The Ditch part deux

The talk started heating up before the trade deadline, and I wasn't on board for either at that time. Once the deadline passed, I was all about acquiring Bobrovsky without giving up assets. However, I was never on the Panarin train. Would it have been nice to have him? Sure. But there weren't holes in your top 6, while there were multiple holes on D, and the team had absolutely zero"grit" on the roster. Panarin would've hamstrung efforts to re-sign top forwards / prospects for years to come, and potentially blocked up and coming forwards. The only argument for acquiring him was to trade off another top 6 forward for a top Dman, and try to use the top talent to make a run before the contracts piled up.

I would've supported the team either way. But I think we saw what a loaded top 6 fails to do when the rest of the roster isn't complete - Toronto tried that last year. I'm glad that they didn't "win" the Panarin sweepstakes, frankly. I wish him the best - but I think the team is in a better position for the future. Problem is, Dale is still running the show, and he and I usually don't see eye to eye, so...

 

solid points. yeah top 6 is awesome but the bottom 6 suck like the Flyers bottom 6, well now bottom 3. haha.

im shocked he went to NY. Shocked they have the money. They seem to be in on a lot of top FA every year.

 

I don't think they do. I think there's a lot of salary shedding that still has to happen.

 

well Bob got a ton of money. Hope he brings success to the Panthers for you.

 

Blues News...

Per NBC

The St. Louis Blues locked up another piece of their Stanley Cup winning team on Sunday when they re-signed restricted free agent forward Oskar Sundqvist to a four-year contract.

Sundqvist, 25, had filed for salary arbitration and a hearing scheduled for this week.

That will no longer be necessary thanks to this new deal.

According to the Blues the contract will pay Sundqvist a total of $11 million, averaging out to a salary cap hit of $2.75 million per season.

The Blues acquired Sundqvist, as well as a first-round draft pick that was used to select forward Klim Kostin, prior to the 2017-18 season in the trade that sent Ryan Reaves and a second-round pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins. After managing just a single goal and four assists in in 42 games in his debut season with the Blues, Sundqvist had a breakout season in 2018-19 with 14 goals and 17 assists in 74 regular season games.

He also played a big depth role in the playoffs by adding four goals and five assists in 25 playoff games.

With Sundqvist back in the mix the Blues now have two more restricted free agents to sign in forward Ivan Barbashev and defender Joel Edmundson. Edmundson has an arbitration hearing scheduled for August 4. The Blues have already successfully avoided arbitration hearings with starting goalie Jordan Binnington, forward Zach Sanford, and now Sundqvist, so it seems reasonable to assume they will be able to settle with Edmundson as well.

The Blues still have around $5 million in salary cap space to work with this summer.

 

Andrew Shaw back in Chicago from Montreal. His 'royal chirpiness'...

 

Reported that the Rags will be buying out Shattenkirk. Brutal contract there to go along with precipitous drop in play.
Wonder what a new deal will look like for him and where it’ll be. Probably 1 year short money.... maybe Panthers?

 

Wouldn't be surprised.

Shattenkirk' play sure dropped of in NY... he needs a change... and less money.

 

Winnipeg could be in play there too. They lost two righty D already this offseason. Gained one back in Pionk but Trouba/Myers leave a huge hole.

 

About an hour ago, Mlive, a Detroit news agency was kicking the tires on the idea of Yzerman going after Shattenkirk. Wings do have a history of paying for old dudes on D. Hell, they even said the will sign Kronwall if he wants to go another year and he's 38.

 

Michael Stone had the final season of his three-year contract bought out by the Calgary Flames on Friday.

The 29-year-old defenseman signed a $10.5 million contract with the Flames on June 30, 2017 with an average annual value of $3.5 million. He had five assists in 14 games last season and missed 49 games because of a blood clot.

Stone, acquired by the Flames in a trade with the Arizona Coyotes on Feb. 20, 2017, had 21 points (five goals, 16 assists) in 115 games with Calgary over the past three seasons and becomes an unrestricted free agent.

Selected by Arizona in the third round (No. 69) of the 2008 NHL Draft, Stone has 117 points (29 goals, 88 assists) in 439 regular-season games through eight NHL seasons and one goal in six Stanley Cup Playoff games.

(NHL.com)

 

Rangers have a lot of work to do with their cap. Shattenkirk was the most obvious one to fall, and the fact that they couldn't give assets away to prevent from buying him out indicates no one will be rushing to sign him. I think he gets signed as an injury replacement for a team that finds themselves in that situation as the season progresses. But he's just not a particularly desirable player, at this point.

I don't think the Panthers have interest in him. They've got a clutter of guys fighting for spots on the bottom pair, and the signing of Stralman seems to have been their attempt to fix that roster position for the top 4 (whether I agree with the fix or not). They've got enough offensive-minded guys to cover for on the blue line as it is, hence the signing of Stralman.

Also, the Rangers' handling of their cap is going to be a ton of fun to watch. Getting under this year is one thing, but staying under in subsequent years is another. I think a chart I posted a few pages back shows an interesting bar they're going to have to clear, and they're certainly not done shedding players this year, yet.

 

Emrick to be inducted into Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame...

Sashade right in there... OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

 

51 days until the start of the new season! can't wait!

 

Hedman says 'body is great' ahead of training camp with Lightning
Defenseman, who was finalist for Norris Trophy, missed 14 games last season because of injuries

Victor Hedman said he is healthy entering training camp for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"If I wasn't 100 percent, I wouldn't be here right now, I'd be in Tampa," the 28-year-old defenseman said at the NHL European Player Media Tour in Sweden on Thursday. "I'm excited and ready to go."

Hedman, who had 54 points (12 goals, 42 assists) last season, missed 12 games in the regular season and two in the Stanley Cup Playoffs because of injuries. He was a finalist for the Norris Trophy as the League's top defenseman for the third straight season, winning the award in 2018.

"Body is great," Hedman said. "I've been able to do what I want to do this summer. I'm fortunate enough to skate with my hometown team Modo (in Sweden) and they've taken good care of me ever since I went over to Tampa. My offseason has been great and looking forward to the last few weeks before I head over to Tampa for the final touches."

(NHL.com)

 

Laine should keep quite. I don't believe he's helping his case by saying things like (paraphrasing) 'anything can happen' or 'who knows what will happen' Hinting that he might get traded or wouldn't mind playing elsewhere is not sitting well with the higherups or the fans in the Peg. I cant imagine this helps him get a extension any time soon.

 

Just a reminder - I'm not saying you're wrong here - a lot of the translations from Euro speak, especially from the very difficult Finnish, leave a lot to be desired. I'm not saying he didn't say things similar to what's reported; I'm saying they could have been translated to something far different than what he meant.

 

over the weekend i read he will probably be traded and Winnipeg wants a top NHL ready defensemen and a top draft pick for him. ???

 

New road sweaters for the Canes this season...



I like them.

 

no player name on the back ?