DarthEbriate

He broke into the league with the Caps as a center, but his faceoff [attempts] dropped year by year. He's been a winger exclusively the last few seasons. As for the player, there's the health worry (concussions), but the term is fantastic, the pricetag is good, and he is definitely middle 6. Logjam on the left wing.

The mighty JBott asks why he must pay Elie 50 thousand.

This, plus penalty killing (ideally with the threat of a shorthanded rush up ice), rousing up the crowd with a body check (remember that one shift from... a day game... this past season where the Sabres threw about 5 checks in a row and the entire arena was rocking?), and being able to score the occasional goal 5 on 5. Additional perks: 1) being trustworthy enough to be on the ice to take a shift when the other team has pulled the goalie and 2) one critical goal for per playoff series.

It's the great conundrum of the charts. For Gardiner and Ristolainen... Gardiner is on the ice with Tavares, Matthews, or Kadri, while Risto is going against Tavares or Matthews. Gardiner might face Eichel, but for matchup purposes is probably getting starts against Sobotka, Larsson, or Mitts. I would hope Gardiner's chart looks better. For many a GM, all you have to consider is the athlete and the cost. You can leave it to your coach to properly use, motivate, and worry over the IQ stuff. You can always fire your coach (depending on your org structure). And if you look at Risto as a computer game player model based on player ratings (minus Off. and Def. Awareness), he's a stud.

Oh, I mean in the final year or so --- he'll be a deadline or draft day move before his next contract --- because if he continues upward, then he will be a 10M+. Purely speculation. What @shrader said. Beat me to it.

It'll work. It'll work.

Exactly. If they had full knowledge of Aho's original asking price, a good play was to match that, or even exceed it by a super narrow margin, knowing CAR had already balked. If 9.5x5 was too much for CAR, then offer 9.7. The extra 1st round pick is a loss, but if he's your guy --- make him your guy. Show him you love him! Montreal played too conservative in this respect. That said, now Aho is on the market sooner and is likely to get traded as well (ROR style with Colorado).

Setting the market on naming Hurrricanes' salaries, as it were.

So... you're saying... it's #Hammytime?

All forwards accounted for. On D, Gosselin and Baudry are signed to AHL contracts, too. I don't have notes on MacWilliam or whether Paetsch officially retired or not.

Well, Kadri is moved. Barrie is a UFA after next season. So... Toronto gave up Kadri for 1 year of Barrie. And Colorado retained salary. Also for RFA Kerfoot --- if TOR can sign him. Now would be the time to offer sheet Kerfoot, I suppose (if it's legal to offer sheet someone who has just been traded). Toronto still has to get Marner under contract and only has 8M in space. If any GM likes Kerfoot for a Johnsson/Kapanen style of a ~2.8 to 3M bridge (a slight overpayment)... or give up a 2nd round pick. Colorado really just didn't like Barrie. What are they going to do with Makar in a couple years? Move him, too? But they did get their all around 2C to help out McKinnon.

Why isn't anyone offering $8.5M for Girgensons? C'mon, NHL owners!

A 1st, a 2nd, and a 3rd or $8M. That should be matched in a heartbeat. But I'm not the penny-pinching Hurricanes. MTL should have offered $9 for only one extra 1st round pick.

Goood. Gooooooood. Let the cash flow through you!

Carolina and Ottawa are purely being run as feeder systems at this point. Sure, on occasion they'll be a bunch of jerks or get a Hamburglar (Binnington-esque) goalie run to get into the playoffs, but they're not going to be poised to sustain anything because they're not going to offer market-price second contracts. That means we need to pillage from them. (coincidentally, we have the Hamburglar now)

Good NHL-veteran experience for K6. Although, I would have said the same of Wedgewood.

Ach! My bad. I even looked back to give you the ol' "Darth knows best" and there it is... 3/28 L DET (OT) Olofsson - Eichel - Reinhart. So.... yeah, Vesey's a 3rd line LW on this roster.

Yeah -- I see he's listed as LW in some places, but he played RW for the Rangers last year. But yes, if he's LW -- he's behind Skinner and Olofsson, except Olofsson played RW in his callup last year to get top line fun. I treat wingers like TIE fighters --- just throw 'em wherever. But as a center, I fly in the middle of the formation... preferably within a trench.

I don't think you slate him for 1st line. But those things will sort themselves out --- Kessel ended up a 3rd liner in Pittsburgh for offensive balance. The questions he needs to answer for the summer are: Does Vesey's addition as RW put Thompson in the AHL where he belongs? Does Vesey fill the Pominville gap? etc.

On a 2 year entry level deal, two years ago? Absolutely he made the right move coming out of school. Now he's got the chance to pull a Skinner and up his value before becoming UFA. He's just got to deliver. Maaaaaybe he and Jack are really good together, and Vesey can keep up with Jack and Skinner as Pommers couldn't for an entire season. That opens up Reinhart to be the RW on his on line.

That's better than the goosebumps caused by a blase tree goat. I hear those things carry all sorts of foul diseases. Never heard of the blase tree goat of Endor? They're real.

Ok --- so he's a 2nd/3rd line tweener (hopefully 3rd for us) that replaces Pominville at half the cost. Essentially a winger for Mitts or ERod this year? Or our mysterious Risto-acquired 2C if that player can generate and carry on his own. For a 3rd round pick. Sure. I'd like a bit more sandpaper though and boardwork from our wingers.

I knew it. I'm surrounded by m***holes. Keep winning, m***holes!

On the contrary, now you boo him more. Like 39 more times more a year!

If Vesey only knew the power of the 3rd round pick. (We have a new one each year... we can keep him -- or get him back -- forever!)