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Galchenyuk cleared waivers, so that option is out.

Galy’s a bit of a risk. He’s always been a defensive black hole, and his offence has been declining since he left Mtl. He’s been healthy scratch in Ottawa this season, and Carolina just acquired him and seem to have no interest in playing him. To top it off, if he has already left Canada for Carolina (he probably hasn’t, but it’s possible), he would need to quarantine for two weeks before becoming available to play. All that said, his whole contract can be buried if needed, so cap concerns are minimal.

He can be waived, but his contract has been called buyout proof. This is because a large portion of his pay is in the form of signing bonuses. When you buyout a contract, you take the base pay remaining on the contract (excluding signing bonuses) and multiply that number by 2/3. That is the cost of buying out that contract. That amount is then spread out over double the remaining length on the contract. So for Lucic, after this season he makes a base salary of 2.5 million next year and 1 million the year after, for a total of 3.5 million. 2/3 of that is 2.33 million roughly. So that’s the cost of the buyout. We then spread that number over 4 seasons since there’s only 2 years remaining. So the buyout cost is around 588k per year. To calculate the cap hit then, we take the base salary that player would have earned and subtract this number. So next season, when Lucic’s base salary is 2.5 million, his cap hit would be reduced by about 1.9 million. The following season, when his base pay is 1 million, the cap hit is reduced by less than 500k. So the cap savings are not very much (especially in the last year), making it a contract not worth buying out. in short, Lucic had a front loaded contract with a lot of signing bonus money (which is unaffected by buyouts), leading to a situation where buying out his contract costs more cap space (once you replace him with a different player) than simply riding out his contract. Hence, buyout proof.

It’s interesting, but the Mony-Johnny-Sammy line doesn’t seem to have much chemistry yet, and the odd man out offensively seems to be Monahan. Mony was always dynamite on the rush, but he seems MIA. It occurs to me that this is because he is coming back deeper to help defensively, and it seems to be a deliberate decision on his part. Here’s hoping he can develop good instincts on when to fly the zone on the rush while improving his defensive game! Oh, and praise Zeus that Johnny worked on his breakaways this offseason. No more guaranteed five hole attempts!

Maybe Wardo will reunite the Lucic, Bennett, Dube line. It’s weird that one of the best lines for the team in the playoffs last year hasn’t even been tried this season.

I think that’s a solid indication that Ryan is out for a few.

My biggest problem with Ward is simply that there were elite coaches available that we could have hired and chose not to. Not his fault he’s just a middling coach, it’s trelivings fault for extending him. Anyway, it’s still too early to be blowing it up just yet. Give it another 15 games or so.

I guess the thinking is, why not? So far this season, whoever has lined up at RW with those two has been a non factor for the most part. I’ve always been frustrated with the few times they’ve tried Bennett with them that it usually doesn’t even last a period. Of course, the same could be said this season of almost everyone tried at RW on that line. Given the short training camp, the coach should have put the blender away to start at least. Anyway, I think Benny is a center, so he’s lost a bit on wing. And if he’s gonna be a center with us, then he’s gonna be on the 4th line. It’s a problem.

I don’t mind it actually. That might actually help make the 3rd line a scoring threat. I’ll be more frustrated to see Dube on the 4th line.

We might need to buyout Lucic after this season if he can't up his game. He's slower every year, and I feel like we spend more time trying to construct line-ups that minimize his negative impact rather than constructing the best line-up possible. I'm not sure he would be in my line-up at all tbh. A buyout next season would give us almost 2 million in cap relief, followed by just under 500k the following year.

I gave up on this site, nice to see it back.

If it were up to me, I’d roll with mini bubbles through the season. Not as strict, just gather all teams in the Division in the same location for a couple weeks to play a series of games. If a team has an outbreak, this makes it easier to rearrange the schedule on the fly a bit while players isolate or teams figure out contingencies. After 2-3 weeks, the division shifts to the next location. This also allows teams some sense of normality for players as they get some time at home. Games could be played back to back in each location, with two games a day on weekdays and maybe 3 on weekends. Since fans likely won’t be in the stands (at least at the start), the television schedule can be easily worked out regardless. With seven teams in our division, that makes eight games played in each location per team, should be relatively straight forward for scheduling. This has the added benefit of minimizing travel for teams, which also allows for teams to play more games in back to back days, allowing for a tighter regular season.

Fair enough, I have not really looked at how the teams match up to each other. I feel a bit better about our odds as the discussion goes on, but I do think EDM will be a force to contend with. Turris should do well in a 3rd line role, Pooly has been pretty good lately overseas and should be an okay contributor. I like Kahun, I think he's a better option than Reider ever was, and Ennis is good depth. None of these guys are gamebreakers, but better than the dreck they called depth scoring last season.

So who would likely be the powerhouses in the division? As I see it, the leafs are probably at the top, followed by the oilers (*spit*). The bottom is obviously Ottawa, but I find most of the teams in the middle to be tough to predict, but I'll try anyway! 1. Leafs: Lots of offense, improved their d-core a bit, depth is still a question, although Thorton might help. 2. Oilers: Greatly improved forward depth, goaltending will remain average, defense is slightly weaker. They were the top western Canadian team last season in the regular season, don't see that changing. 3. Flames: Slightly improved both goaltending and depth forwards, rolling with a more questionable defense (but not by that much). We're a bubble team again, but with Ward in from the start maybe they can surprise. 4. Vancouver: Made a solid pick up on schmidt, but otherwise they are worse off. Goaltending is worse (depends on if Holtby can rebound and Demko can find consistency), lost Toffoli, didn't add much overall. Things could get worse next offseason with the cap. 5. Canadiens: Not too many changes, but made a solid pick-up in Toffoli and got a back-up goalie. Overpaid for Anderson in a big way, but must be betting on a return to form. If he does, I think 3rd or 4th is possible. Could easily slide though depending on Price. 6. Jets: They added Stastny. That's about it, and key guys like Little might miss the season. Defense sucks, so they are counting on offense and goaltending to pull them through. 7. Ottawa: Lots of promise, but not ready just yet. Overall, aside from Toronto and Edmonton (and Ottawa at the bottom), I think it's a bit of a crapshoot. I could see the Jets squeaking in, or the flames just missing. It's a competitive division.

Didn't mangiapane play mostly RW with Backlund and Tkachuk?

You heard it here first folks; the nhl’s next league jersey theme will be the cutlery edition. Flames will obviously design theirs around a bbq implement, maybe a carving fork or grill brush. Oilers will probably want to stick with their theme of accidents and spills, so a roll of paper towels seems a good choice (though not technically a utensil). Canucks will stay ocean themed, maybe a pair of chop stick holding some sushi...

No, I meant Monahan as the trigger man with Dube and Bennett being the guys in the corners.

Maybe the plan is to try Mony on the wing. Everyone else has had a shot there, and we already know Backlund on the wing is a disaster. What about Monahan-Bennett-Dube? Two guys willing to muck it up in the corners and retrieve pucks, one to be the trigger man.

I sometimes wonder if Backlund is a luxury we can’t afford for much longer. Given his age, he’s probably going to start declining soon and carries a big cap hit. Alternatively, maybe the plan is putting Bennett on the wing. We could run Lindholm/Monahan/Backlund down the middle and try to create three scoring lines that way.

I worry that Tanev is another Hamonic in play style, not because that’s bad but because Hanifin did not mesh well with Hamonic. If we want the most from Hanifin (even just to up his trade value), we should play him with Anderson.

I doubt it will be bubble hockey. My bet is they will travel around and play, although one possibility would be to have all teams play in one location in each division, with the location rotating as needed. Players will probably be asked not to party and such, but no bubble like last time. The only reason for a Canada division is so players don’t have to cross the border during the season, which is only a concern if teams are travelling.

It’s worth remembering Johnny came in to the league a bit older having gone the college route. As such, a good chunk of his development years were finished by the time he played his first nhl game.

I actually like Ward, but for me it comes down to the caliber of available coaches right now. Sure Ward is good enough, but why should we settle if we have a shot at one of the best?

I look forward to the canuckleheads appointing Demko the starter and letting Markstrom walk, only to find out the young guy isn't the second coming of goaltending next season. I like Demko, but he's playing way above his head right now as many goalies do from time-to-time.

So Dallas has the Avs on the ropes. Just curious, if Dallas wins in 5, or makes it to the finals this year, does that change anyone’s opinion on whether our team needs major changes?