2023-24 NHL Season Thread.

[Irony]

Poile, you magnificent trolling bastard. I honestly didn't think they'd match, even though they kind of had to, because it basically empties their pockets. Now I'm just wondering who stays in Nashville longer, Weber or the Predators.

Trolling? Weber stated he wanted to stay, just wanted a contract.

Nashville had to match this offer. You can't lose the face of your franchise after finally becoming relevant in your city.

[Zeoni]

Doug MacLean (GM who drafted Nash) was on Sportsnet Radio bashing Housen. Said he blew the Nash trade by not getting either Stepan, Kreidar, MacDonnough, or Del Zotto. Instead they got Dubinsky (who he then stated was the most overpaid player in the NHL, I might not agree but that's what he thinks), Anisimov who is in the last year of his contract and will most likely have the KHL knocking next summer. He didn't say much about Erixon and the first round pick of the Rangers is well, a glorified 2nd round pick really. I'd expect them to snag the Presidents or at least win the East. Obviously MacLean is super fond of Nash and values him a bit higher than he is worth but it was interesting to see how critical he was of Housen. I can't say I disagree with most of his points.

With the Preds matching Weber's offer sheet, I think the Nash signing makes the Rangers the #1 favorite to come out on top in the East again, I'd wager. The only team that will give them a run for their money are the Penguins which are pretty much banking on Crosby / Malkin to stay healthy. In the past when those 2 went down, Staal stepped up but they obv. don't have that element. As I've said before, pumped for the season now lol.

[Irony]

I don't see the Pens as the dominate force they seemed to be last season. Staal's gone, which loses them their only good defensive forward, and replaced him with the poor mans Jordan Staal. Crosby is back meaning Malkin's numbers will go down since he won't get as much ice time and after last seasons playoffs, look for Fleury to be a bit shaky. They still have a terrible defense and though they have an amazing top 6, their bottom 6 is one of the worst. This team still runs through two players and one has concussion problems.

[AceofHarts]

I don't see the Pens as the dominate force they seemed to be last season. Staal's gone, which loses them their only good defensive forward, and replaced him with the poor mans Jordan Staal. Crosby is back meaning Malkin's numbers will go down since he won't get as much ice time and after last seasons playoffs, look for Fleury to be a bit shaky. They still have a terrible defense and though they have an amazing top 6, their bottom 6 is one of the worst. This team still runs through two players and one has concussion problems.

the team has no defense, no bottom 6, its two lines of forwards (if you can call malkin and crosby two lines, more like two players) and has a goaltender who gave up more goals against the flyers than i knew was doable in a playoff series. yeah...pittsburgh? lol. oh, they have letang, who is going to have to be resigned soon and will be getting a nice fat pay increase. i wonder how Pittsburgh is going to manage to field a team...

[Zeoni]

I never said they were going to be better, I said they're the only team that I can see challenging New York. Penguins still have 2 of the top 5 best players in the League on their roster. Sure they lost Staal but they also gained a couple pieces to compensate. They definitely won't be the juggernaut scoring machine of recent past but I still have Pittsburgh as the second best team in the East. There's no way Fleury doesn't somewhat bounce back and even if he doesn't, they have a bailout plan in Thomas Vokoun. Obviously he isn't as good as he was 3-4 years ago but he's a formidable backup that can take some pressure off Fleury.

Who is really going to contend with New York at this point? When Gaborik comes back, that line is going to be incredible if they stick those 3 together. They had a breakout year on their D-line last season and I can only expect them to be just as good. New York probably runs away with the East again unless Lundqvist breaks a hand or something. Philly still needs a replacement for Pronger on their back end and I'm sure not too many fans have 100% confidence in Bryzgalov after last year. Weber would have been gigantic for them but that's out of the question now. Boston just isn't as dominant as they were in the playoffs and without Thomas, if Rask doesn't have that great of a season they won't be a threat either. No one in the East really has the firepower and defense to contend with the Rangers even without Nash imo. Yeah I agree Malkin won't get as many points this year but they'll also have Crosby back which is so gigantic for them. If Sid stays healthy he's hands down the best player in the NHL. I think their success next season on challenging New York relys on Crosby's health and Fleury's ability to bounce back. Their D is lackluster but really isn't too terrible. Orpik / Letang are pretty solid and capable of carrying their partners (if they're not together that is). I'd also wager Neil doesn't really come close to his performance last year, so factoring that in I'm a bit weary.

My prediction for next season is New York feeds off the rest of the East for 112~ points and wins the Presidents Trophy. Waiting for the rest of the off season to reserve judgement on the rest of the teams. Also have a thought for the Leafs fans for the season after this one. Do you think Toronto goes after Corey Perry? His contract ends after next season and he's from Peterborough. I know that doesn't make him automatically a candidate but it makes sense for him at least. Already won a cup, Anaheim is looking quite grim. I'm assuming they'll have their goaltender issues resolved by then so with Perry, the Leafs are quite the scary team. Connolly's contract comes off next year and I'm assuming they'd let him walk, freeing up some cap space. Resigning Lupul, Bozak, and MacArthur seems logical (though I'm not sure how much those would cost / if they'd want to resign them). Hopefully the CBA issues get figured out and we don't see these 10+ year 100+ million dollar contracts dropping like rain. Perry definitely falls into the category of a player who would want one of those.

[Sykol]

Trolling? Weber stated he wanted to stay, just wanted a contract.

Nashville had to match this offer. You can't lose the face of your franchise after finally becoming relevant in your city.

Didn't Suter say he wanted to stay, too? Which is why he caught so much flack for waiting until the last minute to show he wanted out. I think that's just kind of the thing that you do, in case you do get stuck with the team, otherwise you end up as a Rick Nash where teams you play against hate you (playing against you, I mean) and your own team probably does, as well. I'm not saying Weber wants out or has a problem playing for the Preds, but getting stuck on a team like Nashville for a decade and a half is like getting real-life trolled.

They did have to match, but I honestly wasn't sure they would. It hurts their pocketbook quite a bit, especially the front-end of the contract which should take a huge chunk out of what they have to play with for a couple years.

[Irony]

I'm sure Weber will get over getting "Trolled" when he buys a Pagani Zonda.

Honestly, Polie will probably trade him. I doubt Polie really wanted 4 first rounders for their best player in franchise history and if someone actually offers him some forwards and a proven young d-man, I'm sure he'll pull the trigger.

I really want NY to just flop and miss the playoffs. Watch Richards and Nash not mesh, Gabs have issues with his surgery and misses the entire season. Del Zotto and Stephan both slump after last season and Lundqvist retires and becomes the new guitarist for Them Crooked Vultures.

---------- Post added 2012-07-25 at 06:52 AM ----------

Btw why do the Preds have a dragonball on their shoulder? I just noticed that.

[Deleted]

Btw why do the Preds have a dragonball on their shoulder? I just noticed that.

It's part of the Tennessee state flag (three stars in a circle) inside a guitar pick.

[Asera]

I really want NY to just flop and miss the playoffs. Watch Richards and Nash not mesh, Gabs have issues with his surgery and misses the entire season. Del Zotto and Stephan both slump after last season and Lundqvist retires and becomes the new guitarist for Them Crooked Vultures.

That would be pretty funny.

I don't see the Rangers really getting anywhere. All they added was Nash, and several other eastern teams improved in more aspects than the Rangers did.

Look at the playoffs this year, they barely beat the Senators. They barely beat Washington with a couple people underperforming (Holtby is the only reason that series even went to 7 games IMO). They got eliminated by a rag-tag Devils team.

[Sykol]

I'm sure Weber will get over getting "Trolled" when he buys a Pagani Zonda.

Honestly, Polie will probably trade him. I doubt Polie really wanted 4 first rounders for their best player in franchise history and if someone actually offers him some forwards and a proven young d-man, I'm sure he'll pull the trigger.

I really want NY to just flop and miss the playoffs. Watch Richards and Nash not mesh, Gabs have issues with his surgery and misses the entire season. Del Zotto and Stephan both slump after last season and Lundqvist retires and becomes the new guitarist for Them Crooked Vultures.

Pretty much everybody in the NHL can afford anything they want, but I honestly don't know how anyone could look at a team like Nashville and think "championships are overrated, I want me some mild weather." I'm sure he'll get traded eventually, too, but for the short term I think his pay will do some damage to the team and it sucks from an outside perspective to see such a talented player basically go to waste.

I wholeheartedly agree on NYR, though. Fuck that team. I'm still bitter about '94.

[conscript]

Trolling? Weber stated he wanted to stay, just wanted a contract.

Nashville had to match this offer. You can't lose the face of your franchise after finally becoming relevant in your city.

If so it was just lip service. His agent flat out said yesterday Weber was shocked the Preds matched and that he doesn't want to be part of a rebuild.

[Irony]

If so it was just lip service. his agent flat out said yesterday Weber was shocked the Preds matched and that he doesn't want to be part of a rebuild.

Oh more than likely, which is why I'm assuming he'll get traded. I doubt he would of signed an offer sheet if he wanted to be out of Nashville this badly.

[Asera]

They must figure they can get a hefty amount of assets based on his new monstrous contract next year at least.

[Deleted]

If so it was just lip service. His agent flat out said yesterday Weber was shocked the Preds matched and that he doesn't want to be part of a rebuild.

Do you have a source for that? Last thing I heard was his agent stating he'd have no issues playing in Nashville. If he did he would have just rode out the contract and then walked away as a UFA. When you sign an offer sheet there is always the possibility of the owners matching, even if it is a huge long term contract, and Weber knows that well enough.

[conscript]

Do you have a source for that? Last thing I heard was his agent stating he'd have no issues playing in Nashville. If he did he would have just rode out the contract and then walked away as a UFA. When you sign an offer sheet there is always the possibility of the owners matching, even if it is a huge long term contract, and Weber knows that well enough.

The "doesn't want to be part of a rebuild" was from before the offer sheet you're right. Since then the agent has said he was surprised but Weber is "glad to be back in Nashville and happy the ownership made the commitment to him." So agent speak both ways lol. I find it remarkably hard to believe he would say he wants no part of Nashville's rebuilding 4 days ago and is suddenly all smiles and thumbs up about being part of it today. Either way though, he totally panic moved by signing that huge deal before the big scary CBA limits contracts to 5-7 years or w/e it ends up being. So dumb. He would have gotten paid either way unless he completely fell apart before the end of his contract.

[Deleted]

The "doesn't want to be part of a rebuild" was from before the offer sheet you're right. Since then the agent has said he was surprised but Weber is "glad to be back in Nashville and happy the ownership made the commitment to him." So agent speak both ways lol. I find it remarkably hard to believe he would say he wants no part of Nashville's rebuilding 4 days ago and is suddenly all smiles and thumbs up about being part of it today. Either way though, he totally panic moved by signing that huge deal before the big scary CBA limits contracts to 5-7 years or w/e it ends up being. So dumb. He would have gotten paid either way unless he completely fell apart before the end of his contract.

I don't really see a rebuild coming though, not yet. We lost Suter (which hurts), Radulov (which doesn't) and Lindbäck (which doesn't change much considering that Rinne played almost all games last season) so far, that's not a "throw everything out and start from scratch"-rebuild in my book. Replacing Suter will be hard and Poile needs to maybe make a move for a halfway decent forward, but with what we have so far I think we're still a contender for a playoff spot.

This offer sheet was the best thing ever for Weber. Truckloads of money no matter where he ends up, a safe and secure future and control over his own destiny. Total win-win for him, I think any player in his position would have signed that.

[Greeney]

the team has no defense, no bottom 6, its two lines of forwards (if you can call malkin and crosby two lines, more like two players) and has a goaltender who gave up more goals against the flyers than i knew was doable in a playoff series. yeah...pittsburgh? lol. oh, they have letang, who is going to have to be resigned soon and will be getting a nice fat pay increase. i wonder how Pittsburgh is going to manage to field a team...

Fleury, single handed, cost both my brother and myself $1,000 each by letting a puck in every time Giroux touched it or passed it someone. <_<

I really want NY to just flop and miss the playoffs. Watch Richards and Nash not mesh, Gabs have issues with his surgery and misses the entire season. Del Zotto and Stephan both slump after last season and Lundqvist retires and becomes the new guitarist for Them Crooked Vultures.

Even if Richard doesn't play well with Richards they could put him on a line with [strike]Ansimov and Dubinsky[/strike] whoever else and still score 30 goals. I honestly think the Rangers should just put Nash and Richards on different lines and then move Gaborik around when the team has a couple poor performances. If Nash could get 30 goals last year with Columbus, he should be able to get 35 with Kreider and Stepan and help both of them out greatly as well. Sorry, but whatever you have against the Rangers is not coming back via karma in the near future.

Look at the playoffs this year, they barely beat the Senators. They barely beat Washington with a couple people underperforming (Holtby is the only reason that series even went to 7 games IMO). They got eliminated by a rag-tag Devils team.

Yes, losing to the Senators would have been all out embarassing, but Craig Anderson seems to be have this ability to pull a couple wins out of his ass in the playoffs. Washington always loses in the second round. Devils were the conference Champions and would have won the Stanley Cup if they played slightly less shitty in the first two games of the finals. Rangers added the missing piece, and I'm gonna have to say they became the team to beat in this years playoffs (if they happen).

[AceofHarts]

Fleury, single handed, cost both my brother and myself $1,000 each by letting a puck in every time Giroux touched it or passed it someone. <_<



Even if Richard doesn't play well with Richards they could put him on a line with [strike]Ansimov and Dubinsky[/strike] whoever else and still score 30 goals. I honestly think the Rangers should just put Nash and Richards on different lines and then move Gaborik around when the team has a couple poor performances. If Nash could get 30 goals last year with Columbus, he should be able to get 35 with Kreider and Stepan and help both of them out greatly as well. Sorry, but whatever you have against the Rangers is not coming back via karma in the near future.



Yes, losing to the Senators would have been all out embarassing, but Craig Anderson seems to be have this ability to pull a couple wins out of his ass in the playoffs. Washington always loses in the second round. Devils were the conference Champions and would have won the Stanley Cup if they played slightly less shitty in the first two games of the finals. Rangers added the missing piece, and I'm gonna have to say they became the team to beat in this years playoffs (if they happen).

always knew fluery was overrated.

[Epuration]

always knew fluery was overrated.

holy shit when did you get back?

[Deleted]

always knew fluery was overrated.

Fleury is actually just about the only Penguin I really like. I still think of him as a pretty decent goalie, it was very sad watching him fall apart like that in the Philly series. I hope he'll get back on track soon.