Holy shit! Big Dick John Dorsey made another move Friday, just minutes after the Jarvis Landry trade. This time the Browns acquired Quarterback, Tyrod Taylor from the Bills. In exchange, the Bills received a third round draft selection.
This one is stunning. I fully expected AJ McArron to be the Browns starting Quarterback in 2018. Instead, Dorsey shelled out a mid-round draft pick for Tyrod. No issue with the trade, as Sashi Brown STILL shits out mid-round draft picks each morning. Not bad adding Jarvis Landry and Tyrod Taylor in the span of 45 minutes!
I don’t know what to say. I was high on Tyrod for the longest time, and then he couldn’t hit a three yard check down in his playoff game. Hey it’s a competent Quarterback under center. I’ll take it.
Hey now! Bit of a surprising move here on a casual Friday afternoon! The Browns have traded a pick in both the 2018 and 2019 drafts for ex Dolphins Wide Receiver, Jarvis Landry.
Nice way to kick off the off-season for big dick Dorsey. They’ll pick up Landry and his $16 million franchise tag for 1 season. If it works out, than an extension could be in the works. If not, they’ll move on. It’s a low risk move for the Browns. I would prefer that they wait to see who will be under center, and how well Landry fits before an extension is discussed. I am sure he would be receptive to an extension, or else the Browns wouldn’t have made the trade.
I’m not going to get too excited. I’m more curious to see if free-agents are willing to sign here than Landry who was traded. Hopefully this acquisition will show others the Browns mean business, and this leads to a few more acquisitions (Trumaine Johnson, Malcolm Butler).
It’s nice to add a pro-bowl player to the mix for sure, but Landry is coming off a down-ish year. Jay Cutler factor? Down year or not, the prospect of Gordon on the outside and Landry underneath….well that gets blood flowing.
Nice first move by Dorsey and company, but let’s not get carried away. 0-16 is 0-16 no matter how you slice it. Jarvis Landry doesn’t suddenly make this team .500, Daniel Jeremiah. This team has a long way to go. Let’s go Browns!
I think it’s very likely the Browns win a game this season. Perhaps many.
Another Original Six franchise, another dumpster fire. The New York Rangers have spent much of the past 15 years as Stanley Cup contenders. Unlike the Blackhawks, the Rangers were never able to get it done. By that I mean win a cup, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t been a damn good team.
Since missing the playoffs on the final day of the 2009 season, the Rangers have been a force within the Metropolitan Division. Even though they missed the postseason in 2009, the Rags have consistently made the postseason since the 2005 lockout.
In 2013-2014 the Rangers went on their deepest run. The first round saw them beat their hated rivals, Philadelphia Flyers in 7 games. The second round brought Sidney Crosby, and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Rangers won that series in 7 games as well, this time overcoming a 3-1 series deficit for the first time in team history.
In the Eastern Conference finals, the Rangers beat up on the hated Montreal Canadiens in 6 games, and the Cup final saw them take on the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings were in their second Cup Final in 3 seasons.
The Rangers would lose to the Kings in 5 games, with Alec Martinez scoring the winning goal in double OT. Despite the Blueshirts going down in 5, 3 of 5 games went into overtime, and 4 of 5 were decided by one goal.
A big part of the Cup run was the King himself, Henrik Lundqvist.
The best Goaltender in the league has been manning the pipes on Madison Avenue since 2005-2006 season. From the very beginning Hank was one of the best Goalies in the league.
It’s been nearly 13 full seasons in a Blueshirt for the King, as he approaches the 800 career games milestone. He has a career 2.36 GAA, and 0.919 save percentage over his career, which is just insane. Goalie is a position that is rapidly decreasing in value across the league, but Hank is still one of few true superstar Goalies. Henrik’s play earned himself an 8 year $59.5 million dollar contract extension in 2013-2014. Up until this season, he was the highest paid Goalie in the league.
It’s great to have a franchise goalie and all, but it has certainly hampered their ability to add to other places on the roster that would’ve had given them the extra piece to beat LA in 2014, or Tampa Bay in 2015, whom they lost to in the Eastern Conference Final.
Since the back-to-back runs, the Rangers have regressed. Bad contracts, poor coaching, and the lack of game-breaking offensive talent have all contributed.
Alain Vignault has been coaching the Blueshirts since 2013, after John Tortorella was fired. All was fine and dandy with AV until 2015-2016, where the Rangers were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round in 5 games by the Pittsburgh Penguins. AV’s message was running stale, and he seemed to hamper the teams ability to get over the hump. He fell in love with fourth line grinders like, Tanner Glass. Glass is a fourth line fighter with zero hockey ability. Hell, he’s not even a good fighter. Yet he dressed in 66 and 57 games in back to back seasons. Glass playing on the fourth line every night seems harmless, but it takes away ice-time from a guy like Pavel Buchnevich. Buch is a young skilled forward, who has potential to be a goal scorer on either of your top lines.
Bad contracts and the New York Rangers go hand-in-hand. Glen Sather and Jeff Gorton spent the better part of 5 seasons “going for it”. They would spend big on high priced free agents like Brad Richards and Kevin Shattenkirk. In the 2014 offseason Richards was bought out by the Rangers. This came just three seasons into his 9 year contract. If they’re not signing guys to big money contracts, they’re trading for big guns.
In the past 7-8 seasons the Rangers have traded for Rick Nash, Keith Yandle, and Martin St. Louis in an attempt to “go for it”. This all fine and dandy, but left the Rangers with a bare prospect pool, and no draft picks to replenish the pipeline. They never really have game breaking talent. They have quality offensive players in Mats Zuccarello, Mika Zibanejad, Vlad Namestnikov, and Ryan Spooner. But they need a game changer. A guy like Taylor Hall, Brad Marchand, Patrik Laine, or Austin Matthews. Most importantly they need centers, which is position that they never truly addressed. Right now Mika Zibanejad is their number 1 center. He is probably best suited to play on the Wing, or second line center. Asking him to be the number 1 is a stretch.
All of these factors lead us to the present. The Rangers are dead last in the Metropolitan Division. They are finally selling off expiring contracts, piling up prospects, and stacking up draft picks. I would say this rebuild is 2 seasons too late, as I thought they should’ve started selling after the loss to Tampa in 2015. The trades the Rangers have made so far (Rick Nash, Nick Holden, Ryan McDonagh, J.T. Miller) have yielded positive returns. I am still shocked that they have not attempted to move Henrik Lundqvist. He wouldn’t yield much in a trade simply because that’s the goalie trade market (maybe a low 1st/2nd round pick) but I would have looked to get him off the books. The Ryan McDonagh trade yielded a positive return, but I would have looked to have moved Kevin Shattenkirk, whom they should’ve stayed away from in the first place. McDonagh is a warrior who wore the “C” for many years. He took a lot of punishment eating large minutes during deep playoff runs, but he is only 28 years old. He still has plenty to play for. Number 1 Defenseman is the hardest position to fill on your team. While they may have gotten assets for him, I still would have looked to trade other pieces, even if it meant a lesser return.
We’ll see how this season unfolds for the Blueshirts. They still remain somewhat close to the final Wild-Card spots in the Eastern Conference. It’d probably behoove them to not even bother pushing to get the 8th seed, but as a fan I’d want my team to try and get into the post season. I expect that they will address the coaching situation this off-season, and look to use all the picks acquired to bring in a bucket load of young talent.
Hopefully in the near future, the Rangers will be playing games into June. But until then, Ranger fans can remember the good times here:
With the trade deadline come and gone, the NHL season is coming to a close. By now the standings have pretty much been set, with teams grappling for the final playoff seeds. This brings me to the Original Six. Currently, there are just 2 Original Six teams sitting in playoff positions. The Boston Bruins, and Toronto Maple Leafs sit in second, and third in the Atlantic Division respectively. Both are young, fast, and poised to make deep runs in the postseason.
After those two, it is a disaster. Old powers are starting to slip, as two Original Six franchises sit in last place in their respective divisions. The biggest being the Chicago Blackhawks.
The above image is a familiar sight for Hawks fans. They have won three Stanley Cups since 2010. That’s right, three. In the Salary Cap era this is unheard of. To top it all off, the Blackhawks were coming off their darkest era in Franchise History. From 2000-2009 nobody fucking cared about the Blackhawks. They were not bad enough to draft highly rated prospects, and they toiled in mediocrity. Finally they caught a break. In 2006 the Hawks finished with the second worst record in the Western Conference. This earned them the right to pick 3rd overall. That selection was Jonathan Toews. Toews has dawned the “C” while hoisting three Cups.
The following year the Hawks finished dead last in the Central Division, earning the right to pick first overall in the 2007 NHL Draft. That selection turned into none other than Patrick Kane.
The foundation of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook was built and ready to win Championships. Win Championships they did, beating the Flyers, Bruins, and Lightning in the Cup Final. After the first Cup the Hawks had to start locking up their core pieces long-term. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane signed identical eight year $84 million dollar extensions in 2014. Kane has lived up to this extension up until this point. He is a top line winger, and one of the best pure goal scorers in the league. When it’s all said and done, Kaner will be considered one of the best American Born players of all time. Jonathan Toews on the other hand has not lived up to this massive extension.
Toews is a Center in the model of Anze Kopitar, Patrice Bergeron, or Aleksander Barkov. He’s a two-way beast, who can score with the best of them. Up until 2014 Toews was a 60-70 point player. Since his massive extension his play has dropped off. 2015-2016 saw him amass 58 points total, and he reached the same clip in 2016-2017. He has not been playing at an elite level for two plus years, and that contract is just abysmal. Not saying they should trade Toews, because besides number 1 Defenseman, number one Center is nearly as hard to find/replace.
While the Toews contract sucks, the biggest mistake the Hawks made was re-signing Brent Seabrook. Seabrook was re-signed to a 8 year $55 million dollar contract extension in 2015. Seabrook has been a regular on the Hawks Blueline since 2005-06 before Kane and Toews. Seabrook was so valuable Blackhawks over the years. Duncan Keith anchored the first d-pairing with another shutdown Defeseman, and Seabrook would anchor the second pair. The Hawks could mix and match pairs, and even pair the two together for a beast shutdown pairing. Not to mention they had Niklas Hjalmarsson, who would rotate between playing with Keith and Seabrook.
The worst part of his contract is, there are No Movement Clauses attached. This means Seabrook can veto trades to teams not on a hand picked list of his choosing. He has this no movement clause until 2022. It’s contracts like the three highlighted above that put the Blackhawks where they are now.
Dead last place with aging core players, bad contracts, and sub-par role players. Every single season we see the Hawks trading away big pieces that they cannot afford to keep. Brandon Saad was traded to Columbus after the 2015 Cup run for a younger Artemi Panarin, who exploded onto the scene as a premier young goal scorer alongside Patrick Kane. This past summer saw the Blackhawks trade Panarin BACK to Columbus for…Brandon Saad. Why did they make this trade? Well, they couldn’t afford to keep Panarin any longer, and they hoped bringing Saad back would ignite Toews again. Panarin continues to be a 60-70 point player, whereas Saad will be lucky to sniff 50 points this season.
So, how can the Hawks remedy their current situation? This one is going to be difficult. There are players that simply cannot be moved via trade, because of declining play, and shitty contracts. Stan Bowman is going to have to move whatever pieces he can for draft picks. In a Bruins type re-build on the fly, they need picks, picks, picks, and more picks. Build around the core of players already there. While they may be declining now, who’s to say Toews doesn’t bounce back? Who’s to say Saad can’t recapture his goal scoring touch. Start inserting more youth into lineup to to supplement the core.
They started off well by trading Ryan Hartman for a first round pick, I’ll look for the Hawks to be active moving pieces for draft picks, and prospects this off-season. Will this Original Six giant bounce back, or will they wilt into irrelevancy like the 2000-2008 Blackhawks?
Silly season continues, as this past weekend has been the NFL Combine. Prospects from all over this great land assembled in Indianapolis to do a bunch of meaningless drills, and interviews. That brings us to our fourth Quarterback will most certainly be discussing as an option at first overall, or even fourth.
Out of all the options at Quarterback in the 2018 Draft Class, Josh Allen is down towards the bottom. Why you ask? Easy, there have been about 100 Josh Allen’s in past NFL Drafts. First off, he’s a fucking monster standing at 6’4, 240 lbs. Just a fucking linebacker playing QB. These are obviously seen as positive traits. He is a guy who will be able to withstand NFL punishment. Another talking point is his hands, big people have large hands, and Josh Allen’s hands are pretty big. These are all contributing factors to this guys cannon of an arm.
The career stats for Allen are as posted above. The biggest takeaway: What the fuck happened this year? I see a significant statistical drop-off in almost every major category in 2017. He threw 12 less TD’s in 2017. He also declined in interceptions, which is obviously a good thing. Just head scratching statistics. This guy can throw it 90 fucking yards, but he averaged only 6.7 yards per attempt in 2017? He is a surprisingly decent runner. In 2016 he ran for 523 yards and 7 TD’s. Again, those numbers plummeted in 2017, where he only rushed for 204 yards, and 5 TD’s. For such a big body.
So, the kid has a good arm. He can move around in the pocket ala Big Ben, should the Browns draft him to be the Quarterback of the future? ABSOLUTELY NOT. First off, I hadn’t watched ANY of this kids games, because well I am not a Wyoming fan. He is coming from that typical two-bit, punching Judy College offense. The QB is hardly under center, and almost every fucking play is a run-pass option. He hasn’t displayed the ability to take snaps under center consistently, at least from what I am seeing. I watched that highlight tape (the first time I’ve watched Josh Allen) and I saw less than 10 snaps come from under center. I saw a few bootlegs, but that’s about it.
Basically what I see when I watch this tape, is a big dude who relies on his natural arm strength. He’s got accuracy issues that may not ever be fixed. Doesn’t matter how far you throw it when you can’t hit the target. But, Danny! What if the Browns develop him properly?! We have a Josh Allen on the Roster already, and his name is DeShone Kizer. Kizer is a a guy who is massive, has a rocket arm, can run, and has insane accuracy issues. Kizer may never be fixed, which leads me to believe we wouldn’t be able to develop Allen in the first place.
(^Looks sexy doesn’t it^)
For that reason, I am OUT on Josh Allen. The question is, are the Browns out on him too? I sure hope so…
The Montreal Canadiens travelled to TD Garden last night for the final time in 2018. The teams played three times in 8 days in mid-January, which the Bruins took all 3 games. The Canadiens are just horrible. Each game they play the Bruins, it’s just listless. This one was not much different. Tuukka Rask took a seat on the pine omg for this one, and Carey Price sat for Antti Niemi.
The story of this one came just 37 seconds into the game:
Rookie Defenseman, Charlie McAvoy left the game after getting tripped up. This would be a huge loss if he misses extended time. Not going to speculate what the injury is, but it’s definitely a foot, ankle, leg issue. Unfortunate play, and hope to god the franchise is ok.
Much like the majority of the Bruins vs. Habs matchups this season, this one was a snoozer. With half of the first period gone, Kevan Miller saw his pass intercepted by Brendan Gallagher of the Canadiens. Gallagher walked in, and fired a shot past Anton Khudobin. 1-0 Canadiens.
After this point, the Canadiens stopped playing. The Bruins completed dominated, creating prime scoring chances left and right. Antti Niemi made a staggering 48 saves. Without him, this would have been an ugly scoreline.
Finally, 17 minutes into the third period, Jake Debrusk re-directed a slap pass from Defenseman Nick Holden past Niemi. It was finally a 1-1 game.
New guy Nick Holden gets another point with his assist on DeBrusk’s tying goal. pic.twitter.com/Fclr9znCTU
— Stanley Cup of Chowder (@cupofchowdah) March 4, 2018
The Overtime Period saw the Bruins toy with the hapless Canadiens. The Bruins skated, and passed the puck at will. The Habs were dog tired, when Brad Marchand took a tour of the offensive zone with the puck. Finally getting to the high slot, he fired a puck past Niemi to win the game.
The Bruins take the season series from the Canadiens 4-0. Be more pathetic Montreal, you can’t. In all seriousness, there is a very long re-build ahead up there. The leading point getter up there has 40 points. It’s March 4th. Just a complete joke. I hope it’s a long, miserable, painful, sickening, and difficult road back for that decrepit franchise.
Glad the Bruins continued their strong play. This win gives them 3 in a row since getting spanked by Buffalo. Let’s hope Charlie McAvoy is OK, but it seems for the first time in years, the Bruins have depth to deal with an injury god forbid. Next up the Bruins take on the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday. Another Atlantic Division foe, who is absolutely miserable. Should be another 2 points. As always, let’s go Bruins.
Thursday saw the Pittsburgh Penguins invade TD Garden. The defending Stanley Cup Champions left on the short end of an 8-4 scoreline. Make no mistake about it, this was a statement win from the Bruins. The past few weeks the red hot pace the team was playing at had cooled a bit, which is to be expected in an 82 game season. This past Saturday, the Bruins lost a in heartbreaking fashion to Toronto, which saw the leafs take over second place in the Atlantic Division. The very next day saw the Buffalo Sabres crush the B’s 4-1. Reeling a bit, the Bruins gutted out a 4-3 overtime win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Last night saw the Bruins return to their dominant form.
"I'm gonna work on it, it's probably not one of my qualities."
Earlier in the week the Bruins were dealt a dose of bad news. Number 1 center, Patrice Bergeron was sidelined with a fractured foot. He will miss 2 weeks minimum, and this has opened the door for some new faces. Last night against Pittsburgh two players made their Bruins debut.
Nick Holden skated in his first action as a Bruin playing on the third D pair with Kevan Miller. Holden slotted in for Rookie, Matt Grzelyck who took the game in from the 9th floor as a healthy scratch.
Veteran forward Brian Gionta made his Bruins debut in place of Danton Heinen, who needed to take a game in from the 9th floor as well. Gionta is coming straight from the Olympics, where he impressed enough to earn a pro contract win the Bruins.
Bruins sign Brian Gionta to one-year, one-way contract through 2017-18 season worth $700,000: https://t.co/Ui8jBkESFW
Brutal start from the Bruins for fucks sake. Four guys caught staring at Evgeni Geno Malkin, who dished a cross-slot feed for Maatta to bury. The warning signs were all there that this would be a long night for the Bruins.
Luckily this years team doesn’t quit, or fall into a funk. The Bruins immediately put the pressure on the Penguins. Just 1:45 into the game Rick Nash stormed down the right wing, and slipped a backhand pass for David Krejci. Krejci was able to get his stick on the puck as he crashed into Pens goalie Casey DeSmith.
This is when the barrage began. David Pastrnak’s one-timer deflected off a casserole nonsense in front of DeSmith. The puck slowly trickled in to make it 2-1. (Boy does DeSmith blow). Riley Nash would be credited with the goal later on.
Just two and a half minutes later Rick Nash deflected a centering pass over the shoulder of DeSmith to make it 3-1. DeSmith was yanked from the game having only played a shade over 5 minutes.
After the Bruins quickly built a 2 goal cushion, Phil Kessel buried a short side goal on Tuukka Rask. Kessel got the puck below the goal line, fired off the back of Rask’s legs, and into the net. Brutal from Rask, who wasn’t covering his post properly.
A few minutes later, Brian Gionta fed David Backes on the Right Wing hashmarks. Backes took the feed and ripped a snap-shot top shelf. 4-2 Bruins with less than half the period remaining.
Tory Krug added a 5th goal with just over 2 minutes left to play in the first. Just when you thought the Bruins were going to get out of the period up 3, Riley Sheahan fired a slap-shot past Tuukka Rask with just 3 seconds remaining in the first. Pathetic goal to give up by Rask. Sheahan is a fourth line center, and should have no business firing a slapped past Rask if he can see it cleanly.
The start of the second period saw the Bruins take over. Bruins newcomer, Nick Holden fed David Krejci in front of the net with a beautiful pass, and Krejci slotted home his second of the night. Later on the power play ole’ yeller, Brian Gionta had the puck in front of Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry (who?). Gionta drew both Penguin defenders, and slid a backhanded no-look pass to a wide-open Krejci, who completed his hat trick.
David Pastrnak and Olli Maatta each added another goal making the score 8-4 Bruins.
In what was a spirited affair the Bruins put a beat down on the Penguins in a statement win. The biggest moment of the game wasn’t any of the barrage of goals scored by the black and gold. The game had gotten a bit chippy in the second period, and the Bruins were on the penalty kill. Zdeno Chara was on the ice for all 2 minutes of the kill, and played an additional 1:05 minutes when Jamie Oleksiak challenged him to a fight:
This is why Zdeno Chara still wears the “C” for the Boston Bruins. At 40 years old he played 3:05 minutes in a row, and tuned up a 6’7, 255 pound Oleksiak. Big Z can still play.
Overall, it was a massive victory for the Bruins, who still need to show they belong at the top of the standings. The additions Sweeney has made are fitting in beautiful. It should be an awesome stretch run. Let’s go Bruins!
Lamar Jackson seems to be the least talked about high-end prospect the 2018 NFL Draft has to offer. Make no mistake about it, Lamar Jackson deserves consideration to be picked first overall, or just the first round in general. The fact he isn’t getting much attention is very weird.
Now, the easy comparison here is obviously Michael Vick. They are both run-heavy Quarterback’s, with athleticism through the freaking roof. At any second Jackson could take off, and run the ball 90 yards to the house. In college, Mike Vick had one huge knock to his game. His ability to throw the ball down the field. Vick lacked the down field accuracy, and power if he were to stand in the pocket.
Now, based on what I have been watching of Jackson it seems as if he is ahead of where Vick was just throwing the ball down the field. His passes have more zip, and accuracy than anything Vick threw at Virginia Tech.
Looking at Jackson’s’ stats here I am pleasantly surprised. Obviously his best year came in 2016, where he threw for 30 TD’s, and rushed for another 21. That’s your Quarterback accounting for 51 total touchdowns. That is insanity right there. In 2017 his stats dropped………barely. In a season where he was hyped less than the year before, Lamar came out and balled. Interestingly enough, he ran for 3 less TD’s, AND threw for 3 less TD’s than 2016. However, his total yardage increased for both rushing and passing. In 2017 he threw for 3,660 yards. That is up from 3,543 in 2016. 2017 saw Lamar rush for 1,601 yards, which is an improvement from the 1,571 in 2016.
All of those stats, and insane highlights bring us to the main Question: Should the Browns take Lamar Jackson at number 1? Short answer: No. I would have no problem with the Browns if they decided they wanted to pick Lamar Jackson. First overall would be a bit of a reach despite the Heisman Season, highlights, and numbers. Drafting Lamar Jackson so high would require the Browns to tailor the entire offense to him. This is fine and all, but the gimmicky read-option/pistol offense seems to only work in spurts in the NFL. Defenses are just too fast for it. If you draft Lamar Jackson that high you don’t force him to become a pure pocket passer. That would ruin the kid, and is just not doing his talent justice. I feel like it’s easier to ask a Pro-Style quarterback to run more, than it is to ask a running quarterback to stay in the pocket.
If Dorsey decides Lamar is the guy, by all means draft Lamar Jackson. I would prefer they tried to trade back into round 1 in the 15-32 area. They have the draft capital to do so (Thanks Sashi, love you mean it). But, Browns fans should not sleep on Lamar Jackson. This dude is fucking electric, and I was shocked to see he virtually matched his Heisman winning season. Hell, 2017 was probably the better year. Fewer TD’s, but total yardage increased. Will John Dorsey show some serious balls, and draft Lamar Jackson to be the Browns Quarterback of the future?
Last night the Boston Bruins defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 in overtime. Rick Nash scored his first goal as a Bruin, and a surprising player shined in the comeback win for the Black and Gold.
Tommy fucking Wingels ladies and gentlemen. Ever heard of him? Doubt it. While the Tampa Bay Lightning were completing a blockbuster for Ryan McDonagh, Donny Sweeney was pulling off a depth trade for the stretch run.
Enter Tommy Big Dick Wingels. Wingels was acquired from the faltering Blackhawks for a 5th round pick. If the Bruins win a round, the pick will turn into a 4th. Not a bad price at all.
The trade immediately reeked dividends for the Bruins. In his first game this past Tuesday, Wingels slotted in on the Bruins third line. He played along side David Backes and Danton Heinen. Boy, did he ever look good on that line too. Wingels posted a goal and assist in the B’s comeback effort.
What a little snipe there from Tommy boy!! In all seriousness, this trade has the potential to be a massive steal for the Bruins. Take away the goal and assist, and I still love what I saw from him. He was buzzing all night. He was relentless on the forecheck, and showed that he could play with speed. If Cassidy needed, Wingels could slot up in the lineup, or he can generate energy on the third line. No matter where he plays, playoff teams need a Tommy Wingels on their roster.
If he can continue to play at the speed he did on Tuesday than this is a fucking steal. For those upset about giving away a draft pick, ask yourself this: What’re the odds that the 5th round pick records a regular season NHL goal? Astronomically low. This is a great depth move by Sweeney for the playoff push.
B’s take on the Penguins tonight at 7pm at TD Garden. Let’s go Bruins!!
Believe it or not, yesterday was the NHL trade deadline. Unbelievable that we are already staring down the barrel of the NHL stretch run. Throughout the course of the year a few teams have separated themselves from the pack as Stanley Cup Contenders, and old powers are finding themselves “blowing it up” as the playoffs are likely out of reach.
Here is where we sit coming down the stretch. The biggest takeaway for myself personally is the fact the Original Six is a disaster. Two of them are in dead last in their respective divisions. After being a cup contender for the past 5-7 years, the Rangers have hit rock bottom. This year was the year Jeff Gorton and Glen Sather finally decided it was time to start re-tooling.
This brings us to the first of many big moves of the trade deadline:
This trade was completed last Monday between the Bruins and Rangers. Not a major blockbuster by any means, but the message was clear. The Bruins would be adding pieces for a playoff run, and the Rangers would begin to sell off what they can for picks, and young assets.
As a Bruins fan I am somewhat indifferent regarding this trade. Nick Holden sucks. Plain and simple. I have nightmares of Holden giving away multiple games during the 2017 playoffs. Brutal giveaway after brutal giveaway. He’s a depth Defenseman, who isn’t a fucking slug, so he can skate and move the puck fairly well. He would need sheltered minutes, meaning playing favorable match-ups, Offensive Zone starts, etc. We saw last year the Bruins ran out of gas in the postseason largely due to injuries. They were down to their 8th-9th Defenseman, and Tommy Cross was playing meaningful playoff minutes. Holden would be an upgrade in a situation like that.
To Rob O’Gara. I really liked Rob, and was certainly not too pleased to see him go. The Rangers are getting a solid Defenseman that should develop into an NHL regular. He’s had a few cups of coffee with the Bruins, but was mostly a mainstay in Providence. He’s solid. Nothing flashy with O’Gara, he’s going to block shots, kill penalties, and play physical. A valuable piece for any NHL should he develop properly.
The Bruins were not even close to being done making moves to bolster their depth, and free up roster space.
Wednesday saw Donny Sweeney free up some cap space by trading Frank Vatrano. It was time to move on from the UMass product. Vatrano stormed onto the scene scoring 36 goals in his first 36 AHL games in 2015-2016. That goal scoring touch never translated to the NHL level. Frankie needs a bunch of time and space to pick his spot, and you’re just not getting that regularly in the NHL. He’s still got a rocket shot, and decent skating ability. He’s pretty “meh” in every other facet of the game. The fact that he wasn’t traded for a conditional 7th or 6th round pick is beyond me. Florida just handing out 3 round picks like candy. Donny managed to regain a 3rd after sending one away for Holden. Frankie will get a shot to play a regular shift down in Florida, as he just wasn’t good enough to crack the Bruins lineup this year. We’ll see if a fresh start is what was needed.
Coming off a brutal loss on Saturday, the Bruins were still not done adding to their roster.
Bruins acquire Rick Nash from @NYRangers in exchange for Ryan Spooner, Matt Beleskey, Ryan Lindgren, 2018 1st-round pick and 2019 7th-round pick: https://t.co/edXNVGxQDm
Finally to the big one. Don Sweeney pushed all of chips in and acquired veteran Power Forward, Rick Nash. Nash is a big guy standing at 6’4, 220 lbs. He will slot in on the Bruins second line centered by David Krejci. This is a big move for the Bruins, and Rangers equally. The Rangers off-loaded an aging veteran piece for assets. They get back a roster player who could contribute right away in Spooner, and gain an additional 1st round pick. The prospect is what it is. Lindgren was more or less the 6th best Defense Prospect the B’s had.
The Bruins add a guy that can bolster their top 6. One of the few glaring holes on this team was Krejci’s wing. Spooner was slotting in there, but he is a natural center. Spooner had games where he looked fine playing the wing and would mesh well with Krejci. Other nights he couldn’t care less, and was invisible. Missing a chunk of time at the beginning of the year, Spoons has amassed 9 goals, 16 assists, and 25 points so far this season.
Rick Nash is a former perennial 30 goal scorer, who is starting to show his age. The 33 year old is on the final year of his contract, and his point totals have slowly declined the past couple of years. While he’s not leading the league scoring 41 goals anymore, he will still provide much needed secondary scoring. Hopefully playing for his last NHL contract, and a shot at the cup will motivate Nash.
Now on to deadline day itself. There were a lot of deals made towards the final the hour. I am not going to breakdown each one, but I thought I would highlight the most important ones. A full list of deadline day transactions can be found here.
First and foremost the Ryan McDonagh trade. The Rangers continued their fire sale by shipping off their team captain to Tampa Bay.
To #TBLightning: D Ryan McDonagh, F JT Miller To #NYR: F Vladislav Namestnikov, F Brett Howden, D Libor Hajek, 2018 1st-round pick, conditional 2nd-round pick
This trade right here settles the balance of power in the Eastern Conference. While the Bruins were knocking at the door, and adding Rick Nash, the Lightning decided to drag their nuts across Sweeney’s forehead. Adding Ryan McDonagh is just, well it’s just unfair. The Lightning’s Top 4 Defeseman are: Norris Trophy Candidate Victor Hedman, Rookie of year Candidate Mikhail Sergachev, and ole’ reliable Anton Stralman. That is far and away the best D-corps in the Eastern Conference, and will likely bolster their chances of landing the number 1 seed.
The Rangers did fairly well in the return. Namestnikov is a young skilled forward, who is NHL ready. He’s got 44 points so far this year, posting 20 goals, and 24 assists. The two prospects (Howden, Hajek) are solid, and by all accounts seen as B/B+ prospects. This was a fair haul for McDonagh on his own, and I am still scratching my head as to why J.T. Miller was involved. The Rangers tossed him in there for free. Miller is a young gritty forward who is fast, and can play both Wing and Center. With 13 goals, and 27 assists on the year, the Rangers basically sold off Miller a 40 point guy for free. Miller will be a valuable depth piece for the Cup run.
To another Original Six City we go! The first big-ish trade of the day came from two divisional rivals in the Central Division.
Sitting in a similar position as the New York Rangers, the Blackhawks are beginning to sell off pieces. Bad contracts galore in Chicago. It will be harder to blow it up there versus New York largely because of albatross contract after albatross contract. Familiar names like Brent Seabrook, Duncan Keith, and Jonathen Toews have immovable contracts. Which cannot be said for the assets the Rangers traded away. Even so, the Hawks were able to move a piece to Nashville.
Ryan Hartman was sent to Nashville for two draft picks, and Victor Ejdsell. Edjsell is a prospect playing over in the Swedish Elite League. He is projected to have a solid NHL future ahead of himself. Obviously the main prize here for Chicago is the 1st round pick. Stan Bowman had dealt away prospects and picks chasing down a 4th Stanley Cup, and fell short. Similar to the Bruins, the Blackhawks will have to, “rebuild on the fly”. This would mean acquiring any picks and prospects you can for expiring contracts, while keeping the main core in place.
From Nashville’s perspective, I guess it’s a solid deal? Hartman is having a down year this year. In 2016-17 he finished the season with 19 goals, 12 assists, and 31 points. So far through 57 games he’s got 8 goals, 17 assists, and 25 points. I certainly wouldn’t be shelling out a 1st round pick for him. He’s a solid depth scorer only in his second full NHL season, so there is time to develop. To go with the ability to score, Hartman brings an edge to his game. He plays the agitator role, and we all know how crucial those guys can be come playoff time.
Once the Hartman trade went through, another Central Division rival was making a bit of a surprising move:
This one came as a bit of a shocker, as the Blues are only 2 points out of the final Wild Card spot in the West. Two years in a row the Blues were on the outside of the playoff picture at the deadline, and sold off a major piece. In 2017 it was Kevin Shattenkirk to the Capitals, this year Paul Stastny to Winnipeg.
From a Jets perspective I like the player they acquired. They are looking to make a run, and wanted shore up their center depth. Stastny is perfect for them. They have the game’s most unnoticed superstars in Mark Scheifele, Bryan Little, and now Paul Stastny as their top 3 centers. Not bad at all. Stastny is a Center in the Patrice Bergeron mold. He’s good in the face-off circle, defensively, and can score when needed. He’s not nearly as good as Bergy offensively, defensively, or in the face-off circle, but he will be a quality veteran piece for a team that has made the playoffs once since 2012. I would NOT have given up a first round pick for Stastny. While he is a good player, a first plus a prospect is a high price to pay. By all accounts, Erik Foley is a highly rated prospect at the NCAA level this season. For all the big guns traded these past few days, Stastny was the most surprising by far, and will be interesting to see how he fits in with the Jets.
Moving further out West, Las Vegas made it’s first ever Trade Deadline Day move:
This trade will likely get a shit ton of love in the Media, mostly because Vegas is the leagues darling. Vegas is sitting at the top of the Pacific Division for reasons that cannot be explained. When you get this far you kinda have to, “go for it”. I understand that and all, but this takes the cake as the worst trade of the deadline.
Tatar is a good player, who up until this year was a regular 50-60 point getter. This year his numbers have declined, as Detroit sucks. This year he has a measly 16 goals, 12 assists, for 28 points total. There is absolutely no reason to be shelling out a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round picks. As a team that is approaching its second draft EVER, it’d probably be wise to hang on to draft picks, no? Tatar will give Vegas some more pop for sure, as that forward group is bone dry in terms of pure goal scoring.
This is yet another Original Six Franchise attempting to rebuild, and Detroit got a HAUL. They are a team that prides itself of drafting and developing talent, so those three picks will come up huge when re-stocking the cupboard.
Late in the day, another Pacific Division team was selling off an expiring contract:
Edmonton is now officially out of the playoff race, which is just fantastic. A team that has drafted 1st overall 3 times in the past 10 years. The latest being Connor McDavid the NHL’s darling boy. Last year Edmonton made a run into the second round of the playoffs. They were actually considered a favorite to be hoisting Lord Stanley in June. Instead, this man…
ruined any chance Edmonton had at building a playoff contender. First, he traded Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson. Hall was the number 1 pick of the 2011 entry draft. He’s now a major contributor on Devils playoff team. Larsson is a solid top 4 Dman, but Taylor Hall is an elite goal scorer. Who needs those Chia? He traded Matthew Barzal (Rookie of the Year Candidate) for Griffin Reinhart, a Defenseman for the Chicago Wolves in the AHL. He handed out a 6 year, $7 million dollar contract to 29 year old Milan Lucic. A contract that will hamper Edmonton until it expires. He signed center, Leon Draisaitl to an 8 year $68 million dollar contract worth $8.5 million per year. Now, Draisaitl is damn good. Someday he will be worth every penny of that contract, but this was his FIRST contract coming off his rookie deal. Teams almost always opt for a bridge contract, and then dish out the cash. Chia said fuck it, and handed ALL the money to Draisaitl. But wait! There’s more, Chiarelli signed Connor McDavid to an 8 year $100 million dollar contract extension. This won’t kick in until 2019, but once it does the annual cap hit will be $13.5 million. Let me preface this by saying Connor McDavid is worth every penny of that contract. Has Chiarelli not learned from his time in Boston? Has he not seen what the Brent Seabrook, Patrick Kane, and Jonathan Toews contracts have done to Chicago? They cannot afford to keep their good secondary scorers/role players because they are so salary cap strapped. Edmonton is going backwards fast, they should probably be considering canning Chiarelli by now.
Anyway, enough ranting about Chiarelli. Edmonton sent an expiring contract in Patrick Maroon to New Jersey in exchange for a prospect, and 3rd round pick. New Jersey gets a big bodied goal scorer who can play anywhere in your lineup. Maroon is coming off two solid years, but is likely a product of Connor McDavid. Last year he amassed 27 goals, a career high by a wide margin. New Jersey essentially gave up nothing for him, as by all accounts the prospect included (J.D. Dudek) would not even be signed to a rookie contract by the Devils. Maroon’s point total is not where it was last year, bit he still has 14 goals, 16 assists, and 30 total points. Head scratching move from the Bald Bandit Chiarelli.
Buffalo traded Evander Kane to the San Jose Sharks for a 2019 1st round pick, 2020 2nd round pick, and Dan O’Regan an NCAA prospect. Solid trade for both teams involved. It was time for the Sabres to move on from Kane. On paper, Buffalo has a team that should be competing with Boston and Toronto for the Atlantic division. They are the exact opposite. They spend almost every season in the cellar, even with Jack Eichel, Ryan O’Rielly, Kyle Okposo, and Rasmus Ristolainen. Buffalo needed to unload an expiring contract, as they were likely not going to re-sign Kane.
San Jose adds an elite forward to their top 6 for the stretch run. Kane is a polarizing player, mostly due to off the ice issues, but he’s still an elite talent. Sitting at 40 points, he will be a nice goal scorer to take passes from Jumbo Joe Thornton. San Jose did not have to give up their 2018 first, which should be considered a win. Both teams make out well with this trade.
The biggest story was Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson. A superstar Defenseman in Ottawa. The Senators explored trading him to Vegas, Washington, and a few other places. Nothing worked out, and Ottawa will attempt to extend him before the draft in June. I’m sure Senator fans can breathe a sigh of relief. Karlsson being traded would have sent major shockwaves throughout the league. Seems like trading for him mid-season would be stupid, because he completely changes the dynamic of that particular team so much, it’s probably be more beneficial to wait for the draft.
Overall it was an exciting day/week. Most of the moves were reported in the final hour, but boy was it worth it. NHL trade deadline, and July 1st Free Agency are my two favorite days of each calendar year. Here’s why. As always, Lets go Bruins!!
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/57792487/usa_today_10440558.0.jpg)
The last real big move came from San Jose:
Office Chatter 