conundrumed

Getzlaf and Perry. Demoted to the A early in their rookie season to "develop chemistry" and get more, "quality ice time". 2 months of devastating the A, and the rest is history. It's not like they sucked starting in the NHL prior to demotion, just needed more time together without forcing the issue at the top level. I really enjoyed Burke's handling of some media trying to spin the negatives. For all of his faults and files, I quite admire how Burke handles the media. At his 1st Flames camp, I pulled up beside a truck and noticed it was identical to mine. Lo and behold if it wasn't Burke hopping out. He was head down and looking like he was trying not to be noticed. I yelled, "Hey" and he turned to me looking anxious. I walked up to him pointing at our trucks and said, "nice truck man". He laughed and said, "oh, you too". We walked in and I just said, "I'm here to watch, not harass" and he said, "good to hear". Then we just exchanged niceties, "hope your settling into Calgary alright" etc. That would have been the camp of the 1st Gaudreau glimpse, pretty sure @cross16 was there, but we've never met. Mony couldn't win a faceoff, JG, if he weren't JG, would have been destroyed behind the net by a giant AHL-grunt dman. Conroy and BT were sitting across the aisle from me. Conroy went pale. I said, that was close, he said, no kidding, and rubbed his face. lol I was getting some cool pics and vid behind the net on the B ice, or whatever it's called, when Backlund whacked his stick on the glass, ruining my view after a whistle and started laughing. I yelled, "hey it's for my 8yo" and he yelled back, "oh sorry". Had a great chat with Peter Loubardias and walked away telling myself, "okay, he's not a blowhard, he's just exceptionally excited about every player, every day". lol I only found out later that my cousin knows him really well from scouting the dub at the time. Sorry for, yet again, the long wind, but going to those camps for a couple of years was great mems. That was my very first. I was ALWAYS working, but had become a Mgr rather than a field guy. It's really a great experience, outside of a few overzealous fans that don't seem to have any acknowledgement of boundaries. One guy yelled up to Conroy, "hey Craig, is Mony gonna win a draw"? I despise Satoshi Nakamoto like that. Sure enough, he was behind me at the little concession bar and we didn't become friends. lol I can be, "expressive", I guess you'd call it. I tried to be nice about it, but ended up saying, "well have fun gloating to all of your internet friends how important you are". He told me to have sex with myself. My area is rife with know-it-all fans that I openly despise, unbearable misery. lol Even half of the scouts.

So to clarify, you would rather have 1 17-18 kid ranked in the top 32 in the world, rather than all the 160 to 360 ranked players. Ladies and Gentleman and everyone in-between, we have a trade to announce. conundrumed is trading the 16thoa pick to jjgallow, in exchange for EVERYBODY's 6th rd pick starting this year through the 2031 draft. Pick 17: Ladies and Gentleman and everyone in-between, we have a trade to announce. conundrumed is trading picks 160 to 176 in this year's draft for the 17th oa in the 2024 draft. Damn, who wants a jr scouting job, I'm desperate? lol

Let's just go with Bruce. lol

I wish that I could form such concise sentences. lol I generally ramble on. But if I could, it would be this sentence! The Flames are heading to where the Wings are trying to leave. Assets and cap space are your best friend. We aren't used to this. We spent the last...too long... in cap crunch and bleeding draft picks away. To the point that we had to move a 1st rd pick to gain cap space to sign a player. I am NOT going to miss the way that we were doing things. Hopefully we're closing the book on that. And everyone, don't get too excited about the chances of winning a lottery. Guess who else wants to win a lottery? Everyone on earth. lol The odds are almost zero to get excited about, so don't get on pins and needles when it's time. I have zero problem being quoted on that in the future. It ain't happening.

Bite your tongue! lol Honka is a perfect example of a "can't miss" D prospect, according to the heads at the time. Oh, but he can. And they never have to address their past commentaries. Nice gig. Blow smoke out your Hash Rate, zero recollection. Get paid for it. Player's fault, not mine. Sounds like a dream job.

So would you not want to change that identity for the better? Or make it worse? Not care?

And if that is how you want to conduct your business, don't be surprised to see heavy trade protections included in every decent UFA signing. They'll just go elsewhere. Plus, you're now an even larger name on no-trade lists. Every action has an equal reaction. Nothing happens in a vacuum.

And Musty. Although I'm currently following/cheering for Sudbury to shred the OHL playoffs. He'd likely report to the A, but SJ is light on talent and their season's done. Really high potential going on with him. SJ really had a nice draft last year, add in Haltunnen and taking a risk with Cagnoni.

Again, they don't. They have a healthy amount of selections this year, and next year, likely the same. That, in and of itself, is a big change and welcome relief. Home wasn't built in a day. Every draft the convo focuses on, "get more top 15 picks". I do not agree in the slightest. The cost is too high. No one seems to care. Trade Andersson for a 12th oa. Why? He's a bonafide top 4 NHL dman. Why would you throw that away for a hyped-out prospect that may never touch an NHL game? It's all just hype. And kind of Satoshi Nakamototing on the guys that are already bleeding for you. Maybe that's a bit of a harsh take, but it's pretty true. That stuff is a really Satoshi Nakamototy reflection of how a franchise would treat its established vets.

The reasons are bleeding out of Wright. So you could say that the scouts identified them. Nobody is throwing questions around about Celebrini. There is zero doubt.

Damn our g/a guesses took solid hip checks. I looked down at the puck for 1 second. Now I have a concussion and need shoulder surgery. Hopefully I'll be ready to go for next season. lol

For fun: Imagine us drafting Tij, and spending the next 20 years trying to find a C to play with him😬🤪

Oh yeah. Celebrini is the #1 oa, and it's not even close. He's jumping leagues like candy. I think I'd become solely Wings fan if Feaster Conroy started playing that 4D chess Satoshi Nakamoto. You don't trade Steve Yzerman or Jonathan Toews comparables. Not ever.

Craig's having a large number of, "what?" moments here imho. Buium over Levshunov is a stretch, but Dickinson is not the 4th best Dman including Parekh. My order would be reverse of his for those 4. The toss up being Dickinson-Levshunov. My head tells me Dickinson will be the 1st dman gone. A true 1 D is good at everything. I'd say that's Dickinson, just a little ahead of Levshunov. Buium has been pretty coddled everywhere he plays. I think that's getting completely overlooked. He has Emery creeping up, and I'm fine with that, but Fibigr is a late 2nd-early 3rd. He's not Strbak or close, who went 45th last year. We missed him by 3 picks. I like Button, but he gets flighty. Some guys' seasons are done, so they fall out of flavour.

I'm still begging the Coilers to win the division. Anything that we can move up is helpful, even if it's only 1 spot. I have no skin in the game with either of those teams. Not even maybe. And don't care what their playoff matchups are, just get us the highest possible pick.

Pospisil was having injury issues to keep him off of the radar. But there's no way Zary and Pelts haven't been our top 2 prospects for a while now. And I was just being light-hearted with jj. lol What we seriously need is uninjured prospects. All of Kerins, Poirier, Pelletier and Honzek are missing/have missed critical development time. Jack Beck was another. Just horrendous luck on that front.

Something about that last name gives me the creeps...although I loved Ron Francis. *old joke time* Who is training their military to lie on their stomachs with their hands behind their heads while learning to speak German? Francis. booey...

You're not going to do this again are you? *coughcough* what was his name again? lol

I like the Pettersson with Van's pick. Oh the irony! Elick and Misa are nice targets. Decent call, well-thought-out.

Sorry boss.😬

We'll all be on pins and needles for sure. I just really hope that we ignore the Q, as I always do. lol May Morin prove me wrong. lol

Is he ranked near exactly alongside Iginla like Greentree? Yet on a far worse team with virtually nothing to help his stats?

Or could Liam Greentree?

If our 1st pick is, say 8, should be in the ballpark, just to break it down, our picks are: 8. 27ish. (via VAN) 40. 60ish. (via DAL) 72. Before "conditions" kicks in. What are you all thinking here? I feel like the D pool in this draft is awefully strong. Get one of the top 4 at 8. But more interesting, when you get to 27ish and Pulkkinen or Jiricek are still on the board....they won't see 40, do you do it? I think that I'd be okay with that. Thoughts?

I'm aiming for reverse psychology!