What a day June 29th turned out to be. Steven Stamkos decided to remain with the Tampa Bay Lightning and it was a complete afterthought.
In a span of an hour we saw two trades that shook the hockey world. There are clear winners and losers of both deals.
Let's start with PK Subban going to the Nashville Predators for Shea Weber. What on earth is Montreal doing here? They traded away Subban for a defenseman who is older, less talented, and has a worse contract. This is a failure on all levels for the Canadiens. PK Subban is a megastar who has embraced his role in the NHL as a whole and especially in the community of Montreal. He donated 10M, yes you read that correctly, to a local children's hospital. He was heavily criticized by his incredibly dated coach and even tried to appease his bad coach by trying to change how he played even though how he played was perfectly fine.
Shea Weber is a good defenseman right now. He was a great defenseman. The decline has started, he is 31 years old, and he has ten more years left on his contract. Holy cow.
PK Subban will thrive in Nashville under a coach who encourages skilled players to make skilled plays. In three years Montreal will be counting down the clock until Weber's contract expires.
The Edmonton Oilers continue to make terrible choices. Taylor Hall is one of the very best forwards in the league. The ability to generate even-strength offense is one of the most important dynamics in the NHL. Taylor Hall is one of the best at it.
Yes, Edmonton did need a defenseman. Yes, they do have a ton of forwards and trading from that position makes sense. No, to this trade, no. Peter Chiarelli, who famously shipped of Tyler Seguin, has done it again. This is the second consecutive time he has traded a star away and lost the trade immediately. I probably wouldn't have even made the deal if it was Eberle for Larsson, but at least that one you could justify somewhat.
Did Chiarelli even try to do better than Adam Larsson?
This is a fireable offense from Chiarelli.
Ray Shero must have been thinking the entire time "Is this really working?!". It is Ray. You did it again. Shero had his faults in Pittsburgh but he sure knew how to swing those big trades in his favor. Add another one in the win column for him. He got one of the best players at his position in the league for a maybe Paul Martin. Yikes.
The Tampa Bay Lightning will continue to be a thorn in Pittsburgh's side in the Eastern Confernce. The Lightning were able to retain the services of Steven Stamkos for another eight years at 8.5M. He may not be worth close to that towards the end of the deal but Tampa Bay is definitely a Stanley Cup contender for the next few years. Interesting about Stamkos' contract is that he will receive a ~1M salary during the year and a huge bonus every July 1st. This is a clever way to get Stamkos more money as his lump sum will not be subjected to a state tax (no state tax in Florida). This also protects a huge portion of his money from any potential lockout.
Here are some news and notes on Pittsburgh
From
Elliotte Friedman's 30 thoughts
Apparently, Las Vegas is overwhelmed with resumes and calls from people looking for work at every level. The GM likely gets done first, with the organization getting some guidance from the NHL on who to interview. Mentioned a few names last week, and heard since then that Pittsburgh’s Jason Botterill is an interview target, too.
Not very surprising in the least bit. Jason Botterill has been biding his time as an Assistant GM with the Pittsburgh Penguins for some time now. Eventually he is going to want his own gig. Jim Rutherford is coming back next year for the Penguins but I would seriously consider making that his last year if it means keeping Botterill in the organization. Rutherford isn't a long term option for the Penguins for obvious reasons. Pittsburgh should have somewhat of a succession plan in place. Botterill is the most logical option.
Phil we all ask one thing. Please go to that street vendor and fill the Stanley Cup up with hot dogs and tweet out a picture.
Beau Bennett has a sense of humor. You can't deny him that.
Brand new Hockey Hurts Podcast discusses the trades that involved PK Subban, Shea Weber, Taylor Hall, and Adam Larsson. Also Steven Stamkos re-signing with Tampa Bay. Upcoming free agency targets to avoid. Draft strategy and more. You can find that
here
Thanks for reading!
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