2009 NHL Free Agency Frenzy & Offseason Deals discussion

Post by **Jypfan92** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 9:29 am

i think Kessel wouldn't be traded to Minnesota cause Minnesota make just contract with Petr Sykora.

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 2:21 pm

Yeah, Minnesota and the Rangers seem to be falling out of the running for Kessel. Toronto is supposed to be offering, 2 1st round picks, another pick of some sort, and a prospect. Nashville is said to be offering Blum, the rights to Radulov (who is said to be interested in coming back to the NHL in the 10-11 season), and a pick.

Post by **Jypfan92** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 5:08 pm

Hopefully Toronto takes Kessel, cause they don't have good first line (Jason Blake ok first liner, Mikhail Grabovski and Niklas Hagman more second liners).

That's nice if Radulov will come back.

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 5:14 pm

I wouldn't mind seeing the Bruins get Blum but I really don't want a player like Radulov and all of his drama on the Bruins. I'd rather they get somebody else or another draft pick.

It would be nice to get Toronto's picks but I really don't want to see Kessel go to a team within the division where they'll have to play him regularly.

Post by **philou21** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 12:53 am

Just read something about Toronto who's ''win'' the Kessel derby. Maybe the trade will be announce lately but it seems it would be just picks.

Post by **philou21** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 1:18 am

philou21 wrote:Just read something about Toronto who's ''win'' the Kessel derby. Maybe the trade will be announce lately but it seems it would be just picks.

Just see that the Kessel's trade is confirmed! It's seems that he already sign a 5years / 27 millions deal after the trade, so sorry Bruins but you're gonna see him a couple of times this season.

For the picks, it's the only thing i didn't know, maybe something like 2 first and another pick....

Post by **CatchUp** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 3:22 am

OOOO snap! Too bad Kessel is out until December.

I'm pleased because he's less of a threat on the Laffs than on the B's.

Post by **Jypfan92** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 11:37 am

Picks were 2010 and 2011 first round picks and second round pick in 2010.

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 7:52 pm

While I was intrigued by the idea of getting Blum (plus some more) from Nashville, I'm just happy to see Kessel gone. Toronto overpaid him in a big way and the Bruins got some good compensation. I'm sure at least the 2010 1st round pick will be a high one, maybe even top 10. Hopefully the 2011 one will be too.

Kessel is a floater. He just doesn't seem like the type of player Burke likes. Frankly, I'm surprised he went after him. He's definitely not the type of player to carry the team's offense. I think we'll see a big dip in Kessel's production without a person like Savard setting him up. And as Catchup said, he's out at least through a good portion of November, so he's more likely to return in December.

Good riddance!

Post by **Shadd666** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 10:04 pm

Pretty surprised by Burke's move here. Two 1st round picks and a 2nd round pick for... Kessel? Me think it's grossly overpaid.

27M$ over 5 years? That's a 5.4M$ cap hit... Okay, he scored 36 goals last season, but it was the first time in his career that he was over 20 goals. And he had Savard along him. It was also his first season with a +/- showing a positive figure... just the year the Bruins were the top defense in the league, which makes things easier. And he's already whining and moaning at just age 21? darn, what will it be in a few seasons... 5.4M$ is way overpaid to me.

So Burke overpaid for Kessel in the trade, and then overpaid him salary-wise. Pretty unusual to see Burke make such mistakes. Plus, Kessel isn't really an "in-your-face" type of player, like Burke loves. Does he have further trades in mind to rebalance things out?

Sounds relatively unlikely, but who knows...

Anyway, excellent move for the Bs, who cleanly get the best part of the deal IMO.

selne · Post by **selne** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 10:37 pm

It seems more of an sympolic signing by Burke, just to demonstrate "Look, we have something special going on here, we make the big desicions because we have a big mission!".

Chicago got Kane and Toews that helped to attract free agents, now Toronto got Kessel and other top players will want to sign there next season. And Boston won't miss him that much, they got a quite healthy Bergeron now. I really hope Bergeron plays well, this guy had some tough times.

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 4:49 am

Reports from training camp have been that Bergeron is healthier and stronger than ever. I just hope he can get back to playing his style of game. He's still a young guy. He's got plenty of hockey left in him and I think he'll find his game again this season.

Post by **Jypfan92** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 9:30 am

Brandon Dubinsky signs new two-year-contract with New York Rangers, overall worth of 3,7 million dollars.

Post by **Danny** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 12:47 pm

bruins72 wrote:While I was intrigued by the idea of getting Blum (plus some more) from Nashville, I'm just happy to see Kessel gone. Toronto overpaid him in a big way and the Bruins got some good compensation. I'm sure at least the 2010 1st round pick will be a high one, maybe even top 10. Hopefully the 2011 one will be too.

Kessel is a floater. He just doesn't seem like the type of player Burke likes. Frankly, I'm surprised he went after him. He's definitely not the type of player to carry the team's offense. I think we'll see a big dip in Kessel's production without a person like Savard setting him up. And as Catchup said, he's out at least through a good portion of November, so he's more likely to return in December.

Good riddance!

Personally I don't hold any grudges. It's his job and it's his right to look out for the best deal possible. I don't think he deserves all the rubbish he's getting. I don't think he was ever really wanted in the first place, maybe that's a bit of a hyperbole, but most certainly he's never been viewed as a core player. The Bruins tried to trade up and swap picks with the Caps to get Backstrom instead of Kessel, media and fans have been too critical of him considering the love they were constantly giving to 4th line pluggers like Jeremy Reich or Byron Bitz, trade rumours kept appearing virtually every month and then there's the Kaberle trade fiasco at the draft. Point is, attitude issues/ego problems or not, I don't think he was a good fit for the Bruins and that's just it. The return is nice given the circumstances, Bruins will miss him, he's a gamebreaker and a very good playoff performer. Not really trying to defend him, just saying people can't put all the blame for wanting out of Boston on him alone. I wonder how Wheeler will do without his best buddy on the team.

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 10:29 pm

The more I've been reading, the more it's become obvious that going back as far as last season Kessel planned on leaving the team. Combine that with the fact that Kessel and Burke essentially had the Bruins' hands tied on, making the Toronto deal the only one they could accept... I do carry a grudge. Then when you factor in his attitude and lack of heart... I just don't like him. He's a floater and I'm glad he's gone.

I read an interview with Wheeler and he seems okay with it. He says he's expected Kessel to be gone for a long time now. He knew he wasn't coming back and accepts it as just being a part of the business. He said he's talked to Kessel 4 or 5 times over the off-season but hockey wasn't discussed. I don't think it's going to be too much of an issue for Wheeler. There are quite a few young players in Boston now and they've got a good group going that all gets along.

Deleted 25-08-19 · Post by **Deleted 25-08-19** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 8:20 am

Saku and Teemu will do good results in Ducks if they get to same line.
In trainmatches, they havent played in same line.

Post by **Danny** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 12:22 pm

bruins72 wrote:The more I've been reading, the more it's become obvious that going back as far as last season Kessel planned on leaving the team. Combine that with the fact that Kessel and Burke essentially had the Bruins' hands tied on, making the Toronto deal the only one they could accept... I do carry a grudge. Then when you factor in his attitude and lack of heart... I just don't like him. He's a floater and I'm glad he's gone.

I read an interview with Wheeler and he seems okay with it. He says he's expected Kessel to be gone for a long time now. He knew he wasn't coming back and accepts it as just being a part of the business. He said he's talked to Kessel 4 or 5 times over the off-season but hockey wasn't discussed. I don't think it's going to be too much of an issue for Wheeler. There are quite a few young players in Boston now and they've got a good group going that all gets along.

Not really denying anything about the first paragraph, contradicting statements and reports, can't make my mind up just yet. My point was, this problem might've been created by the Bruins themselves just as well. Sure he's not exactly the prototypical Bruin, but sometimes the pure skill level justifies "being a bit different".
As for Wheeler I wasn't really 100% serious, but I wouldn't expect him to come out and sulk openly just because his buddy left either.

Hypnotist · Post by **Hypnotist** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 2:26 pm

Isn't it about time to start an Official 09-10 Reg. Season thread?

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 3:18 pm

Danny wrote:
bruins72 wrote:The more I've been reading, the more it's become obvious that going back as far as last season Kessel planned on leaving the team. Combine that with the fact that Kessel and Burke essentially had the Bruins' hands tied on, making the Toronto deal the only one they could accept... I do carry a grudge. Then when you factor in his attitude and lack of heart... I just don't like him. He's a floater and I'm glad he's gone.

I read an interview with Wheeler and he seems okay with it. He says he's expected Kessel to be gone for a long time now. He knew he wasn't coming back and accepts it as just being a part of the business. He said he's talked to Kessel 4 or 5 times over the off-season but hockey wasn't discussed. I don't think it's going to be too much of an issue for Wheeler. There are quite a few young players in Boston now and they've got a good group going that all gets along.
Not really denying anything about the first paragraph, contradicting statements and reports, can't make my mind up just yet. My point was, this problem might've been created by the Bruins themselves just as well. Sure he's not exactly the prototypical Bruin, but sometimes the pure skill level justifies "being a bit different".
As for Wheeler I wasn't really 100% serious, but I wouldn't expect him to come out and sulk openly just because his buddy left either.

Yeah, Kessel wasn't a good fit with the team and the Bruins didn't really make any exceptions for him. They didn't allow him to "just be Phil" and do things his way. They want all of their players to buy into their system. They want a team commitment. Look at Marc Savard. Some of the things that have been said about Kessel's game have also been said about Savard's in the past. But Savard bought in to Julien's game plan and he's been playing some of the best hockey of his career as a result of it. Kessel just refused to put in the work. Have you read the article that talks about a story from last year where Julien is passing Kessel as he's leaving practice? Kessel is packed up and heading to the parking lot immediately after practice. Julien passes him and says "The weight room is that way, Phil", pointing in the other direction. Kessel laughs and says "Yeah, I know" and keeps heading to the parking lot. He's the type of guy that always first off the ice after practice and never puts in any extra work.

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 3:19 pm

Hypnotist wrote:Isn't it about time to start an Official 09-10 Reg. Season thread?

Yeah, sure. Why not.

Post by **Danny** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 4:19 pm

Haha yeah that weight room story made me chuckle the first time I read it

There was another one from one of his first practice sessions with the Bruins when some kid wanted his autograph and Phil asked, while holding a pen in his hand mind you, "so uhh what do I uhh do now uhh ?"
Weird guy

So anyway, Chiarelli said Bruins have got 1.7m cap room left with a 22 man roster. Doesn't really add up though (if you use the cap hits that are being reported by all sources), no matter how you spin it, unless you're planning with Rask in Providence and Sabourin in Boston, even that doesn't seem to give them 1.7m. Odd.

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 4:31 pm

I've been wondering about that $1.7M figure too. I think Lidas has a link to a cap website. I forget the site's name but IIRC , it breaks down each team's salarys and cap number.

I just can't see how they could even think about sending Rask back down to Providence again. From what I've been reading, he's been playing great in the preseason. I think they've got to give him the chance to play backup this season. Sending him back to the AHL at this point isn't going to help his development.

Post by **Danny** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 4:46 pm

Every cap related site provides different overall numbers. I'm thinking some salary, cap hit or bonus might've been reported incorrectly or some bonuses became unattainable already, which seems a bit unlikely. Because I kinda hope Chiarelli knows and isn't just guessing

Although Dupont said most GMs have to call the NHL HQ regularly to inquire about their cap situation because it's all so vague

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 4:49 pm

That's just bad! The cap is so confusing that the GM's aren't even sure about it.

I wonder if Wheeler's cap number changed? Did he meet his bonus numbers last season? I know he counted for a lot against the cap last year because of his potential bonus.

Post by **Danny** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 4:54 pm

There was no bonus cushion last year due to the status of the CBA extension. The Bruins exceed the bonus cushion this year by a fair margin anyway so some of the bonuses count towards he cap.