The one thing that’s got me interested is how many guys are going to play under “I have something to prove” contracts. They’re going to have Nazem Kadri on a one year deal, they’re going to have Jonathan Bernier possibly on a one year deal if they don’t work out something longer. You look at all the guys who just signed for one year contracts – Shawn Matthias, Mark Arcobello, guys like that. Shawn Matthias was a guy who thought he was going to get a three year deal at a good salary and it didn’t work out. You don’t think he’s coming here with a chance to play in the top six and saying, “well it didn’t work out for me last summer, but there’s no reason it can’t work out for me next summer?” Nazem Kadri is two years away from unrestricted free agency after this year, and he is going to be saying, “okay these guys gave me a one year deal, now I’m gonna shove it up their nose.”

I’m sure guys are aware of what’s being said about them: “You can’t trade this guy because he’s got no value.” You don’t think some of them aren’t going to be like, “okay, I’ve got to change that?”

And then there’s the head coach, who is going to drive them to be better.

Now, I’m not sure they’re a playoff team. I think you look at the teams who made the playoffs last year and think, “who is worse, really?” I think there’s not really anybody who looks that much worse. I just look at them and I see they’ve got a roster with a lot of guys with the incentive to be good.

I also don’t think it can be that bad again. And the reason is, it wasn’t just bad because of the way it went on the ice, it was bad because of the way it went off the ice. Last year was an angry year. You know, the players hated the fans and the media. The media hated the players and the fans. The fans hated the players and the media. Like, everybody hated everyone else, and everyone felt they were justified in their hatred of everybody else. I don’t believe it can be that bad again.

And it didn’t go away. Sometimes it’s a short term thing, and it changes, but it wasn’t a short term thing. It hung over everybody – the organization, the players, the media, the fans. It was an angry season. In my time I’ve been working professionally, I’ve seen years that were tough, I’ve never seen a year like that, where it just hung for so long.