(If you get it, awesome, if you don't, you might want to take a look at who the Canucks drafted in the 3rd round on Friday)

RIP to Canucks play by play callers.

— Corey Pronman (@coreypronman) July 8, 2022

Oh yeah I forgot about him

Probs off to the KHL

They buy him out because of Giroux thats my theory

Got a gut feeling Giroux's going to the Sens

Maybe but Florida taxes and weather are pretty good. And then you got Tampa potentially losing Palat to FA so maybe theres a fit there to

Like my prediction is Giroux probs ends up back on one of the Florida teams

I'd love it if the Lightning could get Giroux, but there's no chance. He'll get a much higher offer from some other team, and if he does want to take a discount it'll be to stay with the Panthers (which he's already said he's open to doing). TBH I really think it comes down to Panthers vs. Senators for his services.

True but I dont think its money he wants at this point. RN he probs wants a cup more than anything

Florida, Tampa, or Colorado are probs where he goes as he can sign 2 years 5mill and just slot right in

Now if he is in it for the money Sens

I think Marchment is gone tbh. Like I’d be willing to offer him a 3 year deal with a 4mil AAV, and I reckon Florida would want him closer to 2.5mil. They’ll probably need to go find the next Verhaeghe/Duclair/Marchment/Bennett. Maybe they can steal Gurianov or Puljujarvi or Necas.

Well Gurianov was just extended, so I doubt the Stars would be willing to give him up (save for a lopsided deal), Necas and Puljujarvi make potential sense

Didn’t he just sign his QO? I thought he still wanted out. Maybe he’s willing to give the new coach a try, like DeBrusk, though.

I think the GM confirmed Marchment was going to market

And I dont blame him as rn probs could get over 3mill easily while Florida got no money to give him

Necas I feel would probs be a good target as I think Carolina plans to move on from him and pursue a more aggressive wing like Kane. As to me Kane is the last piece the Canes need

Nope, was indeed an extension: https://www.nhl.com/stars/news/dallas-stars-sign-forward-denis-gurianov-to-one-year-contract-extension/c-334528564

But yes, might have been because he knew they were getting a fresh face behind the bench (this was after Bowness was fired)

Yeah I know it was an extension (QOs get issued in 2 days) but his QO was gonna be a 1 year contract worth 2.9mil, which is what he signed. I just assumed he signed the deal early so he could go enjoy his summer, because both sides knew that was the deal he’d be getting one way or another lol. But yeah if he still wants out, he’s a guy everybody should be trying to trade for.

All #NJDevils RFA's will be qualified, per Tom Fitzgerald.

— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) July 6, 2022

Wood qualified

That's a head-scratcher. Miles Wood, $3.5 million AAV (even for one year)?? Think letting him walk would be the smarter move here.

I know this is way out of context but I swear I saw Lamoureux mouth "no, don't show that!"

Everybody in the Gaudreau conversation seems determined to use up all their cap space before free agency. The Preds re-signed Forsberg and traded for McDonagh. The Flyers traded for DeAngelo. The Devils are gonna give 3.5mil to Wood, and likely 7+ mil to Bratt, 3mil to Zacha, 3mil to Vanecek, and that 25mil cap space starts to dry up quick. Like that's 16mil of it gone at least, their roster is only at 19 players, and you're not gonna get Gaudreau for less than 10mil on the open market (probably cost over 11mil). Maybe you're still in it if Bernier never plays again.

Agreed

That's why I guessed he wouldn't get qualified as I feel that's to much

Woah, woah, WOAH-am I the only one just seeing this? This is not good-not for the Wild, not for hockey, and especially not for Kaprizov:

"The Athletic's Michael Russo reports that Kaprizov left Russia for Dubai amid allegations that he allegedly purchased a fraudulent military service I.D. in 2017. League sources say Kaprizov tried to return to the U.S. from Dubai, but couldn't get back into the country because he currently doesn't have a work visa. Many Russian and European players were allowed to play without a visa last season as the country recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, but with the season over, it presents a new challenge for players trying to return."

https://www.si.com/fannation/bringmethesports/wild/the-athletics-michael-russo-says-kaprizov-denied-entry-to-u-s

From the original article:

"Kirill Kaprizov is caught up in a chilling political situation regarding his military requirements, is still in Russia and, according to league sources, was turned away from returning to the United States — something that is privately sending shivers down the spines of everybody in the Wild organization even if they’re publicly saying otherwise."

https://theathletic.com/3409649/2022/07/08/wild-ominous-offseason-kaprizov-talbot/

My notes from the draft (this might be long)

Columbus, Dallas, Chicago (I'll explain), Montreal, New Jersey, and Buffalo were all winners IMO

Columbus is just going to be absolutely freaky in a few years. Jarmo is building an all-star D core. Werenski, Boqvist, Ceulemans, Jiricek, Mateychuk as a top six is frightening. LDBB is also super friggin talented, steal. Jordan Dumais had 109 points in the Q and they got him in the 3rd round, steal. Dolzhenkov is a super dark horse, steal. Sergei Ivanov is the next Daniil Tarasov, steal. James Fisher should have gone way earlier, steal. Kekalainen is becoming one of my favourite GMs.

I love Dallas' drafting. It started with them drafting my idol Logan Stankoven last season, but it has just been stellar. Wyatt Johnston exploded, Artem Grushnikov and Lian Bichsel are both absolutely going to be shutdown NHL defenders, Ayrton Martino and George Fegaras are two of my OJHL boys with lots of potential, Christian Kyrou could be a dynamo, they got Matthew Seminoff in the 6th round. Come on. I might be a Stars fan by the end of this.

I've seen a lot of hate towards Chicago's draft the last few days, and I think it's without reason. Korchinski is a fantastic, puck moving defenceman with offensive upside, perfect guy to sit right behind Jones. Nazar could be a point per game NHLer. Rinzel I was a bit confused by, since he probably would have fell to the second anyway, but a big, raw, high-ceiling defender is never bad for a rebuilder. I've said it before, Ludwinski might be one of the most outright skilled players in the class. Ryan Greene and Gavin Hayes both have strong middle six potential. And then I think getting Dominic James in the 6th is a sleeper pick, he looked strong in his stint in the PPed WJC. Overall, they built a nice foundation. They'll hopefully get a Bedard/Michkov/Fantilli/Dvorsky/Ritchie/Carlsson/Yager sorta thing next draft.

I'm obviously biased, but I loved the Habs' draft. Wright was clearly not the surefire number 1, and I am loving Slaf so far. Wright is being a bit of a b*tch about it too, which makes me feel all the better. I remember after the WJC everyone put Mesar in the early first round, but then they lost interest when he went back to Slovakia. He could be good, I see Lehky in him. Beck obviously is a great pick, very good worst-case scenario. Hutson is a very similar player to Casey, and I love him. Everyone else was solid, Kent continued Bergevin's recent interest in CHL overagers and I think I'm OK with that, seeing how Harvey-Pinard turned out.

New Jersey is like Edmonton but better. They get handed a bunch of lottery picks, and instead of fumbling the bag (and throwing the entire thing into the river tbh) they turned them into something. Nemec is going to be a great player 100%, solid top 4 D. Nothing more, nothing less. Casey.....c'mon guys, I bet the Habs would have taken him at Hutson's pick. You broke my heart. All I want to see is Stankoven and Casey in Habs threads. Anyway, Tyler Brennan that late was a steal. Charlie Leddy is an interesting case, dark horse for sure, as is Josh Filmon. Pretty good.

Buffalo is weird. I felt like they left the draft missing something, even though they are sitting on an embarrassment of riches at every position. Like, come on, Leinonen? When you have UPL, Levi, and Portillo in the system already? Safety net I guess. Anyway, I love the Savoie pick, he's gonna bite everyone in the ass like Caufield did. Ostlund is a scary similar player to Isak Rosen, which I found funny. Tiny, skinny Swedes who struggled initially in the SHL who the Sabres kind of reached on in the middle of the first. Kulich was a great pick, steal that late. After that, fine. The Sabres are one of those teams (Lookin at you, Arizona and Detroit) who like to take the most obscure guys in the later rounds, and the Sabres made me laugh by taking yet another guy with a strangely long name: Joel Ratkovic (tee-hee) Berndtsson (some unneeded consonants there). Adding to UPL of course, William Worge Kreu, and William von Barnekow.

That's pretty much it. Of course Yzerman will do Yzerman things and pick Marco Kasper at 8th, and he'll turn out just fine. Washington picked the Russian, Anaheim loaded up on French guys, and Tampa somehow got Isaac Howard and Lucas Edmonds. Ottawa had a sh*t draft as usual, and I was astonished to see how often San Jose and the Islanders picked.

Y'all are sleeping on Zam Plante for best name of the draft.

JBB

Got a feeling some strings will be pulled to get him a Visa

I hope so. Really don't want Russian players to get caught in a game of Russian Roulette (figuratively and literally)

I agree with most of this. Especially Ottawa having a sh*t draft lol, we had one good draft in 2020 and have been riding that wave ever since, I literally think there is only one selection I would classify as good in the last 2 drafts (and that's Hamara at 87 this year). Can you elaborate on what you see in Ludwinski though? In all the scouting reports I read on him it sounds like he's got an elite motor and is always zipping around, but doesn't actually have a high level of skill. I see him as more of an energy guy, maybe a PKer.

I'd also throw Seattle in the ring for best draft. Wright at 4 was a huge steal no matter how you slice it (I like Slafkovsky more, but Wright is still easily the #2 guy imo), and then they grabbed some elite forward depth and injected some skill into their pipeline with guys like Firkus, Nyman, and Goyette in particular (MacDonald and Robertson were solid picks too). I also liked the Nelson pick, and Kokko was one of my top 5 goalies, even if I wouldn't have taken him in the 2nd (they could afford to though).

The Kaprizov situation is actually wild. I can't believe there's a possibility that a top 10 player in the league simply can't enter the continent. I also find it shocking that the Wild have maintained they're not concerned. I would be very concerned if the only elite player on my team and the guy hard carrying my franchise to relevancy was not in the country lol. At least he's out of Russia now, which makes it less likely that he gets arrested and sent to Siberia.