travel_dude

Short of a very high draft pick, the only way we are getting that impact is through trade. We are a committee based scoring team, so we have to continue to build the way we did last year. Lucic put a crimp on improving via trades or FA signings. Monahan could have been a 2C but never got to that level. Without Lucic's money, we could sign a playmaker. Without Lucic's and Monahan's money we could sign a 2C. I'm not sure, but I think we have a potential 2C and playmaker on the way up. High on both those players. If we could clear out some salary, then we can possibly get another 3/4D. Or use Hanifin (maybe a few other pieces) and get closer to a 1D. Teams can be fragile, but Sutter seems to be able to bring together the team he has. My beef with Tkachuk is his (at times) lazy skating and play. Other than that, worth every penny. Johnny is the franchise player we have and just need a few more to compliment. Top line really no issues. 2nd line with Backlund is great. 3rd line missing something. 4th line needs some work, as it was on for too many goals in the playoffs. If we traded Tkachuk, we need to get Forsberg to replace star power. If we trade Tkachuk, we need a 1D and 2C at the very least.

I'm just saying that most of the trades would have almost equal salary coming back. Teams have to fill their rosters. So the bidding war has to include players coming back. What could NJ or DET offer that doesn't hurt them more? Just picks? Why does that make sense to get? I would want Hischier from NJ or Raymond from DET, and Raymond solves nothing. Hischier brings back a long term money deal.

First it was concerns about his wife not wanting to live here. Then it was about family not wanting to visit. Now it's about having family support during the birth and first year of parenthood. I'm sure he's not the first person that had to deal with it. If he doesn't like the city or think it's a good place to raise a family, I can understand that. It's their choice, and a young mother might not feel comfortable in being "alone" so often. Unless it's Philly, every other possible destination has the same issue, not being in the same city as their parents. NJ (Newark) is not exactly next door. But he's also started something special here.

This should have been their year, but they messed it up. Injuries played a part, but I suspect some of it was needed just to manage the Eichel deal. They should have been investigated by the NHL, but Bettman loves Vegas. They finally got their #1C, but the cost was extreme. They survived until now by having value contracts and one or two big names. The support guys are no longer affordable.

If Tkachuk is in play, it has to be for the highest bidder. STL may not even make sense considering their cap. The reasons for signing him is to get a specific skillset or bring in a home boy for PR purposes. Not sure that is a good enough reason, though. There are probably 20 teams that could make a decent offer, none of them would really save us cap.

Ahh, the Vegas answer to the salary cap. Have enough IR available to ice less than they had last year. It's so confusing with their cap even now. Without reducing with Weber's contract on IR, they have $76.8M tied up in 9F, 7D and 2G. Reilly Smith a UFA. Kolesar, Roy, Hague and Howden RFA's. About $6M in available cap to sign 5 forwards. The only good thing is the RFA's are all less than $1M, so the QO is low. If I am a RFA with Vegas, I would hope they don't qualify me. Nobody there is above being traded to make room for some new guy, the latest toy.

The Flames have up to the entry draft to issue a QO. It's a rights retention thing. I haven't found any signs that you can qualify with 8 years. But one would have expected that a player could sign an extension prior to the draft. If he was able to sign that, then the QO is not needed. The thing is, if Tkachuk were to sign the QO, it takes the offer sheet off the table. It makes more sense for him to use the threat of an OS to negotiate a better deal. Or an actual one that overpays him. It causes the Flames to pay whatever or lose hom for picks. Would he be better served to hold off with the pending arbitration? I doubt the Flames want to go there. Not for the money part, but the short deal issue.

I don't think it was injury. He came out after game 1. Once they started winning a few, probably better not to put him back in. There wan't a lot of talk about game 1, other than he was on for a goal against. Pelletier was on for at least one more against.

Sutter may be Mr. Subtle when it comes to a good play having been made. Torts may be the opposite. Both could get top play out of JH, but I think Torts rubs people wrong. I don't think he would attract a playet like JH. He may cause him not to want to go.

He's been invited to the Nation dev camp this summer. Good chance for him to turn some heads.

I would compare him to Kylington before this season. Not really enough of a chance to adjust his game to the NHL, according to the new Sutter style. He was okay under Wardo and perhaps BP, but he needs to look a lot more ready. He didn't get the memo.

He's 23 and missed 2 years, so there is lots of time for him to improve. But I think he felt he was better than what the coach thought. Get over that and come back ready to take the job. It's not just his because he put in a part season in the AHL and is next. He has to be better than Mackey. Has to show they don't need Zaddy or even Stone. Here's your chance, go get it. You get 5 minutes to show something, show it. Do something that sets you apart.

What's done is done. We have some interesting F's and D's in the pool. Poirier and Kerins should be in the A this season. Graduate maybe Rozie and Pelts if we can find the spots for them. Sutter will love Pelts. Rozie just needs to find that consistency and bring it. Show up at camp and blow the doors off. That was missing last summer. I tend to think that Pospisil is trending like Hathaway was. Hope he can stay out of the big fights. Who knows what that monster Klapka is going to be. They signed him for a reason. Is he the new Ritchie?

I'm almost expecting a series like NY and CAR, where the home team wins every game until it's game 7. Vas looked a bit uncomfortable last night. Tampa is deadly when they get going. Nate was not much of a factor, which is odd. Makar held to zero shots. Both teams have depth. One of the more even series where special teams and goal tending may be the only differences. After all, Mike Smith isn't in nets.

Quality of Sunshine Girls has dropped a bit.

Between him and Liljegren, they both have fallen short. I have to think he's bound to get traded, just because he's not even above a college FA we signed. Is he the Puljujarvi of the Flames, a player who thinks he deserved better? The injuries have killed his career to date, but he hasn't looked good when he's suited up. Could have taken the job from Zaddy, but looked not ready to paly. No wonder we traded for Zaddy. I guess I should relax a bit. He's 23 and did manage to produce in the AHL at 0.5 p/gp. He has to prep for camp the same level that Kylington did. Get ripped. Work the summer getting ready. Conditioning is a huge thing with Sutter. He's NHL size and needs to be ready. Stop feeling sorry for yourself.

Isn't the Sun more like the National Enquirer of rags?

Toffoli has 2 years remaining, so it's a decent contract considering his average production. Boesser and Toffoli have similar production, so the only real advantage is age. It's not like Boesser played with crap players. It's alarming to hear that VAN has a country club going on. That's what we finally got rid of. No need to revert and pay more for it. I don't think Lucic prevent JH from getting pancaked. He is after the fact retribution, usually a penalty for a hit or instigating. Every player actually on the ice is there to prevent it. Guddy and Zaddy will be more likely to be on the ice, assuming we can keep one at the least. I would like to keep Lucic if it works, but otherwise if he wants to retire, fine. Monahan should get us some cap relief. But we still need to have the big guys in some way to build on what we did.

Should have gone heavier on AVS. 13-2 record this playoffs. Yikes, could it be their year?

So this was a head office decision to let him go. Nice, Post Media! Toronto decides all.

I suspect Holland tries to low ball him. He's already said he would love to go back to MTL. I would Kulak on par with what I expect Mackey to become.

Considering the age and what similar players seem to get, I think he is looking for $4M. Kinda like a young Tanev. Just a solid player. Would I pay $4M? Not really.

It's hard to put a value on Jarny. He got stuck making $2M for a long time and has never made very much. He's due for a raise, but I would play him no more than $2M. Guddy probably should make that much. He had $4M average up to the time he came here. I can't see Tkachuk making 11.2 and Gaudreau making a million less.

I would suggest that Pooly spent more time on a 3rd line than with the top two players. Not just last season. It's not a question of how he did as much as whether you can get a bargain that looks like he could do 10x better. Currently, he looks no more of a finisher than Dube, but the signs point to a better player. What was Lindholm before he showed up in Calgary; a player that looked good but wasn't type cast properly. Here's a thing for you to consider. Chaisson and Neal looked good playing with the Oilers top 2, but were a black hole elsewhere. Playing well with them or not playing well with them means little. Back then there was more unit passing. Right now, you would be lucky to get a shot on net playing with either of them. Puck hogs. A D is going to pass to them. They are not going to pass to you. Any trade for Pooly is asset management. If a 2nd has 50% chance of making the NHL at best, and Pooly is already one, is that throwing away a pick? I also would be more like to trade a player with salary. Don't get me wrong, Dube seems to have a high ceiling, but he has been here a long time and has not taken huge steps. He was given top line minutes, 2nd line and 3rd line and hasn't produced any more than Pooly. My bigger complaint is that he is too easy to knock off the puck. That's more observation than facts. Dube had a decent finish to the season, but not great for more than 3/4 of it. His playoffs were less than good. Pooly hasn't been well coached since he arrived. Maybe his last coach wasn't able to have time to correct it. Under Sutter I would expect better use of his tools. We lacked size and speed on the wings at times. We lacked RHS on the wings mostly. If he could play a defensive role, then we would have a good candidate to play RW with Backlund.

Don't get me wrong, Stone was fine for what he was asked to do. He wasn't good enough to play 82 games. As a temporary solution, it's okay. But depth was obviously an issue during the playoffs, no?