Official 15-16 NHL Off-Season Thread

[CJ]

Cody Hodgson retires!
http://www.thehockeynews.com/news/artic ... ey-program

[Peter_Doherty]

Yeah, some slightly weird players have retired the last few days. Hodgson is still young and he could still play too, Jackman actually bounced back in the last 2 seasons and was good again so he could still play and Boyle could also still play even if he wasn't the same player he used to be, Boyle was solid on our 3rd pairing.

[ClassicSwarley]

I have to say, Hodgson's retirement surprised me, that's a pretty young age to retire for a hockey player in my opinion.

[philou21]

We never know maybe the passion wasn't there anymore for Hodgson on the ice. I wish him the best of luck.

[Peter_Doherty]

Or maybe he had a lingering injury or something, hard for us to know. Glad to see he got a job to stay in hockey, maybe he just felt it was a good opportunity in Preds.

[CJ]

I've been thinking about or I'm fascinated by Kane/Panarin. And what a fantastic duo that is. What are the chances that Kane get's his "perfect" line-mate and the other way around. Somehow reminds me of Selänne/Kariya somehow, flashy and fast, whatever they do they usually score.

[Ukko]

Yeah, they're clicking and it's awesome to watch, I really love Panarin's fresh mentality and general happiness in playing the game

Yet Quenneville might want to have a shot at splitting the magic line to give Toews a young and fast left winger. I can understand the need of a productive Toews line, but Quenneville is Quenneville, I'm eagerly waiting the start of the season

[ClassicSwarley]

Connor McDavid was named the Oilers captain, making him the youngest Captain in NHL history.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/oile ... l-history/

Does anyone actually care about him being a captain at such a young age?

[philou21]

Not at all. I was expecting it like probably most of us.

[CJ]

No surprise at all. Franchise player named a captain at an early age.

Would have been a lot differently in another team were they have a Captain. Just because Edmonton doesn't have much leadership is the main reason for it. Even Lucic is Assistant Captain already without even played a game tells a lot about the whole team.

[nino33]

Oilers trade Yakupov https://www.nhl.com/news/nail-yakupov-t ... -282481580

I remember in 2012 being baffled as to why the Oilers didn't take a D (8 of the first 10 picks that year were D); maybe new scenery will help Yakupov find his game, but I think he might be more of a KHL player than an NHL player (I think St. Louis is a good opportunity for him)

I was never impressed watching him, and have read frequently that he lacks "hockey sense"


Doesn't seem the prospect the Oilers got is anything special http://www.hockeysfuture.com/prospects/zach-pochiro/

[philou21]

Yeah Yakupov value was pretty low looking at that trade but it's not a huge surprise either. I always knew they should have picked a d-man!

[Peter_Doherty]

It's kinda funny that Yakupov is seen as a big bust and is trade while RNH is seen as a fine pick and a #1C when they both produce at more or less the same rate (P/60 and especially P1/60). If Yakupov was a 'Good ol Canadian boy' then he would have kept getting big ice time with good (well, as good as you can get in Oilers) players and he would have produced decent enough point totals.

Hope he gets a real chance in STL and takes it, like him as a player, so much fun to watch.

Also, Oilers management is a farce, they've traded Taylor Hall, Nail Yakupov, #16 2015, #33 2015 for Adam Larsson (he's good but not great), Griffin Reinhart (He actually can't skate and just got sent to the AHL), an ECHL player and a conditional 3rd rounder, that's so bad that it's sad.

Quick disclaimer; I think RNH is a better player then Yakupov, just saying that it's not by a big margin.

[ClassicSwarley]

Peter, do you consider Yakupov a bust? Why or why not?

[Peter_Doherty]

He's kind of a bust for a #1 pick, but he's still been producing at a pretty good level. I just think the difference in how people view Yakupov and RNH is weird since they produce at the same rate. This is just prime Oilers with the asset management, Yakupov is a fine middle-6 winger who produces well and is good on the PP while having some defensive problems. If they would have put him in a position to succeed then he would have done fine.

[nino33]

The Oilers have been trying to move RNH too! HaHa

So far in their careers RNH has averaged 0.71 PPG and is a -32 playing against top 6 competition, Yakupov has averaged 0.44 PPG and is a -88 playing against 3rd/4th liners

It doesn't look like Yakupov is good enough to be a top 6 NHL player, and he's seemingly to much of a defensive liability to be play on the 3rd/4th line.....I wouldn't be surprised at all if he ends up in the KHL

[nino33]

If Yakupov was a 'Good ol Canadian boy' then he would have kept getting big ice time with good (well, as good as you can get in Oilers) players and he would have produced decent enough point totals.

Hope he gets a real chance in STL and takes it, like him as a player, so much fun to watch.

Also, Oilers management is a farce, they've traded Taylor Hall, Nail Yakupov, #16 2015, #33 2015 for Adam Larsson (he's good but not great), Griffin Reinhart (He actually can't skate and just got sent to the AHL), an ECHL player and a conditional 3rd rounder, that's so bad that it's sad.

Quick disclaimer; I think RNH is a better player then Yakupov, just saying that it's not by a big margin.

I disagree with the "good ol Canadian boy" view (the idea that the Oilers didn't play him more/he didn't do well because of such a reason is a ridiculous stereotype IMO).....the Oilers emphasis on the small/skilled "European style" forwards have caused them problems IMO and if they'd picked more of the "good ol Canadian boy" types (no necessarily from NA) they'd have been better off

And how much have you actually watched Yakupov? Because he hasn't been fun to watch for Oilers fans (and I watched many games in his first two years, and he wasn't fun to watch then)

[Peter_Doherty]

The Oilers have been trying to move RNH too! HaHa

So far in their careers RNH has averaged 0.71 PPG and is a -32 playing against top 6 competition, Yakupov has averaged 0.44 PPG and is a -88 playing against 3rd/4th liners

It doesn't look like Yakupov is good enough to be a top 6 NHL player, and he's seemingly to much of a defensive liability to be play on the 3rd/4th line.....I wouldn't be surprised at all if he ends up in the KHL

THey have been trying to move RNH, but he still isn't seen as a bust like Yak is, he's seen as a legit 1C or borderline 1C, the discrepancy there is what i'm going after.
Last 4 years (since Yak enteret the league) their P/60 (points per 60 minutes of ice time) is Yak: 1.47, RNH: 1.60 and their P1/60 (primary points per 60) is Yak: 1.18, RNH 1.17. And i really don't see how QoC has any bearing here, then we could use QoT aswell where RNH has had the better linemates, it pretty much evens out. RNH has gotten much more ice time hence why using /60 is better then PPG here, and using +/- to evaluate an individual performance is just not optimal, +/- is more of a team stat.

I definitely think the Russian factor plays into the way Oilers handled him, i might be wrong but that's what i think. I haven't binge watched Oilers but i've seen enough to know that i enjoy watching Yakupov play, he's fun to watch.

[nino33]

THey have been trying to move RNH, but he still isn't seen as a bust like Yak is, he's seen as a legit 1C or borderline 1C

I think in Edmonton he's thought of as a bust so far (and he's most definitely not thought of as a legit #1 C in any way, and wasn't even before they drafted McDavid)

using +/- to evaluate an individual performance is just not optimal, +/- is more of a team stat.

They play on the same team, and Yakupov's +/- is much worse despite rarely playing against the opponent's best offensive players

I definitely think the Russian factor plays into the way Oilers handled him, i might be wrong but that's what i think.

I'm not an Oiler fan, Yakupov's years of poor performance speaks for itself, and IMO if someone ran down a European/Russian orginization in the same way/for the same reasons I think it would be considered ridiculous to say, which is what I think it is (they did draft him #1 overall, and he has played horribly/not produced for years)


No malice intended/not angry, and I'm going to let it go now

[Ukko]

PA Parenteau reportedly put on waivers later today, I wonder if Chicago can grab him... He'd fit nicely imo.

But I guess some lower possible point % last year will claim him.

[CJ]

PA Parenteau reportedly put on waivers later today, I wonder if Chicago can grab him... He'd fit nicely imo.

But I guess some lower possible point % last year will claim him.

Why did they sign him just to put him on the waiver?!

[Peter_Doherty]

Parenteau on waivers is super weird, only thing i can think of that makes sense is that he's physically unfit or something. He scored over 20 last year and is dirt cheap, i think he'll get claimed.

[CJ]

Parenteau on waivers is super weird, only thing i can think of that makes sense is that he's physically unfit or something. He scored over 20 last year and is dirt cheap, i think he'll get claimed.

Yeah VERY cheap for a 0.6+ PPG guy. Injury might be a slight concern of him.

[philou21]

I was surprised too. Pavelec is also on waivers.

[Peter_Doherty]

Also Red Wings keep sending talented depth players on waivers to keep aging overrated veterans on their team, their asset management is by far the worst in the entire league, has Holland completely lost it? Losing players like Nestrasil, Frk, Järnkrok (traded as a throw in for an aging overrated veteran), Janmark (traded as a throw in for an aging overrated veteran) and now Pulkkinen for nothing is insanely bad asset management, these are all (well, jury still out on Frk) very good depth players on the cheap.