The Out of Town Thread CVIII - Free Agency Edition

[Team_Spirit]

I still can't believe how many free agents are out there. Hard to think that there wasn't some discussion amongst Gms to move towards youth.

I would be curious to see the average age of players years by years. I would agree with you, it seem the league is going with youth.

A lot of players saw their game drop of a cliff in their early 30's and GMs noticed.

Tickets are hard to find and too expensive around here. If it takes a 2 and half hour drive to get dirt cheap tickets to see some NHL hockey then I believe going to Quebec city is a nice alternative for Montrealers.

I heard they already sold their 33 lodges so i hope the tickets are cheap. The NHL might force them to sell 15k+ seasons tickets like they did with the Jets tho.

If tickets are cheaper than MTL i can definitively see Habs fans living outside the island go to QC instead of MTL. QC will be Ottawa 2.

 

[Treb]

I would be curious to see the average age of players years by years. I would agree with you, it seem the league is going with youth.

A lot of players saw their game drop of a cliff in their early 30's and GMs noticed.

Average age is around 26-28 and has been around that since 1917. First graph at the top: http://www.quanthockey.com/TS/TS_AverageAge.php#TeamCharts

 

[CanadianODST]

Let's get Chiasson.

 

[Ezpz]

Let's get Chiasson.

We've enough bottom 6 wingers.

 

[SquiddFX]

Let's get Chiasson.

We have enough projects on the team. We need sure fire top 6 talent.

 

[Hackett]

I still can't believe how many free agents are out there. Hard to think that there wasn't some discussion amongst Gms to move towards youth.

I just think that GMs are being more cap aware. Maybe they are expecting a general dip or stagnation of the cap for the near future.

And before someone brings up potential expansion fees as an additional revenue source, that type of revenue is actually not shared with the players.

Cody franson is a ufa and he was on the local radio station a couple days ago. According to him, there's interest from 6 teams, and some of those teams are tight in their budgets and can't currently meet his demands, nor do they feel that his demands are all that unreasonable. I suspect term is also important to him after his one year deals, and we have seen how relatively stingy the GMs have been with term length this summer. It's just not a good time for a player to hit ufa status this year.

I chalk up this summer's market transactions more towards fiscal awareness than a league wide youth initiative.

 

[Mathletic]

Lamoriello new Leafs GM btw.

 

[Alex514]

Lamoriello new Leafs GM btw.

I don't know if i should laugh or cry.

 

[NobleSix]

Lamoriello new Leafs GM btw.

Not really sure he is the man for the job in TO. I was never really a fan of Lou.

 

[MXD]

I... Don't know what to say.

 

[Tabarouette]

what the f

 

[habdynasty]

It's going to be weird seeing the leafs turn into a good hockey team . Leaf coverage is going to be insane in this country.

 

[Tuggy]

A lot of chefs in that kitchen. Lamoriello, Shanahan and Babcock. Will Dubas have any say?

 

[Kents polished head]

Excellent news! Lamoriello has been one of the worst GMs in the NHL for quite a few years now.

 

[TRG]

First thing, WTF, for me Lamoriello is a Devil for life.

That said, good, he's way past it, he ruined the Devils in the last years so it's good news for us.

 

[Sterling Archer]

Lamoriello new Leafs GM btw.

My first thought is Shanahan said they wanted a GM that would meld well with the other executives and coach and to compliment the front office. So they hire one of the last few guys who's a loan wolf and always does things HIS way.

For the hell of it:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-p...-he-laughed-at-fired-employees-221554405.html

“Lamoriello physically positioned himself in a chair at the base of the employee elevator of the arena so that he could watch these individuals pass by with their boxes of personal belongings in order to leave the building directly after they were fired and to laugh as they passed by, as to take credit for their firing,†the lawsuit adds.


This should be fun to watch

 

[Alex514]

Fun times on the Leafs board right now. They think its an April fools joke

 

[Whitesnake]

What the **** just happened? Lamoriello to Toronto???

 

[MXD]

One would think LL is very respected amongst NHL GM's and that he'll take care of the "talking" part. And will day what Dubas and Babcock will tell him to say.

I mean, that's the only damn way to make any sense of this hiring.

 

[optimus2861]

First, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

Second, is it likely a short-term gig for LL to mentor Dubas, who will eventually take the reins?

Third, what a complete overhaul the Leafs management has performed this offseason. It's really hard to find any fault with what they've done from the coaching & managerial perspective. Their days of complete incompetence at those positions appear to be finished, and one would expect that after an appropriate period of rebuilding the team, the on-ice product will come around and the Leafs will no longer be such a joke.

 

[LaP]

Lamoriello to Toronto is good for us. He has been bad lately specially with his UFA signing of the last years.

 

[Tuggy]

Third, what a complete overhaul the Leafs management has performed this offseason. It's really hard to find any fault with what they've done from the coaching & managerial perspective. Their days of complete incompetence at those positions appear to be finished, and one would expect that after an appropriate period of rebuilding the team, the on-ice product will come around and the Leafs will no longer be such a joke.

In theory I agree, but a lot of the "optimism" from the Leafs camp is the assumption that Shanahan will actually do a good job. IMO that's not a given.

 

[David Suzuki]

My first thought is Shanahan said they wanted a GM that would meld well with the other executives and coach and to compliment the front office. So they hire one of the last few guys who's a loan wolf and always does things HIS way.

For the hell of it:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-p...-he-laughed-at-fired-employees-221554405.html

“Lamoriello physically positioned himself in a chair at the base of the employee elevator of the arena so that he could watch these individuals pass by with their boxes of personal belongings in order to leave the building directly after they were fired and to laugh as they passed by, as to take credit for their firing,†the lawsuit adds.


This should be fun to watch

holy **** he's like donald trump

 

[Lshap]

First, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

Second, is it likely a short-term gig for LL to mentor Dubas, who will eventually take the reins?

Third, what a complete overhaul the Leafs management has performed this offseason. It's really hard to find any fault with what they've done from the coaching & managerial perspective. Their days of complete incompetence at those positions appear to be finished, and one would expect that after an appropriate period of rebuilding the team, the on-ice product will come around and the Leafs will no longer be such a joke.

I'll give them credit for making big moves. Babcock is a homerun, Shanahan a promising question-mark, and Lamoriello... man, he was great for a long time, but he's made some horrible decisions over the last few years. He's certainly a big name, but could end up being a big bust.

 

[hototogisu]

Shanahan, Dubas, Hunter, Lamoriello, Babcock...there's a lot of cooks in that kitchen. Definitely some great hockey names in there but how will they work as a cohesive unit? I guess we'll have to wait and see.