TITLE CHANGE - 2025 UFA/RFA July 1! (plus summer trades)

[Jimmybigrigs69 467]

6 minutes ago, LeftWinger said:

I'm gonna hold out hope that Yzerman has something happening. Both in trade and UFA. He has to, right? He's gotta be on the hotseat, right?

Why would he be? This team has one of the most decent, moderately accceptable, middling, adequate, okay, fair, medium-well rosters in the entire league. He's safe. 

[LeftWinger 5,153]

I changed the title of this thread to more focus on UFA and Summer Trades!

[Akakabuto 1,863]

Joe Veleno getting bought out by Seattle. 

[Jimmybigrigs69 467]

42 minutes ago, Akakabuto said:

Joe Veleno getting bought out by Seattle. 

The Italian stallion is done in the NHL isnt he?

He's just never provided... anything. No identity as a player. He's akin to Joakim Andersson or Cory Emmerton. Just completely replaceable. 

That 2018 draft is nightmare fuel. Holland really cooked us. We had the 6th, the 30, the 33, and the 36th. Zadina is in Europe. Probably Joe now too. Berggren is a weak perimeter forward that probably doesnt survive the next 2 years on this team. And McIsaac is barely surviving in the Czech league. 

Wild.

[Akakabuto 1,863]

51 minutes ago, Jimmybigrigs69 said:

That 2018 draft is nightmare fuel. Holland really cooked us. We had the 6th, the 30, the 33, and the 36th. Zadina is in Europe. Probably Joe now too. Berggren is a weak perimeter forward that probably doesnt survive the next 2 years on this team. And McIsaac is barely surviving in the Czech league. 

Wild.

Pretty good to remember how this rebuild started when complaing about whats taking so long.

[LeftWinger 5,153]

2 hours ago, Jimmybigrigs69 said:

The Italian stallion is done in the NHL isnt he?

He's just never provided... anything. No identity as a player. He's akin to Joakim Andersson or Cory Emmerton. Just completely replaceable. 

That 2018 draft is nightmare fuel. Holland really cooked us. We had the 6th, the 30, the 33, and the 36th. Zadina is in Europe. Probably Joe now too. Berggren is a weak perimeter forward that probably doesnt survive the next 2 years on this team. And McIsaac is barely surviving in the Czech league. 

Wild.

Ken Holland in a nutshell.

[Akakabuto 1,863]

1 hour ago, LeftWinger said:

Ken Holland in a nutshell.

Tyler Wright? More like Tyler Wrong, amirite?! :DDD

Edited June 29 by Akakabuto

[Jimmybigrigs69 467]

2 hours ago, Akakabuto said:

Pretty good to remember how this rebuild started when complaing about whats taking so long.

Yeah, and honestly the length of this rebuild - SY going slow and steady - is fine with me. Might not be exactly what I'd do in this particular moment, but I can understand the approach and why. 

The only thing that actually pisses me off about this rebuild is SY's inaction at TDL's. I won't get into all that again in this thread, but for 2 years now I haven't been able to find anyone around the boards who can come up with a reasonable excuse for it, and most won't even try to defend it. It's bad. It's wrong. And I could abide this rebuild for much longer if he'd least stop doing that (by doing somdthing). 

*Mandatory comment about Detroit being a city in Minnesota*

[Jimmybigrigs69 467]

2 hours ago, Akakabuto said:

Tyler Wright? More like Tyler Wrong, amirite?! :DDD

Ol Ken, took Mr. Wright with him to Edmonton when he left. But was forced to fire him in Edmonton just a few years later in 2023.

Since then Wright has been out of the league....

 

 

BUT WAIT

Ken Holland is now leading the charge for LAK...

Could it be?

HE WOULDNT...

...Oh he did, Tyler Wright is BACK BABY. Joining Holland and Bergevin in LA for the 2025/26 season. A literal hollywood dream team is being assembled in Los Angeles, and I for one want IN on this bandwagon. 

The muscle - Biceps Bergevin

The brains - Kickin' Kenny

The idiot friend who desperately needed a job - Tyler

[Jimmybigrigs69 467]

And how has our royalty of the rink been doing so far down in the land of Kings you ask?

Well they're off to a noble start of course...

They traded their best young RHD in Jordan Spence away at the draft, in order to make room for future stud RHD Brandt Clarke. They got back a 3rd and a 4th round pick for Spence from Ottawa.

Now I know what you're thinking...

"Jimmyyyyy, that's not a very good return for a RHD that made the Kings roster at only 22, and has already proven that he can consistently put up 30 pts from the backend in 2 different seasons with only 3rd pairing minutes... this kid could be a stud in Ottawa! And all the Kings got was 2 lousy picks outside the top 60???"

Calm thyselves peasants, Kings are at work here...

With their 1st rd pick in the 2025 draft, the new and improved "Red Kings" selected a replacement RHD from Michigan. CLASSIC Holland/Wright move. Newest Kings player Henry Breuswitz was consistently ranked to go in the middle of the 2nd round, but ol crafty Tyler and Ken were able to pick him up in the 1st round. 

So who cares about Spence! He was from Australia anyway... that's not even a hockey country gang, they play weird sports like knifey spoony down there. Breuswitz came up in the Detroit honeybaked system, right under the watchful eyes of Holland and Wright....

 

THIS IS NOW A RED KINGS THREAD

Edited June 30 by Jimmybigrigs69

[Jimmybigrigs69 467]

Hi, I'm Tyler Wright. You may remember me from 1st round picks such as Filip Zadina, Dennis Cholowski, Michael Rasmussen, Evgeni Svechnikov, Joe Veleno, Anthony Mantha, Reid Schaefer (EDM), Xavier Bourgalt (EDM), and Ryan Murray (CBJ).

And now the good folks at LA Kings Studios and I are proud to bring you our newest 1st round selection: Henry Breauswitz

Ya know, when Ken Holland asked me to join his staff and become a big time Hollywood star with him, I couldn't have been happier. We've developed a long history together of my phone number being the only actors number that he can remember. And that history between us was built upon a solid foundation of trial and error. Trial and error that resulted in the decemation of two other franchises prospect pools. But it's exactly that trial and error that's taught us both an important lesson; that sometimes it's better to triple down and change nothing about your staff or drafting strategy. And that's why Ken and I believe that this time it will work.

Some say Hollywood actors like us are stupid. But we tell them we were only pretending to be stupid, and they believed it. Now that's good acting!

We know our fans are going to fall in love with Henry Breautswitz once they see him out on the silver screen. And very soon you'll be able to watch him skate in countries such as Russia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Finland, and possibly even the Slovakian B league. 

So renew those season tickets, and say that good ol LA Kings Studios slogan: It's perfectly natural to try the same thing over and over and expect different results

Edited June 30 by Jimmybigrigs69

[Motor City Mullets 315]

19 hours ago, Akakabuto said:

Joe Veleno getting bought out by Seattle. 

Hearing this news will likely send KRS into a spastic fit...

18 hours ago, Akakabuto said:

Pretty good to remember how this rebuild started when complaing about whats taking so long.

Yup...Svechnikov the Elder failed...Cholowski failed...Mantha/Bertuzzi/Hronek - huh?..Rasmussen will be next.

[Jimmybigrigs69 467]

Tarasenko is gone! Hooray! Thank you... MINNESOTA my favorite team.

$23+ mil in cap space for tmrw now...

[AtlantaHotWings 1,135]

IF and thats a big IF Stevie lands as an example

either

        Eklund or Gavrikov

and either 

         Elhers or  Boeser?

Is he allowed to head to his cabin in TC and smoke some devils lettuce for a month?

Edited June 30 by AtlantaHotWings

[Jimmybigrigs69 467]

Friedman reporting that Stevie has talked to NYR about a possible trade for Miller

[LeftWinger 5,153]

Albert Johansson has been re-signed, 2 yrs $1.125M per.

I'd expect about the same for Soderblom.

11 minutes ago, AtlantaHotWings said:

IF and thats a big IF Stevie lands as an example

either

        Eklund or Gavrikov

and either 

         Elhers or  Boeser?

Is he allowed to head to his cabin in TC and smoke some devils lettuce for a month?

Why not go for Gavrikov, Ekland AND Ehlers? You have $22M to spend. I am sure if Yzerman could land those three, Kane would give a bit of a discount too. Kane 2x$3M?

[LeftWinger 5,153]

I really wouldn't mind bringing disney.com back for a year to anchor the 4th line. He'd be sub 1 million.

[Jimmybigrigs69 467]

23 minutes ago, AtlantaHotWings said:

IF and thats a big IF Stevie lands as an example

either

        Eklund or Gavrikov

and either 

         Elhers or  Boeser?

Is he allowed to head to his cabin in TC and smoke some devils lettuce for a month?

No bud for Stevie if he signs Boeser. That contract is gonna be a disaster. 

Id honestly be fine with bringing back Kane and not adding any other forwards. Soder, Berg, and Mazur need the playing time.

Instead spend it all on D. Enough D to take Gus and Holl out of the nightly lineup.

[LeftWinger 5,153]

19 minutes ago, LeftWinger said:

Why not go for Gavrikov, Ekland AND Ehlers? You have $22M to spend. I am sure if Yzerman could land those three, Kane would give a bit of a discount too. Kane 2x$3M?

Quote myself!

I still think Yzerman is in on Andersson and Miller. If he trades for one or both of those guys, he won't need a big July 1, except for that top line forward. 

[Jimmybigrigs69 467]

2 minutes ago, LeftWinger said:

I really wouldn't mind bringing disney.com back for a year to anchor the 4th line. He'd be sub 1 million.

Glendog was the bestdog. A real good boy.

[LeftWinger 5,153]

What if Yzerman is able to somehow acquire EP40, without gutting the farm, and then Larkin slides over to LW?

Larkin - EP40 - Raymond

That would be a deadly top line.

I bet if Yzerman is willing to take on all $11.5M of that contract, it wouldn't be as expensive of a return as one would think.

ALSO:

Top 75 available UFA's and their AFP projected contracts:

Edited June 30 by LeftWinger

[Jimmybigrigs69 467]

3 minutes ago, LeftWinger said:

What if Yzerman is able to somehow acquire EP40, without gutting the farm, and then Larkin slides over to LW?

Larkin - EP40 - Raymond

That would be a deadly top line.

I bet if Yzerman is willing to take on all $11.5M of that contract, it wouldn't be as expensive of a return as one would think.

IMO Yzer isnt ready for that big of a gamble no matter the return. Its more about petterssons contract and him being a complacent player that upset his teammates in Vancouver. If that attitude continued in Detroit it would pretty much undo all of SYs last 6 years... 

Ekblad is off the market. Marner likely being traded to Vegas...

This UFA market is thinning rapidly.

We may be forced into a trade, and other teams likely feeling the same way.

[AtlantaHotWings 1,135]

Well if rumors are true about Marner and Ekblad no money spent there....

Blue Jackets hail mary https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nhl/news/blue-jackets-ivan-provorov-last-ditch-60-million-contract-update-free-agency/03118ec085e7747a697f3fe9e

My reading of  this article is if Gavrikov goes to NY tomorrow Miller becomes expendable https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers/latest-news/kings-repordedly-waiting-on-vladislav-gavrikov-as-rangers-rumors-intensify So what asset would accomplish the trade?

Part of me says F it fill the spots with kids and lets ride it this season out. 

[Akakabuto 1,863]

God I hope all the ”big” names are gone before tomorrow so we don’t have to listen to all the crying about how Stevie missed out on all the great signings.

Trades! Trades! Trades!

[LeftWinger 5,153]

Ekblad indeed has re-signed in Florida.... hmmm...

Still need to RHD upgrade, I wonder how much Andersson would cost.

Maybe trade for Miller and Andersson instead of signing UFA's.

Still would like Howard's rights too....

Edited June 30 by LeftWinger