The Trial of the Mullet, the 2015-2016 NHL season thread.

[BoylenOver]

[RC Vikings]

The Ducks were in control of that game last night, just couldn't get the puck into the net. Look for the Sharks to come out of the west.

Sharks are the worst team left in the West. It would be take amazing goaltender play or other unique circumstances for them to win.

I think the Blues come out of the West.

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Pavelski

[Joe Public]

I think Kings fans should be feeling less bad about losing to San Jose now. Also, not surprising that Pens/Lightning goes to game 7.

[Omaha 680]

There is a die-hard Lightning fan and a die-hard Penguins fan in my group here at work. One showed up early today. The other isn't in yet.

[Joe Public]

The Penguins look really good right now. If they can survive the goaltending issues, they have as much of a chance as anyone.

Bump.

[Shaka]

Rookie goalie got the job done.

[MartyFunkhouser]

The Penguins are a really interesting team right now for a couple of reasons. The Pens really changed their style of play to a more puck possession style. The reason that this team is going to win a cup when other Penguin teams didn't perform is that they do a great job possessing the puck.

I also think the nature of the cap really hurt the Penguins when they signed Malkin/Crosby to their big deals. Now that they are several years into the extensions and the cap has gone up, the 2 players are taking less percentage of the cap which has really helped the Penguins depth. I think this may be what happens with the Blackhawks. It may be too hard to field a Stanley Cup winner with the huge Toew/Kane contracts until the cap goes up.

Ultimately, while I have no love for the Penguins, I'm glad to see them beating the Sharks. The Sharks recently employed Raffi Torres and I cannot forgive that.

[Dwight Schr-ute]

Sounds like Las Vegas is on the cusp of getting a team. That will be very interesting. I will be very surprised if there's adequate support in this town to fill the new stadium consistently.

[Flystripper]

Finally got rid of Bickell's contract but had to lose Teravainen in the deal. Not happy about losing a talented 21 year old but we desperately needed to shed the Bickell contract and at least now we have a second round pick this year.

[Flystripper]

Sounds like Las Vegas is on the cusp of getting a team. That will be very interesting. I will be very surprised if there's adequate support in this town to fill the new stadium consistently.

What is interesting is what will happen to the deepest teams during the expansion draft. The rules are such that you can only protect 7 forwards, 3 defensemen and one goalie OR 8 skaters and one goalie. So if you want to protect your top two defensive pairings you will be forced to expose second line centers or wings... I think this is why they included Teravainen in the Bickell deal they couldn't protect him in the expansion draft so they decided to include him in order to get something now.

I think the blackhawks will go with the 7 and 3 option:

Toews
Kane
Panerin
Anisimov
Hossa
Shaw (assuming they sign him)
Kruger
Keith
Hjalmarsson
Seabrook

some good Blackhawks will be in Vegas goodbye Ladd, Panik, TVR,

[falafel]

some good Blackhawks will be in Vegas goodbye Ladd, Panik, TVR,

Won't be too much of a transition, as the team is likely to be called the "Black Knights".

[Joe Public]

they couldn't protect him in the expansion draft so they decided to include him in order to get something now.

I would think the top teams are all doing exactly this type of analysis right now.

[MartyFunkhouser]

Finally got rid of Bickell's contract but had to lose Teravainen in the deal. Not happy about losing a talented 21 year old but we desperately needed to shed the Bickell contract and at least now we have a second round pick this year.

It will all depend on what they do with the cap space. If they use it to sign Shaw, I'm going to be pissed. I'm really unhappy with this deal, but it was probably necessary. Shitty day for sure.

[MartyFunkhouser]

What is interesting is what will happen to the deepest teams during the expansion draft. The rules are such that you can only protect 7 forwards, 3 defensemen and one goalie OR 8 skaters and one goalie. So if you want to protect your top two defensive pairings you will be forced to expose second line centers or wings... I think this is why they included Teravainen in the Bickell deal they couldn't protect him in the expansion draft so they decided to include him in order to get something now.

I think the blackhawks will go with the 7 and 3 option:

Toews
Kane
Panerin
Anisimov
Hossa
Shaw (assuming they sign him)
Kruger
Keith
Hjalmarsson
Seabrook

some good Blackhawks will be in Vegas goodbye Ladd, Panik, TVR,

I actually disagree with you on who the Blackhawks will protect. I think they are going to expose some salary to try to clear cap space. Perhaps they hope a bigger contract player doesn't get swooped up in the expansion draft. Also, there is a big question floating out there, what do you do with cap recapture penalties with a expansion draft player?

The following are definitely going to be protected:

Forwards: Kane, Toews, Panarin, Anisimov, and Kruger. That is 5 easy calls
Defensiveman: Keith and Hjalmarsson.

I actually think the Blackhawks leave Seabrook unprotected. He is coming off a mediocre year where he is making a ton of money at a long term. He may not even be picked up in the draft. It could go a long way to fixing some cap problems to clear him off the cap.

As for Hossa, if we are still at risk of cap recapture penalties, he will absolutely be protected. No way the Blackhawks are going to let him go somewhere and play and increase the risk of retirement. I could see not protecting him if the new team gets the cap recapture penalties if he retires early. Don't protect him and hope he doesn't get picked up in the expansion draft. I'm pretty sure though the cap recapture penalty stays with Chicago.

I wish there was an option to protect no goaltender. Crawford is great, but I wouldn't protect him not with his cap hit.

I think the 7/3 is the option. Here is what I would protct

Toews
Kane
Panarin
Anisimov
Hossa
Kruger
Shaw (I'm also assuming he is back)
Keith
Hjalmarsson
TVR

As for Teuvo, he could have been protected. We protect Toews, Kane, Panarin, Anisimov, Hossa, Kruger, and Teuvo. Choosing Shaw over Teuvo is crazy.

[MartyFunkhouser]

So good news/bad news with the expansion draft. Panarin as a 2nd year player is ineligible and doesn't need to be protected. Bad news my Seabrook idea is out. He has a no movement clause and has to be protected.

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