2016 NHL Off-Season Thread

[BBTV]

 

1 hour ago, 2001mark said:

 

This from a guy, Bobby, who 'won' the rights to Lindros via pretty greasy scenario itself.  Then again, Bobby Clarke's never been the sharpest crayon in the box before or since.

 

Actually, Bobby Clarke wasn't involved. IIRC Jay Snider was running the team with Russ Farwell as puppet GM. The Jay Snider era didn't last long, and Clarke was brought back eventually. 

[Sport]

I'm fine with his inclusion. A PPG rate that's better than many current Hall of Famers, dominant when healthy, and you have to give him the benefit of the doubt for concussions. If he played in today's game they would've shut him down and he would've gotten better care. Just look at the difference between how Crosby's concussions were handled and how Lindros' were and those were, what, 14 years apart? Instead Bobby Clarke called him a :censored:, the rest of Philly followed his lead, and he got run out of town. So then he comes back after a year off and is a point a game player for the Spend Crazy Rangers. 

 

The hype, his parents, holdouts, sleeping with other players' WAGS, having a soft head, inventing the asinine Don't Touch the Conference Trophy thing will all be remembered as his legacy, but he's also one of the best hockey players we've ever seen. 

[IceCap]

14 hours ago, Still MIGHTY said:

You also managed to leave out the whole career-cut-short-by-concussion part of the discussion, but hey, who wants to ruin a narrative.

 

Why did he "fall tremendously short of expectations?" His career was cut short by concussions.

 

Why did he stop being one of the best players in the world in the mid-to-late 90s? Concussions.

 

Yes, his Flyers teams fell short a couple times and yes, there is the whole demanding trades part. But he was also well over a point per game player and won a gold medal with Canada in 2002.

Lindros eventually did make it to Toronto...and even had a short run where he was leading the team when Sundin went down with an injury. 

Then he got injured himself. Except he didn't. Team doctors cleared him but he refused to suit up because his mom told him he didn't have to play if he didn't want to. 

 

Here's a guy who's finally on his hometown team. The team he sat out a season for because the Flyers wouldn't trade him to them. And he's succeeding in a leadership role. 

Only to sit out again because he's a head case. The concussions did his career no favours, but he still had stints in New York and Toronto where he proved he could have still been a top tier player if he'd only get out of his own way. 

[Sport]

 

He got kinda fat too. 

 

 

CCSLC drop-in: always drove me nuts how there was no green on those white socks for the Stars. 

[BBTV]

15 minutes ago, Ice_Cap said:

Lindros eventually did make it to Toronto...and even had a short run where he was leading the team when Sundin went down with an injury. 

Then he got injured himself. Except he didn't. Team doctors cleared him but he refused to suit up because his mom told him he didn't have to play if he didn't want to. 

 

Here's a guy who's finally on his hometown team. The team he sat out a season for because the Flyers wouldn't trade him to them. And he's succeeding in a leadership role. 

Only to sit out again because he's a head case. The concussions did his career no favours, but he still had stints in New York and Toronto where he proved he could have still been a top tier player if he'd only get out of his own way. 

 

http://www.csnphilly.com/quotable-keith-jones-saving-eric-lindross-life

 

In his defense, he was probably scarred by incidents like the one I linked to, and didn't trust team doctors any more. 

 

I lead the charge to get him out of town, for the same reasons you mentioned, but now that I have a different viewpoint on things, I don't blame players for taking their health and wellness in to their own hands when they feel they're being put in situations that they feel are risky to their long-term well being. Sure everyone loves a tough guy that "takes one for his team / city" but honestly those "tough guys" aren't always the brightest. 

 

FWIW, he's the first player I can remember that got openly stripped of his captaincy when Bobby Clarke all but ripped the C off his chest himself and gave it to Eric Desjardins. 

[IceCap]

Bobby Clark was obviously a meat head who didn't understand the seriousness of head injuries (though not many did back then). His dislike of Lindros really reached asinine and petty levels near the end.

 

That being said...the injury he suffered in Toronto wasn't head related. He hurt his wrist. Team doctors said he could play, and he refused on the advice of his mother. I get that he had issues with team doctors at that point, but still. It's another part of a reoccurring pattern. I wasn't asking him to take one for the team/city. Just to do his damn job. One he was proving quite able at up to that point too.

[2001mark]

Andy Frost out as Leafs PA announcer at Air Canada Centre, after 17 years & nearly 700 games.

 

 

[tp49]

13 hours ago, smzimbabwe said:

Just out of curiosity, and because I don't feel like looking it up right now, what was the Rangers trade that was overruled?

IIRC it would have involved Doug Weight, Tony Amonte, John Vanbiesbrouck, Alexi Kovalev, cash and some picks.

[The_Admiral]

3 hours ago, tp49 said:

IIRC it would have involved Doug Weight

THEY DON'T LOVE YOU LIKE I LOVE YOU

I see where Andrew Shaw signed his new contract. I liked Andrew Shaw a lot. I didn't $23.4-million-over-six-years like him. Le yeesh.

[FiddySicks]

My first thought when I saw that Lindros was elected to the HHOF is that the HHOF must have incredibly low standards for admittance. The dude was a really good hockey player, but an absolutely legendary whiner. It would've been one thing if he had pulled that crap once (and he did it in a really poor way the first time IMO. It's one thing to hold out, but to hold out in the manner he did was flat out ridiculous), but then he turned around and did the exact same thing to get out of Philly. It's kinda like the whole do something once shame on you, do it twice shame on me scenario. I understand there were some issues that caused him to pull that crap, but it's also a pretty good testament to the guy's character, which was extremely low. It kinda serves him right that his career turned out so disappointing. 

[buckeye]

Seth Jones signs a 6 year extension with the Jackets worth just over $32 million.

 

http://nesn.com/2016/06/seth-jones-re-signs-with-blue-jackets-ending-nhl-offer-sheet-rumors/

[Sport]

11 minutes ago, buckeye said:

Seth Jones signs a 6 year extension with the Jackets worth just over $32 million.

 

http://nesn.com/2016/06/seth-jones-re-signs-with-blue-jackets-ending-nhl-offer-sheet-rumors/

I think that's a pretty good deal for him. Under what many were saying was his market price for comparable players. Now we have to hope he doesn't turn into a pumpkin now that he got paid and now that he's a member of the Blue Jackets Country Club. 

 

As for the rest of the offseason, we just need the team to shed some of these bad contracts (Tyutin, Clarkson, Boll, Hartnell) so they can get out of cap hell and then maybe next year they can participate in the free agent market. 

[BeerGuyJordan]

32 minutes ago, buckeye said:

Seth Jones signs a 6 year extension with the Jackets worth just over $32 million.

 

http://nesn.com/2016/06/seth-jones-re-signs-with-blue-jackets-ending-nhl-offer-sheet-rumors/

I was sorry to see him go, when we traded him, but the Preds made the right call. We needed more offense. With a little more room to shine, I hope he does well, the kid has a lot of potential. 

 

I just don't get Columbus, if you look at the individual pieces, they should be a lot better than they have been. Is it a chemistry issue? I haven't watched any games for them, except when they play the Preds. Hardly enough to make an informed opinion on the cause.

[Sport]

2 minutes ago, BeerGuyJordan said:

I was sorry to see him go, when we traded him, but the Preds made the right call. We needed more offense. With a little more room to shine, I hope he does well, the kid has a lot of potential. 

 

I think it's a rare trade where both teams benefitted. Johansen was a puke and too high maintenance, and we needed defense, you needed offense. Badabing badaboom. 

 

2 minutes ago, BeerGuyJordan said:

I just don't get Columbus, if you look at the individual pieces, they should be a lot better than they have been. Is it a chemistry issue? I haven't watched any games for them, except when they play the Preds. Hardly enough to make an informed opinion on the cause.

 

They were a hustle team that outworked everybody they played and that took them to the doorstep of the playoffs in 2013 and the actual playoffs in 2014 and that team was really fun to watch because they brought it every single night. They had the pieces to score goals, Bobrovsky was solid in net, defense in front of him was good, powerplay was grooving, but that style of play took its toll and just couldn't be sustained over a long period of time. They were just flat exhausted by chasing the puck, took a lot of bad penalties as a result of being behind the play, and in 2015 they led the league in man games lost and man games lost value (meaning their most important players were injured the most) and then still managed a winning record (actual winning record, not "Bettman 500") Last year I think the players thought they finally had the talent to move on from the aggressive forecheck, outwork style, but the team came in way too slow and out of shape, and that bit them in the ass right away and then Todd Richards, a player's coach, lost the room. 

 

It's not a chemistry issue. It's a "country club" issue. Vinny Prospal was the first free agent to call them out on it and he got hammered for it, but he was also right. Leadership has always been soft, which is why they brought in Tortorella (in an overcorrecting move, I think).

[FGM13]

ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND CHIARELLI

 

EDIT: Clarification, the Oilers traded Taylor Hall to the Devils straight up for Adam Larsson. 

[Sport]

hahahaha Hall for Larsson straight up 

 

and now there's word that Subban is going to Nashville for Shea Weber. 

[chrysleraspen08]

Stamkos is reportedly staying in Tampa. The last 20 minutes have been certainly interesting in the NHL.

EDIT-

Link: http://www.tsn.ca/stamkos-to-stay-in-tampa-bay-re-sign-with-lightning-1.517913

[CS85]

Devils look like geniuses here.  The Oilers subreddit is melting down currently.

[FGM13]

It's just  with Canada day today isn't it?

[T-ROY]

At least Habs fans will stop whining about one of their defencemen not being on Canada's World Cup roster