2010 NHL Offseason chatter

[oddball]

Yeah I think I just want to think the best of Bobby and blame it on the agent, but I am aware that that is how it works. There is something there that people aren't saying. Both sides have said the talks are going well and that terms have been laid down. And it's getting close to a point where I think someone is lying. They have roughly 25 hours until the offers come in for Bobby, so let's get something done tomorrow haha.

If it were to happen where the Kings offered Bobby an offer sheet that was out of the Ducks matching range and Bobby actually signed it, not only would the Ducks/Kings rivalry fire up just a bit more, I'd go on a limb to say that Bobby would become the most-hated former #9 in Ducks history. Kariya left for the Cup reason, but Bobby would be leaving for money and to the freaking Kings. He would get booed harder and more vociferously that Kariya or anybody else to come into that arena.

What? He'd be booed? No really!!! Actually, somehow I wonder if Ducks fans boo anyone but the referees. I can say I know what kind of talent he is as I watched him score a natural hat trick vs. the Kings last January and I was 8 rows from the ice when he scored that third one completely undressing the defenseman (Peter Harrold I think) by stopping spinning around the D and then going to the wide side of the net to tie the game. As a Kings fan, I sat there and just said, "WOW!!!" That's a goal where you turn to the opposing fans, smile and not your head and say, "Now I know why he was the second pick behind Crosby."

[NEW.ERA]

Rod Brind'Amour retires.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=326157

Hall of famer?

Over a thousand points and games played, two time Selke winner and captain of a Stanley cup champion. That's a pretty outstanding resume and he would get my vote.

And a Gym rat at Michigan State. Had to be locked out of the Gym because that's all he did when he wasn't playing hockey.

I'm my eyes he's a hall of famer

[charger77]

Flyers sign Lehtinen to a two year deal.

[pollux]

Flyers sign Lehtinen to a two year deal.

You mean Leighton, right?

[charger77]

Yeah, can't believe I got that one wrong.

[OMMF]

DarrenDreger Leafs announce deal with Hawks. Toronto gets Versteeg and rights to Sweatt for Viktor Stalberg, Chris DiDomenico and Philippe Paradis.

[Sodboy13]

Blackhawks' Twitter feed confirms it. Man, I thought unloading Byfuglien meant keeping Versteeg.

[Don]

Insane trade.

[charger77]

Hopefully this means Sharp stays.

What are they going to do about Huet?

[Neon_Matrix]

We gave up two good looking prospects for an unproven 2nd liner... I guess the hope is he'll do better with more ice time... let's hope this is the case and that DiDom and Stalberg don't come back to bite us in the ass!!

[charger77]

Are the Hawks gonna become the Florida Marlins?

[Sodboy13]

What are they going to do about Huet?

Meet the starting goaltender for your Rockford IceHogs (assuming he doesn't lose the job to Corey Crawford).

Are the Hawks gonna become the Florida Marlins?

Evel Knievel attempted shorter leaps on primetime television than the one you're trying to make. If anyone named Kane, Toews, Sharp, Keith, or Hossa was being shipped out of town this offseason, you might be able to make that comparison in a stretch. And really, it would take about 3 of those 5 names leaving town for it to be a truly apt comparison. To this point, good second-tier and third-tier guys are going.

[NEW.ERA]

Plan the parade Leaf fans.

He'll be expected to produce in Toronto (Top 6 guy for sure), He was sheltered in Chicago don't expect crazy numbers.

[DDR]

We gave up two good looking prospects for an unproven 2nd liner... I guess the hope is he'll do better with more ice time... let's hope this is the case and that DiDom and Stalberg don't come back to bite us in the ass!!

Are those the guys to watch? I think Paradis was a first-rounder a couple years ago, right?

Edit: Just checked out hockeysfuture.com...these guys aren't fringe prospects, are they? According to them, Paradis and DiDomenico have borderline 2nd/3rd line potential, and Stalberg has the chance to be more than that? Not a bad haul, though I do like Versteeg. I just hope this new wave of prospects isn't too far away to come in before the current core is done. But at 24, and with 40 games with the Leafs last year, Stalberg should break camp with the team, no?

[crashcarson15]

Waived Oilers captian picked up by Blue Jackets.

So this is our one move this offseason. Hard to believe we're sticking with essentially the same team that was 27th in the league last year... but the CBJ have invested enough in the youngsters that they've gotta give 'em a chance to produce. That and getting Filatov back over here is huge. But the Jackets are around $51 million this year and they've gotta give out contracts to Voracek and Mason next year. Should be interesting to see.

[Neon_Matrix]

We gave up two good looking prospects for an unproven 2nd liner... I guess the hope is he'll do better with more ice time... let's hope this is the case and that DiDom and Stalberg don't come back to bite us in the ass!!

Are those the guys to watch? I think Paradis was a first-rounder a couple years ago, right?

Edit: Just checked out hockeysfuture.com...these guys aren't fringe prospects, are they? According to them, Paradis and DiDomenico have borderline 2nd/3rd line potential, and Stalberg has the chance to be more than that? Not a bad haul, though I do like Versteeg. I just hope this new wave of prospects isn't too far away to come in before the current core is done. But at 24, and with 40 games with the Leafs last year, Stalberg should break camp with the team, no?

DiDomenico has a lot of potential as a centre... he has a bit of size and lots of talent. He came back from a reconstructed leg and put up 22 points in 12 regular season games and 21 points in 14 post season games in the QMJHL. Stalberg was good with the Marlies but couldn't repeat his pre-season and minors success with the big squad. He is FAST and has the potential to put up 20+ goals a season... and he has some size to him.

[DDR]

We gave up two good looking prospects for an unproven 2nd liner... I guess the hope is he'll do better with more ice time... let's hope this is the case and that DiDom and Stalberg don't come back to bite us in the ass!!

Are those the guys to watch? I think Paradis was a first-rounder a couple years ago, right?

Edit: Just checked out hockeysfuture.com...these guys aren't fringe prospects, are they? According to them, Paradis and DiDomenico have borderline 2nd/3rd line potential, and Stalberg has the chance to be more than that? Not a bad haul, though I do like Versteeg. I just hope this new wave of prospects isn't too far away to come in before the current core is done. But at 24, and with 40 games with the Leafs last year, Stalberg should break camp with the team, no?

DiDomenico has a lot of potential as a centre... he has a bit of size and lots of talent. He came back from a reconstructed leg and put up 22 points in 12 regular season games and 21 points in 14 post season games in the QMJHL. Stalberg was good with the Marlies but couldn't repeat his pre-season and minors success with the big squad. He is FAST and has the potential to put up 20+ goals a season... and he has some size to him.

So it sounds like if Stalberg lives up to his potential, he can essentially replace Versteeg's production by himself? 9 goals in 40 games with an average TOI of 14.5 minutes. Not too shabby.

[The_Admiral]

I knew Versteeg had to go. Can't pay over 3 mil for what he gives us. Tallon's fault for overpaying him. This, along with Leighton only getting $1.5, should make it quite easy to keep Ladd, Hjalmarsson, and Niemi. Huet will be loaned out soon enough, one would have to believe.

Stalberg sounds like a cheaper Versteeg, in that he's fast and has no defensive sense. Versteeg was often miscast as a checking winger with Ladd and Bolland, so that probably hurt his production. Stalberg sounds like he'll be with Sharp and Hossa if we're sticking with Sharp-as-#2-center, so that could help him out. The prospects sound intriguing, especially after idiot Leafers were talking a big game about how their lord and savior Brian Burke was gonna get Patrick Sharp for a dinner tab. Sounds like the pipeline is pretty loaded now. Maybe the Hawks really will field two relevant farm teams up the tollway. Updated roster would appear to be:

Brouwer - Toews - Kane

Stalberg - Sharp - Hossa

Ladd - Bolland - Beach

Kopecky - Dowell - Bickell (I expect Reasoner will be traded before he plays a game)

Keith - Seabrook

Hjalmarsson - Campbell

Connelly - Lalonde (people seem to think Boynton's coming back too)

Niemi, Crawford

I still feel really good about this core.

[DDR]

I knew Versteeg had to go. Can't pay over 3 mil for what he gives us. Tallon's fault for overpaying him. This, along with Leighton only getting $1.5, should make it quite easy to keep Ladd, Hjalmarsson, and Niemi. Huet will be loaned out soon enough, one would have to believe.

Stalberg sounds like a cheaper Versteeg, in that he's fast and has no defensive sense. Versteeg was often miscast as a checking winger with Ladd and Bolland, so that probably hurt his production. Stalberg sounds like he'll be with Sharp and Hossa if we're sticking with Sharp-as-#2-center, so that could help him out. The prospects sound intriguing, especially after idiot Leafers were talking a big game about how their lord and savior Brian Burke was gonna get Patrick Sharp for a dinner tab. Sounds like the pipeline is pretty loaded now. Maybe the Hawks really will field two relevant farm teams up the tollway. Updated roster would appear to be:

Brouwer - Toews - Kane

Stalberg - Sharp - Hossa

Ladd - Bolland - Beach

Kopecky - Dowell - Bickell (I expect Reasoner will be traded before he plays a game)

Keith - Seabrook

Hjalmarsson - Campbell

Connelly - Lalonde (people seem to think Boynton's coming back too)

Niemi, Crawford

I still feel really good about this core.

You don't think this is the year Skille gets a real look? I think it's crap or get off the pot time with him. I wanna see what he can do, or I think it's time to let him move on.

I do like Connelly and Lalonde, but I wouldn't mind seeing what Denis-Papin could do, too. He's one of the older D-men in the pipeline.

Edit: I wrote that wrong. Denis-Papin's still a young guy. 22 or 23, I think. What I meant, is he's a good 2-3 years older than guys like Lalonde, Nick Leddy and Dylan Olsen.

[The_Admiral]

Lalonde is much closer to contributing than Danis-Pepin, though. He's either the #1 prospect or will be once Beach is set in the National. What's enticing and frustrating about the Danis-Pepin project is that he's 6'7" and still filling out. If he gets it together, he'll be a force, but apparently he's still struggling a bit. Defensemen take longer to ripen as a general rule, and someone whose size is so outside the norm is naturally going to take longer still.

The consensus seems to be that Lalonde is ready to step up now with Connelly close behind. The smart approach is probably to get a veteran for a #7 who can plug in on the third pairing so it's not always two rookies. Boynton can fill that role if he's willing to take the minimum, but the Hawks can do better there.