A busy lead-up to the draft. Here are your links for today:
Devils Links
Farewell to Simon Nemec:
Assessing the Simon Nemec trade: “This trade ensures the Devils avoid a risky contract and arms them with draft picks that can be leveraged as currency to add top-six winger help.” [The Athletic ($)]
“The Brady Tkachuk blockbuster to the Florida Panthers underscores an unfolding truth in today’s NHL. Power is shifting in favor of the NHLs star players. New Jersey Devils fans watching the Hughes speculation might feel uncomfortable. However, they’re not in a Tkachuk-like predicament… yet.” [New Jersey Hockey Now]
Hockey Links
We have trades:
Seems like Morgan Rielly could be on the move soon:
Mike Babcock is official in Edmonton:
“Commissioner Gary Bettman said that the NHL found no basis to prevent the Edmonton Oilers from hiring coach Mike Babcock but that the league expects ‘a certain level of decorum and conduct’ from him.” [ESPN]
“The NHL is exploring putting a second team in Texas, with Austin and Houston as potential targets, commissioner Gary Bettman announced on Tuesday following a board of governors meeting.” [ESPN]
“Will Connor Hellebuyck be the next American-born star to leave a Canadian NHL franchise? It appears the Team USA Manifest Destiny is real, and we have to take the trade rumors seriously at this point.” [Daily Faceoff]
“For decades, NHL teams asked players to be loyal and commit on long-term deals that locked them up from their teenage years until retirement. These teams then acted in cutthroat ways to buy out or otherwise dump them, however, when their play declined. That paradigm has now changed entirely, to where star players (and their agents) realize they hold the cards, especially with how free agency has been hollowed out and how vital the trade market has become to building a top team. Whether that shift has created a permanent imbalance in the league, with talent flowing from north to south, remains an open question. But it’s one worth asking yet again, as another top player heads to Florida and another Canadian team’s GM is left scrambling to fill a gaping roster hole.” [The Athletic ($)]
Feel free to discuss these and any other hockey-related stories in the comments below.
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