Speculation: Most interesting off season teams to watch.

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

I know that we are still 3 months away from the off season but I can't help but look forward a little bit because I'm intrigued by what several teams are going to do.

Not just my own either, although I do think Treliving will truly put his stamp on this team because he's not going to be coming in 5 weeks before the draft this time.

But the Blues too, if they miss the playoffs is Parayko really available? and what about Binnington? Hofer has played very well, has he done enough to make the Blues think about moving on from Binner is it rebuild time in St Louis?

What about Columbus? Merzlinks wants out, we know that he's said it but I also wonder about Laine, and Provrov.

What does Pittsburgh do? do they start looking towards the future? I don't think so, I don't think they can, I mean, I think they are going to trade Reilly Smith, but beyond that I don't think they can afford to focus on the future because last I checked they were in the bottom 10 of the league meaning they keep their 2024 1st round pick but lose their 2025, they can't afford to suck in 2025 so I think they go for it again because they have to but I'm not sure It's going to work.

Ottawa is another one what do they do with Chcyrun and Norris?

What does Carolina do if Pesce walks?

Does Winnipeg keep Monahan and Toffoli? I think they should.

The goalie Market is arguably overflowing

Ullmark
Gibson
Markstrom
Saros
Merzlinks
Binnington?
Jarry?
Vejmelka?
Kempeur?

Teams like

Colorado,
La,

Toronto because Toronto only has 1 goalie under contract next year so they have to bring in at least one goalie,

NJ Although they made a move already, although I find it hard to believe Jake Allen is truly their guy.

I think there are A LOT of interesting teams to watch over the next few months what happens with Stamkos?

Who are you keeping an eye on?

Click to read more...

 

[Chainshot]

I'm most curious at what happens with the goaltending musical chairs. Who goes where, when and then what happens to an incumbent. Or what team gets frozen out.

Beyond that, I'm interested to see what teams with playoff aspirations do if they flounder early in the playoffs. What happens if a team trying to go for it gets bounced in round 1? Are there core personnel changes? Does someone lose their job over it? Is it the GM, the coach, staff, etc...?

 

[HabzSauce]

Habs are another team to watch. I don't expect any big UFA signings but we have a boatload of defenceman that we will have to make some decisions on this summer. Could make for some fun trades

 

[Jerzey Devil]

NJ is publicly searching for a starting goalie. They’ll also probably be looking for top 4 LHD.

What will make them interesting to watch is the players they’ll have to give up. NJ fans are pretty stingy with our assets. To be fair we sucked for 10 years to collect all of those assets. But fans of other teams think we should be giving up more than we want so someone is going to be upset.

 

[Mrfenn92]

Lots of interesting teams. Carolina for me though. The amount of good free agents they have will be interesting to see them approach it.

 

[Bijelo]

What does Pittsburgh do?

Pittsburgh writes a new contract with Jarry.

$9M contract.

10 years deal.

 

[Jacob582]

I nominate Buffalo for most boring off season.

 

[Chainshot]

Lots of interesting teams. Carolina for me though. The amount of good free agents they have will be interesting to see them approach it.

I'm curious if they will have much UFA discount pricing - like does Turbo stay for a bit less than perceived market value, or maybe Pesce just to keep running it back since they are such a good team?

 

[Xoggz22]

Pittsburgh will stay in a position of mediocrity this offseason with continued decline. They have an aging roster, awful prospect pool and a long road ahead of them to get back to relevence after years of dominating. Of course that only means they end up with the 10th pick going into the lottery and win 1OA. That is if it isn't Chicago again.

But seriously, I am interested to see what their off season looks like. I would add the Capitals to that as well. They appear in line for a re-build and having those two powers on the downslide with long rebuilds (likely) makes for an interesting Metro.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

NJ is publicly searching for a starting goalie. They’ll also probably be looking for top 4 LHD.

What will make them interesting to watch is the players they’ll have to give up. NJ fans are pretty stingy with our assets. To be fair we sucked for 10 years to collect all of those assets. But fans of other teams think we should be giving up more than we want so someone is going to be upset.

Yeah I figured they would still be looking for a #1 which is what makes the Jake Allen trade somewhat odd.

 

[Jerzey Devil]

Yeah I figured they would still be looking for a #1 which is what makes the Jake Allen trade somewhat odd.

He’s only played two games so small sample size but he’s the best goalie we’ve had all year.

Fitz said the plan is to go “big game hunting” for a starting goalie in the offseason making a 1a/1b situation next season.

I think he’ll go hard for Saros. We’ll see how the Preds do in the playoffs and how much they’re asking. I think a Markstrom trade is still possible but probably as a last resort. Having two 34 year old goalies means we’ll looking for another new goalie in 2 years.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Pittsburgh will stay in a position of mediocrity this offseason with continued decline. They have an aging roster, awful prospect pool and a long road ahead of them to get back to relevence after years of dominating. Of course that only means they end up with the 10th pick going into the lottery and win 1OA. That is if it isn't Chicago again.

But seriously, I am interested to see what their off season looks like. I would add the Capitals to that as well. They appear in line for a re-build and having those two powers on the downslide with long rebuilds (likely) makes for an interesting Metro.

Yeah I almost added Kempeur to the list for that very reason because regardless of if they make it this year or not Washington is going into a rebuild very quickly

 

[Bijelo]

Ovetjkin never exit Capitals.

 

[GAGLine]

Pittsburgh will stay in a position of mediocrity this offseason with continued decline. They have an aging roster, awful prospect pool and a long road ahead of them to get back to relevence after years of dominating. Of course that only means they end up with the 10th pick going into the lottery and win 1OA. That is if it isn't Chicago again.

But seriously, I am interested to see what their off season looks like. I would add the Capitals to that as well. They appear in line for a re-build and having those two powers on the downslide with long rebuilds (likely) makes for an interesting Metro.

I don't think Washington is rebuilding. They have injected some youth into the lineup this year and they are on the playoff bubble. They have depth in Hershey, who are the best team in the AHL. They have some good prospects in Cristall and Leonard.

And like Pittsburgh with Crosby, Washington isn't going to rebuild as long as Ovi is there and chasing the record. He has 2 years left on his contract. They have no significant UFAs and only 1 pending RFA of note. Assuming Backstrom remains on LTIR, they have plenty of cap space to add pieces.

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

Ottawa will be interesting with their likely shaking up the roster while likely overspending for vets in FA.

Zona? Do guys ask for trades if they are tired of losing/don’t want to move? If they move do they target a bigger name via trade / FA to hitch their marketing wagon to?

Carolina could potentially have a lot of roster turnover. Who stays and who goes?

Florida is going to have a decent amount of turnover too. How do they set themselves up for 24-25 and prepare for the next offensive where the team will really start to look different?

Calgary? If Markstrom is moved do a couple of the other veterans want out too so they don’t have to ride the “r word” train.

Overall FA will be interesting because teams will get silly again with depth guys’ contracts because the cap is supposed to jump so much in the next 2 offseasons. Who will be the next one to get the WTF contract?

 

[Silky mitts]

If Pittsburgh finishes with the 10th pick and keeps it, I’m interested if they make more moves to win now

 

[BonMorrison]

If Toronto has a first round exit, I am curious to see what they do with the core. They also have a ton of cap space despite what people think of their cap situation.

 

[TS Quint]

NJ is publicly searching for a starting goalie. They’ll also probably be looking for top 4 LHD.

What will make them interesting to watch is the players they’ll have to give up. NJ fans are pretty stingy with our assets. To be fair we sucked for 10 years to collect all of those assets. But fans of other teams think we should be giving up more than we want so someone is going to be upset.

If the Devils don’t want to give up assets they should get the best UFA goaltender, Laurent Brossoit.

 

[Jerzey Devil]

If the Devils don’t want to give up assets they should get the best UFA goaltender, Laurent Brossoit.

I can’t speak for all Devils fans but at this point I’d say we’re going to have to get comfortable losing something we like.

Thing is that 2024 1st round pick is getting more and more valuable. Devils have good lottery luck. If they end up winning the lottery that could hamper things.

 

[wintersej]

Bruins will have about about $13m to spend (with a full roster minus the two holes mentioned below) before trading Ullmark (or Swayman!)

With a hole next to Charlie McAvoy on the first pairing and a hole next to Pastrnak and Zacha on the first line.

I suspect they fill one hole with UFA and one hole via trade. And the trade might be a doozy.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

If Toronto has a first round exit, I am curious to see what they do with the core. They also have a ton of cap space despite what people think of their cap situation.

I don't think much happens with the core, Matthews got signed, I see no reason why Marner wouldn't be.

I think the defense gets completely overhauled, be it Pesce, Parayko, Tanev, Zadorov, Montour, Conor Murphy, somebody else.

Regardless I expect BIG changes to the defense.

I also wonder who they target in net, because like I said they have 1 goalie under contract and he's got injury issues they HAVE to bring in at least 1 goalie.

I'm curious as to what happens with Domi and Bertuzzi as well as guys like Kampf and Jarnkrok because Treliving didn't bring in Kampf or Jarnkrok.

I think Toronto is where Reilly Smith ends up, either Toronto or Back in Vegas.

One thing you are right about they have A LOT of cap room and I think big chances are coming.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Probably Carolina 1st as they have so many ufas and rfas

Ottawa will need to shake things up.

Depending on how Toronto does this might be where they trade a core 4 and by trade a core 4, I mean Marner.

Detroit maybe.

Buffalo if they decide to trade futures for an established player, or two who are actually good to further get the team along.

Pittsburgh basically what they do with Crosby.

Caps if they try to regroup and get some fresh talent back, or if they just tell Ovy they're going to suck and to just cheat even more for goals.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Probably Carolina 1st as they have so many ufas and rfas

Ottawa will need to shake things up.

Depending on how Toronto does this might be where they trade a core 4 and by trade a core 4, I mean Marner.

Detroit maybe.

Buffalo if they decide to trade futures for an established player, or two who are actually good to further get the team along.

Pittsburgh basically what they do with Crosby.

Caps if they try to regroup and get some fresh talent back, or if they just tell Ovy they're going to suck and to just cheat even more for goals.

I don't think Marner is getting traded, I think if they were going to shake up the core it would have been done by now, Kyle Dubas got fired the second he even THOUGHT about shaking up the core.

What I think happens if go out early again.

Keefe gets fired

Mike Sullivan gets hired after he's fired from Pittsburgh.

Keefe gets hired by Pittsburgh.

Leafs completely overhaul the defense

bring in a more established goalie because as talented as Woll is he's injury prone.

Marner gets signed.

One of Domi or Bertuzzi are kept, Reilly Smith replaces the other.

Big changes are coming but not core changes.

 

[TGWL]

New Jersey
New York Islanders
Pittsburgh

I don't say this because all 3 are rivals for NYR. I say this because those 3 teams have big decisions to make. My opinions will change as we see what happens in the playoffs to some teams. A 1st round exit can change a lot.

Devils - are going to enter the goalie market. They have to. They may even entertain a defensemen as well. I don't think they call this a throw away season. I think they actively go hard and making sure they're in a much better shape next season.

NYI - They didn't do anything at the deadline. Some changes need to be made going into the offseason. Do they buy out anybody? Do they start a retool? I'm sure their fans are getting impatient here. They have too many players they want to punt to the moon. The organization needs to do something and not just stay loyal to everybody. For the last 10 years they have been teasing their fanbase with some hope and then taking away that hope. I think their fans are starting to turn on their decisions.

Penguins - Probably the hardest decision to make out of all the teams going into the offseason. "What are we doing next season?" How do you look Letang, Malkin, Karlsson, and Crosby in the eyes and say - we are selling off everything? Do you try and keep this group together and make a retool run, or do you just stack the future now? If I were in that position 'm starting the rebuild immediately.

 

[bobholly39]

It's so hard to answer this question before playoffs.

Last poster mentionned Devils, NYI and Pittsburgh. My response to that is - it's technically possible for either of those 3 teams to make the playoffs this year still, and therefore, to win the cup. How different does the off-season look for them as a cup winner vs as a team who misses playoffs?

Toronto is a big one too. Is Toronto entering the off-season with yet another first round exit, or off a cup win? Night and day difference.