2025-2026 NHL Offseason

F Me In The Brain

MayDay10 said:

It is for expansion, not relocation.


Vegas will be an interesting petri dish. Hockey players (typically) aren't as prone to getting into as much trouble... However, the sport has been plagued with various gambling issues in recent years.

I used to go below the stadium into the Forum Club when the Kings played there pre-Staples. It was where the visiting players would go after the games and pound beer and chase tail. Can you imagine visiting teams let loose on Vegas? If the home team could find any level of discipline it would have to be an amazing Regular Season home ice advantage. [Figure the guys could keep it together during the playoffs and be more focused....regular season? Not a frigging chance.]

Jason P

MayDay10 said:

It is for expansion, not relocation.

oh, it is expansion! Makes perfect sense with the whole Phoenix situation! What the hell is Bettman thinking?

I hear that Atlanta is in need of a NHL team. For Quebec City, they should pray that Atlanta gets a team ... that seems the only avenue for Canadian cities to get NHL Franchise nowadays.

MayDay10

$1 Billion in expansion fees.

The Florida and Arizona situations will either resolve themselves... and if not, there are still Seattle, Toronto II, Milwaukee, KC, and Houston who would be possibilities.

Vegas and Quebec City are ready to go and have most of the boxes checked, including the big fat $500 Million check.

Jason P

MayDay10 said:

$1 Billion in expansion fees.

The Florida and Arizona situations will either resolve themselves... and if not, there are still Seattle, Toronto II, Milwaukee, KC, and Houston who would be possibilities.

Vegas and Quebec City are ready to go and have most of the boxes checked, including the big fat $500 Million check.

Quebec City is fucked. Vegas money will win in the end.

Vegas should model their arena like the one in the movie Dodgeball

Drowned Out

They're talking two expansion teams tho, right? The Quebec bid is coming from Quebecor - media giant (Canadian equivalent of Faux), so money is no issue....and the exposure would be big (like Canadian teams need to worry about that)....
Maybe they'll give both cities (Quebec and LV) franchises, then move Florida to Markham (or another eastern spot), and Phoenix to Seattle? Would save them from needing any major realignment - the Count has said symmetry isn't a factor in deciding which cities get chosen....But it's also looking like neither Seattle nor Markham will have an arena ready for 17-18, when the expansion teams will begin playing. I've been following the shit show of getting one built in Edmonton, this is a long, long process....like a year or two of negotiations (unless either market are going 100% private - I think Markham already said no to a P3 arrangement), and another 2-3 for construction (even if fast-tracked).
No potential owners in KC.....what did they build that arena for, again?

Drowned Out

oh, and.....http://thehockeywriters.com/toronto-can-put-connor-mcdavid-in-a-leaf-uniform-in-3-years/

SOOOOO loving the butt-hurt of Laf fans. It's hilarious. Trolling all the Oiler fan sites and fb pages.....This article ^^^^ might be the dumbest thing I've read since browsing AMT yesterday.
Lots of talk that Chiarelli is still going after a Dman. Most speculation focused on Seabrook and Franson.

MayDay10

Can't even begin on that one. The article even had various grammatical errors.

It is virtually impossible for a franchise player to get sniped as an rfa. They also can't front load contracts anymore as this guy suggests.

Jason P

I wonder if Mike Babcock is already in "what the fuck did I do?" mode or if that will only kick in during the half-way point into next season?

Then again, if he is in "what the fuck did I do?" mode, he's thinking that while doing this ...

MayDay10

The Leafs are eternally broken. Brendan Shanahan isnt going to fix it. Brian Burke seemed to be coming close, but he also made some mistakes and they pushed him out too soon.

Everyone up there, including MLSE is too impatient. They still think they are entitled to every player and still act like it is 1996 and you can build your team through free agency. I still cant believe that they were able to unload Clarkson.
They also know they have a pretty captive fanbase and the money keeps rolling in.

We'll see how Babcock does without top notch player scouting and development. IMO NHL coaches are fairly plug-and-play and the players/athletes are #1,2, and 3 in importance. Babcock is a great coach and would probably be my 1st choice if I had a team looking at a window of cup contention... but he isn't going to be able to make this lineup competitive:
Van Riemsdyk - Bozak - Lupul
Komarov - Kadri - Parenteau
Winnik - Holland - Arcobello
Mathias - Spaling - Panik/Beck

Phaneuf - Rielly
Gardiner - Hunwick
Polak - Robidas

Bernier
Reimer

I would say the best hope for the Leafs is if for some reason Stamkos gets to UFA and wants to take the risk and sign long term with the Leafs.

Gary Carter

Drowned Out said:

oh, and.....http://thehockeywriters.com/toronto-can-put-connor-mcdavid-in-a-leaf-uniform-in-3-years/

SOOOOO loving the butt-hurt of Laf fans. It's hilarious. Trolling all the Oiler fan sites and fb pages.....This article ^^^^ might be the dumbest thing I've read since browsing AMT yesterday.
Lots of talk that Chiarelli is still going after a Dman. Most speculation focused on Seabrook and Franson.

You think that's funny, the laughs fans and media still think JT wants to come "home".

As far as expansion, I'm all for quebec city getting a team, they deserve one after what happened many years ago with the Canadian dollar tanking and all. Vegas worries me just for the simple fact it's gonna be like Phoenix in 10 years. If you build an arena in the actually city of Vegas and not the burbs it can prosper. The messed up part bout Quebec City franchise is they will probably play in the west to finally balance out the unevenness of the conferences. Oh and hopefully within the next ten years Seattle can build a new arena and get the Coyotes.

MayDay10

Gary Carter

MayDay10 said:

Wow that's cool

MayDay10

yeah. Im definitely going to make a trip or 2 around the Sabres' annual trip there.

Drowned Out

MayDay10 said:

Can't even begin on that one. The article even had various grammatical errors.

It is virtually impossible for a franchise player to get sniped as an rfa. They also can't front load contracts anymore as this guy suggests.

Ya, there is so much wrong with that article....it was bad enough to prompt a response from an Edmonton writer:
http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2015/07/20/could-the-toronto-maple-leafs-really-snatch-connor-mcdavid-away-from-the-edmonton-oilers/



I agree with you guys that Babcock cannot turn the Leafs around with what he has to work with.

Gary Carter said:

Drowned Out said:

oh, and.....http://thehockeywriters.com/toronto-can-put-connor-mcdavid-in-a-leaf-uniform-in-3-years/

SOOOOO loving the butt-hurt of Laf fans. It's hilarious. Trolling all the Oiler fan sites and fb pages.....This article ^^^^ might be the dumbest thing I've read since browsing AMT yesterday.
Lots of talk that Chiarelli is still going after a Dman. Most speculation focused on Seabrook and Franson.

You think that's funny, the laughs fans and media still think JT wants to come "home".

As far as expansion, I'm all for quebec city getting a team, they deserve one after what happened many years ago with the Canadian dollar tanking and all. Vegas worries me just for the simple fact it's gonna be like Phoenix in 10 years. If you build an arena in the actually city of Vegas and not the burbs it can prosper. The messed up part bout Quebec City franchise is they will probably play in the west to finally balance out the unevenness of the conferences. Oh and hopefully within the next ten years Seattle can build a new arena and get the Coyotes.

Toronto media thinks anyone who has ever set foot in the Big Smoke wants to play for the Leafs. Which if funny considering they've generally sucked for 50+ years. They are the one team I feel comfortable trash talking as an oiler fan. (btw - you were right about Reinhart and my 'toughness' comment....that was the wrong word to use. He does play a great body position game, but doesn't have much of a mean streak).
As for expansion - the dollar sucks again right now. Do any of you know if there is a system in place to compensate Canadian teams for the dollar in this CBA? Or whatever document governs that arrangement? If I remember correctly - in the 90's, the Oilers needed to sell 12,000 season tickets and they qualified for compensation. No one talks about the dollar these days....probably because the Canadian teams are all pretty strong right now...?
As for Vegas becoming Arizona....hard to say. The theory seems to be that if you win, your franchise will be successful - like Tampa. But not every team can be successful every year. Everyone was so happy to show Carolina as an example of a southern team getting local support, but their attendance sucked last year.
I want to see Seattle get a team so that I have another team to cheer for when they play Vancouver.

Drowned Out

MayDay10 said:

nice!
If you're interested, check out progress on the Oil's new digs here:
http://www.rogersplace.com/live-view/

New arena has so many cool features.....a public rink is attached, as well as the 'winter garden' which will host concerts for 2-3000 - can also be used for big screen viewing during the playoffs, with the stands open at the top so crowd noise will be throughout the whole facility....biggest HD scoreboard screen in the world...order beer and food from your seat via app...then there are the outdoor courtyards, new high rises....lots of bars and restaurants, all integrated into an entertainment district. Hopefully our team won't suck balls by the time they start playing there.

Jason P

The Eagle has landed ...

pjhawks

Gary Carter said:

Drowned Out said:

oh, and.....http://thehockeywriters.com/toronto-can-put-connor-mcdavid-in-a-leaf-uniform-in-3-years/

SOOOOO loving the butt-hurt of Laf fans. It's hilarious. Trolling all the Oiler fan sites and fb pages.....This article ^^^^ might be the dumbest thing I've read since browsing AMT yesterday.
Lots of talk that Chiarelli is still going after a Dman. Most speculation focused on Seabrook and Franson.

You think that's funny, the laughs fans and media still think JT wants to come "home".

As far as expansion, I'm all for quebec city getting a team, they deserve one after what happened many years ago with the Canadian dollar tanking and all. Vegas worries me just for the simple fact it's gonna be like Phoenix in 10 years. If you build an arena in the actually city of Vegas and not the burbs it can prosper. The messed up part bout Quebec City franchise is they will probably play in the west to finally balance out the unevenness of the conferences. Oh and hopefully within the next ten years Seattle can build a new arena and get the Coyotes.

Vegas is definitely getting a team and for at least the 1st couple of seasons you can count on a few thousand fans from the visiting team making treks out there.

Jason P

Patrick Kane is setup to have one of the all-time greatest bald man mullets ever.



Whether we see it in a Blackhawks uniform or a Rikers Island uniform is yet to be determined.

MayDay10

Practice begins today... First preseason game, at least for Buffalo, is on Monday.

I guess for preseason, they are going to allow teams to go to overtime at least 3 times each to get used to the format.

pjsteelerfan

Jason P said:

Patrick Kane is setup to have one of the all-time greatest bald man mullets ever.



Whether we see it in a Blackhawks uniform or a Rikers Island uniform is yet to be determined.

I guess he is going for the Big Ben heel look.