With the Blackhawks safely hoisting the cup, now it is time for Hockey Silly season. Free agency, trades of great role players and cccccchhhhhhaaaannges!
Who will retire? Is Jagr done? I think so. With the draft on Sunday, I think some of the old blood might be out the door on several teams. Maybe even guys like Handzus on the Hawks. For sure Jamal Mayer, who only played a few lines this year. I think people saw how Charra was dominating in the corners and might look toward signing big guys and see if they can be another Charra.
and I look for a few good trades. The Habs need more help.
(edited by AWArulz on 26.6.13 1734)
We'll be back right after order has been restored here in the Omni Center.
That the universe was formed by a fortuitous concourse of atoms, I will no more believe than that the accidental jumbling of the alphabet would fall into a most ingenious treatise of philosophy - Swift
Vincent Lecavalier is getting a compliance buyout, which makes him an unrestricted free agent and saves the Lightning over $7 million in cap space from now to 2020. He always struck me as one of those guys who'd stick with the same team for his whole career, and now that's not going to be the case. Who's going to pick him up, and how much will he wind up getting?
Lots of rumours swirling as well about a potential Kris Letang trade from Pittsburgh, as he enters the last year of his contract and the Penguins already have a lot of money tied up between Crosby, Malkin and Fleury. The NHL Draft goes on Saturday, and there might be a lot more trade activity than usual.
Ladies and gentlemen, the following public service message is brought to you by your friends from D-Generation X, who would like to remind each and every one of you that if you're not down with that, we've got two words for you... The long ordeal is finally over for the Coyotes. Glendale approved the arena lease with Renaissance (espn.go.com), which was THE major hurdle to the team being sold and staying in Arizona.
I know people's feelings on whether the Coyotes should be where they are is a source of much division, but I think it's good for the league that they stay put - in large part because the realignment created a need for expansion teams out West, and the Coyotes leaving for Seattle would have killed two of what aren't many good options for them - Seattle and Kansas City being the only two obvious candidates at the moment for new teams.
(And yes, Quebec, I know, but any expansion team out East would force a team to be re-aligned in one of the western conferences, and the only options would be Detroit, who'd be pissed off after all the politicking they did to move east, and Columbus, who need to stay east for financial reasons. Quebec gets a team when either the Panthers or Devils are forced to move, IMO.)
smark/net attack Advisory System Status is: Elevated (Holds; June 18, 2006) While the switch from Cena to RVD should alleviate some complaints, the inevitability of the belt's return to Cena (note where Summerslam is this year) and the poor initial showing by the new ECW are enough to keep the indicator where it is for now. The pieces are in place, though, especially on RAW, for improvements to be made to the IWC's psyche in the near future.
I think Quebec will get one of the two expansion spots in 3-5 years, along with the second Toronto team, playing either in Markham or in the ACC as the second tenant.
Seattle will prob get Phoenix after the five-year out is envoked.
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IN other news, Did Toronto win the Kesel for Seguin trade now that the Bruins traded young Tyler to the Stars?
Count me as one of those people that is tired of the Coyotes. I say move them out of Arizona, there is no fanbase there to make this thing viable. Very rarely has a change of ownership lead to good things. The NHL is never going to be big in the desert, move them to Canada or the Northwest where there is a fighting chance.
The Wee Baby Sheamus.Twitter: @realjoecarfley its a bit more toned down there. A bit.
In true offseason news. There's a LOT of movement around the league, but the most surprising imo is Daniel Afredsson going to the Detroit Red Wings. He seemed like one of those guys that would stick with their (first) team forever.
Other news; Boston lost some guys, LeCavalier has signed on with the Flyers, and DiPietro is available to anyone who has a spot on their IR list.
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Me also likey. Shanahan is going to fit in well and take some pressure off of Jagr to lead & produce. This probably puts an end any chance of signing Sykora & Rucinsky due to cap space but I can live with that. (added 7/13 because it just looks good)...