pi2000

done...

....so did you pick one out yet? Anything but Auston Matthews!!

For Bylsma system (and modern NHL), you need defensemen who can skate the puck out of the zone.... it's all about speed on the back-end. Gorges, Franson, and Coliacovo are simply too slow. They won't be around when this team becomes a contender. McCabe and Bogo can skate well enough. Bogo needs to improve his quickness, takes him too long to get up to top speed. Risto, Pysyk need to get faster. Risto is a great player, but he's not a + skater. He loses races and can't catch guys from behind. Guhle will be a great fit. Nelson has potential has a lot to work on, but he skates well enough. When looking at recent Cup contenders, their top 4-5 defensemen can skate. The Kings took a step back on the back-end this season and it showed against a faster skating Sharks team. ANA is a great example of what you want your back-end to look like... Fowler, Lindholm, Vatanen, Theodore, Despres... all superb skaters, I'd lump Manson in there as well as he's an above average skater. Bieksa not so much, haha.

In retrospect, yes, it was a waste of my time to post that comment in this thread. I won't make that mistake again.

OK, yeah comparing him to Daigle at this point in his career is unfair. I think he'll have a better career than Daigle, but I won't be surprised if he flames out.

I still want to know if Jimmy really passed the New Mexico state bar exam? Also, I just started re-watching Breaking Bad with my wife (she hasn't seen it yet). It's probably been mentioned on here already, but the guy with the "KEN WINS" license plate, is the same guy Jimmy and Kim swindle at the restaurant. Thought that was interesting since Walt ends up blowing up the guys car.

I try to trade down to #2. If that doesn't work set a smokescreen and take Laine #1. You all know how I feel about Daigle... err Matthews. I'm stuck on infinite redraws....

The NBA just went down the line. Last year the Knicks dropped to 4 or 5 or something, but they didn't jump up to the top 3, just kept going down the line.... but this is what I want to see live for the NHL.... http://www.nba.com/video/channels/draft/2014/05/20/052014-draft-lottery-behind-the-scenes.nba/

I'm not very high on Caggiula. There's a reason he wasn't drafted, and this is probably his peak right now, there isn't much upside IMO. He reminds me of Corey Conacher. I'd rather take that money and use it towards enticing somebody like Vesey.

The NYI/TB game will start before the ANA/NSH game 7. I don't ever remember that happening before, the second round starting before the first is finished.

Are they finally going to show us the lottery ball machine in action? I hope they don't do the stupid envelope thing again. What will they have bronze, silver and gold cards now?

As long as your Cup finalists are still alive, you still have a very good chance to win.

Ultimately, I think Chuck uses the recording to force Jimmy to leave Kim. That's all Chuck really wants, is for Jimmy not to drag down Kim with him. I like Chuck, I don't blame him at all for what he's doing to Jimmy. But why does he end up changing his name to Saul Goodman? It's been 2 seasons of "Better call SAUL", not "Better call JIMMY". At some point here soon, Saul needs to show up.

I was a little disappointed that Jimmy didn't realize Chuck was soliciting a confession. I mean, of all people who should've realized what Chuck was doing, you would think it would be Jimmy (he's a wolf, not a sheep, right?). As a casual observer, I knew right away what Chuck was doing when he broke into his sob story. That's not like Chuck at all, to admit he screwed up and take responsibility for it. Jimmy should've seen right through it, like I did.

Bogo was better offensively down the stretch, he was taking more chances, guess who his D partner was? I thought Risto struggled down the stretch. Gorges tries hard but he's slow and undersized, he makes up for it with effort and normally making the smart veteran play.... which is OK because he limits mistakes, but we're not going to contend with him in the lineup. To get to the next level we need fast skating, puck moving defensemen who can do more with the puck than just making the standard 15ft breakout pass.

Jack Eichel will be Jack Eichel. There hasn't been anybody like him yet, let him be his own dog. I hate these stupid comparisons.

I, for one, thought he was one of our top 2 D for the last 20-25 games or so.

If we stay at 8 I'll consider it a win and do a few shots or something. chance of moving UP: 19.12% chance of staying at 8: 39.22% chance of sliding DOWN: 41.66%

Yes, 2 top 4 D who can skate. One of them a PP QB. Stamkos. Kane to stay healthy and score 30g. Ennis to stay healthy and score 25-30g. Moulson to be the old Moulson and score 25-30g. Lehner to stay healthy, play 60+ games and put up .920+ sv%.

FOUND!

Fantastic. Thanks for doing the math. I'm still not convinced GMTM will throw that kind of money at somebody who is not one of his own. In the end of season interview he seemed very non-committal about the Risto situation, basically saying that he hasn't reached out to his agent yet, and his agent hasn't reached out to him. It would seem there should be some sense of urgency considering he would like to play in the World Championships (he won't play without a contract due to injury risk).

Let's say an eligible team like CGY, CAR, VAN, WPG, or CLS give him a $7.5m/yr offer sheet. What do you do, knowing you have only 2 more years left before Eichel, Reinhart, and Kane need new deals, and you already have > $9m tied up between Gorges and Bogosian for the next +2 years. You basically have about $20m to divide between Kane, Eichel, Reinhart, and Ristolainen. GMTM stated they need a PP QB, so obviously he's not as enamored with Ristolainen as everybody else is. Would he match the $7.5m? Or take the 2 firsts, a second and a third?

Don't forget GMTM did not draft Ristolainen. I wouldn't be surprised if his deal takes longer to work out than we expect. Nor would I be suprised if Risto is dealt or he lets him walk if he gets an offersheet. GMTM seems to like North American skaters (12 of 14 draft picks, and at least 12 players he's acquired via FA/trade), is he willing to invest a large chunk of cap space in a Finn who he didn't draft? I like Risto's game, but he lacks speed, he loses puck races... can he get faster? Who knows, but I don't value him as high as everybody else here seems too, what does GMTM think of him?

Whoever wins, wins. Doesn't mean they're the better team, which is why it's a 7 game series and not single elimination or best of 3. If the Hawks played like they did, and the Blue play like they did, Hawks may lose a battle or two, but they'll win the war.

He's not just a goal scorer, he's a leader. Some folks here don't think he's a very good leader.