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Mr Buckeye I am a huge college football fan. But I have to draw the line refuse to watch a sport that does not crown a true champion. The BCS and the bowl game deal is the biggest scam in sports. Texas is going to run right over OSU. It will be especially sweet for them to do it in C-Bus. I'll have to eat crow if OSU pulls out a W. Hopefully for Texas they have neutral conference refs. Michigan will get out coached by a man who orchestrated 3 of the last 4 Super Bowl wins calling the plays in NE. People will see this year why NE was so good in the clutch. They have great coaching on the offensive and defensive side of things, not any more though. ND with a pro offense is going to be tough to stop. I cant put my trust in Lloyd Carr of all people to pull out a big win. Too conservative of a coach and he doesnt have a killer instinct to put games away. This coming from a MICHIGAN fan whose dad played basketball at Michigan! gwg.... The NCAA tried to set up a championship system. It was ripped on by fans and media alike. Because Oregon was 'robbed' of ther place in the championship game by a fluke in the calculations, the system was altered. And then USC was 'robbed' of their "rightful" place. LSU should have won both polls that year...AP just didn't want to move them up 2 spots to first right before the bowls. And hence we have had USC getting free passes in the polls...If not for the thing a couple years back, they might not have gotten in last year, or might have been playing Auburn. But everyone felt that they 'had' to vote USC. during the season despite there being like 5 undefeated teams doing just as well most of the year.

No, you are rooting against Texas because of the Rose Bowl and because a Big Ten win makes Michigan look better. You never root for Ohio State, you simply root against their opponent.

On the Bonds thing: There is zero evidence that proves concretely Bonds ever once took steroids. Bonds says himself he never knowingly did it, and used what he was told was an arthritis medicine provided to him by his trainer that does match the description of 'the creme.' Without concrete proof, they CAN'T do anything. If they tried to ban Bonds and he had a test done by an independent lab that showed he was not on steroids...that could be a major lawsuit. And besides...Bonds has been rehabbing his knee all year anyway. Why don't you pick on Raffi 'I don't never did steroids' Palmeiro? He tested positive after being named in Canseco's book and questioned by Congress. You'd think he'd have gotten the message. Maybe he just shot up TOO much and his body produces at that level now. Mr Cream and Clear Bonds admitted to using the cream but said he didnt know what is was when he took it. His trainer has admitted giving it to him. Gary Sheffield lived with Bonds and testified that Bonds gave him the cream the clear. Jason Giambi also testified to it. MLB has a very strong case to ban Bonds from the game. Bottom line, baseball is a game of cheaters with a very few select natural players hidden in the middle. Palmeiro is a disgrace to lie before Congress and then get caught. MLB is an EVEN BIGGER disgrace to delay announcement of his suspension so he can get his 3,000 hit in. Why do you think Barry Bonds hasn't been banned yet? He is close to breaking the most hallowed record in baseball. MLB wants him to break the record to create ratings and $$$ for the sport. They DONT CARE that he cheated to get there. I dont care to ever watch another game of baseball. End of story. Giambi got it from Anderson, not Bonds. Giambi actually testified that he never spoke to Barry about it. And the fact remains...for them to ban him from the game, they would probably have to be able to make it hold up in court. Because as they have a strict testing policy which includes a lifetime ban, and Bonds has not tested positive, they can't touch him on that issue. EDIT: And btw...he said he took the steroid creme, but didn't know it was STEROIDS. If you trust your trainr, and they tell you something is not steroids, do you believe them?

I don't believe it was a case of not being able to hang onto players, but more of a case of not knowing which players to hang onto. He's made countless crazy trades. He's traded away Bertuzzi, McCabe, Berard, Chara, Redden, Brewer, Luongo, Jokinen, Spezza (indirectly), Osgood, etc... Half the time he trades away the assets he traded for. peace Osgood was traded when he was coming back from injury, while snow was playing great and he was opening up room for dipietro. That was not a matter of bad decision and more a matter of moving forward. I think they should have moved Snow while he was hot, instead of moving a guy going into the last year of his deal. Bt they got a decent prospect and picks for him, so it wasn't all bad. The Redden thing was a matter of him not wanting to play there and Berard not wanting to play in Ottawa. Milbury would have rather had Redden, he just didn't get the choice. In all fairness, the deal was made basically at the draft and Berard was considered the better player. Chara was basically equal to Eric Cairns as an Isle...he took a major developmental step in Ottawa that never looked like it was going to happen in NY. Bertuzzi was regressing in his development and he and the coaches had lost confidence. Not exactly the best thing for a young player. Brewer was traded for Roman Hamrlik, who was better then and is better now. At 26, Brewer could get much better than he is now, but he's not nearly as good as Oilers fans liked to make him out to be. To call trading Brewer in that deal a bad decision is like saying Keenan shouldn't have traded Shanny for Pronger. McCabe was appearing to regress as well. His ice time increased yearly, but he was getting worse defensively and only the ice time increased his points from year one to two, and his offense disappeared from his second to third year until after the trade. He scored 12 points in 56 games that yea as an Isle. Unfortunately, it appears to have just been an Isles thing, as he potted 12 points in 26 games with the Nucks (a pace he would not repeat until 01-02, as Toronto's #1 defenseman.) Bertuzzi was in that trade basically so Vancouver got a forward and so the Isles didn't have to deal with him any more. McCabe was the prize. Of course he was later traded for a first round pick in Burke's Sedin shuffling, and we see how good those moves turned out. I don't think he got full value for Luongo...but there was the feeling he had to deal one of the goalies, and he felt Dipietro had better upside (which is why he took him first overall in the first place.) A slick move Milbury might have been able to get away with would have been to trade Luongo to Atlanta for the second pick and something else...He could have then gotten his goalie, Heatley, and whatever else. Jokinen scored 21 points in 82 games as an isle, after scoring 21 in 66 as a king his rookie year. his production would drop again his first year as a panther, before raising to 29 his fourth year. It wasn't until his fifth year, third as a panther, that he posted big numbers. He is also a career -86, his best being even in his second year. He has 210 points in 477 games. Jokinen's first two years with the Panthers were still not as productive as Parrish's career-worst season (first year with NYI.) Parrish has 254 points in 442 games, is a -25, and a 3-time plus. Both are 6-year vets. Kvasha has had the best +/- success (four times plus in six years, career -3), but has been the least offensively productive (185 points in 429 games) So all players have been basically even over their careers, with Jokinen's huge last two years pulling him up to par. Kvasha is just breaking out, so he should be up on that 55-65 point level, and Parrish has shown he can do that. He should hover around the 50-55 point mark for the next few years, maybe a little higher. I think Kvasha will end up as the best forward of the three because while +/- is not a great defensive indicator, Kvasha is easily the best defensive forward of the bunch and he is more physical than the others. I think he might have the most offensive upside when all is said and done as well..he has shown some real skill that is still developing. Jokinen and Parrish should be comparable. So Luongo for Kvasha was basically what Milbury did. If Dipietro pans out as he could and Kvasha does well (he led the Isles in scoring last year and is only 25, so it seems entirely possible) then while on its own that's not great, in context that doesn't turn out so bad. Berard was traded for Potvin around the same time Tommy Salo was traded for Mats Lindgren.and the pick used on Radek Martinek, who has turned out pretty well. That was later in the season in 1998-99. The Isles early the next season traded Potvin and a irrelevant pik for Weekes, Scatchard, and Muckalt, all of whom were very solid for the Isles. Vancouver dropped Potvin for free within a season, so Milbury comes off pretty well there. The next summer, Weekes, Kudroc, and the pick used on Matthew Spiller were traded for a first pick (Torres) and a couple other picks used on crap prospects. So basically, within a season and a half it was Berard, Kudroc, and Salo for Lindgren, Martinek, Torres, Scatchard, Muckalt. That's a pretty decent return. torres was traded in 03 with brad isbister for janne niinimaa. Nice breakdown! Thanks...it's just that I've always thought Milbury was a very underrated GM. The moment he was given a budget beyond 'whatever he could get from the gumball machine in the lobby' he turned the team into a pretty solid team by swinging just a couple deals. He didn't have much to work with from a last-place team--if Chara had been looking at all like future Norris material, he would either 1) never have had to include the pick or 2) gotten a much larger return, perhaps including Phillips. Speaking of GMs and budget management...how about Clarke, Burke, and Lamoirello this year? Burke and Lamoirello were always praised for their skills at keeping a low budget but building a quality team, while Clarke was one of the guys derided for overspending and it was said if a cap was put in that the Flyers would fall apart. Wonder what's going through those minds?

I don't believe it was a case of not being able to hang onto players, but more of a case of not knowing which players to hang onto. He's made countless crazy trades. He's traded away Bertuzzi, McCabe, Berard, Chara, Redden, Brewer, Luongo, Jokinen, Spezza (indirectly), Osgood, etc... Half the time he trades away the assets he traded for. peace Osgood was traded when he was coming back from injury, while snow was playing great and he was opening up room for dipietro. That was not a matter of bad decision and more a matter of moving forward. I think they should have moved Snow while he was hot, instead of moving a guy going into the last year of his deal. Bt they got a decent prospect and picks for him, so it wasn't all bad. The Redden thing was a matter of him not wanting to play there and Berard not wanting to play in Ottawa. Milbury would have rather had Redden, he just didn't get the choice. In all fairness, the deal was made basically at the draft and Berard was considered the better player. Chara was basically equal to Eric Cairns as an Isle...he took a major developmental step in Ottawa that never looked like it was going to happen in NY. Bertuzzi was regressing in his development and he and the coaches had lost confidence. Not exactly the best thing for a young player. Brewer was traded for Roman Hamrlik, who was better then and is better now. At 26, Brewer could get much better than he is now, but he's not nearly as good as Oilers fans liked to make him out to be. To call trading Brewer in that deal a bad decision is like saying Keenan shouldn't have traded Shanny for Pronger. McCabe was appearing to regress as well. His ice time increased yearly, but he was getting worse defensively and only the ice time increased his points from year one to two, and his offense disappeared from his second to third year until after the trade. He scored 12 points in 56 games that yea as an Isle. Unfortunately, it appears to have just been an Isles thing, as he potted 12 points in 26 games with the Nucks (a pace he would not repeat until 01-02, as Toronto's #1 defenseman.) Bertuzzi was in that trade basically so Vancouver got a forward and so the Isles didn't have to deal with him any more. McCabe was the prize. Of course he was later traded for a first round pick in Burke's Sedin shuffling, and we see how good those moves turned out. I don't think he got full value for Luongo...but there was the feeling he had to deal one of the goalies, and he felt Dipietro had better upside (which is why he took him first overall in the first place.) A slick move Milbury might have been able to get away with would have been to trade Luongo to Atlanta for the second pick and something else...He could have then gotten his goalie, Heatley, and whatever else. Jokinen scored 21 points in 82 games as an isle, after scoring 21 in 66 as a king his rookie year. his production would drop again his first year as a panther, before raising to 29 his fourth year. It wasn't until his fifth year, third as a panther, that he posted big numbers. He is also a career -86, his best being even in his second year. He has 210 points in 477 games. Jokinen's first two years with the Panthers were still not as productive as Parrish's career-worst season (first year with NYI.) Parrish has 254 points in 442 games, is a -25, and a 3-time plus. Both are 6-year vets. Kvasha has had the best +/- success (four times plus in six years, career -3), but has been the least offensively productive (185 points in 429 games) So all players have been basically even over their careers, with Jokinen's huge last two years pulling him up to par. Kvasha is just breaking out, so he should be up on that 55-65 point level, and Parrish has shown he can do that. He should hover around the 50-55 point mark for the next few years, maybe a little higher. I think Kvasha will end up as the best forward of the three because while +/- is not a great defensive indicator, Kvasha is easily the best defensive forward of the bunch and he is more physical than the others. I think he might have the most offensive upside when all is said and done as well..he has shown some real skill that is still developing. Jokinen and Parrish should be comparable. So Luongo for Kvasha was basically what Milbury did. If Dipietro pans out as he could and Kvasha does well (he led the Isles in scoring last year and is only 25, so it seems entirely possible) then while on its own that's not great, in context that doesn't turn out so bad. Berard was traded for Potvin around the same time Tommy Salo was traded for Mats Lindgren.and the pick used on Radek Martinek, who has turned out pretty well. That was later in the season in 1998-99. The Isles early the next season traded Potvin and a irrelevant pik for Weekes, Scatchard, and Muckalt, all of whom were very solid for the Isles. Vancouver dropped Potvin for free within a season, so Milbury comes off pretty well there. The next summer, Weekes, Kudroc, and the pick used on Matthew Spiller were traded for a first pick (Torres) and a couple other picks used on crap prospects. So basically, within a season and a half it was Berard, Kudroc, and Salo for Lindgren, Martinek, Torres, Scatchard, Muckalt. That's a pretty decent return. torres was traded in 03 with brad isbister for janne niinimaa.

Milbury was so unbelievably hosed on that deal (among others). peace At the same time, Milbury until 2001 Was operating under a lower budget than Calgary or Edmonton and he didn't get the media 'oh but it's a small market Canadian team' free pass. Imagine if Milbury could have had the Rangers' budget, or even just the ability to keep his own players, back in the 90s? Many of those picks came before the Isles' budget crisis of the mid/late 90s, so the argument of 'later picks, worse players' wouldn't hold water. Imagine them getting to hold onto those guys? Much better team to go with and build on...could have been back on top by now.

Yep. Shady business involving Tom Brady, the New England Patriots, back rooms, and things not proper to talk about in front of polite company

Parrish and Kvasha for Dats? I would do that. FYI: a Parrish and an unproductive 'failed experiment' Kvasha went to NYI for a Luongo and and a rather inconsistent and unproductive 'first round bust' Jokinen. Looks like all four are turning into at least pretty decent players.

average speed, small size, great vision and puck skills reminds me of someone else whose initial NHL projection was far bleaker than Hudler's.

On the Bonds thing: There is zero evidence that proves concretely Bonds ever once took steroids. Bonds says himself he never knowingly did it, and used what he was told was an arthritis medicine provided to him by his trainer that does match the description of 'the creme.' Without concrete proof, they CAN'T do anything. If they tried to ban Bonds and he had a test done by an independent lab that showed he was not on steroids...that could be a major lawsuit. And besides...Bonds has been rehabbing his knee all year anyway. Why don't you pick on Raffi 'I don't never did steroids' Palmeiro? He tested positive after being named in Canseco's book and questioned by Congress. You'd think he'd have gotten the message. Maybe he just shot up TOO much and his body produces at that level now.

That 34... is for 17 players. Carter and Richards are probably both at the rookie max, so another 1.7 takes it to 35.82 for 19 players (12F/6D/1G) Jamie Storr is signed probably around 750k. 36.57 for 20 players (12-6-2) Say Radivojevic, Sharp, and Seidenberg are signed at the minimum. That's 1.35m more. 37.92m for 23 players (14-7-2) It's unlikely the Flyers or anyone else with a mid-high 30s payroll will carry 23. So drop a forward--any of the minimum wagers. 37.47m for 22 players (13-7-2) The salary cap is 39m, not 39.5m So the Flyers would have 1.53 left to add in payroll. Swap Handzus for Smyth, and they could pay Smyth as much as 3.658. To get to that 4m number, they'd have to toss someone else in. They would need clearance of 0.342 to add to Smyth, plus 450k to replace the second player on the roster. So a minimum salary for the throw-in of 792k. There is only one player I see who would suit the purpose. Turner Stevenson. He makes 1.254m. The lower paid players than him above the threshold are Esche and Pitkanen (untouchable) and the higher paid ones are Forsberg, Rathje, Hatcher, Primeau, Desjardins, Johnsson, Handzus, Gagne, Brashear, Knuble, Kapanen. Forsberg and Gagne are untouchable, Primeau probably as well. Clarke will likely not deal any of his top four D here either. Which leaves us with Handzus plus Brashear, Knuble, Kapanen, or Stevenson. The Flyers are trying to add a scoring winger, so dealing one off wouldn't make sense. Knuble and Kapanen off the list. Brashear and Stevenson are left. Stevenson is cheaper and likely more expendable. Oilers would probably be happy enough getting him along with Handzus. If not, Clarke would probably be willing to send Brashear along instead because he'd get Smyth back, and the Flyers would have 1.416 in cap space left.

I disagree. Henne has much more talent than John Navarre and Michael Hart is better than Chris Perry. Chris Perry didn't make people miss or run over people like Hart does. One thing Perry had, was hands. And Hart doesnt seem to be too bad at receiving either. What a great day. First off, I was very impressed with my Buckeyes. Granted they were playing Miami (Ohio), but they looked great. I thought Michigan's offense looked good for most of the game, but I still have a lot of questions about their defense. They've shown they have playmaking ability by the turnovers they created, but if Northern Illinois doesnt give up the ball 5 times, that game might have been a nail-biter for the maize and blue. Congrats SWF, you were the first person I thought of as I watched the last seconds tick off the clock. Oklahoma could be in a world of hurt this year. Now it's a countdown until I'm at The Shoe for the game of the first half of the year. 6 days, 8 hours. GO BUCKEYES! Henne does have more talent. But he's not a better QB yet. And pay attention. That's the second time I've said YET. Also, Hart does have a ton of talent. Compared to Navarre/Perry in their soph years, Henne/Hart are probably better. But the comment made was that they were an upgrade, which suggests that Henne/Hart now are better than Heisman contending seniors Navarre and Perry were. Next year, probably. This year, doubt it. If Chad doesn't get his aim under control, he'll have some fans calling for his head by midseason.

Yes, but it don't work if you have 12 centers. You need good natural wingers also. Boston has already Bergeron in the wing, and this makes no sense to give another natural winger to Datsyuk. Green plays the wing effectively-he does just as well there as in the middle. Scatchard also can play the wing well. Zhamnov has played the wing well also. Samsonov is also a natural center. Datsyuk would not be a great candidate for the job as he is a smaller guy and would probably end up with similar injury issues to Samsonov.

Hart is not better than Perry. He's a sophomore, so that's no diss. Not better yet, that is. Henne is not better than Navarre. He still struggles with his control sometimes and can get hurried. He's a soph, so it's nothing major. Again...not better YET. But both are pretty darn close. Did anyone see Avant on Saturday? He made 3 or 4 "Braylon Edwards" catches. Hart had a pretty sweet catch and go up the sidelines (right in front of my seats ) where he was basically untouchable. Good game, although the defense still seems to be adjusting to playing together, they played much better in the second half than in the first.

I'm sick of the anti-Navarre stuff. Ok, so the guy wasn't that mobile. He was also a lot harder to take down than most QBs, and could get off a solid pass with a linebacker on his leg. Navarre's strength and size allowed him to set a ton of passing records at UM, despite not being allowed to play his first year after the first couple games even though he did really well because the anointed starter Drew Henson had returned.

Avant and Breaston are pretty freakin good too. They might not be Edwards...but they're good. Massaquoi isn't bad either, and Mike Hart can catch the ball as well as any back in the nation.

Hossa and Heatley were traded for each other. Hossa is by far the better player. There is a likelihood that Hartley will keep the Kozlov/Savard/Kovalchuk line together to recreate Ilya's stellar finish to last season ocne that line formed. Kovalchuk also has shown mad chemistry with Kozlov. Hossa/Holik/Mellanby or Holik/Stefan/Hossa would both be strong second lines with good physical and defensive aspects, opening Hossa up for more offense, warding off any slump. Heatley is the most likely player to not match his prior seasons, as he has mental issues, plus he has been torn from teammates he had great chemistry with and will now be target number one, which he was not much of the time in Atlanta (he had a monster first half in year two when he and Ilya were first split up, and it took 40 games for teams to catch on that his line was doing more scoring because they were sticking their best defense on the Kovalchuk line. By taking Kovalchuk and Hossa, either you get a team's top two players who are by themselves great all-around offensive threats and will be either split up (which will provide more opportunities for whoever the opponents view as the second liner) or they will be together, providing a ton of combined chances with a chance at a goal AND an assist for your team every time they score, plus two pluses, etc.

If you swapped Zetterberg for Shanahan, Pilar for McCabe, and Kolzig for Fehr, I would do it instantly even if you drop the pick. Toronto is getting Shanahan and Witt for McCabe, Antropov, and Klee...so they basically dealt Antropov/McCabe for Shanahan...not as great a deal. Probably would have to add in some sort of pick or another player from Detroit to Toronto. A 2nd/3rd in 2k6 or Rivers/Delmore may do it. Getting a return of McCabe/Fehr for Shanahan/Legace/Delmore? I'd do that instantly. Washington is still getting Antropov/Legace/Klee for Witt/Fehr, which is a pretty solid deal for them. It's basically Antropov and Legace for Fehr, because Klee/Witt is straight even. That makes it fair all-around. If Antropov can stay healthy and develop chemistry with Ovenchicken and Semin/Fleischmann..that line could be scary right off the bat. As forthe Wings' salary implications? The Wings' cap number is currently 32m even, assuming they are aiming for 13/7/2. All players included in the deal are on that roster (Delmore is the 7th D as Rivers is listed as a forward.) Wings drop 3.892 in salary with the deal, and pick up McCabe's 3.458 salary, lowering their total salary to 31.566, as well as creating openings at forward and goaltender. Macdonald eats up 450k, raising the payroll to 32.016 with 19 players signed including 7D, 2G, and 10F. This would likely leave no room to sign a spare forward after Dats and Zatta...so drop Lilja to GR and make Rivers 13th F/7th D and add a low priced player, potentially saving 200k on the 10/7/2 set. Final effect? Payroll drops nearly 200k, defense improves greatly--McCabe for Lilja in terms of top six--and Shanahan's offense would likely be covered by committee (more ice at ES and PP for Homer, Drapes, etc.) If we could sign Fehr at the minimum-or even the max rookie contract (would cut a couple hundred K into the Dats/Zett budget, but stick him with Dats and Zett and it would be WORTH it) and he might produce as much or more than Shanahan ends up doing.

Yes...far more likely than Kovalchuk for the Sedins: Kovalchuk for Datsyuk and Delmore Provides for a pretty strong first line of Kozlov/Datsyuk/Hossa. Two EXCELLENT clutch wingers and a dynamic center who would work really well with them, plus a talented offensive defenseman who has approached 40 points multiple times on offensively inept Nashville. Imagine what he'd do as the top PP QB with a Atlanta team that actually had some scoring punch?

But in the Heatley deal, they traded a player who has mental issues away for a BETTER player who DOESN'T and has proven playoff production, as well as a solid top-four defenseman. The only downside was Hossa cost far more, but they had nearly 20mil left under the cap and only Kovalchuk as a significant player left missing to sign (figure him at around 5-6), so that's a non-factor. Atlanta picks up a couple more of the remaining top players, and they could be a serious contender. As for trading Kovalchuk for the Sedins? Why??? Kovalchuk alone is better in every way than both combined. Kovalchuk produces more goals and points than they do, is as good defensively and phsycially, and is ONLY ONE PLAYER. And he's FAR faster. Oh, and he's the best player in the NHL.

lol...I figured while we were speculating... Heck, Smyth and Torres with no first would be sweet enough. How about: Datsyuk and Legace for Torres, Markkanen, and a mid-round pick? We lose Datsyuk, swap goalies, gain Torres and add 513k to the payroll (up to 32.513 with a 22-man roster) We'd then have two very good goaltenders for less than two million, as well as 5.937 million to spend on Zetterberg and an additional player.

Why do you have Maclean and Manlow? They're GR bound...I'm not even sure that Manlow is signed I am not sure Williams playing fourth line minutes would be the best option. MacLean is a solid defensive forward and would be a decent addition to the fourth line. Manlow has a good amount of NHL experience, better offensive tools than bootland, and good size and strength. Manlow gets this year (or even just the first month) to prove he can play in Detroit..otherwise he's just taking up space in Grand Rapids. The guy is 30, he better be ready now. I would like to see Booter and Williams in Grand Rapids this year, they would get a lot more ice than they would in Detroit. One year, and they are in next season with a much better chance of success. Replace MacLean with Mcdonnell if you like, he's grittier and still a decent defensive player. Or, if the cap allows, take your pick of #13 forward and use Rivers full-time up front, bring Delmore onto the roster.

Abdelkader was the 25th-rated North American skater. Guillame Latendresse, who just about everyone on here was rooting for us to take at #42....was the 52nd rated NORTH AMERICAN SKATER. Kindl was the 18th-rated NA Skater. Very few Euros or goalies were taken before either Kindl or Abdelkader. Kindl was probably taken a little higher than rated (and worth it) and Abdelkader probably went well after he was rated to.

As far as I can gather, the rule says that prospects have to be signed within two years of being drafted, but I have yet to hear or read anything about them having to play in the NHL or AHL upon signing. I agree 100% with what norrisnick on this one. The new NHL rules screw teams with rich owners like ours, so whilst Ilitch can't spend his money on salaries under the salary cap, he can certainly spend it on signing most of our propects and then let them develop at a nice pace in the juniors instead of having to sign them and rush them into the AHL. Which will make the league more like it was in the Original Six days and before, in a way. Teams would 'sponsor' players as soon as they could find them, and they would then have the rights to them when they turned 18. That's how teams built dynasties in the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s.

That will happen next season at soonest. Osgood will sign another contract and return as the starter, but Liv might be the guy who backs him up. Howard could prove to need another year at the AHL level, an Liv has a good chance at playing in the WC's next year