Well darn- Hayden signed with Buffalo.

Regardless of term, Saad wasn't going to matter here and people would be whining why we didn't spend more. $4.5 on Saad, $9 on Hamilton, more on someone else, this s--- adds up quick dude.




This remains to be seen. Undoubtedly, he'll be worth it the first 3 years of this deal, after that it's a crap shoot. Very few d-men over 30 are productive and Hamilton's game is more about size than skill. Skill ages well, size doesn't.
- jtylerm

the hell are you talking about? Dougie hardly makes use of his size. His entire game is in his head and his hands.

Blues still need to move Tarasenko sooner than later. Not sure Tatar will be worth it because I get the sense teams are giving term to offset cap size this offseason and I don't want to commit to 5+ years.

the hell are you talking about? Dougie hardly makes use of his size. His entire game is in his head and his hands.
- BINGO!

He’s the Phil Kessel of D

Doesn’t like to take many checks.

I wish the Leafs had traded Nylander for him when Calgary traded him.

the hell are you talking about? Dougie hardly makes use of his size. His entire game is in his head and his hands.
- BINGO!

That's what she said











Sorry.

Tatar is a better player than Saad lol, i would love to add him. I want either one of Tatar or Tarasenko way more than i wanted Saad. But after those 2 are gone Fitz would need to dig down deep a pull out a trade that nobody sees coming
- vlongo4419

Eh not by much. Plus he’ll be 31 in December. This smells of Cammalleri to me, except Tatar is really more of just a 20g,30a guy. I don’t want any more than 3 years for him.
Tarasenko really was bad last season. Idk all the details with the injury with last year, and if after the offseason he can come back and be closer to the player he was, be a 30/30 guy rather than 15/25

Eh not by much. Plus he’ll be 31 in December. This smells of Cammalleri to me, except Tatar is really more of just a 20g,30a guy. I don’t want any more than 3 years for him.
- MartysBetter88

Well yeah i only want him for 3 years too, and it was the same thing for Saad. I would've taken either guy at 3 years but i absolutely prefer Tatar. They're both offense-driving 2nd liners but Tatar is a better overall offensive producer and he isnt completely lost defensively like Saad is. Tatar is superior in transition as well.

I still prefer Tarasenko over every single UFA forward though, so im hoping thats the end result

the hell are you talking about? Dougie hardly makes use of his size. His entire game is in his head and his hands.
- BINGO!

That must be why Carolina has $15m in cap space with only Svech needing a bridge deal, gave away Bean and still didn't resign Hamilton? They knew there's a decent chance he's not going to be worth it after 3-4 years. I'm glad we have him....for now.

That must be why Carolina has $15m in cap space with only Svech needing a bridge deal, gave away Bean and still didn't resign Hamilton? They knew there's a decent chance he's not going to be worth it after 3-4 years. I'm glad we have him....for now.
- jtylerm

it's because Tom Dundon is cheap. And also because Svechnikov needs a new deal this year, Necas next year, and there's a flat salary cap.

That must be why Carolina has $15m in cap space with only Svech needing a bridge deal, gave away Bean and still didn't resign Hamilton? They knew there's a decent chance he's not going to be worth it after 3-4 years. I'm glad we have him....for now.
- jtylerm

Or you know, they didnt re-sign him because their owner is cheap?

Dougie media conference happening right now.

What a nice guy from the initial impressions. Wonder what the knock has been on him but I think his attitude will be great for this team.

Sorry Canes fans, you don't get Dougie re-signed because you didn't buy enough Whalers jerseys.

Dougie media conference happening right now.

What a nice guy from the initial impressions. Wonder what the knock has been on him but I think his attitude will be great for this team.
- Devils Advocate

Genuinely great dude.

personality wise the issue has been that he's maybe not the most outgoing individual sometimes, but he does a lot of private work with hospitals and young kids outside of the spotlight.

Dougie media conference happening right now.

What a nice guy from the initial impressions. Wonder what the knock has been on him but I think his attitude will be great for this team.
- Devils Advocate

Only thing I took was that he doesn’t seem overly thrilled or to have a very engaging personality. The guy appeared almost depressed.
But he’s also answering zoom questions where half of them are dumb anyway.

Only thing I took was that he doesn’t seem overly thrilled or to have a very engaging personality. The guy appeared almost depressed.
But he’s also answering zoom questions where half of them are dumb anyway.
- MartysBetter88

It does suck to have your first Media availability virtual.
He looks like he not rattled easily, seems very composed to counter balance the PK factor

He reminds me of Severson.

Some of you literally would complain that you had to pay taxes if you won the lottery. Stop whining about what you want and don't want. Enjoy what this team is doing and try and enjoy the youth instead of Debbie downing every single thing about this year and contracts and blah blah blah...sheesh

Let Lou make the dumb a-- Lou type signings of Tarasenko and Parise, neither are going to be helpful. Short of somehow adding Kucherov and Draisaitl to this group, we were never going to be a playoff team this year. Hamilton doesn't change that and neither will adding another top 6 scorer. This team NEEDS time to develop before we go blowing all our cap space on FAs.

If anyone had hopes of seeing NJ in the playoffs, go ahead and get over that now, it's not happening. We'll be a really fun team to watch and in around 2 years we'll definitely be a contender, but this year NJ will 1000% be golfing during the playoffs.
- jtylerm

Making the playoffs is extremely unlikely but, instilling a losing culture in our youthful players is a genuine concern. Is a Saad or any other patch player gonna make us contenders, of course not. Will it provide added scoring support and keep the team in more games, absolutely. These are proud young players and getting their teeth kicked in night in and night out has a lasting impact. We need NHL-caliber wingers. Last year we were icing a team that would struggle in the AHL much less the NHL.

Italian Alert: We signed Joe Gambardella and Robbie Russo to AHL deals.

Some of you literally would complain that you had to pay taxes if you won the lottery. Stop whining about what you want and don't want. Enjoy what this team is doing and try and enjoy the youth instead of Debbie downing every single thing about this year and contracts and blah blah blah...sheesh
- bigjersey3

Not sure who exactly you’re referring to. I think we’re all ecstatic about what we’ve done this offseason.

Making the playoffs is extremely unlikely but, instilling a losing culture in our youthful players is a genuine concern. Is a Saad or any other patch player gonna make us contenders, of course not. Will it provide added scoring support and keep the team in more games, absolutely. These are proud young players and getting their teeth kicked in night in and night out has a lasting impact. We need NHL-caliber wingers. Last year we were icing a team that would struggle in the AHL much less the NHL.
- WayneZ

I wish you posted more often

Italian Alert: We signed Joe Gambardella and Robbie Russo to AHL deals.
- Pomegrant

This was the deal that put us over the top. GOBBAGOOOO!!!!!

Some of you literally would complain that you had to pay taxes if you won the lottery. Stop whining about what you want and don't want. Enjoy what this team is doing and try and enjoy the youth instead of Debbie downing every single thing about this year and contracts and blah blah blah...sheesh
- bigjersey3

So far I think you guys have had the best offseason out of any team. Smart moves with huge upside with justifiable risk.

Only thing I took was that he doesn’t seem overly thrilled or to have a very engaging personality. The guy appeared almost depressed.
But he’s also answering zoom questions where half of them are dumb anyway.
- MartysBetter88

Seriously, the media has to come up with better questions for these guys.

Most questions require boiler plate answers. Make the guy "think" before he answers.

Not surprising that Fitz said he is trying to find a top 6 forward but is difficult

Alright I’m coming back down to earth with this team. Tremendous moves with Graves, Hamilton and Bernier.
We expect the kids to continue to develop- they should, being many are entering their 2nd and 3rd seasons.
However, for any of these adds to matter.. we need all these question marks to be answered with at least a B letter grade, if that makes sense.
Hughes, the franchise center, SHOULD take another step forward in his 3rd season. If he plays like he did last year, it’s not good enough.
Hischier, the 7.25 franchise center, SHOULD take another step forward being 22 years old, being fully recovered from injury. If he plays like he did 2 years ago, it’s not good enough.
If Sharangovich, Kuokkanen, Bratt, and Zacha look exactly like they did last year.. it’s not good enough.
Smith is the only kid that I’m okay with repeating last season, cuz he was good enough to stay in the top 6, and I think D takes longer than F to progress.

Basically our future is based on a hope, and reasonable expectation, but still a hope that all these kids take another step forward. Nico and Jack are obviously paramount in the success of our future.
They should all continue to develop. The off-season adds are crucial and make sense to the progression of this team over the next several years.. but it does all hinge on those .. I’d say 4 key kids (Nico, Jack, Shara, Bratt) continuing to progress. Then we have in a year or 2 the again, hopes that Foote, Holtz, Mercer and Luke show they can NHL and then take steps forward.

This offseason is a massive win, but the future is still a huge question mark and something I still am cautiously optimistic about, rather than supremely confident.