Good morning, campers!
My summer vacation is over and it's time to jump right into the deep end. I'll start with the 2013 NHL Draft…
After being rated #1 for the better part of the past two years, stud defenseman Seth Jones fell to #4 and was selected by the Nashville Predators. A shock to just about everyone, but a very pleasant surprise to GM Davis Poile and his coaching staff, especially newly appointed assistant coach Phil Housley who won the World Junior Championship just six months ago with Jones leading the way on the blueline. It was all the Nashville brass could do to keep from dancing all the way to the podium as Colorado, Florida and Tampa Bay passed on Jones.
While this might be a slight psychological blow to Jones' ego, there is no doubt in my mind that he'll use it as motivation to make those three teams regret their decision, but, beyond that, I this could be one of the best things to ever happen to him. I've said for moths now that any team that passes on Jones is making a mistake, but I've also expressed concern about Colorado being a poor fit for his development simply because there isn't someone to really mentor him in terms of his skill set and that there might be too much responsibility placed on him too soon just because there isn't anyone else to shoulder it. But in Nashville, neither of those concerns is an issue. With Shea Weber to show him the way and Nashville's slow and steady approach to developing their players, I have no doubt that Jones will absolutely flourish in Nashville and I can't wait to see it unfold.
Next up, the New York Rangers traded Christian Thomas to Montreal for Danny Kristo straight up. In other words….they stole Kristo. All I've heard from Montreal scouts for the past two years is how concerned they are about his off-ice maturity and while his behavior during his freshman and sophomore seasons at North Dakota definitely gave just cause for such concern, his bout with frostbite (a consequence of his poor decisions) was a turning point for him. His focus off the ice has improved dramatically and it's been reflected by his performance on the ice. The thought of losing his toes and being unable to play hockey professionally was a ginormous wake up call and he's cleaned up his act. I thought this was in the past when Montreal signed him, but let this be a lesson to young hockey players every where…reputations are had to shake so make sure you earn a good one.
As far as New York is concerned, I think it's a great opportunity for both sides and Kristo will be very comfortable with guys like Kreider, Stepan, McDonagh and Bourque in the locker room. A comfortable Kristo is a confident Kristo and a confident Kristo is a successful Kristo. Huge win for the Rangers.
Across the river, down the interstate and across another river in Philadelphia, the Flyers will sign Vinny Lecavalier to a five year deal on Friday and just about everyone is questioning the sanity of GM Paul Holmgren. No doubt Lecavalier can still play, but he's 33 and given the Flyers very immediate history with signing older free agents to big (either in cost or term, if not both) contracts, you'd think they'd be a bit more cautious especially since they're already signing Mark Streit to a sizable contract on Friday as well. Let's not forget they also need another goalie and some more assistance on the blueline with very limited space under the cap. I love teams that go for it, but at some point you need to learn to help yourself through the draft. That used to be the Flyers' secret weapon. They found gems while always selecting deep in the first round - Carter, Richards, Giroux - AND had the deep pockets to sign big time free agents to complete the puzzle. Now, it just seems like they're playing a game of Hungry, Hungry Hippos trying to gobble up every free agent they can find regardless of how they actually fit into the team or more importantly under the cap. Given the players they've traded away over the past few years, we know everyone is expendable in Philadelphia and the revolving door is poised to spin a few more times before the summer is over before this year's puzzle can be completed.
Last night, the Glendale City Council meeting provided some quality entertainment only to be topped by those commenting about it on twitter, but in the end the vote passed and the Coyotes will stay in Glendale for at least another five years and will be renamed the Arizona Coyotes. While I think it's absurd that a city has invested so much money into keeping a team that it doesn't even seem like they actually want - anyone else think they were just trying to drag this thing out long enough so the NHL would just give up on it and they could collect the abandonment penalty? - I also think it's a great opportunity for the Coyotes to have some stability with an arena management team that knows how to get it done. So while I didn't like the process, I definitely like the result and look forward to many more years of NHL hockey in the desert.
With the free-agent discussion window officially open and several development camps under way, these next few days should be rather interesting…if you want my thoughts faster than I can blog, be sure to
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Julie
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