NHL 2009-2010 The Thread

Originally Posted by jayhawk

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=283794

Looks like the NHL isn't going to do anything, but the union can file a grievance. Most teams mail them out, so this may be dead in the water.

Um ... no.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=283900

Sources tell TSN the National Hockey League Players Association has filed a grievance over the Chicago Blackhawks mishandling of a number of its qualifying offers and intends to argue the players affected by the mishap, who remain unsigned, should be ruled unrestricted free agents.

The NHL will be notified and can agree with the NHLPA's filing, or the league can disagree and the case will move on to an expidited hearing.

"In response to various media inquiries, the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) confirms today that it has filed a grievance regarding the failure of the Chicago Blackhawks to submit Qualifying Offers to its 2009 Restricted Free Agents prior to the deadline stipulated in the CBA. The NHLPA will make no further comment on the matter, which is now pending before the Impartial Arbitrator," said Jonathan Weatherdon, NHLPA Spokesperson.

At this moment, it's the Players' Association's contention, these players are unrestricted free agents and free to negotiate with any team.

The NHL is sure to fight back.

If the PA is accurate and the players involved are deemed unrestricted free agents, the Blackhawks could lose both forward Kris Versteeg and defenceman Cam Barker to the open market.

The interest in these two players league wide as UFA's would be significant. In Barker's case, one league source cites his value at $3 million on the low end, and as much as $5 million on the high end.

The Chicago Blackhawks have cap issues and may not be able to afford to compete in the feeding frenzy without making drastic moves to free up money.

This issue is far from resolved, but early indications suggest it may not end well for the Chicago Blackhawks.

The question is how quickly this gets to an arbitrator and a ruling gets handed down. You can bet the NHLPA is going to ask for this to be decided ASAP so the "Chicago Five" will have a chance to sign a bigger contract sooner.

[jayhawk]

Originally Posted by Irish Blues

Um ... no.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=283900



The question is how quickly this gets to an arbitrator and a ruling gets handed down. You can bet the NHLPA is going to ask for this to be decided ASAP so the "Chicago Five" will have a chance to sign a bigger contract sooner.

Well, too late for everyone but Versteeg. I bet they sign him today, and it is pointless. I thought they were going to try and trade Versteeg anyway, so at worst, they may end up just losing the draft pick/prospect they would have picked up. Still sucks. It is probably 50/50 they sign him today though.

Also, not sure if Barker was going to get $9M/3years before this happened. So it may have cost them a little bit of money.

Hopefully they fire D Tallon before next year, when they will have to work some magic to sign their big 3, especially if the salary cap goes down.

[SharksFan08]

Pretty quiet for the Sharks so far, after the GM said there would be major changes following yet another playoff choke.

Re-signed Blake for a year.
Re-signed Clowe for 4 years (I'm pumped about that one - he's awesome).
Lost Boucher to free agency.

I'm definitely happy that Pronger and Beauchemin are gone from Anaheim, though. They won't be missed by the rest of the division.

[SharksFan08]

Oh, also, one of the guys on Real World: Cancun looks a lot like Joe Thornton. So far he has looked promising but then struck out with both roommates he's tried to hook up with. Doesn't come through when it counts...

[AK27]

Originally Posted by Boink

Ouch, how happy are Habs fans with Kovalev ending up in Ottawa ?

Not happy. There was a glimmer of hope that the rally on Sunday would do something. Now I gotta get a new ID...

Originally Posted by Requiem

Hmmm... as much as this hurts me to say, their D is starting to look like a solid decence core. Now they just need someone to put the puck in the net

I was thinking the same since they made some good pickups, but they also let Kubina go and would be surprised if they didn't deal Kaberle. Not sure what the net result is...

[AK27]

Originally Posted by Requiem

I wonder what kind of money Koivu is asking for... or if he wants to come back.

BG called him and thanked him for his services a week or 2 ago, so I guess he's gone, although I'd love it if they traded Pleks and resigned Koivu as #2 centre. There is interest in Saku from other teams, but I think he's looking for more term than what has been offered. Also not sure if he wants to go to Wild - worried about cramping Mikko's style.

[Boink]

Reports say they've got Jonas Gustavsson signing today

Kubina only had a year @ $5M to go, and they got Exelby in return so I don't think that's a bad swap, saved $2M of cap space in the process.

D looks like Schenn, Beauchemin, Komisarek, Kaberle (for now), White, Van Ryn, Exelby, Finger, Frogren, Stralman ...

I'd guess there are a few likely candidates for Kaberle including BOS, LA, VAN and now I'm hearing STL.

The Blues already have Johnson, Jackman, Brewer, Colaiacovo, Pietrangelo, and Weaver with Polak sitting as an unsigned RFA and Junland and Strachan as the first two call-ups ... and the last thing Toronto needs right now is a defenseman. The Blues have also stated that Johnson, Berglund, Oshie, and Perron are not getting traded, and they've got Eller rated as an 'A' to 'A+' prospect. I don't see the Blues and Leafs putting together a deal.

-- Kaberle to the Kings? Entirely possible, the Kings definitely have the youth to do it.
-- Kaberle to the Canucks? Seeing as how Vancouver is going with Luongo in net for the future, Cory Schneider becomes expendable and he's learned about all he can in the minors. I could see this happen as well.
-- Kaberle to the Bruins? Boston has no cap space unless they move someone [insert Kessel trade proposal here] and/or Krejci starts on LTIR as I suspect he will ... and I just can't imagine Burke helping a division rival load up.

[Boink]

I think L.A. is the most likely, especially if Burke can get them to give up B.Schenn.

VAN dangling Schneider would have made sense before they got Jonas Gustavsson signed but not now. While TOR would love to get Hodgson, I'd guess he's not being dealt and anything would have to involve Kesler.

[harvma]

Originally Posted by Boink

Reports say they've got Jonas Gustavsson signing today

Kubina only had a year @ $5M to go, and they got Exelby in return so I don't think that's a bad swap, saved $2M of cap space in the process.

D looks like Schenn, Beauchemin, Komisarek, Kaberle (for now), White, Van Ryn, Exelby, Finger, Frogren, Stralman ...

I'd guess there are a few likely candidates for Kaberle including BOS, LA, VAN and now I'm hearing STL.

The Leafs have put together a pertty good defense. It still look very shaky in goals and on the offensive side. I can't see Grabovski and the likes terrorizing the East.