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Friction burn

Yup. I don't believe Byram is "bad" either, I just believe we already have that guy and we can't build a proper D with all the same guy. I agree that these guys can be hard to get, but I also think we as a franchise have undervalued them and our coaching and team systems have made many of them look bad and not fit in and then moved on. Watching that Toronto Boston series, McCabe was their best D man and is exactly what we lack but we didn't value him. Lybushkin was actually their second best D man and while he's far from perfect I still don't understand why we tossed him away for next to nothing. I know the analytics crowd have numbers on him, but he was a heck of a lot better than over the hill Johnson, he had snarl, and in the right system he's a better D man then he was for us. Boston picked up Andrew Peeke for a 3rd rounder and a failed NHLer/AHLer. Now Peeke is no Pesce, but he's solid and a heck of a good shot blocker. Perfect bottom end guy. Now I'm not saying these guys are better than Byram, they are far less skilled, but they are all guys who complement the type of D guys we have and they can be physical and they are defensive D men. This goes right back to McNabb. We simply do not value defensive D men. We only seem to want fast skating puck movers, and hence, our D is always in disarray and a work in progress rather than a solid set unit.

I would not be holding my breath on adding another defenceman of consequence. When a GM invests around $27M in the space of a little over a year on long-term deals for 4 defencemen, then trades his leading scorer for another one 5 months later, he’s pretty well gone all-in on his top 5. If anything, Jokiharju’s contract may see him moved and replaced with a cheaper option and Bryson probably won’t be qualified. (Maybe he returns on a cheaper deal) Fortunately Samuelsson, Byram and Power are probably capable of more than this board expects from them because we’ll be having to cross our fingers they deliver. I’m really curious how Ruff will implement his rotation. 2 years ago, with 5 good veteran D in Jersey he played each of the 5 (Hamilton, Graves, Severson, Marino, and Seigenthaler) roughly equally - between 19:57 and 21:46 a game. Hamilton got most of the PP time with very little PK, the others roughly the opposite, with his #6 (Brendan Smith) lagging well behind. Last year, with Hamilton hurt and Graves and Severson gone, it was harder to track but was kinda similar: Luke Hughes played the Hamilton role and minutes, with Nemec and Bahl roughly replacing the other 2. Bahl got about 2 minutes a game less, but that seems largely a function of him being the #6 who frequently had to slide up Lindy’s fave 5 due to missing bodies. Smith and Colin Miller played roughly 15 sharing bottom 6 duties.

But if Pesce doesn't want to come here; it doesn't matter if he's a perfect fit. I fully agree with the take however; even on the HFboards and CapFriendly I shot down Mitts for Byram trades because Byram doesn't fit the defensive style we need; however that doesn't mean I necessarily believe Byram is bad. Sadly, while not all players have trade protections; a large number of players in the specific niche of style we are looking for seem to have them in droves. (Likely due to defensive metrics being harder to gain financial perks from and thus they hand out NMCs and NTCs to give more security to the player) Mitts likely sealed his fate when the "wanting a contract like Thompson and Cozens" rumors floated around. At the present cap; you can't exactly run 7mil per center 1 through 3. Mitts claims Adams never talked to his agent but I would take that in meaning serious negotiations. If he wanted a minimum of 7x7mil and we were unwilling to do long term with 7mil then a contract negotiation would of been a fruitless venture to begin with. On a side note, I do think Dahlin originally was going to sign 8x10mil but the Pesce trade fell through and Dahlin's agent probably played coy for the extra million while Power's agent used similar reasons to force the contract terms we got.

Good point. I'd say probably, but I'm really not sure how he fits in.

Are we even sure he's a top 4 D in Buffalo?

That was an entertaining game imo. Much more like the hockey was in the Boston Florida series. Physical and relentless. Could have gone either way.

I’m sensing a mild dislike for all things Rangers. Is that accurate? I’m all FLA here. But let’s make this a series. More hockey is good.

Entertaining game to watch, Savoie was one of the best players on the ice, as he should be. Moose Jaw already has a must win game coming up, things move fast in this tourney.

And if they’ve been doing things right and they’re letting him walk…

He’s pretty clearly head hunting there, hitting high and exploding upward. And what exactly is the blindside rule anyway?

well that stunk

Ugh, hate the Rangers and their Fat new york slob fans.

And that's that. We have a series.

If we had had McAvoy-Dahlin I don't think we would have drafted Power, we'd likely have taken Beniers, and there's your 2C (or even 1C in time). But alas, Murray made a number of mistakes. His worst imo was trading for Lehner (we could have drafted Boeser or Konecny with that pick, among others) while Markstrom and Talbot were both on the block at the time. Just dumb.

This is the best the Rangers have looked in this series. They know they can’t lose this game, playing with a sense of urgency. Florida will pounce when they get a chance, they are more patient.

I agree with you that he's been after a top 4 D man for a while. I just don't think BB is the type of top 4 D man we needed to complete our top 4. Pesce would have been perfect.

Nice drive Lomberg

So you’re saying he is proactive, just incompetent. The difference between pursuing Chychrun vs the Byram trade is apple to oranges. Getting Chychrun would have been an upgrade to the team without sacrificing any current NHL talent. The Mitts for Byram deal added a redundant talent on defense while creating a huge hole in our forward group. You’ll see the anger and angst grow when Colorado makes Mitts’ their No.2 center next fall and KA installs Krebs as our 3C out of camp. When this happens it will further illustrate that Adams traded Mitts because he couldn’t afford to keep him because of the internal cap and therefore couldn’t afford to replace Mitts either, leaving only Krebs.

Tkachuk will finish this.

Verhaeghe is ridiculous in OT!!

Anton Lundell 8 minutes in. Who you got?

Dom used his hands like a soccer goalie once in a while. No stick also helped on those 360 degree spinning Hail Mary saves. Big but uncoordinated.

Rempe.