2014 NHL Offseason

[mamiller99]

In other news, the Blue Jackets have named Richards head coach. Are we expecting to see Pittsburg completely rebuild? Such as seeing them trade all the big players, namely Cindy Crosby?

[Sport]

In other news, the Blue Jackets have named Richards head coach. Are we expecting to see Pittsburg completely rebuild? Such as seeing them trade all the big players, namely Cindy Crosby?

They didn't name Richards head coach. He was already head coach. They just gave him a two year extension.

Dan Hinote is leaving the Jackets bench which bums me out because he was great with the young players and he brought an exuberance to the team everyday. Plus he was great on the online pregame shows. He'd be really good on a national broadcast team if someone would have him.

When Todd Richards was head coach in Wilkes Barre Dan Bylsma was one of his assistants. I hope he doesn't join Richards' staff again.

[charger77]

I'd assume Bylsma would sit out a year for a more desirable job than be an assistant.

In fact, has any Cup winning head coach gone on to be an assistant, aside from Larry Robinson?

[CS85]

So how about hockey stuff fellas

yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

hockey

[The_Admiral]

If Jumbo agrees to be traded, Toronto may actually be a place he will choose.

Waaaaaaait wait wait wait wait. You think a renowned mental midget like Joe Thornton not only has what it takes to play in Toronto, but would volunteer to play there? You have to be kidding me. This guy falls apart and chokes under the weepy hugs of The NHL's Best Fans and yet you think he'd hold up in the most high-pressure environment in the league? The only place he'd accept a trade to is somewhere like Raleigh. It's such a good place to raise a family, people don't bother you, and you can have long conversations with Eric Staal about what it's like to put up a ton of points and still never amount to anything. Even that's presuming that he'd request/accept a trade at all. It's clear that all he wants to do is hang out in California, show up to work, and blend in. He's Shane Doan with offense.

[Lee.]

Like Shane Doan isn't offensive enough.

[TorinK92]

Even though this happens every other year, Jason Spezza's officially requested a trade.

[NEW.ERA]

And Calgary wants the first overall pick for some reason. 1 through 4 are pretty much the same player. Ekblad didn't do anything to put any distance between him and the rest, Sam Bennett can't do a pull-up (like that mattered anyways), Sam Reinhart is like Ekblad and only Edmonton seems to like Draisaitl. Guys like Dal Colle and Virtanen could end up crashing the party.

Here's how I see it shaking out.

Edmonton moves to Number 1 by trading Jordan Eberle, some other guy and 3rd overall to Florida, takes Ekblad.

Buffalo takes Bennett

Florida takes Draisaitl

Calgary takes some Russian that's ranked 57th by central scouting jk they take Reinhart.

[The_Admiral]

If Jumbo agrees to be traded, Toronto may actually be a place he will choose.

Waaaaaaait wait wait wait wait. You think a renowned mental midget like Joe Thornton not only has what it takes to play in Toronto, but would volunteer to play there? You have to be kidding me. This guy falls apart and chokes under the weepy hugs of The NHL's Best Fans and yet you think he'd hold up in the most high-pressure environment in the league? The only place he'd accept a trade to is somewhere like Raleigh. It's such a good place to raise a family, people don't bother you, and you can have long conversations with Eric Staal about what it's like to put up a ton of points and still never amount to anything. Even that's presuming that he'd request/accept a trade at all. It's clear that all he wants to do is hang out in California, show up to work, and blend in. He's Shane Doan with offense.

whoa, just realized this was an oddball post, sorry guys!!

[spartacat_12]

Even though this happens every other year, Jason Spezza's officially requested a trade.

Here's a quote from Bryan Murray on the situation: "I don't want to trade the guy, really, and I know I won't get the value, in all likelihood that I should get for him, but I think that Jason feels maybe there's a change that he would like to have happen, and if that's the case we'll try to do what we can." He's really not doing anything to help his cause. Saying publicly that you know you won't get value isn't going to make the other GM's break out the top notch offers. For a team that is shaping up to hover around the cap floor, the Sens could really use a point-a-game player with a $7M cap hit but only making $4M of actual salary. Ian Mendes wrote a great article painting a picture of Spezza's tenure with the team:

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=454646

The media, and more importantly most of the fans, have never appreciated Spezza, focusing only on his negatives, even when they were more than outweighed by his positives. Despite facing intense scrutiny throughout his career, he's handled it like a consummate professional, unlike a particular All-Star who demanded a trade after one season of criticism. For many of the fans in Ottawa who are saying "good riddance" I think it will be a "you don't know what you've got til it's gone" situation. Unfortunately if/when Spezza leaves town the idiot fans will need a new lightning rod for blame and criticism. I worry it might get directed at another young player whose dynamic offensive abilities make him susceptible to the occasional defensive blunder, especially if he inherits the C. I'd like to see the team go with three A's next season rather than put too much unneeded pressure on a young player like Turris or Karlsson.

[The_Admiral]

Is Melnyk officially investigating his trade options?

[Still MIGHTY]

Penguins hire Jason Karmanos as VP of Hockey Ops

Ha... Haha... Hahahahahaha... Haaaaaaaaa

Amazing. Pittsolina Hurriguins. How long until all the Staals are (back) in Pittsburgh?

[The_Admiral]

Now they just need that other Karmanos (Detroit guy)/Rutherford (Detroit guy) specialty: some crappy grinders who were born in Michigan.

O HAI CHAD LAROSE I SEE YOU ARE WITHOUT A JOB

[The_Admiral]

Also, sounds like Disco Dan to the Panthers is just about a done deal. This will not help them be good.

[Lee.]

The Canucks sure seem to be putting their eggs in the Willie Desjardins basket, don't they?

[CS85]

The NHL is working on a challenge system.

The issue of expanding the role of video review was the subject of a long and wide-ranging debate at the meetings, and it's expected at some point there will be enhanced video review to tied to a coach's challenge.

But the league isn't in a position to put these changes into place for next season. Instead, it's possible the system could be tested in-house next season to see how it might work before being introduced to lives games.

"It would be related to a coach's challenge. So instead of jumping right into it. Maybe everybody understands when the coaches' are going to challenge so maybe just try it internally for a year," new Pittsburgh GM Jim Rutherford said.

"So, these are real tough changes. So you want to get it right," Rutherford said.

The GMs are looking at a system in which a coach would be allowed a challenge provided he hasn't used his timeout previously and then the timeout is kept if the challenge is upheld.

The group looked at a replay of a goal by Jeff Carter of the Los Angeles Kings in Game 7 of the Western Conference final where there was a review of whether he used a high stick to deflect a puck into the Chicago goal.

He did not but replays showed the play leading up to the goal was off-side. That could be challenged under this new system when it's introduced.

"Because when you get into too many (challenges) then it's just a way of having another timeout," Rutherford explained.

"I like the idea of getting right. That's what we always try and do. But to get it right we better get it right," he said of the system.

Florida GM Dale Tallon echoed those sentiments.

"There was a lot of good stuff about moving forward and getting it right. That's all we're concerned about: making sure we get it right. And then if we do further reviews, we've got to make sure that when we do the reviews, it's black and white. There's still a lot of grey areas in all of this stuff," said Tallon who has long been a proponent of a coaches' challenge.

The idea of video review to determine whether there was goaltender interference was not discussed, he said.

[The_Admiral]

The idea of video review to determine whether there was goaltender interference was not discussed, he said.

Sigh, yet another case of Meat Loaf Replay: I'll do anything to get the call right (but I won't do that).

Carter's goal should have been washed out for being offside while it was being reviewed for the high stick. If you see something, you shouldn't have your hands tied to do something about it.

[Soarindude]

Is it too late for me to get into hockey? These playoffs have made me interested in getting more into the sport.

[CS85]

Is it too late for me to get into hockey? These playoffs have made me interested in getting more into the sport.

Sure! You may choose from the Sharks, Maple Leafs, Coyotes, Oilers and Panthers as to which teams to root for.

[Soarindude]

Is it too late for me to get into hockey? These playoffs have made me interested in getting more into the sport.

Sure! You may choose from the Sharks, Maple Leafs, Coyotes, Oilers and Panthers as to which teams to root for.

I'll go back to my Lightning, even though I'm sure those teams could use the fan base. After the Stanley Cup winning Lightning lost all their thunder a few years later I dropped the sport entirely. It was actually the first sport I got into watching. I guess I'm "jumping on the Lightning Bandwagon."