thewookie1

Plus refs will always give vets more leeway on plays.

Worst part is not only did we have a lead blown twice but the refs seemed keen on calling anything close against us but nothing for us. Prior to the winner PP attempt, a Star slew foot Dell in the crease. Thompson got tripped with 1:45 left and Skinner was hooked to hell and back at least 3 times. Yet none of those were worthy of calls. I call BS

Vinnie out 3 weeks Miller had surgery and is out 6 weeks Subban had surgery and is out for the year Okposo is out with a non-concussion related injury

MILKY WHITE

The whole reason Klingberg is leaving is due to him wanting a huge contract. He's just too old for the term he'd want. Don't mind the Braun idea. In my mind you either need to get a younger core piece or pay 8 to 9 mil for 2 years to a high end vet. 2 years because that's effectively when most of our bridges/ELCs end. Don't really want Scandella back, Orlov would be great depending on the price.

Supposedly it will only effect the time it take for the cap to move up more than 1mil per year. So next year the cap will go up 1mil, and barring a miracle; will go up 1mil the following year and so on until the league reaches it's intended target.

https://www.capfriendly.com/browse/free-agents/2023/points/all/defense/ufa/desc/right Here's all the UFA right-handed defensemen. Aside Letang who'd I would give 2x9mil to come here; there isn't much in terms of useful Top 4 Dmen who aren't what we already have or literally who we already have/had. https://www.capfriendly.com/browse/active/2022/points/all/defense/ufa/desc/right?limits=age-20-35 Here's all active Righty Dmen There are very few that would be useful and could potentially shake loose. For instance Barrie wouldn't be a good fit because he's a turn style defensively. Klingberg is too old to throw money at. Etc

Last I checked, teams buy rentals to go to the playoffs and sell off players when they aren't. Trading our "extra assets" to acquire quick fixes will only repeat what TM did during his tenure. I'm not trading a late 1st to get a somewhat better goalie; goalies are one of the least consistent positions in the league and you can just as easily find the next star as you can the next piece of Swiss Cheese. There isn't a team in the league that will offer us a good enough RHD to be worth the risk.

I just want to add that 102 goalies have started in the NHL this year. That means on average every team is using 3+ goalies. Most teams, due to COVID, are hording their goalies since any team can easily go down 2 goalies in a day thanks to a COVID event. So all of the teams are carrying/protecting any goalie even worth a look at this time. Just look at a few of the other teams who are looking for goaltending help. Edmonton didn't do much to address the problem aside sign their own 40 year old to a 2 year deal. Colorado traded a 1st to get Kuemper after losing Grubauer in a similar way to how we lost Ullmark. And they still are looking for more depth due to Francois’s health concerns and Johansson not being all that good either. NJ has gone through 6 goalies like us. Presently almost every playoff team is scouring to find a means to getting 3 NHL caliber goalies which means anything past there is effectively ranked 96th or lower

Houser played great. Tuch is back to being PPG Dahlin played alright

Yup, first Ottawa push on the PK he grinder the guy off the puck on the boards. Then he made a great poke check which magically returned to Batherson to which forced Dahlin to take a penalty to prevent a goal.

Moronic Whales

I'd say his peak would be akin to a more dynamic scoring-wise Mark Stone. From the Sam Reinhart comparison I would say, that's fair assessment only he'd be Reinhart with a better shot and a definite snarl to his game. One thing he certainly has far more than Reinhart is snarl and grit. Reinhart could take a lot, but rarely gave it back. Quinn seems to take a lot but be very willing to return the favor.

Literally our best hypothetical OT Center is Mitts who has been injured almost the entire season.

The team lacks 2 things, skill and consistency. A skilled team without consistency is a middling team that impresses one day and perplexes the next. A consistent team without skill is also a middling team but actually has a slightly better chance at the playoffs because they tend to win the games they should. The Sabres are neither presently, they neither have the skill to win games at will nor do they have the consistency to plug away at the standings game after game. At this time we have a smattering of skill with the only somewhat consistent top end skill coming from Dahlin. Olofsson had top level shooting skills but since his injury has arguably been one of the worst players overall. (He's likely trying to avoid a surgery that will be a season-ender) Arguably our team is akin to the spotty skill team but with too little skill to win most times. Case in point being the Nashville game where we played a great 60 minute effort, got timely goals and beat one of the best teams in the West. Then turned around and got beat up by Detroit; then where a more skilled team wins today's game, we fell short in the 51st minute.

It could legitimately be that Adams wanted to have his analytics staff together before actively taking on payroll. Why acquire the wrong players when you could can just take on band-aids for a year while you assemble your analytics team.

Militaristic Windsor

It’s not as if the Oilers team D is worlds better than ours lol

Tuch is a Mid6 winger who is an incredible asset because he steps up his play in the playoffs. He’s the type of player you pretty much require in order to win a Stanley Cup, a Mid 6 winger who becomes a Top 6 winger in playoff competition.

Stalock went to waivers for Edmonton to get him back; should we poach him?

I would bet every owner in all the leagues found ways to get their checks. This is a non- story

Olofsson will get 4x5.25 mil or so and we’ll all move on to other topics

He’s a guy who could squeeze into the NHL if not for his frequent injuries

I’m hoping he has a healthy life but never gets a Cup or gets to play in Boston. Essentially I’m hoping his doctors will recommend he retire at his contract’s end for safety concerns. Is that wrong? I don’t wish any bodily harm on him; I don’t think he’s evil incarnate; but I want him not to succeed or ever play for Bawstan.

This is pretty much my ranking. Laaksonen reminds me a lot of TJ Brennan