Armchair News Issue 4

OFF SEASON ISSUE (Covers Pre July 1st Trades+NHL Draft)


TABLE OF CONTENTS

1-Loads Of Trades

2-2016 ASL2 Entry Draft Results

3-Player Retirements


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PRE JULY 1st TRADES


In a highly active off season, there has been more trades than I can count. Star players have been moved, prospects have been swapped, and cap has been dumped. What more can we ask for?


Here's the deal, there are still a lot of trades to cover that happened after July 1st. Those will be in the NEXT ISSUE. Gotta space it out. A few post July 1st trades likely snuck in here. There were a few trades that were missed, so if you made a trade during the off season and don't see it here....don't panic.......PM me the trade on PSN I will add it retroactively to the next issue.


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BLOCKBUSTTTTTTTERRRRRRR ALERT



OTTAWA AND PITTSBURGH


PITTSBURGH ACQUIRES

 Kyle Turris (88oa 26yo 3.5Mx3 years)


OTTAWA ACQUIRES

Evgeni Malkin (92oa 29yo 9.5Mx7 years)


Early in the off season it was leaked that the Penguins were shopping long time superstar Evgeni Malkin. After talking with numerous teams, they ultimately settled on a 1 for 1 swap in exchange for Kyle Turris of he Ottawa Senators.


At first glance, it appears Pittsburgh's GM might have lost his mind. "Why trade a 92 for an 88, that makes no sense". But when you consider how important managing the salary cap is, and the unique situation the Penguins were in by having both Crosby and Malkin down the middle, this trade begins to make perfect sense.


Both Malkin and Turris put up similar point totals last year each scoring in the 60 point range. Everybody knows Malkin is capable of more but there is a cap on how much he'll produce getting second rate minutes behind Sidney Crosby in GMC. So that begs the question, is it productive to pay a superstar 9.5M per season to play 2nd line center? PITs GM obviously felt the answer to that was no.


Pittsburgh downgrades to a very sold 88oa playmaking centre in Turris, but what they do acquire is a player signed to a multi year contract at a rate far below market value. For a team who has been so close to the cap, this is a great team building move. The Sens who had oodles of cap space and a younger less proven team acquire a franchise forward to play with Bobby Ryan and Erik Karlsson.

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OTTAWA AND ANAHEIM


ANAHEIM ACQUIRES

Jeremy Roy (19yo 4.5R* UNSIGNED)

2016 35th Overall Pick (They selected Sergej Korostin 4* STD G)

Alex Chiasson (83oa 3.5GR* 24yo 3rdSCR RW UFA)

Andrew Hammond (80oa backup goalie)


for


OTTAWA ACQUIRES

Frederik Andersen (89oa 27yo STARTING GOALIE HYB UFA)

Jakob Silfverberg (84oa 4* RW 2nd Line 3.75Mx4y)


Anaheim's management had made it very clear to the rest of the league that in no uncertain terms John Gibson was untouchable. With Gibson set as the goalie of the future, Anaheim set their sights on finding a home for Frederik Andersen.


With Andersen looking for an extension in the 4 million range, there was incentive for Anaheim to move him prior to free agency as to not force their team to waste 5 million on Andersen or expose him to an offer sheet that might only net them a late 1st and a 3rd round pick. Instead of rolling the dice on a strong team offer sheeting Andersen, Anaheim gets a boom/bust high potential defender in Jeremy Roy and a pick that will net them a 4* caliber prospect in the deep 2016 draft. Effectively, similar to getting two late 1st rounders.


Shortly after this trade, the Sens extended Andersen to an 8 year 5M per contract which should cement them as their goalie for the better part of the next decade. Andersen will be 35 when the contract expires.


Both teams also swapped Silfverberg and Chiasson while Hammond went the other way.

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OTTAWA AND WINNIPEG


OTTAWA ACQUIRES Tobias Enstrom (31yo 84oa 5.9Mx2) for 2017 BUF 3rd Round Pick


The Sens give up a 3rd round pick they acquired at last year's deadline to get a player they envision fitting into their lineup. There's no possible way their GM could miscalculate his cap for the first time in his 10+ season GMC career and despite Enstrom being a solid veteran have this trade come back to bite him the ass. ;)

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VANCOUVER AND TORONTO


VANCOUVER ACQUIRES

Nathan Horton (5Mx4 years)

Frederik Gauthier (21yo 3.5GR 76oa C PWF)

2016 26th Overall Pick (Used to select RW Jesse Puljujarvi)


TORONTO ACQUIRES

Chris Higgins (33yo 82oa LW SNP 2.5Mx1 year)

Cederholm (AHL Contract Dump)

DET 2016 3rd Round Pick


The rebuilding Canucks continue their strategy of taking on cap dumps in exchange for first round caliber assets. In this trade they take perhaps one of the worst contracts in the game in exchange for a late first that TOR inherited through the real life Kessel trade and prospect Frederik Gauthier. Horton's contract is the longest and costliest cap dump that the Canucks have taken on this season. If they buy him out this off season, they'll be on the hook for nearly 2M per season for another 8 seasons. Whether giving up a late 1st and a solid prospect was worth it will be determined by how well TOR makes use of that 20M worth of dead cap they just shed. There's no doubt that any GM would be happy to get out of that contract.


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PITTSBURGH AND TORONTO


PITTSBURGH ACQUIRES

James Van Riemsdyk (88oa LW PWF 27yo 4.25Mx2 years)


TORONTO ACQUIRES

Chris Kunitz (84oa LW TWF 37yo 1 year @ 3.85M)

Pittsburgh 2017 1st Round Pick

Pittsburgh 2018 1st Round Pick

Pittsburgh 2017 2nd Round Pick

Pittsburgh 2017 3rd Round Pick


A huge move by a confident Penguins squad. If the Penguins can ensure they finish near the top of the standings each season they might have gotten a bargain on a power forward winger in his prime who put up 34 goals and 72 points last season. The sky is the limit for what JVR can do playing with a center as talented as Crosby.


The Maple Leafs were shopping around JVR and pulled the trigger on a deal that should net them a shot at 3-4 solid young players through the draft, or instead gives them a wallet full of draft picks that they can try to turn around and flip for players who fit the team they are trying to build more than they felt JVR did.

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 COLUMBUS AND WASHINGTON


WASHINGTON ACQUIRES

Kerby Rychel

Dubinsky

Dalton Prout

2018 3rd Round Draft Pick


COLUMBUS ACQUIRES

Madison Bowey

Brooks Laich

2017 Washington 2nd Round Pick

2017 Washington 3rd Round Pick

2016 3rd Round Pick

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 BUFFALO ACQUIRES STEVE MASON FROM ARIZONA


One of the trades I missed the details from. Mason is an 87oa starting goalie in his prime. For whatever reason, the Coyotes feel the need to go a different direction. They get Scrivens 84oa backup. Perhaps they are hoping to luck out and find a new starter in free agency, or maybe this is the first domino to fall leading to a bigger Coyotes trade.

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BUFFALO AND EDMONTON


EDMONTON ACQUIRES

Ryan Miller (36yo 87oa STARTING GOALIE 1 year left @ 5M)

for

Paul Martin (85oa 35yo LD 4.85Mx3y)

Matt Laurikinen (GOALIE CONTRACT)

2017 4th Round Pick


 After acquiring Steve Mason from ARZ, the Sabres send veteran Ryan Miller off to Edmonton who badly need a solution in net. This might be one of the more underrated acquisitions of the off season. Although Edmonton hurts their already thin defense, they add a goalie who is coming off of a fantastic year and might be the last piece to get them into their first playoff of the McDavid era.

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Ottawa Sends Patrick Wiercioch's (85oa 25yo LTWD) RFA rights to WSH for a 2017 WSH 1st+2018 CBJ 3rd

(Ottawa didn't have the cap space to retain Wiercioch after a breakout year. With little interest in his RFA rights and no offer sheets tendered, the Sens move him to WSH for what should be a late 1st.)

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Ottawa sends Marc Methot 84oa LDFD to FLA for Brian Campbell 82oa LOFD

(On paper this trade makes no sense, but again....there's a salary cap. FLA had nearly 30M of cap space at the time of this trade. Ottawa obviously trying to clear things up long term as Methot who is 32 makes 4.9M for another 3 seasons while Campbell's contract expires at the end of the year. Florida improves their backend by committing some cap to Methot)

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COLUMBUS AND CALGARY

Columbus acquires Joe Colborne's RFA rights (27yo 83oa 3rdCHK RW PWF) and two 2nd Round picks in exchange for Hull (RDFD 4* 52nd 2016) , Anderson (3* 4th liner), and a WSH 3rd Round Pick

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TORONTO AND VANCOUVER


VANCOUVER ACQUIRES

Dion Phaneuf (31yo top 4 D 87oa 7Mx5y)

Tyler Bozak (32yo 2nd line C PLY 4Mx2 years)

Jonathan Bernier (85oa STARTING GOALIE 27yo 1 more year @ 3M)


COLUMBUS ACQUIRES

Brandon Sutter (85oa 3rdSCR C TWF 4.375Mx5y)

Christopher Tanev (83oa 3.5GR* 26yo top 6D 4.45Mx4y)

 Mike Smith (85oa 34yo STARTING GOALIE 5.67Mx3y)


A hard trade to analyze. Toronto had been shopping Phaneuf all off season and it seems like his new home will be the supposedly rebuilding Canucks. Either Vancouver's GM is a huge fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs circa 2013 or both teams here pawned off a bunch of players they didn't see as part of their long term plans on each other.


Phaneuf is the best player in this trade. A few attribute points away from being a top 2 guy. He makes 7M which is a tad high for what he brings, but the concerning part is that he is signed for another 5 seasons. Still, there are lots of possibilities for the Canucks who have apparently named Phaneuf as their captain and the "face of their franchise". They could always consider trading him with retained salary.


Sutter and Tanev aren't exactly great contracts either. Both are complimentary players at best locked in long term. But they are also far from cap albatross' and are much younger than Phaneuf and Bozak. Sutter put up over 50 points on a bottom feeding Canucks squad last season while Tanev is a solid top 6 defender. It looks like one of the consolations for VAN was to get the younger goalie in this trade. Best case scenario for TOR would be Smith retiring and not sticking them with his long term contract if he regresses to a backup or worse goalie.

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2016 NHL DRAFT RESULTS


1.FLA-Jakob Chychrun LTWD

The Panthers win the draft lottery and luck into selecting arguably the best player in the draft. With Barkov as their future 1C, they are one of the few teams who won't think twice about passing on one of the three future 1Cs behind Chychrun. As soon as Chychrun is ready for the NHL, Chychrun-Ekblad should be the best top pairing in the league for the next 15 seasons. Huge win for FLA.


2.WIN-Logan Brown C PWF

The Jets cannot be too upset with their consolation prize. Logan Brown is a huge power forward with franchise potential. Brown and Scheifele down the middle should make the Jets a formidable team for years to come.


3.NSH-Sam Steel C PLY

Steel is perhaps the most skilled of the big 3 centres. With Strome and Konecny in their system, Nashville might have benefited from grabbing Cody Porter here but you can never go wrong with taking the BPA.


4.CBJ-Pierre Luc-Dubois C TWF

The Bluejackets get their real life stud prospect, Pierre Luc-Dubois. Within a few seasons Dubois and Johansen should be one of the best 1-2 punches down the middle in the entire league.


5.OTT-Sean Day LTWD

The Senators go way off the board for this pick. Cody Porter would have been the obvious choice for Ottawa here, but a late draft day trade that saw the Sens acquire the still young Frederik Andersen as their goalie for the next decade was the catalyst for the draft getting shaken up. Day was expected to go somewhere around the bottom half of the top 10, so taking him at 5 presents a big risk for the Sens. The rationale? The Sens don't need a goalie, they don't need a RD, and they think Day might just be the best player still on the board.


6.VAN-Cody Porter G HYB

The Canucks have the most picks in this entire draft including a ridiculous 6 first rounders. Porter is a Vancouver native making this pick a perfect match. The Canucks will enter the second year of what looks like a full rebuild, so they have time to wait for Porter to come along.


7.EDM-Luke Green ROFD

Acquiring a right handed defender with top pairing potential has been a major priority in EDM. Last season, they paid a steep price to acquire prospect Julius Bergman from SJ to fill that void, but still Bergman is far from a sure thing. Luke Green was ranked a bit higher, but Ottawa taking Day at 5 allowed him to fall to EDM here. Will Green develop McDavid's Paul Coffey?


8.TOR-Tyler Benson LW SNP

The Leafs select perhaps the best winger in this entire draft. A pure goal scorer, Benson could be a 30 goal guy down the line for Toronto.


9.COL-Jake Bean L OFD

Bean falls all the way to 9 where he is scooped up by the Avalanche. The Avalanche acquired an ageing Zdeno Chara last season, but he won't last forever. They don't have a lot of organizational depth on defense so grabbing Bean might not have been the worst move here.


10.BOS-Brendan De Jong L DFD

De Jong at 10 was a bit of a shock but when you consider his size and skating, the Bruins might have themselves a solid young defender on their hands.


11.CAR-Max Lajoie L TWD

What Lajoie makes up in size compared to the player taken before him, he makes up in pure offensive upside. Lajoie has all the tools to become a prototypical puck moving #2 defender and sitting under the learning tree of PK Subban in Carolina will only help.


12.ANA-Brett Howden C TWF

With Getzlaf and Kesler getting up there in age, picking Howden gives ANA a center capable of being their future 1st line guy. A two way player who can score, some expected Howden to go much higher than 12. Solid value pick here.


13.NJ-Ralph Jarratt L TWD

The Devils pass on some proven ASL1 (The league that happened before ASL2) studs and take the player with the greatest potential star level wise, Ralph Jarratt. Jarratt gives their organization a top defensive prospect.



14.VAN-Travis Galiardi L TWD

Galiardi had a Hall Of Fame level career with the CHI Blackhawks of ASL1. He captained the team for roughly a decade and won two Stanley Cups while leading the team to multiple conference and cup final appearances. Still on the board at 14, he is scooped up by the Canucks using their 2nd of 6 first round picks.


15.CGY-Jake Kryski C PLY

An A+ pick at 15. Kryski still being on the board is an example of how deep this first draft is. In some later drafts, Kryski might be considered to be a top 5 pick. With Monahan, Bennett, Granlund, and now Kryski down the middle, the Flames have a wealth of centres to build around.


16.VAN-Tim Gettinger LW PWF

Vancouver takes a massive left winger with this pick. Gettinger is a slight reach at 16 but is a safe pick who could pan out as a physical third liner if his scoring doesn't translate to the ASL.


17.NYI-Tye Felhaber C PLY

Not a big name, but Felhaber has all the skill needed to potentially become the Islanders number 2 guy down the middle. That is if Barzal doesn't beat him there first.


18.TB-Luke Kirwin LW PWF

The Lightning have a ton of organizational depth and could have gone anywhere with this pick. They take Luke Kirwin, the big power forward who had a very good career in ASL1. Safe pick here, but don't mistake that as me saying that Luke Kirwin doesn't have a lot of upside.


19.CHI-Chase Campbell RW TWF

An undersized winger at only 5'8". Campbell's size scared most teams off. CHI might have a solid middle 6 player to contribute to a cup run a few years down the line.


20.MTL-Keaton Middleton L DFD

For those familiar with MTLs GM, it is no surprise he took a huge player here. I'm half surprised he didn't find an enforcer to draft. Middleton at 20 is great value. His size makes him a rare player in this game going forward and even if he doesn't put it together as a top 4 guy, there's no doubt he should forge a career as a big mean bottom pairing defender/PKer for the next decade.


21.CBJ-Marian Adamek R TWD

Columbus uses their second pick of the first round on a solid two way defender who has potential to help solidify their top 4 going forward as they build their team.


22.VAN-Samuel Girard L OFD

Arguably an ASL1 Hall Of Famer, Girard had some huge seasons and if my memory serves me correct won the Norris at least once. He was part of a high powered offense in ANA. If VAN even gets half of what ANA got from Girard in ASL1, this pick will be a big one for their team.


23.DET-Gavin Carkney C PLY

Carkner's greatest asset is his offensive IQ. An overager at 20, Carkner is one of the few EA CPU generated prospects in this draft. Pure speculation here, but Detroit's GM had to be upset to draft one spot back here and just miss out on his franchise player in Anaheim from ASL1 Samuel Girard.


24.STL-Tyler Parsons G HYB

Only the second goalie taken in this draft. The Blues have Jake Allen at 26 as a stable middle of the road type starter. Parsons might take 3-6 years before he is ready to start in the NHL, so he could be the perfect successor to Allen who'll be well into his 30s by then.


25.BOS-Simon Schutz LTWD

Boston's second pick of the first round. They choose to continue to shore up their defensive core. Simon Schutz is one of the more lesser known prospects ranked in the first round, but he has soolid all around attributes and high defensive awareness. Maybe he'll be a good one for Boston.


26.VAN-Rasmus Asplund LW TWF

 Vancouver's fifth selection of the first round and their second left winger.


27.VAN-Jesse Puljujarvi RW SNP

A big name real life prospect, it is hard to tell what Puljujarvi might become in ASL2.


28.MIN-Dante Hannoun C PLY

The Wild get a pocket sized centre who is thought to have top level hands and a good shot.


29.CAR-Dylan Dube C TWF

Dube is a highly disciplined centre who has just the right skillset to become a bottom six role player if things don't pan out in the NHL.


30.PHI-Julien Gauthier RW PWF

Flyers brass were said to be thrilled that Gauthier was still on the board at 30. Despite being ranked near the end of the second round, there are always rumblings that someone will go way off the board any time a 4.5 red star prospect is available. There were some good safer players still around, but at 30th overall the risk/reward ratio works in the Flyers favor here.

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RETIRED PLAYERS


It looks like the end of an era for hockey with names like Jagr, Hossa, Thornton, Datsyuk and Iginla choosing to call it a career. Still, the most shocking part of the retirements this year might be not who retired, but who chose to keep playing. Players like Chara and the Sedins opted against retiring and are still in the league.


 FULL LIST

Jaromir Jagr FLA

Jarome Iginla COL

Shane Doan ARZ

Patrick Marleau SJ

Joe Thornton SJ

Patrick Elias NJ

Matt Cullen PIT

Danius Zubrus NJ

Marian Hossa CHI

Olli Jokinen NYI

Chris Pronger WPG

Dan Boyle NYR

Stephan Robidas MTL

Pavel Datsyuk DET

Mattias Ohlund TB

Willie Mithcell FLA

Marc Savard FLA

Marek Zidlicky NJ

Nicklas Backstrom VAN

Dan Ellis WSH

Jason Labarbera PHI

Roberto Luongo FLA

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IN THE NEXT ISSUE.....

-NHL AWARDS HANDED OUT

-ALL THE POST JULY 1st TRADES

-FREE AGENCY RUN DOWN

-MORE!