2014 NHL Offseason

[The_Admiral]

Mike Ribiero to Nashville.

Nashville doesn't have a nightlife right?

https://play.spotify.com/track/6P1yKhtyh219Xqql9qF1Th?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open

[JayMac]

Mike Ribiero to Nashville.

Nashville doesn't have a nightlife right?

https://play.spotify.com/track/6P1yKhtyh219Xqql9qF1Th?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open

I've been to Nashville. Someone can get into a lot of trouble in that city.

[The_Admiral]

Rich Clune is a recovering alcoholic, so I'm sure people will make a big deal about what a positive environment the Perds' dressing room is. Then by about mid-November, Ribeiro will be doing rails off Kelly Pickler's fake jugs.

[Morgan33]

He's got better acting skills ON the ice...this is just...ugh

My sentiments exactly, good riddance

[monkeypower]

The Ducks have really gotten into the low budget family business comercials recently.

[zpqmaowl]

[The_Admiral]

What does Kevin Cheveldayoff do, exactly?

It's as though Cheveldayoff doesn't know trading is an option. He's been an NHL GM since June 8, 2011. He's never made a player-for-player trade, ever.

As pointed out by Illegal Curve Hockey in this excellent examination of his tendencies, not only has he traded away more draft picks than he's brought in, which makes no sense for a team that's never been a contender during his tenure, but he seems unaware there are other ways to exchange assets:

Disregarding the exchange of draft picks, as the net result of those moves is that all the draft picks that are traded, essentially are returned in another, similar, form, the most disconcerting part of Cheveldayoff’s tenure as GM of the Winnipeg Jets is that he has not made one NHL player for NHL player trade.

That seems quite astounding does it not? Repeating: In more than three years on the job, the GM has yet to trade an NHL player for an NHL player in return.

Not surprisingly, no other NHL teams can claim that title.

[HedleyLamarr]

When you're at a disadvantage in luring difference-making free agents (due to location and team's track record of not doing much of anything), the last thing you should do is be trading away more draft picks than you're getting in return. Any idea what they're going to do with Evander? Seems like only a matter of time before he gets traded.

Not that I think fan support is in any sort of problem, but I do wonder how long the Jets will test their patience.

What is ChevelWaddell's plan, anyway? Kinda hard to say "build through the draft" if you're shipping off a chunk of those picks. They sure as hell aren't winning any free agency battles.

[The_Admiral]

I know they're building internally and doing it well (they've rocketed up various organizational rankings), but there's no way they're going to draft and develop enough talent in enough time to properly complement the mature talent they have at the NHL level right now: Ladd, Little, Kane, Wheeler, Byfuglien, I suppose kinda Bogosian. I also know that the Central Division is a bloodbath right now, but I really do believe that the only thing standing between the Jets and a wild card (or even third place if everything breaks right and wrong) is competent goaltending, and Cheveldayoff completely dicked the dog in not replacing Pavelec with Reimer, Hiller, or perhaps even you, the CCSLC reader, because that's how god-awful Ondrej Pavelec appears to be. You can't be patient forever. Jets fans have more than done their part in supporting this organization from day one when the league threatened to take the team away before it even got there. This should have been the year to deliver, and now it won't be because they're playing the longest of long games, and I don't think that's right.

[HedleyLamarr]

Aren't these organizational rankings akin to those rankings for college football recruiting? Granted, I don't keep tabs on the organization like I once did, so I'm not sure how the minor league teams are doing in the standings or if there's now an organizational plan in place (unlike the Thrashers/Wolves days). Can't imagine being in St. John's helped them in the ways you prefer a minor league team to feed the parent club (as in being isolated from the other league teams instead of being a bus-ride away). Picking in the 8-10 hole in the draft doesn't help you land that game-changing player. They just seem...stuck. I joke about them finishing in 10th every year, but with how this franchise has been run since the first lockout.....they always seem to do just enough to not be awful but not enough to get in the playoffs. Atlanta Spirit had their reasons for not investing in the team, but True North was supposed to be better. Unlimited money, owning the parent and farm clubs....but the results are exactly the same.

At least with the Thrashers, there was always that sense of "If we can just avoid that annual three-week slump, we can make the playoffs" in the last few seasons. With the way the division and conference are shaping up, the 2014-15 Jets probably won't make the playoffs even if they exceed expectations.

The Jets really should have treated themselves as an expansion team once the sale was official. To their credit, they didn't have a 'normal' offseason their first couple summers (team sale/relocation, then the lockout), but they should have acquired a bunch of young, almost-ready talent and a slew of draft picks during this three-year grace period. They'd have also done themselves a favor by getting rid of the players that had been with the Thrashers a long time and their complacency towards losing. At this point, they can't just tank because they're telling their fans to wait another 3-4 years before things hopefully start cooking. Don't think the fans would respond to that too kindly after all the investing they've put into the team so far.

[The_Admiral]

I think organizational rankings get it right for the most part. The Panthers were ranked high a few years ago and are now on the cusp of delivering a wealth of prospects. Same with Minnesota. Meanwhile, Philadelphia and San Jose are always near the bottom and sure enough, they mostly produce garbage. I think most people had the Jets ranked close to last upon arrival in Winnipeg and are now somewhere in the middle of the pack, which is a pretty impressive turnaround considering Scheifele and Trouba were their only blue-chip prospects and Trouba graduated pretty quickly.

Interesting parallels to what the Cubs are doing, where they're allegedly stockpiling prospects. Meanwhile, they're talking about trading away Starlin Castro at age 24. I feel an endless rebuild coming on; I hope for Winnipeg's sake that it's not happening there, too.

[Sanic]

I think organizational rankings get it right for the most part. The Panthers were ranked high a few years ago and are now on the cusp of delivering a wealth of prospects. Same with Minnesota. Meanwhile, Philadelphia and San Jose are always near the bottom and sure enough, they mostly produce garbage. I think most people had the Jets ranked close to last upon arrival in Winnipeg and are now somewhere in the middle of the pack, which is a pretty impressive turnaround considering Scheifele and Trouba were their only blue-chip prospects and Trouba graduated pretty quickly.

Interesting parallels to what the Cubs are doing, where they're allegedly stockpiling prospects. Meanwhile, they're talking about trading away Starlin Castro at age 24. I feel an endless rebuild coming on; I hope for Winnipeg's sake that it's not happening there, too.

No smelly animal, no infinite rebuild.

If Pavelec isn't considered a goat already.

[The_Admiral]

Sanic is a poster to watch in 2014.

[zpqmaowl]

♫ Gotta post fast, gotta post fast, gotta post faster, faster, faster, faster, faster ♫

[BBTV]

do organizational rankings really matter as much in hockey as in baseball (which as far as I know is the only other big sport that has an "organization")?

Don't the best players just go right in to the NHL either from their junior teams or from overseas? How many players develop in the AHL for seasons and then get called up and become star players? I have absolutely no idea, but I'd guess not nearly as much as develop in AA and AAA in baseball and then get brought up.

[dbadefense1990]

[The_Admiral]

do organizational rankings really matter as much in hockey as in baseball (which as far as I know is the only other big sport that has an "organization")?

Don't the best players just go right in to the NHL either from their junior teams or from overseas? How many players develop in the AHL for seasons and then get called up and become star players? I have absolutely no idea, but I'd guess not nearly as much as develop in AA and AAA in baseball and then get brought up.

The best of the best go straight to the NHL, but most players still have additional development at the AHL/college/junior/overseas levels, during which time they're evaluated. "Prospect pool rankings" might be a more apt name because it concerns development outside the AHL affiliate.

As far as the Blackhawks are concerned, the majority of their players spent significant time in development. Duncan Keith spent two seasons in the AHL, Niklas Hjalmarsson spent parts of two seasons in the AHL, Nick Leddy had parts of two seasons, Brandon Saad played in the AHL during the lockout, as did Andrew Shaw, who had also been in Rockford for most of 2011-12. The only player who went straight to the NHL out of the draft is Patrick Kane. So no, bona fide superstar forwards generally don't log time in the AHL, but top defensemen and 2nd/3rd-line forwards certainly do. Keith is one more championship away from the Hall of Fame, in all likelihood, and he can thank the...um...Norfolk Admirals for that.

[Lee.]

To his credit, Chevelwayoff has drafted very well. Scheifele will be top 6, Trouba already plays like he's 30 and hates everybody, Morrissey should make the club this year, and Ehlers will likely get the 9 game look-see before heading back to Halifax.

But.

The Pavelec situation has gone on too long, and I can only assume the Jets want to see how Hutchinson performs before moving in any direction. I know they want to see how EKane9AnyoneButWinnipeg does with an actual line before giving up on him and shipping him off to Buffalo.

Any thing else though, hooboy. I've been a Chevy apologist in the past but good lord, man, pick up a damn phone. The main obstacle to a Kane deal getting done seems to be that no other teams can get a handle on what the Jets need in return. At the least, they should be looking for a Kesler deal- a top 6, a prospect, and a draft pick. Use that as a start and see what can happen.

It almost seems as though he's afraid of getting broasted by the local media, as if Gary Lawless will eat him whole for making a lousy trade. Gotta start somewhere.

[Cosmic]

do organizational rankings really matter as much in hockey as in baseball (which as far as I know is the only other big sport that has an "organization")?

Don't the best players just go right in to the NHL either from their junior teams or from overseas? How many players develop in the AHL for seasons and then get called up and become star players? I have absolutely no idea, but I'd guess not nearly as much as develop in AA and AAA in baseball and then get brought up.

Of the top twenty scorers last year, eleven spent at least a season in junior/college/AHL/Europe after being drafted, and that's the top guys. I suspect even fewer players further down the list made the jump right to the NHL. Also, a tiny bit of the attention paid to the "organization" may be a holdover from the past... I feel like as recently as ten years ago, it was much rarer to see a guy immediately in the NHL.

[Sanic]

Golf in a nutshell as explained by Oshie:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc2DHKaRAbc