Thorny

We can send VO away, but then we’ve quickly gone from a “run it back” F unit to one that will need a few additions. Quinn’s and Jost‘s spots need to be accounted for, even if you put Rousek in the line up we need another guy, AND a 13th man

With Jost gone (at least for now) we don’t even have a 12th F, never mind a 13. Assuming VO slides in for Quinn, Jost was #12, so I guess now that’s Rousek, and 13th man is Kulich? We need a couple depth adds here

Don’t forget that Quinn’s aren’t just removed in a vacuum - his linemates that someone else now subs in with could pay a bit of a price. Rousek isn’t going to provide the complimentary value Quinn did, so not just outright production

Ya I had the same top 6 considering I left Levi off. The 5 forwards in that order then Johnson.

I don’t really think GMs pencil it in like this, we need all the goals we can get we aren’t just counting on Quinn to score to “replace Olofsson’s”. Tage could score less. Skinner could not have a career year. There’s also the defensive side of the equation. I’m not sure Rousek or Olofsson are going to help their team stay out of their own end as much, thought you’d know more than me on Rousek. If Olofsson is traded you absolutely need to bring in a forward, we are one injury from a rookie starting, our 13th man would be Kulich entering into the year if Olofsson is gone. What if we get 2 injuries more? These are LOW numbers. with the injury, imo KA should be proactive here. Nothing splashy, just a capable proven depth player

Was KA projecting we’d make the playoffs by such a margin that the drop off from Quinn to say, Rousek or Olofsson for half the season doesn’t meaningfully change the likelihood we make it, in his mind? Because IF the drop off is severe enough it needs to be accounted for unless he’s feeling we were well clear, beforehand

Wheeler is a massive locker room problem here lol

I’d imagine adding a F is a near certainty in the case where we move VO, and that’s counting Jost re-signed. Going into the season expecting 2 of the young guys to establish as reasonable NHLers seems like it would be a really big mistake. You’d have say, Rousek on line 3 and Kulich as next guy in after one more injury. It’s not really enough. Looking back even before Quinn went down I’m surprised there wasn’t more talk of a depth F add under the assumption VO was gone. Rousek/Kulich as “next man up” 13 doesn’t seem like a recipe for success. They should at least have viable vet competition- if they beat it out, so be it.

Are you talking this season? The extensions won’t affect the cap this season, at least

I kinda disagree now that Quinn starts on IR. At least with the bit as it pertains to VO. 13th man if we moved Olofsson was going to be a young guy like Rousek. Now, if we deal VO, we are already necessarily icing a Rousek/different young guy and 13th man is yet another young guy and that’s asking for trouble. Keeping VO keeps Rousek as 13, but even that seems risky tbh. Frankly, there is room for a vet depth F add. They may not even feel VO is an adequate F replacement for Quinn, who knows

Now that I think of it they probably just keep Olofsson for now and do something like: Skinner - Thompson - Tuch Mittelstadt - Cozens - Peterka Olofsson - Krebs - Greenway Girgensons - Jost - Okposo Top 6 shouldn’t miss a beat, biggest thing is L3 potentially takes a big defensive step backwards with VO, so still counting a lot on Greenway to elevate. Would think they definitely add a depth guy if Olofsson moves and even in the scenario above, they may (probably should) add someone so it’s not a rookie being next up, presumably the addition that would have been on the table anyways in the original scenario where we theoretically planned to move VO. - - - The only thing I worry about really is the LT prognosis for Quinn. Hopefully it’s something you get a 100% recovery from in time

Ive heard Luke isn’t that great tho Don’t really think we need to go out of the way to add family members, see ROR/KOR Not really opposed to the moves just see these types talked about a lot more often than they actually play out

What are the * markings? Edit: oh, forwards in two categories? Wahlberg threw me off

I’m pretty excited about it. My type of player. And that list is stacking up

25-33%? That’s amazing

Given his physical perspective I don’t think that’s ever likely to change

Yes, Levi, I get it. Sorry, do you think it’s more likely he DOES play in the NHL, than does not? Like he’s a better than 50/50 shot to be a mainstay nhl tender? I beg anyone to look at the hit rate of 5th round picks, and 5th round pick goalies. It’s not some sort of hot take for me to say it’s more likely he doesn’t meaningfully pan out. It’s not pessimistic it’s just reality. Of course there are exceptions. But if you could just point at every late round prospect and go “look, Levi again” then Levi wouldn’t be “Levi” as we think of him at all, he wouldn’t be special. At least this far, though unproven as an NHLer, he’s tracking in a very abnormal way relative to his peers

Benson would have to start the season in the NHL to get a tryout, though, right?

It’s a big deal and I think people appreciate it, but it’s still relative. Part of the reason he fell to 13 is that it was such a loaded draft up top - a lot of teams added a really good player to their systems, too. Benson HAS to be a great player for us to “gain” here, relatively. And sure I do think he’s got a great shot at that, being one of the best in the class. But it’s still a high expectation to level Saying this as someone who has him ranked 1 for us. He’s a great prospect.

I'm not quite as high on Kulich as most and while I really like Savoie, too, Benson to me..I'm probably just biased towards his playmaking, high-quality defence blend of game. Obviously he's a competitor too but I just like the mix he brings a little more than Savoie. But, again, I don't really know anything about prospects. Mostly it's just my impression from reading Benson Savoie Kulich Östlund Rosen ..are kinda a tier to me. I guess there's a bit of a gap after Kulich but these 5 to me are the A guys at F, and the pool in general

It's funny how quickly even one injury can make the depth look different, and rest assured those injuries come quickly. When you have higher expectations, addressing these depth concerns in advance isn't a luxury.

Norwin. Good movie. Eddie Murphy is a genius

Quinn now being someone we need to cover for, for the first few months of the season does up the level of, not urgency, but...perhaps it reinforces the commitment to parting with the right asset in a hockey trade. We just used all 8 draft picks, we always make all our picks, nothing wrong with turning a bit of that overabundance into the now much more critical issue of the team's fortunes in the coming hockey season. A big step is expected so the next bit will be pretty interesting. I'm interested to see when/if the dam breaks on all this action that's supposed to happen league wide. It's fairly odd

elite prospects is always good for a little bit of hype: "Miedema has dual-threat scoring potential. He easily turns passes into blistering wristers, curling pucks around sticks when necessary. A clever passer, he chooses the right pass for the lane whether that’s slip, hook, saucer, or backhand. He spots his options early and guides teammates into space with his feeds."