• Moderators, please send me a PM if you are unable to access mod permissions. Thanks, Habsy.

The Official 2026 Off-Season Thread: Revenge of the Nerds

25 next month, only a 40-50 point guy the last couple of years, numbers nothing spectacular, and making over $10m. Not the least bit surprising that Dallas might want to move off from him in the right deal and let someone else bank on some hidden upside.


Dallas isn’t looking to “move off” Harley. They were willing to trade him for the reigning Norris trophy winner, who’s scored 80+ points in each of the past two years and who is unquestionably an upgrade on Harley, even if Harley himself is quite good—and signed for a good cap number in today’s NHL.

Very large distinction there.
 
Still won't hire a tribe member for his legal/accounting.

A bit weird, but I'm here for it

iu
 
I do think that their performance was statistically similar last year, and Mo had a much better season than people realize.

But Harley had a big time down year.
 
I do think that their performance was statistically similar last year, and Mo had a much better season than people realize.

But Harley had a big time down year.

The big problem with Mo's season last year is the defensive nerdies. He went from kinda bad before to bottom of the league bad last season.

As mentioned a bunch of times before, I'm open to some of that coming from being miscast in a system that is brutal for someone of his skillset, but the cautionary bit is that he's never been good defensively, so that side of his game sliding off the face of the earth relatively early in the downswing of his career wouldn't exactly be shocking.
 
The big problem with Mo's season last year is the defensive nerdies. He went from kinda bad before to bottom of the league bad last season.

As mentioned a bunch of times before, I'm open to some of that coming from being miscast in a system that is brutal for someone of his skillset, but the cautionary bit is that he's never been good defensively, so that side of his game sliding off the face of the earth relatively early in the downswing of his career wouldn't exactly be shocking.

Ya but Berube, relative to the team he was middle of the pack defensively. And offensively much better.
 
He's definitely miscast, and he played on a bottom five team that was hopeless and in turmoil all season long. But I didn't see any drop off in his skill, skating, or anything else that mattered. This year will be super important, because he has Raddysh in front of him now (unless he plays with him, other than on the PP), and he will surely be sheltered if he isn't paired with Raddysh. System will be better, and the team overall is a lot better with the key adds of McKenna and Raddysh. He should honestly be in line to have one of his best seasons imo.

By the way, the point of my original comparison post wasn't to argue that Rielly is better or more valuable. It was to say that there is absolutely no reason to throw him away for nothing, which is basically what is rumored to be happening - though, credit to Chaykes and his direct statement at least, that Rielly is a big part of things, so who knows, maybe the rumors are bogus shit like they almost always are. If he had a similar season to Harley in the most dire of circumstances, and Harley is the golden boy at 25 and the trade equivalent of Werenski, they should be valuing Rielly way more than they supposedly are, and keeping him in the fold to see how this year plays out.

And I do think that Dallas would like to find a taker for Harley. Despite the down year, he's still very much a sell high candidate who is making 8 figures for non-8 figure performance. If next season mirrors last season, they will be eager to find a taker, rather than now when they tried to just seize a unique opportunity that arose. Also, the very fact that they tried to trade him and it fell apart is reason enough for the relationship to have taken a hit and lead to his departure in the near term.
 
Last year's team in order of 5v5 TOI --> This year's replacements

C Matthews 28 --> C Matthews 29
W Nylander 29 --> W Nylander 30
W Knies 23 --> W Knies 24

C Tavares 35 --> C Tavares 36
W McMann 29 --> W McKenna 19
W Domi 30 --> W Roslovic 29

C Roy 28 --> C Paul 31

W Cowan 20 --> W Cowan 21
W Maccelli 25 --> W Blueger 32

C Laughton 31 --> C Sissons 33

W Joshua 29 --> W Joshua 30
W Robertson 24 --> W Duhaime 29

W Lorentz 29 --> W Lorentz 30
W Jarnkrok 34 --> ???


D McCabe 32 --> D McCabe 33
D OEL 34 --> D OEL 35

D Rielly 31 --> D Rielly 32
D Stecher 31 --> D Raddysh 30

D Carlo 29 --> D Tanev 37
D Benoit 27 --> D Andrae 24

D Myers 28 --> D Stecher 32


G Woll 27 --> G Bobrovsky 38

G Stolarz 31 --> G Stolarz 32

G Hildeby 24 --> G Akhtyamov 25
 
Back
Top