2016 NHL offseason thread

[dixiehack]

I didn't imagine I'd be starting this, but then again I didn't imagine waking up from a nap to find the Predators had traded their captain and most popular player ever.

Shea Weber Traded For P.K. Subban In Blockbuster

It's a good trade for the Preds, possibly a grand fleecing, but it's hard not to be melancholy.

 

[The Big Ragu]

You are correct. That is a great deal for Nashville. I don't like Subban -- for all the reasons that makes him polarizing -- but jeez. From a player for player perspective Nashville got the better of that, right? Montreal will get a real captain, but that was a big premium to pay for it.

Also, Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson today doesn't look like too great a deal for Edmonton. But maybe I am missing something. I don't get to see Hall play that much. Just know him by reputation. Larsson is OK, but that just doesn't seem like a good 1-for-1 deal to me for Edmonton.

And after a year of Steven Stamkos being fitted for a Maple Leafs jersey. ... He stays put.

No Canadian team made the playoffs last season. And today looked like another bad day for Canadian teams.

 

[Smash Williams]

It's a fantastic trade for the Preds and highway robbery of the Habs. Weber is a good player who is already 31 (I think). Subban is 27 and a phenomenal possession defenseman.

Hall for Larsson is also robbery, this time for the Devils. Hall is a wonderful offensive talent that was mired in the Edmonton wasteland. Larsson is a RHD but doesn't really fix any of the Oilers issues.

 

[JC]

The Devils and Preds made Oilers and Canadiens look foolish. They robbed both teams.

 

[JohnHammond]

Maple Leafs can't catch a break.

 

[JC]

I think they did

 

[Liut]

A lot to think about following Friday's signing frenzy. Quick hits:
1. I don't think Dean Lombardi envisioned trading Jones to Boston for Lucic only to have Jones bounce back to San Jose and Lucic also stay in the division after just one year in LA.
2. Really like Calgary's signing of Troy Brouwer. Right money, right term. Leadership on-and-off the ice. St. Louis will miss him. Also thought grabbing Elliott last week was a good short-term move.
3. Wonder what kind of impact Weber will have being in the room with Radulov?
4. David Backes - five years at $6 mil per? INSANITY.

 

[dixiehack]

3. Wonder what kind of impact Weber will have being in the room with Radulov?

It wasn't a miracle cure in Nashville, that's for sure. And the Habs somehow look even worse for trading supposed locker room cancer Subban only to turn around and sign a cut and run drunk. Makes you wonder if a Francophone Chip Kelly is in charge.

 

[ChrisLong]

Hard to believe the Ducks couldn't come up with $3.7 million per for Perron and/or $3.3 million per for McGinn. Wonder if the change from Boudreau to Carlyle had anything to do with it. Stewart got only $1+ million per from Minny and he stays with Boudreau. Ducks did nothing yesterday and I read have only 7 of the 12 forwards who started their last game.

 

[OscarMadison]

What in the world was Montreal thinking? Getting Weber is smart. He's a big, sweet, coachable guy with a mean slap shot. Radulov? My goodness. I almost hope he bolts to the steppes after a month for the sake of his teammates.

 

[JC]

Weber has a 8 mill cap hit till he's 40. Nashville stole Subban

 

[dixiehack]

Weber has a 8 mill cap hit till he's 40. Nashville stole Subban

Most of the actual cash has been paid out in bonuses, which makes it something of a time bomb for the Preds. If he retires before the end of the contract (which I could easily see happening, especially if he winds up claimed by Vegas), Nashville takes a cap hit. If it happens in the last 2-3 years before the contact expires, it becomes an overwhelming penalty.

 

[RedCanuck]

I actually really like the deal from Montreal's perspective. They were accused a lot this year of being soft. Weber immediately addresses that. Much has been made about him slowing down, but there's less travel in the east and he'll have a more conservative defensive partner. I expect him to fit in exceptionally well.

There were far too many suggestions from far too many people that Subban was a distraction in the Montreal room. One damning one appeared to be that in a year he gave $10 million to a local children's hospital, his teammates gave their community service award to another player. People cite advanced stats a lot, but those may be a reflection of Therrien's conservative style to some degree. Subban is more of a gambler and has higher turnover stats — it'll be fun seeing him and Josi try to cover for one another actually. I also don't think a lot of the fancy stats go far enough to address quality of shots, either.

Looking at this financially for Montreal, they're saving $1.2 million on the cap annually and they have a lot of flexibility going forward when Price and others become due. That's big if the Canadian dollar doesn't rebound. The actual dollars Weber will make are on the decline as well, making the contract fairly easy to move to a floor team if he stops producing as expected.

Nashville is locked into some big dollars in cap and actual dollars moving forward. Ryan Johansen comes up after this year, as does Mike Fisher. James Neal is the following year and before the end of Subban's contract, they'll have several key players in line for raises. The recapture scares the heck out of me too if Weber is declining as quick as people believe.

The way I see it, Montreal will benefit from adding character guys like Weber and Shaw alongside Gallagher being back for the whole year. Undoubtedly, they'll have Price back too and he's huge. If their room and their on-ice product is better in the short-term, Bergevin will end up looking pretty good here. There's an old saying, too, that you can't have too many projects for a coach. With Subban gone, that opened the door for Radulov… and that might be a high-reward risk.

 

[JC]

I'm not sure what you are seeing when you watch Josi but there is nobody Weber can play with in Montreal that comes close to Josi.

If you want to criticize Subban for turnovers I suggest you check who is in the top ten in turnovers. Players who control the puck will always have more turnovers.

The dollar could drop to .50 and the Habs will still be turning a huge profit. They are also on the hook until he is 40 at 8 per. He will not age well. You're right though, that contract should be moveable to a team like the Coyotes who are constantly trying to get to the floor.

I would take Josi over Weber at this point.

The chose a terrible coach over Subban. If they value character as you say, why did they go out and sign Radulov?

 

[RedCanuck]

Josi could be tighter defensively and he has more of a wide-open style. I think he and Subban are almost too similar to be paired together. In the right system, with the right partner, I take Weber and I think his other attributes are just what Montreal needs right now.

Players who control the puck may have high turnover numbers, however Subban makes a lot of turnovers that he doesn't need to make. Numbers can't tell you that alone. He was a square peg in a round hole in Therrien's system, that's clear, but even before Therrien, he seemed to take excessive risks and get caught for them more often than not. He is tremendously skilled, however, no question there.

You'll get no argument from me on your contention that Therrien is not a great coach. I thought they should replace him and I think they should hand the reins over to Kirk Muller quickly if he falters. That said, I'm not sure it was just a Therrien/Subban issue, but rather a Subban/dressing room issue. It's easier for ownership to evaluate both Bergevin and Therrien after this deal though as they've clearly tried to put a stamp on the team.

I think the Habs reached their objective by bringing in Weber and Shaw in terms of character. If they knew they had a problem with Subban, they were quick to jettison it. So they figured they already netted positive. The team needed to improve its scoring and Radulov can score. The contract he signed tells me they're wary because they wouldn't go longer than a year. I'd imagine several of the higher profile targets didn't want to be in Montreal - the high taxes and the press are negatives - and they either couldn't sway them or didn't want to give term. If Radulov works, they can make a bid to re-sign him and protect him from the draft. If it doesn't, maybe someone else hampered to score goals will also believe the short contract is worth a risk and maybe it will work for them.

 

[wicked]

Peter Chiarelli has now traded away the two top picks in the 2010 draft. He got fleeced by Dallas in the Seguin deal, and it's looking like he lost in the Hall trade.

 

[Machine Head]

I'm going to check this out.

The six Beauty League teams are led by captains Alex Goligoski, Ryan McDonagh, David Backes, Nick Bjugstad, Taylor Chorney and Brock Nelson.

Among the 35+ NHL Beauties playing are Zach Parise, Dustin Byfuglien, Nick Leddy, Anders Lee, Paul Martin and many more. Coaches include Keith Ballard, Erik Rasmussen, Ben Clymer, Mark Parrish, Brian Lawton, and Scott Bell.

Beautiful: Minnesota-based NHLers start 4-on-4 summer league

 

[JC]

The 11th province representing.

 

[dixiehack]

I think we've reached peak hot take with Shane Doan "looks forward to sucking every season."

 

[The Big Ragu]

My Rangers traded Derrick Brassard for Mika Zibanejad and a 2018 first round pick.

Not sure how I feel about it. Papers seem positive about the trade. I am digesting.

They cleared a lot of cap space, got younger and they need picks.

I have only seen Zibanejad play a few times. From what I was reading, he is going to be tougher than Brassard -- who definitely would get pushed around defensively. And Zibanejad can kill penalties, which has been a focus for upgrading. But it sounds like he's more inconsistent than Brassard.

The last few years, Brassard gave them a lot. He never seemed to want to step up into the top center role, he was sort of 1a or 1b with Derrick Stepan. But he went from an assist guy to a goal scorer last year when it was clear that Rick Nash was having a bad season. And he was a really good playoff performer each of the last 3 years. I will miss him.