2014 / 2015 Official NHL Thread

[Doc Holliday]

I agree that Mitch Marner was a good pick for the leafs.

What I don't get is that Marner stands at 5'11" and the media consider him undersized !

I certainly would not consider him undersized would you ?

Great pick

I would. Marner is not only 5'11", but he barely weighs 160 lbs. The average NHL forward is 6'1" and weighs 202 lbs. I agree that Marner isn't exactly David Desharnais or Brendan Gallagher, but he's still considered to be somewhat undersized according to NHL standards.

When he was picked, i told a great Leafs fan: "Look! He's barely taller than fucking Bettman!"

Personally, i would have picked Noah Hanifan. I also believe that had the Leafs had a GM (such as Julien Brisebois) in place, he would have selected Hanifan. But Mark Hunter was allowed to basically run the show and he went with the kid he picked for his junior hockey team just a couple of years ago and chose Mitch Marner, whom he sees as a Patrick Kane type.

 

[Doc Holliday]

first choice by the bruins ranked 12 by the so call expert ,second choice list as 28 on the expert list and the third choice 48 good job sweeny you and your president are killing the bruins

The Hockey News had them ranked 22nd, 28th and 47th respectively. The fact that the rookie GM picked them 13th, 14th and 15th is a calamity. What a total waste of quality picks! What a waste of traded valuable talent!

I predicted months ago that the Bruins would likely have to start rebuilding since their stars were expensive, older and the team was still struggling to remain below the cap, but the rebuild had to start with trading the fading Chara's big contract and then you went with trading the likes of Lucic, Marchand, Krecci and possibly even Bergeron and Rask.

But you don't give away your #2 stud defenceman and re-sign an injury prone journeyman defenceman such as Adam McQuaid to a 4-year deal. You also don't blow the 13, 14 & 15 first-round picks on three guys who likely would have been available later, two of them in the second round. If intent on picking the last two, you instead flip those picks for another 1st rounder and a 2nd or 3rd rounder.

 

[Doc Holliday]

The Oilers got Talbot for draft picks 57 , 79 & 184............. Sather must still have feelings for the Oil. Plus Reinhart on D should keep a few pucks away from the net.... Still pumped about the new season..

I first had the same thought, but realized it's a good price to pay for a career back-up goalie who never played a full season and still has question marks about him. Sather also didn't want to waste his window of opportunity since there were only a few teams left looking for a top goalie while other teams (such as Boston) had approached the Oilers and Flames about shipping them one of their own goalies.

So the bottom is that i now believe it was a good trade for both teams.

 

[Doc Holliday]

The difference is that Claude Julien has a one year contract and will find a job, if he gets fired.

What's funny is that the Bruins were predicted to win the 2016 Stanley Cup at 18-1 odds, tied with Nashville.

I don't know where you get your facts, but Claude Julien got an extension last year which runs through the 2017-18 season. And that's the only reason why the owner Jacobs overruled Cam Neely on his recent desire to fire Julien.

And that's also why Boston waited so long to make up its mind about retaining him or firing him. They wanted to fuck up his chances of finding another head coaching job. They waited until other teams had filled up their coaching needs to finally decide on keeping him. One of the persons who interviewed for the GM job later said that he was asked what he'd do with Claude Julien, he told him he'd retain him and was told (likely by Cam Neely): "That's not what we wanted to hear."

And trust me, were Claude Julien to be fired this season, he won't give up his lucrative contract in order to be a low-paid assistant coach. He'll stay home, do some tv work and enjoy collecting his money until someone comes calling next season or so with a lucrative offer to be its team's head coach.

 

[gohabsgo]

Stench of Leafs’ season affecting ability to trade away players

The damage of this past Maple Leafs season lingers and cannot be easily undone.

The market for Phil Kessel was thin and only marginally active.

The market for Tyler Bozak, Kessel’s centre of choice, was non-existent. The Leafs did not receive a single phone call inquiring about Bozak’s availability.

http://www.torontosun.com/2015/06/27/stench-of-leafs-season-affecting-ability-to-trade-away-players

 

[gohabsgo]

THIS AND THAT

The joke around hockey when the Leafs hired Hunter, Dubas, Lindsay Hofford, Jim Paliafito and Sheldon Keefe is they’re putting together one helluva OHL team. The joke yesterday: now they have OHL size ...

If Ron Hextall is right and Travis Konecny is a quintessential Flyer, it’s not going to look good on the Leafs.

When Brian Burke ran the Leafs, the club would not have been allowed to pick Marner or Bracco. Not big enough ...

The Leafs traded Steen, Rask, Stralman and Tlusty and lost Kulemin to free agency: That’s an all-star goalie, a first-line winger, a first-pair defenceman and two depth forwards — and nothing to show for it. And that’s not mentioning the seventh-round pick, Carl Gunnarsson, traded for Roman Polak.

 

[smuler]

The fact that the rookie GM picked them 13th, 14th and 15th is a calamity. What a total waste of quality picks!

I agree as well

And I think we could have gotten more for Cam Talbot as well
Luc Gazdic should have been part of that deal

Best Regards

Smuler

 

[Doc Holliday]

I agree as well

And I think we could have gotten more for Cam Talbot as well
Luc Gazdic should have been part of that deal

Best Regards

Smuler

The problem with the Talbot trade was its timing. Had they traded him prior to the Robin Lehner & Eddie Lach trades, they may have got more for him. But the list of suitors shrunk afterwards. Plus the fact that teams knew that the Rangers needed to trade him.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Just saw this tweet from a well-known sports writer:

"Thornton, Kessel, Seguin, Hamilton - does any team give up on "franchise players" faster than BOS?"

I couldn't agree more. And the answer is NO.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Mike Richards & P.A. Parenteau have been put on waivers in order to be bought out by the Kings and Habs.

I've just been told by a source that the Pens and Leafs are in ongoing talks for Phil Kessel, who'll be due a $4 million bonus on July 1st, which the Leafs have agreed to pay even if he is traded.

Who does Pittsburgh have that would entice them to trade Kessel? It has to be someone with an equally big contract in order to make Kessel's cap fit for the Pens. Maybe Malkin?

 

[G1GBallday]

ludicrous contracts (Komi, Kessel, Phaneuf, Lupul, Bozak, Clarkson) - no wonder this team always stinks so badly!

You must not forget three of my favorites:

Jeff Finger @ 3.5M/year
Jason Blake @ 4M/year
Tim Connolly @ 4.75M/year.

 

[Joe.t]

Canadiens in hot pursuit of Sharp(Final piece of the puzzle).

http://www.habseyesontheprize.com/l...ago-blackhawks-trade-rumour-source-salary-cap

 

[joelcairo]

THIS AND THAT

The joke around hockey when the Leafs hired Hunter, Dubas, Lindsay Hofford, Jim Paliafito and Sheldon Keefe is they’re putting together one helluva OHL team. The joke yesterday: now they have OHL size ...

If Ron Hextall is right and Travis Konecny is a quintessential Flyer, it’s not going to look good on the Leafs.

When Brian Burke ran the Leafs, the club would not have been allowed to pick Marner or Bracco. Not big enough ...

The Leafs traded Steen, Rask, Stralman and Tlusty and lost Kulemin to free agency: That’s an all-star goalie, a first-line winger, a first-pair defenceman and two depth forwards — and nothing to show for it. And that’s not mentioning the seventh-round pick, Carl Gunnarsson, traded for Roman Polak.

All completely accurate and all incredibly entertaining:thumb:

"Thank you Mr. Burke." "Thank you Mr. Nonis."

 

[joelcairo]

You must not forget three of my favorites:

Jeff Finger @ 3.5M/year
Jason Blake @ 4M/year
Tim Connolly @ 4.75M/year.

Ah, yes indeed. The Connolly, in particular, was one of my favorites right away. Of course Leaf fans LOVED all those signings!

 

[joelcairo]

Stench of Leafs’ season affecting ability to trade away players

http://www.torontosun.com/2015/06/27/stench-of-leafs-season-affecting-ability-to-trade-away-players

Actually my favorite part of the article was when it mentioned that Dion wants to leave.

Thumbs up to Dion: he's obviously more intelligent than I ever gave him credit for being.

Meanwhile Phil apparently wants to stay. I guess he doesn't want to be separated from Tyler. Maybe he'd agree to leave if they could both go to the same team at the same time.

 

[joelcairo]

I would. Marner is not only 5'11", but he barely weighs 160 lbs. The average NHL forward is 6'1" and weighs 202 lbs. I agree that Marner isn't exactly David Desharnais or Brendan Gallagher, but he's still considered to be somewhat undersized according to NHL standards.

When he was picked, i told a great Leafs fan: "Look! He's barely taller than fucking Bettman!"

Personally, i would have picked Noah Hanifan. I also believe that had the Leafs had a GM (such as Julien Brisebois) in place, he would have selected Hanifan. But Mark Hunter was allowed to basically run the show and he went with the kid he picked for his junior hockey team just a couple of years ago and chose Mitch Marner, whom he sees as a Patrick Kane type.

Agree completely. I don't think the problem is that Mitch is 5'11' - it's that he's only 160 pounds. Theo Fleury was also only 160 pounds but Theo was half a foot shorter so it was a much more tough and compact 160 - not to mention that Theo was a pit bull, and a supremely talented pit bull at that. Too bad his problems ended up destroying what could have been - and should have been - and might STILL end up being (?) - a Hall of Fame career.

And yeah, they should have taken Hanifan.

 

[joelcairo]

Big day tomorrow: it will officially be announced that the Perfect Human will enter the Hall of Fame.

This was so automatic that there shouldn't have been a 3 year wait - it should have been waived, as it was for a tiny, select group of all-time greats in the past.

 

[lgna69xxx]

Sidney Crosby is 5'11" ....he now weighs 201lbs but when drafted i am sure he was not even close to that. Marner is already good height and likely is still growing and that 160lbs can turn into 200lbs over the next 2 years with hard work and i would bet you anything it does.

It is the size of his heart that counts and from scouting reports, Marner has one of the biggest in the entire Hockey World and his Hockey IQ cannot be taught. Great pick for the Blue and White and Hunter is also one of the best at discovering talent.

I would. Marner is not only 5'11", but he barely weighs 160 lbs. The average NHL forward is 6'1" and weighs 202 lbs. .

 

[lgna69xxx]

Finally a voice of reason, as always Great post MISTER Holliday!

What the Bruins did on draft day set them back, those picks are years away from being ready to make a difference if they even do at all. Those who think what the bruins did friday was helping them for next season or even to help them "build" for the near future know as much about hockey as they think they do about women and wine. Unless they do something drastic before training camp, the bruins definately got worse this off season.

The Hockey News had them ranked 22nd, 28th and 47th respectively. The fact that the rookie GM picked them 13th, 14th and 15th is a calamity. What a total waste of quality picks! What a waste of traded valuable talent!

I predicted months ago that the Bruins would likely have to start rebuilding since their stars were expensive, older and the team was still struggling to remain below the cap, but the rebuild had to start with trading the fading Chara's big contract and then you went with trading the likes of Lucic, Marchand, Krecci and possibly even Bergeron and Rask.

But you don't give away your #2 stud defenceman and re-sign an injury prone journeyman defenceman such as Adam McQuaid to,a 4-year deal. You also don't blow the 13, 14 & 15 first-round picks on three guys who likely would have been available later, two,of them in the second round. If intent on picking the last two, you instead flip those picks for another 1st rounder and a 2nd or 3rd rounder.

 

[lgna69xxx]

That would be a hockey trade that would help both clubs, a win/win and i would do it in a NY Minute. Question is, what else would the Leafs have to give up to get it done? Malkin is a top 3 player in the league or at worst top 5.

Who does Pittsburgh have that would entice them to trade Kessel? It has to be someone with an equally big contract in order to make Kessel's cap fit for the Pens. Maybe Malkin?