Summer 2023 NHL News (Offseason?) Thread

MiracleOfO2704

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Jul 12, 2005
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That term is a coup for Matthews, giving him one more payday for max money before the decline starts after the cap gets some upward momentum again.
 

cshea

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I’m all for the top players getting big money, but I’m not sure how they are going to ice a full roster.
Matthews is one of the 3 best players in the league. If you aren't going to pay him then I don't know what the point is. You don't squeeze the superstar so you can put a $3 million guy on the 3rd line. I think this is actually a steal for the Leafs, he probably could've asked/gotten $15+ million. They traded the max term for the lower AAV. Leafs get more flexibility, Matthews gets to hit the market again at 29 years old.

They're also in pretty good shape overall. The extension kicks in next season when the cap is projected to rise to $87.5 million. Even if we go conservative and it only goes up another $1 million, the Leafs will have about $30 -$35 million to spend to fill out 8-9 roster spots. That is not bargain hunting. The elephant in the room is that one of those roster spots is Nylander but all signs seem to point to him leaving. Beyond next season, 2 years from now Marner is up but that is aligned with Tavares expiring so it seems simple enough to re-allocate Tavares' money to Marner.
 

Mighty Joe Young

The North remembers
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Matthews is one of the 3 best players in the league. If you aren't going to pay him then I don't know what the point is. You don't squeeze the superstar so you can put a $3 million guy on the 3rd line. I think this is actually a steal for the Leafs, he probably could've asked/gotten $15+ million. They traded the max term for the lower AAV. Leafs get more flexibility, Matthews gets to hit the market again at 29 years old.

They're also in pretty good shape overall. The extension kicks in next season when the cap is projected to rise to $87.5 million. Even if we go conservative and it only goes up another $1 million, the Leafs will have about $30 -$35 million to spend to fill out 8-9 roster spots. That is not bargain hunting. The elephant in the room is that one of those roster spots is Nylander but all signs seem to point to him leaving. Beyond next season, 2 years from now Marner is up but that is aligned with Tavares expiring so it seems simple enough to re-allocate Tavares' money to Marner.
It’s not ideal for the Leafs - longer term would have been nice - but it will do. It’s manageable and the flexibility is very helpful. It’s an excellent deal for Matthews - win win
 

Bozo Texino

still hates Dave Kerpen
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Even after the invasion of Ukraine, the KHL and NHL had been acting in good faith with respect to agreements made about Russian players. That appears to have changed when, in violation of an IIHF ruling, CSKA Moscow played the Flyers' Ivan Fedotov in their KHL opener.

Fedotov is no great stakes, but I'm curious to see how this shakes out with other Russian players. If the KHL isn't going to adhere to agreements it made, then the NHL shouldn't have to, either. That said, such breaking of the rules appears to favor the Russians - it's not like the Flyers can say "Okay, we'll go ahead and take Michkov NOW, then" - there's no way he'd be allowed to leave the country.
 

cshea

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Babcock is an asshole, always has been. Obviously knows his way around the rink but I wouldn’t want to touch him. I suppose everyone is entitled to grow as a person and atone for mistakes but from everything I’ve heard, fuck that guy.
Babcock might not make it to the pre-season with CBJ. Spittin Chiclets reporting that Babcock demanded to see Boone Jenner (the captain) phone so he could through the photos and see what kind of a person Jenner was.

https://x.com/Aportzline/status/1701613386042142908?s=20
 

cshea

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Parsing through things, seems like Babcock has done this in the past. He seems to have some sort of annual team building meeting where he asks players/staff to show photos and it's typically family photos and what not. This is from Jack Han who was an employee of the Maple Leafs organization when Babs was in Toronto:

https://twitter.com/JhanHky/status/1701669871547765070?s=20

Jenner refused to comment beyond his official statement, so I don't know. Biz doubled down saying multiple players confirmed his original 'report.'

Guessing Babs did his annual photo sharing thing, the players, who are already wary of him based on Babcock's history, found it strange and uncomfortable and thus it got out.
 

Dummy Hoy

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Regardless of how harmless this may be, the fact that Babcock is still doing the same old shit (listening to 32 thoughts it sounds like that’s “his thing”) suggests he didn’t actually undergo any real change while he was away…maybe some legit reflection on his part may have caused him to ask “what do I do that makes people uncomfortable” and make some changes. Or maybe he did, I don’t know….

I think players are far more sensitive today…but because of that hiring some guy in his 60s with a track record of abrasiveness seems a poor decision.
 

cshea

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Yeah, it's not going away. Seems like there's more going on than what's on the surface. Following the strong denial by Babcock and the statement by Boone Jenner, the NHLPA pushed on with the investigation. Marty Walsh and Ron Hainsey flew to CBJ and met with players yesterday. Apparently there is another meeting today between the league and NHLPA to discuss. So the statements didn't put it to rest and something triggered the PA continuing to dig and signs seem to indicate they found something.

The tea leaves seem to point to this being more of the same Babcock shit than some innocent team building family photo nonsense. Dreger reporting that all options are on the table including termination.

https://x.com/FirstUp1050/status/1702668903644537310?s=20
 

cshea

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Honestly, and I know there are financial concerns, if I'm CBJ I cut bait immediately. If it went this south before a single practice between him and the players there's no hope.
 

Murby

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Mar 16, 2006
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Boston Metro
Trade alert

General Manager Patrik Allvin announced today that the #Canucks have acquired goaltender Casey DeSmith from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for forward Tanner Pearson and a third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft.
 

McDrew

Set Adrift on Memory Bliss
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I hope the Canadiens told DeSmith he was getting flipped so he didn't move to Montreal after getting traded there a couple months ago.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

Throw Momma From the Train
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Calgary Asst GM (and former Globe hockey beat writer) Chris Snow has been battling ALS for several years now. Sadly he suffered a cardiac event a day or so ago and his wife Kelsie is confirming that he will not wake up from the medical incident, and that organ donations are being arranged. Terrible news.

https://x.com/kelsieswrites/status/1707396071373340906?s=20
 

The Gray Eagle

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Oh no, that's awful.
This article by his wife from 2021 is even more heartbreaking now:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/09/27/sports/chris-kelsie-snow-als-fenway-park/


When I was 21 years old, I fell in love at Fenway Park.
I didn’t meet my husband in the stands or the beer line or during a shared smile over “Sweet Caroline.” Instead, we fell in love in the press box.
In the summer of 2005, I was a 21-year-old intern in the Globe sports department, and Chris Snow was the 23-year-old, newly minted Red Sox beat writer. We first met at the White Horse Tavern on Brighton Avenue in Allston, where my fellow Globe intern and roommate for the summer, Adam Kilgore, introduced us. It wasn’t long before Chris started driving me to Fenway. Adam noted subtly, “Snow has never offered me a ride to work.”
Last month — 16 years, two kids, and one terminal diagnosis later — we went back. We walked the hallways, hugged writer friends, and stood in front of the cameras instead of next to them. I pointed out the media dining room to Cohen, 10, and Willa, 7, telling them their dad and I had some of our first “dates” there in between filing pregame stories and first pitch.
When Chris was 16 years old, his first job was selling lemonade during Red Sox games. When he was a student at Syracuse, he moved home for two straight summers to intern at the Globe, spending countless nights in the Fenway press box writing sidebars.
When he was 23, the universe brought us together there, as if writing on deadline weren’t stressful enough without all the butterflies of having your future spouse typing at the next keyboard. And the day after he turned 40, 14 months after he was supposed to die, he walked onto the Fenway Park pitcher’s mound to throw a first pitch with the good hand he has left.
Not even a year before Chris was diagnosed, his dad, Bob Snow, a former Somerville schools assistant superintendent, died of the same disease. He has also lost two uncles to ALS, David Snow and Brad Snow, as well as Brad’s son, Matt, who was only 28 when he died. Bob, David, and Brad all died within 9 months of diagnosis, Matt within 18 months.
What a sad, sad story.
 

RIFan

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That is devastating. I've followed Chris and Kelsie's story closely and have tremendous admiration for how they've confronted this awful disease. They both put themselves out in the public sphere as a means to help others. You know there isn't going to be a happy ending, but there always was a sliver of hope that he'd continue to beat the odds and see his kids reach adulthood.
 

McDrew

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Apr 11, 2006
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Calgary Asst GM (and former Globe hockey beat writer) Chris Snow has been battling ALS for several years now. Sadly he suffered a cardiac event a day or so ago and his wife Kelsie is confirming that he will not wake up from the medical incident, and that organ donations are being arranged. Terrible news.

https://x.com/kelsieswrites/status/1707396071373340906?s=20
Just sharing that I am also an organ donor and I would ask that everyone consider becoming one if you are not already.

MA: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/learn-more-about-organ-and-tissue-donation
OR: https://www.oregon.gov/odot/dmv/pages/driverid/donor.aspx
WA: https://www.dol.wa.gov/driver-licenses-and-permits/become-organ-donor

Most states let you sign up when you renew your driver's license. Your organs can save lives (plural!).
 

amfox1

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9m

HERE TO STAY Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck have signed identical seven-year contract extensions with an average annual value of $8,500,000.