PLD is the only one of the four that expressed interest in going to play for Montreal, and he’s the one that Habs fans don’t want. The rest is just delusional. One of the greatest front offices ever seen seems like a stretch. Getting rid of the crew that drafted a convicted criminal who asked not to be drafted is below bare minimum.

He would be a great fit with the isles, he’s exactly what they need

1. Those who don't want PLD are a minority, people in general just don't want to overpay because the team is not there yet.

2. Letang & Huberdeau said it interviews a few times

3. It's not just "getting rid of Bergevin's regime" - they replaced it with world-class hockey heads in Gorton, Bobrov, Nicholas, and filled the rest with some big names: Lecavalier, MP Poulin, St-Louis. If you don't see the difference it makes for players compared to the previous front office, I don't know what to tell you.

Anyone else smell Bull****

As come on if you never wanted out

1. Why did you only sign 1 year
2. Why were you in MTL at the draft when rumors were MTL was gonna trade for Dach then use him to get you
3. Your agent said in an interview you want to play in MTL

In my mind he requested a trade but he wanted it to be more private which was where the draft came as it would be a surprise 3 team trade where he goes to MTL, WPG gets Dach and Chicago gets picks but nope didnt happen and then his agent spilled the beans. Gonna be very uncomfortable in WPG especially in that locker room

Every front office is great during a rebuild.

I wouldn’t call Gorton an elite GM, and he’s not even the GM. And yeah Letang really wanted to play in Montreal, which is why he signed for longer than the rest of his career to stay in Pittsburgh lol.

Maybe I should start trading for Point, Makar, Hall, and Nylander to come home and play for Calgary lol

Tell that to the Coyotes, the Sharks, the Oilers, the Blackhawks



A rebuilding team would've never signed an injury prone Letang till he's 42 lol, and if it took him a 6-year deal to make him stay, it's probably because he was tempted to go somewhere else, no?



Has there ever been a player who willingly signed a contract to come home to Calgary? It's a wonderful city, but the attachment & nationalism is not the same in Alberta and Québec at all.

Tell that to the Coyotes, the Sharks, the Oilers, the Blackhawks



A rebuilding team would've never signed an injury prone Letang till he's 42 lol, and if it took him a 6-year deal to make him stay, it's probably because he was tempted to go somewhere else, no?



Has there ever been a player who willingly signed a contract to come home to Calgary? It's a wonderful city, but the attachment & nationalism is not the same in Alberta and Québec at all.

You can’t tell me that nobody liked the Oilers front office for the first couple years when they were new and selecting high end prospects with high picks. It’s the moves that came later that cemented their fate as a terrible front office. Nobody seems to have much bad to say about Bill Armstrong and he just had a good draft after selling everybody and being paid to be the landing spot for bad contracts, which is the easy part. Grier has had the job for like two weeks and already managed to move one of the unmovable boat anchor contracts and there’s optimism around their last couple drafts. The problems there seem to be more on the ownership side. The Blackhawks don’t count as an NHL franchise, they should fold.

Why not? It would be a W in the PR department and it’s not like you need cap space for a few years. He signed in Pittsburgh because he wanted to stay where he’s been his whole career and he has a chance to win there, and they were willing to compensate him fairly. From Letang’s POV there was no reason to go to Montreal unless they offered him too much money and/or term. If he really wanted to go home and play for cheap like Habs fans seem to expect, that would’ve happened. And Bergeron is never leaving Boston and to suggest otherwise is foolish. Montreal wasn’t even his childhood team, Quebec was lol

Dunno, Calgary doesn’t produce too many stars specifically. But claiming everyone from an entire province has to love the one team there and wants to come home is incredibly naive. Countless Canadians never play in Canada for their whole career. The going home narrative is stupid anyway. It’s only really a thing for guys at the very end of their careers anyway (see: Spezza). The rest of the time it’s because they happen to fill a need for that team at the time they’re a UFA and because they’re fairly compensated by a team they think is good or will be in short order (see: Tavares, Giroux). What use is a 30yo Huberdeau to a team that will likely finish bottom 5 again? Slightly more use than a 35yo Letang or 37yo Bergeron to a team that finished dead last, but not by much. Which is also part of why they didn’t go there.

I would like to take a moment to announce that I have decided that the next 30 days will be my last ones spent on CF.

This is an awesome site. Shoutout to the incredible creator and editor/moderator-in-chief Banks for creating it. I first discovered it while Googling how to make a mock Kraken expansion draft, and in doing so, clicked on CapFriendly. I have (mostly ) enjoyed the time I spent on here, and I will write a longer, more thought-out letter in a month's time giving shoutouts to specific users whom I enjoyed interacting with.

However, as has been proven time and time again (especially in the modern age), debatable topics bring out the worst in people, especially on the Internet (on both sides of the aisle). To use the latest example, the horrifying alleged rape/sexual assault of multiple women at the hands of unnamed players, all covered up and swept under the rug by Hockey Canada.

Let me be very clear: this is inhuman, monstrous behavior, and it should be treated as such. I am saddened to see some on one side of the aisle seem to take a blasé approach to such allegations and insist that no matter what else comes to light, the worst possible course of action would be to ban Hockey Canada from a future tournament. That's just sad. Hockey is a sport. It's secondary to life. If any woman was indeed assaulted by players and Hockey Canada knew about it and covered it up, then they should be punished accordingly.

Simultaneously, I am also disappointed (but not surprised) to see some on the other side of the aisle accuse those who merely say (correctly) "we should wait for further evidence to come out before denouncing the entire Hockey Canada organization as complicit and that this is not representative of the hockey community as a whole" as inhumane misogynists who simply hate women and refuse to see that the sport that they love is rotten to its core. It's not. Stop castigating everyone who disagrees with you as a hateful bigot. Even if you think they're wrong, that doesn't mean they're hateful.

And this is just one example. It's happened previously with COVID-related issues, the Blackhawks' logo, and at times has even descended into outright political squabbling which has no place on a hockey forum.

That being said, I'd like to end off on a happy note. These season-discussion threads have been awesome, both interesting and engaging, where I can discuss (or even argue ) with (mostly) well-informed knowledgeable hockey fans who bring insightful opinions and topics to the forum. I've enjoyed it.

Again, I'm not leaving yet. I'll be on here for about another month. Just wanted to give everyone a heads-up.

Glad you enjoyed these Forums! This specifically, "where I can discuss (or even argue ) with (mostly) well-informed knowledgeable hockey fans who bring insightful opinions and topics to the forum. I've enjoyed it." was the reason I created them way back in January 2021. The point was to gather together the users on the sight who can have thoughtful and even headed conversations about their own and other teams while acknowledging the bias of their views.

I am sad to see you go, but also glad that you are making a choice that seems to be the best for your own person! All the best!

Thanks dude! Really appreciate it (and again, I'm still around for the next month )

Oh yea i havent forgot! You just going to delete your account or become inactive?

Grier had the job for two weeks and traded the #11 OA pick for two late picks even though the team was in dire need of high-end guys rather than multiple lower-end prospects, traded a top 3 defenseman (33% retained) for nothing and signed the equivalent of a whole roster of bottom 6ers in FA. Coyotes have been rebuilding ever since the little run with Taylor Hall and will likely be rebuilding for the next decade. The Blackhawks do count, there's no reason why they shouldn't count.

Signing Letang for 6 years until he's 42 is not a W in the PR department or a W in anything. Heck, this contract would outlast Caufield's and Slafkovsky's ELCs + potential bridge deals. If you have to bank on "yeah, he could be LTIR at some point when it's convenient", it's best to avoid that deal, especially for a rebuilding team. While I do agree that some Habs fans are overexaggerating their hometown discounts ideas (I've personally never said anything Bergeron coming here, ever, because it doesn't make sense at all), it's happened in recent memory and just last season, one of the most coveted free agent defensemen took less to come home - the season he had is another story lol. Also, Canadians of other provinces identify themselves as Canadian 1st, Albertan/Ontarian 2nd. It's the opposite in Québec. If there was a Finnish team in the NHL, I'd certainly understand the common narrative of people assuming Finnish players would want to go there.

Luke Hughes told reporters today that he’s gained 8 to 10 pounds of muscle, measuring up at 6-2 and 189 pounds. He certainly looks it in person. Every time his drill team has to do push-ups, he finishes about 5 or 6 seconds before everyone else.

— Connor Earegood (@ConnorEaregood) July 25, 2022

Jacked Hughes

Luke Hughes told reporters today that he’s gained 8 to 10 pounds of muscle, measuring up at 6-2 and 189 pounds. He certainly looks it in person. Every time his drill team has to do push-ups, he finishes about 5 or 6 seconds before everyone else.

— Connor Earegood (@ConnorEaregood) July 25, 2022

Jacked Hughes

Tell that to the Coyotes, the Sharks, the Oilers, the Blackhawks

Every front office is great during a rebuild. And being good at hockey does not make you good at anything else. There’s hope for a better future, but not a guarantee. Gorton and Bobrov were fine hires, but I wouldn’t call Gorton an elite GM, and he’s not even the GM. And yeah Letang really wanted to play in Montreal, which is why he signed for longer than the rest of his career to stay in Pittsburgh lol. If the Montreal media asks if he’d play in Montreal, what is he supposed to say? Huberdeau just said he’d be open to signing long term in Calgary too, and he was open to signing in Florida prior to the trade, so that’s 3 teams before the market opens right there. You don’t see me pencilling him into the 23-24 roster already, even though in general it’s much, much more likely for star hockey players to stay in the same spot. Maybe I should start trading for Point, Makar, Hall, and Nylander to come home and play for Calgary lol

WOAH NOW WHYS SAN JOSE CATCHING THE STRAY?
Haha.

We haven’t even started a rebuild! The owner wants perennial “contention”. Whatever you say Hasso, bury the franchise.

While I do agree with you - I do see the merit in Bystedt, Lund/ Havelids over picking 11th if they didn’t love anyone there (as the report was they set on Savoie). Don’t get me wrong I woulda loved Lekki, Kemell but honestly Lund is already turning heads - we’ll see him at the WJC potentially and see what he’s made of. Havelids is a high value/ risk pick. And Bystedt seems like a project worth taking on as he seems like a guy who’s going to make the NHL full time and now it’s just down to developing him.

But I do stand pat; San Jose has just “begun” their rebuild if that was to correct my statement a moment ago. It’s been literally weeks, not even long into this “new phase” which I still don’t believe is a true rebuild but it’s the closest we’ll get I think - as there’s not been any selling of assets or moving of value for gain. The only thing that’s begun has been moving Burns but other than that there’s hardly been anything “rebuild” worthy.

”[…] Nylander to come home and play for Calgary lol”. I lol’d at that.

Getting sick of these Leafs fans lol. Can’t wait until next year when I’ll offer Zadorov and Kevin Rooney for Nylander (retained) because he’s a rental that wants to come home.

I just thought it was funny thinking about Nylander considering Calgary ”home” after being born there and really never spent anytime there at all lol. But yeah I look forward to that trade, great value for both teams.