Darryl Shannon's +/-

Sorry if I'm being dim, but doesn't that picture just show that Kadri is looking directly at the numbers and nameplate as he drives the guy into the wall? I get that he's a little bit to the side of him, but always thought that it was like clipping in football?

Agree here....the loss of Grier was not why we lost that series. I had an issue trying to equate Grier's contributions to a team with Kassian's. Apples and oranges, Kassian is not and will never be a Mike Grier type of player.

I don't think bringing Grier in is a fair comparison to Kassian. Grier was a smart, physical player who was a fixture on the penalty kill. I don't know if Kassian ever projects as a PK guy even if he realizes his potential. To date he doesn't show 10% of the hockey sense or leadership that Grier brought to the table. Fighting, especially of the staged variety is stupid. But saying that Kassian is a great fighter is the part I take the most offense to. He really seems to be a middle of the road type that is willing but just not that dangerous. And if he really is as productive as some believe he is/can be, he should only drop the gloves 2-3 times a year, tops. As for the 20 goals, if he keeps up this great shot % as referenced above, he's on pace for 17.

Wish NBCSN didn't have to pitch every game as a "rivalry game". Hockey as a sport should sell itself without the transparent gimmicks.

Haha....Milbury is doing a breakdown like he's a GM. That would be riveting tv.

I too like this crew, wish they were the top team. Reminds me of a CBC type feel....

Another thing to consider is that moving one of our only viable goal scorers early is a way to make sure we draft in the top 3.

Agree that Moulson should be saved for last.....a proven 30 goal scorer at the deadline should be used as bait for a feeding frenzy. Miller/Ott require more finesse....

That hit looked eerily similar to one that was overanalyzed into the ground by us a few months ago.....

How? If he rots in Rochester until we find out if he is ready for the show, what is lost? I understand the chemistry argument at the NHL level, but not at the AHL level. Giving up on this prospect entirely or dumping him for lower level picks seems too strong.

Look historically.....1-11 are never correct. It is really a crapshoot and it's fun to see the names of prior years that never made it. Cutting bait right now is pointless....if he washes out, he washes out. But trading his potential for a 3rd or 4th round pick isn't worth the risk. Another way to look at it.....we had picks 12 and 14 in the same draft and one of them has appeared to hit in a big way. That's the expectation of the draft....if Grigs ever contributes we are ahead of the game.

If orchestrated by his agent, he only gets commission for new contracts. Perhaps he was trying to force the issue and make a new KHL pact?

Yet another reason why I hate facebook and the social media platforms of recent years. 15 years ago this would have never made the news and we'd be none the wiser. I'm glad that Grigorenko didn't want to play in the Q, now let's see if he pulls a Derek Roy and dominates at a level that makes us think twice about the demotion. I remember Roy being the last cut for the Sabres and upon being demoted to the AHL he scored 4 or 5 the first night.

The thing that makes me laugh about this entire situation is that if Grigs never touched the ice for us, we would have seen a guy dominating juniors and leading his team in scoring in the WJC and be touting him as the next big thing. Way too early to call this story over. This also can be homesickness.....he just got done playing with Russia and has been told that his 1M salary is now 0, then will likely be a prorated 95K per year. Furthermore, he was told by the team that he had an NHL spot this year. Which means he was probably banking on that 1M. This gets into the stuff Nolan has talked about from day 1. Some guys need a kick, others need a pat. This will be interesting to see where it goes.

I disagree.....top draft picks do this as well. As draft picks, they have zero track record in their respective pro leagues. Elway, Eli, Bo Jackson, Lindros. Hasek bullying his way out of Buffalo was different. He was a top level talent who wanted to move on and forced the move.

As long as the player in question is able to produce in the future, people forget about the primadonna act fairly quickly. In the NFL, Elway and Eli Manning come to mind for engineering selfish moves when they were 2 years older than Grigs. Lindros is the NHL equivalent in my head.....I'm sure there are more. While this certainly raises flags, I'm not close to saying that this will make me boo the kid if he ever makes it back to the bigs. Imagine that you were at a job making 1M per year and then demoted where that well dries up, when you feel like you didn't get the chance you deserve. I think he'll wake up tomorrow, realize his mistake and skate for 3 months in the Q, before reporting to Rochester. And finally, he's 19. Which means he's stupid.

I want to hit on every single pick as well, but there have been far bigger busts at 12 or whatever he was selected at. Our pure volume of picks for the past 2 years and probably the next 2 allow for us to completely miss the mark and still be okay. Don't discount the huge number of 2nd rounders either. I'd be more worried if our top 3 pick in either of the next 2 years turns out like this.

This probably would have been a non-issue 15 years ago. It's a young, stupid kid who is angry at his demotion who will probably wake up tomorrow morning knowing that if he doesn't do 3-4 months in junior that he forfeits the possibility of a huge future. Nothing to see here in my opinion. This is just social media stupidity and will probably be resolved in a day or two. And let's also put this on the organeyezation. In hindsight, it would have made far more sense to keep him in junior all along and not show him the bright lights (or huge $$$$) when he wasn't close to ready. And if he doesn't work out.....honestly, not a huge deal. First round picks are not slam dunks, and Terry said from day 1 that he didn't want to have his staff being afraid of making mistakes. Grigs is a boom or bust type of pick. If he busts, we have a many more spins at the wheel. And even more to come come this trade deadline.

I'm not sure if NFL logic translates to the NHL, but a one year deferral usually means you lose a round's worth of value. So a 2014 2nd = 2015 1st. I like the idea, but given the way Murray has been talking I don't think that will be the way he operates. If McDavid really is a generational talent, I'd like all the ping pong balls we can get to have a shot at him.

A binding agreement if you trade someone at the deadline makes no sense for both sides. A player could outperform and make themselves more marketable, or they could get hurt or perform horribly. There is risk on both sides. I don't know if informal discussions about the possibility of returning after being traded to a team of their choosing is technically wrong?

I was (and still am) a Briere fan. It's a shame his swan song in all likelihood won't happen on the team he grew up rooting for.

Trading for Briere doesn't make a ton of sense to me unless we are either emptying the cupboards of veteran leadership and want him to be that guy, or if we are giving Montreal salary relief and making them pay us with draft picks?

It's difficult to draw the line, but if a player doesn't bring anything but goal scoring, the ages of 30+ are difficult to justify that type of cap hit. I'm betting that he will be a buyout candidate before that deal has run its course, sort of like Briere. And this isn't easy....the way deals and UFA are structured kind of make this a necessity. Toronto fans would be furious if Phil walked for no compensation and put up video game numbers for 3-5 years. So they tack on an additional 2-3 years to get him to sign on the dotted line.

Being in our division, it's nice that Toronto is spending really, really big money on guys who are not elite. They are borderline, but borderline isn't good enough to tie up your cap room to Dion or Kessel.

Agree on most of this....though if you get a player to turtle in my mind you've already won. Not many players are okay with doing that (especially Lucic I think), as the firestorm in the media would be hilarious. Let's pretend that player X on an opposing team runs Miller again. If he gets 2 or 5, the next shift Scott is challenging. If that player turtles can you imagine the outrage from the dinosaurs who preach "the code"? And I don't agree with this....but the next page in the goon handbook would be that if said player isn't willing to fight, smaller skilled players are fair game, or a surprise attack is. If it goes that far, we have the biggest, baddest weapon on our side. Sad thing is that thinking like this has also resulted in a lot of the really ugly plays in hockey in the past 10 years or so. And I don't believe that the relations between the two teams are great, I just think that Scott gives us room that Shanahan and company have been unable to legislate.