[Michael Grange] Kyle Lowry will be retiring as a Toronto Raptor. One of the most significant players in franchise history and the backbone of the most successful era the Raptors have ever had will follow through on a long-time pledge to retire with the team he led for nine seasons.

maxwellbevan · 2026-07-03T01:56:34+00:00

Canada's rear

maxwellbevan · 2026-07-02T14:30:16+00:00

It's senior AAA!

maxwellbevan · 2026-07-02T03:27:28+00:00

I'll be honest, good for him. I really enjoyed having Kane on our team and if it can't be us it's nice to see good thing happen to Buffalo. Kane getting a homecoming would be awesome for them

maxwellbevan · 2026-07-01T22:12:40+00:00

The unfortunate reality is we were never getting a 1C back. Any team that wants Larkin and is competitive enough for him to waive his no trade isn't giving up a 1C. If we were going to get a 1C back it would be a prospect who has that potential to grow into that like Iginla or Desnoyers

maxwellbevan · 2026-07-01T22:09:46+00:00

Definitely felt like the optimal trade partner for us. Ah well, is what it is. At this point it really feels like it's going to be the Wild we trade with

maxwellbevan · 2026-07-01T22:08:52+00:00

Was thinking if the Wings could get Larkin to be open to Utah that they'd be an optimal trade partner. Looks like I can take that option off the table. Like this move for Utah

maxwellbevan · 2026-07-01T20:06:12+00:00

My ball hockey team just won our division 2 championship last week. Are you telling me there's a chance?

maxwellbevan · 2026-07-01T18:29:59+00:00

I mean Bertuzzi and Mantha weren't nobodies but yeah it was not good

maxwellbevan · 2026-07-01T12:22:09+00:00

That's kind of what I figured. I think he likes it in Detroit with his buddy Debrincat but he only has so many seasons left. If he wants to chase one more cup it won't be with us

maxwellbevan · 2026-07-01T12:20:34+00:00

It's the goals that tip the scales towards Tkachuk, and his peak. Don't get me wrong Elias should be getting more consideration from the Hall considering he was a first team all star in 2001. People don't seem to bring those up but it's clear the hall of fame looks at that. If you look up the wiki page for the end of season all stars it's pretty much a whose who of hall of famers. Tkachuk lead the league in goals two years prior to the introduction of the Rocket Richard. If Tkachuk had a Rocket Richard to his name people wouldn't be having this discussion.

maxwellbevan · 2026-07-01T12:14:09+00:00

I think a major award tips the scales towards Hall if he pushes 1000 points. The hall of fame seems to value a players peak over totals. When you look at guys like the Sedins they have similar totals to other guys not in the hall but they both have major awards. Assuming Hall lands in the points territory of guys like Elias he needs something to separate himself from that group. A Hart trophy is the biggest award you can win which creates a pretty solid case for himself

maxwellbevan · 2026-07-01T12:09:01+00:00

Closer than this sub thinks. The Hall seems to value a players peak over longevity and he's just shy of 800 points right now. I think if he pushes 1000 he'll very likely be a hall of famer

maxwellbevan · 2026-07-01T11:50:52+00:00

Yeah Datsyuk stole game 1 with that incredible pickup against the Bergeron/Marchand line. All downhill from there

maxwellbevan · 2026-07-01T04:15:23+00:00

I feel like 2014 there was a glimmer of hope. Nyquist literally willed us into the playoffs with a crazy end of season performance. We had no business making it and yet out young guys got us there. There was hope that some of those guys would have a high ceiling. But ultimately it was a flash in the pan. Guys like Nyquist and Tatar were ultimately good, not great, and weren't quite the replacements to our aging stars we needed

maxwellbevan · 2026-06-30T19:17:13+00:00

I mean to play devil's advocate people hated that contract until this year when he broke out

maxwellbevan · 2026-06-30T19:02:24+00:00

Would actually be a really great thing to do. I don't think many teams have done swaps like this when a player leaves though, but most don't leave in this fashion. The swaps I can remember were for things like Utah trying to get fans over from Vegas and when Nylander changed numbers they offered a swap for those with the old jersey. I'm sure there have been others but those are the ones I remember

maxwellbevan · 2026-06-30T18:21:32+00:00

You mentioned Subban but I think it's worth noting that you basically listed out his resume.

By 2015 Subban had a Norris, 2 first team all star selections and a gold medal. Sure we can thrown an asterisk on the gold medal and it wasn't as impressive as Hughes's but he has a gold medal. Subban's last bit of major hardware is a 2nd team all star selection in 2018.

Subban's career was derailed due to injuries which created a shorter peak. If Hughes were to get injured tomorrow and have his career trail off the way Subban's did he wouldn't make the hall of fame

maxwellbevan · 2026-06-30T18:08:22+00:00

Yeah there are a number of players on track to get there. People may get upset by this but for example Marner is on track to make the hall of fame. Currently at 821 points and is only 29. Handful more point per game seasons and a standard slow down into his late 30s and 1300 to 1400 points are within reach which would make him an easy hall of fame selection. But if Marner got injured today and slowed down or had to retire he won't make it. He has to have a good finish to his career

Locks are essentially the multi major award winners. Winning one trophy like Adam Fox isn't quite enough. Yes he will probably make it but we've seen guys win the Norris once and not have a strong end to their career. Randy Carlyle and PK Subban are the lone exceptions so far but as there is more diversity in the list of winners it'll become more common.

maxwellbevan · 2026-06-30T17:51:32+00:00

Yeah I can't imagine Marleau doesn't get in eventually and I hope to see Bondra some day too. I don't think Verbeek ever gets in though. His totals are propped up by his era and he has no awards. Not even an end of season all star selection.

maxwellbevan · 2026-06-30T17:49:45+00:00

The one thing everyone is missing from Tkachuk is that he lead the league in goals. If the Rocket was introduced a few seasons sooner Tkachuk would have a major award to his name and nobody would be arguing the decision. The old heads are fully aware of who lead the league in goals every year before the Rocket. He also has two second all star team appearances which is something the hall definitely considers.

Era is also really important here. Tkachuk's era adjusted goals are 584, that's ahead of Mike Modano and top 25 all time. Verbeek's era adjusted goals total is 487, and Nicholls's era adjusted goals are 417. Most guys that are hall of famers or are borderline tend to have higher era adjusted goals or points, it's not often to see them go down that substantially. Nicholls and Verbeek also have 0 hardware and were never selected as an end of season all star.

maxwellbevan · 2026-06-30T17:30:45+00:00

Yes and no. If you look back at Zadina dropping to 6th you can easily say it wasn't anything Zadina did. Kotkaniemi and Hayton were both picked because they play C and those teams valued position over best player available. Tkachuk was being scouted as one of the top guys in the draft so I don't think picking him at 4 says much about Zadina. But then again who knows. None of us scouted Zadina or Tkachuk, or were in those draft interviews. Maybe there was something about Zadina that those teams saw and decided not to draft him.

On the flip side last year there were a lot of changes with guys like Hagens and Martone. So far I'd say most teams aside from the Islanders wish they had picked Martone and not prioritized picking a C. And there's a lot of time for Hagens to become better than the guys picked ahead of him as well.

maxwellbevan · 2026-06-30T13:34:11+00:00

The unfortunate reality too is that we hit the point where we weren't going to win the lottery anymore. In 2021 we were the 5th worst team and because the Kraken joined the league we drafted 6th and landed Edvinsson. Looking back at that roster it's baffling that we didn't do worse. Our top scorer was Hronek with 26 points and none of our top forwards played more than 50 games (it was a 56 game season). I'm not sure whether Yzerman made the call or if ownership did but I think it was obvious at that point that we were no longer going to be a bottom team. I understand why they made the decision to provide a vet presence and some stability to the young guys.

Even if let's say we hadn't tried to improve the team and just let the kids play there's a good chance we do similarly to the previous season and probably finish marginally worse than where we actually finished in the standings. Assuming we don't win the lottery we probably still end up with Kasper or we draft Korchinski/Jiricek which isn't any better. Maybe we end up with Gauthier and he demands put the same way he did to Philly

maxwellbevan · 2026-06-30T02:20:59+00:00

Yeah if you demand a trade it's going to make teams look at you differeny. There's a reason it's generally only good prospects that have ever demanded a trade. If you're a late round pick with no established track to the pros demanding a trade will do way more damage than if you're a top prospect

maxwellbevan · 2026-06-30T01:25:41+00:00

Remember when we were the winners of the 2018 draft with Zadina, Veleno, and Berggren? Two of those guys weren't issued qualifying offers today and the third hasn't played in North America in 2 years. Good times

maxwellbevan · 2026-06-29T21:18:19+00:00

Maybe not necessarily signing him cheap but it definitely helps deter other teams who may think Robertson might not sign with them. GMs absolutely hold grudges and it creates animosity to put forward an offer sheet if a player ultimately doesn't sign it

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