PerreaultForever

I'm sorry but these days these sort of things mean absolutely nothing. Almost every player does the same thing and most of it is directed and managed by their agents and their media people. So he didn't go off script and pull a d#ck move, that's great, but he has a reputation to rebuild too, and as mentioned earlier, he got what he wanted so of course he's happy. When his contract with Vegas is up and he goes to Boston we will see how the Vegas fans feel 🙂

Val James night isn't going to feel right unless we have at least one fight. 🙂 Two teams kind of in the same will they won't they start to climb up from the bottom yet phase. Both kind of similar. More important to me than win or lose is no excuse not to see that high energy and effort we were promised by Kyle and Don and others and not that tired boring disinterested quit we saw at the end of the road trip. Bottom line, if we have to sit through years of development the least we should get as fans is some effort and excitement. Drive the net, dive for a puck, get in people's way, block shots, hit somebody, just give'er as they say on the prairies. Show me you care so I can care about you.

I'm not discrediting it, I said at the top it's a great goal. But I've been seeing it on every sports channel and platform and all these people saying "greatest ever" and "greatest player ever" and that isn't true. He's great, but when he breaks all these scoring records you have to keep in mind it's a league that allows that now. That's all. I remember Perreault killing a penalty puck on his stick going up and down and around the ice and he had that puck on his stick for about a minute and a half of that 2 minute penalty. You'll never see that in the history of the great plays or whatever, but you should know his skills were unmatched at the time, just like McDavid now. Just one example.

Marcus Foligno is the one that bugs me every time I see Minnesota play. Deslauriers. Not a star I know, but still wrecking havoc for the Ducks and you going to tell me we had better players in our anemic line up these years? Lemieux (yes, he probably wouldn't have played here I know but still) , Carrier to keep Ullmark who we then let walk when it mattered, Gaustad, Those come to mind, there's probably more. We also don't draft a lot of grit or trade FOR grit very often if ever. We don't seem to value it, or value a balanced approach to team building. Probably all started when we gave away Rob Ray 🙂

never liked that trade. We have a habit of trading grit for "skill" and having it backfire on us.

Well ya, it's a great goal, but that's what you're going to get in a league where you don't play the body any more. Perreault had the skill set to do the very same thing, but in that league near impossible.

Oh I know, but what I'm suggesting is the style Housley put forward was one that suited Dahlin's skill set and set him up to fail in the sense that it let him thrive offensively, but failed to develop him defensively.

Housley?

I'm looking at this photo and thinking ya, this doesn't scream rocket scientist.

Just thinking back wasn't this the Risto critique too? He certainly looked dumb slapping at the puck and then tripping over the goalpost. That one is going to rank as this year's dumb frustration move much like Eichel's old stick smash did before, but is he actually dumb? Probably? Maybe? Does it matter? That's why we have coaches isn't it? Work with the slower (mentally) ones. Dahlin has not been developed properly, basics were not drilled into him early (and if he is dumb that would be even more important as he'd need muscle memory and instinct and habit over thinking and reacting) and so he will always be an imperfect thing I think. Pair him with a solid defender, that's the best we can do.

Agreed. The similarity to me is the egalitarian nature of the roster. Neither is focused on a big name or a star. They have a slightly more defined top line, but most nights they roll them like we do. The big difference is the goaltending. They started there and we were what? willing to wait? I think starting with the goalie is smarter.

I agree. The thing I think we are missing is some of that high energy. While that talent develops we need more of those guys and not just meh players like Bjork. I personally like Hayden in the line up and wish we had a crazy dude like Tanev. That guy pumps them up and the energy just rises. We don't have enough energy guys imo.

Depth D men are usually in demand at the deadline so we can probably unload a few of them, but really won't get all that much back. Maybe something for Miller, but really nothing much to get excited about. Eakin maybe if somebody wants a penalty killer .

Not saying they are "that good" just that they have the foundation for a strong build. They have to add the talent bit by bit to the existing structure and concept and they will be good. I'm hoping we can do something similar now that we have no more "stars".

I don't think anyone's calling him a bust, and there is nothing wrong with sending a kid like him down for a while to get his game back on track. Worked for Mitts, worked for Tage, let it work for Dylan too. Patience.

Told ya, those Kraken are a tenacious team. They're like pit bulls just coming at ya and coming at ya. Normally don't score a lot but never rest and never quit. imo they have building a team right. Start with a really good goalie, build out from there and build a team that competes and works hard every night, if not every shift. Hopefully now that we've turned the Eichel page we can try to build something in the same way. Start with a goalie once this tank is over.

I have to see Tuch play more with us first, but at the moment I lean towards trying Tuch with Mitts for more balance. Krebs imo (and Cozens) should go to Rochester for a bit, if not the whole year. I'd leave Olofsson-Thompson-Asplund alone for this as they have some chemistry. Girgs-Eakin-Okposo is Girgs-Eakin-Okposo and will remain what it is until they trade Eakin or these guys end their contracts. That's your 4th line regardless of how many minutes they actually get. The other two lines are fluid and will be determined by which kids step up first.

Yes, definitely. I think he is exactly the type of player we have been missing and need. As an old timer, he makes me think it's similar to Mike Foligno coming here way back when. He will be an impact player and a fan favourite.

This is it. I've always said we need a few ex-Bruins to teach us how to play and build team. Was kind of thinking about ones who could lace up though...... Guess that means no Tarasenko 🙂

You're probably right, but if players on this roster didn't like him, you never know. I'm still curious to see.

Well I'm trading off players like Miller even if we are close........... We won't be under the cap in any way. It's super easy to pick up a salary dump from somebody almost any time you need it. Not a long term dump, that'd be bad, but a short term one to stay over the floor, that's easily done.

Quite possible, but it's also a pretty mediocre if not weak division. Won't take all that much to come in 3rd.

I think it's pretty clear certain people spin events for their own narrative and history gets rewritten. Eichel didn't want to be part of a rebuild, wanted out, this is obvious. But in terms of a planned rebuild that's not exactly what happened is it? Signing Skinner was a mistake, but after his big season with Jack, the plan was here's your big threesome. Signing Hall didn't work at all, but that's not a rebuild either. Hall crapping out was probably what tipped the ownership into the rebuild and different direction idea in the first place. Risto was unhappy for years. Reinhart clearly decided signing long term was out. A rebuild was a necessity as a result. It got stripped down, it got cleaned out, and now we added pieces and we have added numerous picks and the plan now works if we start to draft well. The attitude is right, the team concept is right, the seeds are planted, let's see if it grows. Bye bye Jack. You didn't say a single thing that made me wish you were still a Sabre. Your photoshop skills are very good though. I see your injury time has been well spent.