IKnowPhysics

But the real question is: was this a planned tank move nine months ago? Was the fix always in the whole season? Also, congratulations to the Okposos on their #3.

I do too. Talking with the family members of the players is always kind of a fun experience. I happened to be sitting near Ingrid Satan one night and had a nice conversation with her. Miro actually scored a hat trick that night, so instead of throwing my hat onto the ice, I handed it directly to her. She was giddy about how happy he would be after the game.

Good data. But when I read this. it sounds like Cody Hodgson. Hodgson had #2 center potential and failed. I believe O'Regan presents a lesser opportunity/chance to have success as a #2 center. Hopefully O'Regan's work/compete is higher and his confidence is less fragile.

Win the cup then go 31st in 2018-19, then not win the 2019 lottery.

It's Christmas morning for Sharks fans.

Only a 30-40% chance they even get to 100 games.

Dillon and/or Braun + picks. Maybe eat Paul Martin's salary.

Yeah, but this time around, it's a little more entertaining because we pretty much know Kane is moving out, teams are interested, and the market is high. It's the days when we have nothing but scrubs to move that get the most stale.

Meh Reilly. Sheltered by the Wild, didn't play great, despite being a baller for the Gophers. Former 4th round pick by CBJ. Pick him up and do a wait and see with him in Rochester.

That came from Mike Straw; Wawrow and Harrington are refuting that. https://twitter.com/ByMHarrington/status/968161201141231624

All of those D you mention are LD, which pair nicely with Risto. And are worth nefarious acts to secure.

Defensmen that I could see Botterill asking about: ANA: Lindholm, Manson, Fowler. SJ: Dillon, Braun, eat Paul Martin's salary. PHI: Provorov, Hagg, Gudas. Rumors for Lindholm or Fowler are so old, they smell funny. Provorov would be a huge coup, and not one I think Philly would want to make happen at the deadline if ever, unless we talk about an enormous trade the size of Kane + Reinhart, etc. But the thought of a Provorov-Ristolainen top pair is a nice one.

Has tanking increased? Yes, absolutely. I think this is part of it. I think the real root causes stem from the consequences of the modern CBA. Long term contracts designed to fit under the cap drastically reduced the number of UFAs. GMs can't rely on the dried up UFA market to improve their teams every year. This has occurred because players don't hold out and leave for "big" money as much anymore. The combination of revenue sharing and salary cap has enabled most teams to afford to keep their best players. Trading has changed as a result of the CBA. Because teams are on a more even playing field financially, teams generally don't salary dump good players. Only underperforming players get dumped, trading them doesn't directly improve your team, and trading for them means you hurt your own cap. Without the financial aspect involved in good player trades, the only way to trade for player talent is to trade away player talent or picks. So you must spend players to get players. If you don't want to do that, you leverage your future picks. The only way to acquire elite talent without giving up current talent is to draft or or trade draft picks. In either case, teams benefit from good draft position. So if you're not going to the playoffs, and you don't want to trade your existing talent, your best move is to better your draft positon. Mostly because you can't rely on UFAs.

My tradey sense is tingling. And erect.

The future just a got a bit more interesting.

Buffalo Bandits

Must win.

Zhitnik-Smehlik McKee-Warrener

This won't necessarily happen, thinks Bob: Yes.

Weird list, let's look at it. Facts: DAL, WPG, NJ, BOS, OTT, LA, and BUF don't see TOR or CGY before the end of December. They wouldn't be there scouting other teams' tactics, they'd be there to watch players or talk to other teams. PHI, NYR, COL, see Leafs this month, but not CGY. They could be scouting Leafs tactics or talking to CGY or other teams. MTL sees CGY twice before end of month. They could be scouting CGY tactics or talking to TOR or other teams. Teams in bold are not currently in a playoff spot, could be sellers. Teams in italics are in a playoff spot, could be buyers. Underlined teams are close to making/not making the playoffs; they might try to buy players mid-season to push their way into the playoffs. Raw opinions: If you eliminate teams trading to teams within divisions: TOR, DAL, WPG, NJ, NYR, and BOS could be shopping for players from CGY, but CGY is only one point out from a wildcard spot. CGY could be shopping for players from BUF, OTT, PHI, COL, and maybe BOS or NYR if they are sellers. TOR could be buying from PHI or COL- but why not wait until those games to scout? Teams far out of the playoffs potentially desparate to make midseason moves with eachother that aren't in the same division: BUF -or- OTT with PHI and COL. But why not talk on the phone? BUF sees PHI twice this month and just saw COL. OTT doesn't see any of the attending teams outside their division this month. Boiled down opinions: Calgary might be in the market to buy to force their way into the playoffs. Nitty gritty: There were rumors that Troy Brouwer was going to get traded early in the season and this hasn't happened yet. CGY is paying him $4.5M through 2019-20 and he has 6 points in 27 games this season (4th among CGY right wingers), so they're definitely still looking for someone to take him. The problem is that Brouwer has a 15 team NTC. BUF and COL have the cap space to take him, OTT and PHI would have to send back salary. CGY is middle of the road in scoring and powerplay, and Mike Smith is middle of the road in SV%, but CGY is 8th-worst in GA/GP and SA/GP. Effectively, the CGY defense (or defensive system) is bad outside of the excellent pairing of Giordano and Hamilton. Their bottom six is also not producing. Sound familiar?

Girgs deserves some time out after the way he played against Pittsburgh (specifically for this ).

I vote for the goal by either Ristolainen, Scandella, Criscuolo, Gorges, Antipin, Baptiste, Falk, Fedun, Fasching, Redmond, McCabe, Bogosian, Moulson, or Tennyson. Ugh, I hate this team.