travel_dude

^^^^^ Good points. The structure of the deal will be important. I wonder if $13M as a high actual during the early years and $6.5M in the latter ones would allow them to construct a deal that works for both. 8 years is basically retirement at the end. Pay him big bucks now and if his play deteriorates near the end, it's just a high cap hit of say $10.5M. The legacy thing is an interesting thing. He can very well be the top Flame of all time in many categories. But I also think they need to revamp the "Forever a Flame" thing. Johnny's agent can't be out there negotiating with other teams right now, so as long as BT isn't insulting with lowball offers, they should have an idea of what the Flames are willing to pay and what another team would need to come up with to match or exceed it.

McBoring off the ice. Assuming he is a firey guy on the ice with other players, but is he good in the room when things don't go his way? I am glad that the Oils are done, because they have to be the worst bunch of guys to interview. At least Smith was fun. He was a Molotov Cocktail about to be thrown. Almost like he was daring anyone to say he was the reason they lost. About the only interesting guy top listen to after games.

Was expecting the ECF to be over after game 2 win. Now with TBL back to tied, it's anyone's game. My only chance to even give Con a run is if it's NY in the SCF. And that's only if Zib and Kreider are the only scorers for them.

We still have the Wideman effect. It was actually quite enlighening watching how the refs called round 1 vs round 2 vs round 3. McD was still getting the odd call that was really him fouling someone, but most of the garbage reffing was done. Kane was called twice for his dirty play in one game and got a major/suspension for another. Unlike the blatant looking for something to call that we saw. Teams are playing hard in this round and not being sent to bed without cookies. We would have been a lot better off in this round. Perhaps the media can get past Oilers now that they are done. Pretty much non-stop talk about "best on planet", "setting the future stage", "future contenders", "amazing playoffs", bla bla bla. If the Oilers had played against TBL or NYR goalies in the 1st round, they wouldn;t even be talking about scoring or records.

I got the sense from the Smith availability that he's not even sure he wants to come back next season. Not that I like the guy, but he was the subject of blame for the loss by more fans than just the idle ones. He played an injury riddled season and managed almost as manay playoff games as regular season. If he stays, he will be no doubt criticized again for anything but perfection. Not saying there is dissent in the leadership group, but you could see it in McD's face after the Compher goal. That old, here we go again look. Have the AVS where we want them and an easy goal. I think the only way Smith comes back is if he can be the #1. He doesn't want to end up getting sat healthy for 5-6 games in a row, What I am saying is that he will only do it if he thinks he can be 100%. Any less he doesn;t want to waste his time. And he doesn't want to fade to nothing, but go out on top. Make a decision not be a side show. It's all ego, which is fine for a goalie. They are the show.

While I agree that reacting to EDM is the wrong approach and that it's no different than not reacting to the results of the North division SC playoff year. That didn't prove anything to anyone. This year we saw an alignment according to the way the teams signed and traded last summer. Vegas pooched themselves. EDM went all in and fell short of improving the needed pieces. We addressed the area we need to. Monahan never got back to being more than a 3rd liner at best. Lucic played too much early on, so a bit of wasted season with him too high in the lineup. He tailed off once he played 4th line minutes and little PP time. You can't, though, just look at the playoffs and suggest that we need to trade Hanifin and Kylington. Two players that were solid for most, if not all of the regular season. Kylington went from an extra to a 2nd pair guy and exceeded his previous stats. He fell off after he got injured. May have caused him to change his game slightly. His playoffs were not great, but was not a big problem until Tanev was injured. Hanifin had a lousy playoffs and they used him too much on the PP, which he never did anything with. I'm okay with re-signing Kylington for a reasonable cap hit. At worst he's a fast puck moving 3rd pair guy. Replacing Hanifin is fine if you get the same or better. You are not getting a Makar in any trade. So, go into next season with 6 solid guys and one guy that can play 1/2 a season and not create a drop off.

Player salary, deals, buyouts have nothing to do with the arena project. I'm not sure I agree though that his SB counts towards the cap. Even if it did, $3M vs $5.25M cap is sizeable.

We did Lucic as much favors as we could. He got to play in the 2nd round. His NMC was honored up to the expansion draft, and he in turn agreed to waive it. He likes the team and the players, but he also knows his game is getting near the end. He has nothing left to achieve, short of another cup. That chance still exists, but may not happen during the course of his contract here. Most of the money will go to him in July. Playing 82 for $1M is an option, but harder for a proud player to accept.

Monahan is the only player that did nothing in the playoffs. Lucic is a waste compared to him though. I would soonen keep Guddy and Zaddy over Lucic. If we were able to buy out and sign Monahan for a small copntract, without getting chirped by the league, we would be in better shape. And if Lucic retires (questionable) and went to Flames front office, we would have little cap issues we couln't work through.

Skinner with Smith leaves them $6.2M or so to resign Pooly, Yammer and McLeod. Plus another 3 forwards. Without some major trades with no money coming back, Kane is not even close to possible. But, I would debate this. Going to a AHL goalie as your viable option with a 41 year old goalie makes no sense. They want to be as good or better next season.

Wow, I didn't realize that BOS cap was pooched. $32M spent on defense. Pasta is an interesting target. Not sure that we have anything that to trade though. You take Pasta, you have to also take an overpaid D.

To be fair, we went from being the most consistent team in the league to being a head scratcher in the 2nd round. Consistent as in scoring first more than any team in the NHL. Say what you want about Dallas, but they have elite talent on the backend and two forwards that can take over games. TBH, I think teams like COL and EDM would have had trouble against their system. The adjustment to EDM was too much too soon. I think we would have been better off facing COL or STL in the 2nd round. Less one-man shows that you can roll your line against.

^^^^^ Cross, I think what EDM really lacks is forwards that play without the puck very well. I thought Nuge was supposed to be their defensive forward. Draisaitl flies the zone way to fast. They are top heavy on salary (really just 2 guys which is fine). Too much on their top D. Too much spent on middling D-men; Keith, Barrie. Stuck with a former top 4 D that hasn't played in some time at >$4M. I think Puljujarvi is fixable. Needs the right coach, since he hasn't improved under 2 or 3 different ones. EDM needs to do an overhaul on the roster. Have scoring and a bit of grit with Hyman. Kane was a deadly player there. But you can't win games when you don't score first often and have to rely on 2 players scoring 3 points each. Yes, they started winning game 2-1, 4-2 etc, but that was more from the goalies stopping 35+ shots. Bouchard understands how to score but a tire fire in the D-zone. And with the scoring depth, I wonder how much of it double shifting McD.

I was shocked that it went to review. But I didn't see the tip until they showed teams still watching the replay. The angle they used in the replays which looked close obviously had a bit of parallax in it, since the only true viewing angle is on the ice. The refs on the ice had the best angle and felt it was a good goal. Almost impossible to refute. It was a quick review, so they saw something that justified it and didn't want to look at other evidence. I don't think anyone is really upset with the call. Wasn't a game 7. 50/50 at best with the tie going to the call on the ice.

The balance of the world has returned. Dogs and cats no longer living together. Fire and Brimstone no longer raining from the skies. I would have loved a CGY-COL series, but that has to wait.

Tkachuk has to take his playoffs to a new level. How much we pay really doesn't enter into it. We had Monahan and Lucic taking up $12M and providing little help. Let's face it, we have so few stars. Giving up Tkachuk when we otherwise might struggle to score? Not sure I like that. Trade for a superstar on the rise? Okay as long as it's near a sure thing.

Jack Campbell will be signing for about $5-6M this summer. Yikes. Maybe worth trading Poolparty and 1st to ANA for Gibson. If ANA hasn't watch him play that is. Maybe Pooly and Barrie and a defense prospect for Gibson. Scratch that, ANA isn;t that dumb. UFA goalies not very deep.

I don't think it matters where he plays in the NHL. US dollars paid. Only difference is Canadian taxes. He needs to maximize his contract to get anywhere. Kane took a haircut to earn his next contract.$6M more likely than 4. And probably 3-4 years minimum. Scoring is nice, but they have over $31M invested in 4 players at F. And $14.5M invested in 2D. Klefbom will help, but don't really more expensive top 6 F. Crap depth as it was.

Well poop. Heat loses game 1 in OT. Heat loses game 2 with 18 seconds left in the 3rd. Leivo scores 2 in game one and the last minute goal in game 2.

They need to blow up the D and some of the F. Nuge is a feel good story you can't hang onto with the top 2 making $21M. Kassian, Poolie, and Yamamoto are bottom 6 at best without the top 2 players. McLeod you can build with. Nurse was a big mistake. He's like PK. Big name that doesn't always show up. Hasn't impressed me this year, healthy or injured. Didn't really notice the difference.

A PP specialist d-man with below average defensive skills might be tradeable, but the return is another player around the same value. 2 years left at $4.5M cap and $9.5M actual salary remaining. Kassian has negative value. Puljujarvi, McLeod and Yammer are all young and need raises. 13 and 56 will go to arbitration because they won't take what the Oilers can afford. I would be surprised if both aren't traded. Can't afford them and they are probably due 3 each. But I would question if either is actually worth that. As it stands now the Oilers have 8F signed, with Shore being one of them. 6 D inclusing Klef.

Klefbom was talking about coming back next season. Not sure when he recovered, but it has to be one of the longest IR's short of retiring. Add to the list of RFA's - McLeod. Can bridge him but the other two probably should get raises. Personally, Puljujarvi always looks like he doesn't get hockey. Heavy shot, skates well, fast, good hands, but lacking hockey sense. Yamamoto shows what happens when you get a Phillips size player in the game. He doesn't play like he's 5'7", A bit too close to the edge and he gets creamed too often. Coach said that they can take the next step. The players admitted how hard it is just to get back to the playoffs. The group that played this series played together the last game together. It's funny how this series looked similar to the CGY series. The AVS got average goaltending but shut down the top line, mostly. The Oilers went from okay to good goaltending to below average. Make no mistake, the team game we played against the Oilers would have lost us this series as well.

Waste of 7 days.

Yeah rusty can be bad. I don't think Frankie played that bad tonight. Most of the goals were one-timers. Pretty hard to stop them. Smith was downright bad.

Unless you want to get the Stanley Cup jealous. It's just a superstition that some teams have. When announcers say shutout, I just find it annoying.