PerreaultForever

This is the contrasting styles game I've been waiting for. How we play in this one should tell us a lot about what we really are or aren't.

That's valid. It certainly was a "hockey trade" and I'm glad we didn't just get prospects/picks for him. That would have been a true step backwards. The winner of this trade is maybe determined by which team signs their guy long term and the success/failure relative to that contract down the road. Both players at this moment seem to "fit" into their destinations.

I might be in the minority but I'm not a believer in any forms of double standards. If Conor Bedard elbows a guy in the head this year as a first offender he should get the exact same treatment as a Rempe or whoever. The league should evaluate if it's deliberate or not, and if it is, same punishment applies no matter who you are. First offence is first offence. The evaluation of the "goon" vs. the infrequent skill guy will sort itself out over time as they repeat offend and the penalties increase as a result of that. Eventually they get a reputation and maybe even get over penalized for it. Unless their name is Trouba of course.

I'm not really against it. Might teach the kid a lesson, but imo it does go against previous precedents and there's a lack of consistency there. First offence is supposed to be lighter for a play like that. If that's the new bar that's fine, but it has to be applied to ALL cases going forward.

okay okay, but you know what I mean. He's an offensive defenseman not a defensive defenseman. Where exactly he sits on that continuum idk yet.

Haven't seen enough of him here to know. But I do know that Colorado considered him a lesser Makar and he was considered an offensive D man and not a defensive one. He's not that big for one. I'm not sure what his height and weight is now but he looks lighter/thinner. I will have to see more to know how he handles net front pressure and how he actually defends. For one, he won't be used to how poorly most of our forwards back check and thus if he gets confused on whether or not to stay in front or follow down low his D might suffer. I mention this because I've noticed lately that Clifton has started to park in front more and not chase. Thus he has looked better on D. This was because in Boston he was used to following the man down low and forcing him outside or behind the net because he knew there'd be a forward coming back into the slot and/or taking away the trailer. In Buffalo the pass back was to an open man and he was getting killed on it looking out of place behind or to the side. This happens to all our D often. I haven't seen Byram enough to be able to add anything definitive on him yet. I saw very little Colorado over the last few years. If I remember correctly he wasn't great against Seattle in the playoffs but that's a bit vague on the memory.

Yup that would be true, but it was unsustainable wasn't it. Adding Karlsson has proven to be the kiss of death for teams. If Power grows into being a defensive force on the defensive side of things I would be fine with the big 3 on D but I have my doubts about 3 offensively minded D men with big salaries on the same team. I personally think 2 is more than enough and the other 4 need to be defenders. Preferrably big and physical. It should be exciting while it lasts though. They do provide a lot of offensive skill.

This is definitely a possibility. I said earlier I wouldn't be surprised if one of Jokiharju/Samuelsson/Clifton gets traded in the off season. Jokiharju if contract talks are way off but more likely Samuelsson. Philly would love to have him I think.

That has been the case so far. We have one style that we want to play and that perhaps we even excel at when we are "on". The trick will be being able to adapt. You see I want to build a team that will have playoff success, not just get into the playoffs. The way we are going, even if it does come together as per the "plan" I can see this problem coming and want to avoid it.

That's true, the 3 dmen who produce offense aspect is front and center. My additional question would be who provides the defense? Amusingly earlier on Byram's pairing was with EJ. Are we going to try to win 8-7 every night?

Well that's fine, and maybe it'll work out but I'm just thinking ahead. We will have a much clearer picture when we see what happens with UPL. That's the first cap/contract issue. I said long ago I figured Mitts would get traded simply because they had an idea of how much they'd pay a 3C, they saw him as a 3C but he saw himself as a 2C and that was a great divide so he had to go. Byram sees himself as a top pairing D. He is a top D guy for sure in terms of his offense. The issue for me is just Power and his contract. 30 million for 3 D is a LOT. I asked this earlier so for the capologists out there is there any team out there that has 30 million on their top 3 D? I don't think so. I could be wrong.

That's not wrong, and maybe Byram is worth the money more than Mitts was but we already paid Power a lot so I'm not sure it'll work. We pay him a boatload and that window we are building will be really small unless the cap goes up a lot. A really lot. I really don't want to end up stuck like the Leafs having to try to cobble together a bargain basement bottom six and depth D. It's a recipe that fails. It'll be very tricky to make this work as Quinn, Peterka and others also start to come up for raises.

I agree with you that "pace of play" is their thing and that's how they want to play, and if teams let them play that way they will have success. I don't think Jost and VO had a lot to do with it but BB definitely does. He clearly thrives in that wide open attack mode game. The question I still have is can they impose their will on teams that don't play that way. Teams that take away time and space. The Islanders game should be a good look at that. I also don't believe you can make a team of all fast and skill work both in terms of the cap (as skill guys are usually more expensive) and in terms of the lack of physicality. It's a recipe for playoff failure. I'd rather we built a more balanced roster with the bottom 6. Speed is good all around, but we need more physicality to go with it.

At this stage of his career I don't think you want that to be a thing. He's too young and physically under-developed. Yes, he's a big body, but he has not reached his peak development yet. Kid still needs to add muscle and he will. Consider Dahlin and how much stronger he looks this year. Able to take hits and deliver them. If Power is still not hitting people at 23 we have a problem. Not yet. Power is YOUNG. The expectation for some is way too high right now.

I don't know if this pressure theory is real. I suspect at the moment we have a trade deadline sigh of relief moment which makes them all relax and loose and then there's a Byram bump for some. They were already pals with him and they feed off of a new guy excitement. The question is how they will handle any adversity from here. If the "pressure" is real, I guess it hits the moment the team makes making the playoffs a minimum standard. I'm still waiting for them to raise that bar to that minimum point at least. Maybe next season.

That's what we need though right? The complimentary guys. I'd hope we try to mold him into a Greenway type at least. We don't need more speedy open ice guys, we need net front guys. A big body who gets in front has my interest. I would not expect him to make the roster however for at least 2 years, maybe more.

You didn't read everything I said obviously. I have no issue with the talent. Byram is very good. I'm just looking forward and wondering how we make that work? Obviously there was a contract issue with Mitts so we got another player with a contract issue a year from now. That is the definition of kicking the can down the road.

idk if he is, but I hope he is (or will be). I don't want another Murray. He's young and big so there's room to grow in both skill and size. I hope we take our time and develop him properly.

I like the size, is he skilled enough to become our version of something like Hornquist was for Pittsburgh?

I think he was pretty, pretty, pretty close.

When people (including myself) wonder where this effort was over the first part of the year I do wonder if at times they quit because they felt they had no hope with the goaltending and now that UPL has been good they feel, hey we can win with him, and so they play harder. That could be a thing and thus the season falls on KA not getting a veteran goalie and on a lack of good veteran leadership to guide them over those doubt moments. KO is clearly not missed,

This is the long standing question isn't it? All teams have slumps here and there but the inconsistency of this team is mind boggling.

You really don't read people when you get set on an argument do you? Pointless talking to you. Enjoy your evening.

Oh okay, I thought you were saying Krebs could take the spot adequately.

idk, there are some who believe the cap is going to rise a lot in the next few years so maybe. Is there a team with 30 million for their top 3 D? It seems like too much. Two guys like that yes, three seems unlikely. There's no question he makes the D better but unlike you (and KA) I do not think much of Krebs and think that we now have a new hole to fill. If they think the plan is just to slap Savoie or some other kid in there I don't think it will go well. We need a veteran 3C replacement.