conundrumed

That roster lacks more than a bit of that je ne sais quoi. lol Will we be busy in FA?

"What do you wanna do when you get older"? "I wanna live in my Dad's shadow". - Nobody. Ever.

Any chance we can end the Tij talk already? There's a mountain of great players to choose from. It's just a giant hang-up at this point. He's just another player. Do Tanguay, Reggie, Kipper have hockey kids? Is that what we're doing? It's every conversation. jfc.

Good news. He's a 1st rder in an avg draft year. RSD and he's become really well-rounded. Solid grab by Conroy. I wasn't big on grabbing him at our draft positions, but I think it's fair to consider him someone we could pick in the high 20's of an avg draft class. Detroit boy programs, USNDTP, but then chose the CHL route. He's had a really sound dev path. Really happy to have him as a prospect. Instantly our top RD prospect. I can say first hand that London runs the tightest ship in the O, maybe even the entire CHL, for developing players. There is very little discernible difference between them and Kitchener. Our prospect is in extremely capable hands. He's going to be a big key in the Lindholm deal. I get a little shocked when prospects with London, Kelowna and Kitchener get moved. Those 3 are the powerhouse development programs in the CHL for my money. You need not worry about racing those players into your program. They're in good hands.

One thing that I'd like to point out with Eiserman. Look at last year's rankings. You have an easy 4 1st rders from that u18 team, 5 if you'd put Nelson there, and a plethora in the next 2-3 rounds. Now look for guys on this year's team. Maybe Bednarik or Emery? Maybe? It's a waay weaker team. So teams can focus on Eiserman. Not worrying about multiple guys that can hurt you. Food for thought. There's no Smith, Moore, Leonard, Perrault to also worry about. Just Eiserman. Their results prove that they're having a down year, talent-wise. If he was a year older, he'd be getting completely different consideration. Like those guys did.

From Finnish tabloid newspaper Italehti, using Google translate. Don't get caught up in the poor translation, e.g. "Rönni, who denied the charge, appealed for the girl not to notify the police until 2.5 weeks after the party". That didn't translate well. It was his defence lawyer using that argument. So try not to get hung up on improper translations. I can't translate Finnish, but I do have basic comprehension of language translations. Edit # 17 I think. We have a Finnish poster here @omit555. That isn't me saying he should translate, because he shouldn't, nor should the expectation exist. Just pointing him out, because he's joined us in GDTs over his 6am coffee and smoked salmon and eggs or whatever he's got going on over there. lol That, and he seems like a great person. In my backpacking heyday I can guarantee that Cdns gravitate to Scandinavians and vice versa. On avg, we're almost identical character/personality traits. That everyone scared me away from Finland/Sweden/Norway, telling me, "it's extremely expensive", is a regret I'll long carry, but it's on the bucket list!! But shoutout to omit555, regardless of the treacherous news, hope you're well and enduring the dying grips of winter. edit Tappara has since released Ronni of his contract. The Flames have renounced his rights.

Yeah, I actually liked him as a player and watched him live in Plymouth last summer. Notsomuch as a person now.

If this is regarding Dickinson, I'll weigh in. If Eiserman and Dickinson are available at our pick, I'll be shocked in a good way. Decision time. Do you want a potential top goal-scorer or a potential 1D? For me at least, those 2 are the most potent picks in this draft. Eiseman is really getting talked down by most, which is fine. "He's kinda one-dimensional" they say, but that dimension is the most elite shot/scorer in the entire draft. So if we need one of those...I've seen him live a few times and tourneys/streaming U18. We've got Zary, Pelletier, maybe Kerins eventually, guys that can dart around fishing pucks or playmaking. If you want a finisher, he is definitely the guy. His shot has about 3 different dimensions of release, and all 3 are heavy, heavy shots. He can pull it to his skates and not lose much in velocity. All he wants to do is score and that shot is pretty accurate from anywhere. Dickinson is the best Dman in this draft for me and I hope no one agrees. Although I've generally donated my Sting season's tix to Big Brothers/Sisters this year, I can still watch everything on TV. I use a secondary internet provider based in London so get all Knights games too. I dare anyone to tell me what Dickinson's shortcomings are. I hate when he steps onto the ice vs the Sting. He's exceptional at everything. His skating and IQ are elite. That's his calling card. He's NEVER in trouble anywhere on the ice. Rarely a bad pinch, great control on D. QBs the PP and PK with zero problems. If he doesn't go as the 1st dman or within the top 10 there is no way we can't take him. I think he could make this roster by 20 and takeover any role he wants eventually. With his skating and IQ, I just don't think that it will take him long to transition to much higher competition. Canada not having him on the U20 roster was laughable. But they reward the older players. He should have been a top 4 at the very least. I have very little doubt that he'll end up the best Dman from this draft class. I've read through his scouting reports, seeing him compared to Sergechev, which is fine. They worry about his offence. What I know, is defensively, sure, I get it. But he's smart. London has lots of offence. He makes sure they get the puck. When they need a goal, he's out there, creating a goal. Vs Sarnia in a game earlier this year, we were up by 1. He came out, joined/created the rushes and had 2 goals in no time. That's him. So I hope everyone gets enamoured by Russians, because this kid is a top shelf Dman. Skating, edges etc don't need work, defending, gap control, aggressive on the boards doesn't need work, smart outlet passing, pinching need very little work. He'll just have to get used to everything happening faster. I doubt that will be a problem. You don't get close to what he is in the 2nd rd. It wouldn't shock me if he's gone at our pick. But those are the 2 guys that I want. Potential elite goal-scorer or 1D. If both are gone, I lean towards forwards with size. We have enough playmaking fwds, we need finishers.

Well your timing couldn't be better. We are b2b today in FLA and tomorrow in Carolina. This could be the time. Monday morning is likely the answer. Vegas has Detroit tonight and the sked has killed Detroit in that they just haven't been playing enough games to get in sync. And it's likely Reimer after losing to ARI last night. The Preds have the Wild tomorrow. She's a tall order to take both of our games and we really can't afford losses vs Preds and Vegas wins. We've run out of real estate. Realistically, this b2b should kill us. If it doesn't, well, they'll have huge admiration from me. Onwards and upwards!

That would suck. I'm looking forward to the D getting an overhaul. I'm hoping we get more physical on the back end as well as bigger (wingspan). I know Hanifin is 6'3", but he doesn't play any kind of physical at all.

Those were mainly good moves. Mainly just buying time getting Compher, Lyon and Gostisbehere and bottom of the roster depth. Then DeBrincat, Petry and Kane pretty much just fell in his lap as vets that chose Detroit so their deals are good value. I wasn't really in favour of any of them, but there are quite a few prospects needing dev time so needed bodies. It's been a pleasantly surprising season so it's nice to see them competing for a WC. Larkin being out is definitely a huge hurdle as he drives the bus. Husso being out long term hasn't helped give Lyon more relief, pains of a season. Just competing for a playoff spot at TDL is an awesome change though, while not kidding themselves that they need to add at TDL to put them "over the top". Getting in would be fun. If it's vs FLA it'll be Sutter's "waste" of a week but still a positive step. Larkin deserves to at least play a playoff game in his career. lol But you're definitely right, they still have a lot of work ahead for the next coupla seasons. Hopefully in-house graduating prospects.

My thoughts precisely. Detroit stayed completely out of the shenanigans, I call that a win. I wonder if Yzerman just turned his phone off, other than sending Kostin to the Sharks where maybe he can play. Now if only this stupid schedule would get them busy. They've barely played since the All Star break. Rhythm comes from real games, as we saw with TBag last night after they had a week off.

Massive news. Hopefully that's the 2025 1st, the our 2026 is unprotected.

I liked it at the time. I thought Elliott needed a real starters role. Then as I saw the draft board rolling, I was kinda, oh Satoshi Nakamoto, that's a great pick spot. Army's a Sarnia guy, he planned that whole thing knowing he'd get Kyrou there. Source - I asked him when he brought the cup here. lol I grew up with him so it was like seeing a long lost friend.

Elliot for a 2nd that was around 35th oa in a good draft anyone? Turned out St. Loo took Kyrou.

A fun game might be guessing the conditions on the 3rd rd pick. "He has to win 5 games or it's a 7th". "Make the playoffs or it's a 6th".

That's the rub, they never do.

Buffalo and New Jersey, Detroit thanks you for never attempting to address your goaltending effectively. We'll take that WC spot. I mean really, they barely even try. The Flames didn't overplay their hand, those teams have BT's old view that goalies are only a 3rd liners value. Allen should fit their philosophy perfectly.

Yeah but... so... if... when...

But can he help Wolf become a bonafide #1? Is that worth considering? Or are we looking for, "the best goalie not in the NHL" again, if things go south?

If my recall is correct, it was the goalie coaches that loved Vladar is why we acquired him.

Which is great and I know he's young, but he plays 3rd line RW. So he's not getting C reps and not facing the other team's best. If he was at C I'd understand that maybe he'll never overcome the phenomenal Hischier or Hughes. But his C is normally Haula. So why is everyone under the impression that Mercer would be a great top 2C? None of that has happened so far. Yet that's the guy that everyone is crowing for. There's likely 20 guys hiding in or around the league that are equal. Example, why is Nashville so effing good right now? Dawson Mercer's are around, why can't we get away from NJ? Buffalo really, really needs a goalie. As does Ottawa, maybe Detroit, Toronto, Carolina, LA, of Markstrom's calibre if we trade him. Maybe he won't waive for some, but options at least. If you're going to waive for Newark frigging New Jersey where wouldn't you waive for. Then if ours becomes a nightmare, don't say that I didn't warn you. lol

I prefer those odds vs Vladar and Wolf. I much, much, much prefer removing Vladar any way necessary. We've maneuvered cap space, added picks and prospects yet still want to throw all caution to the wind on goaltending. Absolute suckers for punishment. Wolf should have been the backup this year. HAVE to do it next year now because we waited. Very very few goalies walk into a seat successfully and I'll be downright shocked if Wolf is Vasilevsky. You have to fight through a lot for that seat. Vladar isn't much fight. And I don't see a Plan B. Plan A is only as good as Plan B.

The infatuation with Dawson Mercer echo chamber is nothing short of fascinating. We ripped Sharangovich already. The better of the 2. Is Dawson Mercer going to really explode here soon? What am I missing?

How old is Fleury? Wasn't Roloson 36 during the oilers cup run? There are others. Goalies aren't skaters. What if he's good at 36 and we extend? What's up with these foregone conclusions? So many questions.