JoeSchmoe

We can't tank intentionally like last time. That's what killed us... The cupboards were so bare that the pieces Murray brought in weren't enough to overcome how badly he decimated the lineup. Same went for Edmonton. Between Tage, UPL, Dahlin, Tuch and a few others, we have some building blocks this time. Keep putting the best lineup we can out there and get high draft picks organically.

Unfortunately, in the today's era of No Trade Lists, we aren't getting that type of player here. It's not just us. There's a reason why no Canadian team has won a cup since 93.

I think Mortone would be a great fit. Possibly Misa too. Hagens is just another example of what we already have. Schaefer is going to be a star in the NHL, as he has been through every level he's played, but we don't need more of his style of defense.

This is exactly wrong. Selling everything to suck is part of the reason why we still suck. As opposed to the Colorado's, Toronto's, Pittsburgh's, etc that sucked organically... And had some key building blocks already in place to complement the young talent.

This might be our only way out. This year's draft looks to be deep at the top end, but none of the players are franchise changers. In my Ontario biased opinion, Schaefer, Mortone, and Misa have all passed Hagens, who's well behind Celebrini's NCAA pace from last year. One of the top 3 would be good cornerstone player, but they won't change us for next year. After sucking again next year, we win the lottery and snag McKenna, who looks like a true superstar in the making. I can't think of another way out of the bottom than this.

I don't. Dahlin is one of our only good players. Benson can go though.

I hear what you're saying but having that guy still doesn't solve the problem that Power wants to play forward and not play D.

He's not... But he's still not a good #1.

That was some of the worst defense that ever defensed.

Where are we if Cozens and Quinn play like everyone expected them to?

Not spending to the cap. Losing two of our best offensive players and not replacing them (it doesn't matter what they're doing now, they helped us last year). Quinn and Cozens taking a step backwards (a step backwards off a cliff). Not having D that can play D. Now we suck again.

Hey guys... Great discussion! I'm in Punta Cana right now enjoying a cocktail so I won't be reporting in as much as I might like. Hopefully you guys get this whole thing sorted out without me... The team is counting on you!

In my analysis, if we drafted a good player but traded them... we don't get credit for the player, only the return. Obviously we'd be a lot better off if we had Reinhart and Eichel, but we don't... So the analysis counts our current situation.

Here's who we've drafted in the 1st round along with who we have now for the picks. I'm going by memory here so I can update when more astute posters correct me on this. The long and short of this is we aren't even close to being able to field the core of a good team out of this list. Reinhart- Levi and 1st rounder (was it Kulich?) Eichel- Krebs, Tuch, and 1st rounder (Östlund?) Nylander - Joki Mittelstadt - Byram Dahlin - legit 1st round talent Cozens - currently not 1st round talent Johnson - currently not 1st round talent Quinn - currently not 1st round talent Power - possibly 1st round talent Rosen - no 1st round potential Savoie - McLeod Östlund - likely not 1st round potential Kulich - possible 1st round potential likely middle 6 Benson - possible 1st round potential likely 2nd line possible 1st line Helenius - possible 1st round potential.

Yes... And OJ had the two murders.

Allen is way out front of HOF RB OJ Simpson when you add rushing TDs and passing TDs. For now, OJ has the slight edge on rushing TDs plus murders.

Even the shootout effort makes me puke

This team needs Lindy Ruff circa 1998, not this new social media friendly Lindy. They are soft as all hell and need the living 💩 scared out of them.

Krebs on the 1st line is the ultimate desperation move. Highly symbolic of how we've seen this team being run since Pegula's tenure.

I've been here this long. I'm not going anywhere.

We should've just let Eichel had the damn surgery.

It's because they're playing with other quality players. We don't draft quality players.

It doesn't matter who I would have picked. That's not what I'm paid to do.

There's no way out of this other than through the draft. We've drafted so poorly for so long and traded away the two blue chips we had. Our two #1 OAs are not legit franchise players like they should be. Until we get some Pastrnaks, some Points, and some Kucherovs as later picks, we will continue to suck.