GDT: Free Agency 2020, Part III - Hockey is back! Regular season to begin January 13th 2021

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

You complained that he took the most positive view of the Panthers and the most negative view of others, and then you counter by taking the most negative view of the Panthers and (almost) the most positive view of others.

And ironically I think they'll be bad but with 2 bottom 5 teams and a Nashville team that is really not good, there may be at least some reason to watch. I think CBJ would nab that 4 spot but again, their roster isn't great they just playtough and are well coached.

That's a relly pessimistic way to look at it.

Chicago, yikes. Nothing to look forward to, unless Lankinen goes on a Hamburglar run.

Detroit, zero chance they're better than us. Minor changes to last year, Greiss is the only clear improvement to Howard.

Nashville, they've been running still for a good 2-3 years now. Different coach, but the roster is virtually the same.

Pittsburgh, hasn't really been the same since 2017. Also Matheson takes like at least 6pts off their total.

Columbus, all I'm gonna say is that Torts has been there for 5 years now (longest tenure 6.5 years with TB) and when the players grow tired of him, it'll happen overnight and there's no return.

St. Louis, would the 2018-19 Jordan Binnington please stand up? They're vulnerable like any team without good goaltending.

TB, obviously beating the current SC champion is going to be tough.

I see two teams that we should absolutely beat every time, two teams that should give a fair fight, two teams that will be a challenge, and one team where even one win or AWGAP would be a success. No one said it was gonna be easy.

Pittsburgh is always there, also Matheson is a 3rd pairing guy there and they got rid of Johnson. They'll be fine. I agree on the rest though, Nashville has been trending down and they just don't look good. Getting major Southleast division vibes from this.

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

Of course everything is contingent on how they take the teams, if it's top 4 in each division things will be fun (makes it even worse how they aren't bringing in anyone else) but if say they combine the Central and the East and it's top 8, Florida will probably draft top 5

 

[Mogo]

Juho Lammikko and his KHL team have terminated his contract, He's a free agent again and we still own his rights

 

[SoupyFIN]

Juho Lammikko and his KHL team have terminated his contract, He's a free agent again and we still own his rights

Strange, then again strange is the norm in the KHL.

 

[Ratsreign]

Juho Lammikko and his KHL team have terminated his contract, He's a free agent again and we still own his rights

Wonder if he sees a chance to make the Panthers squad this season. Perhaps the Panthers told him he should get to the US so he would have any/all quarantine issues behind him before training camp starts (hopefully) sometime next month or early January.

 

[violaswallet]

Juho Lammikko and his KHL team have terminated his contract, He's a free agent again and we still own his rights

We have our third line center then...but then again he had 8 points in 22 games.

I could see him coming back with a new coach and GM though. Maybe we will play Acciari as a wing this season?

 

[sinDer]

Why are we talking about Lammikko?

At this point, I thought he was completely irrelevant. Did I miss something?

 

[violaswallet]

Why are we talking about Lammikko?

At this point, I thought he was completely irrelevant. Did I miss something?

Killed it in the Liiga last season; his coach at the WC essentially said Juho is an NHLer.

we probably would have signed him again if season started on time. KHL showing was not good

 

[Dread Clawz]

I think we will make the playoffs in this division, especially because I don't think Zito is done yet.

 

[RogerRoger]

I think we will make the playoffs in this division, especially because I don't think Zito is done yet.

If he's done, do you think we do make the playoffs?

 

[Dread Clawz]

If he's done, do you think we do make the playoffs?

I think it would be close. If he adds another forward, I think we're clearly one of the top 4 teams.

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

Need to wait on a playoff announcement, if they do top 16 teams or say top 8 from the East or Central Florida's f***ed, if it is top 4 from the division it'll be interesting at least.

They might even expand the playoffs again like this season to recoup revenue, we'll see... Bottom line is it's going to be hard to tank when you're in a division with 2 other teams openly tanking.

 

[Pigge]

Need to wait on a playoff announcement, if they do top 16 teams or say top 8 from the East or Central Florida's f***ed, if it is top 4 from the division it'll be interesting at least.

They might even expand the playoffs again like this season to recoup revenue, we'll see... Bottom line is it's going to be hard to tank when you're in a division with 2 other teams openly tanking.

The idea with these divisions would be that they are supposed to mostly/only play teams within the division, right? If that is the case, it would be odd to do anything other than top 4 from each division. If only Seattle was already in the league, they could do top 8 from each division and everybody would be happy.

 

[MintyFresh88]

Juho was never an offensive guy...his point totals so far this season don’t bother me. I think he’s a useful depth guy to have in our bottom 6 and can PK. He fits the Zito/Q mold. Kind of like a Marcus Kruger type guy that Q had in Chicago.

 

[Prominence Problem]

Although it is hard to forget Lammikko had 5 assists in one NHL game.

 

[Dread Clawz]

Need to wait on a playoff announcement, if they do top 16 teams or say top 8 from the East or Central Florida's f***ed, if it is top 4 from the division it'll be interesting at least.

They might even expand the playoffs again like this season to recoup revenue, we'll see... Bottom line is it's going to be hard to tank when you're in a division with 2 other teams openly tanking.

I don't see why they wouldn't make it the top 4 teams from each division. Especially if all games are to be intradivisional. There is no East this season, it's gonna be spread out amongst 3 divisions.

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

PP will be different but potentially interesting: Hornqvist moves Barkov from upfront which is a major win for us. Horny>Barky in that position and Barky>Dady.
Big question is who takes the right slot: Tippett, Saarela and Ek are most likely...

Brought convo over here as it will shift towards NHL and not prospects so much.

We have options which is good. Id like to see Ekblad used first. We haven't had a blue line threat for a while since Garrison imo.

1st unit: 3F, 2D.

Huberdeau, Barkov, Horny, Ekblad, Yandle.
Little more passing but with Eks shot at blueline/creeping into slot/faceoff dot. Huberdeau and Barkov can score consistent enough on PP. Horny will score 5-6 out front. Yandle scores a couple a year and still has the passing ability.

2nd unit: 4F, 1D

Saarela, Vatrano, Accairi, Weegar, Tippett. Pure shooters. One pass and shoot. Chaos
If one of these guys get hot then bump them up. Adjust accordingly.

 

[Mogo]

Although it is hard to forget Lammikko had 5 assists in one NHL game.

4

 

[Prominence Problem]

4

My bad!

 

[violaswallet]

Brought convo over here as it will shift towards NHL and not prospects so much.

We have options which is good. Id like to see Ekblad used first. We haven't had a blue line threat for a while since Garrison imo.

1st unit: 3F, 2D.

Huberdeau, Barkov, Horny, Ekblad, Yandle.
Little more passing but with Eks shot at blueline/creeping into slot/faceoff dot. Huberdeau and Barkov can score consistent enough on PP. Horny will score 5-6 out front. Yandle scores a couple a year and still has the passing ability.

2nd unit: 4F, 1D

Saarela, Vatrano, Accairi, Weegar, Tippett. Pure shooters. One pass and shoot. Chaos
If one of these guys get hot then bump them up. Adjust accordingly.

I agree: it makes sense to put Ekblad up top although I’m a bit worried his shot isn’t precise enough...I don’t have much insight here sadly.

Connolly will certainly be on the 2PP: he has good offense and he seemed to do well....I think Tippett could be deadly there tbh

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

The idea with these divisions would be that they are supposed to mostly/only play teams within the division, right? If that is the case, it would be odd to do anything other than top 4 from each division. If only Seattle was already in the league, they could do top 8 from each division and everybody would be happy.

I thought the other teams were going to play each other but I am apparently mistaken and Florida will just be playing these teams 8 times each with no trouble, top 4 getting in. Also baseball style back to backs at the same arena, I can't wait for Florida to start the season with 2 straight in Tampa

Here's each team's 82 game point pace from last year:

1. St. Louis- 109
2. Tampa - 108
3. Pens - 102
4. CBJ - 95
5. Florida-93
6. Nashville - 93
7. Chicago -84
8. Detroit - 45

Chicago's worse and Detroit's better (still going to be bad) but it really feels like Florida missed an opportunity, Nashville isn't good but I just can't see them beating Columbus.

 

[Dread Clawz]

I thought the other teams were going to play each other but I am apparently mistaken and Florida will just be playing these teams 8 times each with no trouble, top 4 getting in. Also baseball style back to backs at the same arena, I can't wait for Florida to start the season with 2 straight in Tampa

Here's each team's 82 game point pace from last year:

1. St. Louis- 109
2. Tampa - 108
3. Pens - 102
4. CBJ - 95
5. Florida-93
6. Nashville - 93
7. Chicago -84
8. Detroit - 45

Chicago's worse and Detroit's better (still going to be bad) but it really feels like Florida missed an opportunity, Nashville isn't good but I just can't see them beating Columbus.

Columbus is no powerhouse though, I mean they're a good team but if we add another top 6 forward, so are we. The Pens are also in decline. Idk who we are going to beat out, but I think if we make that one last addition we get in. I think the subtraction of Matheson and the injection of toughness and work ethic into the lineup is going to propel the Panthers to 100 pts.

 

[KW]

Why wouldn’t the playoffs be expanded playoffs? Bettman said they were thinking of it (which means they are leaning towards it), and with a shorter season the pretty decent argument is one of fairness, that the top teams haven’t decisively declared themselves yet. Thus include more in an early best of 5 round. I think this is the most logical choice until we get a full season again.

 

[Dread Clawz]

Why wouldn’t the playoffs be expanded playoffs? Bettman said they were thinking of it (which means they are leaning towards it), and with a shorter season the pretty decent argument is one of fairness, that the top teams haven’t decisively declared themselves yet. Thus include more in an early best of 5 round. I think this is the most logical choice until we get a full season again.

Time constraints might be a factor(Olympics start mid-July and nhl has to be done by then), plus travel, which they are trying to cut down on, if they include wildcards instead of keeping the playoffs intra-divisional for as long as possible. But there's still a lot we don't know. There's still talk of a flexible division alignment if Covid shutdowns are eased later in the season.

 

[Pigge]

I thought the other teams were going to play each other but I am apparently mistaken and Florida will just be playing these teams 8 times each with no trouble, top 4 getting in. Also baseball style back to backs at the same arena, I can't wait for Florida to start the season with 2 straight in Tampa

Here's each team's 82 game point pace from last year:

1. St. Louis- 109
2. Tampa - 108
3. Pens - 102
4. CBJ - 95
5. Florida-93
6. Nashville - 93
7. Chicago -84
8. Detroit - 45

Chicago's worse and Detroit's better (still going to be bad) but it really feels like Florida missed an opportunity, Nashville isn't good but I just can't see them beating Columbus.

I think there's enough uncertainty surrounding all these teams to make it a thrilling division. Even Tampa will not be as good as last year, on paper. Wennberg and Nuts have grudge matches against Columbus, and Horny against Pittsburgh. And Verhaeghe will want to prove himself against Tampa. Some good narratives and hopefully ones that will fire up the team some more.