It's Here! The 2006-2007 NHL Season Thread

[Tekneek]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

And Ryan Smyth has been as good as advertised so far. Hope we can get him locked up.

I don't care where he signs, as long as he gets more than Kevin Lowe was offering him. I'm sick and tired of the way he has been talking about that negotiation. I am also annoyed with the way so many of the Oilers faithful have fallen right in line with Kevin Lowe on this one, on queue, sucking up every line dropped from management. Get your money, Captain Canada.

Of course, signing with the Isles would be alright since I do like that team.

[Karim]

We'd like to re-sign Stuart just as much as the Isles want to re-sign Smyth or the Predators want to re-sign Forsberg but I can't think of a time when a high-profile rental actually signed with the team they were traded to before free agency.

It's common to forego free agency with your existing team but after you've been traded? Most of those guys will want to test the waters and see what kind of offers they get.

[Tekneek]

I guess the Roloson acquisition was not high profile, but that one immediately came to mind. He stayed with Edmonton. Seems like there have been a few of them over the years, but you're right that the vast majority don't. To me, all I care is that Ryan Smyth ends up being proven right on his value and that Kevin Lowe (along with all the fans drinking the kool-aid) is wrong on this one.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

I'd be interested in hearing any info about the Isles' prospects.

Why is Marc Staal so high on that list??? I thought he had regressed a good amount since he was drafted. Doesn't Bourdon's stock have to be dropping fast also?

Isles Top 10 (keep in mind the grading I think begins in Dec/Jan, so traded prospects are going to appear with their original teams)

1) Kyle Okposo (#8 overall)
2) Ryan O'Marra
3) Denis Grebeshkov
4) Petteri Nokelainen
5) Robert Nilsson
6) Blake Comeau
7) Jeff Tambellini
8) Igor Volkov
9) Jeremy Colliton
10) Wes O'Neill

So, by those grades, the Isles gave up on their #2, 3, and 5 prospects.

Team grades given include any NHLers age 21 or younger (so the Pens rank first, when calculating in Sid, Geno and Jordan). Isles given a B-, and a 17 out 30 ranking.

Comeau reminds me a little bit of a bigger version of the Pen's Max Talbot.

Is Colliton the kid who had a pretty severe concussion near the end of last season, or am I thinking of someone else?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Just out of curiosity, anybody know whether this site & offer is legit?
(claims to be downloadable copy of THN Future Watch issue for $3.99)
http://www.zinio.com/issue?is=122956362&ns=zno

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

Isles Top 10 (keep in mind the grading I think begins in Dec/Jan, so traded prospects are going to appear with their original teams)

1) Kyle Okposo (#8 overall)
2) Ryan O'Marra
3) Denis Grebeshkov
4) Petteri Nokelainen
5) Robert Nilsson
6) Blake Comeau
7) Jeff Tambellini
8) Igor Volkov
9) Jeremy Colliton
10) Wes O'Neill

So, by those grades, the Isles gave up on their #2, 3, and 5 prospects.

Team grades given include any NHLers age 21 or younger (so the Pens rank first, when calculating in Sid, Geno and Jordan). Isles given a B-, and a 17 out 30 ranking.

Comeau reminds me a little bit of a bigger version of the Pen's Max Talbot.

Is Colliton the kid who had a pretty severe concussion near the end of last season, or am I thinking of someone else?

Thanks for that. That does not match, AT ALL, with my personal rankings.

Okposo I had as #1, then I had Nilsson and Tambellini. O'Marra really did not look good in the OHL this year. Grebs was very ordinary in Russia and never showed anything in North America. Sean Bergenheim is not even on that list, which is really confusing. Igor Volkov is not a prospect whatsoever, while Wes O'Neill's stock is on the rise.

So in short, is this Future Watch thing usually pretty good, or no? Because its rankings for the Isles do not make much sense, at all, to me.

I do not remember anything about Colliton having a concussion. As it is right now, he's had a cup of tea in the NHL, but is no more than a C-minus prospect at this point.

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Just out of curiosity, anybody know whether this site & offer is legit?
(claims to be downloadable copy of THN Future Watch issue for $3.99)
http://www.zinio.com/issue?is=122956362&ns=zno

Zinio is legitimate. There are links to Zinio at THN - http://www.thehockeynews.com/en/news...p?idNews=21665

Zinio also handles THN digital subscriptions.

[JPhillips]

I'd be interested in the Washington prospect list. Does it say anything about what guys can be expected to play next year?

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

Thanks for that. That does not match, AT ALL, with my personal rankings.

Okposo I had as #1, then I had Nilsson and Tambellini. O'Marra really did not look good in the OHL this year. Grebs was very ordinary in Russia and never showed anything in North America. Sean Bergenheim is not even on that list, which is really confusing. Igor Volkov is not a prospect whatsoever, while Wes O'Neill's stock is on the rise.

So in short, is this Future Watch thing usually pretty good, or no? Because its rankings for the Isles do not make much sense, at all, to me.

I do not remember anything about Colliton having a concussion. As it is right now, he's had a cup of tea in the NHL, but is no more than a C-minus prospect at this point.

I don't know if I'd spend $7-8 bucks at a newsstand for it, but it comes as part of my subscription, and it's a good read.

Also, just guessing here, but how many NHL games as Bergie played? I think they have a game limit cutoff, but also use some judgement. For example, in Dec when they are looking at these kids, Jordan Staal only had about 35 NHL games, but he didn't get ranked as a prospect. I want to say 50 games is the cut off point, but could be wrong.

I can't for the life of me remember who the Isle's kid was who got a concussion last year. I believe he may have ended up retiring?

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

I'd be interested in the Washington prospect list. Does it say anything about what guys can be expected to play next year?

1) Nik Backstrom (#3 overall)
2) Eric Fehr (#22 overall)
3) Simeon Varlamov (#36 overall)
4) Tomas Fleischmann
5) Michaal Neuvirth
6) Joe Finley
7) Francois Bouchard
8) Chris Bourque
9) Jeff Schultz
10) Patrick McNeil

Curious about Finley (6-7 229 drated in 2005) and Schultz (6-6 215 drafted in 2004). Seems like both guys were drafted for the old NHL, both in the late first round. Much like Boris Valabik in Atlanta, and Coburn moving from Atlanta to Philly, are these two going to struggle if/when the make the NHL?

[JPhillips]

Good to see Varlamov still on track. I'm afraid that by the time the team can make a Cup run Kolzig will be too old to get it done.

As for the big defensemen, those picks were questioned at the time and look even more dubious now. I hope the Caps use some of their vast sum of cap space for a couple top dmen this summer. I'd also like to see them get a top line C to add with Ovechkin, Semin, Backstrom and whoever they get with a probable top 5 pick this year.

The heat is starting to build on this team. If they aren't in the playoffs next year I think McPhee and Hanlon could be gone. It's time for the rebuilding to produce some results.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Good to see Varlamov still on track. I'm afraid that by the time the team can make a Cup run Kolzig will be too old to get it done.

As for the big defensemen, those picks were questioned at the time and look even more dubious now. I hope the Caps use some of their vast sum of cap space for a couple top dmen this summer. I'd also like to see them get a top line C to add with Ovechkin, Semin, Backstrom and whoever they get with a probable top 5 pick this year.

The heat is starting to build on this team. If they aren't in the playoffs next year I think McPhee and Hanlon could be gone. It's time for the rebuilding to produce some results.

Also, Caps ranked 2nd with an overall grade of A (behind Pittsburgh), including their 21 and under guys--AO and Mike Green.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

THN Future Watch is out. Anyone interested in their teams prospects, grades, etc, just post here, I'll try to get to them all.

I'm curious where the two Atlanta prospects recently traded (Coburn & Bourret) were in their rankings & who was ahead of them. I'm guessing that they would have been listed with Atlanta rather than their new teams. I'm also curious if anybody playing with their ECHL affiliate warranted a mention of any note (I'm guessing not but y'never know).

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I'm curious where the two Atlanta prospects recently traded (Coburn & Bourret) were in their rankings & who was ahead of them. I'm guessing that they would have been listed with Atlanta rather than their new teams. I'm also curious if anybody playing with their ECHL affiliate warranted a mention of any note (I'm guessing not but y'never know).

Thrashers Top 10

1) Bryan Little (31 overall)
2) Ondrej Pavelec (60 overall)
3) Alex Bourret
4) Boris Valabik
5) Nathan Oystrick
6) Riley Holzapfel
7) Brett Sterling
8) Tobias Enstrom
9) Chad Denny
10) Jordan LaVallee

Atlanta graded a C+ and ranked 26th. Coburn not listed, other than in the 21 and under category--I assume the scouts counting him as an NHLer. It may be the same reasoning as above in the NYI response with Bergenheim. Any idea how many NHL games Coburn has played over the past 3 seasons?

An intersting note, they try applying a 'leveling system', to account for teams drafting high over multiple years. For example, the Pens have a #1 ranking, but also an Average Draft Position (ADP) of 1.5 from 2003-2006-- Fleury(1), Malkin(2), Crosby(1), Staal(2). So they SHOULD be ranked #1 in prospects.

Atlanta had an ADP of 11.5, the 7th highest ADP. But, their #26 ranking gave them a low score of -19 (differential between draft spot and ranking).

Conversely, Boston's ADP of 27.8 was 25th, and their prospects rank 6th, a leading differential of +19. Nashville had a +18.

As far as the ECHL, there are a few ECHL players listed. If I had to guess, I'll say maybe 10-15 total across all 30 teams, but I'd have to look more closely to be sure. The one I distinctly remember is Devan Dubnyk, EDM #1 pick in 2004. He is ranked #4 for EDM (#74 overall), actually ahead of J Deslauriers, the #7 Oilers prospect. He is in the ECHL because of EDM lacking an AHL team and farming out their kids to multiple other teams, including Pittsburgh's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton team, where Deslauriers is splitting time.

To come up with other, I'd need to search through the book...which might come in handy at that 3:00 conference call.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

Coburn not listed. It may be the same reasoning as above in the NYI response with Bergenheim. Any idea how many NHL games Coburn has played over the past 3 seasons?

9 last year, 29 w/Atlanta this year, and 3 so far with Philly. 41 total as of today, almost certainly less than 30 when they were compiling the list for publication.

[Pyser]

can you post the devils list, please?

[Chubby]

oh heck, please post a Sabres list when you get a chance too

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

9 last year, 29 w/Atlanta this year, and 3 so far with Philly. 41 total as of today, almost certainly less than 30 when they were compiling the list for publication.

Take this for what it's worth from the intro to the rankings -

A player with fewer than 50 NHL games is considered a prospect, although exceptions are made. Some players fall under that line, but have clearly established themselves as NHLers (Malkin, Kopitar, Wolski).

Now, does Coburn fall into the category of those three? No...so who knows.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Pyser

can you post the devils list, please?

1) Nik Bergfors (#49 overall)
2) Jeff Frazee
3) Matt Corrente
4) Andy Greene
5) Rod Pelley
6) Alexander Vasyunov
7) David Clarkson
8) Mark Fayne
9) Tyler Eckford
10) Sean Zimmerman

Those guys towards the end of the top 10 were all picked with picks 150 or later in their drafts. And, in typical Devil fashion, will probably end up solid, but unspectacular players.

The Devils received a C overall grade, including Zajac in their 21 and under ranking, 27th overall.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

Now, does Coburn fall into the category of those three? No...so who knows.

Just happened to run across this on the Thrashers prospects from another site
http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/9477

So I check the Flyers list & Coburn is in the "other prospects" list for them now, so considered below the top 20 in the organization they rank as the worst for prospects.

I suspect his absence from the THN list might be just one sign of how low his stock has dropped in the past year.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Chubby

oh heck, please post a Sabres list when you get a chance too

1) Drew Stafford (#17 overall)
2) Andrej Sekera (#51 overall)
3) Dan Paille (#58 overall)
4) Clarke MacArthur
5) Dennis Persson
6) Marek Zargrapan
7) Jhonas Enroth
8) Michael Funk
9) MA Gragnani
10) Mark Mancari

I was a little surprised Zagrapan has slipped, but looking at his numbers I guess he didn't produce in Rochester as anticipated. I think he was in the top 20 or so last season.

Buffalo given a C+, 20th overall. No other players, at the NHL level, included in the 21 and under grade.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Quick look through comes up with only one other ECHL player--

David Shantz, Panthers prospect, is in Florida of the ECHL. But, again, this is another instance of teams sharing AHL roster space (Panther players are in Rochester with the Sabres kids). Buffalo I'd imagine has say over which player are seeing the most playing time.

And Coburn...no idea. Not sure how often HF updates their rankings. I wonder where he was in the Atlanta system prior to the move. Could have been in the 'Graduated' category?

[Suburban Rhythm]

Dola-

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07064/767020-100.stm

The Penguins have declared an impasse in negotiations with government officials over construction of a new arena and will aggressively explore relocating the team to a new city.

[Dr. Sak]

If that sleeze ball Ed drops the ball on this one he'll never be able to set foot in the city again...wait up until now he never knew Pennsylvania existed west of Harrisburg.

[Chubby]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

1) Drew Stafford (#17 overall)
2) Andrej Sekera (#51 overall)
3) Dan Paille (#58 overall)
4) Clarke MacArthur
5) Dennis Persson
6) Marek Zargrapan
7) Jhonas Enroth
8) Michael Funk
9) MA Gragnani
10) Mark Mancari

I was a little surprised Zagrapan has slipped, but looking at his numbers I guess he didn't produce in Rochester as anticipated. I think he was in the top 20 or so last season.

Buffalo given a C+, 20th overall. No other players, at the NHL level, included in the 21 and under grade.

Nice, thanks.

With the way Stafford has been playing, I'm not expecting him to go back down to Rochester even when the injuries heal.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by bsak16

If that sleeze ball Ed drops the ball on this one he'll never be able to set foot in the city again...wait up until now he never knew Pennsylvania existed west of Harrisburg.

Actually, he would be able to...because the downtown area (and I mean town, not South Side or North Shore) will become a ghost town. The sidewalks will roll up at 6:00 pm. He could walk down Grant Street and not be seen for miles.

[TazFTW]

Booooooo Chris Simon. Boooooooooo.

[bhlloy]

Holy shit... I wish fucking idiots like Simon would stop doing that. Simon hasn't been an enforcer for at least 5 years, but there will be three articles on Yahoo Sports tomorrow morning demanding that fighting is banned.

[DeToxRox]

This is why there needs to be fighting.

When Probert or Kocur played, Simon wouldn't need a suspension because his broken orbital bone from a fight would put him out longer.

[Tekneek]

Simon was wrong and should be punished, but I don't feel bad for Hollweg. He's not an innocent angel that was singled out by mean ol' Chris Simon.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Should have been added awhile ago, but I've been spending most of my time in the Pens relocation thread.

Jordan Staal scored his 7th SHG of the season vs. OTT Tuesday night, breaking the rookie record previously shared by Gerry Minor (80-81 Canucks) and John Madden (99-00 Devils).

[Honolulu_Blue]

Simon just snapped there. He got hit from behind, got up seeing red, and just went after Hollweg with a vicious slash to the face. Hollweg probably should have gotten 2 minutes for boarding for the hit, but that doesn't justify a two-hander to the face. It's just as bad, or worse, than the McSorely thing. The only positive to come out of it is that Hollweg was fine.

[Maple Leafs]

Chris, Chris, Chris...

What have we said, over and over again: If you're going to goon somebody in the NHL, go ahead, but don't do it against one of the New York based teams! If you do that, Bettman will actually see it!

You're screwed now, fellow. See you in October.

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Chris, Chris, Chris...

What have we said, over and over again: If you're going to goon somebody in the NHL, go ahead, but don't do it against one of the New York based teams! If you do that, Bettman will actually see it!

You're screwed now, fellow. See you in October.

He did it because he knew Bettman was in Philadelphia for the night.

[Maple Leafs]

Well, let's fire up the NHL Suspend-O-Matic and see what we're dealing with:

Start with the basic NHL Suspension Guidelines:
- Headhunting hit delivered two seconds late: 3 games
- Headhunting hit delivered one second late: 0 games
- Chopping at a player's eyes with a goalie stick: 3 games
- Kicking in the groin with a skate (first offense): 2 games
- Kicking in the groin with a skate (multiple offenses): 5 games
- Knee-on-knee hit: 0 games
- Elbow to the head: 0 games
- Driving a guy face first into the boards to negate an icing: 0 games
- Anything not mentioned above that injures someone but doesn't cause them to actually die: 3 games
- Anything not mentioned above that kills somebody: 4 games

Then add the following modifiers:

Did this happen a few days after other high-profile incidents that have everyone calling for tougher suspensions?
- If yes, add five games

Does the victim play for one of the New York teams (Islanders, Devils or Rangers?)
- If yes, add five games

Did the TV cameras catch an overzealous doctor checking the player's pulse while he was down?
- If yes, add eight games.

Is the player being suspended a fourth-liner at the end of his career who we can make an example of without too much complaining?
- If yes, add eight games.

Did Larry King, Regis Philbin or David Letterman mention this on TV?
- If yes, add ten games and have Gary Bettman call press conference.

Hmm... looks like we won't be seeimg Mr. Simon until the second round of the playoffs.

[Dr. Sak]

I was doing a quick stat check on Peter Forsberg, mainly because he is on my fantasy team and I noticed that since the trade to Nashville he has 1 goal and 5 assists in 7 games. Upshall on the other hand has 6 goals and 4 assists in 13 games. I don't think this trade is turning out how Nashville thought it would. Hopefully he can get healthy and stay healthy for their playoff run.

Side note...both players were the 6th overall pick in their respective drafts.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Mentioned during the Pens-Devils game last night, Pens now have 12 10+ goal scorers. Yeah, not as flashy as X number of 30+ guys etc, but still shows a pretty deep squad. That leads the league in that category.

One note on that, Gary Roberts is included, although he only had 2 as a Penguin.

Malkin, Crosby, Staal, Recchi, Malone, Ouellett, Christensen, Roberts, Armstrong, Talbot, Whitney and Gonchar.


Also,

Pens heading into last night's games had-
League's leading scorer (Crosby)
League's leading scoring defenseman (Gonchar)--ok he is/was tied with Lidstrom.
League's leading rookie scorer (Malkin)

Last time a team ended the season with all 3----1959-60 Blackhawks.
Bobby Hull
Pierre Pilote
Bill Hay

[Dr. Sak]

No one is even mentioning Jordan Stall when talking about top rookies. He is only a few goals behind Malkin.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by bsak16

No one is even mentioning Jordan Stall when talking about top rookies. He is only a few goals behind Malkin.

That reminds me, could add two more to those league leader numbers--

Staal tied with Lecavalier with 8 SHP, but would win the tie breaker with 7 SHG.

Erik Christensen tied for the lead with Mikko Koivu with 8 shootout goals, in 13 attempts.

As far as Staal, he has 28 G, but only 10 A, that's hurting him. But another amazing stat, he'd gone something like 30+ games as an even/plus player. And he's doing it at 18 years old. But, +/- isn't going to get him any Calder votes.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I am amazed by the poise of that Penguins team. I'm sure that much of it can be attributed to coaching, but those players act like they just know how to win. They're working for their success, and it's not just being handed to them. That's a really, really good group of hockey players.

Heading toward the playoffs, I think the best thing that could have happened to these kids was Recchi's trade to Carolina last year. I know Recchi won a Cup in Pittsburgh in 1991, but how many of these Penguins even remember 1991? Many of these guys could barely walk back then. With Recchi having won a Cup last year, though, imagine how those kids are going to listen when he points out how hard you have to work in the playoffs. He can give them insight about the playoffs in "the new NHL." The youngsters on that team are going to learn a lot from him.

I'm still a Devils fan first, but I'm excited about watching the Penguins in the playoffs. It's been a long time since I got really, really excited about just watching a team perform (in any sport).

Sooooo... when do tickets for the home opener at the new arena go on sale?

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

Sooooo... when do tickets for the home opener at the new arena go on sale?

I've got your back Pumpy...I'm sure I'll have a Devils game in my plan in 2009. Send me a PM in Sept of 2009 to remind me.

[Pyser]

big trouble in little new jersey

we're still without gionta, and now elias and madden went down with groin injuries yesterday.

plus white's hand keeps acting up and keeping him out of random games.

gotta get healthy quickly, while still holding off the pens. yikes.

[Dr. Sak]

If NJ wouldnt have such shitty ice they wouldn't have these groin problems.

[Pyser]

new arena coming. what do you want?

your pens left just fine.

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by Pyser

new arena coming. what do you want?

your pens left just fine.

I like the Pens but I am a (duckiong)Flyers Fan. I have watched a bunch of Devils games on Center Ice and have noticed that a couple announcers noted how bad the ice was.

[DeToxRox]

Detroit and Nashville played two playoff quality games back to back on Tuesday and Wednesday, definetly got me pumped for the real Chase for the Cup to start. The West is going to be unreal this year, while the East is so wide open (with Buffalos injuries) that it could resemble the West last year.

Lets end the madness now and get rollin'.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Holy schnikees Batman! Pens only two points behind the Devils now!

Sorry Pumpy. Not trying to rub it in. Really. I'm not....ok maybe a little.

[Travis]

So heading into the game against the Canucks tonight with a chance to tie a team record for most consecutive losses, the Oilers have 12 players out or likely to miss the game, including 3 (Staios, Smid, Tjarnqvist) of their opening day defensemen (with a fourth, Bergeron, having been traded). In total, we'll have more defensemen missing the game (add Gilbert, Roy and Hejda) than they'll have in the lineup (6 likely to miss tonight's game, 5 will suit up, including an emergency callup from the Q). Of those 5, 3 are household names like Danny Syvret, Bryan Young and Sebastian Basaillon.

Then add Stoll, Hemsky, Lupul, Reasoner, Nedved and Moreau being out up front, and well, hello to a tied record. Question is, how far past 11 will they reach, and how many more defensive injuries before my job application to play D get answered?

[Pyser]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

Holy schnikees Batman! Pens only two points behind the Devils now!

Sorry Pumpy. Not trying to rub it in. Really. I'm not....ok maybe a little.

we're down our top 2 point scorers and our best defensive center...which to the devils, is maybe worse than losing the 2 scorers.

that said i think we'll hang on, if we can figure out how to actually win a game at home.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by bsak16

No one is even mentioning Jordan Stall when talking about top rookies. He is only a few goals behind Malkin.

don't watch Don Cherry much?