Also Tim Stutzle being an Ottawa Senator for the next 9 years is an unequivocal W for the franchise, and it’s only bolstered by the fact that he’ll very likely be a major steal for its entire duration. The dude put up just shy of 60 points in his DY+2 on a bad team with linemates that couldn’t score (Connor Brown inexplicably turned playmaker and couldn’t bury anything this year after historically being a solid shooter and Formenton’s finishing needs some serious work), and is now locked up through his entire prime. If he only turns into a 75 point one-dimensional top 6 centre, this will be a good deal (see: Mark Scheifele) because this will be the going rate for that type of player within two years (honestly it’s arguably that already). But I think that he’s young enough and skilled enough that there are still levels to his game to be unlocked. I can easily see him being a 90-point guy for the majority of this contract, and because he’s so smart and an extremely good skater, it’s very probable that he improves defensively over time as well. Especially with a mentor like Giroux. According to Jeff Marek he’s gronked up this summer too, and he’s not short (I think Stutzle is perceived as a classic small skill guy, but he’s 6’1” and apparently put on a noticeable amount of muscle) so he might even be able to develop more of a power game. Probably not to the level of Draisaitl, nor will he likely be as much of a bang and crasher as Brady, but he’ll be able to win puck battles and lean on guys and not get shoved out of the dirty areas.

Predicting Next Year's Big RFA Contracts

Barzal 7 x 9
Debrincat 8 x 9.25
PLD 7 x 7
Hintz 7 x 7.25
Alexis Lafrenière 1 x 4
Lundell 3 x 6.5
Bowen Byram 5 x 6
Boldy 4 x 6
Bratt 7 x 7.25
Kyrou 8 x 6.9
Troy Terry 8 x 6
Drysdale 3 x 3.8
Zegras 3 x 7

Allen re-signs with Habs per Weekes.

Multi-year extension.

Rip Allen for a 4th

Allen re-signs with Habs per Weekes.

Multi-year extension.

Rip Allen for a 4th

Couldn't even get a midrounder for him.

Beter wins again.

Hintz 7 x 7.25
Bratt 7 x 7.25
Kyrou 8 x 6.9
Troy Terry 8 x 6

Vladislav Gavrikov: #44 -> #4 (CBJ)
Dmitry Kulikov: #29 (ANA)

That was Scott Harrington's number while he was here...

Hopefully he didn't curse it as he left. I would cry if he did.

Is Blankenburg good or will he not have a spot on the team in the future ?

Couldn't even get a midrounder for him.

Beter wins again.

Wheelers Top 10 Calder Rankings

1st.
Kent Johnson, CBJ

2nd.
Matty Beniers, SEA

3rd.
Mason McTavish, ANA

4th.
Cole Perfetti, WPG

5th.
Jack Quinn, BUF

6th.
Owen Power, BUF

7th.
Jake Sanderson, OTT

8th.
Alexander Holtz, NJD

9th.
William Eklund, SJS

10th.
Shane Wright, SEA

Fixed that for him.

Wheelers Top 10 Calder Rankings

1st.
Dylan Holloway, EDM

2nd.
Philip Broberg, EDM

3rd.
Stuart Skinner, EDM

4th.
Cole Perfetti, WPG

5th.
Jack Quinn, BUF

6th.
Kent Johnson, CBJ

7th.
Jake Sanderson, OTT

8th.
Alexander Holtz, NJD

9th.
William Eklund, SJS

10th.
Shane Wright, SEA

Fixed that for him.

Wheelers Top 10 Calder Rankings

1st.
Owen Power, BUF

2nd.
Matty Beniers, SEA

3rd.
Mason McTavish

4th.
Cole Perfetti, WPG

5th.
Jack Quinn, BUF

6th.
Kent Johnson, CBJ

7th.
Jake Sanderson, OTT

8th.
Alexander Holtz, NJD

9th.
William Eklund, SJS

10th.
Shane Wright, SEA

How likely is it that Holtz and Johnson even play more than 10 games in the NHL next year. Serious question as both teams have lots of NHL contract forwards.

Johnson has to beat out 2 of: Kuraly, Bemstrom, Chinakhov just for 3rd line minutes.

Holtz has Wood and Tatar to beat out for a 3rd line role.

Even Wright and Eklund are still uncertain if they have a top 9 role on the NHL squad.

Quinn appears set to be 3rd line RW with the chance to leapfrog Olofsson; so he has a good chance of an impact rookie year.

Beniers, McTavish, Power, Perfetti, and Sanderson are the top tier IMO (based on talent X opportunity)

Other darhorse candidates: Rossi (Min), Holloway (Edm), Guenther (AZ); Vaakanainen (Ana), Reichel (Chi), Joseph (Pit), Pinto (Ott), Guhle (Mon)

Holloway is a HM, Rossi is a 13th I believe, Reichel is 11th, Pinto is 15th, don’t think the other 3 are mentioned except for maybe Guhle as a HM.

My top tier is the same;

1
Powers
McTavish

2
Beniers
Sanderson

3
Perfetti
Quinn
Eklund
Wright
Johnson

4
Holtz
Rossi
Pinto
Reichel
Etc

I see Guhle as a "Mo Seider" type of guy in the NHL. Him and Barron could be a tough shutdown pair in a year or two. If Barron wins the #2RD job and Wideman is 3RD then the Habs would be better off with Gihle at 3LD over Harris as he is too similar to Wideman in playing style (and defensive gaps).

Lou is now the oldest dinosaur on the planet with her majesty resting peacefully.

Lou is now the oldest dinosaur on the planet with her majesty resting peacefully.

Please don’t say that, Guhle isn’t close to Seider and Habs fans are insufferable enough as is. And Barron’s peak will likely be 2RD, if he’s there next year he’ll likely be in over his head.