2019-2020 NHL Season Thread Hockey • Page 147

Joe4th · Oct 16, 2019

The Wings are back to what I expected

Henry · Oct 16, 2019

I need the Flyers to get back to the east coast.

cryates · Oct 16, 2019

DaydreamNation said:

not to be a wet blanket but it does feel like there have been a lot of high scoring games across the league for whatever reason

For sure, but

jorbjorb · Oct 16, 2019

SlappinCups · Oct 16, 2019

When the CBD oil kicks in

cryates · Oct 16, 2019

Can someone tell me what's wrong with Dallas?

333 GANG · Oct 16, 2019

Joe4th said:

The Wings are back to what I expected

give me all the high draft picks

cryates · Oct 16, 2019

jorbjorb · Oct 16, 2019

Crazy he's still playing Czech league at 47.

xbrokendownx · Oct 16, 2019

now thats interesting

Joe4th · Oct 16, 2019

going undercover boss except not undercover

SlappinCups · Oct 16, 2019

jagr is built like a brick shithouse

xbrokendownx · Oct 16, 2019

Jagr is my dad

PeacefulOrca · Oct 16, 2019

cryates said:

Can someone tell me what's wrong with Dallas?

Don't they always start very slow?

Henry · Oct 16, 2019

Remember the Jagr blackmail pics lol

AWasteOfATime · Oct 16, 2019

my friends work has a box at Staples Center that she can get comp tickets to at will so I'm looking forward to a long season of every team kicking the shit of the kings, as we saw VGK do on Sunday.

xbrokendownx · Oct 16, 2019

Wednesday’s news is that the New Jersey Devils put assistant GM Tom Fitzgerald on the bench next to head coach John Hynes. We’ve seen teams try something like this before — they put a member of the front office or a GM right behind the players. Last year, Bob Murray did it in Anaheim. Lou Lamoriello has done it in New Jersey. Generally it’s for one reason. They want to see first-hand who is part of the solution and who isn’t. My experience with this kind of move is that the New Jersey front office wants that answer.

We knew that the Devils and their pending UFA Taylor Hall were going to be one of the major storylines of 2019–20. What we never suspected was it might happen so quick.

Let’s be clear about one thing: There’s no reason to believe, at this time, the Devils are weighing any option other than signing Hall to a long-term extension. That is the plan; that is the hope; that is what the organization and his agent were discussing prior to the season.

Yes, it is early — and it will be interesting to see which poor starter(s) declare themselves “this year’s St. Louis Blues,” holding together in hope of late-season resurrection.

Yes, the Devils have played three opponents’ home openers, not a schedule anyone would want. (They were outscored 14–2 by Buffalo, Philadelphia and Boston in those games.)

And yes, they’ve suffered two absolutely mind-numbing defeats, blowing a 4–0 lead against Winnipeg and and 4–1 cushion to Florida. Only in your worst nightmares does that continue.

The most interesting person to me in all of this is GM Ray Shero. There was a time he had a cautious reputation. Then he swung the 2008 trade that brought Pascal Dupuis and Marian Hossa to Pittsburgh. Whether buying or selling, he’ll weigh the pros and cons, make a decision and go for it. There’s not a lot of fear there.

When Shero was GM in Pittsburgh, it was specifically written into his contract that he couldn’t trade two particular players without ownership permission. (No prize for guessing who.) I’m not sure what language exists now, but these decisions do not occur in a vacuum. This was a huge off-season for New Jersey, which won its second lottery in three years, took on

P.K. Subban’s full salary and made a smart one-year gamble on Wayne Simmonds in an effort to get back to the playoffs.

NHL owners will tell you how critical it is to make the playoffs. In what is still a gate-driven league, the difference between getting in and missing out has massive financial implications. Every indication is the organization recognizes it’s still early. This is the same ownership group that runs the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, which recently went through a rebuild that needed the patience of Job.

The biggest question the Devils need to ask themselves is: What do they believe Hall wants to do? They’ve already been talking to him. The 2018 Hart Trophy winner has said many times that he loved being in the playoffs two years ago, and New Jersey knows the best chance of making him happy is making him believe they can consistently get there.

At last year’s NHL/NHLPA media event in Chicago, it was clear that, of all the players, Hall was most intrigued by

John Tavares’s free-agent process. He said it “took a lot of guts” for Tavares to do it, and has asked the current Toronto captain about it.

That’s no guarantee of anything — just another piece of this puzzle the Devils must put together. At some point, they’re going to put a number on the table and gauge Hall’s reaction.

A lot of the heat is coming down on Hynes, but he got an extension nine months ago and I can’t imagine barbecuing hot dogs all summer made him forget how to coach. One of their biggest problems is stopping the cycle, and they’ve already looked at adding a blueliner. I could see them continuing/expediting that search to help with the defensive work.

Right now, they’ll call other teams to see what might be out there. If things don’t improve, those talks will reverse — with others asking them, “What are you going to do?”

flask · Oct 16, 2019

AWasteOfATime said:

my friends work has a box at Staples Center that she can get comp tickets to at will so I'm looking forward to a long season of every team kicking the shit of the kings, as we saw VGK do on Sunday.

Hit me with tickets when they play the Ducks

CobraKidJon · Oct 16, 2019

hit me when they play the sharks

xbrokendownx · Oct 16, 2019

Jack racking up a hat trick against Honk confirmed

cryates · Oct 16, 2019

"14. Win or lose, Nashville is going to score and score a lot. They’ve got 28 goals in six games, a league-leading 4.67 (yes, I know it’s early). Fourteen different players have at least one. There’s been some dialogue in the last few days between the Predators and Roman Josi. There’s a “want” from both sides to get this done, but the magic number looks like it starts with nine."

Less than $10m/year seems perfectly great so get it done already.

333 GANG · Oct 16, 2019

John Carlson has 14 points in 8 games

xbrokendownx · Oct 16, 2019

NJ pride

really wish he hit the market last year

SlappinCups · Oct 16, 2019

Is he the early lead for Norris sleeper this year?

xbrokendownx · Oct 16, 2019

holy shit

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