Happy July 1.
At noon today the NHL will start to re-shape its self as unrestricted free agents are free to start signing with anyone they wish.
I’ll have more on what plays out throughout UFA Day 1 later over at Shap Shots.
In the meantime let's rip through some quick Monday morning mailbag questions. I’ll go through some of the other questions, that needed more digging later this week.
Now what for the Stars at RD? Zaitsev? Pesce? (From Corey Dudley)
I’ver heard the Stars would actually be interested in bringing back Nils Lundkvist, even though they didn’t qualify him.
The Stars are also interested in Sean Walker. I haven’t heard anything concrete on Brandon Montour, but it seems like the type of target Nill would be shopping for.
I assume Tanev wanted more $/term than the Stars were willing to give. Simple enough. So who do you think they might target instead? (From Court)
I was told Tanev priced himself out of Dallas with the term. With the Ryan Suter buyout fresh in his mind, Nill wasn’t overly interested in signing a mid-30s defender to a five or even six-year deal that Tanev seems to have gotten with Toronto.
With the NHL looking to go to a decentralized draft, is there still a possibility for teams to host the fans in a way that’s been done in the past? Attending both days of the 2018 draft in Dallas was one of the most fun experiences I’ve had as a hockey fan. I would have to imagine nixing an on site draft wouldn’t cause too much of a financial hit on teams, as it’s probably not a huge income generator. (From Alexander Posani)
Even with the de-centralized draft we’ve heard that there will still be an in-person site where players are picked.
It’ll be more similar to the NFL and NBA drafts, where players are picked and announced by the commissioner at one site with teams back at “war rooms” at home.
Do the Trouba trade, walman trade and Goodrow pick up have anything to do with onw another? (From Benjamin Noble)
It seems like they possibly do. But I don’t have any direct intel on that from a Rangers perspective.
Did you win the Conn Smythe in your championship game? (From Brayden B.)
My team said I was the MVP, so I guess so. Although they did a great job making my job easy as a goalie and cleared out a couple bad rebounds.
What’s the logic with Dallas not picking a RHD when so many were available at 29? Did they really think Emil was the BPA? (From Justin Schmidt)
I’m a big believer in the draft you always take best player available and you don’t draft for positions. I know the Stars look at things that way as well.
With the NHL draft, unless you are drafting in the top-five, there is no certainty that your draft haul will impact your current roster for three or four seasons.
We traded Dellandrea while the finals were still being played. What are the rules for trades prior to the postseason officially ending? Could the Oilers and Panthers have been involved with a trade while they were actively playing in the finals? (From AK)
Players can be traded at any point, the only caveat is whether they could play during the active season.
Any player traded after the NHL trade deadline can’t play for the team he’s been traded to that season.
So, yes, the Oilers and Panthers could have made trades during the Stanley Cup Final, any player added though would be ineligible.