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League News: NHL Talk - (News n' Scores n' Stuff) - 2022-23 season, Vol. 4, Off-season Edition

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They could very well have had Fever AND Siegs. They didn't need to pick between them.

Moreover, it wasn't Fehervary that pushed Siegs out of the line-up. It was the Chara addition, which pushed Siegs to #7 (even though he was better than at least 2 of their regular top 6) and made him request a trade to get playing time elsewhere. It was an unforced error they made when management and/or the coaching staff once again picked in favor of a veteran player instead of a younger one.

Let's hope this doesn't come to pass again this year, after they re-signed Johansson (and kept Eller?), potentially at the expense of some younger players who are no longer waiver exempt, such as Snively, AJF, and Leason.
 
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Hivemind said:
They could very well have had Fever AND Siegs. They didn't need to pick between them.

Moreover, it wasn't Fehervary that pushed Siegs out of the line-up. It was the Chara addition, which pushed Siegs to #7 (even though he was better than at least 2 of their regular top 6) and made him request a trade to get playing time elsewhere. It was an unforced error they made when management and/or the coaching staff once again picked in favor of a veteran player instead of a younger one.

Let's hope this doesn't come to pass again this year, after they re-signed Johansson (and kept Eller?), potentially at the expense of some younger players who are no longer waiver exempt, such as Snively, AJF, and Leason.
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Quoting because this is exactly my take on the whole Siegs situation and one worry moving forward into this coming season.
 
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Siegs is a cautionary tale for me. We knew what Vrana and Burakovsky were when they left but Siegs feels more like a Stephenson situation in that both were not first round picks and both had mixed initial reviews typical of young players.

To be fair, Stephenson and Siegenthaler were respectively two of the worst skaters on the team before they were traded. Could be due to role, coaching, system fit, age, development track, or likely a combination of all of the above but they were deemed expendable because of the “win now” window and not wanting to be patient with young players. The not wanting to be patient is what concerns me and what I hope they are learning from. Stephenson at 3C and Siegs on defense would be pretty helpful right about now.
 
I’m still not really upset at the Stephenson trade. He was awful in Washington and while his point totals have shot up he is still the beneficiary of some truly great wingers in Vegas rather than driving the bus himself, at least according to the isolates. And it’s not like Vegas’s offense overall isn't still a huge problem.
 
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twabby said:
I’m still not really upset at the Stephenson trade. He was awful in Washington and while his point totals have shot up he is still the beneficiary of some truly great wingers in Vegas rather than driving the bus himself, at least according to the isolates. And it’s not like Vegas’s offense overall isn't still a huge problem.
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Stephenson was awful yes but he wasn’t even tried at center here so it’s hard to compare the situations. He was used as a shutdown winger and wasn’t asked to use his speed through the middle to open space. McMichael looks like a different player at center than at wing.

Still, like I said, for me it’s more of the process around losing him rather than losing Stephenson specifically that is concerning to me.
 
Devil Dancer said:
I'm ok with Fanatics, my Cup gear is holding up nicely so far.
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My cup gear is still pretty solid too, but I don’t wear it that often so that’s probably why. My NBA/MLB gear not so much. The MLB gear has been the worst so far. Feels cheap, ripped in a few places after a few washes and the screen print didn’t last very long before it started to wear away. Wonder if there’s different suppliers for the different sports leagues?
 
hb11xchamps said:
My cup gear is still pretty solid too, but I don’t wear it that often so that’s probably why. My NBA/MLB gear not so much. The MLB gear has been the worst so far. Feels cheap, ripped in a few places after a few washes and the screen print didn’t last very long before it started to wear away. Wonder if there’s different suppliers for the different sports leagues?
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There’s a big difference in quality between products made by Fanatics and products made by other manufacturers but sold on Fanatics. Most of the Fanatics-made gear is hot garbage. I tried multiple times and it’s just shit. The materials are shit, the quality is shit, the longevity is shit. Any time I’m on Fanatics now I won’t even look at a product that’s made by them.
 
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I really liked the Adidas jerseys, thought they felt better than the Reebok ones. I wonder if CCM steps up and takes over, they supply the AHL
 
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max21 said:
I really liked the Adidas jerseys, thought they felt better than the Reebok ones. I wonder if CCM steps up and takes over, they supply the AHL
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I'm sure NHL will go for whomever will pay the most regardless of quality.
 
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Vegas probably kicking themselves for trading Pacioretty since he would have been yet another player to stash on LTIR.
 
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Hivemind said:
At least Carolina gave up literally nothing for him
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True, but was the replacement for Neiderreiter so his injury leaves a hole. That, and Trochek and Domi are gone as well. They’ll still be solid but their depth takes a hit which I think is important given their style of play and Brindamour’s emphasis on forechecking.
 
AlexBrovechkin8 said:
True, but was the replacement for Neiderreiter so his injury leaves a hole. That, and Trochek and Domi are gone as well. They’ll still be solid but their depth takes a hit which I think is important given their style of play and Brindamour’s emphasis on forechecking.
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They still turned DeAngelo into Burns, brought in Kase and Coghlan for depth. Losing Patches definitely hurts, as he was their signature addition up front, but I still think they're well positioned to finish 1st or 2nd in the Metro this season.

Outside of Burns and Staal, theyre still a fairly young team on the upswing. Slavin, Teravainen, Pesce, and Skjei are all 27, Aho is 24, Necas is 23, and Svech is 22.
 
Canes forward core without Pacioretty, Niederreiter and Trocheck look very average.

Their defense is still good and they are the likely candidate to finish 1st in Metro. They don't have much cover for forward injuries now though.
 
Hivemind said:
They still turned DeAngelo into Burns, brought in Kase and Coghlan for depth. Losing Patches definitely hurts, as he was their signature addition up front, but I still think they're well positioned to finish 1st or 2nd in the Metro this season.

Outside of Burns and Staal, theyre still a fairly young team on the upswing. Slavin, Teravainen, Pesce, and Skjei are all 27, Aho is 24, Necas is 23, and Svech is 22.
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Burns is a nice add but they’re a worse team this year in my opinion unless some of those guys take steps forward. They have Aho and Staal (who is getting older) at center but who after that? Kotkaniemi is not a middle six center on a contending team and his contract is terrible. Seth Jarvis is still dealing with concussion issues. Domi and Trochek are gone and Stepan is a free agent.

They’ll figure it out and still likely come in first or second but there’s something missing from that team that I can’t quite put my finger on.
 
AlexBrovechkin8 said:
Burns is a nice add but they’re a worse team this year in my opinion unless some of those guys take steps forward. They have Aho and Staal (who is getting older) at center but who after that? Kotkaniemi is not a middle six center on a contending team and his contract is terrible. Seth Jarvis is still dealing with concussion issues. Domi and Trochek are gone and Stepan is a free agent.

They’ll figure it out and still likely come in first or second but there’s something missing from that team that I can’t quite put my finger on.
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Aho is probably the best center not named Crosby in the Metro division. He's a point/game, two-way play driver who creates his own offense and is a threat to score 40 goals (37 last year, 38 in the covid-shortened 2020 season). You can make an argument for Zibanejad, of course, but that doesn't really change how good Aho is.

Kotkaniemi is kinda like their version of McMichael. Young, talented player who's better utilized at center than wing, with terrific underlying stats but without eye popping box cars. That being said, his boxcars aren't terrible for a kid who got 12 minutes/night last year, as his 29 points (25 EV) in 66 games grades out to a 36 point pace over a full 82 game season. For comparison, Eller had 38 points in the Capitals cup season. Kotkaniemi's 2.12 points/60 at 5v5 last year was right between William Nylander (2.13) and Mike Zibanejad (2.12). I think Kotkaniemi is certainly ready to at least handle a 3C role for a contender, and with the continued growth in his game, could turn into a 2C. Whether or not you like his contract doesn't really impact things once the puck hits the ice. His point totals are bound to improve based on increased powerplay time alone.

They'll likely run more of a "middle six" than a true 2nd/3rd line split, with Staal's line getting defensive and match-up duties and Kotkaniemi's getting O-Zone starts. It's not a perfect blend, but it's not so bad they won't contend for the division title. And if it is a big issue, it's something they could certainly look to address at the trade deadline (Max Domi was a rental for them, they could easily make a similar acquisition again).

They're a team that's always been built from the blueline outwards, and their D core is once again elite. They aren't super flashy up front, but Svechnikov could change that (coming off his first 30G season as a 22 year old).
 
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