pi2000

Things are good, thanks for asking. Who is this bum McDavid you're referring to? Never heard of him.

Much to my chagrin, selfish Jimmy Vesey scores again, 6g in 10 games now.

Obama

So much is going to chabge between now and the expansion draft that I don't feel any argument here will be fruitful. That said, if they only protect 3 D, then one of Kulikov or Bogosian will be available and that would likely be LVs pick... which saves Ullmark. If you protect 4 D, and O'Reilly, Okposo, and Larsson, then you can only protect one of... Ennis Kane Moulson Girgensons ...in that scenario Ullmark is safe as well. Worst case Nillson signs an extension, then you have a 3 way battle in Roch between Kasdorf, Ullmark and Petersen. I'd be OK with that, competition is a good thing.

Ullmark is eligible for the expansion draft. That said I don't think he's at risk of getting picked. I'd keep him around, he's show flashes of brilliance. If Lehner pans out and stays healthy then that might make him expendable, but not sure how much you'd get in return at this point. And I'm not so high on Petersen. He's been very good in college, but they dont usually make an impression in the NHL. I've watched some ND games this season and he had a very good defensive team in front of him, I think he's more a product of the system than a stud prospect.

Weber named one of NHLs 3-stars of the week. Here's his ppg against TOR.... https://www.nhl.com/video/webers-go-ahead-ppg/t-282916402/c-45816503

It's a catch-22... if you leave Kulikov or Bogo unprotected there's a 99.9% chance that player gets picked in the draft... meaning you don't lose any forward depth, or Ullmark. If you protect 4-D, you're going to lose a quality depth forward or Ullmark. If it had to be decided today, you have to protect 4-D, as there just isn't enough quality depth at the position to make up for losing one of the top-4.... but that situation may look completely different 8 months from now.

Right, on second thought, I could live with him as a third pairing guy who sees limited minutes.... for one more season.

He was beaten very very badly on a few plays where he was completely flat footed, and those plays lead directly to breakaways. That happens to all NHL defensemen occasionally, but not every other game. I'm sorry, I can't take another year of Josh Gorges. He hasn't been terrible, and he makes some heady defensive plays, but if this team wants to take another step next season he has to be replaced with someone who can skate at the pace of today's game.

Foligno always leaves me wanting more. He plays hard and has size, but he just doesn't have enough offensive skill and speed for this system IMO. You want your third line wingers to contribute more offensively... maybe he's a future 4th line guy, but I don't see him on this team when they're contenders. IIRC, last year Bylsma said something about taking shots at the open net down to the 45s mark... after that, gain the line, or softly clear the zone to avoid icings. Lehner's rebound control is atrocious. Once opposing teams figure that out, it's going to be an even bigger problem. I liked Armia's game, he showed speed and was engaged, creating turnovers and scoring chances. I came away thoroughly impressed with his game.

OK. A this point I'd still lean towards 4 and 4... but need to see how the season plays out, just too many unknowns.

The trade may have voided the NMC, but how do we know for sure? (sorry if this has already been confirmed)

When he's not a minus player. Just kidding, he's been very good. He seems to get beat badly once every few games or so... hopefully that's just a product of him adjusting to the system/partners. If you sign him, the problem becomes who do you protect in the expansion draft? Assuming you protect Risto, McCabe, and Kuli... plus Bogo automatically uses a spot, that means you can only protect 4 forwards... well, 2 actually be Okposo automatically uses a spot and O'Reilly will be protected. pick 2: Kane Moulson Ennis Gionta Foligno Girgensons Larsson Carrier Grant Deslauriers I'd go with Larsson and either Ennis or Moulson depending on how the season plays out... IMO it's a two horse race between those two to prove who's more valuable to this team. I know, I know Moulson's getting long in the tooth, but depending on his production he may prove irreplaceable on the PP for the next 2 seasons or so until somebody else can fill that role.

Goaltending... and Bieksa is Franson slow, and Getzlaf doesn't shoot enough.

Don't want Nylander anywhere near this sorry bunch. Let him develop in Roch properly. I'd give Baptiste another look tho, and Bailey. Sit Grant down, hell, sit Reinhart I think it would be good for him. Launch Nilsson bring another vet goalie. Double shift Moulson.

Looks like ANA is barely under the cap by putting Simon Despres and Nate Thompson on LTIR saving $5.3m. Thompson dealing with an achilles injury might miss the entire season. Sad what's happened to Despres, he's had almost a dozen concussions in his career and he's only 25 years old. He missed 42 games early last season due to a concussion, came back in March and suffered another concussion which he still hasn't recovered from. It sounds like it could be a career ending situation.

Moulson 30:2 LORD my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me.

There was talk of Luke Richardson before Bylsma was hired. Not sure what he's doing these days, but IIRC, he was coaching Ottawa's minor league affiliate.

yes. How long can Ducks stay over the cap? They have to make some kind of move right? What happens if they don't?

Add Lawson and Ragland to that list as well. I'm gonna watch just because I'm interested to see how they play and who plays well, don't expect a win. WRT wide receivers, I was wondering what ever happened to James Hardy, that 6'5 WR the Bills drafted out of Indiana in the 2nd round of the 2008 draft and found this on wikipedia.... "On May 4, 2014, Hardy was arrested on felony charges following a dispute at his home in Los Angeles, in which a visibly drugged Hardy attacked police officers responding to a disturbing the peace call. In November 2014, it was reported a judge deemed Hardy unfit for trial and remanded him to a mental facility." sad. And what happened to this guy? http://www.nfl.com/player/mikewilliams/2508048/profile

Agreed, at least 2 of those goals are on Nilsson. If you only give up 2 goals at home, you should win most nights. Dubnyk is red hot right now with back to back shutouts.

You're right, the deal is 10 more years and expires when he's 40. If you buy him out the remaining money due is spread over twice the number of years remaining or something like that, so if you buy him out at 35-36, that would be another 8-10 yrs they'd have to count the remaining money toward their cap... which is bad yeah, so they better hope he plays well past 35 at a high level. I think he can do it, he's not a guy that relies on his blazing speed.

This team just sucks balls at home. They're uptight and can't make plays in front of the home crowd.

Yeah, Gillislee is expected to be good to go, just like McCoy was last week.

back down to $2100... tomorrow @ home vs a FLA team coming off a loss at TOR? Oh boy. I don't see how the score will be remotely close.