First big shoe has reportedly dropped for offseason player transactions. According to Dreger and the other usual suspects, Oliver Ekman-Larsson has reached an agreement to re-sign with the Coyotes on an 8 year deal. This will officially take him off the trade market. Arizona has been saying all along that he wasn't available and that they always planned on signing him to an extension, but that didn't stop the rumors. He can't officially sign until 7/1, but apparently it's all but a done deal.

Seems like a great sign for the direction of the Coyotes, as OEL would've brought in a massive haul if they were to trade him. Keeping him in the fold is a signal that they're trying to claw their way up in the Pacific division after tearing it down for a few years.

Thought I'd use this deal to start a new thread for player movement ahead of the draft, but if it makes sense to merge with an existing thread that works too.

OEL is one of the most under-rated defenesmen in the league, if you ask me, and at almost 27, he's probably just starting his prime years. Good call on their part.

RAFritchey wrote:OEL is one of the most under-rated defenesmen in the league, if you ask me, and at almost 27, he's probably just starting his prime years. Good call on their part.

Yeah its a great deal for the Coyotes. I'll be very interested in what the numbers are on the contract, and so will John Carlson.

RAFritchey wrote:OEL is one of the most under-rated defenesmen in the league, if you ask me, and at almost 27, he's probably just starting his prime years. Good call on their part.

Yeah, it's a shame he'll never get to play in a relevant NHL game.

LeBrun had a piece mentioning the teams that are in on Kovalchuk. Said Blues are in the mix, but not part of the group of leading contenders. He had the most likely landing spots listed as LA, San Jose, Boston or the Rangers.

Dave's a mess wrote:LeBrun had a piece mentioning the teams that are in on Kovalchuk. Said Blues are in the mix, but not part of the group of leading contenders. He had the most likely landing spots listed as LA, San Jose, Boston or the Rangers.

I guess it'll come down to what Kovy is looking for. Is it simply the highest bidder or the best chance to win?

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote:

Dave's a mess wrote:LeBrun had a piece mentioning the teams that are in on Kovalchuk. Said Blues are in the mix, but not part of the group of leading contenders. He had the most likely landing spots listed as LA, San Jose, Boston or the Rangers.

I guess it'll come down to what Kovy is looking for. Is it simply the highest bidder or the best chance to win?

Whatever the best paycheck in the most choice city...that’s what Kovy wants. He doesn’t give a damn about winning.

Kovalchuk will be a good signing for a team that isn't going to win in the near future. Sign him in July. Pay him to do his little routine for a few months and unload him to a playoff-bound team that desperately need scoring help at the deadline in exchange for a high draft pick or two.

How many moody Russians can one team suffer?

NHLTIM wrote:

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote:

Dave's a mess wrote:LeBrun had a piece mentioning the teams that are in on Kovalchuk. Said Blues are in the mix, but not part of the group of leading contenders. He had the most likely landing spots listed as LA, San Jose, Boston or the Rangers.

I guess it'll come down to what Kovy is looking for. Is it simply the highest bidder or the best chance to win?

Whatever the best paycheck in the most choice city...that’s what Kovy wants. He doesn’t give a damn about winning.

After earning a mint in the KHL the last few years I wonder if it's not just money. Money will certainly be part of it, but I wonder if lifestyle and winning might place a shade higher than cash in his mind. Either way I don't like the Blues' odds on this one. If winning is the priority he picks Boston. If lifestyle is the priority he picks LA/NYR. San Jose could offer some combination of that I guess as well.

Dave's a mess wrote:

NHLTIM wrote:

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote:
I guess it'll come down to what Kovy is looking for. Is it simply the highest bidder or the best chance to win?

Whatever the best paycheck in the most choice city...that’s what Kovy wants. He doesn’t give a damn about winning.

After earning a mint in the KHL the last few years I wonder if it's not just money. Money will certainly be part of it, but I wonder if lifestyle and winning might place a shade higher than cash in his mind. Either way I don't like the Blues' odds on this one. If winning is the priority he picks Boston. If lifestyle is the priority he picks LA/NYR. San Jose could offer some combination of that I guess as well.

San Jose is way nicer than LA

I'd be shocked if he goes anywhere besides LA or NYR. Hopefully if he signs in LA, perhaps the Toffoli trade talk really picks up.

One thing is becoming pretty obvious though, between the Kevin Durant thing, the Jerry Colangelo, and now this absolute next level trash...pro athletes and those close to them definitely have burner accounts they are trolling online with.

Now, which person in the Asylum is Jake Allen

Also, fook Mike Hoffman and his gf. No interest in him on this team.

I just got a LOT more interested in Pacioretty, Skinner, Kessel etc.

i merged all the hoffman talk into the dedicated hoffman thread.

Kinda surprised OEL stayed in AZ. Not sure winning is an option in the near future for them.
I think Kovy goes to the highest bidder because I saw Detroit as one option he was considering. They aren't exactly world beaters at this point. Same with NYR. LA seems logical because they like the older players on bloated contracts for some reason.
Also, I can't wait for Army to surprise us with our first of a couple (hopefully) nice big acquisitions this offseason

blue to the bone wrote: Also, I can't wait for Army to surprise us with our first of a couple (hopefully) nice big acquisitions this offseason

I'm hopeful but expceting, "we had some good deals, but the terms we're not just right." Meaning, army was no where close.

blue to the bone wrote:Kinda surprised OEL stayed in AZ. Not sure winning is an option in the near future for them.
I think Kovy goes to the highest bidder because I saw Detroit as one option he was considering. They aren't exactly world beaters at this point. Same with NYR. LA seems logical because they like the older players on bloated contracts for some reason.
Also, I can't wait for Army to surprise us with our first of a couple (hopefully) nice big acquisitions this offseason

Probably not right away, but in that division, I don't think they're too far from getting into the playoffs. Everything went wrong last year. They picked up Antti Raanta, who had a great year, but got hurt. He played 47 games with a .930 save % and 2.24 GAA. They used 4 other goalies for the rest of the season, none of which managed even a .900 save % or lower than 3.22 GAA. The Coyotes have holes to fill, but a full season of Raanta will go a long way.

Dave's a mess wrote:

blue to the bone wrote:Kinda surprised OEL stayed in AZ. Not sure winning is an option in the near future for them.
I think Kovy goes to the highest bidder because I saw Detroit as one option he was considering. They aren't exactly world beaters at this point. Same with NYR. LA seems logical because they like the older players on bloated contracts for some reason.
Also, I can't wait for Army to surprise us with our first of a couple (hopefully) nice big acquisitions this offseason

Probably not right away, but in that division, I don't think they're too far from getting into the playoffs. Everything went wrong last year. They picked up Antti Raanta, who had a great year, but got hurt. He played 47 games with a .930 save % and 2.24 GAA. They used 4 other goalies for the rest of the season, none of which managed even a .900 save % or lower than 3.22 GAA. The Coyotes have holes to fill, but a full season of Raanta will go a long way.

Coyotes did finish really strong this season. It would be nice to nab Max Domi out of there though.

I realize it's just GM speak, but David Poile waz pretty adamant about Subban to Lebrun:

You see tweets from different places, but, that’s not happening,’’ David Poile told The Athletic when asked about a potential Subban trade.

“Nobody has even called me about him,” added Poile. “P.K. played terrific this year. He played really well. He’s a really good player. He’s one of the three candidates for the Norris Trophy. I really don’t know where this comes from.’’

Of course, if he's blown away on an offer, or whatever, things change. But this sounds more definite than the usual "we listen on everybody" & "we're not shopping PK" blah blah blah.

usmcaaron wrote:I realize it's just GM speak, but David Poile waz pretty adamant about Subban to Lebrun:

You see tweets from different places, but, that’s not happening,’’ David Poile told The Athletic when asked about a potential Subban trade.

“Nobody has even called me about him,” added Poile. “P.K. played terrific this year. He played really well. He’s a really good player. He’s one of the three candidates for the Norris Trophy. I really don’t know where this comes from.’’

Of course, if he's blown away on an offer, or whatever, things change. But this sounds more definite than the usual "we listen on everybody" & "we're not shopping PK" blah blah blah.

Yeah, I don't quite buy the Subban trade talk. I think they take another run with this group. They have a fair amount of cap space, and if they want to get Tavares, they don't need to clear Subban's salary, they can offload someone like Bonino and still have enough room to keep the band together for another year.

Poile wouldn't be afraid to pull the trigger on a Subban deal if he got an offer he liked, but I just done see it right now. The Weber-Subban and Jones-Johansen deals came out of nowhere, so if Poile does pull off a blockbuster, I'd bet it comes with little to no warning.

NHL.com says the Blues top priority at draft will be to draft a Top 4 defensemen.

Thoughts anyone?

I just want the best player period. The Blues claim they do this, though the year they drafted 7 Centers says otherwise - ha. But I have no problem drafting another top forward if there's one out there. In fact, I prefer it. JMO

feels like all the blues do is draft defensemen. they are always saying they need a top 4 defenseman. defense was a glut for a while because of it. i'm sure tarasenko is like "yay, exactly what i was hoping they'd get to help the team - defensemen!"

granted i don't have my 5-year glasses on, but holy shit does it feel like they are watching a different team than i am.

BillP wrote:NHL.com says the Blues top priority at draft will be to draft a Top 4 defensemen.

Thoughts anyone?

I just want the best player period. The Blues claim they do this, though the year they drafted 7 Centers says otherwise - ha. But I have no problem drafting another top forward if there's one out there. In fact, I prefer it. JMO

Not sure why...we have Petro, Eddy, Dunn, and Parayko along with youngsters Schmaltz and Reinke already locked in as top 4 and they ain't most likely going anywhere for awhile, unless via a trade, and we have Walman, Lindbohm, Mikkola, Noel, Sergeev, and even Vannelli as prospects. That 6 top D (not including Gunner, Bortz, and JayBo) and 6 dmen as prospects (not sure I have all our draft picks, but just those whose names I recalled or see on Blues roster).

BillP wrote:NHL.com says the Blues top priority at draft will be to draft a Top 4 defensemen.

Thoughts anyone?

I just want the best player period. The Blues claim they do this, though the year they drafted 7 Centers says otherwise - ha. But I have no problem drafting another top forward if there's one out there. In fact, I prefer it. JMO

From what I gather it's a D heavy draft, especially early. So if they keep the first round pick, its likely the best player available is going to be a D. And if you take a D in the first round, you certainly hope he's a top 4 guy.

Also I think the comment stems from the Blues prospect depth at forward. They don't have the same kind of depth on the back end. I'm with you though Bill, particularly if they keep the late first rounder, just give me the best player available.