NHL Offseason Thread

[Englebretson 1st MRB]

So tomorrow is the big day. Any big predictions/surprises that happen in the next month or so? I am really interested in where Iginla and Stastny go.

[Brault 1st MRB]

Same here. I hear the Canadiens are going to make the deal of the season in the next 24/48 hours. Probably for Stastny. Could be lies and propaganda but my source is usually very reliable

[Parker 1st MRB]

I hear the Canadiens are going to make the deal of the season in the next 24/48 hours. Probably for Stastny. Could be lies and propaganda but my source is usually very reliable

Lol Statsny is not going to Montreal.

Let me run down the list for you.

Paul Statsny - It's now fit and money for him and he has three options: 1) resign with Colorado; 2) Sign with St. Louis where he grew up and can go deep into the playoffs; 3) Hit the lottery and go for the team that offers the most money with the longest term. He will likely re-sign with Colorado, they have the cap room and he's most comfortable there.

Jarome Ignila - Ignila wants to return to Boston and the Bruins want him back but Boston has extreme cap issues so it's doubtful he will be able to re-sign there. Because of their cap issues, they've already kicked tires on Radim Vrbata as a replacement for Ignila. Ignila will be giving a list of teams to his agent on July 1st but no one knows where he wants to play. Obviously he's looking for a team that has a chance to win the Cup and teams that have expressed the most interest in him so far are Detroit, Tampa Bay, and Minnesota. There are a lot of moving parts here, no one knows if it will be a one year deal or a two year deal, it all depends on each team's needs.

Thomas Vanek - All signs point to Vanek rejoining his buddy Pominville and signing with Minnesota, but it won't come cheap, they are looking at spending 40 mil for 5 years. The Wild have already reached out to him on Sunday and apparently they are pushing hard to sign him.

Matt Niskanen - Most sought after UFA dman, he's gonna get between 6-6.5 mil for probably a 7 year deal. Lots of teams that are interested in him, at the top of the list is Tampa Bay who cleared a lot of cap space to bolster their blueline. If Tampa doesn't get Niskanen, they might land Dan Boyle. There are reports that Minnesota have already reached out to Niskanen’s camp so have the Red Wings, who are reportedly prepared to offer a seven-year deal.

Dan Boyle - He wants a two year deal probably at 5 mil or better. He gave his agent a list of 5 teams that he wants to sign with, that list includes: Tampa Bay, Toronto, Montreal, Detroit, and New York Rangers.

Anton Stralman - The Rangers look like they won't re-sign him, they'll make one last push but he can and will get more term and money elsewhere, probably around 5 mil/year.

Christian Ehrhoff - Recently bought out by Buffalo but that doesn't mean he's gonna take a pay cut. He's looking for a team that will compete for the Cup, teams like Anaheim, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh. He's said to be looking for 25 mil for 5 years (5 mil/year).

Ryan Miller - There are not a lot of teams where Miller is gonna be the starting goalie so he's only looking at a handful of teams. The biggest interest is Vancouver, they have the cap space and family wise he's close to LA where his wife works as an actress. He recently visited Vancouver for a good amount of time which suggests both parties have a strong interest in getting a deal done.

Jason Spezza - This is a little bit different, he's not a free agent but he wants a trade. His value and destination will be determined heavily by where Paul Statsny ends up. St. Louis and Dallas are the most interested in getting a center, so if they can't land Statsny for money then they'll probably go after Spezza for pieces and picks.

Mike Cammalleri - Calgary has offered him a deal but he hasn't taken it yet which might suggest he wants to go to free agency. It seems like he's looking for term and money rather than a Cup at this point. I haven't heard much about him yet.

[Parker 1st MRB]

NHL Free Agency Team Needs For All 30 Clubs

[Gilmore 1st MRB]

Spezza will likely be traded to Dallas if they can afford it. My question is what ever happened to Miroslav Satan?

[Yager]

DEVILS GOT MIKE CAMMALLERI YEAHHHHHH BUDDY.

[Brault 1st MRB]

"The St. Louis Blues have signed centre Paul Stastny to a four-year contract worth an average annual value of $7 million."

Oh well. LOL

Same here. I hear the Canadiens are going to make the deal of the season in the next 24/48 hours. Probably for Stastny. Could be lies and propaganda but my source is usually very reliable

[Yager]

"The St. Louis Blues have signed centre Paul Stastny to a four-year contract worth an average annual value of $7 million."

Oh well. LOL

Same here. I hear the Canadiens are going to make the deal of the season in the next 24/48 hours. Probably for Stastny. Could be lies and propaganda but my source is usually very reliable

he is getting over paid especially for 4 years,

[Sky]

"The St. Louis Blues have signed centre Paul Stastny to a four-year contract worth an average annual value of $7 million."

Oh well. LOL

Same here. I hear the Canadiens are going to make the deal of the season in the next 24/48 hours. Probably for Stastny. Could be lies and propaganda but my source is usually very reliable

he is getting over paid especially for 4 years,

Every athlete in the world is over paid.

I think the Blue Jackets will make a big splash, and I'm not saying that because they are my favorite team it's because it would make complete sense. They are really weak in the RW area, even though they upgraded with Scott Hartnell. They could also use a good d-man so I could see them trying to court Dan Boyle or Brooks Orpik. Remember the Jackets have a little over $22 million in cap space left over so they could easily afford both those players.

Another team I see making a big splash is the Red Wings. Everyone knows that Babcock wants more right-handed d-men so they definitely will go after Boyle as well. If it comes down to Jackets or Red Wings I think the Wings will get him just because they are more storied and are the better team right now.

What interests me the most is where Ryan Miller will end up. There are only a few starting jobs open and I've heard that he wants to be close to LA because he is married to an actress there. The problem with that is, the only teams he could realistically go for are the Sharks and the Canucks. The Ducks already have their goalie situation set with John Gibson as their future and the Swedish guy. The Kings will never get rid of Quick, not in a million years. I'm pretty sure he would not want to play for Edmonton (who would) and Colorado already has Varlamov. The Sharks are reportedly unhappy with Niemi and honestly I don't blame them. I never really thought he was a good goalie, he just got lucky in 2010. The Canucks have Eddie Lack who is a pretty good goalie so I think Miller will go to the Sharks before he goes to the Canucks.

[Englebretson 1st MRB]

As happy as I am about getting Vanek, I am very scared at how much better everyone else (minus Winnipeg) got. The Blues got Statsny Dallas got Spezza and Hemsky Colorado got Iginla hell even Chicago got Richards. I found this on HFBoards and couldnt help but share it with you all

Atlantic division: Big ****ing bar room brawl.

Metropolitan division: A bunch of kids playing Magic the Gathering and pretending it's serious

Pacific Division: War on the order of England vs France vs Spain back in the age of sail

Murder Division: Nuclear. ****ing. War.

[Yager]

As happy as I am about getting Vanek, I am very scared at how much better everyone else (minus Winnipeg) got. The Blues got Statsny Dallas got Spezza and Hemsky Colorado got Iginla hell even Chicago got Richards. I found this on HFBoards and couldnt help but share it with you all

Atlantic division: Big ****ing bar room brawl.

Metropolitan division: A bunch of kids playing Magic the Gathering and pretending it's serious

Pacific Division: War on the order of England vs France vs Spain back in the age of sail

Murder Division: Nuclear. ****ing. War.

i dont see how you can say the metropolitan division is like that. The only serious contenders are the rangers and the devils, the flyers are in cap space hell and the penguins completely screwed their whole roster up.

[Englebretson 1st MRB]

UFAS SIGNED: 63 DOLLARS SPENT: $494,600,000 AVERAGE CAP HIT: $2,539,550

This is a new 1st Day record for the NHL.

[Steiner]

I love how the Oilers always end up signing and overpaying the fringe NHL players.

[Gilmore 1st MRB]

It happens year after year, only a couple of times has this really paid off... maybe this year it will you never know.

[Cantin 1st MRB]

Toronto just hired a 28 yo assistant GM

Edited July 22, 2014 by Cantin 1st MRB

[Gooderham 1st MRB]

I think not doing anything major will be of benefit to the Canucks. We are not a playoff team and shouldn't be pretending to be.

[Englebretson 1st MRB]

[Parker 1st MRB]

The Maple Leafs just hired ExtraSkater.com founder Darryl Metcalf. WOW! If you don't know what ExtraSkater.com is, it's basically the destination for fans and NHL teams seeking a user-friendly approach to advanced analytics like corsi ratings. This season, its founder will bring that insight exclusively to my Maple Leafs, the site is already offline. WOOT!

Not only is his site one of the most respected in the hockey world, it’s also one of the most popular … for other NHL teams. Our loss as hockey fans – the site will cease operation – is Toronto’s gain, as all of that site’s analysis and calculations will be kept in house.

-Greg Wyshynski via Yahoo Sports

The Maple Leafs are creating an analytics department full of the best advanced stats analysts out there. So far we have hired Kyle Dubas, Darryl Metcalf, Cam Charron, and Brandon Pridham. It's nice to see us changing with the times and utilizing our financial muscle for something besides buyouts and firings.

This only means good things for future Leafs acquisitions!

[Arsenault 1st MRB]

Great move from the Leafs there. I'm looking forward to see if it pays during the next season!

And about Engle's map, we can see that Boston is hated regardless of the division or conference!