thewookie1

I don't see any problem with it, they are getting paid oodles of money to play a sport and entertain us. I think they should be able to deal with some amount restriction to where they go.

I can understand the latter point, they should adjust the pad size but I'm more referring to the tactical approach to basketball which the NBA has turned into only offense with few to no teams actually playing any real systems or strategic defensive play. I enjoy college basketball far more for that very reason. As for the bolded part, fans are fickle idiots (we all fall into this to be honest 🙂 ) but I absolutely despise fluid player movement. I like loyalty, I like a player sticking with the team who drafted him for 19 years through all the ups and downs. I enjoy the camaraderie that can form on a team where the players are all playing for each other and to win it all. Like the commercial, "we" versus "I" I hate the NBA's super teams and the mercenary approach the NBA has. If I had it my way, RFAs would have to wait until they were 30 to test the UFA market. Pay your dues to the team whom drafts you and the fans that support you and if you still haven't had success then you are free to Cup Chase. Most hockey fans are team-centric not player-centric and the league needs to understand that the NBA's fluid style won't translate well in the NHL. I honestly have hated the whole "basketball friends" group sign thing that has gone on for the last decade plus.

Well I sort of explained what I meant immediately afterward....

Honestly makes a good deal of sense. Most larger players will naturally have some success in Juniors or College attributed to their size advantage. That size allows them to make the NHL more often as they "fit" the size of an NHLer. Some of them can be great players but others are giant mirages

I have difficulty getting over that to be honest. Almost every 05-06 player not still playing made an appearance during the whole 50th Anniversary celebration aside from him. He outright refused to interview for the GM position and he was the one who stood us up July 1st; not the other way around. I kind of hope that his nephew ends up here at some point just to see if he continues his snobbish approach.

I'm curious as to who they'd be. Buffalo has many faults but our owners do pay good money and I'd guess Kevyn Adams, perhaps Karmanos, are a friend. I'm partially curious if he still holds a grudge against the Flyers franchise over how his career ended there. Arizona would be the closest to a given due to their questionable money and strife with scandals.

I just don't like the thought of the NHL playing 2nd fiddle to the NBA on both ESPN and TNT. I cannot stand what the NBA is and represents and would worry they would try and push the player-first, super team, offense only, and overarching political narratives onto the NHL.

I will say this, we tend to get overwhelmed by teams when we start (Periods 1 & some of 2 in Game 1) then improve usually in the 3rd period thus finishing strong like last night. Then we tend to play very well in the following match up. I have no idea how to judge it but it is certainly a trend.

I'd negotiate him to 7x7mil with a NTC-15 team

Nick Foligno is a guy I really want here; he is literally everything we lack in a player. Kick tires on Tuch and other similar players besides Virtanen since he’s a bust at this point. As others have said, we lack any type of variety in our players. Practically our entire team are some variation of finesse players with varying levels of grit. The only real notable exceptions are Borgen and Samuelson. We need a few players who understand they are Bot 6 and not only accept it but look to play it to the pinnacle of the role. We need an Adam Mair(modern version of course) who knows what he is and doesn’t pretend to be a top 6 forward. But instead hones his craft to be the ultimate role player, he’ll fight, he’ll hit, he’ll block shots and win face offs, he isn’t going to try and deke through multiple opponents, he’ll be a foundational rock for the team when games are bad and help the team stay humble when they are destroying another team. The guy who certainly seems like he could do this is Girgs but he needs to pour a bit more into his Bot 6 persona.

You never want to play that game of divisional hierarchies. It’s not going to help anything. This isn’t the Bills trapped behind the Patriots for the only not WC spot. We can be better than both Ottawa and Detroit at minimum with a healthy Eichel and solid goaltending. From there we just have to play well in our divisional series to take a spot. Tampa Bay, Florida, Boston, Toronto and Montreal are all ahead of us in one manner or another. But there is nothing that prevents us from winning against any of them. There is no Tom Brady to pull rabbits out of his *** or Refs to help them on a crucial 3rd Down. Hockey is a team sport through and through and if our team can outwork and out will even Tampa we have a serious shot at winning. Doom and gloom just isn’t worth it; this is meant to be fun and entertaining so let’s keep it that way. Let’s trade Risto and maybe Olofsson (if we can get a better 200 ft player), re sign Reinhart and Ullmark. Grab a goalie and a healthy Eichel and shock the world like Minnesota did this year.

I both agree and disagree. You shouldn't hold onto bad hires for the sake of consistency but you do need to find some degree of good consistency in order to be successful. If anything good came out of this season, it was that two players we thought were complete/nearly complete lost causes in Mitts and Thompson have decided to blossom before our very eyes. That is something we haven't had much of these past 10 years. Likewise, Bryson has been a breath of fresh air while Borgen and Samuelsson have been pleasant young Dmen. Samuelsson likely needs another year of AHL hockey still but the talent for defensive zone play is easy to see. Benching the likes of Eakin and Irwin only add to the fun as players we could see were negatives are being noticed and taken care of to some degree.

Sheahan

I'm not trading a Top 5 pick for that. If Vegas likes Risto, I could see them trade Tuch (their 3rd liner) for him.

Always nice beating the Bruins. UPL has work to do still but reminds me a tiny bit of Ullmark when he showed up randomly during one of the tank seasons briefly. UPL gave up 1 bad goal, 1 semi-bad goal and Risto cashed one for the Bruins Reinhart with the hattrick; the guy is honestly one of the least enthusiastic looking players to watch yet explodes randomly with goals and points. Dahlin looking solid again. Big Samulsson with 2 apples!

Tuch averages just under 20 goals in his past 3 years and in theory is the type of fast moving power forward we need. That’s my reasoning for targeting him.

Risto(50%) for Tuch what do do you guys think?

Give Reinhart 7 mil and Ullmark a hair under 5 mil and we’ll be fine cap wise.

We just have to find a way to get goals out of Skinner, a buyout is literally impossible due to the horrendous cap hits we'd be stuck with. Most specifically a 6+ mil cap hit randomly placed midway through the buyout term after 2023. Anything earlier and we contend with a signing bonus from 2022 - 23. I'd put him with Eichel and if he still can't produce at some effective rate then I would try him with a couple others and then just bench him entirely.

My only caveat would be the price but if Ullmark says no, then we might be able to get Merzlikins/Korpisalo cheaply due to the expansion draft.

Effectively yes, both them and the Isles would fall into this category. Both are strategy wise defensively skewed who play extremely physical and run heavy forechecks. Both are also made up mainly of vet players with youngsters slowly making their way through the ranks. Neither make many mistakes thus depriving us of our ability to get a few free offensive opportunities. Our team thrives on other team's mistakes and lighter and looser play which is the antithesis of Bruin or Isles hockey.

I'd resign Ullmark and bring in either Mrazek, Reimer or Halak on a 1/2 year deal. Ullmark 3x4.85mil Mrazek 1/2x3.9mil Keeps UPL in Rochester at least one to two more years where he can garner experience as a starter

If we trade Eichel and Reinhart we'll be garbage for at least another 3 years. No thank you.

The kids looked a bit in over their heads tonight and Tokarski looks rather spent.

Nah, I’d rather keep Eichel. Kaprizov is a winger and I just don’t trust rookie numbers until they follow it up