cross16

Now 25 mins in his second game. would certainly appear like rust is not a factor for him after the injury.

Apparently Valimaki played 22 mins in his first game back in the Finish league. Seems pretty alright so far.

Interesting article here that outlines that ESPN appears to want back into the NHL and there could end up being a bit of a battle for the NHL's US TV rights that are due at the end of the next season. Would certaintly be welcome news to the NHL who is going to need all the revenue they can and would also make sense to leverage different outlets to try and both maximize dollars but also coverage. https://frontofficesports.com/nhl-media-rights-espn-nbc-sports-bidding/

I've seen some suggestions one of them is Ruzicka

One of the worst kept secrets in Calgary, this has been building for years, but starting this season the Flames are going full retro on their jerseys, including both home and away, on a full time basis. Look for an official announcement from the team Monday.

And to think Ken Holland was going to be their savoir. did no one pay attention to this guy in Detroit?

It's too bad Wolf and Knight can't offset each other by a year or something. I expect the US to ride Knight no matter what. Nodler is nice to see and I think he's got an outside shot to make the team as a 3rd/4th line center. He is under contract with the Flames so if he wanted to do that he would first have to ask for a release and Flames would have to grant it but he also just signed it last year. Unlikely he would change his mind that soon. The Flames loaned him there to get ice time because the AHL is potentially not going to play at all this season.

A list of overseas players There were rumors a few weeks ago Ruzicka was heading over there but looks like they never panned out, or at least has not happened yet.

KHL it is. He'll play with former Flame Linden Vey and top prospect Yaroslav Asakrov. Coached by Valeri Brogin who has coached the National Junior team in Russia for what feels like at least a decade or more.

Flames trying to find a place for Zavgorodniy to play.

Depth for Stockton likely but a player who I could see working his way into a call up situation. Nice signing.

Flames have not yet confirmed their staff and while I don't expect a veteran name, one that may have been an option is off the table. Paul Maclean going to join the Leafs as an assistant coach. Good PP coach.

Pretty obvious i think, but plan is for all of these assignmetns to come back if/when there is places they can play in NA.

Suprised we have not seen more yet but suspect we'll get more of these as still not sure if places like AHL/ECHL will play.

It's going to be interesting to see some of the analysis of this trade next summer with the Canes either don't have Hamilton or are paying him roughly what Hanifin and Lindholm make combined.

4 times. worst was 2016 when they went from 3-5 but 2 of the other times it was 1 spot only. When they moved back they also still got Petterson and Hughes who were very likely their original picks anyway so while it looks like bad luck, I don't really think it changed anything. 2016 maybe but they were also pretty adamant they were look for a D.

The Canucks bottomed out because they tried to keep winning with the Sedins by giving out horrible contracts, several bad trades and sewering their cap and team in the process. Deserve some credit for picking Petterson but also very lucky that other teams passed on him in a strong draft. I’m not trying to put Benning down as he is a good drafter but I don’t think the Canucks are a model for success at all, nor a model rebuild. they did exactly what the Flames did in their “rebuild” and the difference is the Canucks got Petterson and the Flames got Bennett.

Sutter is a master motivator and i would agree if you can get him into your organization in any capacity it's worth it. i don't actually think tactically he is that great a coach and he doesn't really adjust (which is what got him fired in LA) but there is no one better for me in getting his players to buy into what they need to do. Any coach could learn from Darryl. He consults for Anaheim so i'm not sure if he is looking for more. I think the Flames have a heck of a coach in the AHL in Cail Maclean who did an outstanding job last year. I would be fine with a promotion but selfishly they should leave him down there because I think he has a very bright future and would be a candidate for the head coach job in a few seasons. Ultimately i get the feeling the Flames ae just going to reshuffle the ranks but keep the names. Ray Edwards seemed to do a decent job last year so it wouldn't surprise me if they return the same bench and maybe re assign Gelinas to Edwards old role of player development. Would be a good for Gelly i think

While true, it is a little more complicated than that as there is still a responsiblity for the coach to get a market representative salary so the new team can't just low ball him and make the other club make up the difference. Good article on it here https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/quick-shifts-mike-babcock-toronto-maple-leafs-contract-sheldon-keefe/ I also believe Boudreau is no longer under contract as he was in the last year of his deal when the Wild fired him so there would be no offset.

I think it would be great to add someone like Boudreau to the bench, but if they only paid Ward 900K I think they are going to be in tough to bring in any type of assistant/associate coach that has a lot of experience.

I didn't realize it until the last 2-3 days but the Coyotes are a real mess. No picks next 2 years, 2 bad contracts in OEL and Nick Schmaltz and only have the 11th best farm system accoridng to Corey Pronman of the Athletic (for reference the Flames are 12). They also only have 1 player on their current blueline under the age of 26.... Yikes. Really mortgaged their future for 1 trip to the playoffs. That franchise just cannot get it together. No wonder they want to fire sell.

Here is why it doesn't make sense. He started the playoffs, so up until then they did not "suck" because there were no games, as a defensive line. And then as the playoffs went on longer, and despite the fact that the top line did not get any better in the o zone, he increased their o zone starts. They were just under 40% in the Winnipeg series and for the first 2 games in the Dallas series and then he went back to over 50% including 90% starts in Game 5. His deployment of them doesn't appear to be related to results at all considering he gave them more in face of not great play. It's not one I would roast him for but I think it's fair game to question as it always seemed very strange.

According to Capfriendly Wards 2 year deal is worth 900K per season. Not always the most reliable on coaches salaries but if that is true that it is pretty clear that economics was the primary motivator here. That would make him among the lowest paid coaches in the league and would definitely explain why it took 3 weeks to make this official if he truly was the "right guy".

The counter point to this, is that the only reason the Flames were close to being up 3-1 is the Stars didn't really show up in game 1 and then Talbot stole them a game. The "couple favorable bounces" ideas goes both ways for me, it almost put them up 3-1 and then it took that away so for me it evened out. I personally don't think what Dallas does should impact the analysis of this club. It was a close series for sure and that's the NHL right now with so much parity, but at the end of the day the Stars were the better team for the majority of the series. I'm not a blow it up guy but i'm also not a this is a one player fix or a 1 or 2 player and they are there (unless they get lucky and a number 1 center hits the block).

Hynes is head coach in Nashville. I would be shocked if Huska goes anywhere but the other spot would be interesting. Have a feeling they'll bring everyone back though.