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It’s now well documented that Detroit lost out on Trouba. I still look at this as a complete failure in communication that talks got as far as they did before the player was informed. He could easily have saved a lot of time simply stating that he’s not going to approve that move.
Now we hear that Carolina had a deal to move Necas to Buffalo and made it clear he wouldn’t sign. There was also a framework in place to move him to Winnipeg (apparently). Per Seravalli:
Seravalli asserts that Carolina had agreed to a Necas trade with the Buffalo Sabres. However, Seravalli did admit in the podcast that it may not have been the Sabres but he was fairly certain. The trade broke down relatively quickly as Necas purportedly would not agree to sign a new contract in Buffalo. Furthermore from Seravalli, the Hurricanes also had substantial trade talks with the Winnipeg Jets about Necas. He states the Jets had offered prospect Rutger McGroarty, forward Cole Perfetti, and an unspecified draft pick for Necas.
Rumors can be a nightmare business. No matter how “close” a deal comes, it’s not done until it’s done. Many times I shared speculation of not seeing Stamkos hit the market. That one was a biggie. There have been rumors linking Detroit to Florida and Nashville that I won’t touch because they seem to be without substance. Even if there was substantive evidence, it’s even more of a daunting task to put the rumored deal out there. Things fall apart. The trade floor was busy (though I’d been “scolded” when I mentioned deals done at the draft) even seeing a player signing autographs get traded while meeting with fans. Brutal.
There is “chatter” that NYI is unhappy with Wahlstrom and may still risk waivers but I’d have to see it to believe it. The high end deals and maxed out teams had an effect on free agents to be sure. I doubt Yzerman offered Sprong less than he settled for but that’s the market right now. An uncomfortable amount of silence from Detroit’s offices as deals are signed the look to impact the negotiations of Raymond and Seider. With all we know for certain, you have to wonder how many other deals “fell through” in a crazy offseason.
* - the rest is a brief update on Bally’s and Comcast as a ruling is due today but hasn’t come out yet.
This detail came from a Cubs fan site, so take it with a grain of salt. However, the details line up with the issue.
First, why did Comcast drop Bally’s? Bally sports (now dissolved and the parent company is running the markets directly still using the Bally name) demanded lower tier automatic inclusivity. DirecTV complied. If you went to the 2nd tier, an automatic $8 charge was included on your bill that said “Bally Sports” and you couldn’t cancel it. Comcast said no, and Bally tried to play hard ball. (Pun not intended, but it’s there). So what brought them back? They agreed to be in the most expensive tier of Comcast programming and require an additional $20 per month for the service (the first 3 months being free).
Detroit and Atlanta, in the article, were rumored to have lost 50% of viewership while Minnesota lost a bit more than that. This last minute deal is to prove to the courts that Diamond (Bally) can stay in business so long as around 8b in debt is wiped out. Keep in mind, the provider hasn’t yet proven that to be the case, they will simply forecast the numbers. But, as an NBA owner recently said, fans have become savvy to VPN. The work around from paying potentially over $200 per month for Bally/ESPN/TNT/USA/ABC* (USA is a misnomer on my part. A very kind reader touched base with me. I also overlooked Hulu as a platform the games were on. Apologies for the mistake) plus paying for exclusive ESPN plus content is just insane. The numbers don’t reflect the overall trend in television spending and subs.
Long story short, I don’t think it’s enough. The MLB has built their service for next year. Subscribe directly to the league and stream off of their newly finished service (not a through broadcast, actually a provider). The NBA’s deal has at least 5 providers and each have exclusive content with TNT left in the cold and King Charles deciding if he wants to collect 10m for the next 7 years to do nothing. If he takes a new commentary job, that contract goes away.
For the NHL, last year complaints of “where are the games” started flowing in. If Bally lasts into the beginning of the season and then finally collapses, not good. Do your research. Find out about legal VPNs and subscriptions. Diamond/Bally have proven that they aren’t reliable by now. All of ESPN is set to go streaming in 2025. Broadcast options are simply disappearing. Keep doing your homework and touch base with some of the commenters who have figured it out. We should be able to watch the game without having to guess which network it’s on every couple of days.
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • 
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