re: Official NHL off season thread

I'm gonna guess that Stevie Y's meeting with Richards was primarily for show. He wants to show Stamkos that he is prepared to move on without him, when in reality the priority is to extend Stamkos forever.

The Philly thing is interesting. By failing to re-sign Leino AND trading Versteeg, that opens up some space. Does this mean they could become a player for Richards?! I hope my math is wrong.

Lastly, as a Bruins fan, I really hope the Flyers or someone else doesn't put out a ridiculous offer sheet for Marchand. The rumor last week was that the deal was done, but that obviously didn't happen. Now, we might have to give Marchand Leino money which would be necessary but as he's a really good young player. The interesting thing about Marchand is that Boston management literally had to tell him to get the hell out of Boston and go back to Halifax, because he was partying too hard. He's not only a pain in the arse to the opposition, he's a pain in the arse to his own franchise.

The contracts being throw out today are all out of whack and this is clearly a bubble. But, there are gonna be enough losers that things won't really normalize until probably about 2013. It'll still be a seller's market at the trade deadline and the 2012 FA class is once again fairly weak.