getting quinn

to add onto this it is 10000000000000000000000000% a joyous feeling that we have an advantage to lure a free agent instead of having them leave us. i'm going to enjoy it!

 

[NjDevsRR]

Grubauer finally waived.

Really thought it was happening about 16 days ago......

At least he was able to make the best save of his career last night before the inevitable waiver

 

[Forge]

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

"The Tomfather" on line one!

 

[Brodeur]

I'd probably pass on Saad at this point. He's under contract for next year so that would put another body in front of Gritsyuk, plus the cap hit.. Claiming him now would also eat into how much cap space we'd have going into the deadline and possibly limit our possibilities at adding a bottom six center.

I suppose I could now talk myself into Saad on a cheap one year deal but I wouldn't be heartbroken if he goes elsewhere.

 

[Shakir ONeal]

Didn’t Fitz try and sign Saad before he went to STL?

 

[forceten]

Petr Sykora and Brendan Morrison were the first prospects I followed when my interest ramped up in the mid-90's. I always credit/blame having NHL '95 for PC and I could edit lines and add new players. I had a classmate who had moved from Michigan and he was talking up Morrison, so I watched Michigan's run in 1996. Pretty sure I saw the Mike Legg lacrosse goal live. Naturally with it being 1996, the easy comparison for Morrison for me was Paul Kariya who was tearing it up in Anaheim.

Fast forward to 2000 and I was actually bummed that we included Denis Pederson in the Mogilny deal. I was still a noob when it came to prospects, so I think I overvalued Pederson if only for being a former 1st rounder. Pederson was an alternate captain to start that season but he seemed at odds with Lou. Since he was one of the few RH forwards, Pederson got shifted to RW but he preferred playing center. Lou was juggling 15 NHL forwards so at some point Pederson stayed longer on IR despite being healthy because Lou had to make a corresponding roster to free up a roster spot. At the time I thought Pederson would have the career that John Madden ended up having.

My memory is foggy, but I seem to recall the HF 2000 reaction being positive for the Devils since getting Mogilny was a move to put us over the top. But to this day, a Morrison Michigan jersey is still on my wish list.

Man, I won't ever forget (well, barring dementia) refreshing My Yahoo! repeatedly on trade deadline day. That deal came out after the deadline passed and when it popped up I was ecstatic. I didn't mind Pederson going - I felt like we had a lot of that player. Morrison was one I thought could be a star in the league, but MOGILNY. And he was fabulous for us. Great memories.

Morrison ended up playing 932 games in the NHL with 602 points. Very good player. But he wasn't Mogilny.

I don't remember why Mogilny sputtered on his return here (and I was devastated when he went to Toronto). He retired 10 games shy of 1000 for his career, but had over 1000 points.

 

[Brodeur]

I don't remember why Mogilny sputtered on his return here (and I was devastated when he went to Toronto). He retired 10 games shy of 1000 for his career, but had over 1000 points.

Mogilny was dealing with a bad hip IIRC that was bugging him with Toronto and it didn't get better with the year off during the lockout. Unfortunately one of the recurring quotes about Mogilny with regards to why he isn't in the HOF is teammates who didn't think he went the extra mile to remain healthy. In Mogilny's defense, I think he was a bit burned out at an early age when he escaped the Soviet system which mandated that hockey was virtually a 24/7 thing.

 

[forceten]

Mogilny was dealing with a bad hip IIRC that was bugging him with Toronto and it didn't get better with the year off during the lockout. Unfortunately one of the recurring quotes about Mogilny with regards to why he isn't in the HOF is teammates who didn't think he went the extra mile to remain healthy. In Mogilny's defense, I think he was a bit burned out at an early age when he escaped the Soviet system which mandated that hockey was virtually a 24/7 thing.

So sad he didn't get 10 more games. 1000 games in the NHL is such an accomplishment and frankly anyone who plays 1000 games it's difficult to question them... that's a lot of games!

 

[NjDevsRR]

Dead last in the entire NHL

5 more years at 8.5 per

 

[Brodeur]

So sad he didn't get 10 more games. 1000 games in the NHL is such an accomplishment and frankly anyone who plays 1000 games it's difficult to question them... that's a lot of games!

Mogilny defecting and putting up 76 goals in 1992-93 was a little bit before my time. One anecdote that I enjoy was from Adrian Aucoin when he was on Vancouver. Mike Keenan was the coach and was screaming at everybody and eventually singled out Mogilny. Mogilny calmly responded with something like "Mike, when I left Russia the KGB threatened my family. Do you think anything you say really scares me?" Keenan was left speechless.

I only have vague memories of Mogilny 2.0 in 2005. That was before DVR so I probably only saw a handful of complete games that season before he got jettisoned to the AHL. The one I remember fondly was Mogilny getting a late GWG against Boston. Devils had an offensive zone draw and it was Madden vs. Travis Green. Green got kicked out of the dot and was replaced by Joe Thornton who lost the draw clean to Madden and Mogilny sniped the goal. The next day Boston traded Thornton. That trade probably would have happened eventually but I like to think the Mogilny goal expedited things.

 

[Billdo]

Any interest in Saad after his buyout? He's gotta be better than some of the heaping piles of shit in our bottom 6, no?

 

[forceten]

Yep

 

[JrFischer54]

"The Tomfather" on line one!

Wow that’s some stones to walk away from that much money give him props for that. What type of deal money wise is he looking at with a new team?

Mogilny defecting and putting up 76 goals in 1992-93 was a little bit before my time. One anecdote that I enjoy was from Adrian Aucoin when he was on Vancouver. Mike Keenan was the coach and was screaming at everybody and eventually singled out Mogilny. Mogilny calmly responded with something like "Mike, when I left Russia the KGB threatened my family. Do you think anything you say really scares me?" Keenan was left speechless.

I only have vague memories of Mogilny 2.0 in 2005. That was before DVR so I probably only saw a handful of complete games that season before he got jettisoned to the AHL. The one I remember fondly was Mogilny getting a late GWG against Boston. Devils had an offensive zone draw and it was Madden vs. Travis Green. Green got kicked out of the dot and was replaced by Joe Thornton who lost the draw clean to Madden and Mogilny sniped the goal. The next day Boston traded Thornton. That trade probably would have happened eventually but I like to think the Mogilny goal expedited things.

What I’ll never understand is why Lou let mogilny walk the first time he still had something left in the tank did he really want that much money?

 

[JrFischer54]

Mogilny was dealing with a bad hip IIRC that was bugging him with Toronto and it didn't get better with the year off during the lockout. Unfortunately one of the recurring quotes about Mogilny with regards to why he isn't in the HOF is teammates who didn't think he went the extra mile to remain healthy. In Mogilny's defense, I think he was a bit burned out at an early age when he escaped the Soviet system which mandated that hockey was virtually a 24/7 thing.

With some of the duds going into the hall it’s a shame he isn’t in it

 

[Brodeur]

What I’ll never understand is why Lou let mogilny walk the first time he still had something left in the tank did he really want that much money?

I think it came down to a budget decision. Vancouver agreed to eat about a million of Mogilny's 2000-01 salary as part of the trade. That meant the Devils paid him about 4.2 million which was less than what they were paying Brodeur (4.33 mil). Mogilny would get 5.5 mil AAV with Toronto.

Mogilny having a couple rough playoffs with the Devils also made it easier to walk away. Brian Gionta and Christian Berglund turned pro in 2001-02, so I think there was hope that they could replace some of Mogilny's offense. There was some optimism about Pierre Dagenais at the time since he was coming off back-to-back 35 goal AHL seasons. But I vaguely recall the knock being that Dagenais had heavy boots and might top out as a good minor leaguer.

We had a bunch of guys getting big raises in the near future, so Lou couldn't commit to Mogilny. Elias, Sykora, Gomez, Madden, and Rafalski were making peanuts. Unfortunately Lou messed up the qualifying offers for Madden/Rafalski, so he had to sign them for more than he would have liked.

2000-01 salary:
Mogilny: ~4.2 million
Elias: 675K -- He'd get 4.4 mil in summer 2002
Sykora: 675K -- He'd get 3.3 mil in summer 2001
Madden: 550K -- He'd get 1.5 mil in summer 2001
Rafalski: 450K -- He'd get 2.5 mil in summer 2001
Holik: 2.7 mil -- He'd get 3.5 mil in summer 2001

Just between Sykora/Madden/Rafalski/Holik, they got about 6 mil in raises so that was basically Mogilny's money. Holik was UFA after 2001-02 and Lou really wanted to keep him around. Elias was RFA after 2001-02 and was due a big raise.

 

[TheBeerNerd]

Didn’t Fitz try and sign Saad before he went to STL?

Correct! Get on it Fitz....

 

[MasterofGrond]

Any interest in Saad after his buyout? He's gotta be better than some of the heaping piles of shit in our bottom 6, no?

Saad has been pretty dogshit this year, not really better than Tatar. If you're picking him up, it's because you think he's a change of scenery guy. Which, fine, but the price better be right.

 

[JrFischer54]

I think it came down to a budget decision. Vancouver agreed to eat about a million of Mogilny's 2000-01 salary as part of the trade. That meant the Devils paid him about 4.2 million which was less than what they were paying Brodeur (4.33 mil). Mogilny would get 5.5 mil AAV with Toronto.

Mogilny having a couple rough playoffs with the Devils also made it easier to walk away. Brian Gionta and Christian Berglund turned pro in 2001-02, so I think there was hope that they could replace some of Mogilny's offense. There was some optimism about Pierre Dagenais at the time since he was coming off back-to-back 35 goal AHL seasons. But I vaguely recall the knock being that Dagenais had heavy boots and might top out as a good minor leaguer.

We had a bunch of guys getting big raises in the near future, so Lou couldn't commit to Mogilny. Elias, Sykora, Gomez, Madden, and Rafalski were making peanuts. Unfortunately Lou messed up the qualifying offers for Madden/Rafalski, so he had to sign them for more than he would have liked.

2000-01 salary:
Mogilny: ~4.2 million
Elias: 675K -- He'd get 4.4 mil in summer 2002
Sykora: 675K -- He'd get 3.3 mil in summer 2001
Madden: 550K -- He'd get 1.5 mil in summer 2001
Rafalski: 450K -- He'd get 2.5 mil in summer 2001
Holik: 2.7 mil -- He'd get 3.5 mil in summer 2001

Just between Sykora/Madden/Rafalski/Holik, they got about 6 mil in raises so that was basically Mogilny's money. Holik was UFA after 2001-02 and Lou really wanted to keep him around. Elias was RFA after 2001-02 and was due a big raise.

man thats the player i couldn't name but remember the hype for him was off the charts! those contracts back then peanuts to today amazing

Saad has been pretty dogshit this year, not really better than Tatar. If you're picking him up, it's because you think he's a change of scenery guy. Which, fine, but the price better be right.

i mean if the guy was willing to give up 3.5+ million to get into the game again you gotta think hes motivated to prove himself? i dunno though tough decision for fitz

 

[MasterofGrond]

man thats the player i couldn't name but remember the hype for him was off the charts! those contracts back then peanuts to today amazing



i mean if the guy was willing to give up 3.5+ million to get into the game again you gotta think hes motivated to prove himself? i dunno though tough decision for fitz

Yeah, I think the motivation is for sure there, I merely question the ability. All comes down to the number he'll take, along with what our other options are.

 

[JrFischer54]

no mention of the utah name drama? personally as stupid as the name sounds i much rather they stay with utah hockey club given the two other choices out there. i will say i really doubt they will miss the opportunity for new and more jersey merch sales so i expect a name change.

 

[TheBeerNerd]

no mention of the utah name drama? personally as stupid as the name sounds i much rather they stay with utah hockey club given the two other choices out there. i will say i really doubt they will miss the opportunity for new and more jersey merch sales so i expect a name change.

Absolutely not on Hockey Club. This isn't Europe goddammit. Mammoth or nothing for me.

 

[Guttersniped]

What was that ad campaign? “No Soap Operas?”

Canucks: How did the Miller-Pettersson situation to get to this point?

How have we gotten to this point? Last year was supposed to be a bu...

canucksarmy.com

I originally tried to find a more upscale soap opera-ish looking stock photo until this off the rails one w/ the knife won my heart.

 

[Billdo]

I like it as Utah Hockey Club. I also like the Redskins being Washington Football Club instead of Commanders. Not having a name works for one team IMO in each league. It's neat.