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1. The time of Toronto is now
With Tavares, Auston Matthews and Nazem Kadri the Maple Leafs have the central depth on their first three lines that is needed to win the Stanley Cup.
What they have is at least comparable, if not better, than what the Washington Capitals have with Niklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Lars Eller and what the Penguins of Pittsburgh had with Sidney Crosby Evgeni Malkin and Nick Bonino the two previous seasons.
If we look inside the Atlantic Division, none of the other seven teams can match the depth of the Maple Leafs' center. The Bruins of Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston, the two best teams in the division last season, were contenders to sign Tavares. The fact that they lost to a divisional rival makes the situation worse.
It will not be a No. 1 and No. 2 situation in Toronto because Tavares and Matthews are interchangeable. The first projections centered on Tavares Zach Hyman and Mitchell Marner and Matthews with Patrick Marleau and William Nylander .
Video: John Tavares on his new market with the Maple Leafs
2. The Islanders Must Group Together
Tavares is a blow for Islanders, but not everything is bad.
The silver lining is that they have a potential for replacement as No. 1 center, Mathew Barzal the winner of the Calder Trophy last season with 85 points (22 goals, 63 aids), one more than Tavares. He will face more difficult confrontations without having Tavares as a cushion.
The Islanders also have the $ 11 million or more that they would give Tavares to give to other players. They gave a part of it to transmit Leo Komarov who accepted a four-year contract, and the attacker Valtteri Filppula who obtained a one-year contract .
The No. 1 goalie and improve to the defender. These are needs with or without Tavares, but now they have the money to fix it
and the future has cleared up at the NHL Draft 2018 last weekend, when they chose Oliver Wahlstrom with choice # 11 and defender Noah Dobson at # 12. Everyone was considered worthy of being in the top 10.
Video: Looking to the Future of the Islanders of New York
3. Four teams avoid the same fate as the Islanders
The Islanders had, since July 1, 2017, to sign Tavares again before becoming a free agent . They did not do it, and now they lost it for nothing.
The Los Angeles Kings, Arizona Coyotes, Lightning and San Jose Sharks made sure the same thing would not happen to them. They have each signed key players for long-term contract extensions that avoid the free agency and start in the 2019-2020 season.
Ryan McDonagh signed a $ 47.25 million contract with the Lightning. Have the deepest group of left-handed defenders with the trophy winner Norris Victor Hedman McDonagh and Mikhail Sergachev . Hedman is signed for seven more seasons. Sergheev, 20, still has two years to his entry-level contract.
The Kings have formalized their $ 88 million eight-year contract with defenseman Drew Doughty the NHL's highest-ranking ($ 11 million) defenseman for the 2019-2020 season. Erik Karlsson could be the best every time he signs his next contract with the Ottawa Senators or as a free agent after this season.
The Coyotes do the same with a defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson but the financial part of his contract was not disclosed. The Sharks also signed an eight-year contract with Logan Couture without disclosing the money at stake.
Video: Alex Tanguay on Couture, Doughty and OEL Extensions
[19659004] 4. Stastny Adds Keys to the Golden Knights
The Golden Knights of Vegas have never had the opportunity to officially introduce their program to Tavares. They responded by landing the second best free agent center, Paul Stastny . Stastny has amassed 53 points (16 goals, 37 assists) in 82 games last season, including 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 19 games with the Winnipeg Jets after they've acquired in a market.
He was to help Stastny witness the impact of the Golden Knights by playing against them in the Western Conference final last season. The Gold Knights, who struggled to manage the depth of the Capitals' center in the Stanley Cup final, are better positioned in the center of the field, with Stastny likely second behind him. William Karlsson and in front of Cody Eakin.
Erik Haula could move to the wing, potentially replacing James Neal on the second line. Neal is an unrestricted free agent and could return to Vegas. Tomas Tatar will also have the opportunity to play with Stastny.
Video: Paul Stastny at the signing of the Knights of the Gold
5. Canadians are always looking for a center
The Montreal Canadiens still need a high center after never having had the opportunity to throw at Tavares and not be able to land at Stastny or Ryan O 'Reilly who was traded by the Buffalo Sabers to the St. Louis Blues on Sunday.
Montreal brought back Tomas Plekanec with a one-year contract valued at $ 2.25 million, but it's no longer the best center of the world. 39, a team in the running. O & # 39; Reilly would have been a good fit, but the Blues did it for the strikers Patrik Berglund Vladimir Sobotka and Tagus Thompson as well as their first. .. the choice of the NHL in 2019 and a second-round pick in 2021.
The best option for Canadians may be to be patient and realize that they can not Get a player like Tavares or, on a smaller scale, like Stastny or O. Reilly, there's no reason to overpay for a player who's not as good as the three.
That might be a difficult thing to do in a market like Montreal, but if the Canadians went away with the long game, they could be better in a year or two, when Jesperi Kotkaniemi, the third choice in the game, would be the best. 2018 The NHL draft is hopefully poised to have a significant impact.
Video: Jets make the cap in trade with the Canadians
6. The Flyers fill the big hole with van Riemsdyk
James van Riemsdyk is expected to complete the top-six Philadelphia Flyers group and give them something they missed last season, a left wing to play with Nolan Patrick.
The Flyers need Patrick to be a strong No. 2 center behind Sean Couturier . Have the ability to pair with a striker like Van Riemsdyk, who has the size, protects the puck well and goes to the net, to the stuff of something special.
The Flyers may use Jakub Voracek on the right wing with Claude Giroux and Couturier, and either Wayne Simmonds or Travis Konecny on the right wing with Patrick and van Riemsdyk.
Video: James van Riemsdyk speaks after signing with Flyers
7. The Young Canucks movement is evident with three signatures
The Vancouver Canucks estimate that they have served their young talented players who should be among their top six forwards this season by tackling their depth and stamina by signing three veteran players expected
The Canucks signed ahead Jay Beagle (four years, $ 12 million), Antoine Roussel (four years, $ 12 million) and Tim Schaller (two years, $ 3.8 million) dollars) on Sunday. None is fun to play against and all three are guys from the proverbial glue.
But these signatures do not deal with the woes of scoring Vancouver. Beagle, Roussel and Schaller had 61 points (24 goals, 37 assists) in 234 games last season. However, the Canucks believe that they will be able to get enough points in their top six, with recruited strikers Elias Pettersson, 19, and Adam Gaudette 21, likely to replace Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin .
Pettersson, the 2017 NHL draft pick # 5, and Gaudette should be in the top six with Brock Boeser 21, Bo Horvat 23, and possibly Sven Baertschi 25 years old, who stayed in Vancouver signing a three-year contract of $ 10.101 million Sunday.
They also Jake Virtanen 21 years old, who is a restricted free agent, as well as veterans Brandon Sutter Loui Eriksson and Sam Gagner .
8. The Blues sinks in the middle
The Blues were another team that had Tavares in their sites but had to pivot after realizing that they would not have it. They did it by acquiring O'Reilly in trading with Buffalo and signing Tyler Bozak on a three-year, $ 15 million deal.
St. Louis had to give up Berglund, Sobotka, Thompson and both draft picks, including their first-round pick in 2019, to get O-Reilly, but they got the best player in the trade and they solidified the depth from their center, which was GM Doug Armstrong's plan throughout
Now the Blues have Brayden Schenn O Reilly, Bozak and, in all likelihood, Robert Thomas, who will have 19 years old Monday, as their four main centers in this season. Thomas could move up the lineup as the season progresses, which could push Schenn, O. Reilly or Bozak to the wing.
The Blues missed the playoffs last season, a big disappointment in St. Louis, but this depth reshaped them in position to be a competitor again this season. It's even better for them than in the central division, the Jets were unable to keep Stastny and the Stars lost in Tavares.
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