Free Agent Frenzy thread

[Jimmy_the_Tongue]

Btw Twitter is pretty awesome...as long as its used properly. I don't care to know when people make a vowel movement...

I still...to this day...cannot figure out Twitter. It confuses the shit out of me. And the sad thing is....I'd like to use it....just can't follow it. My daughter tells me it can be confusing at first...so I may not be a total moron.

 

[puckhead]

I still...to this day...cannot figure out Twitter. It confuses the shit out of me. And the sad thing is....I'd like to use it....just can't follow it. My daughter tells me it can be confusing at first...so I may not be a total moron.

follow a few trustworthy sports media people at first to get the hang of it.
if you follow too many people, its just a huge worthless mess.

info: good. unfiltered: bad

 

[JustAsking]

I still...to this day...cannot figure out Twitter. It confuses the shit out of me. And the sad thing is....I'd like to use it....just can't follow it. My daughter tells me it can be confusing at first...so I may not be a total moron.

You don't need to follow twitter accounts (for hockey news).. a lot of 'firsters' on here... so news comes pretty quickly.

 

[Trudem]

I dont follow football much but wasnt Favre pushed out when he decided to unretire or something?

Favre is obviously a sore subject with me but he waffled every offseason for years and the franchise got tired of it and gave him a deadline. He then retired and the Packers retooled their offense to cater Rodgers. The Favre decided he wanted to play again and the front office said they will bring him back to compete with Rodgers in the new system because they changed their offense. Favre was upset and then he decided he would leave. The packers traded him to the Jets. Then Favre over the course of the rest of his career did everything he could to make the Packers lose and look bad like going to the Vikes to "stick it to the Packers" and help the opponents of the Packers with their offense when he was a member of the Jets.

 

[Eddie_Shack]

People are bitter over this because it was so unexpected. The true fans will get over it and remember how good he was to the team and the city.

I wish him well but.....

I've always respected the likes of Yzerman, Lemieux, Sakic, etc. for playing their whole careers with one team. To me it always moved them into a different level of loyalty, perseverance and class over guys like Messier or Roenick. Alfie was in that class... until a couple of days ago.

Also, I want the Sens to beat the Red Wings as much as anybody this year. And it's not because they moved into the the same division.

Speculation is moot, I know, but do you think Yzerman, Lemieux, or Sakic would have stayed with the same franchise had they reached 38 and still not had a Cup? Especially if the franchise wasn't currently a contender?

 

[KennyBanyeah]

Speculation is moot, I know, but do you think Yzerman, Lemieux, or Sakic would have stayed with the same franchise had they reached 38 and still not had a Cup? Especially if the franchise wasn't currently a contender?

I met Stevie Y once and got to talk some hockey with him, before he won a Cup, and he was so die-hard Wings that I'm 99% sure he would have stuck it out to the bitter end.

You make a good point though. Who knows what the others would have done?

The Sens may not be a favourite but I think most would say that they have a similar chance of winning the Cup as the Wings do this year. That's what I find perhaps the most puzzling.

 

[forty_three]

alfredsson getting crushed by some in ottawa media



can't say i blame people for being angry, but isnt this a bit much? also i fail to see this guys logic, how is it that much different from sundin, borque, modano?

also, this is nothing like favre, this guy has no clue what he is talking about.

Keep in mind that the Ottawa Media are some of the most self centered and whiniest douchebags on earth.

I would bet this guy, in his heart, was thinking how great it was that Alfie is leaving so he can get a lot of clicks out of it. Aaron Portzline in Columbus is primed to move to Ottawa with his bullshit.

People are bitter over this because it was so unexpected. The true fans will get over it and remember how good he was to the team and the city.

I wish him well but.....

I've always respected the likes of Yzerman, Lemieux, Sakic, etc. for playing their whole careers with one team. To me it always moved them into a different level of loyalty, perseverance and class over guys like Messier or Roenick. Alfie was in that class... until a couple of days ago.

Also, I want the Sens to beat the Red Wings as much as anybody this year. And it's not because they moved into the the same division.

Nobody had any inkling that it was even a remote possibility until Friday. It's like coming hom and finding your wife in bed with someone else. There's shock, there's anger. Eventually there will be acceptance.

No matter what, that first Det/Ott game in the Capital is gonna be interesting.

Speculation is moot, I know, but do you think Yzerman, Lemieux, or Sakic would have stayed with the same franchise had they reached 38 and still not had a Cup? Especially if the franchise wasn't currently a contender?

Hard to say. I was going to say Cal Ripken as a guy who stayed til the bitter (and it was BITTER) end. But he DID get a championship early on.

No one but Alfie knows what drove him to his decision. But there has to be a small part of him that thinks maybe he shouldn't have dedicated so much to the city if they turned on him so fast...

Instead of signing that last contract to stay, maybe he should have left then.

 

[JustAsking]

I can not be the only one that is not surprised that Alfie didn't resign with the Sens, I never expected him to... Boston would've been a bit of a surprise... but Detroit makes perfect sense to me... he wants to win a cup... and, sorry to sens fans, Wings give him a better chance of doing so...

 

[KennyBanyeah]

I can not be the only one that is not surprised that Alfie didn't resign with the Sens, I never expected him to... Boston would've been a bit of a surprise... but Detroit makes perfect sense to me... he wants to win a cup... and, sorry to sens fans, Wings give him a better chance of doing so...

That's cool that you think that but I'm kind of curious why?

IMO the teams break down like this:

Forwards: edge Wings
Defense: edge Senators
Goalies: edge Senators
Coaches: pretty close to a wash

The Wings get the obvious nod in experience while the Sens are much better served by youth. They're in the same division now so we'll get a good read on it once the season gets under way but I see these as two evenly-matched teams. On paper at least. Only time will tell.

 

[gmalis1]

Every player that has left this year's Hawks in the offseason has been a bum according to this guy.

What's amazing is that they were actually able to win the Cup with so many ECHLers on the squad.

For what it's worth I think the Flyers will have to rely on Emery this season. How much will range from 60 games to 25 games. If I was a betting man I'd wager that Emery ends up with more starts than Mason (assuming both are healthy).

In fact, anyone who has followed the NHL for the last few years should know that question marks don't really come any bigger than Steve Mason.

Okay, here's the Hawks have lost this offseason: Dave Bolland, Michael Frolik, Viktor Stalberg, Ray Emery and Carter Hutton.

Bolland is a gritty player who spends at least 1/4 to 1/3 of the season injured. He led the league in scoring two years in a row in the OHL, then came to the Hawks where he can't buy a goal to save his life. After being the third line center where he excelled, the Hawks promoted him to second line center this year and despite playing with Kane and Sharp most of the season did poorly offensively. He was the Hawks worst +/- all season. He is terrible in the faceoff dot. Hawks had to go and get Michael Handzus at the trade deadline to get someone who can win a faceoff and be a big presence. Handzus won the second line center job right before the playoffs started, while Bolland finally came back from injury in the second round and had to play with the fourth line. At $3.32 million a year, he wasn't worth the cap hit. Most fans in Chicago wanted him gone.

Frolik is a guy who scored 20 goals in two straight seasons with the Panthers, then was traded to the Hawks and couldn't score a goal if the net was the Grand Canyon. He found a nice niche on the penalty kill where he and Marcus Kruger were outstanding this season. Better than average speed, plays moderately physical, but has poor hands trying to finish. At $2.2. million and players waiting in the wings in the AHL, he was expendable.

Stalberg was one of my favorite players, but the most disappointing. One of the fastest skaters in the NHL, he has poor hands and is another player that has difficulty finishing scoring chances. Defensively he is a liability and Coach Q benched him for two games in Round 2 and two games in Round 3. Stalberg took offense to that and actually went public with his displeasure, which of course didn't sit well with the Hawks coaching staff. Stalberg had numerous opportunities to play first line and second line wing, but disappointed when those opportunities arose. Everyone in Chicago knew he would be gone after the playoffs.

Emery was a nice backup to Crawford the past two seasons and played exceptionally well this past season, when he and Crawford shared the Jennings trophy for least goals against given up in a season. He's a nice backup and I wish he would have stayed with the Hawks. The question mark as a starter is his durability. He has a degenerative hip condition and hurt the same hip prior to the end of the season and at the beginning of the playoffs, sidelining him for a bit. I don't think he will have as much success with the Flyers as the Hawks. The Flyers aren't as good defensively as the Hawks, as of now...and if Emery has a few bad outings the Flyers fans will be all over him just as they were with Bryz. Tough place to play for a goalie. Wouldn't have been my choice to be the starting goalie on almost most teams, but Emery came at a cheap price with high expectations. I don't think he will live up to those expectations.

Carter Hutton is a career AHL'er who played shakily in the Hawks last game of the season. I'm not gonna judge him on one nervous shaky game, but backing up Pekka Rinne he will be lucky to see 10-15 games this season as Rinne plays just about all of them. Hawks just signed the Finnish league MVP goalie and Antti Raanta will be the main guy in Rockford this season.

So, if the above means that I think those five players are EHL'ers, think what you want. I'm thinking I gave a pretty succint analysis of these players, both the upside and the downside. Would I have loved to keep everyone still on the Hawks...mmm, I guess so. But let's face it, the Hawks didn't lose ANY of their core players, they were able to keep their entry level guys at a very cheap price (Saad and Shaw), they resigned Bickell (at $4 million per year a bargain compared to what others were getting), Handzus and Rozsival, they have the same 7 defensemen back again this year and they have glove challenged (LOL!) Corey Crawford back in net.

Throw in a couple more NHL ready players from Rockford and the Hawks are off and running. Do I expect them to win the President's Trophy next year? Hardly. Really tough to do that. Do I expect them to win the Cup next year? Doubtful, because that's also really tough to do two year in a row. But I expect another great season from the Hawks and hope they go deep into the playoffs again.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

That's cool that you think that but I'm kind of curious why?

IMO the teams break down like this:

Forwards: edge Wings
Defense: edge Senators
Goalies: edge Senators
Coaches: pretty close to a wash

The Wings get the obvious nod in experience while the Sens are much better served by youth. They're in the same division now so we'll get a good read on it once the season gets under way but I see these as two evenly-matched teams. On paper at least. Only time will tell.

I actually think Howard is as good as Anderson. He was lights out against the Ducks & Blackhawks in the playoffs.

I don't think the coaches are a wash either. Edge to the Red Wings. I don't think Babcock gets enought credit. People forget he led a Ducks team to the finals that didn't have nearly as much talent as many others that year. Beside MacLean was part of Babcocks staff before the Sens hired him.

 

[The Q stache]

I actually think Howard is as good as Anderson. He was lights out against the Ducks & Blackhawks in the playoffs.

I don't think the coaches are a wash either. Edge to the Red Wings. I don't think Babcock gets enought credit. People forget he led a Ducks team to the finals that didn't have nearly as much talent as many others that year. Beside MacLean was part of Babcocks staff before the Sens hired him.

Better if you take into account he is more durable than Anderson, and for the record I like Anderson he was born in my hometown.

 

[gmalis1]

That's cool that you think that but I'm kind of curious why?

IMO the teams break down like this:

Forwards: edge Wings
Defense: edge Senators
Goalies: edge Senators
Coaches: pretty close to a wash

The Wings get the obvious nod in experience while the Sens are much better served by youth. They're in the same division now so we'll get a good read on it once the season gets under way but I see these as two evenly-matched teams. On paper at least. Only time will tell.

Sorry, but there isn't a better coach in the NHL than Mike Babcock. I have never seen a guy get more out of a team than him. I give the coaching edge to Detroit...even as a Hawks fan.

It will be very interesting to see how the Wings fare in the Eastern Conference this season. I always found myself following their team...trades, scores, standings...just because the Hawks were division rivals. I'm actually sad to lose this rivalry.

 

[JustAsking]

That's cool that you think that but I'm kind of curious why?

IMO the teams break down like this:

Forwards: edge Wings
Defense: edge Senators
Goalies: edge Senators
Coaches: pretty close to a wash

The Wings get the obvious nod in experience while the Sens are much better served by youth. They're in the same division now so we'll get a good read on it once the season gets under way but I see these as two evenly-matched teams. On paper at least. Only time will tell.

I guess the real reason is their experience...

I know stats are stats and games are played on ice... so with that said

2012 GA
Sens #2
Wings #5

2012 GF
Wings #20
Sens #27

 

[TiLoBrown]

So you're saying players are good until they get to Chicago?

 

[pixburgher66]

I'm with Kenny on the Wings/Sens debate. Sorry. They're pretty close IMO. It's not like he left the Panthers to go to the Wings...he left a team that lost in the same round. I still think the Sens would've done serious damage if fully healthy all season. I put them EXTREMELY close on all regards. Goalies? Howard and Anderson are in the same ball park. Coaches? Babcock is the best coach in the league, but guess who learned from him for years? Defense? Both have some definite room for growth, although Karlsson makes the Sens group look pretty spectacular. Offense? Wings have the big names for sure, but the Sens have a bunch of young names that should soon be names. If I were betting, I'd honestly probably put money on Ottawa to go farther. I know the Wings are coming to this "lowly" East, but don't you think that they may actually have to adjust to playing these teams this often now? It's a different game in the East...so wouldn't the team coming into it be a more of disadvantage? I like and respect the HELL out of the Wings...13 postseason games do that...but people priming them as the East favorites overlooks a lot of talent in the East still.


(I'm still convinced that the Jackets finish top 4)

 

[dash]

Mueller? Mueller? Frye? Frye?

NHLonTSN: Dallas Stars have signed free agent center Chris Mueller to a one-year contract. #TSN #NHL

 

[elocomotive]

Mueller? Mueller? Frye? Frye?

NHLonTSN: Dallas Stars have signed free agent center Chris Mueller to a one-year contract. #TSN #NHL

In 2013, in an effort to alleviate the effects of the... anyone? anyone? Missing the playoffs. Signed the... anyone? anyone? Free agents...untrestricted free agent. Which, anyone? Raised, or lowered? Raised their ticket prices in an effort to collect more revenue for the franchise. Did it work? Anyone? Anyone know the effects? It did not work and the Dallas Stars sank further from playoff contention.

 

[elocomotive]

...but people priming them as the East favorites overlooks a lot of talent in the East still.

Is anyone actually doing that? I think the Wings are likely to make the playoffs (tough prediction, I know!), but I don't think they are close to tops in the conference.

I think both conferences are fairly even right now. The only big change is that the West will have fewer teams and a (bullshit) better chance to make the playoffs.

 

[pixburgher66]

Is anyone actually doing that? I think the Wings are likely to make the playoffs (tough prediction, I know!), but I don't think they are close to tops in the conference.

I think both conferences are fairly even right now. The only big change is that the West will have fewer teams and a (bullshit) better chance to make the playoffs.

The TSN guys were doing it after they signed Alfie. I like Alfie for the most part, but I don't think he makes them greatly better than they were last year. If Howard has another solid season I put them near the top certainly, but some guys made it seem like they were runaway favorites. Twitter experts do it as well...but we know their reliability...