A tip of the bucket and "job well done" to Sid Crosby and the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.
Welcome to the NHL Silly Season.
While the Pens are popping corks, swilling India Pale Ale from Lord Stanley's Mug and savoring expensive Cuban cigars, the other 29 teams will be hitting the ice hard in pursuit of solutions that will allow them to compete for the 2016-17 Stanley Cup.
Teams will now be finalizing their draft and free agency boards. Buyouts and arbitration are also key issues that GMs and scouting teams have to consider moving forward.
The losers are now tasked with having to figure out how to transform their teams into winners.
The NHL buyout window will open on Wednesday 6/15, which also will be the day for first club elected arbitration and salary arbitration notification.
The NHL Draft will commence in Buffalo on June 24, however, there is much work to be done between now and then.
Beginning on June 25 and running until June 30, Steven Stamkos, David Backes, Troy Brouwer, Jamie McGinn and all unrestricted free agents will be able to sit down face to face with suitors and potential new teams to talk about the "what ifs" and "how much will you need per season to play for us?"
However, UFAs will not be able to sign new deals until Christmas Day II on July 1.
Here's a list on important dates (thanks, General Fanager) for you to commit to memory.
Buyouts start Wednesday, #2016NHLDraft on June 24/25, FA negotiations start June 25, the 2016 off-season calendar: pic.twitter.com/8wtPwmZ0L0
β General Fanager (@generalfanager) June 13, 2016
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The NHL is a copy cat league. Its always interesting to watch and see how the 29 GMs who lost the Cup approach the reshaping of their teams moving forward.
You want to know Pittsburgh's "special sauce" and secret formula for their success?
It's simple. When he took over the team midseason, Professor Mike Sullivan went back the fundamentals and simplified his team's approach to playing fundamental Hockey 101.
Here are the final stat counts for the Penguins. Ask yourself, we're the Pens successful because they out-talented their opponents , or, did they simply win by practicing, perfecting and successfully executing the fundamentals.
Penguins Postseason Stats:
728 total hits (#2 in playoffs; SJ #1) 432 blocked shots (#2; SJ #1) 305 missed shots (#2; SJ #1) 226 giveaways (#2; SJ #1) 171 takeaways (#2; SJ #1) 825 faceoffs won (#1 in playoffs) 809 faceoffs lost (#2; SJ #1) 50.5% faceoff win %
Matt Murray's goaltending was good, but not great. In the end, the Pens scored 73 goals for in their 24 playoff games played. Thats 3.04 goals per game for the Pens. Murray's 2.29 GAA wasn't stellar but it was good enough. Murray gave his team a chance to win games by making timely saves and he did just that. The Pens forwards and D blocked 432 total shots in the postseason. Those were 432 opportunities that never got through to Murray. In other words, I feel that Sullivan and his coaches implored their troops to take the pressure off the 21 year old rookie by blocking hundreds of shot attempts. If the puck doesn't get through then Murray couldn't be put in a position to have to make saves. In the Finals, the Sharks' scouts revealed Murray's glass jaw which was his high glove hand. Shame on the Sharks for allowing the Pens to kill 432 of their shot attempts. If only half or a third of those 432 blocks actually hit Murray. There could have been tips, rebounds and more goals for the Sharks.
Shoulda, coulda, woulda.
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I've always believed in five simple truths with regards to the Stanley Cup playoffs. I believe in them more today:
1. Just get in, make a lot of noise and cause enough damage as you can as a team while there.
2. The puck is the fastest guy on the ice.
3. You'll miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
4. You'll block the majority of shots you jump in front of.
5. You can never have enough goal scorers on your roster.
Tim Murray and Buffalo Sabres is now tasked with having to add his skilled top pair QB, two skilled wingers who can skate, create and pass the puck with a plumb and dexterity.
The Sabres roster, in my opinion, are not far away from the Penguins right now.
From the net out, Buffalo is on par with Pittsburgh.
Robin Lehner and Chad Johnson can give their team Murray style goal keeping in the 2.29 GAA neighborhood.
The Buffalo blue line is every bit as talented and effective as the Pens. Save a true puck transporting QB in Kris Letang. Rasmus Ristolainen, Zach Bogosian, Jake McCabe are a solid top three group. Tim Murray MUST, and will add his puck distributor in Cam Fowler or Ryan Murray.
Buffalo's top six needs two more big, skilled, fast point producers. Murray will find them via UFA market and the draft. I like Stamkos and Vesey. I also love Stamkos and Tkachuk. I wouldn't even mind Vesey and Tkachuk. Tim Murray will not be denied his scoring wingers. He has $25+ million in cap space, he has TOI and us very desperate to add more scoring pop and speed to his top six cluster.
I've been screaming it from the roof tops for the past year: Steven Stamkos is worth every penny of the $10 million annual salary that he will command on the open market.
In my opinion, it's all going to be money well spent.
Tim Murray knows this. Adding Stamkos will dramatically impact Buffalo's skill, scoring, speed, and swagger. Stamkos is every bit the competitor and scoring star that Sidney Crosby in. So, pay the man. He will more than pay for himself. Adding Stamkos via UFA will up the skill quotient that elite forwards like Jack Eichel, Ryan O'Reilly, Samson Reinhart, Evander Kane, Rasmus Ristolainen will immediately vibe with. You Can Never Have Enough skill, Speed Nor scoring. High tide floats all boats. Signing the biggest, mostcfesred UFA cat in the jungle in Stamkos will only help Buffalo's offensive production. Imagine a world where Ryan O'Reilly, Steven Stamkos, and Jack Eichel are your top three centers. Scary, man.
The one area that Buffalo needs to improve is its overall team speed. Buffalo fowards and D are fleet afoot, however, they need to play faster. In other words, Dan Bylsma must hire two assistant coaches who preach and teach fast hockey. That is, move the puckck north using fast hands and completing accurate, hard, tape to tape passes of the 3-6 foot variety.
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Speaking of Dan Bylsma, he cam cross Mike Yeo's name off his dry erase board. Yeo and Bylsma won a Stanley Cup together in Pittsburgh in 2009. Yeo was fired as head coach by the Minnesota Wild last season.
Today, was hired by the St. Louis Blues. With Ken Hitchcock retiring after next season, Yeo will be the heir apparent to Hitch's throne.
Bylsma needs to hire two assistant coaches. Dan Lambert is now head coach in AHL Rochester. Dave Barr is now with the Florida Panthers.
Bylsma still has Todd Rierden, Luke Richardson, Travis Green, Stumpy Thomas to choose from.
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