2023-24 NHL Season Thread.

[draynay]

Beleskey for 5 years $19 mil is less crazily overpaid than I imagined, so he actually has a chance to live up to that contract.

Justin Williams goes to Washington, maybe they can get over the game 7 hump now.

I complained about the Kings letting Sekera get away but 6 years $33 mil is nuts, both the term and the annual value, getting one over-priced defenseman is not gonna turn things around Edmonton...

[VanillaO]

I'm really surprised Nashville wasn't in on a guy like Kessel. With that D, and the guys around him, his poor parts on that end would be masked, and he'd be allowed to just put up his 30+ goals he usually scores. Unless the fans are still annoyed with the whole Fransorelli trade, maybe.

Edmonton is going to be worse than people expect after all these moves, but definitely better than they've been. I would say maybe a fringe wild card team. Anaheim, LA, and Calgary have all gotten better, and of course the Central will take both WC spots. That's what you have to ask yourself - since Edmonton is almost guaranteed to not be in a division spot, do they have what it takes to beat out the Central teams that had 90 points as their worst finish this year? St. Louis, Chicago, Nashville, Minnesota, and Winnipeg all put up 99+ points this year. Edmonton will not do that unless McLellan is not of this world.

[Tradewind]

As much as I wanted Belesky in Calgary, mostly for his size, that contract and money is a big risk for Boston.

[draynay]

Beleskey is a solid player, they kept the contract under $4 mil per season, there is less pressure on him since he didn't get a Clarkson type contract. Put him out there with creative linemates and he will get to the right place at the right time, I think it could work out for them, and if it doesn't then at least they won't live and die with that contract.

[Tradewind]

Yeah it could have been worse. But it's unclear if Belesky'll have the same numbers without Perry/Getzlaf.

[Armourboy]

I'm really surprised Nashville wasn't in on a guy like Kessel. With that D, and the guys around him, his poor parts on that end would be masked, and he'd be allowed to just put up his 30+ goals he usually scores. Unless the fans are still annoyed with the whole Fransorelli trade, maybe.

Edmonton is going to be worse than people expect after all these moves, but definitely better than they've been. I would say maybe a fringe wild card team. Anaheim, LA, and Calgary have all gotten better, and of course the Central will take both WC spots. That's what you have to ask yourself - since Edmonton is almost guaranteed to not be in a division spot, do they have what it takes to beat out the Central teams that had 90 points as their worst finish this year? St. Louis, Chicago, Nashville, Minnesota, and Winnipeg all put up 99+ points this year. Edmonton will not do that unless McLellan is not of this world.

It is believed we were in on it. There was an unnamed Western Conference team trying to get him too and everyone believes that team was Nashville. In the end I'm guessing the two sides couldn't get the parts worked out so he went to Pittsburgh. If I had to guess Toronto kept asking for Jones/Ellis/Fiala/Smith/Wilson in some combination plus the 1st and Poile just wasnt willing to give up those pieces and go two straight years without a number one. I figure that is why we ultimate ended up just shipping Hellberg out for a 6th round pick, we were looking to use him in a deal that didn't get done.

I know one thing, we have a ton of Forwards signed or that will be signed once they get their RFA contracts signed. Someone who doesn't want to will either be going back to Milwaukee, getting traded or waived. ( Kind of hoping Nystrom get's traded or bought out personally so we are finally finished with that crap FA summer)

[Tradewind]

It could have just been the contract too. Maybe they wanted TO to keep more of it back than Pitt agreed to. Nashville's cap situation seems a bit fucky with so many free agents this year. Something like 8 and about $22M to spend. Even if they sign those RFA's I don't think they even have a full team lol.

[draynay]

I wonder if Kings have enough cap room to go after Sutter, make it happen! Family reunion!

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Voynov takes a lesser charge, gets 90 days in jail, 3 years probation

[Rennadrel]

I wonder if Kings have enough cap room to go after Sutter, make it happen! Family reunion!

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Voynov takes a lesser charge, gets 90 days in jail, 3 years probation

So basically he could be back by the start of the season if he takes his prison sentence now. Might be a good reason to hunker down and train too, assuming he gets put in a prison with exercise equipment.

[Stommped]

He's somewhat rich/famous so he should get the works all in his personal cell.. Tv, couches, workout machine, etc.

[draynay]

The Kings have basically said they're going to let things play out and not release him. He is suspended indefinitely so the league still has to do its thing. He's also suspended for his non-hockey injury so that will probably stay in place until the league clears him so he stays off the cap until then.

[Rennadrel]

The Kings have basically said they're going to let things play out and not release him. He is suspended indefinitely so the league still has to do its thing. He's also suspended for his non-hockey injury so that will probably stay in place until the league clears him so he stays off the cap until then.

Yeah but until he has served his sentence, he won't be eligible to return to LA. Kinda odd that they kicked Mike Richards out the door for god knows what, and haven't done the same to Voynov for breaking the law. Either way, I would imagine that he will be reinstated as soon as he serves the jail time, which makes sense for the courts to throw him in prison for 3 months from the day of sentencing.

[draynay]

Yeah but until he has served his sentence, he won't be eligible to return to LA. Kinda odd that they kicked Mike Richards out the door for god knows what, and haven't done the same to Voynov for breaking the law. Either way, I would imagine that he will be reinstated as soon as he serves the jail time, which makes sense for the courts to throw him in prison for 3 months from the day of sentencing.

Its because one of them is valuable and the other is useless. Sentence begins July 14th at the latest, Voynov would be wise to get in ASAP.

[Armourboy]

It could have just been the contract too. Maybe they wanted TO to keep more of it back than Pitt agreed to. Nashville's cap situation seems a bit fucky with so many free agents this year. Something like 8 and about $22M to spend. Even if they sign those RFA's I don't think they even have a full team lol.

We only have a couple left to sign, mostly Wilson and Smith. Even without them and Beck signed we have more than enough forwards to fill the roster. Once the RFA''s are signed we will actually have so many I'm not sure what we are going to do with them.

I think when it's all said and done we will have about 8-10 million in cap space, which is fine because it leaves you room to sign later on. We also have Jones and Forsberg's ELC up after this season we have to budget for, in case someone were to try and offer sheet them.

[VanillaO]

So is there a consensus on Buffalo's expected performance this year? I've been seeing a lot of people who think they'll do well and challenge for a WC spot, but I'm pretty reserved about them. Montreal, Tampa, Detroit - they're pretty much the locks for the Atlantic division spots in my opinion. Columbus, Pittsburgh, Rangers, Islanders, Washington.. they're all going to have very good years (barring injury... looking at the first 2 on that one). Ottawa will likely be up there as well. Boston will challenge (they're still a pretty solid team), Florida hasn't really gotten a whole lot better or worse, and Philly could do decently with a full season of competent coaching (doubt they make the playoffs, but they won't be as bad as this year - Mason went largely unnoticed, putting up some of the best #s of the league). Just like I think Edmonton is probably going to see improvement, but fall short of a WC spot, I don't think Buffalo really has a great chance of finishing with the likely 95+ points needed for a spot. I could easily see them finishing with 70 points or less again.

[draynay]

Media folk like to fixate on every team that makes big offseason moves and predict a turnaround.

I tend to focus on the fact that they're Buffalo and their city is cursed.

As for Edmonton, I don't see much of a departure from how their offseason usually goes, they draft #1 try to talk up excitement, same result as usual.

[VanillaO]

Sekera will definitely help.. I'm not 100% sold on Talbot. The guy has great regular season numbers (and less than 1 full game in 2 playoff appearances that were shit) over the last 2 years. That being said, he played for a team that went to the Cup and then another Conference Final... so he clearly had some good defense in front of him. I need to look more into his numbers. A .931 SV% in 51 regular season games looks like it's more than likely incredibly misleading, as the Rangers weren't a great possession team this year.

Hall RNH Eberle
Pouliot McDavid Purcell
Korpikoski Letestu Yakupov
Gazdic Draisaitl Pakarinen
Klinkhammer Miller/Landon Hamilton

Sekera Nikitin
Ference Fayne
Klefbom Gryba
Reinhart

Talbot
Scrivens

This is no way strikes fear into my heart. They're deep down the middle, even with the young guys (not as deep as some others, mind you), but their wingers are laughable, and that defense is still pretty bad. McLellan has his work cut out for him. I'm interested to see which of the 3 lottery picks they win from 22nd place, though.

[Reg]

So is there a consensus on Buffalo's expected performance this year? I've been seeing a lot of people who think they'll do well and challenge for a WC spot, but I'm pretty reserved about them. Montreal, Tampa, Detroit - they're pretty much the locks for the Atlantic division spots in my opinion. Columbus, Pittsburgh, Rangers, Islanders, Washington.. they're all going to have very good years (barring injury... looking at the first 2 on that one). Ottawa will likely be up there as well. Boston will challenge (they're still a pretty solid team), Florida hasn't really gotten a whole lot better or worse, and Philly could do decently with a full season of competent coaching (doubt they make the playoffs, but they won't be as bad as this year - Mason went largely unnoticed, putting up some of the best #s of the league). Just like I think Edmonton is probably going to see improvement, but fall short of a WC spot, I don't think Buffalo really has a great chance of finishing with the likely 95+ points needed for a spot. I could easily see them finishing with 70 points or less again.

This year? I see a better record, but probably not a playoff contender. But in a couple years I can see them tearing up the division as well as all these pieces they acquired can mesh well. At this point it's a toss up, but it's not like they can get worse.

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I'm not 100% sold on Talbot. The guy has great regular season numbers (and less than 1 full game in 2 playoff appearances that were shit) over the last 2 years. That being said, he played for a team that went to the Cup and then another Conference Final... so he clearly had some good defense in front of him. I need to look more into his numbers. A .931 SV% in 51 regular season games looks like it's more than likely incredibly misleading, as the Rangers weren't a great possession team this year.

Having watched all his games, he definitely has some faults. The way the Rangers played in front of Talbot was so different than what they did for Hank. It was much more defensive minded when Talbot was in net because of his inexperience, and it made him look better than his numbers show. With that said, the kid has had one of the best goalies in the league as a teacher, along with arguably the best goaltender coach in the league. His confidence was drastically boosted this season having to fill in for Hank. His glove is quick, he's an excellent puck handler outside the net, and his positioning has taken leaps and bounds from where they were when he first came up. I think he will continue to excel, but he will need a defense to help him do it. He might steal a game here or there, but he will need his defense to be relatively solid, which will be tough with what he has in Edmonton.

[VanillaO]

You were exactly the person I was hoping to see comment on him

I hope the Leafs can maybe get Stewart signed for 1 year and 2-3M (he's probably worth around 3). Currently have a bunch of 1-2 year contracts for cheap that we can flip for picks/prospects.. why not one more

[Zeoni]

Sekera will definitely help.. I'm not 100% sold on Talbot. The guy has great regular season numbers (and less than 1 full game in 2 playoff appearances that were shit) over the last 2 years. That being said, he played for a team that went to the Cup and then another Conference Final... so he clearly had some good defense in front of him. I need to look more into his numbers. A .931 SV% in 51 regular season games looks like it's more than likely incredibly misleading, as the Rangers weren't a great possession team this year.

Hall RNH Eberle
Pouliot McDavid Purcell
Korpikoski Letestu Yakupov
Gazdic Draisaitl Pakarinen
Klinkhammer Miller/Landon Hamilton

Sekera Nikitin
Ference Fayne
Klefbom Gryba
Reinhart

Talbot
Scrivens

This is no way strikes fear into my heart. They're deep down the middle, even with the young guys (not as deep as some others, mind you), but their wingers are laughable, and that defense is still pretty bad. McLellan has his work cut out for him. I'm interested to see which of the 3 lottery picks they win from 22nd place, though.

Draisaitl will either play on the 3rd line (wing) or play in the AHL. It'd be a waste of his development to have him on the 4th. They also really like Anton Lander and his progression thus far from what I've heard so he'll either center the 3rd or 4th line with Letestu on the other. Also I'd imagine they'll have Yak City play with McDavid rather than Purcell, dude has hands of stone. Ference will probably slide down to their 3rd defense pairing, he is pretty slow and bad to be taking on big minutes @ this point in his career. I've actually really liked the moves Edmonton has made this offseason. Obviously drafting McDavid was a no brainer but signing Sekera and trading for Talbot and Reinhart were big moves that should have been made a long time ago. (Acquiring a goalie, solid D man and even a veteran center). I think they'll be fighting for a playoff spot at the end of it all, maybe not make it but def a step forward. If McDavid translates to the NHL well at all in his first campaign, they'll have a scary top 2 lines. Especially with the possibility of putting Hall and him together, I can't imagine the speed between them.

Their D is real suspect but much better than last year. If Reinhart finally turns his game around (which typically does happen with D men of that age) they'd be a lot better. Ference and Nikitin are awful defenseman at this day in age but at least Ference is useful for leadership and a 3rd pairing role. Nikitin is shit, they'd be better off bringing up Nurse if he does well in the A.

4m~ in cap space with Purcell's/Nikitin's 4.5M contract coming off the books after this year but they'll have to toss some cash at Klefbom too plus sign some depth players. All in all, the team is in pretty good shape $ wise for Chiarelli to do work on. They are extremely lucky to have signed Hall to that 6m contract until 19/20, same with RNH and Eberle. Otherwise they'd be in cap hell having to pay Hall 7.5~ like he probably deserves. I hate the Oilers but the blocks are finally in place and I think their eternal rebuild will start to turn soon enough. Lord knows if they will be able to stop the shooting % kings from 3 hours South of them though