PerreaultForever

Turned out to be 6 years @ 5 per. I guess they got it done once they realized Malkin wasn't going to happen.

My thinking here is if he believes he has UPL, Levi AND Portillo in the system (or coming soon to be exact) then there would be no reason to guarantee getting the goalie that really should have been drafted in the 3rd round not the 2nd. By drafting him where they did they jumped any potential queue there was (Seattle?) but it was early for that pick.

I think Ottawa will spend in free agency. They think they can make the big move now. So they wanted the cap room they saved. Murray could bounce back with the Leafs, but as before, they have the same weaknesses and I do not think their goaltending (or D) is good enough to take them out of the first round. and I love it!!!!!!!!!!

I think so too. Him and Power are friends are they not? Only thing keeping him away would be if Power (and other players he knows) tell him to stay away for his own good, which seems unlikely. Portillo however, I think the high draft of the goalie tells us KA is not optimistic.

Philly apparently trying to unload JVR to free up cap space (1 yr 7 mil) and willing to give up asset(s) to do it. Not a guy I really want, but he's a front of the net PP guy and maybe one year gets us to the cap floor and maybe he gives it a good effort to get his next deal from somebody? Unload him at deadline? Depends on who/what Philly would give up but I'd take the call if I was KA.

The problem I have with the logic here is it isn't applied evenly everywhere. He says sign Olofsson for 3 years in case the kids aren't ready and sign Hinostroza for 2 years as a placeholder of sorts but he's saying we don't want a goalie to "block" Levi as if he thinks Levi will magically jump into the starting role in a year or two. Utter nonsense. Levi is 3 or more years away from being an NHL starter. Signing a decent goalie for 3 years (like Yzerman did with Husso) doesn't "block" anyone, it just creates stability and depth and allows the team in front of that goalie to gain confidence (and win more). It's a contradiction of logic that simply serves as a justification for the failure to act. I suspect what we will see is close to what will happen though, and it's disappointing. This team is ripe for additions to take it over the hump, and not for more patient slow waiting.

Keith? Ya, pretty much. 🙂 Subban's just never lived up to his potential. He didn't develop the way projections thought he would. With a goalie it is possible he still turns it around but it's very unlikely. So to answer the original question, I don't think it matters.

I think it's fairly obvious Chicago is completely deconstructing and tanking for a shot at Bedard so (I think) they will make any deal possible. Just a question of what they are willing to settle for. In the end, if it came to that, they would do a Taylor Hall type deal if there was no alternative.

I think you have nailed it there and I agree. I've mentioned this comparison a few times in different contexts. I think he is entirely trying to follow the Carolina model. How successfully he can follow that remains to be seen.

Only if you retain half of it.

Say goodbye to dreams of signing a big name free agent D man.

Absolutely, just look how Murray did with Vesey. 🙂 This is my point. The agent may have even played the teams off against each other and the number was likely known. Yzerman probably went over the desired number and the trade of the pick allowed him to make the offer without tampering that's all. Adams could have done the same thing only with a slightly higher number.

I know some Flyers fans and every single one of them hates Fletcher (and Holmgren and to some extent Clarke) and they all believe it's a tank season. And for Sabres fans satisfaction Risto is constantly ridiculed and they all feel they were fleeced in that trade.

I don't know how you can conclude that Husso made a back door deal? For one, that's simply impossible within the rules, and two players don't make their own trades. MAYBE Husso wanted to be in Detroit but until he says that there's no way to draw this conclusion. He was simply given term and money that he wanted and I'm sure his agent advised him of his worth accordingly. We were "linked", which I know means nothing EXCEPT that there were definitely conversations and some form of interest from one if not both sides. Adams was simply outbid just like he was on Ullmark with Boston. He needed to outbid and overpay and he (and/or Terry) isn't willing to do that and so we get no goalie.

I would say they rely on team speed as their strength and any player is expendable. They simply were not going to pay Hamilton what he wanted (and he didn't give NJ their money's worth) and DeAngelo was a gamble they won on but DeAngelo has issues and perhaps they weighed it up and decided he was not worth the gamble of extending. I could see them going after Klingberg, but I could also see them going after nobody.

See, with all due respect, I think you're saying this to make yourself believe it and to feel better about things. There is no way I believe the bolded sentence. If it were true he wouldn't have been trying to trade for Murray, or Gibson, or we wouldn't have been linked to Husso, and they wouldn't have offered Ullmark money and so on. I think he's tried to get a goaltender because he knows he needs one, but he has failed miserably at it and he just spins the results as a "plan" so he doesn't look like a failure. I believe the sentence in the press was "Sabres exploring all options." He just isn't very good at it. Yzerman, for one, beat him to it.

Less than there were a few days ago. Just don't see this happening with the current goalies and the holes in the roster. I see us around where we finished this year, maybe slightly higher, but no chance at the playoffs. Which is the frustrating thing for me, as I think with the key additions we COULD have been a contender.

Fair enough and I don't know enough about the goalie to say but the general impression I have reading things is they took him too early. They obviously really love this goalie so let's hope he turns into another great Buffalo goalie and takes us to the promised land.

Forsberg re-signed by Predators. https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/predators-sign-filip-forsberg-to-eight-year-70-million-contract-extension/

I'm sure that's true, as I'm sure his timeline is a long one. The problem is if you keep losing for another 2 to 3 years before your eventual winning plan comes to fruition you alienate the fans even more, you keep it a no trade clause place, you don't attract free agents, and you risk losing what you're trying to build in this locker room as some of the kids may decide maybe they'd rather go elsewhere as well. We need to start winning more now to turn all these things around, and we need a 3 to 4 year signed decent goalie to have any chance of doing that.

I suspect Ellis is going to LTIR. His career may be over. Other than that I have no idea. There's the money they used to pay Giroux maybe?

I give it a B. I wouldn't have taken Östlund. Given who was left I think I would have taken Ohgren or Gaucher. I don't hate the Östlund pick but how many small centers do we need??? I might have taken Firkus at 28 myself, but Kulich is fine. I would definitely have taken Warren in the 2nd round and not the goalie. If we'd done that I'd give the draft an A- If we'd landed the goalie with pick 3 after picking Warren I'd have given it an A+ I have no problem with the later picks. They all seem to have upside and potential. That's all you can ask for really with late rounds.

I agree, I just hope that the "in a couple years" part comes true. Remains to be seen. I think everything would shift in that regard if Patrick Kane did in fact sign here after his Chicago contract is done. Speak publicly about how great it is to be home and such. Might change all the perceptions around faster.

Philly will probably be hot garbage, but the big rumour there is Johnny Hockey signing there all but a done deal. No idea where it comes from but it's all over Philly chat.

I don't think his mindset regarding the position is not the same. What I think differs between him and me (us?) is his timeline for this team to be good.