Bill Meltzer: Quick Hits: Ersson, Sochi Hockey Open (Michkov), WJSS Wrapup, TIFH

EK to the Pens a done deal. Awaiting yhe giant explosion as it blows up in thier faces.

EK to the Pens a done deal. Awaiting yhe giant explosion as it blows up in thier faces.
- MBFlyerfan

It will and I can't wait to watch the train wreck

EK to the Pens a done deal. Awaiting yhe giant explosion as it blows up in thier faces.
- MBFlyerfan

Got rid of one of Hexys dumb trades with it lol

EK to the Pens a done deal. Awaiting yhe giant explosion as it blows up in thier faces.
- MBFlyerfan

the city of champions will be fine.

Bill Meltzer: Quick Hits: Ersson, Sochi Hockey Open (Michkov), WJSS Wrapup, TIFH
- bmeltzer

Sochi. Site of uncovering the most brazen, state run attempt with complete documention, attempt to cheat at the olympics even moreso than the figure skating scandals as instead of one sport, it was every winter sport that was affected. At the end of the day there was very little done to stop someone from cheating in such a brazen fashion going forward as instead of Russian athletes they were simply renamed as "Athletes from Russia" going forward and being allowed to compete in every individual and team sport for their country going forward. Yet we are still blasted with the integrity of the games and pride of "insert country name here".

It reminds me of how things were handled with the Blackhawks and their scandal, sure a few people lost their jobs and their was some public hand wringing but as a practical matter almost zero consequence.

The Stanley cups that were born of this era of coverup will never be taken away, the accolades the players and coaches received during the participation of the coverup are all still there. There's no asterix next to the cups saying that this was all made possible by covering for a sexual predator in the name of winning.

At the end of the day everyone just wanted it to go away so everyone could keep making money, just like in Sochi.

EK to the Pens a done deal. Awaiting yhe giant explosion as it blows up in thier faces.
- MBFlyerfan

Honestly don’t mind the move by them though. All those guys have what 3-4 years left. Health will be a big question since the core is all old guys but if they get one deep run out of this, that’s all that matters

Pitt finally had a first round after many years and what did they do, trades the next 2 first round picks away. 10 million a year for EK is expensive.

Got rid of one of Hexys dumb trades with it lol
- ClaudeFather

doesnt seem like the pens gave up anything of significant value.

couple of Saint Ronnie flops, few picks.

Just crazy what San Jose/Doug Wilson gave up to acquire Erik Karlsson, how unsuccessful they were, and what they got back. Has to be one of the worst trade trees in NHL history.

EK to the Pens a done deal. Awaiting yhe giant explosion as it blows up in thier faces.
- MBFlyerfan

what kind of explosion are you expecting?

Pitt finally had a first round after many years and what did they do, trades the next 2 first round picks away. 10 million a year for EK is expensive.
- WhiskeyMan

We gave up 1 1st round pick that is top 10 protected.

Just crazy what San Jose/Doug Wilson gave up to acquire Erik Karlsson, how unsuccessful they were, and what they got back. Has to be one of the worst trade trees in NHL history.
- Dave21Brown

what we gave up for TDA and Risoto was worse

We gave up 1 1st round pick that is top 10 protected.
- SuperHenderson13

Sorry, thought the 2025 pick was a first.

what we gave up for TDA and Risoto was worse
- 2Real

LOL, hardly! Ottawa received Josh Norris, a 23 year old 35 goal NHL center, and Tim Stutzle, a 21 year old 90 point NHL center.

EK to the Pens a done deal. Awaiting yhe giant explosion as it blows up in thier faces.
- MBFlyerfan

This is absolutely a weird deal to dissect. On the top layer it's pretty self explanatory...shed high salary to bring in high salary.

I have no clue what Montreal was thinking other than brokering the deal for a 2nd round pick. Sure they got rid of 1 year of Hoffman, but Petry and Desmith? Montreal will no question be bottom 3 next year.

San Jose dumps A LOT more of EK than I thought they would be able to. If Granlund only had 1 year instead of 2 this would be a straight theft by San Jose. Dumping 10 million of 11.5m for 4 years is worth a ton and getting a mid-1st round pick too is pretty good.

Pittsburgh got the best player...a 100 point defenseman that played 82 games, but how often does EK play a full season? I expect him on injury reserve for at least 1/3rd of next year, but at least Pittsburgh has that option of 10m of LTIR for the following 3 years too. I do like the sneaky pickup of Rem Pitlick.

LOL, hardly! Ottawa received Josh Norris, a 23 year old 35 goal NHL center, and Tim Stutzle, a 21 year old 90 point NHL center.
- Dave21Brown

sharks got a 36 goal scorer some role players and a 1st round pick

EK to the Pens a done deal. Awaiting yhe giant explosion as it blows up in thier faces.
- MBFlyerfan

HB EK is actually a goalie. And that's it what they need.

EK to the Pens a done deal. Awaiting yhe giant explosion as it blows up in thier faces.
- MBFlyerfan

Would have liked more retention on EK but it’s hard for me to spin this as a negative deal. Yeah it doubles down on age/salary etc but that’s just where they are. Even if it goes horribly wrong this is the type of swing they need to take at this point. Has a lot of fun upside, which really is all you can ask out of the core era as they play out the string. I’m happy about this one.

Would have liked more retention on EK but it’s hard for me to spin this as a negative deal. Yeah it doubles down on age/salary etc but that’s just where they are. Even if it goes horribly wrong this is the type of swing they need to take at this point. Has a lot of fun upside, which really is all you can ask out of the core era as they play out the string. I’m happy about this one.
- stayinthefnnet

Yeah, unless you were ripping it down in a rebuild (which was probably the better option but wasn’t going to happen with Sid having so much say) this is the move. Hope it goes poorly (as a Flyers fan) but I agree with you here.

Would have liked more retention on EK but it’s hard for me to spin this as a negative deal. Yeah it doubles down on age/salary etc but that’s just where they are. Even if it goes horribly wrong this is the type of swing they need to take at this point. Has a lot of fun upside, which really is all you can ask out of the core era as they play out the string. I’m happy about this one.
- stayinthefnnet

If EK can stay healthy and produce then it becomes an easy win compared to what they gave up, but if EK is consistently injured...that's a heavy paperweight, especially given he's one of the "young" stars of the Pens at the age of 33.

As a Flyer fan I love the trade, they give up more future for all-in now. Penguin fans have to hope they have 1 more cup in them because the dark days are coming fast.

If EK can stay healthy and produce then it becomes an easy win compared to what they gave up, but if EK is consistently injured...that's a heavy paperweight, especially given he's one of the "young" stars of the Pens at the age of 33.

As a Flyer fan I love the trade, they give up more future for all-in now. Penguin fans have to hope they have 1 more cup in them because the dark days are coming fast.
- Glak18

EK sucks at keeping the puck out of the net they better hope he scores a lot

EK sucks at keeping the puck out of the net they better hope he scores a lot
- 2Real

That all depends how the Penguins use him. If they don't let him play a full octane game, the Penguins will be battling the Flyers for draft position.

Yeah, unless you were ripping it down in a rebuild (which was probably the better option but wasn’t going to happen with Sid having so much say) this is the move. Hope it goes poorly (as a Flyers fan) but I agree with you here.
- coffee junkie

Oh I’d feel the same way as a flyers fan. But exactly, there’s merit to a rip down mentality but that’s simply not an option. So this is the path they’re on.

If EK can stay healthy and produce then it becomes an easy win compared to what they gave up, but if EK is consistently injured...that's a heavy paperweight, especially given he's one of the "young" stars of the Pens at the age of 33.

As a Flyer fan I love the trade, they give up more future for all-in now. Penguin fans have to hope they have 1 more cup in them because the dark days are coming fast.
- Glak18

They really didn’t have much of a future to give up though, and the money going out was for stiffs. There’s definitely the contract issue but in 3 years it’s going to be misery anyway.