The 2018/19 NHL Chat & Fantasy Thread

[mr. leisure]

That leadership ability spurred them to hire Francis on Thursday as general manager of the yet-to-be-named team - well ahead of their schedule.
''Ownership made an incredible commitment . in supporting this idea of let's do this a year early,'' Leiweke said. ''If we're really here working for our fans, let's reward their belief. They said we're willing to make this commitment a year early. We're willing to bring on a general manager earlier than any other expansion team in the history of the NHL and that gift of an additional year will serve us well and give us a chance to scout and build and plan. But we had to find the right person.''
They believe the 56-year-old Francis is that person, announcing his hiring at a news conference that was attended by the mayor and a state senator. He'll have complete control of building the organization under Leiweke. He said he's already drawn up an organizational chart that will guide hiring as the team prepares to open play in 2021 as the NHL's 32nd franchise.

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/ron-fr...4142--nhl.html

Seattle should be a great city for a team .

[yisman]

yeah they never should've lost their NBA team

[hotcross]

The San Jose Sharks enter this season without one longtime forward but are optimistic they will still have another.


Joe Pavelski, who played 13 seasons for the Sharks and was captain for the past four, left as a free agent, signing a three-year contract with the Dallas Stars on July 1.


Forwards Joonas Donskoi (Colorado Avalanche) and Gustav Nyquist (Columbus Blue Jackets) also signed elsewhere.


The Sharks did re-sign defenseman Erik Karlsson to an eight-year contract June 17, two weeks before he could have become an unrestricted free agent.


But they lost defenseman Justin Braun (trade, Philadelphia Flyers) and Joakim Ryan (free agent, Los Angeles Kings).


The Sharks remain optimistic that 40-year-old unrestricted free agent center Joe Thornton will play a 15th season for them.

[yisman]

The Nashville Predators have avoided arbitration with Colton Sissons by signing the forward to a seven-year, $20 million contract.
Predators general manager David Poile announced the signing Tuesday and called Sissons ''an up-and-coming leader in our organization.''

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/predators-sign-colton-sissons-7-20m-contract-153937932--nhl.html

[yisman]

The Calgary Flames and forward Sam Bennett avoided arbitration, agreeing to a two-year contract Wednesday with an average annual value of $2.55 million.

[mr. leisure]

Going to be weird seeing corey perry on the dallas stars .

[hotcross]

Phil Kessel is ready to embrace the role of leader with the Arizona Coyotes.


"I'm looking forward to it," said Kessel, who will turn 32 on Oct. 2, the day before the Coyotes play their season opener against the Anaheim Ducks. "I haven't really got to have that in my career. I think it's going to be great. I'm going to do whatever I can to help these guys win and help them improve. If the young guys have questions or anything they want to talk about, I'm there to talk about it. Try to get our team better and them better."


The Coyotes were mostly interested in Kessel's offensive ability when they acquired him in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins on June 29 for forward Alex Galchenyuk and defenseman prospect Pierre-Olivier Joseph.

[yisman]

NHL.com on the Capitals:

Their focus this offseason has been on retooling the bottom half of the lineup with the hope of making another run at the Cup. It began with the acquisition of defenseman Radko Gudas in a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers for defenseman Matt Niskanen on June 14 and was followed by defenseman Brooks Orpik's retirement announcement June 25.
Then, forwards Richard Panik (four-year contract), Garnet Hathaway (four-year contract) and Brendan Leipsic (one-year contract) were each signed as an unrestricted free agent July 1 as replacements for Brett Connolly (agreed to terms with the Florida Panthers as an unrestricted free agent July 1), Andre Burakovsky (traded to the Colorado Avalanche for two draft picks and unrestricted free agent forward Scott Kosmachuk on June 28) and Devante Smith-Pelly (unrestricted free agent who won't be re-signed).

[hotcross]

seems like the upcoming season will have more revamped teams than we've seen in recent years

[BigSpoon]

Going to be weird seeing corey perry on the dallas stars .

Joe Pavelski as well, weird.

[mr. leisure]

Joe Pavelski as well, weird.

Stars should be real good this year .

[yisman]

corey perry looked pretty washed up this past season

[hotcross]

Vegas Golden Knights acquire backup goaltender Garret Sparks from the Toronto Maple Leafs, in exchange for forward David Clarkson and a fourth-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.



David Rittich signed a two-year, $5.5 million contract with the Calgary Flames on Saturday. It has an average annual value of $2.75 million. The 26-year-old goalie avoided a salary arbitration hearing scheduled for July 29.

"I'm super excited," Rittich told the Flames website. "I love it in Calgary. The organization gave me a chance to become a goalie in this league, and now I'm hoping to re-pay them with my play.”

[yisman]

The New York Rangers re-signed restricted free-agent forward Pavel Buchnevich to a two-year, $6.5 million contract Friday.

[hotcross]

Arizona Coyotes Finalize Sale With New Majority Owner Alex Meruelo

Historic purchase makes Meruelo the first and only Hispanic majority owner in the National Hockey League
Monday, July 29, 2019

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - The Arizona Coyotes today announced that businessman Alex Meruelo has purchased the controlling interest in the team from Andrew Barroway. The closing of the transaction makes Meruelo, 55, the new Majority Owner, Chairman and Governor of the Coyotes and the only Hispanic controlling owner of a National Hockey League club.

The California-based Meruelo Group has roots dating to 1986. Meruelo has built a broad portfolio of businesses in casino gaming, real estate, construction and engineering, hospitality, television and radio stations, food services, and private equity. The son of Cuban immigrants, Meruelo got his start in his father's tuxedo business.

[mr. leisure]

Lightning lock up Andrei Vasilevskiy with huge eight-year, $76 million extension after Vezina Trophy winning season

[yisman]

I just saw that today. I don't think that's a great move for the Lightning.

[mr. leisure]

I just saw that today. I don't think that's a great move for the Lightning.

Might work out , he is only 25 years old .


3rd highest paid goalie behind Price and Bobbo .

[hotcross]

Anaheim Ducks missed the playoffs for the first time since 2012.

Dallas Eakins is counting on an influx of young talent to get the Anaheim Ducks back into the Stanley Cup Playoffs in his first season as coach.

The 52-year-old was hired June 17 after coaching their American Hockey League affiliate in San Diego for four seasons. He replaced general manager Bob Murray, who coached the remainder of last season after Randy Carlyle was fired Feb. 10.

Although the Ducks didn't make any significant moves this offseason, the roster is expected to be filled out with prospects who will look to earn playing time once training camp starts in September. Eakins has a leg up, having coached many of them (including Sam Steel, Max Comtois and Troy Terry) in the AHL.

[mr. leisure]

Anaheim Ducks missed the playoffs for the first time since 2012.


They are going to miss it again this year too .

[yisman]

Ducks have not made smart moves lately and the team probably will be battling for the cellar

[hotcross]

Tampa Bay Lightning acquire goalie Mike Condon, sixth-round pick in 2020 NHL Draft from Ottawa Senators in exchange for forward Ryan Callahan, fifth-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft


New Jersey Devils acquire forward Nikita Gusev from Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft and second-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft.

[yisman]

never heard of Gusev

Knights should be good next year

Pirri hopefully plays full time

[hotcross]

Gusev will add another weapon to the Devils’ forward group after becoming an elite scorer during his career in the KHL in Russia.

Though he’s never played in a NHL game, Gusev brings another source of skill and potential to New Jersey. Here’s more on what you need to know about the newest Devil.

Gusev’s long path to the NHL
Gusev is still waiting to make his NHL debut, but the Devils are now his third organization since being drafted in the seventh round of the 2012 NHL Draft.

He was originally selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning, who retained his rights as he played in the KHL. Those rights went to Vegas in a 2017 trade prior to the team’s expansion draft. The Golden Knights signed Gusev to his first NHL contract prior to the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and while he was eligible to play, he did not appear in any of the team’s seven postseason games.

But signing the contract during for 2018-19 season still burned the only year of the entry-level deal, so Gusev became a restricted free agent during the summer.

His desire to play in the NHL remained, but Vegas couldn’t make a contract work without trading away other players to clear salary-cap space. So the Golden Knights decided to move Gusev instead, and that’s what led to the Devils’ deal on Monday.

He transformed into an elite KHL scorer
Despite being a seventh-round pick, Gusev has proved to be worth much more than that during his development.
The right-handed left wing became one of the KHL’s top scorers over the past three seasons playing with St. Petersburg, posting 24 goals and 74 points in 2016-17, then 22 goals and 62 points in 2017-18. He finished with 82 points in 2018-19, the second most ever recorded in one KHL season.

An Olympic champion

While NHL players were not allowed to play in the 2018 Winter Olympics, athletes from the KHL were permitted to play, and that gave Russia the clear leg up en route to the gold medal.

During that run, Gusev proved to be one of the key pieces to Russia’s run through the tournament. He finished with four goals and eight assists in six games at the Olympics, which included a two-goal, two-assist performance in an overtime win over Germany in the gold-medal game. He gave Russia a 2-1 lead early in the third period before tying the game at 3-3 with 56 seconds left in regulation. He then set up the overtime-winning goal with an assist.


What he brings to the table

Gusev isn’t a big player, coming in at 5-11 and 181 pounds, and despite that smaller size, he’s not considered an elite skater in terms of speed.


But the forward makes up for that with his hockey IQ and high-end skill. He’s got a quick, sharp shot that allows him to pile up goals, and he possesses the vision to make smart passes to set up shots for opponents.

Like any player who makes the transition to the NHL from the KHL, Gusev will need to adjust to playing full time on a smaller rink, and while the KHL is considered the one of the top pro leagues outside the NHL, there will be an increase in competition in North America.

So in that sense, the Devils are taking a gamble on Gusev, hoping he can immediately make an impact in New Jersey. Given his skill and progress during his career in Russia and the relatively small price paid to get him, it was a bet easily worth making.

[mr. leisure]

Ducks have not made smart moves lately and the team probably will be battling for the cellar

Yep , with the Kings .

[yisman]

bizarre story with Gusev

Knights signed him out of nowhere during the playoffs

then didn't use him

then refused to give him a few million

so the question is, why is he even in the NHL when he could make more money in the KHL?

[hotcross]

I think we missed this trade from late-June:


Arizona Coyotes acquired center Carl Soderberg will help improve the Coyotes offense. The 33-year-old center was acquired in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche for defenseman Kevin Connauton and a third-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. Soderberg scored an NHL career-high 23 goals in 82 games last season.

[yisman]

I like it for Colorado but a low impact deal

[hotcross]

we are less than 2 months from the start of the regular season

preseason begins Sept.15

[yisman]

wow, really close

less than 1.5 months

[mr. leisure]

August is such a bad sports month .

[yisman]

• Lightning sign Shattenkirk after buyout by Rangers
  
  1 day agoVeteran defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk has signed a one-year, $1.75 million contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning after being bought out by the New York...
  
• Predators sign Grimaldi to 1-year deal after arbitration
  
  2 hours ago
• Blues' Edmundson awarded $3.1M, 1-year deal in arbitration
  
  

[mr. leisure]

Lightning sign Shattenkirk after buyout by Rangers

1 day agoVeteran defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk has signed a one-year, $1.75 million contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning after being bought out by the New York...


Disapointing 2 years with the Rangers . Maybe he can get back to the way he played in St. Louis .

[hotcross]

August is such a bad sports month .

So does the whip mean we should all be doing our homework ?

[yisman]

yeah I mentioned the Shattenkirk news

Rangers very upset about what they gave up for him considering how badly he stank it up