Follow @james_tanner123 PLUS/MINUS is the NHL's worst stat, however, if you care about that, you probably don't even watch the games anyways. Measuring anything is crazy - it's the internet, just guess and then get really, really defensive about your position!
PLUS: To the St.Louis Blues who have the best roster in hockey. Congratualations on your 2016-17 Stanley Cup victory.
MINUS: The non-signing of Nikita Kucherov. People are always going out of their way to praise and overrate Steve Yzerman, but he foolishly gave $ to the wrong player.
The proper move would have been to trade Stamkos and recoup assets and then sign the superior Kucherov. The Lightning are a Cup Favorite entering the year with him. Without him? Not so much. How do you go all summer without signing your best player?
Also, this is really gonna screw with my hockey pool if he doesn't sign.
PLUS: The Chupacabra.
MINUS: The Coyotes cut Anthony DeAngleo. I was hoping the team would keep him, of course living in Toronto, I don't really get to see much of training camp (nor would I want to, if we're being honest) but some people I talked to who do, really liked his game at camp.
Supposedly there are talks to make a trade (all signs point to Stone who may start on the I.R) and then the plan would be to bring DeAngelo back once that happens. What I have heard is that the Coyotes would prefer not to lose Dahlbeck on waivers for depth purposes, but that if there isn't a trade, they would risk losing him (no risk really, he is terrible) and bring DeAngelo back up at that point.
Other cuts include: Stefan Fournier, Dakota Merrmis, Justin Peters and Christian Fischer.
Stone, and Connauton are likely starting on the I.R, Tinordi is still suspended and so the Coyotes only have to make one more cut to get to opening night.
PLUS: With one cut to go most of Strome, Dvorak, Dauphin, Crouse and Chychrun appear to have made the team.
I would be ecstatic if they had the guts to go with five rookies in the lineup. I don't necessarily count on it, but this'd be the franchise to try it out, I think.
The obvious cut is Brad Richardson, but so many people still think you actually need that kind of player in a lineup that he probably does end up the team.
Oh but he grinds and hits and.......is there no end to the hubris of people who don't respect the results of measured performance?
PLUS: To Radko Gudas for his unwavering commitment to exposing the NHL Player Safety department as a complete joke with an ironic name.
PLUS: To the Blue Jays, obviously. And what could be better than simultaneously embarrassing the most unlikable team in pro-sports while watching the Red Sox blow it?
MINUS: What is happening in Edmonton is absolutely pathetic. Peter Chiarelli was hired to take over a team that had been terrible for years. He should have been able to operate patiently, after all, he didn't have anything to do with their getting 4 first overall picks in recent years.
However, he's acted the entire time he's had the job like he's in full panic mode. Why would you trade Taylor Hall? Just on principle, it's idiotic to trade one of the league's best 5v5 players. But why did you only get back a medium level defenseman?
Why would you give Nail Yakupov away? At the least, you could have paired him with McDavid and built his value up. People think he's a bad player, but he's not. He has always produced when playing with good players and the more you dig into the numbers, the better he seems.
Then they follow up one of the worst trades in franchise history, by going out and signing the totally superfluous Kris Russel?
It feels like this is rock-bottom for a team that could write a book about hitting rock bottom after you already thought you had, like four or five times. The level of ineptitude displayed by Peter Chiarelli has been staggering and he should immediately be removed from his job before he does any more damage.
MINUS: I can't tell you how many times I've read some variation of the idea that Adam Larsson instantly become the Oilers best defenseman when he was acquired.
Has no one seen Oscar Klefbom play? Jeez.