Check in regularly for the listing of today’s notable NHL free-agent signings and trades. Analysis of the top deals will appear later today in my Soapbox section.
Milan Lucic signs a seven-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers
Tampa Bay Lightning re-sign defenseman Victor Hedman to an eight-year deal worth $7.875 million annually.
Edmonton Oilers have signed left wing Milan Lucic to a seven-year contract worth $42 million.
Buffalo Sabres sign right wing Kyle Okposo to a seven-year, $42 million contract contract.
Vancouver Canucks sign winger Loui Eriksson to a six-year, $36 million deal.
Boston Bruins sign forward David Backes to a five-year, $30 million contract.
New York Islanders signed left wing Andrew Ladd to a seven-year deal worth $5.5 million annually.
Detroit Red Wings sign center Frans Nielsen to a six-year contract worth $5.25 million per season.
Minnesota Wild sign center Eric Staal to a three-year contract worth $3.5 million per season.
Calgary Flames sign right wing Troy Brouwer to a four-year deal worth $4.25 million annually.
The Florida Panther signed goaltender James Reimer to a five-year deal worth $3.4 million per season.
St. Louis Blues bring back winger David Perron on a two-year contract worth $7.75 million.
The Montreal Canadiens have signed right wing Alexander Radulov to a one-year contract worth $5.75 million
The San Jose Sharks signed winger Mikkel Boedker to a four-year deal worth $4 million per season.
Dan Hamhuis signs a two-year contract with the Dallas Stars worth $3.75 million per season.
Detroit Red Wings sign Thomas Vanek to a one-year, $2.6 million contract.
Brian Campbell is returning to the Chicago Blackhawks on a one-year deal worth $1.5 million base salary plus $750K 10-game bonus.
Detroit Red Wings re-sign center Darren Helm to a five-year deal worth $3.85 million per season.
Tampa Bay Lightning re-signed goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy to a three-year extension worth $3.5 million AAV.
Arizona Coyotes sign winger Jamie McGinn to a three-year, $10 million contract.
Philadelphia Flyers sign forward Dale Weise to a four-year, $9.4 million contract.
Toronto Maple Leafs signed winger Matt Martin to a four-year deal worth $2.5 million AAV.
Colorado Avalanche sign forward Joe Colborne to a two-year deal worth $2.5 million per season.
New York Islanders sign forward Jason Chimera to a two-year deal worth $2.25 million annually.
Boston Bruins re-sign defenseman John-Michael LIles to a one-year, $2 million contract.
New Jersey Devils sign defenseman Ben Lovejoy to a three-year contract worth $2.666 million annually.
Carolina Hurricanes sign winger Lee Stempniak to a two-year deal worth $2.5 million AAV.
Minnesota Wild sign right wing Chris Stewart to a two-year deal worth $2.3 million total.
Winnipeg Jets sign forward Shawn Matthias to a two-year contract worth $2.125 million annually.
San Jose Sharks sign defenseman David Schlemko to a four-year contract worth $2.1 million per season.
Calgary Flames sign goaltender Chad Johnson to a one-year, $1.7 million deal.
New York Rangers sign winger Michael Grabner to a two-year deal worth $1.65 million per season.
Los Angeles Kings sign right wing Teddy Purcell to a one-year, $1.6 million deal.
Los Angeles Kings sign defenseman Tom Gilbert to a one-year, $1.4 million contract.
Carolina Hurricanes sign forward Viktor Stalberg to a one-year, $1.4 million deal.
New Jersey Devils sign winger Devante Smith-Pelly to a two-year, $2.6 million contract.
New Jersey Devils sign forward Vernon Fiddler to a one-year, $1.25 million contract.
New Jersey Devils sign defenseman Jon Merrill to a two-year, $2.275 million deal.
Colorado Avalanche sign defenseman Fedor Tyutin to a one-year, $2 million contract.
St. Louis Blues sign goalie Carter Hutton to a two-year deal worth $1.125 million annually.
Montreal Canadiens sign Al Montoya to a one-year contract worth $950K.
Washington Capitals sign winger Brett Connolly to a one-year, $850K contract.
Colorado Avalanche sign defenseman Patrick Wiercioch to a one-year contract worth $800K.
Edmonton Oilers sign goaltender Jonas Gustavsson to a one-year, $800K deal.
Expensive, but he is very important to the core of the team.
Who… Lucic? One of the few players who now makes Stepans contract look decent. Seriously… who a couple days ago would have looked at a lucic and larsson deal for hall as remotely fair to the oilers? Best and maybe underrated signing so far is Neilson. reasonable rate and term for a guy with his skillset and age.
I think the rate is reasonable but the term is long for a 32 year old Nielson. Loved him as an Isle and sad to see him go.
Lol. The fact that you continuously use Stepan as a “bad contract” is hilarious, but showing u have absolutely zero idea of the player and deal in the same breath!
The Oilers are idiots. They just gave up a former first overall pick in Hall for an average defenseman, at best, in Nielsen, with no extra compensation in picks. That is how dumb they are. Who trades a young, former first overall pick for an average D-Man…only the Oilers. If the Oilers got a first round pick in the deal, it would have been fine. Lucic is going to be a bust in EDM, only because of the NHL taking out the two line pass, which killed power forwards, so they are now paying a slow, low point producing player to only protect McDavid and their new super Finn, but Lucic won’t be able to keep up. If the NHL put the two line pass back in, signing Lucic would be brilliant, because the offensive pressure that would recreate, 5 on 5, which would allow Lucic to park himself in front of the net, Wendal Clark style, or Rick Tocchet style, creating screens, deflecting pucks…creating havoc. Taking the two line pass out of the league was so dumb and it killed scoring and power forwards. With the two line pass in, defenseman used to put up a 90 – 120 point per year and top forwards hit 120 points for sure and now it is a miracle if just one player in the league hits 90 or 100 points. The only time a team can park a disruptive player in a game in front of the net now, without a two line pass, is on the power play, which is why scoring is brutally down, even with sub par netminders. In the 80’s and early 90’s, there would be up to 30 players scoring more than 85 points, with the two line pass in play, with hall of fame goaltenders all throughout the league. Lucic would have put up 80 points per year in the 80’s and 90’s, parking himself in front of the net, 5 on 5, but now it will be amazing if he puts of 45 – 50 points at $6 million per year, mostly being PP points. The Oilers could have found a different player that could protect McDavid and their new super Finn, that could actually keep up with them, for much less and far better than Lucic. That is just my opinion and I don’t mind if I am completely wrong one bit for EDM’s sake. NASH seemed interested in Hall and Yakupov for Weber and I would have taken that trade instead. Adding a decent skating forward after that would offer protection for McDavid and the Finn at an ultra cheap price. Yakupov had done nothing for them anyway and NASH was looking for forwards, as they are overloaded with defense. Just my opinion and I honestly hope that I am wrong.
Another guy the Nucks wont get….lmao
Eriksson > then Lucic + Edmonton will buy him out in two years and he’ll sign in Vancouver for cheep
Edmonton vs Vancouver….puck goes into the corner. Who comes out with it? Beast Lucic? Or the Concussion Kid Eriksson?
Canucks are softer now than before….triple shot of soft on the first line…finally found the third sister…lol
Nucks are a joke
the sisters as you call them have ownd the oilers for years, so how does it feel to get bit up by sister for all does years 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Wow Ron, you sound kinda bitter. Is it just the Nucks or every team that’s B$#ch slapped the Oilers over the last decade? That’s a whole lotta hate to go around if it’s the latter 🙂
It’s beyond time to stop with the “sisters” comments. Very sad perspective on life.
Ha ha ha…..Has move Subban due to character issues sign Radulov. Ha ha ha .
There has to be a method to the Habs madness .. Hope it works out for them! ” Radulov” could be solid! ??
I would have rather that Sweeney have signed radulov to 1 yr chance than backes at 5 yrs 6 per?? If radulov scores some goals with Webber and price at the backend it pains me to say they will be decent
canadiens have just signed alex radulov
PK couldn’t play in Montreal – but Radulov can?
When a player thinks he is bigger than the team it just doesn’t work. Look at some of the signings today backes, okposo,Nielsen all too much money and way too much term. All radulov is at one yr is money if it works great if not he is gone
Backes is a perfect Bruin
Wiese a perfect Flyer – they both fir the mold for their new teams
Kreider traded to Edmonton for Rnh?
???
It was a false tweet.
What Kreider is inconsistent…. RNH way more talented..then again New Jersey stole Taylor Hall for Adam Larson…so why not try !
Forget all these UFA’s, I would love to see the Canucks offer Nikita Kucherov to a massive offer sheet. TB just signed Stamkos and has lots of players to re-up over this season and next. 7.5 for 7 years costs them a 1st, 2nd and 3rd. He just turned 23, lead TB in the playoffs and is just scratching the surface on his potential. This gives them a legitimate top line sniper for today and the future.
forget the Canucks , the Leafs shoud offer up 8 mill RFA to Kucherov
Holland is getting the band back together again. And for what to be the 8th seed and bounced in the playoffs. The Wings need to go in a new direction and stop this stop gap measure. Almost for 4 Mil for Helm, way overpriced. He is a good 4th line guy but does not have good hands and will be anchor for 5 years. Not a good signing. I think the Holland magic is beginning to show some tarnish. Wondering if the Datysuk trade was more Phoenix then Holland
Someone please save My Wings from Kenny Holland!! If it’s not painfully obvious by now, that lazy piece of doo doo didn’t build those championship teams! It’s was Bowman and Nill. Since they left,nothing but bad signings and freefall!!
Holland never had any magic, he just got credit for all the great work by Scottie Bowman, Jim Nill, Yzerman and others. Just look at the moves and trades Dallas and Tampa have made with Nill and Yzerman, compare that to what Holland has done to the Wings since they left. Have you ever had a boss that was an idiot and somehow always got credit for the great work of his assistants? That’s Ken Holland.
Habs are goin to be a pain to play against…Shaw, Gally, Radulov and Weber
There are defnitly nicer teams to play against
As a Rangers fan , great to see all these over priced signings by other clubs for a change.
The last bad free agent that signed in NY was Richards in 2011. And they got a mulligan on that one because of the amnesty buy out.
What about Tanner Glass??? The guy whos buried in the minors.
Actually Tanner Glass was recalled early in the season. Played 57 NHL games, was 18th in the league in hits, 1st in NY in hits, is a 4th liner making 1.45 aav, and 1 in actual salary this year.
Ideal player? Not really, but to compare that deal to some of the other deals in the league or currently being signed is grasping at straws.
But I’m sure you knew all that when you made the statement.
And an absolute anchor.
Tanner Glass was a favorite of Alain Vigneault despite frequently hurting his team when on the ice. Some Vancouver loyalty that carried over. Tough character but can’t keep up with today’s game anymore.
Mr. Pink,
It’s safe to say you don’t really know much about Glass either way…. I mean he was buried in the minors 11 minutes ago. So how much have u actually seen?
Amen brother – Rangers and Leafs both
David backers.. Boston Bruins.. Bummer.. Love that guy
Andrew Ladd 7 yr 5.5? Good luck w that fish sticks
Reimer for 5 yrs at 3.5 WTF?
Succession plan…
Seriously right? 7 years? The AAV isn’t horrible but the term is brutal.
Vegas baby, Vegas.
Every player that gets signed, it seems the desperation just gets worse and worse!
Yup. And it’s great it’s not us for a change
Backes at 6 million??? Wow Sweeney continues his questionable moves! That’s a head scratcher…….
I don’t dislike the $’s but I hate the term. It was 1st announced as a one year deal, I was shocked… then the real story came out.
I said this morning he was going between 5.5-6.5 for 3 years at least. Which I thought was risky but…..
I like backes as a player but ya I think the term is too long and Sweeney should have focused more on defense. Backes is good at both ends of the ice
A lot of soon to be regrettable deals were signed today. I think I can count on …2-3 fingers how many decent ones were made.
The future of the NHL will be interesting. Without significant growth/ cap climb, I think the bubble / bad contract moving musical chairs game will eventually have to burst.. Right?
I would think so……..something will burst
Agreed ! almost as bad as these NBA contracts holy WTF !
Eric staal for 3 hrs 3.5, wtf were the Rangers thinking when they traded for this guy. Joke. Only thing he ever did was cheap shot his brother mark , what. Joke this guy is.
Didn’t like the deal, but Eric was a great player once upon a time. Always liked the guy!
3.5 for 13 goals for a guy aging fast…maybe we can send marc to join him
Again, Vegas.
like David Backes don’t like the contract because of age,but after that huge Krug contract you have to wonder about Sweeney, it also looks with the John-Michael LIles signing that the Bruins are going with just about the same D as last year and another # 14th pick in next years draft 1st rd
I haven’t been impressed with Sweeney at all yet and I’m the same like backes don’t like the contract
We needed dmen in a bad way and it was a swing and a miss on all them
It’s only July. Calm down. The years might be a bit much, but we needed a bit more touchness, and that’s what Backes brings to the table
JOE,
I’ll agree the length of the contract with David Backes is a little disappointing but then again what did everyone expect? He was going to get at least 4 years, likely 5 anyways even based on his age. A lot of fans (including myself) wanted the Bruins to make a splash and at least bring in one of the top names available in free agency… Bruins went out and did that today
@chad but don’t you think defense should have been the first priority?
anyone hear about a Spooner and Subban package trade rumor for a DMan
Grabner ? Talk about reaching..
You didn’t expect a Lucic, Ericksson, Okposo did you? The writing was on the wall when they couldn’t move a salary out in the weeks leading up to today. They lost a lot of pieces in the bottom 6. Moore, Stalberg, Staal, etc. Grabner, Gerbe , Clandering aren’t exactly sexy signings, but the bottom 6, and depth d have to be filled out. Like it or not, the top 6 were set before today.
Retool to compete with the teams that beat you in the playoffs….Pens+Tampa.
Speed. Puck possession. Grabner is solid PK guy
Agreed. Too many Ranger fans can’t keep their eyes off the shiny prize, regardless of the history.
99.9% of them couldn’t wait to get Nash, re-sign Lundqvist, sign Brad Richards, Gomez, Drury… Until they get their wish!
You have to love what Toronto`s done, the richest team in the NHL, nothing at all and it`s perfect.
Sticking with the Shanaplan. Rebuild with youth, don’t blow your brains out with expensive UFA signings.
Exactly Lyle
And Lyle, don`t know what the weathers like where you are, but in the Okanagan it`s beautiful. Thank you for you spending your day keeping us up to date. Allowing us to spend our day enjoying it. Thank you for a great job as always, Lyle. Hope the weather`s perfect where you are and you get to enjoy at least some of it.
Weather’s beautiful here too. Hoping the frenzy dies down sufficiently this evening to enjoy the fireworks.
Those ufa signings will come in a couple of years when they find out who can’t play lyle!
I don’t know with that defence you would think they would learn from the oilers rebuild a few veteran dmen could go along way
They just might, but the key is they`re not going to overpay to get him. Toronto again will have cap space to make that trade down the road, possible with a team that`s in cap hell. It`s gonna give them options that jumping into the free agent frenzy would have taken away by over spending on July 1. It`s perfect because there isn`t any long term solutions for them here.
2nd richest team now – Rangers overtook em the last couple of years. Pretty happy they haven’t done anything, this FA frenzy day has been more of us Leafs fan holding our breath and hoping the Leafs don’t make a signing to regret. That being said a couple of guys out there that the Leafs can take a shot at Wisniewski (Spelling?), Polak, Schultz are all guys the Leafs should look at if they are cheap on a short term
Ya not gonna break the bank but would help with the young guys
@Tazi Signing younger guys like Piri, Connelly, and Schultz are more or less like stocking your farm team. 2 way contracts, put them on the Marlies and give them an opportunity to earn their way up to the Leafs. Same as college free agents and undrafted jrs. Toronto does have 8 unused contracts right now.
I suspect a lot of the fans here have seen a lot more of him than I have, but…
I kinda like the Pens signing of Stuart Percy to a two way deal that gives them RFA rights going forward.
Why did the Leafs give up on him?
Concussions, injuries…not really the new regimes guy bit of a skating issue as well.
I think it had more to do with he was drafted by Nonis, than his abilities. I didn`t think he really got much of a shot because of in T.O.
What is everyone’s thought on the okposo signing? A lot of term and money but orielly eichel reinhart aren’t Tavares but he could still put up points with those guys
It’s fine, Buffalo had the cap space and doesn’t shy from spending it. There in win now mode. When GM’s sign guys on July 1rst there competing against others to get the guy signed, ends result is overpayment, to much term or both,
Take the Lucic case. There is no doubt in my mind that he had offers for the same dollar but less term from other teams. Edmonton paid the price to out bid others. Righ or wrong I. The end it is what it takes come July 1rst.
I said a couple of days ago someone was going to make a significant overpayment for Okposo. I still believe that to be the case. 6 mil per for 7 years, I’m just as happy the Isles let him go.
Any opinions on the Okposo deal? I like it. Having missed out on Stamkos i think the Sabres snatched up the next best scorer. Kane might be on his way out the door too.
I think this is the right place for Okposo. Might be paid 500K too much but that peanuts compared to the high prices for UFAs. He is a veteran but still young enough to fit in Buffalo’s long term plans.
If Okposo plays the same wing as Kane, I wonder if those “not happy with Kane” stories are true maybe Kane is expendible, if not and Kane isn’t going anywhere, that’s a nice tough and tougher 1-2 punch on that wing.
If Kane would ” grow up” I could see Buffalo in the playoff hunt this yr kulikov will help also
Am I reading this right? Joe Coborne signed at 5M per year??? I don’t get this deal at all
Read it again, Tazi. $2.5 million per.
Thanks Lyle! it got changed on TSN tracker which was showing 2 years for 10M @ $2.5 per
I mean 2 years – 10M @ 5M per (is what was originally on the tracker)
I had to read it a few times ealier just to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating.
No worries. 😀
Matt Martin a Leaf now – I’m not enamored by this signing but we’ll see how it pans out. Maybe he is best buddies with JT and can bring him over in two years time! We can all dream right?
In TML we trust!! Best signing today!! Thanks Matt Martin for giving us a Ontario discount???? Big boy with skill “respect”
Lou, please sign Michael Paliotta and Luke Schenn and lets play hockey!!
Size yes skill………not so much ? 2.5 for a fourth liner we will see but not a big risk
@Antoni the only way/reason Toronto should sign Luke is that he loses 20-30 lbs. This way he can regain some of his foot speed and be of some use as a 5/6 defenceman. Luke tipping the scales at 230/235 is his biggest problem right now. When he came into the NHL he was 200/205 and he could turn with the forwards when he had to and still throw a hard hit. He bulked up and couldn`t pivot as well and found out he slowed down and couldn`t catch people to hit them. His development quickly went down hill from there. I`d say no to Luke at 230, he`d just be wasting a roster spot that should go to one of the Marlies.
Don’t want Mathews Marner Nylander and guys like that killing penalties and blocking shots…I Ddint love the signing but there is a place on this team for a guy like Martin
the guys a hockey player great salary also
that a boy Lou
Kinda agree, tho he just turned 27 and has size. Not a bad signing if Toronto really is gonna give Marner a long look in the fall. Martin will surely be riding shotgun for Marner.
Colin Greening – re-upped / Matt Martin as a 4th liner for the future! My opinion ?
It will be good to have his physicality amongst all the young and small skilled guys they have been picking up,
I honk it is a great signing by the leafs, he will likely become. Pa fan fave to so it will be good for marketing as well. Just wait till he mucks it up wih Chris Neil. Fun times to come.
I loved Martin as an Isle and would have been more than happy if they had signed him to this deal. Character guy who works hard every night. He’ll provide some physical play and support for all those young skilled forwards. Accept him for what he is and you’ll love him.
Somebody check on George.
Ottawa is nailing it today.
Not sure in what but they are nailing it !
Ottawa is complicated, so many different ways to go with the team. I think Dorion is go to take the year and hope they remain healthy and evaluate it then decide who to go and come.
Here is what I think of the Canadian teams moves on deadline day.
Montreal – B+
Despite what I think overall of this very strange offseason for Montreal, and the irony of trading PK for so called “personality” issues then signing Radulov, overall Montreal managed to get one of the more skilled players availabe, and while the cap hit is high, the risk is very low on a one year deal. So in judging this signing by itself, adding Radulov and a competent back up without binding up the cap long term is a good day.
Calgary – A
Two very good signings. Brouwer does most of what Lucic does, in fact over the last 3 seasons, Brouwer has 64 goals to Lucic’s 62. Lucic has a little more skill overall, but Brouwer is tough, hits, scores goals, has a championship, plays well in the playoffs, and costs 1.5 million less and 3 fewer seasons. Not likely to cause Calgary any headaches, at least not severe ones. Add in a competent back up to sure up the goaltending, and it was a good day, slightly better than Montreal just on the basis a 4 year deal for a more known commodity just seems like a perfect fit.
Edmonton – B-
Lucic will help the team immediately, but honestly, for what he provides I think 6 million starts out a little on the high side. Chances are it will continue to be more and more of an overpayment. They also seemed to be scraping the bottom of the back up barrel. It’s not a failure just on the basis they managed to attract a big name free agent, which for the Oilers, has to be a moral victory. I feel like Chiarelli will get bailed out by just having a full season of McDavid, and adding Lucic will help mitigate the debacle that was the Hall trade, but I don’t think this ends well overall.
Vancouver – F
It’s not the Ericksson is a bad player, more that Vancouver didn’t realize their own situation. They need to re-build. So committing the money they did to a very good winger not long removed from concussion problems, who is the wrong side of 30 and likely just helps your team finish just far enough out of the playoffs to be unlikely to get a top pick just seems like terrible management.
Toronto – B-
To be honest the Leafs would have gotten a B+ for doing nothing, since that would be a 100% acceptable offseason for a team that is rebuilding. Also, given that GM’s often have a hard time with restraint, I don’t consider it easy to do nothing. To move up, they need value signings. I don’t hate Matt Martin, I just think 2.5M for a 4th liner goes against of some of the work they have been doing. That’s a roster spot on the 3 or 4th line that could been used to create competition, or showcase an asset to be moved. To be honest it has nothing to do with the cap space, just that it makes me uneasy in their decision making. I stated before, I worried a little when Lou was brought in and Dubas was shuffled to the Marlies, that the embracing of the Analytics would be brushed aside. While this trade doesn’t blow anything up, it does make me a little worried that this could be the case, and now the confidence that every move will be a positive one is a little shaken. Still, no bad committments, no trying to force the rebuild to speed up, the day can’t be given a fail.
Winnipeg – B+
See above. They had no needs that could be effectively filled with the FA market, and they resisted temptation to act just for the sake of seeing the club talked about on TSN. That is a win, and many GM’s (cough cough rhymes with Can Hoover) are showing that this temptation is not so easy to resist.
Ottawa – B+
Same as above, but they had a couple of additional needs. They made some good depth low risk signings, which stop them from slipping to a B, but would have needed something like Bodker or Brouwer to be an A.
Best signing all day goes to San Jose. Might have gotten the best valued FA at a price far below the top guys with a shorter committment. Bodker will likely be a steal every year of his deal, which can’t be said of just about any other signing that was for longer than 1-2 years.
Finally, I think Detroit was pretty weak. Nielson is underrated, but he gonna come in to replace Datsyuk, which even though Datsyuk had lost a step, it means they downgraded from last years team. They overpaid for Helm, and gambled on Vanek. So they did nothing to rebuild, but honestly aren’t improved either. The deal to rid themselves of Datsyuk’s contract looked solid, but now once you accept they likely aren’t a threat, wouldn’t it have made more sense to eat it for year, get a better pick, and do a mini rebuild?
Also, just for context, I started teams at a grade based on what I think they should have done. So for a team like Winnipeg, who I believe should have done very little, they start at B+. They stay there as long as they do little.
For Montreal, after the moves they made, they need to do something as they have a smaller window. So they start at a C. So while Radulov is a more impactful signing then Matthias, Montreal had to do more for me to consider their July 1 to be successful.
Definitely agree with the comment on the Flames and the Nucks. Flames got exactly what they needed. The Nucks spent resources on a player that helps them aspire to the middle of the non playoff pack. Would have been a more acceptable signing if it wasn’t loaded with no move/no trade clauses so they could move him in a couple of years for something to help the rebuild instead of delay it.
Danny thank you for your TML viewpoint! Matt Martin is ( hopefully) a cog in the wheel for now to grow the team moving forward .. The team needs to jel and rid of certain assets currently employed ( no issues ) just going through the motion of identifying “core” and supporting cast for the time being without committing to uncomfortable ” bad decisions signings ” of “has beens”! (There is a reason) from previous employ!
TML has some of the best assembled assets that need to meld and excel to their potential ability and have continuity of developing thru skill, integrity, professionalism and team ” all for one and one for all ” embrace and understanding to their individual strength and further achievement to win the Stanley Cup over and over again!!
I am 55 years young and have not followed hockey in 3 years but ” current regime change ” is leading me to “believe” that finally ” there is hope” with some luck to be relevant in the hockey scene and baby steps start winning division and conference finals and perhaps the ” holy grail ” in the not so distant future!
Good luck Leafs!! ” I believe” ?
I totally agree about Boedker. He was the best value signing and I was hoping the Sens would jump on it :(. I don’t care about the +/-, or the possession stats because he’s played on two poor possession teams. He’s got Speed and skill that can play anywhere in the top 9, LW or RW. That makes line combinations very flexible so you could have 3 lines with scoring threats. I’m interested to see how SJ does with the extra skill up front. I’m not a SJ fan but they are growing on me lol.
Here we go again, GMs paying way too much for ageing players. The facts are players slow down, get hurt more, don’t produce better numbers, are not in their prime after the ages of 28, 29…its extremely rare for a player to get better after the hit 28, 29 years of age.
Something all you ‘experts’, – GMs, lollllll, should consider. Time after time we see these players get signed who are older, they never finish the contract, get hurt, retire early, do not get better…while laughing all the way to the bank. Dreadful business moves…I can’t get over how ill-informed, how short term, small minded most of these GMs are. The owners need to wake up and fire some of these GM clowns. They are making bad deals costing them a fortune, and the future…. No more long term (7,8 years) deals for players 26 and older. The proof, the evidence is all around you, open up your eyes, your mind a little!!!
When is a player in his prime now? Its usually not past 28, 29…wake up!!! More like, 21, 22 to 27…the league has gotten younger and faster…
No 7 year contracts for players over the age of 26 any longer, its makes no sense at all!
The owners, presidents need to step up, these GMs are not that good and have no long term thinking ability. Start firing these clowns ASAP, they have NO business sense! No short, mid and long term thinking skills. Most are lacking in any business sense, most have not run a company of their own…that has been obvious for a long time now.