In this weeks episode Doug Stolhand recaps every signing, trade and move made in the NHL the past week with analysis of which teams got better, which teams got worse and which teams still have work to do. He also tells you about the escalating war of words between Ducks GM Brian Burke and Oilers GM Kevin Lowe and why Lowe went too far, plus he fills you in on which former Hart Trophy winner may have played his last game in the NHL plus your e-mails and, of course, a whole lot more.
MP3 File
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Great show Doug! This year there is no performance bonus cushion so teams take the full hit. They just don’t have to pay him those incentives if Doug Weight doesn’t reach them.
Now for the Rangers…it isn’t that much of an upgrade and considering how much they overpaid. Naslund had 8 pts and a -8 in his last 22 games as a Canuck…so he could be on the tail end. Kalinan caused Buffalo fans to go nuts last year. A lot of changes of scenery in NYC this year. Will it work? I have my doubts.
The quirky thing is….the frenzy is not really over…when the offer sheets and such hit next week….the landscape is going to change some again. Coming soon….is the debut of The NHL Arena Podcast on August 3rd…enjoy the rest of the 4th of July weekend Doug and say hi to Eddie for us.
Doug:
Nice job today! My favorite part was the actual, real-time audio out of LA’s front office at the beginning of free agency, priceless!
Glad you liked that, Mark. I can get away with that kind of stuff when Eddie’s not there.
Nice job today, it’s always tougher to do when one of you isn’t their to do the show.
Sad that Jagr is gone. He was such a great player in his prime and still one of the top players out there. A bit of a drama queen though…
Good job Doug. It might seem a little odd that Doug Wilson would take on Boyle’s contract and let Campbell go, but word is that Campbell also wanted to play closer to Buffalo where I think his family resides? I like the trade because Boyle and Campbell are so comparable, and Boyle provides a right-handed shot, always a plus.
Blake’s signing for 5 million I don’t like so much, but mainly for that reason alone. I think his experience is valuable, along with that right-handed cannon of his so our powerplay will probably benefit as well. At least it’s only for one season, so we’ll get that 5 million back next year. Maybe there’s a player or two who become free agents next year that Wilson wants to take a shot at, or he can use it to re-sign some of our current players. I don’t think he’s done tweaking the Sharks just yet as we’re closer to the cap than Wilson probably wants. He sure likes his cap flexibility.
Sharks will badly underachieve this year, and in the end the team will get blown up for picks and prospects and Doug Wilson will get fired for Dean Lombardi.
Nice show Doug. I usually don’t find the 1 manned shows as entertaining since there is no back and forth conversation, but the show was a good listen, though the circumstances were a little special due to the free agent frenzy. I liked how you went through each team and their free agent acquisitions.
I too am sad to see Jagr leave the NHL (would have loved to see him return to Pittsburgh or join Edmonton). The Burke/Lowe feud was very entertaining….shame the NHL came down and ended it.
Btw, just read about an hour ago that the Blues signed Steve Bernier to an offer sheet. Very nice (revenge for the Backes offer sheet). 😀
MontanaCop, you may be right. Like all Sharks fans I’m tired of seeing the Sharks underachieve. Winning the Pacific division and finishing the regular season in 2nd place out of 30 teams is small consolation since the ultimate prize is Lord Stanley’s finest. But I’m confident we’ll get there.
I don’t think Doug Wilson’s future will hinge on this season alone. Here’s the interesting thing about the Blake signing. While any GM would love to have him even at this stage in his career (though not at 5 million), we’ll get that back next year. With McLaren gone and Cheechoo being an acceptable trade option, we should have upwards of 12 million dollars to spend in the next free agency period, and that’s based soley on this year’s cap. It’s likely to go up even more, if only by a little. That next free agency pool is going to be a lot deeper as far as forwards go… names like Zetterberg, Hossa, Gaborik, the Sedin’s just name a few. And keeper d-men like Ohlund, Komisarek, Morris and others just might want to test that lucrative free agent status. Wilson will be poised to make a strong move or two after this season. I’m happy with that and what we have for now. With a little luck and a lot of effort I still think the Sharks can pull it off this upcoming season and be in an even better position to do so in 09-10 if we fail… again.
Nate, I love your optimisim but we are talking about the fail boat that is San Jose.