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They control him for 2 years as an RFA, he might be reduced to signing one year bridge deals until then, unless he matches that performance this year. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Mr. W. Karlsson, almost as interesting as it will be to see what happens to Mr. E. Karlsson.

I live in Ottawa, by the way. People here are sad.
 
I've been reading the 31 in 31 team previews on NHL.com and they all paint as positive a picture as possible about the team's season outlook. All except Ottawa. That one, by comparison, was depressing, dark and bleak. LC mentioned people are "sad," in Ottawa, a friend from Colorado who is a huge Sens fan and a friend from Vancouver both stated the team should fold/be sold. Karlsson may not stay, that may cause Duchene to not resign, with two of its top 3 veterans not signing, things look bad on and off the ice for the team. Let's face it, at this juncture no Karlsson, no Sens. This could also fuel more rumors of a second team in Toronto or even Halifax getting theirs.
 
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's be completely honest here when it comes to the Sens. Three of their top three players probably aren't re-signing. Karlsson, Stone, and Duchene are almost certainly gone at the end of this year, unless something drastic changes here. The arena is removing seats so they can pretend they sell out more - they pulled 2500 seats from the Canadian Tire Centre. People are going from sad to suicidal here (not really, but when it comes to the team's fortunes).

But if the Sens move, there's only one place east of the Mississippi that they would be welcome - Quebec.
 
See, bleak indeed. How realistic is it for Quebec to get a team. I hear corporate sponsorship is severely lacking.
 
Onhell said:
See, bleak indeed. How realistic is it for Quebec to get a team. I hear corporate sponsorship is severely lacking.
Click to expand...
Ownership is the big thing. In the end, big Canadian sponsors will buy the space there. The arena exists and is NHL ready - with a big corporate sponsor, Vidéotron.
 
I've always liked the blues too and they're always a team on the cusp. I think they have a good chance at a deep run, specially with an aging San Jose (Evander Kane and Brent Burns can't do it all) a Ducks team that seem lost and a weak L.A, the West seems to belong to the Jets, Vegas and Predators with expectations of rebounds for Dallas and Chicago and of course, the Blues always in a good spot. They're goaltending will be key, as always.
 
LOL, yup. I was telling my brother the Pens could find themselves the new Islanders if Murray keeps getting hurt as frequently as he does. Dipietro was a great goalie when healthy, but I swear he was made of glass. I know I'm exaggerating, but it seems he spent 9 years of his 12 year contract (eventually got bought out) injured.
 
Max Pacioretty has been traded to the Vegas Golden Knights for Tomas Tatar, a prospect, and a 2nd round pick. Both sides retain a percentage of salary. Pacioretty has long been a top goal scorer and has never played with a real centre. In fact, Pacioretty has a way of helping centres overperform on their talent levels, as many of the centres crash once they're away from him. Vegas has two high-level (if not necessarily elite) centres in Jonathan Marchessault and Paul Stastny; Marchessault anchored W. Karlsson and Reilly Smith, so Stastny seems like his most likely centre.
 
That's what I was thinking. At first I felt the trade wasn't good for Vegas, but Pacioretty has scored at least 30 goals 4 seasons in a row with, like you said, not the greatest centers. I didn't like his age (29), but Tatar is 27, MTL is betting on the prospect to hit it big. It will be interesting to see how both players mesh in the new environment.
 
Pacioretty is one of the most underrated players in hockey. He might not be young, but he has 2-3 good years left in the tank. And this is a contract year for him. I suspect he will do OK.
 
If he helps Vegas to the Finals again I'd say he did his job. If they WIN... well... long-term contract mayhaps? LOTS of competition. I love how close it is. Washington can defend it, Pittsburgh is gunning for it again, Tampa is incredibly dangerous, Toronto is a strong contender as are Winnipeg and Nashville. Many teams looking for bounce-back seasons like Dallas and Edmonton... just... AAAAAH, the season needs to start already!
 
So the crazy thing is that the Knights still have $9.4 million in cap space. But next year they have - are you ready - $30.2 million. William Karlsson needs a new contract, now Pacioretty needs a new contract, Oskar Lindberg, Nate Schmidt...but if they bring in a replacement, say...Erik Karlsson, who has long been rumoured to move in that direction, they can probably move Nate Schmidt and his failed drug test and bring in a player they can afford to spend $11 million on, and still resign their better forwards. The Knights are very close to being able to build a dynasty, and unlike every other team in the NHL, they won't have to worry about losing a player when Seattle enters in probably 2021.
 
W...T...F!? They do have a great opportunity to build a dynasty like you said. Holy crap. Now I see why the other GMs were bitching about the "unfair" advantage Vegas had vs. other expansion/current clubs. It wasn't just the time they had to put everything together, what they did with the players that they got, but this immunity is incredible.
 
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