2025-2026 NHL Offseason

HughFreakingDillon said:

Indifference71 said:

That's very scary stuff.  I know the hockey meatheads will say that "it's part of the game", but the fact that the NHL still allows guys to punch each other in the face is absurd.  

off the ice: crime
on the ice: entertainment

Exactly.  It's fucking ridiculous.  So many terrible stories of these enforcer type guys being a complete mess after their careers are over.  

Indifference71 said:

HughFreakingDillon said:

Indifference71 said:

That's very scary stuff.  I know the hockey meatheads will say that "it's part of the game", but the fact that the NHL still allows guys to punch each other in the face is absurd.  

off the ice: crime
on the ice: entertainment

Exactly.  It's fucking ridiculous.  So many terrible stories of these enforcer type guys being a complete mess after their careers are over.  

Carcillo was one of the meatiest of hockey meatheads. I like how he owns up to that in the video.

Boynton never seemed as bad as he makes himself out to have been. But perhaps that was because he often had his ass handed to him.

I also think that it says an awful lot that both Carcillo and Boynton would have their names scratched off the Stanley Cup to not have to endure their respective traumas. 

The fix would be easy if it weren't for the league's fear of losing fans and hence revenue. It's a simple equation: Less fighting=more hockey. Eliminate the role of the goon/enforcer/instigator. Stop drafting the Carcillos and Boyntons, and instead draft more top-notch skaters, scorers and defenders (or those with the potential to fill those roles). That may squash some childhood dreams, but as the hero of the fine film Caddyshack says, "The world needs ditch diggers, too."

Coaches should be held accountable as well. If they're not, they'll just keep tapping their enforcers to perpetuate this sickness. Hit their wallets. If one of their players gets a boarding or roughing call, $5K comes out of ther salaries and goes toward a league fund for head trauma research and treatment; if it's a fighting major, make it $10K; if it's a game, make it $25K; if a player is suspended, $100K comes out of the coach's paycheck.

Officials also need to de-escalate on-ice drama before a major or game penalty is incurred -- or, worse, a stretcher is brought out. They see what's going on; it's their job to handle it. And they've not been doing their jobs very well.

Can't really argue against any of the awards this year.  All deserving, and while cases could certainly be made for other finalists that did not win, it really didn't feel like anyone got snubbed.  That's rare.

Toronto lands the top dog in this years free agent class...

Meltdown99 said:

Toronto lands the top dog in this years free agent class...

The Islanders didn't deserve Tavares and this is coming from an Islanders fan.  

What a horribly run organization...

MayDay10 said:

tempo_n_groove said:

Meltdown99 said:

Toronto lands the top dog in this years free agent class...

The Islanders didn't deserve Tavares and this is coming from an Islanders fan.  

What a horribly run organization...

To add insult to injury, they finally decided to move on from snow and as appear to have their act together.

I cant blame tavares for not staking the rest of his career on assuming the islanders will continue to get it right.  

It's a shame considering they have the ROY.  I do not blame Tavares one bit though as I am sure he is bitter at being with the Islanders for so long and nothing happening.

I remember when they traded LaFontaine... Kasparitus.. Turgeon...  Great players and nothing doing...

HesCalledDyer said:

And the Blackhawks got.... even older.

Yeah not much to get excited about just yet.  Bowman really has to try to move on these huge contracts at some point...I think he should try to move Toews.  There's just no flexibility with the cap for them to do anything significant.  

MayDay10 said:

Meltdown99 said:

tempo_n_groove said:

Meltdown99 said:

Toronto lands the top dog in this years free agent class...

The Islanders didn't deserve Tavares and this is coming from an Islanders fan.  

What a horribly run organization...

I hear you.  Montreal fan here.  Bergeron is easily the worst GM in the league.  They can't score goals and they let the best pure goal scorer in the draft slip right on by.  Taking Alex for Domi, you don't trade away the skill Alex had, you get him a good centre to play with...

The Subban trade is just staggering.  Trading Sergachev was dumb too.

Also, drafting for need and grabbing that slow Finnish center in the draft was comical.  

Dorian is pretty awful too.  Cant believe the Avs own Ottawa's 2019 1st.  

The Subban trade I would say is officially a disaster.  Weber is out 4-5 months.  At first I liked the Subban trade.  I thought they were ready to really make a deep run and I thought Weber would be one of the final piece.  So to me, if they had won the cup with weber in year 1 then the trade would have been worth it.  The other thing that perplexed me was the trading of Serachev, which now makes the Weber trade even worse ... I thought Weber could at least be his mentor.  Montreal needs to trade Price, Pax, Drouin and make Gallagher captain and essentially go full rebuild...

Sad to hear about Emery.  A champion and a consummate teammate.

Meltdown99 said:

MayDay10 said:

Meltdown99 said:

tempo_n_groove said:

Meltdown99 said:

Toronto lands the top dog in this years free agent class...

The Islanders didn't deserve Tavares and this is coming from an Islanders fan.  

What a horribly run organization...

I hear you.  Montreal fan here.  Bergeron is easily the worst GM in the league.  They can't score goals and they let the best pure goal scorer in the draft slip right on by.  Taking Alex for Domi, you don't trade away the skill Alex had, you get him a good centre to play with...

The Subban trade is just staggering.  Trading Sergachev was dumb too.

Also, drafting for need and grabbing that slow Finnish center in the draft was comical.  

Dorian is pretty awful too.  Cant believe the Avs own Ottawa's 2019 1st.  

The Subban trade I would say is officially a disaster.  Weber is out 4-5 months.  At first I liked the Subban trade.  I thought they were ready to really make a deep run and I thought Weber would be one of the final piece.  So to me, if they had won the cup with weber in year 1 then the trade would have been worth it.  The other thing that perplexed me was the trading of Serachev, which now makes the Weber trade even worse ... I thought Weber could at least be his mentor.  Montreal needs to trade Price, Pax, Drouin and make Gallagher captain and essentially go full rebuild...