Friedman's 31 thoughts - Sept 19

[sureLoss]

https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/...ripple-effect/

A few Flames related items:

12. As reported previously, both Carolina and Montreal are among teams looking closely at Dallas’s Julius Honka. I’d heard Calgary was, too, but that does not appear recent. Expect the Flames to be very careful with Juuso Valimaki. They will not rush him back. Long career ahead of him.

13. Teams trying to move bodies include Carolina and Vancouver. Both are tight to the cap and roster limits. The Canucks have made four or five players available, but I’m not sure Jake Virtanen is one of them. Head coach Travis Green was frustrated with Nikolay Goldobin last season, but GM Jim Benning opted for a longer view. Could be the same here. Calgary may have to manoeuvre something once Matthew Tkachuk is signed.

[sureLoss]

Other newsworthy items:

Biggest issue for Byfuglien is his ankle injury didn't heal as hoped and continues to give him problems

Dynamic between Laine and Jet is interesting. Apparently much of the dialogue between Laine and the Jets is trying to make him comfortable with organization rather than contract talks.

One of the teams believed to have offered an offer sheet to Marner are the Blue Jackets but he wouldn't agree to a long term deal and giving up 4 1st round picks for a short term deal didn't make sense.

The Wild tried to trade for Marner when Fenton was still GM but it didn't get far

Faulk's agent claims his client never asked for a trade and doesn't want to be traded. The Ducks trade appears to be dead.

NHL clubs are operating under the assumption that Ristolainen has asked for a trade but Bogosian and Montour injuries might affect how Buffalo handles that.

[Yamer]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Other newsworthy items:

Biggest issue for Byfuglien is his ankle injury didn't heal as hoped and continues to give him problems

Dynamic between Laine and Jet is interesting. Apparently much of the dialogue between Laine and the Jets is trying to make him comfortable with organization rather than contract talks.

One of the teams believed to have offered an offer sheet are the Blue Jackets but he wouldn't agree to a long term deal and giving up 4 1st round picks for a short term deal didn't make sense.

The Wild tried to trade for Marner when Fenton was still GM but it didn't get far

Faulk's agent claims his client never asked for a trade and doesn't want to be traded. The Ducks trade appears to be dead.

NHL clubs are operating under the assumption that Ristolainen has asked for a trade but Bogosian and Montour injuries might affect how Buffalo handles that.

Byfuglien - a man that size at his age and his ankle is the problem? That doesn't add up to anything positive.

Laine - that ain't good. Where there's smoke there's fire, and you have to wonder if the schism is too deep to rectify. Doesn't sound like he wants to be there, and if they're still trying to sell him on the location and organization after 3 years...yeesh. Trouba of a different nature all over again?

[getbak]

He hints at the possibility of Columbus making another attempt at an offer sheet. I wonder if we might see Kekalainen throw an offer at one of his fellow countrymen, either Laine or Rantanen?

They are one of the only teams that could fit a $10 million+ deal under the cap.

[Harry Lime]

I've always liked Ristolainen, but I'm sure that the asking price would be pretty high. Buffalo is an interesting team, in that they have a tonne of contracts ending this year, so they are going to be transitioning a lot of players.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by getbak

He hints at the possibility of Columbus making another attempt at an offer sheet. I wonder if we might see Kekalainen throw an offer at one of his fellow countrymen, either Laine or Rantanen?

They are one of the only teams that could fit a $10 million+ deal under the cap.

In LeBrun's latest article, he says Kekalainen sees Colorado's cap space as a losing proposition when it comes to an offer sheet on Rantanen

https://theathletic.com/1224884/2019...teal-for-sens/

[getbak]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

In LeBrun's latest article, he says Kekalainen sees Colorado's cap space as a losing proposition when it comes to an offer sheet on Rantanen

https://theathletic.com/1224884/2019...teal-for-sens/

Winnipeg, on the other hand, could be vulnerable. Although, if things have soured badly between Laine and the Jets, it could be like the Puljujarvi situation and the kid might avoid signing an offer sheet because he doesn't want to risk his current team matching and being locked down long-term in a situation he doesn't want to be a part of anymore.

[ComixZone]

A deal around Jankowski for Honka makes sense to me, as it then gives Tree the freedom to move Brodie.

Giordano - Andersson
Hanifin - Hamonic
Kylington - Honka
MacDonald - Stone

With Kylington perhaps starting in the AHL, and MacDonald sliding up into every day play.

[GioforPM]

Can't use ankle, can't do cardio in the off season.

[SeanCharles]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

A deal around Jankowski for Honka makes sense to me, as it then gives Tree the freedom to move Brodie.

Giordano - Andersson
Hanifin - Hamonic
Kylington - Honka
MacDonald - Stone

With Kylington perhaps starting in the AHL, and MacDonald sliding up into every day play.

Kylington has proven all he can in the AHL. Shelter him in the NHL, if need be but I say play him in the NHL over an aging vet.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by SeanCharles

Kylington has proven all he can in the AHL. Shelter him in the NHL, if need be but I say play him in the NHL over an aging vet.

I agree, I just get the sense that the organization isn’t overly keen to go all-in with Kylington. As soon as we acquired Fantenberg, Kylington was relegated to the press box, which I thought was a dumb decision at the time.

[bigrangy]

Honka sucks ass

He’s not a good target any more than Lazar was a good target

Already made the mistake once

[Toonage]

I believe Kylington was nursing an injury at the end of last season

[Poe969]

Re Vancouver making 4 or 5 players available, the players Benning would like to move and are on bad contracts. The only GM who'd be stupid enough to take some of Vancouver's garbage is the GM trying to trade them away

[GranteedEV]

I would strongly consider a Gillies / Honka swap

But that should not affect Brodie (top pair) or Kylington (LHD).

[mdubz]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

I would strongly consider a Gillies / Honka swap

But that should not affect Brodie (top pair) or Kylington (LHD).

Bad AHL goalie for a bright young D?

[Underdog]

If you're the Jets, you hope someone throws an offer sheet at Laine. You take the picks, use the space to sign Connor and move on. Laine's inconsistent one-dimensional play isn't worth the problems his large contract brings.

[bax]

Originally Posted by mdubz

Bad AHL goalie for a bright young D?

I wouldn't call Honka a bright, young D. He is turning 24 in 3 months and has yet to establish himself as an NHL regular. He is over a year older than Hanifin and Kylington, and almost a year older than Andersson. Heck, he is 3 years older than Valimaki.

He was healthy scratched for much of last year and even when Dallas ran into injuries they played 2 AHL call ups over him. He was given a pretty solid opportunity before that when Klingberg went down and didn't do much to help himself with it.

He still has potential and could be a good third pairing defender, but at this point he is almost a reclamation target- not somebody I would want to trade our third line center for. I could see him being moved for a couple of mid round draft picks.

He is a risky player- he is prone to turnovers at inopportune times and his offensive isn't good enough to make up for those mistakes. In my opinion, he is a lot like Kylington- just older and not as good.

[AustinL_NHL]

People sleeping on Honka (no surprise).

He's produced pretty solid results in the limited opportunities he's been given. Would be a solid 3rd pair D-man for us.

[blender]

Love the assessments of Honka here. From sucking ass to reclamation project to bright young D. At least we know he is somewhere in that range, lol.