2023-24 NHL Season Thread.

[VanillaO]

That black jersey is sweet.. never seen it before... and ya, those new jerseys are not very easy on the eyes.

@Ren: maybe that's their plan? I don't know anything about how deep next year's draft is, but McDavid is eligible 2 years from now (I think?) and everything points to him being consensus #1 at this point. The kid got special permission to play in the OHL when he was 15 (John Tavares was the first and there's 2 others) and won rookie of the year. Maybe they're trying to go the Edmonton route and go for as many #1 picks as they can get :P

EDIT: This is how I imagine a conversation went between Tim Thomas and his agency.

Tim Thomas: What teams need a goalie?
Agency: Calgary has lots of interest.
Tim Thomas: You're fired.

[Zeoni]

It's actually between those 2 + Reto Berra and Jon Ortio. Not household names, not proven names, but they're prospects at least and we're not putting all our eggs in 1 basket. Also Joey MacDonald was awesome for us last year. Obviously not lights out incredible whoa look at that guy, but he played pretty solid even when we traded our only good defenseman. No one expects him to be MVP status but as long as he isn't losing us games, it's fine for now. Also not sure where you're expecting us to get better goalies. Bryzgalov? After all that shit on Philly? Why would he even want to come to a rebuilding team? I guess theres also...Tim Thomas! He'll want to sign here for sure. Oh man, I know, WE'LL SIGN RICK DIPIETRO! That was awesome for the Islanders. It's a rebuild, does it really matter who we have in net? Might aswell try Ramo out to see if he's actually gotten better from the KHL.

If he sucks complete dick we have a couple European goalies to test out, it doesn't really matter if they're bad too because we're not making the playoffs this year. No one on the planet has those kinds of aspirations, it's more of waiting for prospects to develop while we see what our guys got. Jon Gillies looks to be the goaltender of the future, I was at the prospect camp thing we had and he looked very impressive. There's also Laurent Brossoit, who has been really good in the last 2 years of WHL. It's more of a waiting for goalies to get experience thing than anything. If any of the guys battling for that spot play good, it's only a good thing for us.

edit: well done https://twitter.com/DetroitRedWings/...21137431437312

[conscript]

edit: well done https://twitter.com/DetroitRedWings/...21137431437312

Took long enough lol. Now they have to trade away a couple guys to get down to roster size.

[Elgefar]

Maybe Calgary should give Ilya Bryzgalov a contract to really really secure that number 1 pick next year.

[Stommped]

It's actually between those 2 + Reto Berra and Jon Ortio. Not household names, not proven names, but they're prospects at least and we're not putting all our eggs in 1 basket. Also Joey MacDonald was awesome for us last year. Obviously not lights out incredible whoa look at that guy, but he played pretty solid even when we traded our only good defenseman. No one expects him to be MVP status but as long as he isn't losing us games, it's fine for now. Also not sure where you're expecting us to get better goalies. Bryzgalov? After all that shit on Philly? Why would he even want to come to a rebuilding team? I guess theres also...Tim Thomas! He'll want to sign here for sure. Oh man, I know, WE'LL SIGN RICK DIPIETRO! That was awesome for the Islanders. It's a rebuild, does it really matter who we have in net? Might aswell try Ramo out to see if he's actually gotten better from the KHL.

If he sucks complete dick we have a couple European goalies to test out, it doesn't really matter if they're bad too because we're not making the playoffs this year. No one on the planet has those kinds of aspirations, it's more of waiting for prospects to develop while we see what our guys got. Jon Gillies looks to be the goaltender of the future, I was at the prospect camp thing we had and he looked very impressive. There's also Laurent Brossoit, who has been really good in the last 2 years of WHL. It's more of a waiting for goalies to get experience thing than anything. If any of the guys battling for that spot play good, it's only a good thing for us.

edit: well done https://twitter.com/DetroitRedWings/...21137431437312

Doesn't Toronto have 2 fully capable goalies just sitting there? Whoever the #2 is he is probably better than whoever is left in Calgary so it seems trying to work out a trade would make sense.

[Tradewind]

Maybe Calgary should give Ilya Bryzgalov a contract to really really secure that number 1 pick next year.

Since we're in rebuild, I would support it if only for the hilarity it would bring to local sports interviews.

[Rennadrel]

Doesn't Toronto have 2 fully capable goalies just sitting there? Whoever the #2 is he is probably better than whoever is left in Calgary so it seems trying to work out a trade would make sense.

There is no way Nonis trades Bernier or Reimer. We have arguably the best tandem in the NHL right now. Reimer may not be a #1 but maybe Bernier isn't a #1 either. I'd take them both competing for a starting job and actually being able to play ~50 games a season if the other has a rough year, over you know, Luongo and Schneider both pretending like they enjoy backing up one another and creating a drama festival. We have some decent goalie prospects though, and MacIntyre is going to be the Marlies starter in the coming season while Garret Sparks backs him up if Jussi Rynnas is gone (otherwise he will play in the ECHL).

[Zeoni]

Doesn't Toronto have 2 fully capable goalies just sitting there? Whoever the #2 is he is probably better than whoever is left in Calgary so it seems trying to work out a trade would make sense.

Maybe later on in the season but something tells me they don't want to part ways with either guy while neither have proven they're a bonafide #1 starter.

[VanillaO]

Maybe later on in the season but something tells me they don't want to part ways with either guy while neither have proven they're a bonafide #1 starter.

This in a nutshell. Nonis has 50-60 games to decide what he wants to do, and you can guarantee he's going to take it as close to the deadline as possible unless he gets a ridiculous offer. Same with Phaneuf - even if they're securely in a playoff spot, I can see him being moved under the right circumstances.

[Greeney]

Some teams don't trade well with others, when Calgary trades with Toronto it generally turns out much worse for Calgary. Especially since they seem to consider their two worst trades both involve sending us future captains.

[Drikkink]

Oh looks like you guys missed the Flyers season collapsing on itself before it started. It's gonna be one of those years.

Giroux was golfing when his club actually shattered. The shattered metal then tore into his right hand and tore some tendons in his index finger. Had to have surgery, 5-6 week recovery. Yes, the star player's going into the season with a hurt shooting hand.

It's going to be one of those freak injury years in Philly.

Side note, when do we get to make a 2013-2014 thread?

- - - Updated - - -

There is no way Nonis trades Bernier or Reimer. We have arguably the best tandem in the NHL right now. Reimer may not be a #1 but maybe Bernier isn't a #1 either. I'd take them both competing for a starting job and actually being able to play ~50 games a season if the other has a rough year, over you know, Luongo and Schneider both pretending like they enjoy backing up one another and creating a drama festival. We have some decent goalie prospects though, and MacIntyre is going to be the Marlies starter in the coming season while Garret Sparks backs him up if Jussi Rynnas is gone (otherwise he will play in the ECHL).

Bernier isn't a number 1? You can't say that yet. Yeah, he has been a backup to Quick for forever, but Quick hasn't been the most durable of goalies in the recent past and Bernier stepped up incredibly. It might be the fact that I'm so disillusioned towards goalies as a Flyers fan, but from his potential and what he's shown, he's a top 15 goalie, if not top 10

[BicycleMafioso]

my favorite black alternate in the NHL by far:

I personally like Canes black alternate.

Those new SJ jerseys.. I want to like them, but they're just.. wrong. I like the removal of the shoulder section. A bit too 80s for me. But I think the stripes belong.

[Zeoni]

Some teams don't trade well with others, when Calgary trades with Toronto it generally turns out much worse for Calgary. Especially since they seem to consider their two worst trades both involve sending us future captains.

I fucking knew the Phanuef trade was shitty for us the second it was announced. None of those players we got were appealing at all, and while Dion wasn't exactly top tier I still think we could have gotten a way better deal elsewhere.

[Rennadrel]

With that contract though, Calgary had to eat some salary to get rid of him.

[VanillaO]

It's ok.. what turned out as a huge steal for Toronto in the first place has become kind of just a better deal for Toronto than Calgary. Sjostrom has disappeared (not much was expected) and Aulie was dealt for a player who has spent most of the time with Marlies. Still, Phaneuf alone, with all his shortcomings, still somehow beats Stajan, Hagman, Mayers and White (since you dealt him early in the next season).

From the start of '09 to the start of '11, White played for Toronto, Calgary, Carolina, San Jose and then signed with Detroit. That's a lot of unpacking.

- - - Updated - - -

Also, how is Grabovski still not signed anywhere with training camp opening in 2 weeks? Were the 'many teams interested' just his agents trying to sell him to the maybe one or two who actually were?1

[Rennadrel]

He wants too much money despite the fact that he is inconsistent offensively and not a good team player. Also, after his reaction to the buyout, does anyone really want that kind of attitude on their team?

[Greeney]

He wants too much money despite the fact that he is inconsistent offensively and not a good team player. Also, after his reaction to the buyout, does anyone really want that kind of attitude on their team?

I think he's one of the most overrated players in the league. Couldn't score, couldn't play defensively. Only player who got worse plus minus in reg or playoffs on leafs was holzer. At least bozak plays two ways, handles the pk, wins faceoffs, and can score once in a blue moon when it's crucial. Being upset about a buyout is nuts when you hold out for 2.5 mil more than you should get alon with a NTC in a day of salary caps.

Regardless I'm sure he'll still be a leaf killer, probably Habs too. Will probably score on us every time he plays us and then struggle against everyone else. Hoping he goes to metro division but I think he would fit best in Ottawas system to be honest. Could see him wanting to play in buffalo if they had a chance of making playoffs.

[Zeoni]

Some Belarussian TV channel says Grabovski is going to sign in Washington. Not surprised with that.

[Elgefar]

It's official. Grabovski signed in Washington

[conscript]

It's official. Grabovski signed in Washington

Makes a ton of sense. Washington needed a center to replace Ribiero. Grabo is probably an upgrade frankly.