Agreed. I may have heard it incorrectly in the car this afternoon. I thought they were saying the expansion (if there is going to be one) will be announced this June and the expansion draft will be held before the actual draft in June. It was on 'that' station so it could be wrong. - Marwood
I hope its true that exp draft would be held prior to regular draft. Then we could expose any UFA we didnt wish to resign and lose nothing.
Most trades not done at TDL to conserve their garbage to expose could be done at draft, swaps of picks still taking place.
I do wonder however if players on LTI would be exempt. THere could be record number of LTI filings prior to this as well. Sedins both on LTI so you can protect an extra 7 etc
Location: Greetings from the Humungous. Ayatollah of rock and rolla! Joined: 08.15.2014
Mar 16 @ 9:27 PM ET
it does actually....otherwise the changes to management and coaching would have paid off. BUt you are right that give it a year or two....maybe 3. Like I said it takes awhile to get rid of that losing culture that gets ingrained in a team.
If those teams dont have it then explain the difference in a coaching change in philly paying off....Im sure hes a better coach than the oilers have but babcock is debatable. Yet they responded immediately and oilers and leafs are STILL at the bottom.
Just because you dont see it doesnt make it untrue. - SMBDragon
Respectfully…It took ten years for the Oil to make 'proper' MNGT and coaching changes and almost 50 years for the Leafs to do it. They will be very different teams in a few seasons whether we like it or not. It's going to take time. Sure holding the last few regimes in each franchise accountable for the losing culture I get your argument but with Philly they were in the cup final only 4-5 years ago. To me anyway…that isn't a losing culture and they are contending for a playoff spot now as they have done NECESSARY things where the Oil and Leafs have not. That has changed with Structural MNGT and coaching changes in both EDM and TOR. You have to have the ability to understand what they are doing there and I just don't think you may get it. I bet in a few years if we revisit this the results are going to be very different. You have to look ahead a bit instead of always thinking in the now. Kinda like what you do with WD…don't knock the coach for Every little mistake the team makes…have the ability to read between the lines and see it for what it is and your understanding of Hockey will be that much more diverse.
Location: Greetings from the Humungous. Ayatollah of rock and rolla! Joined: 08.15.2014
Mar 16 @ 9:35 PM ET
After that they just have to work out the "no one actually seems interested in owning an NHL team there" issue and then they're golden. - CubanBuffet
Gary wants 20 teams in the playoffs soon and I'm not sure he cares where it happens as long as it's in an American market he needs to push. He will put hockey in non-hockey markets to make it so…fudge the numbers to make it work even though over 10 American teams flirt with bankruptcy every season. Hell maybe even Arizona will get a second team...
Gary wants 20 teams in the playoffs soon and I'm not sure he cares where it happens as long as it's in an American market he needs to push. He will put hockey in non-hockey markets to make it so…fudge the numbers to make it work even though over 10 American teams flirt with bankruptcy every season. Hell maybe even Arizona will get a second team... - LordHumungous
I think Bettman would like a team in Seattle. It just doesn't seem like anyone in Seattle wants one.
nah...Im originally from the east....been through all those cities. Thats baseball country there. Plus its in the east not the west.
Houston would be fine. Huge city thats larger than LA. Think its largest city in the USA these days. So population is huge, they have a successful minor hockey team already so its nothing new....and would be rival w dallas....texas loves its rivalries. - SMBDragon
It's further west than a lot of teams in our conference, but fair enough if it's baseball country. I thought it was pretty big on hockey but don't know much about really.
Location: Greetings from the Humungous. Ayatollah of rock and rolla! Joined: 08.15.2014
Mar 16 @ 9:46 PM ET
I think Bettman would like a team in Seattle. It just doesn't seem like anyone in Seattle wants one. - CubanBuffet
I hate to say it but I have to agree with you. I would love to see a team in Seattle but I'm not sure the people there would support it. I spent a week in Seattle in late April/May last year and I could not find NHL hockey in many pubs I went to. Hell even in the Hotel room we had we had 6 different ESPN channels but no hockey anywhere…I'm not sure they care. I finally had them turn on a Nucks playoffs game last year vs the Flames in the pub at the hotel we were staying at and it almost caused a riot as a few baseball fans were female doging about hockey on the tv…unreal. Every TV in the pub was on the Mariners game and I had the bartender turn on one fu**ing tv to the NHL playoffs and people were female doging.
Location: Auckland -Burn it all down Joined: 10.22.2008
Mar 16 @ 10:02 PM ET
I hate to say it but I have to agree with you. I would love to see a team in Seattle but I'm not sure the people there would support it. I spent a week in Seattle in late April/May last year and I could not find NHL hockey in many pubs I went to. Hell even in the Hotel room we had we had 6 different ESPN channels but no hockey anywhere…I'm not sure they care. I finally had them turn on a Nucks playoffs game last year vs the Flames in the pub at the hotel we were staying at and it almost caused a riot as a few baseball fans were female doging about hockey on the tv…unreal. Every TV in the pub was on the Mariners game and I had the bartender turn on one fu**ing tv to the NHL playoffs and people were female doging.
- LordHumungous
Yeah, not a lot of groundswell of support from the peoples.
Although, success seems to bring teams around, see Florida as an example.
got to hand it to you, you are persistent. 
(MW) 
