Jeremy Laura: Bettman’s Red Balloons and a return to Yzerman’s “Brome-Mande”

Just a hint...Yzerman was hoping to see how Tampa fared in the playoffs. If they had another early exit, then Cooper gets fired, and he instantly becomes the Wings coach. Gallant getting hired while waiting for Cooper was a risk Yzerman was willing to take. It's possible that Yzerman is so sure on Cooper that he endures another year of Blashill.

Just a hint...Yzerman was hoping to see how Tampa fared in the playoffs. If they had another early exit, then Cooper gets fired, and he instantly becomes the Wings coach. Gallant getting hired while waiting for Cooper was a risk Yzerman was willing to take. It's possible that Yzerman is so sure on Cooper that he endures another year of Blashill.

Don't you think that maybe Stevie's bromance with Coop may have soured a bit when he could not coach the league's best team to even one victory against the Columbus freaking Blue Jackets??? That had to be the worst play-off choke job since........the 1995 SCF (gasp)

Don't you think that maybe Stevie's bromance with Coop may have soured a bit when he could not coach the league's best team to even one victory against the Columbus freaking Blue Jackets??? That had to be the worst play-off choke job since........the 1995 SCF (gasp)
- HenryHockey

Nope. He's still 100% confident in Cooper. This is the main reason why he hasn't been more aggressive with Gallant or other available coaches. Just waiting to see if he'll become available. Trust me on this one.

Don't you think that maybe Stevie's bromance with Coop may have soured a bit when he could not coach the league's best team to even one victory against the Columbus freaking Blue Jackets??? That had to be the worst play-off choke job since........the 1995 SCF (gasp)
- HenryHockey

I don’t think it soured, Stevie knew the team lacked grit. That’s why Stevie had to leave, he pushed for more trades to get a well balanced team (with grit) and the rest of the front office disagreed. Ownership appears to have all the faith in him and has handed over the keys to the shop.

(FYI I didn’t realize before writing this that Calgary is espected to select 16th overall)

If hypothetically we were to use today’s standings and Calgary were to select 16th and go on to win the cup I don’t think people would start considering them a better team than Boston, St. Louis, Washington and so on. It’s definitely not ideal but it’s not like it’s a terrible thing for the top teams in the league being robbed of getting even better.

As far as the trades go, sure announcing them causes excitement for the fans but will that really matter when the draft will likely be done virtually no matter when it’s done (probably will be the same as NFL). Last year the only trade made during the first round was Arizona moving up which under current league rules is still allowed as teams can still trade players after the deadline, they’re just considered ineligible to play in the playoffs if aquired.

Teams don’t need a draft to make trades, any player transactions will likely still happen during the official offseason whenever that is.

So I would say the draft can be done before the end of the year, should it be done is extremely debatable. We’ve already seen the extra revenue & attention the NFL draft has created being the only sport related thing going on in the world right now. In my opinion I think the date for ours will be pushed back until July/august at which point we’ll know wether they decide to continue the year or not. As you said it’s just a floated idea that likely won’t happen

Also even with re-couping the financial losses I don’t think it’s a guarantee all the players return even if both the league/PA give the go ahead. It’s the same issue with not just the league but every workplace opening back up, you’ll have guys that will have no problem going back and then you’ll have the guys that were germaphobes before this genuinely terrified about going back. It’s the right to refuse unsafe work and if Larkin were to say he’s not going back for that reason he would be justified in doing so