Lecavalier about defense, the NHL offseason thread

[mpfunk]

Lacavalier is a very good player, but what in the ever loving hell were the Flyers doing signing him. They go over the cap to sign him and have an awful blueline and go goaltender. I'm definitely in the cheap goaltender camp, but to make that work you have to have a good blueline.

Flyers got a very good player, but got worse with that deal. I wanted the Blackhawks to look at Lacavalier, but not at that cost.

[mpfunk]

Nick Leddy a Blackhawk for another 2 years. Love having him back.

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[mpfunk]

Seeing the deals right now, Blackhawks got bickell for a bargain

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[mpfunk]

We are getting the band back together. Roszival and Handzus sign deals.

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[mpfunk]

Financial terms of the Leddy and Roszival deals are released. Leddy 2 years at 2.7 million per year. Roszival: 2 years at 2.2 million per year. IMO, Leddy's deal is about .5 million per year too high, but I'm not going to complain too much about that given all the crazy deals given out by other teams.

I hate the Khabibulin signing at 2.0 million per year. Such a waste of 2 million or precious cap room. 2.5 million left to take care of Kruger and 1 more roster spot. I'm thrilled about next year and the Blackhawks will be the cup favorites.

[Flystripper]

Very, very glad to have Leddy back. He is the second best skater on the Hawk's blue line (Keith being the best) and compliments the Hawks speed very nicely. He could block more shots, but I will take his puck handling and speed. Man we just finished and I am already itching for October.

[mpfunk]

Very, very glad to have Leddy back. He is the second best skater on the Hawk's blue line (Keith being the best) and compliments the Hawks speed very nicely. He could block more shots, but I will take his puck handling and speed. Man we just finished and I am already itching for October.

Absolutely Leddy's defense can and should improve, but his ability to pass and start the rush and pinch on offense is invaluable. I disagreed with the Q-Stache's decision to sit him in the finals.

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[mpfunk]

Boston is going to regret the Tuuka Rask signing. Yes, he is a great goaltender, but that is too much to commit to a goalie in the salary cap era.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nhl/bruins/2013/07/10/goaltender-tuukka-rask-signs-8-year-extension-with-boston-bruins/2506761/

[Flystripper]

We already saw them lose Horton. I also think trading away seguin was a mistake.

[mpfunk]

We already saw them lose Horton. I also think trading away seguin was a mistake.

As I really think the Blackhawks could see the Bruins again in the Stanley Cup finals, I'm thrilled with what they did this offseason. Bruins are now officially over the cap, which means they are going to have to shed more salary. Long term that team is in trouble. Next season they project at 7.3 million in cap space with only 15 roster spots filled. They are looking like a potential Blackhawks in 2010 sell off.

Hockey season cannot come soon enough. The Blackhawks really are in great shape to repeat next year.

[mpfunk]

I really think the Blackhawks need to strike now with Hammer. He is every bit a part of this core team and I don't want him hitting the UFA market. Try to get him locked into a deal at 4 to 4.5 million for 3-4 years. It might not be enough to get it done. I can see him demanding 5+ million a year.

[mpfunk]

Kruger locked up for 2-years. No financial details yet. Only losing Bolland, Frolik, and Stalberg is a pretty big win for this team. Although, I wouldn't have traded Frolik and wouldn't have signed a backup goaltender at 2 million per. I'd much rather have Frolik and whatever scraps you can get for a minimum salary goaltender.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/07/12/blackhawks-sign-kruger-to-2-year-deal/

[mpfunk]

Kruger in at 1.325 million per season. I love that deal. I'm really happy to have a valuable penalty killer with potential to do more on such a reasonable contract. This team is currently set for 2 season with room to grow.

[Flystripper]

Kruger locked up for 2-years. No financial details yet. Only losing Bolland, Frolik, and Stalberg is a pretty big win for this team. Although, I wouldn't have traded Frolik and wouldn't have signed a backup goaltender at 2 million per. I'd much rather have Frolik and whatever scraps you can get for a minimum salary goaltender.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/07/12/blackhawks-sign-kruger-to-2-year-deal/

Love it. How much are they paying Raanta?

[mpfunk]

Love it. How much are they paying Raanta?

Raanta is off the cap next year. With Khabibulin I think he will spend the year in Rockford. When he is on the cap, I think he is about 1.3 million.

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[mpfunk]

RedBird your Blues get to lose to the Blackhawks for the first time this season on October 9, 2013. You must be thrilled that your team gets the privilege of losing to the Stanley Cup champions early in the season.

[mpfunk]

Kruger at 1.3 million per season. Love that deal. I like Kruger a lot and think he is going to be a bargain.

The season can't start soon enough.

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[mpfunk]

Blackhawks to extend the Q-Stache's contract.

http://espn.go.com/chicago/nhl/story/_/id/9510190/chicago-blackhawks-extend-coach-joel-quenneville-reports-say

[mpfunk]

Speaking of Quenneville can someone explain to me why Canada goes with Babcock over Quenneville for the coach of their Olympic team? I guess they don't want a 2 time Stanley Cup coach in favor of a 1 time Stanley Cup Coach. I guess they also prefer Stanley Cups won in the previous decade.

[mpfunk]

I'm not going to let this thread die. I'm currently very disappointed in Flystripper and Redbird.

Without a lot of players floating out there, it is time to look at favorites for the Stanley Cup next year. I still think the Blackhawks are the favorites, but repeated in the salary cap era is damn hard. Kings so far have come the closest, but met the superior Blackhawks. Still with the depth the Blackhawks have and Stan Bowman at the helm, they have to be considered the favorites.

As for the Blackhawks biggest competition, I'm going to say the St. Louis Blues. Sure things didn't end well for the Blues, but they have a ton of talent and are inexplicably 7.6 million under the cap with all that talent signed. They were smart and didn't enter into the free agency frenzy and overpay for players. They have flexibility to improve the team now and at the deadline.

Bruins are the 2nd contender behind the Blues, but I'm getting less worried about them each day. The Iginla contract, Rask contract, and Seguin trades are mistakes that are really going to hurt the Bruins.

Bruins are going to be relying heavily on Mark Bartkowski, Torey King, and Dougie Hamilton.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/learned-nhl-teams-keep-throwing-money-rotten-cores-131838848.html

Rask is going to have a much tougher task. The 6 million to Iginla was a mistake. The money could have been better spent elsewhere. For example, the Blackhawks got Leddy and Roszival locked up for only 4.9 million.

If I'm ranking the contenders going into next year it is:

1) Blackhawks
2) Blues
3) Bruins
4) Kings
5) Penguins

I could be persuaded to re-arrange 2-5 in pretty much any order.

[SoCalPat]

Rick Jeanneret re-signs for three more years as Buffalo's play-by-play man. We don't have the best team by a long shot, but our games are more fun to listen to than any team in the league thanks to RJ.

[mpfunk]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/predators-declare-war-blackhawks-fans-invade-nashville-arena-143253505.html#more-65112

Nashville taking efforts to "Keep the Red Out," by making it more difficult for Blackhawks fans to get tickets. I doubt this really does much to limit Blackhawks fans attending the game, it will just make it more costly.

[mpfunk]

Yes, indeed the Blackhawks are the favorites.


Based on what we saw last season, there's little reason to believe that Chicago won't be the best team in the league once again. They are superbly built and lost relatively little in terms of actual strong contributors this summer. They might miss Dave Bolland, they might miss Viktor Stalberg, but they won't miss either so much that they're not an early Cup favorite once again.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/balance-power-shifted-east-nhl-trending-topics-143606473.html#more-65582

[mpfunk]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/predators-declare-war-blackhawks-fans-invade-nashville-arena-143253505.html#more-65112

Nashville taking efforts to "Keep the Red Out," by making it more difficult for Blackhawks fans to get tickets. I doubt this really does much to limit Blackhawks fans attending the game, it will just make it more costly.

St. Louis Blues also make efforts to keep Blackhawks fans out.
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/hockey/professional/morning-skate/blues-single-game-tickets-go-on-sale-saturday/article_0ec40853-0a3b-5104-b23f-e742bc82abea.html

[LA Ute]

742

[Flystripper]

LA you should try to understand it. You really should. It will benefit your life greatly. You even have a good local team to root for right now in the Kings, or you could pick the correct team to root for and choose the Blackhawks.

[mpfunk]

Bowman spent most of the off-season trying to prove he is by far the best GM, only to end it with an awful move.

The Crawford deal is awful and is going to cost this team so much more valuable players. Hammer in particular.

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