2010 NHL Offseason chatter

[BrySmalls]

Schedule is out now.

And the logos for the Heritage & Winter Classic are both on the splash page.

Image from icethetics.

[Don]

Scott Niedermayer has officially retired after 18 seasons in the NHL.

Just to rehash his accomplishments

- 4-time Stanley Cup champion

- 2-time Olympic gold medalist

- 6-time NHL All-Star

- Conn Smythe trophy

- Norris Trophy

- World Cup champion

- IIHF World Champion

- Memorial Cup junior champion

- NHL: 172 goals, 569 assists, 1263 games

Scotty will remain with the Ducks as a consultant.

And in his press conference, Scotty actually cried. He's never been the guy to show much emotion. Even when he won the Cup, of course he was happy, but it was still slightly subdued and composed. It was weird to see him show that kind of emotion.

Thanks for the memories, Scott. Good luck in all your future endeavors.

Scott Niedermayer was the best skater i've ever seen. Happy to see him go while he can still walk away from the game.

[OMMF]

Sharks just texted that Nabokov will not be back next season.

http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?...id=DL|SJS|home

[pollux]

Plekanec signs with Habs for 6 years.

[Sodboy13]

He won't. He has nothing to offer but his fading looks.

Union voted the right way, 2011 cap is 59.61 with a bonus cushion. Put away your "Patrick Sharp for a 7th?" proposals, Leafs fans.

Initial forecasts called for the cap to be 58-point-something, right? This makes me slightly more optimistic about the Hawks holding onto their 1a guys. Also can't wait till Huet and the IceHogs come to Rosemont.

[Cujo]

Quinn steps down as Oilers coach

Well, "The Wrecking Ball" certainly lived up to his nickname during his stay in Edmonton.

[The_Admiral]

It was either going to be 58.8 or 56.6, from most reports, so 59.61 is quite the pleasant surprise. Even better, there's a bonus cushion, so if I understand correctly, the Hawks won't be excessively punished for having the playoff MVP. If Ladd, Hjalmarsson, and Niemi are cooperative, and Huet is banished, all they really have to do is unload Sopel and Versteeg and you've got something like

Byfuglien-Toews-Kane

Brouwer-Sharp-Hossa

Ladd-Bolland-Beach

Kopecky-Fraser-Bickell

a spare forward who's adequate at faceoffs

Keith-Seabrook

Hjalmarsson-Campbell

two of several blue line prospects and/or a cheap veteran mentor-type guy

Niemi

Crawford

And I think that fits in right under 59.61 if you can keep the aforementioned RFAs relatively on the cheap. Your losses from the Cup final end up being Versteeg (dumb), Madden (old), Sopel (bad), Eager (overconcussed), Burish (non-essential), Boynton (lol), and maybe Jordan Hendry. I can deal with that.

The move I'd love to see is Sopel and Versteeg to the Tropical Hockey Graveyard for one of their many draft picks. Make Tallon live with his awful contracts again, take your pick, and let that guy marinate for a year or so till there's signing room.

[NJTank]

Its a good thing Lindros was not elected, he would have run screaming with fear when he saw Scott Stevens plaque.

[Don]

Its a good thing Lindros was not elected, he would have run screaming with fear when he saw Scott Stevens plaque.

and then while he was looking back, he would actually run into Scott Stevens and acquire another concussion.

[Corvus]

So, I've been reading some media complaints about Ciccarelli finally getting in. To which I say, what the hell is wrong with some people? The man is the 16nth leading goal scorer in the history of the sport, scored 30+ 11 times, including 40+ six times.

[Redbull]

B's made a solid trade today.

[speedy]

B's made a solid trade today.

Have to agree with this, which causes me to ask, why wasn't a move for Horton made at the deadline? Sure there are semantics involved but Wideman wasn't all that effective this year and the addition of Horton would've definitely have helped. Would it have been enough to win 1 game in 4 chances? No. Wideman wasn't the problem there, look no further than Julien and the leadership of the team.

[Brendan]

I think Horton got off tracks playing in the hell hole that is Florida and playing with a guy like Marc Savard will get back on track and have a monster season.

[TFoA]

ESPN reports the following trade:

To Chicago:

1st & 2nd Round Pick (Picks that were originally New Jersey's)

Marty Reasoner

Jeremy Morin

To Atlanta:

Dustin Byfuglien

Ben Eager

Brett Sopel

Who wins?

[The_Admiral]

Atlanta wins. I'm glad Sopel is off the books because he's expensive and bad, but it's terrible to lose Byfuglien, who is one of the most popular players on the team. The Hawks were really making inroads in the black community and now they traded away their black guy. That was a terrible move, public relations-wise. Ben Eager has quite a concussion history, so chances can't be taken with him.

Marty Reasoner sucks compared to John Madden. Barf.

[Sodboy13]

I understand that this now frees up money for Sharp and Niemi, but man, Byfuglien really established himself on this team this season. And as Admiral said, Byfuglien's popularity surge during the playoffs was pretty epic. To unload him for a couple of Devils picks, expecially after his playoff run would seemingly make him a hot property, smacks of getting lowballed. And what's going to become of the Blackhawks Championship Belt?

Well, now I've got an excuse to pick up a Thrashers 3rd when they go on sale.

[GMW79]

Atlanta wins. I'm glad Sopel is off the books because he's expensive and bad, but it's terrible to lose Byfuglien, who is one of the most popular players on the team. The Hawks were really making inroads in the black community and now they traded away their black guy. That was a terrible move, public relations-wise. Ben Eager has quite a concussion history, so chances can't be taken with him.

Marty Reasoner sucks compared to John Madden. Barf.

I agree--trading Byfuglien was just plain stupid, from a morale standpoint. Anybody could see what a fan favorite he was, and his play really could be termed a "breakout" (as per TSN). Dumb move, Chicago, dumb move.

[The_Admiral]

I know Byfuglien costs $3 million and does nothing that Troy Brouwer doesn't do better at a third of the price in the regular season, but man, I can't stress it enough: I listened to so much postgame radio where it was caller after caller saying "you know, I didn't grow up with hockey, but this is really awesome, what have I been missing" and stuff to that effect, and then you trade your--let's not mince words--token black guy who was fast becoming one of the most popular players on the team for cap space and a fourth-line journeyman center. That looks really really bad.

And they just threw in Akim Aliu too! Atlanta's gonna get every black guy on skates! They're gonna scrounge up the remnants of Fred Brathwaite!

[Sodboy13]

This Morin kid seems to have the potential to be rather not bad, but then again, that's potential.

Canadians, please feel free to chime in with any astute junior hockey analysis.

[rams80]

I know Byfuglien costs $3 million and does nothing that Troy Brouwer doesn't do better at a third of the price in the regular season, but man, I can't stress it enough: I listened to so much postgame radio where it was caller after caller saying "you know, I didn't grow up with hockey, but this is really awesome, what have I been missing" and stuff to that effect, and then you trade your--let's not mince words--token black guy who was fast becoming one of the most popular players on the team for cap space and a fourth-line journeyman center. That looks really really bad.

And they just threw in Akim Aliu too! Atlanta's gonna get every black guy on skates! They're gonna scrounge up the remnants of Fred Brathwaite!

And Atlanta's (retarded) marketing plan to save the franchise becomes clearer. It's the exact opposite of the Pacers Plan^TM and likely will work just as well.