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NHL Offseason Thread

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SteelerFan448

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Business is about to pick up in the NHL...

Philadelphia Flyers ‏@NHLFlyers 4m
BREAKING: The #Flyers have acquired R.J. Umberger in exchange for Scott Hartnell. Details → http://nhlflye.rs/1l3PVsY
 
Odd they would let Hartnell go. When I think of the Phlyers, he is the ******* that comes to mind.
 
They have young guys to sign

The Philadelphia Flyers agreed to terms on a two-year, $5 million extension with restricted free agent forward Brayden Schenn on Monday.
 
CANUCKS ANNOUNCE HIRING OF DESJARDINS AS NEW HEAD COACH

"Sidney Crosby's a heck of a hockey player obviously, but for me, when I looked at what was here — I looked at the two guys who are leading this (Benning and Linden), I looked at the quality of the players ... Canadian market, Vancouver fans — it was the right choice to come here."

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=455503
 
Ryan Kessler wants to play for the Hawks or Pens this season. I wonder what it will really take to land him.
 
Hartnell had a **** contract and the Flyers flipped him for a player Columbus was about to buy-out...meh.
 
Pittsburgh Penguins @penguins · 23m
BREAKING: #Pens acquire Patric Hornqvist & Nick Spaling from @PredsNHL in exchange for James Neal.
 
SteelerFan448 said:
Pittsburgh Penguins @penguins · 23m
BREAKING: #Pens acquire Patric Hornqvist & Nick Spaling from @PredsNHL in exchange for James Neal.
Click to expand...

Wow. Doesn't sound like they put much into trying to keep him.
 
"We like Spalding, he can play all three positions on the third line," Rutherford said. "I think we were just trying to change the mix of our team a little bit and get a little different type player."
"In this deal, we got to drop our cap a little bit with Hornqvist," Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford said. "We like Hornqvist as an all-around player. Hornqvist plays at the net, goes to the net, works the corners. We like his all-around play."
He makes half of what Neal does.
From ESPN
 
Not a fan of the Neal trade... even if they had to move him for locker room issues, they dumped a 40 goal scorer for a 30 goal scorer who is smaller, older, slower, and who has a pretty average shot who saves them less than a million in cap space and a third line meh player... not a great return for a bonafide star
 
Pens fans wanted changes. Now that the Pens are making them, people don't like it. I think it was a good trade. Adds grit that we need and some skill to boot. I think Neal was kinda over rated. Great regular season guy, but disappeared for long stretches, was normally invisible without Geno and he took some really stupid penalties. I am not disappointed at all.
 
yeah, gonna miss Neal skating around like he had one to many quaaludes or taking stupid penalties in the O-fensive zone on power plays.

hope Geno don't miss his boyfriend tooooo much.
 
Sarge said:
Pens fans wanted changes. Now that the Pens are making them, people don't like it. I think it was a good trade. Adds grit that we need and some skill to boot. I think Neal was kinda over rated. Great regular season guy, but disappeared for long stretches, was normally invisible without Geno and he took some really stupid penalties. I am not disappointed at all.
Click to expand...

I don't doubt Hornqvist is the kind of guy who gets in front of the net or that the pens didn't need another guy like that, but he is just another guy in that role... he isn't big, only 5'11 186lbs... he doesn't have a great shot... his shooting percentage is below average... yes he has some grit, but you don't trade elite talent, which Neal was, for this kind of guy especially when there were better overall offers on the table supposedly... there was a bidding war for him and we settled for one player because he fit a mold. The pens and for that matter hockey front offices in general have always been horrid at asset management... if you are going to settle on a lowball offer because you fell in love with a particular guy ( a Rutherford specialty) you at least get them to eat cap space or throw in low round picks
 
and the other point was that Bylsma was horribly mismanaging the talent on that team... they really should have let them go into the season without the big major overhauls and seen what the new coach could get out of them... when Neal wasn't leeching off of malkin he displayed amazing skills. surrendering that for nothing more than a smaller version of Kunitz is a mistake
 
both seem like decent return for Neal. Could have been a better deal for a 40 goal scorer, but to get two players back to fill needs is not the worst that could happen. I'd like to see what they can do before making a judgment on them. Neal was rather invisible in the PO. If a change is needed on the ice and in the lockerroom, then that's what we got.
 
It is obvious to me that the Pens problem was their roster "mix" ....

The roster is great for securing Presidents Cups....but they wore "too much make-up" to acquire the Cup of choice...

Good move....
 
I think that without Geno, Neal is average at best. Not the best return we could have gotten, but this team doesn't lack scoring depth. It lacks grit, toughness, and a net front presence. Rutherford brought in the first two pieces of what the Pens need. I doubt Rutherford wanted to trade Neal, but of the stars on the team, I think he was deemed most expedable.
 
Neal was very streaky anyway. Had to change something.

Big question is, who's next?
 
Hornqvist is supposed to be a guy that does the dirty work. He had comparable stats to Neal prior to him coming over from Dallas and the two weren't very far off last season. A lot has been made of him being a "playoff player" but his playoff stats have not been good at all. I'd assume that we'll see a bump in production when Hornqvist arrives in Pittsburgh.

It is not a terrible trade, but when you are giving up the better player in the deal, you hope to get more than an older, less productive winger and a RFA who seems to be overrated in his ability on the PK. I expected much better for Neal. At least an early draft pick added to the equation would have been better.
 
Also, I am seeing stories that Neal was a divisive presence in the locker room. If that is the case, maybe trading him makes a little more sense.
 
Sarge said:
Also, I am seeing stories that Neal was a divisive presence in the locker room. If that is the case, maybe trading him makes a little more sense.
Click to expand...

Have you seen any specifics because now all of these reporters/bloggers are saying what a terrible person Neal is, yet you heard none of that until recently. The closest I've gotten is that the guys actually liked him, but he wasn't a hard worker and it was rubbing off on the younger players.
 
Nah, most articles I have read said that he was a "divisive presence" and general nonsense like that. NOTHING from the Pittsburgh media. Maybe people are reaching for a reason that the Pens would trade him. I don't know.
 
In essence, Neal is the scapegoat. But really, they hadn't much choice. Who else was going to get traded? Certainly wasn't going to be Crosby or Malkin. They screwed themselves with that horrible Letang deal and then his health issue made dealing him even more impossible than it already was. Outside of MAF, who else would have given them a decent return? Kunitz, Dupuis, Orpik and Scuds are old and busted and they didn't want to part with what young talent they do have. Neal was essentially the only option.
 
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