Today at noon, NHL free agency begins. Since there was no permitted “legal tampering” period this year due to the new CBA which nixed it, it’ll be interesting to see if anyone signs immediately at 12:01.
It looks like the Bruins are not in on OEL or they are taking all the time right up to Ekman-Larsson’s self-imposed trade deadline. Or they really are out due to the asking price.
Seems like Arizona is waiting for Boston to make its move on OEL, but the Bruins don’t like the asking price. Meanwhile, Vancouver remains an option with tomorrow’s deadline looming.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) October 8, 2020
That’s okay. Maybe the B’s will finally re-sign Torey Krug after he dips his toes into the free agency pool.
Some news that came out yesterday: two players that the Bruins targeted leading up to the trade deadline, Kyle Palmieri of the New Jersey Devils and Tyler Toffoli, an unrestricted free agent, could be on the team’s radar.
Palmieri has one year left on his current deal with New Jersey with a salary cap hit of $4.65M. While Jersey GM Tom Fitzgerald has been negotiating with Palmieri on an extension, they have reached an impasse. He does have modified trade protection of an 8-team no trade list. But Palmieri, who usually lives in Boston in the offseason while playing in the Foxboro Pro League, would love to live here year round, right? Plus, his best friend is the Mayor of Wellesley Walpole, Chris Wagner lives here and plays for the Boston Bruins. It’s a no brainer!
Tyler Toffoli will not be retained by Vancouver since they can’t afford him at all. Toffoli has a history of signing shorter deals. His second contract was a two-year bridge deal. The following one was only a three-year term. These were probably due to LA trying to manage their cap situation while they still had a window. Still, one would wonder if he would go for another short-term contract to have some flexibility.
Anyway, Toffoli is a year younger than Palmieri (28 and 29 respectively) but they both have/ had the same cap hit last year. Something tells me that he will be slightly more expensive this time around but it might be worth it to get a right winger who can shore up that second line with David Krejci.
It’ll be interesting to see if the Bruins will make some kind of splash this year with free agency. Please, no more Ritchies.
Yesterday, the Boston Herald‘s Steve Conroy wrote a piece about Tuukka Rask after talking to him at Shawn Thornton’s annual charity golf outing. The gist of it is this: Tuukka doesn’t want to play anywhere else but Boston. He believes that Don Sweeney wants him around and isn’t worrying about an extension until later in the season.
“I think Sweeney came out and said that’s not going to happen,” said Rask in a brief interview with the Herald before golfing in the Shawn Thornton’s Putts and Punches tournament at Ferncroft Country Club. “I don’t want to play for anybody else but the Bruins.”
…
While the 33-year-old Rask didn’t come out and say he’d simply retire if traded — a declaration that would effectively squash any deal — it certainly sounds like any team that might acquire him would not be getting the happiest of campers.
“I don’t see any reason for that,” said Rask, who does not have full trade protection. “I’ve been here for a long time and the organization’s been so great for me. We’ve built our home in Boston and we call this home. So, yeah, I don’t want to play for anybody else. I think where my head’s at is focusing on next year and then hopefully a couple of more years after that and then pass the torch for the next guy after that. I want to help the organization as much as I can.”
I hope that we can all put this behind us and not have to worry about our goaltending situation once the season starts.
Gentle readers and Satan81’s Sister, I will be taking a couple of weeks off from writing in the ol’ blog as I just need a bit of time away from hockey stuff. Don’t worry, I’ll be back before Halloween to spread holiday cheer.
(Editor’s note: We will still have some sort of MFA content while GH takes some time off)
Morning all. Chilly one this morning. Nugget was camped out in front of the heater for a while. And since it was 27 this morning it’s going to be 72 tomorrow because New England!
27 is below freezing right?
Was 9C (so just under 40F) here this morning when I was walking Leah to the village and I felt for the first time this year like I might need to dig out some gloves soon!
Touch below freezing. Was actually pretty okay on my morning walk with just a hoodie and gloves. Was too lazy to put on the winter coat.
Was not *that* cold out here this morning. Still, the stove was busy. Not sure whether I really needed the flannel shirt. (However my need to dress warmly outdoors is inexplicably less than most). I was outside with the dog and smelled smoke and thought “oh, how nice, someone in the neighborhood has a fire going” then realized that smells like pellet smoke. That’s me who has a fire going!
(Pellets are drier than firewood and contain no bark so the smoke is a little less earthy smelling)
It’s getaway day!! Last scheduled whitewater releases in my hood til spring….. fortunately, there are plenty of unscheduled releases. One just needs to know how to get the info. Monrovia will be residents only most of the winter.
Has that nearby village that becomes isolated, become isolated yet?
November 1st. One of the roads into town gets closed until mid April. The isolation begins!!!
It’s the other half of our town that gets truly isolated. Those folks up there (the Hatfields) have ATVs and snowmobiles and such.
Baking more blueberry pear bread this morning!! It was a great success last week. Made a loaf earlier this week for surfers, as well. Tis the season for baking!
Nice.
I’m going to try making a creme Catalana this weekend (Spanish version of Creme Brulee).
I never make spice breads – I should do some of those. Maybe start baking some regular breads again – I had a lot of satisfaction with that this spring.
I’ve been in mood to bake something but I’m not really sure what.
Why not pie?
Anonymous pie. I am having an urge for corn muffins.
The showstopper on Bake Off this week was bread based. Some good ideas on there
I’m doing a test run with my skull cake pan. They’re somewhat shallow, so it’s all about baking time. I may try red velvet since I’ve never made that one.
Enjoy your break!
Much as I love F1 motor racing there are times when I don’t feel like writing about it, and I only have to do it every two weeks. AND I get paid for it! Really, I have massive admiration for you knocking these pages up every day.
I get the feeling the Bs might make a significant move this free agency. I get the impression they;ve accepted they’re not quite at elite level with the current group and they’re going to change things up.
I might be wrong. It has happened before …
Hey All!
Hey GH, i don’t know how you do it everyday. Renew, renew!!!
Hockey free agency! I like Palmieri over Toffoli. I feel Palmieri has more edge in his game, something the Bruins need.
I like both those guys – I have seen more of Palmieri, and think he would be a good fit for the Bruins. Toffoli’s possession metrics are better but with him being in the other conference, I just don’t have as much of a feel for the player
He spent some time on Kopitar’s line. That would boost one’s possession stats exponentially!