NHL 2015-16 season thread

[MizzouRah]

Congratulations Pens fans and players!!!

[10spro]

Got 500 million? Looks like Vegas will have a hockey team in the 17-18 season.

[MizzouRah]

Got 500 million? Looks like Vegas will have a hockey team in the 17-18 season.

The Vegas Craps? LOL!

[pk500]

Great job, Bettman: Bringing the game to another quality hockey town. At least dilute the talent pool in the NHL by going to a great hockey town like Quebec City, or force the Leafs to acquiesce to a team in Hamilton. Even Seattle would be better because there would be an immediate geographical rivalry with Vancouver.

I read a blog post this morning at Sports Media Watch about the low ratings for the Stanley Cup Finals this year. The post compared this year's average rating to other low-rated series of the last 15 years, and there's one common denominator: All of the series featured teams from Florida, California or North Carolina.

The only people who care about hockey in warm-weather markets are the hardcore, especially in May and June. The Ducks held their Stanley Cup parade/rally in the parking lot of the Honda Center after their first Cup victory in 2007. 'Nuff said.

[vader29]

Fat man with a little cup.

[10spro]

Never tired of hearing the rain of boos at G. Bettman no matter which arena he walks in. It's draft day baby, welcome to the NHL A. Matthews. Damn Leafs got a heck of a player.

[Aristo]

Of the 12 Americans drafted in the first round, 5 call St. Louis home. That is pretty damn cool.

[XXXIV]

Subban for Webber going to take me a while to wrap my mind around it.

The thing that sticks out for me is the four year age difference.

I know you now have better defense but for how long and at what cost?

[10spro]

Crazy trades for sure. I am still stunned that PK got moved but they were obviously some discontent in the dressing room for his lack of maturity. Still Webber is a solid top D man that will anchor the Habs for awhile.

Don't know if the Oilers are satisfied with Hall being traded for Larsson though.

[Gangrel]

Don't know if the Oilers are satisfied with Hall being traded for Larsson though.

Nope. Why the hell did they give up Hall for just Larsson? They should have at least gotten a hot prospect, or back up goalie, or something......

Trading IMO the best proven player on your team (Mcdavid would have exceeded him this year) for a young D man? Eberle straight up, Yakupov straight up, sure, but Hall???????


There better be a master plan at work here by Chiarelli, or he's going to get run out of town!

[pk500]

Hall is injury-prone. Who is the last all-around, puck-moving D man in Edmonton? Wait for it ...

Like you, I would have liked to have seen a pick added to the deal for Edmonton. But the Oil needs a real defenseman -- badly. Plus Lucic may sign with the Oil, which adds value to the deal.

[pk500]

Regarding the Hall trade, this headline shows the complete delusion of the Edmonton media:

http://edmontonjournal.com/sports/hocke ... tanley-cup

The Hall trade could cost the Oilers a Stanley Cup? F*ck, the Oilers haven't been in the PLAYOFFS since 2006 despite multiple top picks.

Pump the damn brakes, please.

[MizzouRah]

I would have traded Shattenkirk straight up for Hall or Nugent-Hopkins.

We need to sign Brouwer and if Backes wants the sky, bid him a farewell.

[GameSeven]

I would have traded Shattenkirk straight up for Hall or Nugent-Hopkins.

We need to sign Brouwer and if Backes wants the sky, bid him a farewell.

Word is that Shattenkirk wouldn't sign an extension in Edmonton, otherwise Hall would be a Blue right now.

As a Devils fan, I'm happy that the deal fell through to New Jersey where our anemic offense is in desperate need of a boost. Losing Larsson hurts and opens a hole on the blue line, but that's a deal Shero can't pass up.

[10spro]

I would have traded Shattenkirk straight up for Hall or Nugent-Hopkins.

We need to sign Brouwer and if Backes wants the sky, bid him a farewell.

Word is that Shattenkirk wouldn't sign an extension in Edmonton, otherwise Hall would be a Blue right now.

As a Devils fan, I'm happy that the deal fell through to New Jersey where our anemic offense is in desperate need of a boost. Losing Larsson hurts and opens a hole on the blue line, but that's a deal Shero can't pass up.

And he'll add some pop to your offense G7. No doubt. Hall was scoring on an aweful team and he'll be surrounded with a solid cast in NJ. Larsson is on a cusp of being a superstar I believe, a right shot where EDM needs badly but I still think at this point where both players are in their career that Jersey got the better deal as a pick should have been included to balance a bit this trade.

[GameSeven]

I would have traded Shattenkirk straight up for Hall or Nugent-Hopkins.

We need to sign Brouwer and if Backes wants the sky, bid him a farewell.

Word is that Shattenkirk wouldn't sign an extension in Edmonton, otherwise Hall would be a Blue right now.

As a Devils fan, I'm happy that the deal fell through to New Jersey where our anemic offense is in desperate need of a boost. Losing Larsson hurts and opens a hole on the blue line, but that's a deal Shero can't pass up.

And he'll add some pop to your offense G7. No doubt. Hall was scoring on an aweful team and he'll be surrounded with a solid cast in NJ. Larsson is on a cup of being a Star I believe, a right shot where EDM needs badly but I still think at this point where both players are in their career that Jersey got the better deal as a pick should have been included to balance a bit this trade.

Good points, 10s, and that latter point was also reported on vis-a-vis Shero. Word was that Chia sought out Larsson, knowing he needed to swap a forward for a d-man, and Shero hedged until Hall was the chip offered. And once that was the case, he stood firm on any pluses since cap space (near some 2M) was an essential part of the deal for EDM.

[10spro]

Canada Day means also free agent frenzy. Should be a crazy day, names like Lucic who'll probably sign in EDM. A. Ladd, L. Okposo, L. Eriksson, D. Backes, M Boedcker, T. Brouwer among the most wanted. They'll be some crazy money thrown around, lengthy terms and overpayed players.

[10spro]

No surprises with Lucic signing with EDM. His job is to protect D. McDavid of course. Seven years term with NTC 42 million deal and apparently almost half of the money went just in signing bonuses. Agents are getting quite imaginative with these long crazy contracts. Lucic apparently can't even be put on waivers during this contract, never known for his speed we'll see how this pans out for the Oils when he's into his 30's.

S. Weber had a fat bonus cheque of 8 million for playing in MON. At this rate, I can see the league reopening their current contract (there's an opening on both sides) to address the bonuses issue. Don't be surprised if we'll see another lockout in 2021.

Among other key names, Okposo goes back to BUF to add some muscle, E. Staal is in Minny for 3 years and A.Ladd will be playing along J. Tavares for the Isles in replacing F. Nielsen who went to the Wings.

Also Backes will be a Bruins as he eases the load on Bergeron and Krejci. He's already 32 though.

My 'Nuckers get the right winger that the Twins have wanted for so long in L. Eriksson, six year term at 6M per.

Some frenzy signings already...

[MizzouRah]

Word is that Shattenkirk wouldn't sign an extension in Edmonton, otherwise Hall would be a Blue right now.

As a Devils fan, I'm happy that the deal fell through to New Jersey where our anemic offense is in desperate need of a boost. Losing Larsson hurts and opens a hole on the blue line, but that's a deal Shero can't pass up.

That makes sense.. too bad. I think we'll be stuck with him this year and lose out on a return.

Backes gone, Bouwer gone Backes is no big deal at that price and years.. but Brouwer.. UGH!!! We get Perron and a backup goalie? SHEESH!!! I'll never see a stanley cup here.

[snaz16]

Tampa is getting busy , Stamkos and Hedman in the fold for 8 yrs. And interestingly (well not really ) goalie Vasilevskiy gets a 3 year deal. What this means for Bishop remains to be seen. With the impending expansion draft and the certain loss of Bishop , it would seem a trade of some kind would be in the offing. The Tampa Trib reports that the bolts have $13 mill left on the cap and will concentrate on getting Kucherov and Killorn back.