23/24 NHL Thread

[Gabriel]

Chris Tanev has been shipped off to the Dallas Stars for a stay at home defensive prospect they drafted in the 2nd round, and another 2nd round selection.

I would have loved a first rounder, but the fact is that Tanev's style is such that, at his age, he's a bit of a risk for a playoff bound team. If he stays healthy, Dallas is getting one of the best playoff-type defensemen in the league... but staying healthy with his style and age is risky, so I don't think a first rounder was realistic.

Hanifin though, will either fetch us a first rounder or a very solid roster player. Markstrom, if there's a move to be made, could get a similar haul to Hanifin... but depending on the goalie market, he could also be moved out for what would amount to a slightly better return than Tanev got us. Trading goalies is a crapshoot. His play would suggest that he's not regressing, and last year was just not a great one, and he's got term with a reasonable cap hit. If I'm Conroy, I'm really putting the pressure on teams to get a first round pick and someone who can immediately slot into the roster with high upside. If that move isn't there, I switch gears to Vladar and move him for the best deal I can swing.

Wolf needs to be one of the two goalies when we get past the deadline. Connie cannot, under any circumstances, get through the deadline without moving a goalie. One of the biggest issues this team has had for years has been prospects losing faith in the organization because they're not being given opportunities. Dustin Wolf is potentially a generational goalie. You need to show him that there's opportunity to be seized, or he'll leave as soon as he gets the chance.

[gunnar hendershow]

I was actually thinking which players expected to be moved can fetch 1st rounders or a "1st round quality" young player. Hanifin, Guentzel, and maybe Henrique? Feels like a stretch on him but the center market is super thin so for a team looking for one he's the best out there.

[Toe]

Mark Giordano took a nasty bump into the boards, and right after the game the Leafs made a trade...

Why the Maple Leafs traded for Ilya Lyubushkin, again (sportsnet.ca)

I don't think Lybushkin is a big upgrade, but he is solid depth at a position of weakness. With the Ducks and Hurricanes retaining part of his salary, it also leaves room for the Leafs to add more. They've had to play some AHL-level players over the last few weeks to cover for a myriad of injuries - and the depth was thin even when everyone was 100%.

[Toe]

Senators trading winger Vladimir Tarasenko to Panthers (sportsnet.ca)

I think the Panthers add a player that can add some pop to their line-up. Tarasenko was always going to get moved unless the Sens really over-performed, so I think they got a decent price for him. I wonder if they move Chychrun as well, since he isn't signed past next season.

[Gabriel]

Flames ownership throwing their weight around again and handcuffing their GMs. Nothing new here.

Markstrom to Jersey was apparently a done deal as far as Conroy and Markstrom were concerned. Don Moloney stepped in on behalf of ownership and nixed the whole thing, which prompted Markstrom's comments from the other day about the mishandling of his situation and his displeasure with the whole thing.

Why even bother to hire a guy with a "unique vision", if you're just going to pull the same old bullshit as owners? I get that the tipping point for ownership was salary retention in the deal, but look at the market. You're going to need to be comfortable retaining salary if you want to get good value back in most cases. Buyers don't have lots of cap space to add without subtracting or having salary retained.

[gunnar hendershow]

Hanifin is going to Vegas with Calgary netting a 1st rounder as part of the return. Another team is going to be in the final trade package as well.

[Toe]

Maple Leafs acquiring defenceman Joel Edmundson from Capitals for draft picks (sportsnet.ca)

Basically the same thing as the Lybushkin trade. Since Montreal was already picking up part of his salary, the Caps retaining in the deal means the cap hit for Toronto is minimal. Leafs don't have much left to trade, so I'd expect this is it for them. 

[Gabriel]

13 hours ago, gunnar hendershow said:

Hanifin is going to Vegas with Calgary netting a 1st rounder as part of the return. Another team is going to be in the final trade package as well.

A 2025 First (which could move to 2026 if Vegas decides to trade the 2025 pick before the deadline, which is weird), and a 3rd that turns into a 2nd if Vegas wins a round this playoffs. Also netted us 26 year-old offensive-minded d-man Daniil Miromanov. He hasn't done much in the NHL, but reports I've read paint him as a someone who is counted on to run the power play from the back end. He won't replace Hanifin's production, but I trust Conroy and the scouts, because a lot of his adds have looked like head-scratchers at first, and then worked out better than the fans could have hoped.

The last bit left for Connie to take care of is to make sure that he can get ownership to sign off on a Markstrom trade before the deadline. This isn't about tanking, because the goal is to get Wolf into games and let the new guys just run wild to see what we've got. It wouldn't be the first time that a team has gutted a bunch of veterans and ended up performing better.

Moving Markstrom is about three things. Maximizing the return, getting Wolf his playing time and taking care of an upset player. I fear that keeping Markstrom past the deadline could result in his numbers dropping and hurting his stock come summer time. Consciously or not, unhappy players tend to go through cold streaks more often and for longer than others.

If ownership won't sign off on a deal, expect a final-hour trade of Vladar for a bag of pucks and maybe a cap dump to allow his salary to fit with the new team.

[gunnar hendershow]

A somewhat busy week ended with a real blockbuster.

 

[Michelle Branch]

 

Edited March 14 by Michelle Branch

[Krabby]

1 minute ago, Michelle Branch said:

https://twitter.com/penguins/status/1768262286244790701?t=6Lm8V8C4Tv0A737T-TKJqg&s=19

 

[Szumi]

 

 

[Toe]

Zach Hyman scoring 50 goals is awesome. No one could have expected that. I liked him on the Leafs, but him becoming a really productive player with the Oilers (with some help from McDavid and Draisaitl) is really cool. 

[ThrillhouseMAX]

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/39931044/arizona-coyotes-players-informed-team-relocation-utah

 

Coyotes to Utah next season.

[Pooker]

1 hour ago, ThrillhouseMAX said:

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/39931044/arizona-coyotes-players-informed-team-relocation-utah

 

Coyotes to Utah next season.

I don't even care that they have sucked for a while now. I'm stoked to have the NHL coming and hope I can go to a couple games next year.

[gunnar hendershow]

Getting that team out of Arizona has been long overdue. The latest twist in their arena saga was so embarrassing, playing in a tiny college arena.

I can't think of a market that got so many second chances to make it work.

Salt Lake City is a smaller media market and they'll be playing at the same time as the Jazz, so it'll be interesting to see how much staying power they have against the generally more popular basketball.

[Pooker]

8 hours ago, gunnar hendershow said:

Getting that team out of Arizona has been long overdue. The latest twist in their arena saga was so embarrassing, playing in a tiny college arena.

I can't think of a market that got so many second chances to make it work.

Salt Lake City is a smaller media market and they'll be playing at the same time as the Jazz, so it'll be interesting to see how much staying power they have against the generally more popular basketball.

They have the advantage in SLC tho, of not having professional baseball or football to compete with. And the general consensus so far of people here in Utah has been one of excitement. I think as long as they can keep ticket prices down, especially the first few years, they'll do great.

[Gabriel]

18 hours ago, Pooker said:

I don't even care that they have sucked for a while now. I'm stoked to have the NHL coming and hope I can go to a couple games next year.

New ownership is expected to be highly aggressive in the free agency market, and the prospects and picks the team already have will help them be aggressive on the trade front. I don't think you're going to see this same team in Utah.

You're going into an unproven hockey market. You have to ice a competitive and exciting team from day one or we'll be talking about relocation again.

[Pooker]

3 hours ago, Gabriel said:

You're going into an unproven hockey market. You have to ice a competitive and exciting team from day one or we'll be talking about relocation again.

It's not totally unproven. The Grizzlies have averaged at least 5,000 fans for the last 10 years. Frozen Fury sells out every year. There is definitely a market for it. Ryan Smith, the will-be owner, wants to bring championships to Utah, no matter what sport, so I don't think he will be content with a losing team and will put forth the effort to win.

[Ruki]

5000 fans though is no way to sustain a franchise. Hopefully the shiny-new-toy feeling will be enough to draw in a large crowd.

 

But also, more importantly... Matthews has hit 69 goals.