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Post by boffo on May 20, 2019 20:05:01 GMT -5
Only another week to go until game 1. Nothing like 11 days between games to really keep the excitement level high.
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Post by boffo on May 22, 2019 18:02:52 GMT -5
Looks like ooola called it way back at the beginning. Hoping he get's the winner wrong, but otherwise I'm impressed.
At this point I'm way too biased to make any predictions but it seems like it should be a solid series. Both teams will be very well rested, that's for sure.
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Post by mrooola on May 23, 2019 0:48:40 GMT -5
I think Boston will win. Crossing my fingers they don't.
If this series gets decided on some sort of Bobby Orr moment where Marchand flies through the crease I will consider suicide.
P.S I wont really, but I will
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Post by cliffs on May 23, 2019 5:13:08 GMT -5
I think Boston will win. Crossing my fingers they don't. If this series gets decided on some sort of Bobby Orr moment where Marchand flies through the crease I will consider suicide. P.S I wont really, but I will If that comes with him getting caught on camera and he's "flying", this Boston fan won't cry |
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Post by boffo on Jun 6, 2019 17:53:07 GMT -5
Regardless if he plays tonight or not, Chara is certainly proving that he is a beast. He's made every attempt to walk off a broken jaw like it's nothing.
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Post by ErixonStone on Jun 7, 2019 11:16:09 GMT -5
Hockey players are a different breed.
Broken ribs? Torn knee ligament? Torn rotator cuff? Broken nose? Pfft.
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Post by boffo on Jun 7, 2019 12:52:56 GMT -5
42 year old Chara played almost 17 minutes(third most amongst Bruins blueliners) roughly 70 hours after having his jaw broken. I know he's the captain but I think that goes above and beyond the leadership expected of him and that couldn't have been a comfortable 17 minutes regardless of what painkillers he was on.
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Post by boffo on Jun 7, 2019 15:05:23 GMT -5
Hockey players are a different breed. Broken ribs? Torn knee ligament? Torn rotator cuff? Broken nose? Pfft. I've got to say that having watched the Gregory Campbell game live that one was particularly brutal. While the severity of the injury and amount of time played while injured may have only ranked it #5 it was the hardest to watch. On the ice for a minute doing all he could to play his role and as a fan watching I was begging for a stoppage in play because it hurt just watching him out there. Can only imagine what some players played through back in the Original 6 era prior to all the protective equipment or team medical staff and equipment. |
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Post by boffo on Jun 13, 2019 15:21:34 GMT -5
Sucks that the Bruins didn't win but congrats to the St. Louis Blues for finally winning a Cup. Always nice to see a first time winner. Now welcome to the offseason. What does everyone see ahead for their favourite teams?
Bruins are actually in a pretty solid position this summer despite their regular and post season success. Assuming an $83 million cap they have over $14 million to spend. Only UFA's are Marcus Johansson, Noel Acciari, and Steven Kampfer. RFA's are Danton Heinen, Charlie McAvoy, and Brandon Carlo. McAvoy will get paid, and paid well(unless he joins the Kessel, Seguin, Hamilton train out of town which I doubt). Carlo probably won't break the bank but should get a solid payday. That'll give them 8 NHL calibre defenemen signed so I doubt Kampfer returns and fully expect someone like Kevan Miller or John Moore to be traded.
Heinen has been OK in his two seasons and is a solid third liner so I expect he'll be paid as such. Acciari shouldn't cost much but he's a 12th or 13th forward as it is, so there might not be room for him unless they trade or buyout Backes. Johansson looked good in the playoffs and there should be cap space for him if he wants to accept a deal that is similar to what he is currently paid.
They have the defensive depth and some decent prospects so if a solid second line scorer becomes available and they don't resign Johansson I could see a trade being made.
They have a single pick in each round of the draft except 2 and 4. Picking 30th in each round means they shouldn't expect anyone to make an immediate impact but they could find a couple decent prospects to add to their system.
Overall it looks like next years team should be very similar to this years with an extra year of development for young players like McAvoy, Carlo, Pastrnak, DeBrusk, and Heinen plus they hopefully won't have as many injuries to deal with next season. With top competition Tampa Bay and Toronto both facing cap issues that may require dropping some talent the Bruins look to be in a solid spot to once again beat Toronto at home in the inevitable 7th game of their inevitable first round matchup.
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Post by ErixonStone on Jun 13, 2019 23:52:04 GMT -5
The Rangers are in full rebuild mode, having traded away most of the roster from their cup-contending teams from earlier this decade. While it is time to start building up instead of tearing down, the Rangers full focus should be maximizing their potential beginning in the 2021-2022 season, as several bloated contracts are slated to expire at the end of the 2020-2021 season. That includes contracts to Henrik Lundqvist, Marc Staal, Kevin Shattenkirk and Brendan Smith.
In order to maximize the amount of salary cap space beginning in 2021-2022, the Rangers should avoid the temptation to buy out the remaining years on these players' contracts. Lundqvist and Staal have no movement clauses, but finding a suitor for Smith and Shattenkirk is more than possible if the Rangers retain salary in a trade.
Going into this offseason, the rangers have several restricted free agents who are due raises: Brendan Lemieux, Pavel Buchnevich, Fredrik Claesson, Tony DeAngelo and Neal Pionk. From this group, Buchnevich and DeAngelo appear to be keepers as both players dramatically improved over the second half of the season. Buchnevich projects to be a quality top-6 winger (comparison: David Perron), and DeAngelo projects to be a top-4 defender with plus-power-play skills (comparison: Kris Letang). Lemieux appears to be a 4th-liner capable of filling in for injured players when needed. To increase his value, he needs to become a reliable penalty killer. Claesson was quietly among the best defenders on the Rangers roster, but a dearth of offensive capability projects him as a quality bottom-pair defender. Pionk, when paired with Marc Staal, formed half of one of the league's worst defense pairings.
Bridge deals for Buchnevich and DeAngelo are in order. Smaller deals for Lemieux and Claesson make sense. Pionk should receive a 1-year, two-way contract or allowed to walk.
The Rangers hold the number-2 overall pick which will almost-assuredly net them Kaapo Kakko, unless the NJ Devils shock everyone and select Kakko over the consensus top prospect, Jack Hughes. Assuming the expected happens, Kakko will likely slide onto the Rangers 2nd line immediately. With his addition, assuming no other additions, the Rangers top-12 might look something like:
Kreider - Zibanejad - Buchnevich
Kakko - Chytl - Strome
Vesey - Namestnikov - Fast
Howden - Andersson - Lemieux
The Rangers have approximately $19 million in cap space. As noted earlier, some of that will be eaten up by deals with DeAngelo and Buchnevich. That could bring the available cap space down to the $11 million range. Rumor has it that the Rangers will make a strong push for the services of Artemi Panarin (I would) or Erik Karlsson (I would not).
That brings us to the Chris Kreider situation. Kreider is entering the final year of his contract in his age-29 season. At the end of the year, assuming he has an average year, he would command something in the $6 million range. Given his body type, physical style of play, and speed being his greatest asset, signing on for years 29-35 of Kreider seems risky, especially if the Rangers true focus is still 2 years down the road. By that time, Kreider will be 31 and likely in the decline phase of his career. He is better suited for a team pushing to win now. Calgary, Carolina, Columbus, Nashville and Dallas seem to be good fits.
In the pipeline, aside from Kakko or Hughes, the Rangers have a number of solid prospects; the Rangers prospects pool is ranked #1. At the top of that list are goaltender Igor Shestyorkin and forward Vitali Kravtsov who will both make their North American debuts in 2019-2020, as well as defenseman Adam Fox.
Potential Free Agent targets:
Artemi Panarin
Erik Karlsson (I wouldn't)
Matt Duchene
Ryan Dzingel
Brett Connolly
Micheal Ferland
Marcus Johansson
The question for the Rangers, when it comes to free agents, is whether they want to be tied to a player long-term?
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Post by boffo on Jun 14, 2019 10:11:59 GMT -5
Do you think there's any chance Lundqvist would be considering pulling a Ray Bourque and ask for a trade to a contender to try and win a Cup while allowing the Rangers to get a decent return to aid the rebuild or do you get the feeling he intends to be a Ranger for life? There's a few solid contenders, most obviously Calgary but also Columbus or Carolina who could be looking for a good #1.
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Post by ErixonStone on Jun 14, 2019 11:54:53 GMT -5
Lundqvist has been adamant so far that he intends to remain a Ranger and be a part of the rebirth. Unless that changes - and it really doesn't seem like it will, Lundqvist trades are out of the question.
I think Lundqvist will still be a Ranger in 2021, albeit not with a $9 million cap hit. A lot will depend on how well Shestyorkin adapts to the NHL game. The better he adapts, the more likely the Rangers are to trade Alexandar Georgiev for something. If Shestyorkin struggles, the Rangers will have to continue looking for their goalie of the future which means there won't be backup playing time for Lundqvist.
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Post by boffo on Jun 14, 2019 18:47:18 GMT -5
Torey Krug is back in the rumour mill just like last summer. One year left on his deal at $5.25 million. I'm torn on this one as the PP runs through him and he has improved his all around game but defense is where the Bruins have a lot of young depth. They'd be selling pretty high on Krug right now and this is the kind of trade that keeps a contention window open longer and the salary cap hit lower. At the same time he'd be hard to replace and the PP would take an immediate hit. I'd expect Sweeney could throw some feelers out there to see what the market is, both in signing him and trading him.
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Post by boffo on Jun 17, 2019 18:51:56 GMT -5
Looks like you don't need to worry about Erik Karlsson and the Rangers anymore. $11.5 million a season for 8 years in San Jose. I understand his value to a team and all but in a salary cap world that is too much to be paying to a single player, especially one in his late 20's with a recent injury history. Teams with player(s) making $10 million plus did not fare well this season and I don't think it's a total coincidence. Chicago at least won 3 Cup's before breaking the bank on Kane and Toews so it works as a nice thank you present for them. On the other hand a team like Toronto who seems likely to have three $10 million plus forwards on their team next season who have yet to win them a single playoff round is just shooting yourself in the foot. I'd take a $5 and a $6 million player over a single $11 million player any day of the week, except maybe in the case of McDavid.
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Post by lessthanbread on Jun 22, 2019 10:41:26 GMT -5
Dang you guys know your stuff. Good to see some hockey lovers around here. I don’t have near as much insight.
What do you guys think about my Minnesota Mild?? You can be brutally honest. My thoughts are the ship has long sailed, time for a rebuild and I can’t wait for Parise and Suter to be gone. They’re doing to the Wild what Mauer did to the Twins the last few years (if you follow MLB), just tying up resources, far too overpaid (not that it’s their fault personally, but their contracts)
I really want to like Boudreau but definitely think he needs to do something this year or he could be gone before the all star break.
Really frustrating when this team represents our “state of hockey” and have been pretty much mediocre since forming the team.
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