The 2013 NHL Season Thread

[BigEd76]

Not having Pronger hurts, but they replaced Carle and Kubina with Luke Schenn, Bruno Gervais and Kurtis Foster, and they still have Timonen, Coburn, Meszaros (at some point) and Grossmann.

[Brendan]

Really, the only shoe-ins are:

Pittsburgh

NY Rangers

Boston

Los Angeles

Philadelphia

Vancouver

St. Louis

The only teams that have no shot at making the playoffs are Columbus, NYI and Winnipeg.

So there are 20 teams that have a realistic shot at filling 9 playoff spots.

I would not consider Philadelphia a shoe in, they have many problems on defense and goaltending.

Dont sleep on the Islanders either.

I would add Anaheim, Toronto and Calgary as teams that have no shot

Anaheim and Toronto both have enough good players that I wouldn't be surprised if they made the playoffs. Saying the Ducks have no shot is ridiculous.

[Kramerica Industries]

I'd say Chicago is pretty much a lock. Detroit too, probably, because they always seem to churn out these nobodies who become useful players.

[Still MIGHTY]

Really, the only shoe-ins are:

Pittsburgh

NY Rangers

Boston

Los Angeles

Philadelphia

Vancouver

St. Louis

The only teams that have no shot at making the playoffs are Columbus, NYI and Winnipeg.

So there are 20 teams that have a realistic shot at filling 9 playoff spots.

I would not consider Philadelphia a shoe in, they have many problems on defense and goaltending.

Dont sleep on the Islanders either.

I would add Anaheim, Toronto and Calgary as teams that have no shot

Anaheim and Toronto both have enough good players that I wouldn't be surprised if they made the playoffs. Saying the Ducks have no shot is ridiculous.

I was gonna say. Could the Ducks not make the playoffs? Sure especially with their notorious slow starts and in this condensed season. But to say a team with Selanne, Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan, Fowler, Hiller has NO SHOT at the playoffs? You're high.

I don't think you could even say that about Calgary. Considering the giant muck the middle of the West is, anyone from 4th-14th could potentially miss or make the playoffs. From that above list, I might not even consider Los Angeles a lock to get in. They barely made it in last year, and yea while they bring back almost the exact same roster they steamrolled to the Cup with (vomit), I wouldn't say it's a lock. They were a great playoff team (vomit) but great regular season team I don't think you can say yet.

It's much easier to stratify the East that the West. In the East, I have about 3 or 4 true contenders that I could confidently pick to win the East (NYR, Boston, Pittsburgh, Philly). But if you had to ask me on the spot right now who will win the West, I couldn't tell you.

[NJTank]

The problem with the Ducks is if they get off to a slow start will there be a sell off in Anaheim, I can also see the Flames having a pardon the pun big fire sale that will send Jarome Iginla to a contender for the playoffs.

As for the Islanders watch out for them this year, I think John Tavares is going to have a monster season and will be in the Top five in scoring.

[Still MIGHTY]

The problem with the Ducks is if they get off to a slow start...

IF... Like I noted. It's not a lock like you said earlier.

But really, this is an important season for the Ducks as a franchise in many ways. Most likely finally Teemu's final season, probably Koivu's last season, and this is the last year on both Ryan Getzlaf's and Corey Perry's contracts. The Ducks NEED to have a good season to at least help keep Getzlaf/Perry around and to be able to try and attract some free agents to come here next season, becuase if scoring depth is a problem now, it's only going to be worse when Selanne and Koivu leave. If they turn south quickly and end up losing all of those guys, the Ducks will be in the depths for a long time.

---

Apparently the NHL and NHLPA have reached an agreement to add an "Accelerated Compliance Buyout" for just this season. Basically, in addition to the two amnesty buyouts teams will have over the next two offseasons, each team will have one extra buyout to use between now and Saturday. So Scott Gomez and Wade Redden will most likely be free agents come Saturday.

[The_Admiral]

Donald Fehr doin' work. Johnny Poorteam must be fuming that the Rangers get to wriggle out of the Redden contract a year early.

[OMMF]

Apparently the NHL and NHLPA have reached an agreement to add an "Accelerated Compliance Buyout" for just this season. Basically, in addition to the two amnesty buyouts teams will have over the next two offseasons, each team will have one extra buyout to use between now and Saturday. So Scott Gomez and Wade Redden will most likely be free agents come Saturday.

@TSNBobMcKenzie: Each team is still permitted only 2 compliance buyouts, either before Saturday or in summers of 2013 or 2014.

[NEW.ERA]

I honestly think all the teams have a chance at the playoffs, that includes Columbus and the Islanders. Just can't fall asleep for a couple of weeks or else you're probably done.

[dbadefense1990]

All the Devils need to do is survive the season and they will be dangerous in the playoffs.

Isn't that true for all teams? After all, this is the NHL, where a hot goalie and fluid gameplay makes a #8 as deadly as a #1 in the postseason.

[youcan'tseeme]

Rumours that, The Leafs, Senators, Bruins and Sabres all have interest in Redden. Would Senators fans even welcome the guy back? He's certainly an NHL defender, but not the player he was when he left and the terms he left on weren't the greatest.

[The_Admiral]

If you can get Redden at the league minimum, get him. You could use a seventh or eighth defenseman of his calibre on a compressed schedule.

[Sport]

I honestly think all the teams have a chance at the playoffs, that includes Columbus and the Islanders. Just can't fall asleep for a couple of weeks or else you're probably done.

The Blue Jackets will play good defense so they'll have a fighting chance to not be as horrible as they were last year. I just don't know who's gonna score for them. Cam Atkinson?

I have a $10 bet with a friend on who will win more games, the Blue Jackets or the Cavs. I think the CBJ has a good chance even in a season almost half as short. They're only 9 games back right now .

[njmeadowlanders]

@TSNBobMcKenzie: Each team is still permitted only 2 compliance buyouts, either before Saturday or in summers of 2013 or 2014.

Yes. All this does is allows the Reddens & Gomezes of the world to not have to sit on their asses until September. It doesn't give an "advantage" to the teams that do exercise such a buyout. It's a benefit to the player since they're being bought out and taking a cap hit regardless. Redden can easily find at least the minimum somewhere to get back to the NHL.

[The_Admiral]

So, Blackhawks. Quenneville will have to keep Keith/Seabrook's minutes low if they have any hope of not falling apart by the end of this. Rozsival and Brookbank knock Leddy down the depth chart, which is probably a good thing since he's still developing.

I love what we have at forward except for not having a #2 center, which I guess we never will. Toews, Kane, Sharp, and Hossa are as good a core as you'll find in the league. Bolland is one of the best defensive centers in the game. Supporting forwards are okay enough. Stalberg is a textbook project player whom I hope we can flip at the deadline for someone better. I'm guessing we'll get looks at our various prospects. If, God forbid, this whole thing dies right out of the gate, I'd just punt the whole season and call them all up to get the ice time.

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

The problem with the Ducks is if they get off to a slow start will there be a sell off in Anaheim, I can also see the Flames having a pardon the pun big fire sale that will send Jarome Iginla to a contender for the playoffs.

As for the Islanders watch out for them this year, I think John Tavares is going to have a monster season and will be in the Top five in scoring.

]

True...Tavares is a beast and is still years from his prime. But, every year I say they'll be an 8th seed, and every year they finish 14th or 15th. Losing Parenteau didn't help, and their goaltending situation is a joke. If they can regroup themselves this year, I see them being a solid team next year.

[Still MIGHTY]

@TSNBobMcKenzie: Each team is still permitted only 2 compliance buyouts, either before Saturday or in summers of 2013 or 2014.

Yes. All this does is allows the Reddens & Gomezes of the world to not have to sit on their asses until September. It doesn't give an "advantage" to the teams that do exercise such a buyout. It's a benefit to the player since they're being bought out and taking a cap hit regardless. Redden can easily find at least the minimum somewhere to get back to the NHL.

Ah. First place I saw this said it was an extra buyout for all teams that wanted to exercise it, but this makes more sense. Keeps it all level.

---

Blackhawks fans, tell me what you know about Jordan Hendry.

He looked pretty good on the first day of Ducks camp (although, it is only one day), but he figures to be a 6th/7th d-man in Anaheim. So I was curious as to your thoughts on him. Good? Decent? Serviceable? Negligible? Who?

[The_Admiral]

Blackhawks fans, tell me what you know about Jordan Hendry.

He looked pretty good on the first day of Ducks camp (although, it is only one day), but he figures to be a 6th/7th d-man in Anaheim. So I was curious as to your thoughts on him. Good? Decent? Serviceable? Negligible? Who?

What I remember most about Hendry is that he was regarded in training camps as having the best conditioning, which is sort of like the pro sports equivalent of winning the perfect attendance award in grade school. He's basically a seventh defenseman who can play fourth-line wing in a pinch. He had some gruesome ligament injury that ended his 2011 season and I was surprised that no one took a flyer on him last year (probably because he was a callup/senddown-level guy at that point but wasn't waiver-eligible). I liked him as a Hawk, but I always have a soft spot for bottom-of-the-roster guys who don't overtly cost us games. Colin Fraser was another for me, and he's done nicely for himself in Los Angeles. I hope he can give you a decent year before pursuing a fruitful and lengthy career as one of the NHL's premier strength/conditioning coaches.

[Still MIGHTY]

Blackhawks fans, tell me what you know about Jordan Hendry.

He looked pretty good on the first day of Ducks camp (although, it is only one day), but he figures to be a 6th/7th d-man in Anaheim. So I was curious as to your thoughts on him. Good? Decent? Serviceable? Negligible? Who?

What I remember most about Hendry is that he was regarded in training camps as having the best conditioning, which is sort of like the pro sports equivalent of winning the perfect attendance award in grade school. He's basically a seventh defenseman who can play fourth-line wing in a pinch. He had some gruesome ligament injury that ended his 2011 season and I was surprised that no one took a flyer on him last year (probably because he was a callup/senddown-level guy at that point but wasn't waiver-eligible). I liked him as a Hawk, but I always have a soft spot for bottom-of-the-roster guys who don't overtly cost us games. Colin Fraser was another for me, and he's done nicely for himself in Los Angeles. I hope he can give you a decent year before pursuing a fruitful and lengthy career as one of the NHL's premier strength/conditioning coaches.

Fantastic. Thats' really all I'd want from someone in his position. Good.

Oh, and enjoy the wet noodle defensive stylings of Sheldon Brookbank.

[charger77]

Giroux named Flyers captain.