Around the NHL 2023-2024

[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

 

[TheDizee]

 

[BlueDream]

Finally.

I love the city of Phoenix, it’s good for a lot of things, but it’s about time this circus is over. That whole situation was a joke that couldn’t continue there any longer.

 

[Memento]

My sister lives in Salt Lake. I'm glad she's getting a team other than the Jazz, but I think she's always going to be a Blues fan.

 

[Fez Whatley]

If new ownership cuts ties with BA & Co I hope the blues snatch him up quickly to be army's successor.

 

[MissouriMook]

If new ownership cuts ties with BA & Co I hope the blues snatch him up quickly to be army's successor.

That seems to be a possibility as BArmy was brought into Arizona in part based on his knowledge of young players because that’s how they wanted to build. If the new ownership in SLC wants to be the next Vegas and prioritize winning sooner, they might want a GM with more of a wheeling and dealing background to get there sooner. Not saying that BArmy couldn’t do that or that we would be eager to bring him back if he’s available, but it is certainly a possibility.

 

[542365]

Feel bad for Yotes fans. The Rams leaving basically nuked all of my interest in football. I could name like 25 NFL players right now at most and only watch the Superbowl when I used to be pretty dialed in. I think Salt Lake is a good destination though. Hopefully they're successful and rally behind the team. That team could be pretty good in the coming years.

 

[PocketNines]

I think they're moving to get away from that guy and his Chychrun threads

 

[TheOrganist]

One of the dumber sports decisions of the last 20 yrs was the Coyotes moving to Glendale…playing 41 home games an hour away from their core fanbase. The Coyotes were extremely popular during the Roenick/Tocchet early days when they played in the heart of Phoenix. Too bad.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Going into April 13, 6 days left in the season, and not only do we not know any of the playoff pairings yet, not one playoff seed is set.

 

[LetsGoBooze]

If new ownership cuts ties with BA & Co I hope the blues snatch him up quickly to be army's successor.

100

 

[Ted Hoffman]

The more I watch things disintegrate in Arizona, the more I think "if the Blues hadn't been tied to the arena, this could all have happened in the final days of the Bill Laurie Rain of Terror, too."

 

[mk80]

The more I watch things disintegrate in Arizona, the more I think "if the Blues hadn't been tied to the arena, this could all have happened in the final days of the Bill Laurie Rain of Terror, too."

A moment of appreciation for Tom Stillman is definitely due in the midst of all this Coyotes fallout.

 

[STL fan in MN]

One of the dumber sports decisions of the last 20 yrs was the Coyotes moving to Glendale…playing 41 home games an hour away from their core fanbase. The Coyotes were extremely popular during the Roenick/Tocchet early days when they played in the heart of Phoenix. Too bad.

Yep.

There’s nothing wrong with Phoenix as a market. But that original error is what did them in and they never recovered. Every owner after was saddled with that disadvantage and the team eventually poisoned the well.

Oddly enough, I saw Bill Armstrong tonight. He was at the Frozen Four championship game here in MN. Good game btw.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Yep.

There’s nothing wrong with Phoenix as a market. But that original error is what did them in and they never recovered. Every owner after was saddled with that disadvantage and the team eventually poisoned the well.

Oddly enough, I saw Bill Armstrong tonight. He was at the Frozen Four championship game here in MN. Good game btw.

If the current owner had been a respected local business partner, I would be shocked if they couldn’t have made one of the earlier sites work. But people viewed him as a scum bag. He wasn’t responsible for the earlier mistakes, but he was the wrong person to be at the helm trying to rectify the situation.

My expectation is that there will be a new franchise in Phoenix in the not too distant future, with a nice giant expansion fee for the other owners to enjoy. Maybe Houston happens first, but the Phoenix market could succeed with some completely attainable details in place.

 

[MissouriMook]

I expect Colorado is going to be hot to make a deal for a guy like Gibson after the Jets knock them out in the first round. Their goaltending situation is…Woof

 

[Drubilly]

I expect Colorado is going to be hot to make a deal for a guy like Gibson after the Jets knock them out in the first round. Their goaltending situation is…Woof

I found myself rooting for Vegas against Colorado this afternoon. It was hard choking down vomit but I did it. To be honest my inner Dizzee was shit talking Georgiev for all of the Knights goals.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

Colorado is a serious threat to be one and done in this year's playoffs. The Jets have the horses to limit the success of their top players and Hellebuyck has been lights out this season.

I also don't think Vegas is primed to go very far this season.

It'll be interesting to see what the first round matches end up being.

 

[542365]

The Jets just always seem to underperform in the playoffs. I think the Avs are going to take them to task.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

I agree with others, Colorado is a 1-and-done candidate. But I also have a tough time buying the Jets being a Cup contender, because ... well, because they've been in that discussion before and always managed to screw it up.

Dallas - could be a candidate to come out of the West, but Peter Deboer is the head coach. I feel like he'll find a way to f*** it up.

Vancouver - might have its shit together for a run. Also might not. They will go as far as Demko is healthy, and beyond that it's whatever their 2nd line does or doesn't do.

Edmonton - not totally reliant upon McDavid and Draisaitl like in past years, but if McDavid isn't 100% that hurts. Stuart Skinner is a playoff wild card, we'll see if he's up to the pressure.

Los Angeles - ... no.

Vegas - valiant effort to repeat, but ... no.

My pick out of the West: Nashville. Which, like Dallas, feels gross because I don't think John Hynes is a particularly good coach, but look at what the Predators have done and it feels vaguely 2019ish.

Regardless of who comes out of the West, I like whoever comes out of the East to win the Cup. That's going to become a war after the 1st round, whoever gets out will have been battle-tested and the West's candidate will be easier by comparison.

 

[Brian39]

I genuinely have no idea what to expect from Vegas in the playoffs. They have so many question marks.

Will Petro be playing (and if so reasonably healthy) in game 1?

Who is starting in goal for game 1?

Is Mark Stone playing (and if so reasonably healthy) in game 1?

Will Hertl have the rust shaken off?

If the answers to those questions are all favorable to Vegas and the goalie in net plays at the top of his game, then they are as good as anyone in the West. If the answers are all unfavorable and the goalie plays like he/they have been recently, then they will be a quick exit.

 

[mk80]

I agree with others, Colorado is a 1-and-done candidate. But I also have a tough time buying the Jets being a Cup contender, because ... well, because they've been in that discussion before and always managed to screw it up.

Dallas - could be a candidate to come out of the West, but Peter Deboer is the head coach. I feel like he'll find a way to f*** it up.

Vancouver - might have its shit together for a run. Also might not. They will go as far as Demko is healthy, and beyond that it's whatever their 2nd line does or doesn't do.

Edmonton - not totally reliant upon McDavid and Draisaitl like in past years, but if McDavid isn't 100% that hurts. Stuart Skinner is a playoff wild card, we'll see if he's up to the pressure.

Los Angeles - ... no.

Vegas - valiant effort to repeat, but ... no.

My pick out of the West: Nashville. Which, like Dallas, feels gross because I don't think John Hynes is a particularly good coach, but look at what the Predators have done and it feels vaguely 2019ish.

Regardless of who comes out of the West, I like whoever comes out of the East to win the Cup. That's going to become a war after the 1st round, whoever gets out will have been battle-tested and the West's candidate will be easier by comparison.

Hynes is not a good coach in my opinion either, but he was thankfully hired by Minnesota before we got into the coaching market Andrew Brunette is the bench boss in Nashville.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Hynes is not a good coach in my opinion either, but he was thankfully hired by Minnesota before we got into the coaching market Andrew Brunette is the bench boss in Nashville.

GDI, that's right. Now I might double down on Nashville to come out of the West.

 

[Brockon]

If the current owner had been a respected local business partner, I would be shocked if they couldn’t have made one of the earlier sites work. But people viewed him as a scum bag. He wasn’t responsible for the earlier mistakes, but he was the wrong person to be at the helm trying to rectify the situation.

My expectation is that there will be a new franchise in Phoenix in the not too distant future, with a nice giant expansion fee for the other owners to enjoy. Maybe Houston happens first, but the Phoenix market could succeed with some completely attainable details in place.

So THG speculates that with the way the Arizona to Utah move is rumoured to be happening (1B$ sale to the NHL, then NHL flipping team to Utah for 1.2-1.3B$), there's a clause stipulating that Meruelo (sp?) will have an option to purchase a new NHL expansion team for ~1.5B should there be an NHL caliber stadium ready in the next 5 years.

That sounds oddly specific to be plucking out of thin air, which lends some credibility to the rumour. I can see a window being offered for an expansion team, provided that the rink is done, as opposed to this weird limbo of having various plans get shot down over the past few years. There's no way a billionaire builds a rink without some form of guarantee from the league about an NHL team going his way either... So, pending the conclusion of the June land auction, these rumours will continue to swirl - and if Meruelo (sp?) makes the land purchase outside of Phoenix, it's a pretty safe bet that Arizona will be receiving an expansion franchise in another few years.

 

[BadgersandBlues]

So THG speculates that with the way the Arizona to Utah move is rumoured to be happening (1B$ sale to the NHL, then NHL flipping team to Utah for 1.2-1.3B$), there's a clause stipulating that Meruelo (sp?) will have an option to purchase a new NHL expansion team for ~1.5B should there be an NHL caliber stadium ready in the next 5 years.

That sounds oddly specific to be plucking out of thin air, which lends some credibility to the rumour. I can see a window being offered for an expansion team, provided that the rink is done, as opposed to this weird limbo of having various plans get shot down over the past few years. There's no way a billionaire builds a rink without some form of guarantee from the league about an NHL team going his way either... So, pending the conclusion of the June land auction, these rumours will continue to swirl - and if Meruelo (sp?) makes the land purchase outside of Phoenix, it's a pretty safe bet that Arizona will be receiving an expansion franchise in another few years.

This has actually been pretty widely reported. Basically, Arizona guy is selling to the league for 1B and the league is selling to Utah guy for 1.2B. Arizona guy gets to keep all the branding, trademarks, naming rights, etc of the Yotes for five years (But can't sell/transfer them in any way) and can basically "buy back" into the NHL within a five year window for 1B as long as he can build an actual stadium in that time. What happens to the naming and trademark rights after the five years if he can't build the stadium is still being negotiated from what I understand.

This is to save the league a large, protracted court battle with the current Arizona owner, who no one is happy with. The NHLPA is pissed since the players split revenue with the owners 50/50 and Arizona playing in a 5k capacity arena that even the Yotes players think is bogus is clearly an anchor to player salaries. The owners look terrible b/c the Arizona guy has been completely ineffective as an owner, supposedly not even paying regular bills such as hotels the Yotes use on the road and utilities in their prior arena, as well as having zero working relationships with any of the politicians in the Arizona area. (There's a story that hotels won't let the players check in unless the team pays them on the spot with cashiers checks.)

Utah guy is basically all sorts of connected into the legislature of his state, who have already approved a massive taxpayer funded stadium for both the soon to be Utah Yutes as well as a potential 2030 or 2034 Winter Olympic bid. From an ownership perspective, this is a massive win. You get a share of the 200M "relocation fee" Utah guy is paying. You get the Union off your back about the stadium issue. You get yet another tax payer funded stadium built for your organization. And you rid yourself of a totally worthless owner without having to go to court. The only downside is that you are somewhat rewarding bad behavior on the part of the Arizona guy, who's going to make a boatload of money on this sale. But it's Utah guy's money, not any of the owners, so they don't seem to worried about it.