Arizona Starts Bidding for the Rights to Draft Matthews

[herman]

Which one will happen first?
A) expansion to Las Vegas
B) Arizona sold
C) Carolina sold

If I were the Vegas group, I might be more interested in picking up the Coyotes than building from the ground up.

 

[Nik]

Which one will happen first?
A) expansion to Las Vegas
B) Arizona sold
C) Carolina sold

If I were the Vegas group, I might be more interested in picking up the Coyotes than building from the ground up.

Being as the reports are that the Vegas expansion is going to happen in the next week or so that seems like a safe bet. I agree with you that buying the Coyotes might be a better option(although the expansion draft rules seem pretty friendly this time around) but I'd guess the NHL would prefer everyone staying where they are with Phoenix to Seattle and Carolina to Quebec City as back-up plans.

 

[herman]

Which one will happen first?
A) expansion to Las Vegas
B) Arizona sold
C) Carolina sold

If I were the Vegas group, I might be more interested in picking up the Coyotes than building from the ground up.

Being as the reports are that the Vegas expansion is going to happen in the next week or so that seems like a safe bet. I agree with you that buying the Coyotes might be a better option(although the expansion draft rules seem pretty friendly this time around) but I'd guess the NHL would prefer everyone staying where they are with Phoenix to Seattle and Carolina to Quebec City as back-up plans.

Thanks for the update, Nik.

Looks like the NHL is more keen to make money via expansion than sorting out its existing problems with troubled ownership.

 

[Tigger]

It might be a tire fire team to start with, but at least with expansion, I've read they'll get what, 4 straight lottery picks?

 

[Nik]

Thanks for the update, Nik.

Looks like the NHL is more keen to make money via expansion than sorting out its existing problems with troubled ownership.

I think it was Tigger who pointed out that Karmanos hasn't really made serious efforts to sell the team(or rather that he'd put such a high valuation/weird restrictions on his asking price) that there's really no way to know what's going on with the ownership situation in Carolina outside of Karmanos and his kids fighting about money and/or who might be interested in owning the team aside from him.

Or to sum it up, while things definitely look bad for Karmanos it might be a little premature to say the situation in Carolina is bad to the point of needing imminent solving.

Now off to cash my check from the NHL.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

Knowing what we know now about the Leafs drafting #1 this season and you have a chance to re-pick last years draft, do you take Hanafin?

 

[Mr. Leaf]

Knowing what we know now about the Leafs drafting #1 this season and you have a chance to re-pick last years draft, do you take Hanafin?

No way, no how.

 

[Nik]

I can't pretend I watched much of Hanifin this year but I think that if the Leafs thought that Hanifin was the sort of defenseman who was a safe bet to be a #1 they'd have taken him regardless.

So personally, no.

 

[Tigger]

I thought Hanafin looked good at the WC, probably the most I saw of him all year, but no, with the year Marner just had I'm ok with it. Apparently Babcock wanted him, so there's that.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

I can't pretend I watched much of Hanifin this year but I think that if the Leafs thought that Hanifin was the sort of defenseman who was a safe bet to be a #1 they'd have taken him regardless.

So personally, no.

That's kinda how I see it too, but I think there was a lot of talk at least externally that the Leafs still need more depth at centre ice. If you know you have Matthews coming, I wonder if Babcock's argument for Hanafin becomes a little more compelling.

I should add that Marner has been lights out and I'm very excited to have him coming, just thought it was an idea worth airing.

 

[Nik]

I should add that Marner has been lights out and I'm very excited to have him coming, just thought it was an idea worth airing.

No I agree. To be honest I'm like you where I'm very excited about Marner but I still had to really think about your question.

I guess the way I see things is if we'd done that, taken Hanifin instead of Marner, we'd sort of be having the same conversation about our wing prospects as we are now about our defensemen. Nielsen, Dermott, Carrick, Zaitsev(sort of) and Valiev aren't a great group but they're not much behind Hyman, Sosh, Kapanen, Dzierkals, Timashov and various others.

If, as a lot of people suspect, the Leafs take a Defenseman with either Pittsburgh's 1st or their 2nd I'd say they're roughly as strong at both areas(Marner excluded).

 

[Al14]

Knowing what we know now about the Leafs drafting #1 this season and you have a chance to re-pick last years draft, do you take Hanafin?

No way, no how.

X2!