Official NHL 2013 Off-Season Thread

[Primis]

Well some GMs have fallen on their heads before noon today. Yzerman signed Filppula for 5 years worth 25 millions dollars?!? Did I missed something about him been a superstar?

My favorite part of that? Filppula's said he feels he's a #1 center. So.. he signs with a team with Stamkos. Uh huh, sure Fil...

He's a decent enough checker, but his offensive game is a trainwreck and he plays with no confidence anymore. $3-4m is probably his value. His camp wanted at least $5m, and he got it.

For everything else said, it's all a lie and he simply went to the highest bidder because there's nothing about his situation now in TB that will be any better for him.

[philou21]

Playing with Stamkos could certainly make him look better than he is, especially if he already thinks he's a superstar. I know he did a 66 pts season two years ago but except from that he has not done much.

[Primis]

Playing with Stamkos could certainly make him look better than he is, especially if he already thinks he's a superstar. I know he did a 66 pts season two years ago but except from that he has not done much.

He's played with some pretty good players in DET on his lines, as well as fairly regularly on the PP, and it never helped. He's played on Zetterberg's wing, and had Franzen on his wing both just in the last season. At one point I think he was playing with Zetterberg and Brunner for crying out loud.

He's probably a #3 center masquerading as a #2.

[Llaw]

There was hope Holland might finally make a single good and solid move this offseason to solidify the team and to indicate fans might be wrong, but with the other moves even internally he's making most fans have lost hope. The only UFA he'll likely sign will be a Nathan Paetsch-type with NHL experience they can store in Grand Rapids for emergencies.

You sure?

[Primis]

There was hope Holland might finally make a single good and solid move this offseason to solidify the team and to indicate fans might be wrong, but with the other moves even internally he's making most fans have lost hope. The only UFA he'll likely sign will be a Nathan Paetsch-type with NHL experience they can store in Grand Rapids for emergencies.

You sure?

While there was a little shock re: Alfredsson, from the sounds of things he almost fell into DET's lap. Reminded me of getting Hossa -- I don't know how much "work" was really required to land him. It honestly sounds like Zetterberg did a lot of the pitch himself.

Weiss was a different story. That one stunned me, I didn't think DET would get him. A lot of teams were after him (and are a bit butthurt that they didn't get him), and Weiss is now probably the most-significant free agent signing Kenny had to work for since landing Brian Rafalski. He's only 27 years old... same age as Damien Brunner. I don't know if Weiss will work out of course, but the fact Holland did it and is trying is about the most encouraging thing Wings fans have seen in some years.

Still a lot of concern though over the logjam now though. Holland *has* to swing some trades now or face real problems. And man, he hasn't made a significant trade since what, landing Mathieu Schneider about 3459034950345 years ago? A trade to land a vet dman would indicate Old Ken Holland is back, not the New, Scared-of-the-Cap Ken Holland.

The Chief over at Abel to Yzerman made a really good point though: Holland already really stuck it to some new divisional rivals. He took OTT"s beloved captain. He took FLA's best overall forward. He kept BOS from getting Alfredsson (as it turned out they got Iginla, but at a high price). And to top it all off, STL felt they were in the Weiss Sweepstakes for real, and Holland disappointed them too, one more time.

I'm not excited about the roster yet. Not while Bertuzzi and Samuelsson and Quincey and Tootoo are all still around for no real reason, and there is no room for Tatar to show his stuff. A trade or two though could change that in a hurry...

[philou21]

Derek Roy was just passing by in Vcr he signed a 1 year deal with the Blues.

[Primis]

As predicted and as I mentioned a few days ago before free agency hit, Jim Nill did indeed raid the scouting cupboard of Detroit.

Joe McDonnell and Mark Leach have both left for the Dallas Stars.

McDonnell ran DET's draft this year after Nill left for DAL. People are understandably upset on that for completely obvious reasons. Several people with actual "ins" or ties to the DET org said they've known "for a while" they were leaving and had been keeping it quiet. Since the draft was merely a week ago.... it's going to call into question the integrity of every DET pick.

I like to think Nill is a classy guy and would want guys that are also classy. And there's probably nothing to it. But.... let it be known that if this draft class for DET isn't very good, Jim Nill, Joe McDonnell, and Mark Leach are all going to take huge blame for it.

[philou21]

Burmirstrov goes to the KHL. That should make him happy now.

[philou21]

David Perron traded to the Oilers for Paajarvi and a second pick.

[philou21]

Ilya Kovalchuk announced his retirement this afternoon. He wants to back with his family in Russia and spit on the 77 millions left on his contract. Going to KHL or not after that it's a pretty big surprise for everyone I think. Good to know is family is more important than his 77 millions.

[Peter_Doherty]

Ilya Kovalchuk announced his retirement this afternoon. He wants to back with his family in Russia and spit on the 77 millions left on his contract. Going to KHL or not after that it's a pretty big surprise for everyone I think. Good to know is family is more important than his 77 millions.

So, how is Devils gonna score goals now?=)

[philou21]

That's what everyone is wondering lol They're going to have even more $$$$ loss.

[Manimal]

WOW! I did not see that coming!
Sucks for the Devils right now but good for long term financial reasons.
Plus, the have to forfeit next year's first-round pick due to signing Kovalchuk.
Sucks for me as I had him on my fantasy team

[CJ]

Ilya Kovalchuk announced his retirement this afternoon. He wants to back with his family in Russia and spit on the 77 millions left on his contract. Going to KHL or not after that it's a pretty big surprise for everyone I think. Good to know is family is more important than his 77 millions.

He'll probably move to SKA and get an even better contract than he had with the Devils.

[marko11]

Ilya Kovalchuk announced his retirement this afternoon. He wants to back with his family in Russia and spit on the 77 millions left on his contract. Going to KHL or not after that it's a pretty big surprise for everyone I think. Good to know is family is more important than his 77 millions.

So, how is Devils gonna score goals now?=)

They won't, Bettman won't allow them. Short term it's a disaster for my Devils, long term in could be blessing in disguise.

[bruins72]

Most reports I've read say that Kovalchuk could make around $20M per year in the KHL. It sounds like he'll make out just fine leaving that $77M.

The Bruins re-signed Patrice Bergeron to an 8 year deal with an average cap hit of $6.5M. Despite his concussion history, I'm very happy to see him locked up to a long-term deal like that. Bergeron is a Bruin heart and soul. He bleeds black and gold.

[philou21]

Ilya Kovalchuk announced his retirement this afternoon. He wants to back with his family in Russia and spit on the 77 millions left on his contract. Going to KHL or not after that it's a pretty big surprise for everyone I think. Good to know is family is more important than his 77 millions.

He'll probably move to SKA and get an even better contract than he had with the Devils.

There's a chance that this will happen. Especially since the medias changed their title "Kovalchuk retires" to "Kovalchuk retires from the NHL". There's a huge difference there. I don't blame him going back to Russia though playing hockey or not. He got the second best league in the world (maybe even tied with the NHL lol) in his backyard so it's an easy choice if you want to be with your family. Plus, I think for the Russian the KHL style of play fits them better than the actual defensive madness in the NHL.

What I like from Kovalchuk is that he took his time to think about it and talked about it with Lamoriello. It could have being easy for him to just do a Radulov of himself.

[philou21]

He'll probably move to SKA

Kovalchuk signed a four years deal.

[watts555]

He'll probably move to SKA

Kovalchuk signed a four years deal.

what a scumbag

[philou21]

Why? Because he wants to play in his country? I see no problem with that. He left the Devils in good terms and as far as I can see the Devils are probably happy to save 77 millions for their franchise.

[Primis]

Rumor is the Devils are going to sign Damien Brunner to help replace a bit of scoring lost w/ Kovalchuk. Price might be steep though, could be approaching $4m/yr.

Brunner has really good hands and shoots early and often. He also has awfully good hockey sense. However, the hype surrounding him from some of the writers I've seen is stretching it. He's not fast, he's an average speed skater. And I've seen claims he has lots of "grit" which is not true in the least. He doesn't really battle.

Man, this is weird. I'm not sure why there's a dead period like this with UFA's. Guys like Brunner and Grabovski are still out there, not just the aging vets.


RE: Kovalchuk, this only makes one question his competitive heart. KHL is nowhere near as good as the NHL, and he apparently doens't want to have to compete against the best. You can make all the excuses you want, but in the end he wants to be even more rich and not have to work as hard.

The guy was probably an eventual Hall of Famer, and I don't know that he is now. Some day we're going to look back at Jagr's KHL stint, and Kovalchuk's, and some of these other guys, and we're all going agree "Wow, they really blew it".

[watts555]

Why? Because he wants to play in his country? I see no problem with that. He left the Devils in good terms and as far as I can see the Devils are probably happy to save 77 millions for their franchise.

I don't care. If you commit, don't go back on your word.

[Primis]

Why? Because he wants to play in his country? I see no problem with that. He left the Devils in good terms and as far as I can see the Devils are probably happy to save 77 millions for their franchise.

I don't care. If you commit, don't go back on your word.

Since teams have been able to waive and buy out players whether the players want to be or not (aka go back on THEIR commitment) I don't agree with this. Both sides have found ways to break contracts.

If people want to criticize Kovalchuk for being weak, soft, greedy, and just a loser honestly I'm fine with it because this move means he probably deserves the criticism. But don't talk about how he's "not honoring" a contract that the newest CBA gave teams 2 free passes for THEM to not honor.

[timmy_t]

Why? Because he wants to play in his country? I see no problem with that. He left the Devils in good terms and as far as I can see the Devils are probably happy to save 77 millions for their franchise.

I don't care. If you commit, don't go back on your word.

Since teams have been able to waive and buy out players whether the players want to be or not (aka go back on THEIR commitment) I don't agree with this. Both sides have found ways to break contracts.

If people want to criticize Kovalchuk for being weak, soft, greedy, and just a loser honestly I'm fine with it because this move means he probably deserves the criticism. But don't talk about how he's "not honoring" a contract that the newest CBA gave teams 2 free passes for THEM to not honor.

The biggest thing is that Kovalchuk made the best decision for him and his family. He just wants to live in Russia with his Russian wife and kids and play hockey and I don't blame him one bit. What good is a $100 million contract when your wife and kids aren't happy. My wife and daughter are that important to me too (but I might have to play one year on that big contract so we'd have some money to live on back home!)

[philou21]

The biggest thing is that Kovalchuk made the best decision for him and his family. He just wants to live in Russia with his Russian wife and kids and play hockey and I don't blame him one bit. What good is a $100 million contract when your wife and kids aren't happy. My wife and daughter are that important to me too (but I might have to play one year on that big contract so we'd have some money to live on back home!)

Yeah this important. People who are complaining that he will made more money in Russia are just jealous who don't think about it for very long. You have an opportunity to go back in your own country and make even more money, who wouldn't say no? Russians have the chance to have the second bigger hockey league in the world in their backyards. Plus, from what I've heard of people following the KHL, the play style is way more interesting for Russians. Fast, more open play compared to the more defensive style the NHL got.