The NHL Thread

[Demographic Shift]

Well here we are..... The Stanley Cup playoffs finals are set. The toughest title to win in pro sports kicks off this weekend.

The St. Louis Blues and the Boston Bruins.

For the record I had both these teams out. The Blues in the second round against the Preds and the Bruins not finding a way by the Leafs...

Its surely is painful for Leaf fans as the Leafs had the Bruins on the mat but didn't choke the life out them in game 6. Then we got to watch the Bruins take care of the Blue Jackets and Hurricanes with really no problems and slide not the Cup finals.Next year.

The Blues.. riding the hottest goaltender in the playoffs got by the Jets who are also doing some soul searching this off season, then took care of Nashville and a really good Sharks team.

I am cheering for the Blues... They have an incredibly loyal fan base in a city that loves its baseball and hockey above all else... even the NBA and the NFL.

Jordan Binnington wins the Conn Smythe and the Cup for a city that has been waiting for it since 1968.

Go Blues Go.

[G__Deane]

I didn't even know there was a thread for this.

The Blues have no counterpart to the leadership of Chara (best Captain in hockey) Bergeron, Marchand, Krejci and Pasta. Their youngD is highly under rated. Plus, Bruins are deep into Binnington's head and Rask is unflappable.

I like the Blues (and the Blue Jackets), they play Bruin's hockey. But they're Bruins-lite

[Demographic Shift]

I didn't even know there was a thread for this.

The Blues have no counterpart to the leadership of Chara (best Captain in hockey) Bergeron, Marchand, Krejci and Pasta. Their youngD is highly under rated. Plus, Bruins are deep into Binnington's head and Rask is unflappable.

I like the Blues (and the Blue Jackets), they play Bruin's hockey. But they're Bruins-lite

Yes it is possible to follow and cheer for teams in multiple sports.

Big game tonight.....With their season and the cup on the line if they go down 3-1 I think the Blues win and they go back to Boston tied. Look for a pretty physical game tonight.

That Chara is still playing in the show at 42 Is awesome. Just unbelievable he can still play. Pretty sure Z doesn’t buy too many restaurant meals in Boston for the rest of his life if he decides to live their post hockey.

[Demographic Shift]

Game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs goes tonight.
.
The best road team in the playoffs the St. Louis Blues travels to Boston.
Both have great goaltending (whodathunkthat eh?)
Both have solid bluelines.
There is a storyline.....42 year old Zedeno Chara is playing with a broken jaw.... remember the pitcher for the Jays who had to sit down with "forearm tightness" and couldn't understand the mocking laughter he got ?
St. Louis is the the more physically imposing team and can and will use that after the Bataan Death march that is the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It matters. Boston can finish better than the Blues.

Flip a coin...

Heart over head.... The St. Louis Blues skate back to Mizzou with Lord Stanley...

[slaw]

Thank the gods. I can't stand anymore Boston championships. Good for St. Louis. What a great story.

[DanH]

Gosh, love the job Dubas has done this spring/summer. Finally got his pick moving RHD. Cleared cap long term by dumping Zaitsev and might even be able to keep Barrie after this year. Totally pick neutral with the two deals too.

Ceci is no good, but he can play the right side and might be OK in his own zone in the right circumstances, can at least kill penalties, and if he's on the third pair it will be fine. Still curious who the other top 4 guy ends up being. Might be Ceci, which is a bit of a risk, might end up Dermott when he's back, or he might get to helm his own pair.

​​​​​​​Really like the forward depth they've added too, even shedding Kadri and Brown and Ennis, with Spezza and Kerfoot and Shore and Agostino...

​​​​​​​Throw in locking down Kappy and Johnson for multiple years at reasonable cap hits and all that's really left is getting Marner's signature on a deal.

[Demographic Shift]

Gosh, love the job Dubas has done this spring/summer. Finally got his pick moving RHD. Cleared cap long term by dumping Zaitsev and might even be able to keep Barrie after this year. Totally pick neutral with the two deals too.

Ceci is no good, but he can play the right side and might be OK in his own zone in the right circumstances, can at least kill penalties, and if he's on the third pair it will be fine. Still curious who the other top 4 guy ends up being. Might be Ceci, which is a bit of a risk, might end up Dermott when he's back, or he might get to helm his own pair.

Really like the forward depth they've added too, even shedding Kadri and Brown and Ennis, with Spezza and Kerfoot and Shore and Agostino...

Throw in locking down Kappy and Johnson for multiple years at reasonable cap hits and all that's really left is getting Marner's signature on a deal.

For sure after this off season this is now Dubas's team.
They are comprised of skill and speed up front and on the back end they have a ton of puck moving defenseman who can all skate.

Dubas also got out of cap hell but it cost him. Such is the price of a hard cap. Gone are a still serviceable Patrick Marleau and 1st rounder to move 6M in cap. Gone is favourite whipping boy Jake Gardiner and his 50 points and his 4.5M$ cap hit from the blueline for .. nada. The sole semblance of snarl up front .. Naz Khadri is off to Coors country. Back comes a solid young guy in Kerfoot to man the 3rd C slot who isn't as good as Naz but can play and will see 2nd unit PP time. The big piece of the trade coming to Toronto and to me a big upgrade on the blue line over Zaitsev isTyson Barrie. Barrie is real get but he is a UFA in a year. Ouch when Naz was under team control for 3 more years. Cap problems will be back next year as well. Damn I despise a hard cap so they can have hockey in Phoenix.

Overall I think the team is way more balanced as the defense now sports Reilly, Muzzin.Ceci, Barrie and Dermott. Who is the number 6 could be any one of Marincin or Lilofgren or the other guy they got from Ottawa Ben Harpur who has size. Its going to be better than last years crew.

So here we go...

Dubas has a team that is smaller but supremely skilled. That works great in the regular season but the last two Cup teams had both skill and size and snarl.. St. Louis and Boston were the last guys standing this year and they were both in the biggest and most physical teams in the league category.The year before it was the Capitals with the biggest team in the league who won.... but before that Pittsburg won two in a row on skill..... with not as much snarl...

This was a conscious decision to build the team this way... Lets see how things go next April.

[DanH]

I'm intrigued by the thinking I've seen that the Leafs might try to get out from under Ceci's deal (either by going to arbitration and walking if it comes in high enough, or by signing him to a one year deal with a massive signing bonus and flipping him to a cap floor team for nothing), and using the extra cash to bring back Gardiner for a year to bridge the gap to when Liljegren and Sandin will be ready to step in. That assumes Gardiner doesn't have the market he would like to have and would take a one year deal to try to boost his value and get a bigger payday next summer.

That would give the Leafs their best defensive lineup probably ever, while still rocking two powerhouse lines up front. Rielly-Gardiner, Muzzin-Barrie, Dermott-whoever (not Harpur, he's bad).

And the cap will definitely be tight again next summer, but tight is fine. Tight can be managed.

[Demographic Shift]

I'm intrigued by the thinking I've seen that the Leafs might try to get out from under Ceci's deal (either by going to arbitration and walking if it comes in high enough, or by signing him to a one year deal with a massive signing bonus and flipping him to a cap floor team for nothing), and using the extra cash to bring back Gardiner for a year to bridge the gap to when Liljegren and Sandin will be ready to step in. That assumes Gardiner doesn't have the market he would like to have and would take a one year deal to try to boost his value and get a bigger payday next summer.

That would give the Leafs their best defensive lineup probably ever, while still rocking two powerhouse lines up front. Rielly-Gardiner, Muzzin-Barrie, Dermott-whoever (not Harpur, he's bad).

And the cap will definitely be tight again next summer, but tight is fine. Tight can be managed.

I like Gardiner... Its not just anyone that can put up 50 points from the blueline....
But the fan base has soured on him. For his own good he has to move on. No matter what he won't do anything right. Its tough to play in that fishbowl.
He is the lighting rod that Kessel was ...before Phil it was Larry Murphy.. and before him it was Mike Pelyk and before him it was the Big M...
When the Toronto crowd sours on you.. its not pretty... its not logical but it is what it is.

I hope he winds up in a good situation...

Philly has room and so does Columbus and the LA Kings....The Rangers are making a serious move right now.. he could help them.

Just don't think he stays here.
..

[DanH]

I like Gardiner... Its not just anyone that can put up 50 points from the blueline....
But the fan base has soured on him. For his own good he has to move on. No matter what he won't do anything right. Its tough to play in that fishbowl.
He is the lighting rod that Kessel was ...before Phil it was Larry Murphy.. and before him it was Mike Pelyk and before him it was the Big M...
When the Toronto crowd sours on you.. its not pretty... its not logical but it is what it is.

I hope he winds up in a good situation...

Philly has room and so does Columbus and the LA Kings....The Rangers are making a serious move right now.. he could help them.

Just don't think he stays here.
..

I would have bet on him not coming back heading into the offseason. But it's weird he doesn't have a deal yet. Might mean the money he wants is not out there, maybe teams are scared of the back injury and don't want to hand out term.

[Demographic Shift]

I would have bet on him not coming back heading into the offseason. But it's weird he doesn't have a deal yet. Might mean the money he wants is not out there, maybe teams are scared of the back injury and don't want to hand out term.

He will land...
This is why you hate the hard cap...
He is worth 6M ... but he might not get it....

I hope he lands with one of .. Detroit... LA Kings... Philly.... Rangers....Columbus... maybe Montreal...
He helps them all...

[DanH]

He will land...
This is why you hate the hard cap...
He is worth 6M ... but he might not get it....

I hope he lands with one of .. Detroit... LA Kings... Philly.... Rangers....Columbus... maybe Montreal...
He helps them all...

If he's worth 6M, it's not the hard cap why he won't get it. Soft or hard cap there is only so much money to go around.

I'm rooting for him to get his pay day. Just saying, if it's not out there, Leafs would likely love to give him a one year deal to prove his health.

[Superjudge]

I'm intrigued by the thinking I've seen that the Leafs might try to get out from under Ceci's deal (either by going to arbitration and walking if it comes in high enough, or by signing him to a one year deal with a massive signing bonus and flipping him to a cap floor team for nothing), and using the extra cash to bring back Gardiner for a year to bridge the gap to when Liljegren and Sandin will be ready to step in. That assumes Gardiner doesn't have the market he would like to have and would take a one year deal to try to boost his value and get a bigger payday next summer.

That would give the Leafs their best defensive lineup probably ever, while still rocking two powerhouse lines up front. Rielly-Gardiner, Muzzin-Barrie, Dermott-whoever (not Harpur, he's bad).

And the cap will definitely be tight again next summer, but tight is fine. Tight can be managed.

I agree with you 100%.
Not a lot you can do if you want to hold on to the guys they have up front. It's a bit precarious depending upon a few young guys in Liljegren and Sandin to step up and be top shelf defenders, but its what ya have. Toronto has to really just hope their scouting and development are top priority as they will have to rely on young/AHL level gems to bolster a top heavy lineup.

Good problem to have if we look back a few years at how bad Toronto has been.

[Demographic Shift]

As the real summer arrives....One question that comes up for the leafs is "Just how stubborn is Mitch Marners camp " ?

To me... Dubas fucked up by not grinding Nylander and his camp into dust... It was over a million bucks. 7M for 6 years vs 6M for 6 years.That money would have come in handy this year....I don't think he makes the same mistake this time through with Marner. .

In the NHL the team has all the leverage unless its a true UFA situation... I think Dubas is prepared to use that leverage for optics as much as anything else as he gets to closure on Marners deal....which I think comes in at 5 years @10M$ a year. The Leafs get him at the price they need and Mitch gets a clear path to UFA at the age of 27. .

What happens between now and 27 will determine who made the right bet.

[DanH]

As the real summer arrives....One question that comes up for the leafs is "Just how stubborn is Mitch Marners camp " ?

To me... Dubas fucked up by not grinding Nylander and his camp into dust... It was over a million bucks. 7M for 6 years vs 6M for 6 years.That money would have come in handy this year....I don't think he makes the same mistake this time through with Marner. .

In the NHL the team has all the leverage unless its a true UFA situation... I think Dubas is prepared to use that leverage for optics as much as anything else as he gets to closure on Marners deal....which I think comes in at 5 years @10M$ a year. The Leafs get him at the price they need and Mitch gets a clear path to UFA at the age of 27. .

What happens between now and 27 will determine who made the right bet.

10M for 5 years is a clear win for Marner and anyone thinking it's a compromise means his agent team has been incredibly successful.

I don't think Dubas will have the stomach for another Nylander situation, although the Nylander contract was actually a very good job by the Leafs. Got term at a pretty low number. But they definitely won't want to hurt another season of Tavares' waiting out a contract dispute.

The good news is Marner has gone hunting for an offer sheet and it sounds like every other team is telling him the same thing as the Leafs - you want that 10M+ contract, you'd better be OK with full length term. If he wants a 5 year deal or shorter, it will likely have to be more in the 9M range.

That said, I'm surprised anyone would think that the extra million would make a difference for the Leafs. If they had the extra million they would still not want to pay Marner way above market. And it's not like they can't fit any contract for Marner (given the offers that can actually be expected) in with Nylander there. They've actually set themselves up beautifully for this summer to match (and also to walk away if they have the opportunity to take 4 firsts and a pile of cap room for their trouble) pretty much anything. The negotiations now are about next summer, when they'll want to be able to keep some of the defensive upgrades they acquired over the past 6 months.