travel_dude

If we were bringing back the exact same team minus Monahan and Zaddy, we are at least as sound on offense as we were last year. We only had a partial year of Toffoli and less of Jarnkrok. Assume that we find space for Rozie and Pelletier. Even if you subtract Lucic, we are as potent as last year. On defense, we lose some of the toughness in Zaddy. The rest is a wash. Valimaki is in no different situation Kylington was last year; he has to prove himself. He needs to put in the effort like Kyl did to improve. It's not all on Tanev for that change. If Lucic retires, we don't really have to make any other changes. We might want to take advantage of Kylington's season to work a trade. We might want to move on from Monahan, since he may never get back to pre-injury levels. We may want to move Dube for a bigger forward, since he's getting creamed on the wings. Personally, I would like to keep the bottom pair at 2 or less each. Both are still not old. Bring up Rozie and Pelts. Valimaki as 7th D. Jarny as a jackknife. Maybe bring in a tough guy at minimum pay to play in battles.

That game was Binnington's worst game. I watched it. Average goaltending and it's a blowout for the Blues. It's not winning a game by buckling down, it was a game they didn't belong in. Did the Oilers play better than the Flames in this series? They took advantage of the things they were handed and we didn't. Game 1 was just the start of the nonsense.

Hard to say what their plan is. Two players don't seem to know and they are the top players. They are both older though. Signing PLD makes sense, but they were successful before he came along. The direction probably depends on the coaching decision.

No doubt game 1 was the turning point. Everything that happened afterwards started in this game. Can't play your A game when the refs decide that is not fair to the other team. So, we start playing the game allowed and started doing things that we are not built for. Where was Tkachuk after game 1? We missed a lot of chances, but those were from playing something we never trained for.

No matter if he signs a one year deal or is a RFA, he gets paid. Signing a one year deal doesn't make him less tradable than a RFA. If he goes to a new team, they sign him pretty quick. CBJ might make him the captain. STL would love him. WPG, he probably gets dealt again.

Matthew Tkachuk: “Banged up” handAndrew Mangiapane: WristMilan Lucic: AC sprainChris Tanev: Torn labrum, separated shoulder, sprained neckOliver Kylington: ShoulderNikita Zadorov: Two or three fractured ribs depending on who you ask Can't really remember the incident that Bread banged up his wrist. He was targeted in the 2nd round a lot. Zaddy crashed the net after being tripped on a breakaway against Dallas, yet he lead the team in hits against EDM. Kylington may have been against Dallas or EDM. Lucic had a couple of nasty hits in both series that could have caused the problem.

Thanks for the view from the other side. I get all the issues and the common thread is Chevy, and a little bit of Paul. One is gone. Chevy is too smart a dealer that he would take us to the woodshed. He's an odd thought, and it doesn't relate to WPG. Tkachuk for Laine. We have to know Laine's intent before considering. We get a player that could probably score 40+ with Gaudreau on any season. He might actually be a factor in a playoff series. They get a player with a a mix of grit, scoring and defense. The new deal is as troublesome as dealing with Tkachuk.

Where Toronto just signed Spezza to a front office job, I wonder if that difficult conversation comes up with Lucic. He's due his SB in July and playing for one season is worth $1M. He would be a difficult trade before the SB is paid and does he really want to go to one of the 10 teams on his new list? As much as he is a fan fave, you wonder how we can manage to fill out a roster with that cap hit. Buying out Monahan accomplishes almost the same effect, but we drafted Monahan and he was a big part of the team long before Lucic came around. Lucic suffered this season and finished with a AC sprain.

Crosby was in the 12 year deal era. Signed so long ago. $12M in year 1, $3M in year 12; can't do anything close to that range now. Malkin's deal came in after they outlawed that. Draisaitl without McD is just a really good C. I don't care how much he doesn't play with McD, he plays all his PP time there. Oilers managed because they only had 3 players making >= $6M. They were able to sign Hyman because Klefbom was out. I get the cap compliant part, but they really only have 4F and 1D that did anything for them. Then they managed to get Kane for part of a year.

I'm not really sure why WPG trades a C for a winger. Maybe it makes sense for targeting a player like Tkachuk? But who do they have left for C? PLD is all they have left. Statsny is getting up there. Wheeler is aging out. Copp is gone. Perfetti is a ways away. If they trade Sheifele, then they need to do the same with Wheeler. Not even for the same reason. WPG has lost so many players over the last few years. A lot of it because they PO players in some way. Trouba, Laine, Big Buff, etc. No idea which direction they are going.

Wolf decides to start getting shut outs in the AHL in the playoffs. 3 in 4 games. 40 saves in the clinching game. We have a gamer.

Post-Kennie DET looks a lot better.

Timing is everything. We have to offer Tkachuk a QO. He gets the sense that he's being discussed in a trade, and he signs. No risk for him to do that. Big risk for WPG. The obvious thing is a 29 year old C vs a 24 year old LW/RW. Now if you suggest PLD for Tkachuk, we are talking. Sheifele is a bit under-rated no doubt. But the draft pedegree and season resulys are near the same. If we are doing a Sheifele for Tkachuk, I want a sweetener. Don't get me wrong, I like MS. He probably fits Sutter's game like a glove. Would be a big weapon on the PP.

How many teams out there offer a chance at being a contender. I would say we are closer to one than the Oilers. Not that they are offering a deal or that he would even consider. But the contenders out there are that because they maximized cap. The Debbies are not close and may get there sometime. Canes are closer, but not the type of team he excels on. TBL? No way they pay. TO? Never mind. I don;t think there is much chance he gets to FA. The work starts now and the camps will be working the numbers. BT won't go in with an insulting offer. There is no chance now. There may be a divide to begin with, but not 13-8. More like 12-10. Give him the money early and a NTC in the first 5 years. Use the bonus structure to give it up front.

It just comes down to BT making the right offer. Going in low is just going to PO the agent. Go in close to the max you can pay and go from there. Overpay if that's what it takes. You can't replace the player. We may not put together as good a team as a result, but you can be a lot worse without him. Get it done. Player wants to play here. Sign him and worry about Kylington later. Worry about the D with all the biggest names taken care of. It's going to be tight, but there are options. Tanev may miss the start of the season, so the cap has to be close. Monahan and Lucic are big factors. Get Bread signed. FInd out what Guddy and Zaddy want. We need at least one.

The last line sums it up. What caused that is a guess. Game 1 was a blowout with special teams turning it into a game. Not sure what the refs were seeing, but it was no better or worse than a regular season game. It was called like we were using IIHF rules. Game 2 was even worse and so one sided it was not even funny. Call either game like a regular season game at worst, and it's a 2-0 Flames lead. Call it like a plyoff game of old, and it's a 2-0 stomping. It doesn't matter what the goalie was like overall, since the game came off the rails from the first penalty called. As soon as the Flames get their game going, the refs decide to even the play. We had refs that by results call less penalties and somehow they went nuts. Whether this was league determined that they want skill guys to get more calls for them or the refs using game management, it doesn't matter. It was too blatant. Open the ice up with odd man or 4 aside. Having Tanev gone for 3 set the D back into a confused state.

For the few of us that avoided the Oilers like a plague, the only way we have a chance is a shutdown of the douchebag duo. As a Flames fan, I would love to see that. Analysts already awading the Conn Smythe to McD.

With Klefbom aiming to come back, they have $7M left. That's for 8F and 7D and Smith. Kane set himself up for $6M with term. Teams that missed signing him will be all over him. Without re-signing him, they can't even sign a full roster. The players they don't need, nobody really wants. Barrie isn't even a top 4 on this team. Kassian is a joke. The players that helped them get there will be on the open market. And they can't even fix the goalie issue. So many teams will be trying to fix issues, but not by taking on overpaid players. So a Barrie may be tradeable, but for another crap contract. Holland wasn't a genius. The injuries helped him fill a team for part of the year. Klefbom's situation allowed him to be compliant for the year. I get that we have as many issues, but only to maintain the toughness we had. And re-sign the guys worth more.

He sure talks like he wants to stay here. That is up to BT to make it work. You can't just say, oh we only have $x.xx. As long as you are into 8 figure, it should just come down to term. Buy the extra year and lower the cap marginally. While Panarin is a good comp, he was a UFA. If it's a team he wants to play for, you don't need to outbid everyone. I'm of the belief that he signs soon and it's around 10.6

It's a shame that the Heat lost that game. Sounds like scoring more than defense. Still one win away.

Yeah, I forgot to mention that. The problem with this series was we never got past the 2 goal lead more than once. Game 2 was 2-1. Then 3-1. Game 5 was 2-0, then 2-1, then 2-2, then 2-3, then 3-3, then 4-3, then 4-4. I blame some of it on momentum shifts. Get a lead, send out the 4th line. They get momentum and crawl back in. We just kept doing the same thing. Blame Marky for sure, but they certainly allowed the momentum shifts. I don't feel it was really letting up. Not the same thing as before this season. Dallas didn't have the stamina to sustain a multi goal lead by us. And the series was tighly called and tighly played.

Here's a funny tidbit. Zadorov fractured three ribs in the Dallas series. I think you may remember the incident that most likely caused it. Rush down the ice, and a Dallas player trips him. The refs don't call it. Even the nnouncers thought he stepped on the puck. He went chest first into the goal post. Glad he played through it without letting it out that he had rib issues. He managed to make big hits in spite of that. Man some of these guys play through a lot of pain. I know there is not much you can do with ribs, but has to have been hurting.

It's always going to be a concern to some until he signs. I think it just comes down to what works for both the team and the player.

You will notice that STL has to move into the 4x1st offer because they can't meet the terms of the 10.4M offer sheet. Is it a smart move for 5 years? Not al all. You can argue that Tkachuk is worth 4 x 1sts, but I don't think you do it for 5 years. No cost certainty. No guarantee that the last year you gve up a pick he walks.

Maybe, but even with Hischier the Debbies didn't break 100 points. Tkachuk has two 40 goal guys on his line and PP time with them as well. Don't see him getting close with a building team. $10.4M means that we have to trade him after a career year. We can lve that way short term, and yes the cap % diminishes over time. But, him staying here means he just gets better here. We have to pay more at year 6. I can see him wanting to keep the term down here. But I think his playoff performance scares off a few teams.