2017-2018 NHL Thread

[herman]

The Biscuits Podcast (thanks, Heroic Shrimp!) posited that this offseason is the perfect storm for Mark Stone to get offer sheeted, probably by Colorado.
- Stingy owner
- Young star about to get paaaaaiiiiidddd and probably wants to get out
- Joe Sakic previously signed an offer sheet
- Colorado hold's Ottawa's unprotected first rounder, either for this year's or next year's draft. It would behoove them to push Ottawa deeper into the abyss.

 

[Kin]

That's all probably true but I can't help but feel as though most of that has been true before(absent the Sakic thing which seems pretty tenuous) and we still haven't seen offer sheets. As always that's a believe it when I see it thing.

 

[Kin]

By the way, anyone else sort of feel like there's an abnormally sharp level of stratification in the league this year? Maybe it's like this every year but it feels like there's 12 or so teams that should be delighted with their season, a small group of middle class teams, and then 16 or so teams where the fanbases are ready to set their cities on fire.

 

[herman]

That's all probably true but I can't help but feel as though most of that has been true before(absent the Sakic thing which seems pretty tenuous) and we still haven't seen offer sheets. As always that's a believe it when I see it thing.

Yeah. I am highly skeptical it'll happen, as the old boys club is very insular (which is very evident with the situations in Florida and Arizona; I've read this was one of the reasons Shanahan opted to shelter Dubas for a bit because of the rabble griping about this upstart pup stepping into their lane).

 

[Bates]

Didn't they also trade their 1st this year to the Islander and it's not lottery protected??  Slow learner.

Our buddy Burkie out of the playoffs with no 1st or 2nd round pick... again. At least they didn't finish 2nd last and they do have next year's first.

We'll take a D-man for a combination of pick/negotiating rights to JVR/prospect.

 

[Kin]

Re: our MVP discussion from yesterday

https://twitter.com/curtiszupke/status/977236821720539136

BTW I am all with Connor McDavid's quest to make sure the Oilers don't pick in the top 10.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

BTW I am all with Connor McDavid's quest to make sure the Oilers don't pick in the top 10.

The crappy thing about there being so many teams that I'm glad are failing is that they all have a great chance at Dahlin now too. The only team in the bottom-8 right now that I'd be happy to see get him would be Arizona and that's mostly just because I feel bad for them.

 

[Bates]

Nobody lotteries better than the Oilers!!

Re: our MVP discussion from yesterday

https://twitter.com/curtiszupke/status/977236821720539136

BTW I am all with Connor McDavid's quest to make sure the Oilers don't pick in the top 10.

 

[herman]

https://theathletic.com/285641/2018/03/23/duhatschek-notebook-why-standouts-from-2003-draft-are-still-going-strong-what-nhl-gms-can-learn-from-the-nfl/

In an era when youth is constantly being served in the NHL, it?s interesting to note how ? 15 years after the fact ? many graduates of the 2003 draft class look as if they?re going to have an impact on the 2018 Western Conference playoff race.

[...]

According to Michael Futa, the Kings? assistant general manager, who served as director of Team Ontario?s under-17 team for three seasons, you could tell early on that they were a special group.

?When they finally had their world junior years, we ? Ontario ? supplied a lot of the forwards and the West supplied the back end ? Dion, Shea Weber, Brent Seabrook,? said Futa. ?The goaltending was great. Sid (Crosby) was Sid. But it was unbelievable, the quality guys that came out of that crew.

?All of the guys you?re referring to, they?ve got such a passion for the game. That would be my theory. It?s an unmatched passion for the game of hockey ? and they never take it for granted. They?re all business. They all came from good programs ? CHL or college ? and they bring a certain passion for the game; and I think the new breed of player can really take a page out of that book.?

This is my draft year!

Why were they, and some still are, so, so good?

My theory is, especially in light of Futa's comments about passion:
Pavel Bure/Vancouver + Calgary's Cups, and the Doug Gilmour/Leafs run in the early 90s.

I did not grow up knowing anything about hockey or baseball, but 1992-1993 was madness. The lock outs (that I had no awareness of, other than there was no exciting hockey or playoff baseball) killed both sports for me until high school when there were people to talk about it with (also haha sens). If I had the means and maybe wasn't the shortest kid in class every year of school, I would've tried to go beyond elementary school floor hockey.

 

[Kin]

Why were they, and some still are, so, so good?

My theory is, especially in light of Futa's comments about passion:
Pavel Bure/Vancouver + Calgary's Cups, and the Doug Gilmour/Leafs run in the early 90s.

That seems like an odd case to make given that you're talking about things that happened within a 5 year span and how it applies to one specific draft class(the '02 and '04 drafts are pretty unremarkable for Canadian talent).

Interestingly enough, that is a fairly good stretch for Russians coming into the league and you wonder if that has a lot to do with it being 10 years or so since Bure-Fedorov-Mogilny first arrived and made their big impacts.

 

[herman]

Theories are meant to be tested. Thanks for thinking more clearly, as usual.

Also: how dare you besmirch Matt Stajan

 

[Zee]

Re: our MVP discussion from yesterday

https://twitter.com/curtiszupke/status/977236821720539136

BTW I am all with Connor McDavid's quest to make sure the Oilers don't pick in the top 10.

In Connor we trust. Hopefully 3 teams behind the Oilers win the lotteries to push them even further back.

 

[Kin]

Theories are meant to be tested. Thanks for thinking more clearly, as usual.

Also: how dare you besmirch Matt Stajan

You know, I was thinking about this and maybe someone who's a bit older than me would be a little better informed but personally as someone who's around that age(I'd have been a 2001 draft pick) I seem to remember the early 90's as being a stretch where, yeah, a bunch of Canadian teams were good but more than that the amount of hockey you got exposed to exploded.

Admittedly I was a young kid in the 80's but I seem to remember games on TV being something of a big deal outside of Saturday nights and we never got out of market games. With the growth of all-sports cable channels in the 90's suddenly the great west coast games were ones you could actually watch. I distinctly remember Paul Kariya's rookie season as being notable as you could see what people were talking about.

Again, I'm not sure how that would translate into exceptional draft classes but it sure felt like hockey, and watching hockey, became more pervasive in daily culture.

 

[hockeyfan1]

The 2004-2005 NHL season can best be remembered as the lockout year.

This meant that the draft class of 2003 received extra seasoning back to their junior teams, etc., (OHL/CHL/etc.). They didn't have the chance to be thrust in the NHL right away, which in turn may have been a blessing unto itself.

The post lockout era featured more emphasis on speed and skill and since the 2003 draft class demonstrated that aptly, it's safe to say that in spite of the lockout or not, the level of talent and skill of this draft class was simply exceptional.

My draft class would be 1983, the year Steve Yzerman got drafted 4th by the Detroit Red Wings, and played 20 years for that organization in an illustrious career that saw him lead them to three Stanley Cup championships.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Oh, would you look at that, the Blues are in a playoff spot.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Interesting playbook by the Ducks last night in overtime against the Oilers.

It was 4-4 after regulation, and McDavid created 3 of the 4 Edmonton goals. OT starts with Getzlaf, Kesler, and Fowler for Anaheim and McDavid, Draisaitl, and Nurse for Edmonton. The Ducks win the faceoff and Getzlaf immediately jumps off the ice for Silfverberg. Anaheim then spends over a minute passing the puck around in their own end while McDavid & co. skate around the ice trying to catch them. After a minute and 15 seconds the Ducks finally attack up the ice with Getzlaf, Rakell, and Lindholm now out vs. the Oilers trio who never changed and they immediately score.

https://twitter.com/bruce_arthur/status/978124801234620417

 

[herman]

Legitimately a good one, Randy!

 

[Kin]

If it were up to most coaches the ideal NHL game would be 1-0 with eight people in the stands.

 

[Kin]

A worthwhile interview with Andrew Ference about how the league needs to reach beyond its traditional fanbase:

http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/22908289/nhl-andrew-ference-says-nhl-reach-middle-aged-white-dudes

 

[herman]

You know, I was thinking about this and maybe someone who's a bit older than me would be a little better informed but personally as someone who's around that age(I'd have been a 2001 draft pick) I seem to remember the early 90's as being a stretch where, yeah, a bunch of Canadian teams were good but more than that the amount of hockey you got exposed to exploded.

Admittedly I was a young kid in the 80's but I seem to remember games on TV being something of a big deal outside of Saturday nights and we never got out of market games. With the growth of all-sports cable channels in the 90's suddenly the great west coast games were ones you could actually watch. I distinctly remember Paul Kariya's rookie season as being notable as you could see what people were talking about.

Again, I'm not sure how that would translate into exceptional draft classes but it sure felt like hockey, and watching hockey, became more pervasive in daily culture.

It's good to know I wasn't the only one to sense/experience this, and it probably stands out a bit more since it came about basically at our ground floor of this level of awareness.

There was also the Mighty Ducks movie that might've had some influence on me as well. I was doing floor hockey from ages 6-9 before I moved out of the area... I don't know if that means anything but obviously there was a market for the sport even out in Scarborough.