Alfredsson, Richards, Kaberle, Philly, Parade, Streit, WJC, Blunden
ALFREDSSON
-One of the classiest guys in hockey is holding off retirement once again. Alfie is one of the classiest guys in the NHL, so it's great to see him coming back once again. I'm sure his family played a big part in his decision, encouraging him to go for the Stanley Cup that he truly deserves.
-Alfredsson will continue to be a mentor for the young guys on the team, especially fellow Swedes Jakob Silfverberg and Mika Zibanejad, and he'll also likely chip in another 20 goals or so from the 2nd or 3rd line. There are some questions pertaining to what his contract will look like. The term of the deal here will depend on his general health. Will he take a one year, final goodbye deal, where he can play in the Olympics and go for one last cup? Or will he take a two-year deal and play a little into his 40s? He was arguably their best player not named Anderson in the playoffs, especially against Montreal. Either way, expect Ottawa to reward Alfredsson for his contributions to the Senators organization by paying him with a cap hit of somewhere between 5-6M. If they don't, chalk another classy move to Alfredsson's list.
-Speaking of that cup run, will Ottawa perhaps go for it by spending to the cap? It would be nice for this team to be fully competitive to give Alfredsson a good chance.
RICHARDS
-It will be interesting to see how Richards performs in a system that suits his style of play better than Tortorella's. Alain Vigneault will give Richards a chance to perform and bounce back. He only had one bad year, so it's very plausible to consider a rebound likely. Is his deal still terrible? Of course it is. 9 years and 60M isn't magically going to disappear, and that's another reason why Glen Sather's job should be in doubt.
-I had a person tell me that the NHL should move to non-guaranteed contracts, to avoid these massive buyouts and to avoid players being rewarded for mediocrity. Trust me, the NHL would love to have non-guaranteed contracts, but the NHLPA would never allow it. In fact, if the NHL had even proposed it during the lockout, we might still have a lockout today.
KABERLE
-Kaberle, despite the epic drop in production, is a classy guy, and I wish him the best of luck. This was a terrible acquisition by Pierre Gauthier, who somehow was part of the cup winning management in Chicago this year. Only two years ago, Tomas Kaberle's value was Joe Colborne and a first round pick, and now he's another good amnesty buyout used by Marc Bergevin. At 35 years old, he could probably latch onto a cheap deal with Toronto for a year, go to the KHL, or simply retire.
PHILLY GOALIES
-Paul Holmgren has a dicey situation to deal with here. Steve Mason has potential to play well in Philadelphia, but they are going to need the right veteran goalie to tandem with him. Holmgren is starting to collect a case to be fired, notably with how he's handled his goaltending, so he's going to have to talk to his pro scouts and really hammer down the best option for his club this time around.
PARADE
-I hope every Blackhawk fan at the parade and cup ceremony had a wonderful time, and how about that classy move made by Blackhawks ownership to thank Boston for their graciousness and courage! Chicago definitely deserved their 2nd Stanley Cup in 4 years. The next questions in Chicago are: Is this team going to have a dynasty on their hands? Will Dave Bolland be a Blackhawk by Monday? I'm inclined to say no to both of those, but Chicago does have the talent to pull a dynasty and a Bolland trade off.
STREIT
-The deal has been finalized, and although it may help Philly next season...I don't really think Streit will last four years. I guess we'll see.
-The Islanders haven't named a captain to replace Streit yet, but it has to be John Tavares.
WJC
-Will Connor McDavid make the World Junior team as a 16 year old player? I think he has a decent shot, because Canada won't have Nathan MacKinnon or Jonathan Drouin, so they will need the offensive firepower.
BLUNDEN
-A nice depth re-signing done for the Hamilton Bulldogs. He has size and toughness, so he'll be once again a decent call-up for Montreal to make. In fact, if Montreal found a way to get rid of Travis Moen, then Blunden may have a shot at training camp to make the team crashing and banging on the 4th line.
ACTON
-A former Oiler with a cup ring to prove it, Acton is a veteran coach who will help develop the young centers in Edmonton. I know a lot of Oiler fans were hoping to see Steve Smith and Kelly Buchberger leave, but Dallas Eakins brought up a good point about young players needing continuity, and with so many head coaching changes in Edmonton, it's maybe nice to see some here. Now that Eakins made this hire, Craig MacTavish will continue to try to find new homes for guys like Shawn Horcoff, Ales Hemsky, Eric Belanger, and Ben Eager.
JOKERIT
-It was a bit surprising to hear that Jokerit was going to be moving to the KHL. The KHL just added one of the top teams in Finland as they continue to try and rival the NHL. Honestly, even if the NHL won't admit it, the KHL is becoming a place for washed up NHLers to continue their careers as well as a place for Europeans to earn more money and skip out on the NHL. It's a little scary, actually, to see a team like Jokerit move to that league.
OLYMPICS
-The quick statement on this one is that the NHL is definitely going, and an announcement will probably come next week. In my opinion, the NHL needs to be a part of the Olympics, simply because it's another way to give hockey more attention in the world, and it's better to watch when the best players are on the same ice representing their country.
DRAFT
-Take a look at my top prospects if you'd like, I've listed my ranking on the main page. Yes, I have MacKinnon at No.1, Drouin at No.2, and Jones at No.3
KINDL AND MILLER
-Two smart signings made by Ken Holland that don't necessarily break the bank, even though the Drew Miller signing was already agreed to a few weeks ago. Miller is a good penalty killer, although he's going to have to fight for his spot in training camp unless Detroit makes a few trades with their forwards. Jakub Kindl is shaping up to be a more reliable D-man as well.
BRODEUR
-In my opinion, he's the best goalie of the modern era, over Patrick Roy and Dominik Hasek. Before his career ends, it's wonderful to see him on the cover of NHL 14. He definitely deserves it.
-One of the classiest guys in hockey is holding off retirement once again. Alfie is one of the classiest guys in the NHL, so it's great to see him coming back once again. I'm sure his family played a big part in his decision, encouraging him to go for the Stanley Cup that he truly deserves.
-Alfredsson will continue to be a mentor for the young guys on the team, especially fellow Swedes Jakob Silfverberg and Mika Zibanejad, and he'll also likely chip in another 20 goals or so from the 2nd or 3rd line. There are some questions pertaining to what his contract will look like. The term of the deal here will depend on his general health. Will he take a one year, final goodbye deal, where he can play in the Olympics and go for one last cup? Or will he take a two-year deal and play a little into his 40s? He was arguably their best player not named Anderson in the playoffs, especially against Montreal. Either way, expect Ottawa to reward Alfredsson for his contributions to the Senators organization by paying him with a cap hit of somewhere between 5-6M. If they don't, chalk another classy move to Alfredsson's list.
-Speaking of that cup run, will Ottawa perhaps go for it by spending to the cap? It would be nice for this team to be fully competitive to give Alfredsson a good chance.
RICHARDS
-It will be interesting to see how Richards performs in a system that suits his style of play better than Tortorella's. Alain Vigneault will give Richards a chance to perform and bounce back. He only had one bad year, so it's very plausible to consider a rebound likely. Is his deal still terrible? Of course it is. 9 years and 60M isn't magically going to disappear, and that's another reason why Glen Sather's job should be in doubt.
-I had a person tell me that the NHL should move to non-guaranteed contracts, to avoid these massive buyouts and to avoid players being rewarded for mediocrity. Trust me, the NHL would love to have non-guaranteed contracts, but the NHLPA would never allow it. In fact, if the NHL had even proposed it during the lockout, we might still have a lockout today.
KABERLE
-Kaberle, despite the epic drop in production, is a classy guy, and I wish him the best of luck. This was a terrible acquisition by Pierre Gauthier, who somehow was part of the cup winning management in Chicago this year. Only two years ago, Tomas Kaberle's value was Joe Colborne and a first round pick, and now he's another good amnesty buyout used by Marc Bergevin. At 35 years old, he could probably latch onto a cheap deal with Toronto for a year, go to the KHL, or simply retire.
PHILLY GOALIES
-Paul Holmgren has a dicey situation to deal with here. Steve Mason has potential to play well in Philadelphia, but they are going to need the right veteran goalie to tandem with him. Holmgren is starting to collect a case to be fired, notably with how he's handled his goaltending, so he's going to have to talk to his pro scouts and really hammer down the best option for his club this time around.
PARADE
-I hope every Blackhawk fan at the parade and cup ceremony had a wonderful time, and how about that classy move made by Blackhawks ownership to thank Boston for their graciousness and courage! Chicago definitely deserved their 2nd Stanley Cup in 4 years. The next questions in Chicago are: Is this team going to have a dynasty on their hands? Will Dave Bolland be a Blackhawk by Monday? I'm inclined to say no to both of those, but Chicago does have the talent to pull a dynasty and a Bolland trade off.
STREIT
-The deal has been finalized, and although it may help Philly next season...I don't really think Streit will last four years. I guess we'll see.
-The Islanders haven't named a captain to replace Streit yet, but it has to be John Tavares.
WJC
-Will Connor McDavid make the World Junior team as a 16 year old player? I think he has a decent shot, because Canada won't have Nathan MacKinnon or Jonathan Drouin, so they will need the offensive firepower.
BLUNDEN
-A nice depth re-signing done for the Hamilton Bulldogs. He has size and toughness, so he'll be once again a decent call-up for Montreal to make. In fact, if Montreal found a way to get rid of Travis Moen, then Blunden may have a shot at training camp to make the team crashing and banging on the 4th line.
ACTON
-A former Oiler with a cup ring to prove it, Acton is a veteran coach who will help develop the young centers in Edmonton. I know a lot of Oiler fans were hoping to see Steve Smith and Kelly Buchberger leave, but Dallas Eakins brought up a good point about young players needing continuity, and with so many head coaching changes in Edmonton, it's maybe nice to see some here. Now that Eakins made this hire, Craig MacTavish will continue to try to find new homes for guys like Shawn Horcoff, Ales Hemsky, Eric Belanger, and Ben Eager.
JOKERIT
-It was a bit surprising to hear that Jokerit was going to be moving to the KHL. The KHL just added one of the top teams in Finland as they continue to try and rival the NHL. Honestly, even if the NHL won't admit it, the KHL is becoming a place for washed up NHLers to continue their careers as well as a place for Europeans to earn more money and skip out on the NHL. It's a little scary, actually, to see a team like Jokerit move to that league.
OLYMPICS
-The quick statement on this one is that the NHL is definitely going, and an announcement will probably come next week. In my opinion, the NHL needs to be a part of the Olympics, simply because it's another way to give hockey more attention in the world, and it's better to watch when the best players are on the same ice representing their country.
DRAFT
-Take a look at my top prospects if you'd like, I've listed my ranking on the main page. Yes, I have MacKinnon at No.1, Drouin at No.2, and Jones at No.3
KINDL AND MILLER
-Two smart signings made by Ken Holland that don't necessarily break the bank, even though the Drew Miller signing was already agreed to a few weeks ago. Miller is a good penalty killer, although he's going to have to fight for his spot in training camp unless Detroit makes a few trades with their forwards. Jakub Kindl is shaping up to be a more reliable D-man as well.
BRODEUR
-In my opinion, he's the best goalie of the modern era, over Patrick Roy and Dominik Hasek. Before his career ends, it's wonderful to see him on the cover of NHL 14. He definitely deserves it.