Official NHL 2012 Off-Season & Lockout Thread

[philou21]

The draft and July 1st are approaching rapidly so I think we can start our off-season thread already! The more and more I read about the draft the more excited I get. Doesn't seems like a big draft but there will be interesting players to watch and maybe some surprise too!


Alex Radulov will probably return to the KHL already. This isn't a big surprise anyway.

[Manimal]

The Draft is really Christmas Day for us NHL-fans. I love hearing about the new players and there is also some interesting trades and discussions on the looming free agency

Hard to predict what the Rangers will do with the 28th overall pick. I wouldn't mind seeing them draft a goalie, Subban or Dansk perhaps.

[philou21]

Mmmmm I don't think Subban will go that far but there is always surprise at the draft! There is alot of interesting player. Galchenyuk and Forsberg are interesting me alot.

[Manimal]

I've seen Forsberg on several occasions this year and I am impressed. He does not strike me as NHL-ready yet, however. Not at all like Landeskog was

[Loosie]

I've seen Forsberg on several occasions this year and I am impressed. He does not strike me as NHL-ready yet, however. Not at all like Landeskog was

Do you think whichever NHL team drafts would be able to convince him to come and play Major Junior?

[Manimal]

I've seen Forsberg on several occasions this year and I am impressed. He does not strike me as NHL-ready yet, however. Not at all like Landeskog was

Do you think whichever NHL team drafts would be able to convince him to come and play Major Junior?

I doubt it.
He is getting lots of icetime and faith from his team here in Sweden. He is signed for next year, so I am not sure if it is even possible.
I think a year in Sweden and then a year in the AHL would be best for him

[philou21]

7 years worth 45.5 millions for Karlsson at Ottawa. If he continu like this he will well worth that deal.

[leafsnation]

Scary that he'll only be 29 when the deal is up.

[leafsnation]

As for Forsberg, I'd really like to see him in a Leafs uni...

[Loosie]

As for Forsberg, I'd really like to see him in a Leafs uni...

Personally I think Galchenyuk is better suited for the Leafs, but of course he may not be there at 5th

[batdad]

Meh. Leafs will ruin whoever they draft. That player will not be any good until Loaf fans decide he is bad at age 19. Then he will be dealt. Burke has a history of bad 1st round picks (save the ones given to him...IE the Sedins)....so I would not put any faith in any player that organization picks.

[philou21]

Yay Karlsson won the Norris! And Landeskog the Calder! Great surprise, Swedes power!

Pacioretty won he Masterton, I'm really happy for him he got an outstanding season after his big injury.

[leafsnation]

For the record, here are the Leafs 1st round picks since 1984:
YEAR OVERALL Player
1984 4 Al Iafrate
1985 1 Wenhdel Clark
1986 6 Vincent Damphousse
1987 7 Luke Richardson
1988 6 Scott Pearson
1989 3 Scott Thornton
1989 12 Rob Pearson
1990 10 Drake Berehowsky
1992 8 Brandon Convery
1993 12 Kenny Jonsson
1994 16 Eric Fichaud
1995 15 Jeff Ware
1998 10 Nikolai Antropov
1999 24 Luca Cereda
2000 24 Brad Boyes
2001 17 Carlo Colaiacovo
2002 24 Alexander Steen
2005 21 Tukka Rask
2006 13 Jiri Tlusty
2008 5 Luke Schenn
2009 7 Nazem Kadri
2011 22 Tyler Biggs
2011 25 Stuart Percy


So all in all, batdad is correct.....terrible draft record in the first round for the Leafs. Only the last 4 are under Burke's watch, though.

[batdad]

And Schenn is already disliked or not playing the way "he should be capable of" At least with the Leaf fans. And oh...same goes for Kadri. Biggs and Percy....well ....yeah

[leafsnation]

In fairness, Montreal's first round draft picks haven't been much better (Price and Koivu stand out), while the Canucks excluding the Sedins have drafted Linden, Ohlund, Kesler and Schneider during the same time period. And don't even start on what Ottawa has done with their first rounders....

[batdad]

The Canucks picks in 1st round are pretty average no question. Same for Montreal. But Toronto has had much higher picks than Vancouver over time....Just saying...not exactly near the top of the class for Toronto. And the development of players there has been abysmal at best.

It is hard to compare the draft records over the last 4 seasons of a succesful team (Vancouver) with a weak team (Toronto) other than to say that the Leafs have rushed kids into the lineup which is probably hurting their development. Schenn and Kadri are prime examples of this...and when you compare those two and NHL games played to the Canucks picks from the same two seasons,,,well

2008 10 COdy Hodgson
2009 22 Jordan Schroeder


And Ottawa

2008 15 Erik Karlsson
2009 9 Jared Cowen

Montreal
2008 NO PICK
2009 Louis Leblanc

It is easy to say Ottawa won those two years. Clearly Karlson at 15 is a steal over Hodgson at 9 and Schenn at 3 in particular

2009--Hard to really judge. Schroeder has not played yet, Leblanc has played only a few games in comparison to Kadri, and Jared Cowen---appears to me to be the top pick of that bunch.

So being critical of Ottawa's picks in 08 and 09 is really hard to do at this point.

10, 11--really hard to judge. But by name recognition alone...

[philou21]

Bobrovski as been traded to Columbus it seems. Hard to understand this move, maybe just for more cap space for Philly? Bobrovski was doing a fine job as a back-up and with Mason in Columbus he will not play much more.

[batdad]

Bob the bug! Now the Jackets have a goalie. Apparently one of his major issues in Philly...none of his D spoke Russian. He has two in CBJ,

He will play way more in Columbus. Mason has been hideous...and he will get a chance to be the starter there. I bet he is the number 1 right now in CBJ mind.

Flyers have a kid in the minors as well that is pretty darn good. They are not worried about backup goalie. Not cap space deal. Just a hockey deal.

[philou21]

Even if Mason is getting worse since his rookie season I always thought the Jackets will die with him.

[philou21]

Canadiens should've pick Forsberg, they will regret it! As for the Oilers, they got the BPA but what about their defence? They will need to go with some UFA at a cheap price and a goalie too!

[philou21]

Wow alot of trades so far! And Jordan Staal will rejoin his brother in Carolina, now that's McDavid-ing awesome!!!

[philou21]

Malcom Subban to Boston! hahah Wasn't expecting this one at all. It seems that Rask isn't Boston starting goalie for a long time.

[timmy_t]

Wow alot of trades so far! And Jordan Staal will rejoin his brother in Carolina, now that's darn tootin' awesome!!!

They gave up a lot to get him though. I really hope that it works out for the Staal brothers. Now if they can only figure out how to get Marc...

Malcom Subban to Boston! hahah Wasn't expecting this one at all. It seems that Rask isn't Boston starting goalie for a long time.

If Boston lets him develop properly he won't start a game for them for at least 5 years. One to two more years at Belleville and at least two years in the AHL. Tuuka Rask is a 2005 draft pick and although he played 45 games in 2009-10 he hasn't taken on the role as a full time starter yet. Obviously he will this year with Thomas taking the season off, but you get my point.

[philou21]

I know the improvement of a goalie can take long, that's why I've said Rask isn't the starting goalie for a long time. I think 4 years could be good, even less if Subban got a good development. But I was expecting the Bruins to have faith in Rask for much longer.

[Loosie]

JVR to TOR for Schenn.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=399090

Good deal for both teams...and hey second brother act to get reunited this weekend!