2025 NHL Off Season thread

[Amazin69]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Canes extend Miller 8 yrs @ $7.5M per. Rangers receive Scott Morrow, conditional 1st in '26 & 2nd in '26.

And the Rangers did indeed sign Gavrikov, 7x7.

That's right, Ken Holland's first decision as GM was to let one of our top D walk…and then piss most of the money away on Cody Ceci

Seriously, if you don't think the difference between Gav and Cody C-minus is more than $2,5 mn, you shouldn't even be ATTENDING games, much less running a team. FFS.

[Amazin69]

Hey, good news!! The Athletic names the Kings Biggest Losers of Free Agency Day #1!

We're number 1! We're number 1!

With expectations high after another first-round playoff flameout, Los Angeles responded not with bold reinforcements but with questionable, short-sighted signings on defense. The additions of Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin left analysts and fans scratching their heads, wondering how this team plans to get past Connor McDavid and the Oilers when it just got older, slower, and less mobile on the blue line.

Cody Ceci, signed for four years at a $4.5 million AAV, was a liability in high-leverage situations for Edmonton and Dallas. He’s handled tough minutes, but his underlying metrics confirm he fits only in a depth role at this stage of his career. That didn’t stop the Kings from paying him like a top-four option

.

The team aimed to start a new chapter this offseason, but instead, they delivered déjà vu for fans familiar with Ken Holland’s work in Edmonton. The Ceci deal reeks of the same misjudgment that plagued the Oilers’ blue line during his tenure. It’s a classic overvaluation of “tough minutes” without proper regard for efficiency or fit in the modern NHL.

Now, the Kings have built a defensive core featuring Ceci, Dumoulin, and Joel Edmundson—all one-dimensional, limited defenders.

The Kings didn’t just overpay Ceci and Dumoulin—they sacrificed valuable opportunities in the process. Los Angeles entered free agency with cap space and a clear mandate to upgrade. Instead, they locked themselves into multiple years of questionable value, with no obvious path to beating the conference’s elite teams.

Indeed. I'm willing to forgive Dumoulin, where you can argue that his championship experience compensates for his aging. But Ceci's problem isn't that he's slow…it's that he's stupid. He's been stupid for a long time. (Check out Steve Dangle's videos of the Maple Leafs getting eliminated by Columbus, which had never won a playoff series before and I don't think has won one since, during the playoff bubble of 2020. You will hear Ceci's name…a LOT)

You can't fix stupid. Which you could say about Ken Holland, who brought Ceci to Edmonton and, like a carrier of a disease, has now brought him to LA as well. Stupid is as stupid does.

(Note: this is actually heavy.com's paraphrase of The Athletic's original article, which is paywalled. From the squint I got of the original, it appears they think the BEST Day 1 team was…Carolina. Congrats, Cobra.)

[Amazin69]

Steve Dangle and his co-hosts (Adam Wylde, Jesse Blake) liked the Kings' signings of Armia and Perry…

…and then they came back from a break and found the Kings had signed other players, whom they…less-than-liked.

Re: Perry

JESSE: I'm convinced that [Perry] has [compromising] pictures of every GM in the League.

STEVE: Dude, he has very limited skating ability—
JESSE: —you're being kind
STEVE: He's not overly-known for his toughness. He CAN shoot…he can also NOT…
ADAM: Well, he whiffs!

ADAM: Hey, if you can get Joel Edmundson, but worse and [a] longer [contract] and you pay more for him, you gotta do it! [/s]

JESSE (reading a text): "Cody Ceci is a veteran defenseman who is very good at getting NHL coaches to play him in important minutes…and not very good at several other things."
STEVE: Playing in those important minutes!

Seriously, if the Islanders offered Tony D straight-up for Ceci, I'd be on it like white on rice. And not just because Tony only costs $2 mn/1 year.

In other news, Tanner Jeannot, bumped off the Kings' bottom line by the new forwards, signed with the Ruins for 5 years, $3.4 mn @. Um, you do you, Boston.

And Jeff Petry moves to Florida, increasing the chance of he and his dad becoming the first pair to be champions in different team sports. (Dan Petry won a World Series ring with the 1984 Detroit Tigers.)

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

From the squint I got of the original, it appears they thin the BEST Day 1 team was…Carolina. Congrats, Cobra.)

I admit I am excited about the possibility of seeing Chatfield & Miller making up a D pair. Don't see too many instances of 2 black players sharing the ice as teammates.

I'm glad they stayed away from Marner. (Feeling was probably mutual)

[Amazin69]

*

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

I admit I am excited about the possibility of seeing Chatfield & Miller making up a D pair. Don't see too many instances of 2 black players sharing the ice as teammates.

I'm glad they stayed away from Marner. (Feeling was probably mutual)

Hey, as I say, we can almost go full 1971 Pirates and put five black men on the ice together…of course, in reality, Byfield is the only one with a job; Akil Thomas and Andre Lee and Caleb Jones have to struggle to stay out of Ontario, much less get out of the press box and onto the ice. But it's at least possible in theory.

As for Marner, Nicholas Roy, whom Toronto got in the trade, has more career playoff goals than MM. No lie.

[Bluenoser]

Mitch Marner - 70 career playoff games - 13 goals, 50 assists

Nicholas Roy - 79 career playoff games - 10 goals, 22 assists

[Amazin69]

Originally Posted by Bluenoser

Mitch Marner - 70 career playoff games - 13 goals, 50 assists

Nicholas Roy - 79 career playoff games - 10 goals, 22 assists

Hmm, I misheard the stat, then. My bad. They had a subfilter or something where it was Roy-10, Mitch-8. Clearly I wasn't paying enough attention.

That said, 13-10 is still probably embarrassing, considering the expectations/salary.

[Cobra Mgr]

Canes sign Nikolaj Ehlers to 6 yrs $8.5M per.

[Cobra Mgr]

Hearing in the cybersphere a lot of positives about the Canes moves. But Kotkaniemi, Kochetkov & Andersen are still on the roster. Until they improve on those 3, I still have little confidence they can get past Florida.

[Amazin69]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Canes sign Nikolaj Ehlers to 6 yrs $8.5M per.

Dang. No offense to Joel Armia, but you got the better ex-Jet, I'd say.

In ex-Canes news, Brett Burns to the Avs and Orlov to San Jose.

[Cobra Mgr]

Why did I post a fist fight on the golf course in a hockey thread?

Because the drunk fool started beef w/an ex-NHL enforcer.

This is like doing a brake check on an unmarked hwy patrolman.