Drag0nDan

Thats what i meant with physicals though. Can he play at a higher level than he did with the injury, and can he match some of his play from before that? My assumption is no, as most people with bad hip injuries tend to retire. I suspect he gets signed, gets injured again, and retires.

Well... he was injured last year and played through it... He was greater than a point per game the previous 4 seasons. To me it comes down to physicals, can he still play?

So he has been dealing with a hip injury for a long time, and hip injuries have proven career ending for lots of players.... Ryan Kesler, Andrew Ference, Brent Seabrook. We'll see on Backstrom and Kane though, i think kane gets a 1yr deal halfway through the season somewhere with LTIR space or something like that.

I suspect they'll partner with a streamer as some sort of add-on service as these local sports networks slowly go belly up. ESPN+ is this much - add in a single team package for X more.

It'll just be subscription regional broadcasting if i had to guess. I think 30/month is absurd for MSG+ though. For that much... can they fix the broadcast so the sound is in sync?

I'd like to see Tage backchecking through the middle more effectively. You watch boston and it seems like the high slot takeaways is where their offense comes from.

I also don't see him cracking 40 goals - if he didn't do it shooting 16% (like 4-5% higher than career average). I also don't see it happening now that he's become more injury prone, and isn't really a PP goal threat.

He's in that wheelhouse for sure Mcdavid, Matthews, Draisaitl, Mackinnon probably make up the top 4. After that you have Point, Hughes, Tage, Crosby in some order. If bergeron plays hes in the top 10. Then I'd put Petterson, Eichel, Malkin, Zibanejad, Stamkos (and probably some others like Tavares Larkin and Hischier) in that next tier. I can't argue much there. Aho always scores on us and he's one that i forgot.

Some improved back skating and back checking would go a long way to improving team defense. There are WAY too many wide open shots from the high slot, and a guy like VO or Skinner just sort of drifting behind the play looking to turn up ice. I think all 4 of the centers need to prioritize this as well as something that just can't happen. On the PK i think they can do a better job at the blue line on making zone entry more challenging, they also got caught puck watching way too much as the season wore on. Seemed like teams figured out how to attack us down-low on their PP's, and we just gave up a lot of space. Backdoor cross crease passing was also just wide open for business, and there wasn't a tandem that did a great job there clearing that out.

I always felt like 3 on 3 was just... a different game. Basically man coverage and simple plays and cycling to create space.

i dunno what that means but they definitely smoke a ton of weed? If i had to guess, there's probably some other more party-focused drugs going around as well.

Its rarely anything of note like a lifting injury. It's usually something stupid like a box jump where you land and it just snaps.

Friend of mine lives in Nashville and was pretty tight with Johansen and Duchene... I'm not shocked that a new GM would move them.

I think id rather plan for longer and eat some money than keep VO, or put an inexperienced player in a position they aren't prepared for. I don't think you need to look at the top of the free agent bucket, but i think the team also could use a compher type in the bottom 6 anyway.

Probably rather have toews tbh.

Did we miss free agency?

Good to know! Hard to tell... it just said drafted by buffalo and tons of junior stats, in any case i crossed him off

So... Where do the higher picks (i just did the first few rounds) fit prospect wise and what timetables are we looking for? Who would you be willing to move from this group? AHL Rosen Kulich Rousek Kisakov Overseas Östlund Neuchev Polpatov Juniors Savoie Benson Bloom Nadeau

I seriously doubt he is. Levi will be with the club and my guess is you want to bring him along... not slowly but not the everyday starter either. Somewhere in the 30-40 start range maybe? I don't know that i want to see Comrie or UPL make the rest of them, and i don't think you can look at their 22 numbers and say that you're comfortable with them either. You say it in a press conference because... you have to.

He's also not very good at Hockey.

Yes - the same one who lead the league in wins, GAA, and SV%.

I mean - he doesn't backcheck at all, not much forecheck, doesn't do much on the walls, isn't a very good passer in neutral zone, and he's streaky as hell. He has a good shot, and the one-timer on the power play can be great - but he's the person most targeted in our power play to pressure since he gives it up more than tage or dahlin. I can do without that player in my bottom 6.

I mean... are they really trading a (presumed) vezina trophy winner who has 2 years left at 5M per?

You can always put Skinner over there. His one-timer isn't as effective, but he's better on the walls and harder to take the puck from and a far better skater. You have tage on the one timer side and skinner is more of your, on net from the opposite dot so cozens and tuch can crash. You also have dahlin up top. Other option is probably mitts? But i think he probably centers PP2 with some combo of greenway, krebs, Quinn, JJP, or Skinner.

If it gets us to the playoffs - its worth it. He would put up better numbers than either of the goalies we had, and if we struggled to score or were out of the playoff picture come playoff time, he's likely to fetch you back something like 70 or 80 cents on the dollar. Maybe you get a top contenders first rounder back for your lottery pick or something. Assuming he helps end the playoff drought, then it's worth it for the rental. And to me, Levi is off the table. He's the future in net and I'm not signing a 10M per year goalie to block his path - i do at the same time want to be upgraded for 2023-2024 because he'll be a rookie and its unfair to ask him to carry the team for 50+ starts.