American Thanksgiving is generally viewed as a good point for teams to assess where they are and what they might be looking to do on the trade front. One team – Edmonton – didn’t even wait that long before deciding to make a coaching change while another – Calgary – has flipped from looking to extend its key pending UFAs to putting a hold on those discussions; one has already requested a trade.
With that in mind, it’s a good time for our next mailbag segment. In our last one, topics included the Shane Pinto situation in Ottawa, possible teams that could be looking to make an early trade, Mike Sullivan’s future in Pittsburgh, and much more.
You can submit a question by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter/X or by leaving a comment down below. The mailbag will run on the weekend.
The 2018 WJC scandal is now clearly a cover up because I’m guessing there were some really big names involved, I say these things because there is no good reason for the investigation to have taken this long. What are the latest facts if any? Why is Alex Formenton’s NHL career seemingly being held hostage?
The IIHF has concluded their investigation and informed some players of their findings and potential punishment. The players or at least some of them are appealing the results. That is why you haven’t heard anything yet. Not a cover up. Findings being disputed by a few of them.
Dear, all knowing and wise mailbag answer person.
Is it just me or is Murphy’s law in effect for the wild this year?
I.e. we all know about the cap struggles but it just seems like every pass,shot,hit,block, blocked shot or save some how some way always doesn’t seem to A connect for a goal or B gos right into the back of the net.
Sincerely a diehard Minnesota Wild fan and frustrated state of hockey resident.
@I wander off: did Bill Geurin get moved into the president of hockey operations to keep his hands off the contract issues?
To Brian, What was GMBG thinking with the Hartman, Mats and Foligno extensions?
Also, what are the chances the Wild sign Kirill to another extension, and what would that look like with the cap purportedly going up?
And why won’t the Wild play their highly touted youngsters?
Zakis,
Don’t know a whole lot about the oilers situation to be honest.
And not heading east either so you are safe..unless you are wrichy from Jersey who keeps calling me year after year looking for his lawn mower at 7am lol!
Alright, how’s this for a deadly hypothetical? Congratulations, Brian! You’ve just been drafted to be the new GM of the Oilers, a team in the dumps, with over half of their cap space tied up in just six players (each and every one of them with NMCs), you’re projected to have only $10 MM of cap space NEXT season, and you’ve got a goalie in the minors with a no-trade clause and a nearly $4 MM cap hit himself. What’s your turnaround strategy, beyond fleeing screaming for Tahiti?
(That, or coming to Massachusetts to clock me upside the head with a goalie stick for making the suggestion.)
The one thing you don’t want to do is hire anybody named Bowman to try and get you out of it.
What’s happened to Jason Robertson? It seems that you don’t hear his name called during a game at all. You never hear his name called in big situations this year. Am I expecting too much from him this year after his last couple of years?
What’s you take on Patrick Kanes return? Every talking head out there thinks he’ll come back and be fine. No player has every returned successfully from hip resurfacing surgery. It’s entirely possible Kane will be the the next Nicklas Backstrom. Yet, I haven’t heard this from any hockey media. It really doesn’t matter what team or contract Patrick Kane wants if he can’t play.
How could Calgary avoid a total teardown and retool to be competitive? If Hanifin and/or Tanev are moved, who could the Flames trade for to be the replacement? Thanks!
I thought I sent my question to the mail bag, But It was answered by the ass bag.
What does Columbus do going forward if their high paid stars keep struggling? They looked like a team that could compete this year, but if their top guys keep struggling it looks more like a team in need of a retool or short rebuild.
Any insight on Johnny Gaudreau? His scoring has completely fallen off a cliff, and his play does not inspire confidence. Can you think of any other players who have had such a precipitous drop after signing a new contract?
And more vitally, is this a case of a guy completely phoning it in after getting a big paycheque, or is this a case of a player not fitting in a new system?
Maybe Gomez or Drury when they signed with the Rangers.
Oilers have to do something big. How about Campbell and Draisaitl for Josi and Souros? Who says no?
How many goalies would you give a 7 x 7 contract to?
Zero. You don’t need the fingers of one hand to count the number of goalies in the last twenty years who’ve had seven or more straight seasons of uninterrupted excellence. Tuukka Rask. Andrei Vasilevskiy. Ben Bishop. One team gave a huge contract to the fourth guy on that list: Sergei Bobrovsky. Hasn’t worked out like they planned.
You mean to tell me 897 and 907 are not $10M a year save%?
Kings are rolling and don’t appear to have any real weaknesses. Also have Ardvison coming back in the 2nd half hopefully. What do they need or do at the deadline?
Without Lucic and, to a lesser extent, Greer, the Bruins lack muscle. How much will they have to overpay to get a DesLaurier or Johnston?
Do teams and players have options to have a club or player option regarding contracts under the CBA like they have in baseball?