Thoughts 1

Hello RSHL GM's and fans. Elliotte Friedman here. Normally at this time I am busy in the midst of the NHL season, writing my 31 thoughts, soon to be 32 thoughts, blog and a podcast with Jeff Marek of the same name. Well the NHL and its players are doing what they do the best, fighting over money and not playing hockey. At least they aren’t as bad as MLB is.

I digress. With all my extra free time I thought I would try and do a quickie blog of 7 or so thoughts, to start, once a week. I am not like Kelly Hurdy and Don Cherry, I have not yet been able to cultivate many sources yet so this week’s blog will be a little lite, but hoping to expand on my sources and expand on this blog as the season goes on. With that said, let’s get right into the blog 7 thoughts blog (for now).

1. This is not really news as it is a discussion that all GM’s can participate in but Commissioner Martle really wants to make money more meaningful. This offseason the league took a look at the rules and one thing that was discussed about cutting was finances. A committee led by Ducks GM Neil Rochwerg, openly questioned the need for finances in the league since they do not really mean anything. This was not taken well by the league offices as they told the rules committee that money is not going anywhere, instead will be made more important, only time will tell how that happens.
2. Speaking of the Ducks, we heard this week that they have made a few offers to a couple different teams for some wingers. Rumour has it that the Ducks asked the Canucks about Ilya Mikheyev. The Canucks not being eager to move him set a price of a high 2nd plus a little more which at this time appears to be a bit high for the Ducks.
3. This is not the first time that the Ducks and Canucks have talked trade. I hear that they have talked turkey quite a bit and in most cases no deal is consummated. Canucks GM, Leni is getting annoyed with the Ducks GM for not making any deals, only talking. Although he is not happy about this, most GMs do not want to trade with Leni as for some reason he always gets the better ends of the deals (Just look at his team)
4. With the Canucks team as stacked as they are it is no surprise to see them atop the RSHL standings after 4 games with a 4 - 0 record. There are a few surprises, such as the Ducks and relocated Kraken both sitting in the middle of the standings with 4 points a piece. It is early, but a good start is important.
5. On the flip side, San Jose after 4 games has only 1 win, 2 loses and 1 tie. Again it is very early but with the Sharks expected to be contenders this year GM Vito, another LoConte, has to be wondering when his offence will get going.
6. With the sharks offence struggling so far, the newly drafted rookies to the RSHL have not been struggling. Leading the way is Dominik Kubalik with 4 goals in his first 4 games. Jack Hughes, who scored in his first game, has 2 points in 2 games and John Marino who also has 4 points in 5 games.
7. Finally, the last thought for this first week. A very happy birthday to Commissioner Martel. He has been busy this year with the relocation of a team from Philadelphia to Seattle, realigning the divisions (by moving his team) and even making a couple trades! Hope you have a good birthday.

I hope you enjoyed the 7 thoughts blog. I will try and get one of these out a week, please feel free to leave any comments. Also, if you have any ideas you would like to have shared in these thoughts, please reach out to me at 7thoughtsrshl@gmail.com. Until next week.