Pokey Jones

Yup. At least to start, I think this line up will be as different from last year's as possible. All the question marks will come down to speed. This will be a much faster team than last year - at least I hope so.

Who are the slowest of the vets - that's your answer as to who doesn't make it. Moulson and Gorges won't be sent down but I sure hope they don't make the opening night roster.

About Bailey, if Housley is saying (about any young guy really) he wants him to be a forechecker and penalty killer this translates as I like his speed but I don't think he can score. Which isn't a bad thing though, but that means he is 3rd or 4th line at best. Again though, pay attention to the consistent comments from Housley. Speed, speed and more speed. Anyone who has speed will have a shot at this roster, anyone without it only if they are desperate for a body. I like this philosophy.

Mark my words, if Moulson is in the opening night lineup this team will not make the playoffs. Again.

Housley is high on Rodrigues because he has speed. Housley wants an uptempo game so initially anyone with speed will be favored. Griffith might also fit that.

I think there is a simpler argument that is being missed. Do you want to keep this team basically the same as it was, blame everything on the coach that was fired and somehow hope that everyone will be magically better under the new coach and stay healthy and exceed their current peaks OR do you think the team was rubbish and needs a bigger overhaul and more new bodies? There are points that can be made for both sides, but I think it is the latter, and in that scenario you trade a guy who had a peak season while his value is higher than it will be if he gets injured or drops off or has off ice problems ("because he's Kane") and you do it now since GMs have started to wise up to the deadline deals and prices the last two years have started to drop on trade deadline day not rise. Bottom line is this team was dull rubbish last year. Uninspiring and often lacking. lacking in effort, desire, character, identity, ability etc etc etc. Blame who you want, but I as a fan am sick of losing. We are like the Cleveland Browns of the nhl and I'm sick of it.

Rasmus Dahlin is the guy to watch. If we can finally win a lottery he could take us to the promised land. Him and Risto together..............sweet dreams!

Those were the days.........

See korab (loved that guy by the way) I don't think we are "ready to contend now" and without more changes we are only marginally better than last year. Duchene I would trade for, and yes I know all his potential pitfalls and that argument can be found in the Duchene thread but I think he'd be a better fit than Reinhart. It wouldn't be a 1 for 1 but Avs want a young potential in the deal make that trade around Sam. I don't know who we get for Kane, don't know who would want him. I would have maybe said Flyers but Hextall's been pretty shrewd now and seems to be looking to his kids so maybe a guy like Kane is no longer on their radar. Still, if they've given up on Goethstisbeher (or whatever you spell it as) I'd look at him as a potential guy Housley could develop into a superstar. No idea who is available though, I don't really follow the rosters of other teams much. Who wants Kane that'd be the first question?

That's my feeling. They didn't just randomly pick him up they think he is a guy that will excel under Housley and they feel they know how to bring that out like Housley did with Ellis.

Who? The guys we trade them for. Or if possible (which is unlikely) trade them to upgrade the D even more and then with an excellent D let the kids have the wings along with all the mistakes they'll make. Long term that'll make us a LOT better. It's not like I want to trade them for draft picks, if we can't get return now we have to live with them and we'll be basically about as good as last year.

Totally agree on the Lehner thing. I mentioned in another thread that Housley's system might take us a step backwards before two steps forward. Nashville had Rinne to bail them out on odd man rushes, no idea how Lehner is going to be this year but I have always thought he is not what Murray thought he would become when he overpaid for him. Goalies are weird though, maybe this is the year he finally puts it all together...........

My point isn't that Kane is terrible, but for the long term growth of this team I think we'd be better off to trade him now while his value might be high (and I'd say over valued) due to a solid season last year. It's not like you get nothing in return, I just think you get a lot more now then you'll get if he's in the last year of his contract or if he is injured this year or has any drop off or any issues in any way similar to his past issues. In a risk reward scenario, I think the smart move is to unload him now and get a solid return.

The negative talk from Winnipeg before (and after) he was traded was that Kane was a one trick pony and that most teams had pretty much figured that trick out. Watch how many times Kane is doing exactly the same thing and I think you will realize this critique is true. Not a lot of creativity in his game. In the effort dept. I do think he takes shifts off and quits on plays. not a good back checker at all. Still takes dumb penalties too cause, although he's better than when he was younger, he still lacks discipline and has a temper. Definitely over rated and somewhat injury prone too. Trade him while you can get a solid price.

There will be injuries, he will get ice time.

I hope Pommer can still contribute but I honestly don't think the Sabres really even wanted him and he is not in the long term plan. They agreed to take his salary off of the Wild's hands in a trade that revolved around us wanting Scandella and them wanting Foligno. We can absorb the price right now, but don't be surprised if we dump him at the deadline so only buy that jersey if you truly have extra cash kicking around..

When did Rob Ray say he "hated" Phil Housley? I don't believe he'd ever say that publicly even if he did.

If Duchene isn't traded he probably will but that won't mean anything. If Duchene goes to Nashville or some other half decent team I'll take the bet.

No, because some other teams THINK he might still be good one day. My words were "while he has upside value to some people". Not to me. Maybe to you.

Not by himself.

Boston had some solid success switching from a veteran based shutdown D system to a more open and offensive one last year, perhaps we will see the same kind of instant improvement. Not sure however, if we have the actual talent to make the switch instantly work. At least 2 new D men, but forwards........who knows?

They're not going to give the C to Jack unless he signs. Giving him the C without signing just ups his price.

Jeez, I mixed up a timeline from 10 years ago............omg, well throw it all away then. The point still holds, whether signed or not, they knew they didn't have the money to sign all 3 that was the point. Look at a right now example of the potential problem. Edmonton. Chiarelli screwed up the cap in Boston, and he's doing it again in Edmonton. With the money committed to McDavid and Draisityl (no, I don't know how to spell it and I don't care) Nugent Hopkins is now the 3rd line center at about 6 million and that's being talked about as unsustainable. The exact same thing will happen if you have Reinhart as a #3 center and so in a couple years the cap will become a problem here as well and we're not even good yet! So, the solution is not to think of Reinhart as a #3 center cause that situation won't be possible to maintain, you're better off to trade him while he has upside value to some people - unless he actually is good enough to be on the top lines, which I don't think he is. Simple as that. Now go ahead and nitpick some detail and ignore the point, you know you want to...............

You misunderstand me here. Kane won't pull the room apart but I could see him pouting and quitting. His work ethic is already questionable and inconsistent. He has spurts but seems moody at best and can take a shift or a night off at any time. He'll just quit trying at all and the trade value will plummet. Reinhart is a bigger problem and could be trouble to the room since he is close to ###### ice. (change that to Eichel off ice then, since I apparently can't say it the original way) lol

Dude, you're really not reading what I'm writing. My mention of Kane's off ice issues was sarcasm. Go back and read it again, you'll get it eventually.