PerreaultForever

Panthers were better but the 2 disallowed goals were a bit dodgy imo. Florida scores a lot of goals in similar fashion that count (like pretty much every Tkachuk goal). If those goals are allowed outcome might have been different.

Who is exchanging? I'm talking about ADDING a free agent. Cozens at 3C could be a dominant player. I want to be a cap ceiling team next year not a cap floor team. I don't want to just improve a little bit, I want them to make the great leap forward. We need a good defensive 2 way center. He fits the role perfectly and you can see, in the playoffs, he's Vancouver's best center. Type of player we lack.

This is why I made the ? It is the one place he might go to and if he knows Francis will make him the highest paid coach in the league (unofficially of course as anything actual is tampering we know that) why wouldn't he go there on a long term deal? Raleigh might be a nice place, but Seattle is nicer.

I'm saying that Adams has drafted multiple versions of the same guy (at any position) and that's the team we have. Lots of the same guy all over but he has not filled the holes with the complimentary pieces the team needs. Most of the people we have weren't drafted by Adams, I know that. But he hasn't traded for what we need either. Byram was mentioned here by others and that's a perfect example. More of the same.

He is indeed out. How fast they fall from grace. Brind'Amour? Now that would be interesting.

Man that's cheap. Worst seat in the building for the Canucks season tickets was going for $2625 (not that is Canadian not American but still quite the difference) Cheapest Kraken tickets are around $40 U.S. I think, Although they do have some cheaper promotions for youth groups and whatnot.

Too many of the same/similar guy. This is pretty much Adam's draft history. Johnson doesn't impress me so I have no issue with him sent down to develop. He still has a lot to learn about playing D. (as do many of the D men on the roster). As to the title of the thread, wasting? screwed up? The expectation that he was ready to step into the NHL is the only screwed up thing. Heck, Power's not ready either.

Oh definitely all those 35 year olds should just slit their wrists and end it all. Life is over. I'm talking to you Crosby, Giroux, Burns, Pavelski, Marchand, etc. Seriously, no question the last year or two might be diminishing returns but he's still good for a number of years and just look what he's doing for Vancouver. You want to win or not?

He's worth more than Cozens. Caps really couldn't handle the pace. Ovi looked like the old guy he is.

Lindholm is exactly one of the things we need/could use.

Pettersson looking a lot like those star Leafs as well. Was good in open ice, not so much come playoff time.

lol, maybe the league would give it to Swayman (or somebody else) just for that reason. A lot of what you say is true. Three things on last year. One, Bergeron was playing hurt. Two, they weren't physical enough and although they had more talent, they had less real hard grit and Florida exploited that. Three, Ullmark wasn't as good as Bobrovski. Another guy who has impressed me this year is Geekie. The knock was always that he was too slow but he's developed into a hard nosed forward that has helped fill the Bergeron/Krejci void for them. Looking like a key FA signing. Good mileage out of retreads like Boquist as well. I don't think they can beat Florida or Carolina, but you never know.

Duclair's an oddity though isn't he? Nobody seems to want him long term. Not exactly sure what the issues are with him but I think there are issues.

Correct. This is what I am saying. This is what I want us to avoid. The are an open ice team that does not like to play in the trenches so to speak (talking about the core star players). We have quite a few guys who are like that as well unfortunately. I am hoping Ruff can get them out of this and most of them will become what they need to be now. Most of them are young enough there is still hope but at this point, those that do not start to do what it takes need to be moved on from. We will see how it shakes out soon enough.

Well that's true, but there are some similarities. My thoughts on this started way back when we were doing the Eichel-Reinhart-Skinner will save us approach and things are a bit better now but it depends on what KA does at this point. He's shown a tendency to invest heavily in players before they deserve it so if Power and Cozens don't get it together those will be bad overpays. With overpays on the roster other agents will ask for more as they will say "my guy outperformed that guy so pay him more" (simplistic, but you get the idea). Byram will be an issue. How much he pays Peterka and UPL will matter. That cap can runneth out pretty fast as the rookie and bridge deals end. This is part of the reason why I hope he is looking at moving some offensive up and coming talent for muckers and grinders who can balance this roster and they play for a LOT LESS. We are at a crossroads, and what we do this off season is crucial to what happens with this team in the next 5 years or so.

Well they haven't lost yet (but it doesn't look good). Bruins blew a 3-1 game lead last year with a better team roster so they could easily do it again. But ya, assuming Leafs do lose, the "core" they have is not going to ever get it done and collectively costs way too much to allow them to build a better team around them. This is why I say , we do not want to follow that model.

Of course it's better than 13 years of not being in the playoffs at all, but why not get it right and enjoy the possibility of actually winning in the playoffs? I think that'd be better.

The thing for me, and it has been for a while, is I am afraid we might become the Leafs and we will be forced to endure a decade of playoff failure even if we do get regular season good. I am hoping Ruff will have a say in fashioning this roster into a team that can win in the playoffs, not just get there. Leafs struggle mightily when there is less open ice. Bruins taking away time and space and the usual Leafs struggle. It was hilarious to watch how many times the frustrated Leafs were looking to refs, gesturing and begging for non existent penalties because they weren't getting their way or weren't able to do what they wanted. Even the HNIC guys called them out on it and said "just play". We don't want to be them.

Best not to drink that Oleato crap from Starbucks then.

Maybe a suspension but maybe not. Kind of hard to justify leaving your feet when you're that tall but it was only called a minor. Evander Kane with the Gordie Howe hat trick.

Well idk, but maybe he wants to play nice since he's back in town? Wipe the slate clean? In any event he did name check him so maybe he was in fact saying Sabres need a tough guy/fighter.

Absolutely. I mean sure, he might have lied and only wanted Ruff, but it's also not hard to get up to 10 phone calls in pretty fast. So maybe little white lies as they say.

I was thinking today maybe all we need to make the playoffs would be to sign Lindholm in free agency and add a couple bottom end tough guys and if UPL stays the same that might be enough with Ruff in charge. A tough D man (Zadorov?) would be additionally good but maybe Samuelsson plays healthy(ish) and that too is enough to get us over the hump. It's not that hard to do, but it has to be done.

The details never come out in these things either. So what does "tried to hire" really mean? Could mean they called him up and he said "I want a 5 year deal" or "I want X (huge) amount of dollars" and KA replied "let me get back to you" and that was it. So would that be "tried"? Or would it be Adams turning to Terry and saying "you wont' believe what this guy asked for" with an eye roll.

My own purely speculative view is that they fully planned to go ahead with Granato for one more year until Ruff was fired by New Jersey. When that happened Terry and Kevyn got together and it was "new plan". The rest is spin, optics, marketing, and PR BS. I also think Ruff will get a say in personnel and other moves going forward. This will be his last coaching job and he will be bumped into a senior advisory role when it ends. The only question obviously is will it end successfully or not.