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NHL Off-Season 2017 |OT| We’ve Been Here Since October

C

calder

Member
Razorskin said:
Are they going make the list of unprotected players public before the expansion draft?
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Yes, but I don't think they said exactly when yet.

The league announced the decision on Twitter on Wednesday. NHL general managers had expressed a desire to keep the lists private.

All 30 existing teams must submit their list of protected players by 5 p.m. EDT June 17. Vegas must submit its selections by 5 p.m. June 20, with the announcement of those picks made June 21.

The league said the timing of the lists being released was still to be determined. Each team can protect either seven forwards, three defencemen and one goaltender or eight skaters of any position and one goaltender.
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*please waive your NTC Enstrom, please please please. Also, I will lose my shit if it comes out that Chevy didn't ask him to or "bring it up" out of fucking "loyalty" I swear to god*
 
P

PillarEN

Member
Eichel really not happy with how this season went huh? Can't blame him. Especially after he sees Toronto and Edmonton in the playoffs.
 
Y

yyzjohn

Banned
Those brass balls on Eichel, what's he gonna do demand a trade? He's only gonna be an RFA after next season anyway, has no leverage.
 
Y

yyzjohn

Banned
Zombie James said:
Fuck, Babcock makes it sound like Polak's career is done:



https://twitter.com/mirtle/status/854733856779448320
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That's too bad on Polak, it's funny how his time here in Toronto went. Early in the season Leafs fans hated on him and wanted no part of him on the team, then he seemed to improve after the midway point and actually played pretty well down the stretch and was suddenly an integral part of the defense. He seems like a good guy, hope he can get back to playing at some point.
 
C

calder

Member
yyzjohn said:
Those brass balls on Eichel, what's he gonna do demand a trade? He's only gonna be an RFA after next season anyway, has no leverage.
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He has plenty of leverage, not immediate leverage but still the last thing the team wants to do is make him unhappy enough that he won't sign a max length contract extension. Giving him a bridge (unlikely) just means his next negotiation is even harder as that one will lead to his UFA years, and they won't want that.

If Eichel doesn't like Bylsma enough that he wants him gone then the Sabres will probably make that happen... not immediately but half way through the season maybe. It won't be tough to do if the team struggles again and that way everyone can say it had nothing to do with Eichel.
 
B

bonesmccoy

Banned
Tim Murray said:
"He certainly won't get his pee pee slapped by me for being a little more outspoken,"
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So a week into the off-season and we know that Eichel hates at least some of his teammates, and hates his coach.

He sure is outspoken!
 
S

Socreges

Banned
Eichel's agent said the report is "1,000 per cent false"

I'm inclined to believe that the media and "sources" may just be full of shit here, rather than the agent protecting Eichel
 
C

calder

Member
Socreges said:
Eichel's agent said the report is "1,000 per cent false"

I'm inclined to believe that the media and "sources" may just be full of shit here, rather than the agent protecting Eichel
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Inclined why, just a gut feeling? Eichel could be having an actual to the death knife fight with Bylsma in Tim Murray's office, blood everywhere, and the agent and team would deny any rift.

I lean more towards guessing there might be something there, if only because a few reports from Buffalo over the year have mentioned Eichel and Bylsma not being on the same page. Probably not to the ultimatum stage or anything, so I doubt the agent would be lying to deny it because he's not refusing an extension over it, but a serious rift between them nonetheless. Not paying much attention to the Sabres I was unaware of any issues but found this today when this all blew up:

As for Eichel, he was visibly angry at the end of another lost season for Buffalo. But as Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News notes, his attitude towards his coach – and this new report on his contract status – point to some level of petulance from a young star player:

Eichel has some growing up to do if he wants to be taken seriously as a leader. Leaders don't undercut the coach as many times as Eichel has this season. Or make veiled comments about teammates, like Eichel clearly has about Josh Gorges more than once when referencing players who speak but don't perform on the ice. Leaders don't brood and pout in front of the media either like Eichel did to absurd levels Monday on locker cleanout day.

Maybe Eichel was upset at narrowly missing a $2 million performance bonus. Maybe he was miffed about the Sabres' PR staff smartly asking him to meet the media at the interview room podium rather than form a mob scrum around his stall in the dressing room. Whatever. Deal with it. You're the face of the franchise. This wasn't a good face.
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S

Socreges

Banned
calder said:
Inclined why, just a gut feeling? Eichel could be having an actual to the death knife fight with Bylsma in Tim Murray's office, blood everywhere, and the agent and team would deny any rift.

I lean more towards guessing there might be something there, if only because a few reports from Buffalo over the year have mentioned Eichel and Bylsma not being on the same page. Probably not to the ultimatum stage or anything, so I doubt the agent would be lying to deny it because he's not refusing an extension over it, but a serious rift between them nonetheless. Not paying much attention to the Sabres I was unaware of any issues but found this today when this all blew up:
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What good reason do we have to trust Dave Davis' report from "insider sources"? What percentage of such reports turn out to be true? It isn't the majority of them, I can at least say that.

For sure there's probably something there. There's normally a grain of truth to these things and you have some hyperbole or distortion that's eventually reported. But the ultimatum is what's making everyone gasp.
 
C

calder

Member
Socreges said:
What good reason do we have to trust Dave Davis' report from "insider sources"? What percentage of such reports turn out to be true? It isn't the majority of them, I can at least say that.

For sure there's probably something there. There's normally a grain of truth to these things and you have some hyperbole or distortion that's eventually reported. But the ultimatum is what's making everyone gasp.
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True, the degree is what's actually the news, not the (seemingly common knowledge) existence of a disagreement. In that case I agree and would tend to believe the denial.


Hockey Canada just announced the first 18 players for their IIHF championship roster but it's a horribly formatted screenshot. TSN or Snet will have it up soon I'm sure. Looks like a really solid team, but honestly I'm a little leery of the goalies. Comrie was good in his first AHL season but I mainly know Calvin Pickard from getting just filled in playing for the Avs. Could be grim.
 
C

Curufinwe

Member
Hextall stocking up on his guys for the World Champs.

cut.jpg
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C

calder

Member
Curufinwe said:
Hextall stocking up on his guys for the World Champs.
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<3 Ronnie, that's going to be a damn good team again.



19 & 21 said:
Thing is, after the way Pickard played this season we may not even need to protect him
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All I remember Pickard from is getting lit up by the Jets in his hometown once or twice, but no one looks good on a team struggling that hard especially the goalie. He was on Team Canada last year and they won but I think Talbot played basically the whole way.
 
P

Pikma

Banned
The next time you want to complain about your team being shit at killing penalties just remember this

In the last 20 NHL seasons, the '16-17 Stars are 561st of 561 seasons for Penalty Kill at 73.4%. #NotGreatBob
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I'm sure it'll make you feel better
 
S

Socreges

Banned
Eichel responds:

As to whether that's contingent on who's behind the bench, Eichel appears to be all about looking at himself in the mirror first and foremost.

"I definitely am not the type of guy to point the finger and blame other people," he said. "I said in my exit interview and I’ll say it again, it’s self-reflection. You’ve got to look yourself in the mirror before you can call out other guys.

"I said it all year, if you want to be a leader and be vocal, you’ve got to play well yourself. For me, I don’t think I was good enough this year, so I need to be better. The onus is on me."

In terms of the initial report, Eichel said he's dumbfounded as to where that could have emanated from, insisting he never said anything of the sort.

He further echoed his agent in saying he believed his exit interviews with general manager Tim Murray and Bylsma went well, something he admits his body language may not have expressed in his statements to the media prior to heading out of town.

Still, Wednesday's report came quite out of the blue.

"I think I told (Bylsma) some things that I think as a group we can all improve on. He was very receptive. I don’t think what’s being said about the way things ended is accurate in any way."
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