Summer recap: Kovalchuk, Turco, Yzerman and the Habs & Leafs
This summer hasn’t exactly been a typical summer for the NHL. Notably, the Kovalchuk fiasco, the lack of franchise relocation talk, and the explosion of the Stanley Cup Champions.
With 102 million over 17 years, I am just going to put the Kovalchuk situation in perspective for us. You’re going swimming, your parents expect you not to go deeper than your waist. You go in a bit deeper to your elbows, look at your parents and they aren’t paying attention, so you continue to go deeper and deeper until they say get out of the pool.
We can circle all of the past contracts that have established precedent and pushed the envelope, however, this contract goes too far. In my opinion, the contract was rightfully rejected but the NHL should have been paying attention to the implications of the previous contracts. This to me is odd as I am one of the few that believe in Bill Daley and Gary Bettman. It is good to see the Devils re-work this contract and I do hope they can work things out.
On to more friendly matters! How about the Blackhawks? Putting my now personal bias aside, I think Stan Bowman did an excellent job in remodelling this team. He hasn’t lost any of his, in my opinion, best 8 players (in order; Kane, Toews, Keith, Sharp, Hossa, Seabrook, Campbell and Hjalmarsson) and he has managed to upgrade his goaltending situation. Ok, some of you don’t consider Marty Turco and upgrade over Niemi but consider this; the 1.45 million they save is a huge upgrade for the overall scheme. I am willing to bet with anyone that Turco will have a better season than Niemi (in GAA and SVP)
For the record, I bought my first Blackhawks hat; I’m a sell out with a good explanation.
How about Steve Yzerman reshaping the Lightning! I was a little worried about his future starting off with such a disaster of a team model however he has definitely shown us all what he saw. The hiring of Guy Boucher, Tod Leiweke, Wayne Flemming and Pat Verbeek has really bolstered a weak administration. The on-ice performance will surely follow.
Ok so Montreal Canadiens fans; quel belle saison! It will be hard to reproduce last year’s playoff success but I think improving on the regular season should be an attainable goal. Jaroslav Halak is gone but in comes Lars Eller, a big body with excellent hands and good speed along with Ian Schultz (whom we won’t see for a while). Having P.K. around all season will be great for the team but expect bumps along the way.
Other than that, happy to see Sergei Kostitsyn gone and Louis Leblanc sign his entry level contract. For those that didn’t like the recent trade of Cedrick Desjardins, you should take some comfort in knowing that this laterall move was mainly because Guy Boucher really likes Desjardins and Ramo couldn’t find his place in Tampa.
As for the Leafs’ faithful, you have to be excited about these changes. Headlining the summer moves would be acquiring Kris Versteeg, this young forward has everything the Leafs need; talent, confidence and a stanley cup ring (only Giguere, Beauchemin and now Lebda have cups).
One thing that jumps off the page to me is that the Leafs have zero forwards over 28 and 5 defenseman over 27. I think this team should plan to be competitive over the next 3-8 years and I don’t think many of their defenseman will be hitting their stride at that age. However, I have to say the moves that occurred this summer seem to be beneficial, but I doubt they can finish any better than last in the Northeast.
With that let’s head into the season, here are a few predictions for fun…
The leafs will finish last in the Northeast (as mentioned above)
Dustin Byfuglien will have less than 10 goals this season
Henrik Sedin will be Vancouver’s captain
Dallas will have the 1st overall draft pick
Oli Jokinen will succeed in Calgary
Jaroslav Halak will not fair well in St-Louis
Marty Turco will lead the Western Conference in wins
Ottawa will still not have a goaltender and Spezza will be their best player
