Out of town 2021-22

[seventeen]

The Devils are a team that's taking a jump this year. Goal, to me is the only question mark and I'm also not sure they have a pure scorer like Pacioretty or Caufield. Bratt was their top scorer last year with 26 goals. They could sure use a sniper like Josh Anderson or Mike Hoffman.

Good up the middle with Hughes, Hischier and Haula. Some decent wingers with Bratt, Palat, Mercer and Sharangovich. The D is strong....Hamilton, Severson, Graves, Marino and one of the better defensive dmen in the league, Siegenthaler. I'm not even including Nemec.

If reasonably healthy that team easily makes the playoffs. This might be the year that Hughes takes off and gets 100+ points.

[Disgruntled70sHab]

[NWTHabsFan]

Emelin absolutely rocked draft stud Michkov in a KHL pre season tilt. The super kid is reportedly to miss at least two months as a result of the injury from the play. Ouch. Welcome to the bigs, kid.

[Scotty D]

1986 stnlaey cup finals a school night my father let me stay up late to watch it with him which was my first real memory of dad first off being home as he travleled often for work and secondly taking an interest in my love for the Candiens as he is not in the slightest a follower of any sport.

46 seconds left after the flames had scored just a short time earlier making a 4 to 1 lead now 4 to 2 and i had went from celebration to edge of my seat the lead became now just a goal the announcer said "here is mullen he shoots and scores", i said "f---" dad says "quit your swearing or your going to bed !!!" i don't know to this day if he would have followd up on the threat but i did not take the chance.

[seventeen]

Thanks Scotty. I don't remember much of that game, but I loved seeing names like Lalor, David Maley and the grinders who played such a huge role, McPhee and Skrudlund. Larry Robinson played 78 games that year and had 82 points. He was 34. When they trot out the all time great defensemen, I don't think he gets nearly enough credit. The combination of size, skating, scoring and that intangible that few of the other greats had, the 'policeman' status, has to put him in the top 5 all-time. I might even be convinced to rank him higher. Other than Orr, is there anyone better?

[jkr]

I can remember that final game in 86. When they went up 4-1 I thought they had it in the bag. Then it was 4-3 and I was scared sh!tless. I vaguely remember Roy making a big stop in the final minute. I'm not sure if that's what happened but it was probably the longest minute of hockey I have ever watched.

It hard to believe that Roy was only 20 years old.

[NWTHabsFan]

That’s a lot of Benjamin’s.

[Andrew]

Aug 4, 2022 22:23:13 GMT -5 NWTHabsFan said:

That’s a lot of Benjamin’s.

I don’t like that contract for Calgary. He won’t play his first game of the deal for another 14 months, after he turns 30. He’s not going to be elite for much of it.

[folatre]

I have no idea if Montreal's management would have pursued Huberdeau as a UFA, but I think the Habs dodged a bullet here.

Yes, the cap will be rising over time. But that contract will be a problem for Calgary down the line. The Flames will likely be seeing much different and less effective version of Huberdeau over the last four or five years of this deal.

[NWTHabsFan]

I guess Calgary had to do something after the exodus this summer to try and stay competitive. Like many, I really don’t like this contract for the Flames for the last half of it. Huberdeau has a NMC for the first six years and 12 team NTC for the last year. Yikes. His retirement deal.

As much as I don’t like it for the Flames down the road, I am super happy the Habs avoided this. It might quiet some of the clickbait and message board rumours down a bit (although the PLD stuff won’t go away anytime soon, but that is something that could work down the road a bit).

[Tankdriver]

Agree. This is a contract you give a 25 year old, not one who turns 30. The structure is also more towards bonuses making it buyout difficult.

[folatre]

And let us not forget that Montreal also should count its blessings that 34 year old Letang has a rich new six year contract with Pittsburgh. Huberdeau and Letang are fantastic players (Letang will be HOF) but buying huge term on the back nine of their careers would have been a strategic blunder for a club that probably will not be playoff competitive for three more seasons.

[NWTHabsFan]

Bergeron deal finalized. One year, $5M and NMC.

[NWTHabsFan]

Crouse at 5 years $4.3M aav. Okie dokie.

[seventeen]

Aug 8, 2022 10:17:52 GMT -5 NWTHabsFan said:

Crouse at 5 years $4.3M aav. Okie dokie.

A kid who barely broke a ppg in his D + 1 year in juniour, has averaged .32 ppg in his career and finally had a decent year (last year, his contract year, hmmmm)
with .52 ppg or 43 points for a full 82 game season. I saw him play a couple of times last year and while he was improved over his less than impressive previous years when he was looking like a bust as the 11th overall pick in a strong draft year, he was hardly a play driver. Bill Armstrong is an excellent scout, but as we know, it takes more than that to be a good GM.

[seventeen]

Aug 8, 2022 10:16:04 GMT -5 NWTHabsFan said:

Bergeron deal finalized. One year, $5M and NMC.

That's too bad. Oh well, it just postpones the rebuild for another year. The Bergeron/Krejci duo are back to lead the Bruins to the promised land...at ages 37 and 36.

[NWTHabsFan]

And the Krejci deal. Back to the future.

[folatre]

Boston will be kicking about $5 million in bonuses for vets (Bergeron and Krejci) into their 2023-24 cap structure because when the Zacha arb ruling comes in, they will be over the cap for 2022-23. And as every GM in the league knows all too well, it is just about impossible to move money out this offseason.

Maybe they do not really care about 2023-24 anyway, considering this is likely the end of the line for the two vet centres.

In the here and now, this is not good news for a club like Ottawa that is finally spending money and assets to put a good product on the ice. I would have to imagine if the Sens cannot make the playoffs, Debrincat will be on the move again next summer and Dorion/DJ Smith could certainly get fired.

[seventeen]

Can't help thinking the Bruins are still in trouble playoff wise. Bergeron is 37, Krejci 36 and Krejci has missed a year playing in a lower league. Can he get his timing back? Will his legs hold up? Marchand and McAvoy will both miss time early in the season. And who's in goal? Ullmark, Swayback? CAP wise, I guess they'll get some temporary LTIR relief with Marchand and McAvoy, but when they're healthy, there may be a problem.

Anyway I can see why they're all in this year. Their centre situation will be a dog's breakfast in 23/24. Bergeron and Krejci gone; Coyle and Smith their numbers 1 and 2. Five UFA's besides the above. A Pasternak contract to work out, though that won't be a problem with all the salaries they're losing. Bodies will be their problem. Either you UFA yourself to death, or you start re-building. The pipeline isn't exactly bursting with hot prospects.

Can't wait.

[Tankdriver]

Swayman is a very good goalie. The Bruins will be fine this year. Take this years standings mix up the top 8, but it will still be the same 8 teams making the playoffs unless Ottawa can knock off Caps from crossing over.

[folatre]

Yeah, I see Boston being in a really good place in net. Swayman profiles to be a stand alone #1 down the line as he further matures. And I believe Ullmark is underrated (I get it that he is 29 years old and only has around 160 starts in the NHL), but he is a big guy and his numbers are very good.

The question mark for the Bruins is whether or not they can avoid a slow start to the season. And, then, assuming they can avoid losing touch with the pack early, can aging vets like Bergeron and Krejci stay healthy over the long grind?

[NWTHabsFan]

Sucks for Max. I guess this could be another great LTIR regular season caper once again. It will be interesting to see how the Canes manage/play with their cap space this season now.

[NWTHabsFan]

Lefebvre gets an NHL job. Maybe he can channel his old Bulldogs/IceCaps/Rocket “magic” and help make that unprotected Florida first rounder better for the Habs. Come on Sly, we are rooting for ya.

[NWTHabsFan]

Sad news. All the best to him and his family in this battle.

[Willie Dog]

Best of luck to him... a class act

[seventeen]

Yep. He and Inge Hammerstrom arrived at the same time, two of the very first Swedish players to play in the NHL. Harold Ballard described Hammerstrom's play as being able to go into the corner with dozen eggs and not break a single one. Clearly not a fan. He was a perimeter player but still had some skill. Salming, OTOH, was elite. A true puck moving defenseman with 787 career points in 1148 games. In his prime he was putting up a point per game. And he was good defensively as well. Took a lot of crap from all those kindly Canadian players who saw the writing on the wall if more Swedish guys came over. I was a real fan of his, despite the fact he wore a Leaf jersey. Let's hope medical research comes up with something to help out him and all other ALS sufferers.

[seventeen]

Aug 9, 2022 17:41:36 GMT -5 folatre said:

Yeah, I see Boston being in a really good place in net. Swayman profiles to be a stand alone #1 down the line as he further matures. And I believe Ullmark is underrated (I get it that he is 29 years old and only has around 160 starts in the NHL), but he is a big guy and his numbers are very good.

The question mark for the Bruins is whether or not they can avoid a slow start to the season. And, then, assuming they can avoid losing touch with the pack early, can aging vets like Bergeron and Krejci stay healthy over the long grind?

I like their chances of having a lot of things go wrong for them. All the New England sports clubs had a long run of success and I simply think the pendulum has swung the other way.

[folatre]

Seventeen, I hope so. Even with all the Leafs love in the media the last few years, there is no team that I have a more visceral dislike for than Boston.

I know many hockey observers (on habsrus and everywhere) have been speculating about the timing of the decline of Boston, Washington, and Pittsburgh. Thus far, those clubs have proven to be plenty resilient in the regular season. I agree that Boston is vulnerable this season because of the injuries. Pittsburgh not making the playoffs may have to wait until 2024-25 in my opinion.

[NWTHabsFan]

Good luck to Josh. Too bad about all those injuries and stalled development.

[seventeen]

Aug 12, 2022 10:25:59 GMT -5 folatre said:

Seventeen, I hope so. Even with all the Leafs love in the media the last few years, there is no team that I have a more visceral dislike for than Boston.

I know many hockey observers (on habsrus and everywhere) have been speculating about the timing of the decline of Boston, Washington, and Pittsburgh. Thus far, those clubs have proven to be plenty resilient in the regular season. I agree that Boston is vulnerable this season because of the injuries. Pittsburgh not making the playoffs may have to wait until 2024-25 in my opinion.

One of those early doomsayers is me. That's a problem for me. I can see a trend, but I seem to jump on the bandwagon too soon. If I like a stock, guys...wait 6 months, then buy it.

Management for those teams have done a decent job of patching the holes. There's always a key, elite player on the roster of successful teams and until that guy is actually gone, it's too soon to ring the death knell bell. Crosby, Bergeron, Ovechkin. Their teams are still viable until they finally leave. Boston should be an interesting club this year. Will Bergeron lose half a step? What will their goaltending be like? Can Lindholm have an injury free year? What will Krejci's game be like after missing a year of the fastest paced hockey on the planet? Enquiring minds are.....enquiring.