2024 NHL Offseason Thread

[habsfan1]

Kent Hughes really made up for last year, when he passed on Michkov. This year, the Canadiens got Demidov.

[TBGKon]

Lightning acquire Jake Guentzel 24 hours before free agency.  You have to assume there's a deal in play to sign him in Tampa.

 

Now the wait and see happens to see if Stamkos comes back.  He is reported to test the free agent waters when the window opens tomorrow.

 

 

[Brass]

Stamkos close to signing a 4 year, $32 million contract with Nashville.

 

EDIT: Add Marchessault to Nashville, too.

[FiddySicks]

Brady Skjei, too. All that to get bounced in the second round again. 

[tBBP]

4 hours ago, Brass said:

Stamkos close to signing a 4 year, $32 million contract with Nashville.

 

EDIT: Add Marchessault to Nashville, too.

 

 

I mean, it was really only a matter of time before either the money or the loyalty played itself out with Marchy. We'll miss him in Vegas, but if he had to go somewhere, I guess Nashvegas Las Vegas lite ain't a bad landing spot. (In fact, aside from lack of dry heat and actually having hills and water, Nashville ain't all that different from Vegas, anyway.) Might give me a reason to keep an eye on how the Preds do next season (you know, since I kinda did follow them for the five years I lived down there).

 

But Stamkos, too?? Sheesh. That's gotta suck for Lightning faithful...as a matter of fact, I know it does. Granted, dude is in mid mid-30s now, but if there's one sport where age might actually be a benefit, it's good [old] ice hockey. 

 

I also just saw that Anthony Duclair is on the move again, this time to Long Island. Kinda wish the Panthers had kept him around, but ehh...it is what it is.

[SavardToColton]

As a Lightning fan, I never thought I'd see the day Stamkos left for another team's colors. At least it being Nashville softens the blow. While sports is more than one individual, if you compare the state of the franchise and fanbase when he was drafted in 08 to now, it's night and day and he's a major reason why. Not to mention, my generation of Bolts fans practically grew up with him. I started out middle school his rookie year, and now I'm a few years out of college. Hard to really put into words what this means on the human level.

 

For the hockey side of things, it is a huge ballsy move on BriseBois' part to essentially replace Stamkos with Guentzel, basically betting on getting more out of Guentzel the next 4 years than a Stamkos on the aging curve. That said with a move like this, gauging the fanbase it is safe to say that the post-Cup honeymoon period for JBB is officially over. If the gamble is correct, it goes down as ruthless but genius, but if Stamkos is still productive at the end of the Nashville contract and Guentzel falls off sooner... oh boy. 

[BeerGuyJordan]

Trotz is going hard this free agency. I like it. Add in Wedgewood as back up and a slew of solid 2-way players (Hinostroza, Murray, Lucchini, Blankenburg), and this might be the best Nashville's roster has ever looked (not that it's a very high bar).

[spartacat_12]

20 hours ago, SavardToColton said:

For the hockey side of things, it is a huge ballsy move on BriseBois' part to essentially replace Stamkos with Guentzel, basically betting on getting more out of Guentzel the next 4 years than a Stamkos on the aging curve. That said with a move like this, gauging the fanbase it is safe to say that the post-Cup honeymoon period for JBB is officially over. If the gamble is correct, it goes down as ruthless but genius, but if Stamkos is still productive at the end of the Nashville contract and Guentzel falls off sooner... oh boy. 

 

Taking away the nostalgic intangibles of Stamkos being the face of the franchise, I think I'd rather have Guentzel. He's 5 years younger than Stamkos, so it would take some sort of catastrophic injury for his career to fall off sooner. Kucherov & Point surpassed Stamkos as the top forwards on the team already, so it isn't like Guentzel has to come in and carry the offense.

 

Bringing back McDonagh and shipping out Sergachev is the more questionable move in my mind.

 

16 hours ago, BeerGuyJordan said:

Trotz is going hard this free agency. I like it. Add in Wedgewood as back up and a slew of solid 2-way players (Hinostroza, Murray, Lucchini, Blankenburg), and this might be the best Nashville's roster has ever looked (not that it's a very high bar).

 

It will be interesting to see what happens with Askarov. The Wedgewood signing seems to signal that he's going to be starting in Milwaukee for at least another year, and the Saros extension means that the path to an NHL starter job might require a trade. Nashville has historically over-ripened their goalies, so maybe this is all part of the plan.

[BeerGuyJordan]

3 minutes ago, spartacat_12 said:

 

It will be interesting to see what happens with Askarov. The Wedgewood signing seems to signal that he's going to be starting in Milwaukee for at least another year, and the Saros extension means that the path to an NHL starter job might require a trade. Nashville has historically over-ripened their goalies, so maybe this is all part of the plan.

Pure speculation, but I think Trotz is still thinking he could very well be the future of the franchise, and just isn't there yet. He still has a season on his ELC, and with the Preds going all-in on a cup push, he'd benefit more from playing in Milwaukee than being a full-time back-up for Saros.

 

If they do decide on Askarov for the long-term, Saros shouldn't be hard to move. If they go the other way, trade him to a retooling team for a pick.