TrueBlueGED

That's a terrific depth signing. Guy can add value up and down the lineup.

I really don't think this is true. Kulikov was not considered a legit top-4 by too many. The stats community in particular didn't like him at all.

That's actually nicely done by the Rangers. 4 year term carries little risk.

I'd like another move, but realistically, I think he's probably done for this offseason.

1) It's my understanding that Minnesota had to free up some cap space to extend Niederreiter and Granlund. 2) Pommer definitely isn't the 65 point player he used to be, but he's still an effective middle 6 forward who plays responsible defensively and can distribute the puck. He's also still a very solid possession player, posting over 52% for five straight years, as well as being plus at least 3.5 points relative to his team for the past four seasons. He's not a $5.6M hockey player, but I don't think it's a stretch to suggest he's a $4-4.5M player. Matt Moulson he is not. Seconded.

On the subject of bargain bin UFAs, any interest in Jussi Jokinen?

Girgensons-O'Reilly-Okposo: all-situations matchup line Vanek-Eichel-Baptiste: all the offense! Kane-Reinhart-Pominville: secondary scoring line Bailey-Larsson-Fasching Scandella-Ristolainen McCabe-Bogosian Beaulieu-Antipin Substitute some other UFA scorer (or Nylander!) for Vanek if you wish, or find an upgrade for Girgensons, but those are the lines of a playoff team. Find a way to upgrade Bogosian, and now we're really talking.

He's going to do what he always does: come up with a way to make himself right. If Reinhart has a big year, I guarantee Hamilton will have something along the line of "Last year was a real wake up call for him. He's back to the practices and things that he did as a rookie and it show." Book it.

Bargain bid winger pile, here we come! Nice to know that Botterill, unlike Murray, believes in building NHL depth.

It's official: GM/Coach/player Eichel is trading Kane.

I think this is probably right. But I'm not comfortable with Bogo or Antipin being penciled in on the 2nd pair. Dump Bogo, use his money to upgrade. Please.

Is this along the lines of "Bylsma isn't getting fired?" I kid. You really can get a better avatar now.

Oh, yea, I definitely don't want him there :lol:

I bet he scores more than Ennis and Foligno combined.

To be fair, I don't think Scandella is the type of guy anybody loves. He's basically what we hope McCabe continues to develop into. To the first, yes. To the second...c'mon, man!

He's kind of a jack of all trades guy. No one thing is going to wow you, but he can be effective in a variety of situations, and he's been a legit top-4 on good teams. Nobody is going to confuse him with Subban, but he's still a major upgrade to our blue line...and we got him almost for free.

When was the last time we had a trade so universally praised? We love it, it's getting favorable national coverage, and Wild fans hate it.

The Bunker is in trouble--a bunch of people have hit Housley's Magic Resurrection Sauce way too hard.

Maybe, but is scouting turnover really unusual with a GM change? Seems pretty standard.

Maybe, but we could still really use some right side help.

Apparently Ryan Johansen is seeking $8.5M per from Nashville. If he gets it, that's probably the floor on what we can expect Eichel to get.

I'd say Shattenkirk is more below average in his own end than terrible, but he's great offensively. Bogo is terrible in his own end and mediocre offensively. And poor Smell.

Except his hockey brain is non-existent, and he spends half of every season hurt and recovering from being hurt. Comparing Shattenkirk to Bogo is like comparing yourself to one of the worst attorneys in your field for the money. It's not even close.

Pominville will have a better season than Ennis, and it won't even be close. And who cares about fighting? Who fought for Pittsburgh? Nashville?

Yes please. Yes. Two defensemen down, one to go. One...two...we want three! Demers for cheap would be perfect. We'd have fixed our defense and upgraded our forwards for basically two 3rds, a 2nd, and a few million in cap space. Perfect.