travel_dude

Seriously, the more likely situation, and it would equally piss off everyine here, is we win the draft lotto then trade down to 12 and pick Tij. In exchange for the trade to 12th, we get a usefull idiot NHL roster player that nobody here would be impressed with. And that player is a pending UFA that we re-sign for 9.5M. There, that has you beat.

ONe of the games against ANA is the 2nd in a B2B starting with the Kings. We haven't won the 2nd game of a B2B all year. We have only won 2 games (first game) in all the B2B series we played all year and have 5 double losses this season. The two SJS games could go either way, since we have trouble with them at the best of times. ANA is running hot and cold. But us winning or losing is only half the story. Ottawa is charging. MTL is playing for their coach. Seattle is unknown what they are. The teams in front of us have equal or better win %. We get a big win and think we are turning the corner, just to see it evaporate. Do we really expect to overtake any teams over the last three weeks of the year? My suggestion to the coach and GM is see what you have in Wolf. Use the remaining two callups on D. Call up Grush and Poirier. The former due to seeing a bit of what he could bring, the latter because he is the most offensive D we have. It's just plain dumb to give Markstrom games. And the AHL players will need some reps before the playoffs start. Wolf in particular.

We haven't had any activity in the Pospisil thread since the summer of '22. Was a bit surprised by the initial call up after 6 AHL games this season, but anyway. First game had that speed demon goal. 3 goals in his first 7 games. He's had a rough road to the NHL with all the injuries. Maybe that's what made him focus on all aspects not just being tough. I think sometimes we cut bait a bit early on players. Maybe rightly so, but sometimes it looks early. Unfortunately, it sometimes means they go back into the draft. That rarely works out. With all that in mind, do you know of any picks that really have fallen down the list? 1st rounders looking like 2nds. 2nd rounders likely to go 3rd. We have two 1st rounders this year and in other years a late first is gold. The draft position for the 2nd will be 37-39 if we continue to lose. So that would give us 3 picks in the top 40. Nice. With any luck Dallas doesn't win the division and then takes the conference. But that loses the 3rd in 2026, which could be something. At this point, live for today. A bottom 10 2nd isn't a bad consolation.

On a lark, I went back to a couple of threads about Wolf and Francis to see the discussion. What was most surprising was how far down the list Zary was by some. And Pospisil wasn't even there. BTW, how is Ortio doing these days? Spolier alert, he's near the same age as Markstrom.

If Backlund could hit the net he would have 40 goals.

Offside on another goal overturned.

Poor officiating. Called a hight stick on Kuz, so they took away his hatty. Of course STL scores on next play.

Out of town scoreboard help: Sens (68) beat Hawks Canadians (68) beat Flyers Pens (74) beat CBJ Isles (77) beat Panthers

We have some competition from below us in the standings. MTL and ORR both on mini winning streaks and both leading today. ARI doing their best to screw up another top 5 pick. Meanwhile we lead the Blues after 1.

Trades of top 10 picks are so rare. The only way it logically happens is a future 1st that isn't protected.

We seem to be stressing a lot about what it takes to get a top 10 pick or an additional 1st rounder or move up. This seems be a lot of discussion well before the lotto, or for that matter even the end of the season. Sometimes that is not even decided by a team until days before the draft or on the floor.

They basically came out after the TDL and said they would be looking for the big fish. That sounds like it's pretty temporary. As does the price they paid for a placeholder. The trade for Allen seems to be one that they can trade in the summer. He has to play 40+ games for the Devils to be upgraded to a 2nd. Allen also has to be part of a team that makes the playoffs in 24/25. They can recoup that conditional 3rd to mitigate the short term cost.

In Conroy's trades to date, he has been doing that I think. Adding assets, signing them to ELC's etc. You always want to be able to use an asset if you need to for a specific trade. We held back on using Valimaki and Pelletie because we had little else to pick from. I'm not suggesting we use these assets to make trades, but if the opportunity is there to add a player that just makes too much sense to trade for, then you evaluate the impact to your team and prospects.

What I never get is why it's okay to use a 1st to draft a top goalie, but not worth a first when a player is now a pro and signed. The risk with Ask was that he wouldn't sign. Both of these guys are not that far off their draft years. I'm not saying we make the trade, but these guys are playing in the AHL and while not yet studs, they are not busts. Would you not want to have another potential starter?

I think it's safe to say that Markstrom will likely be traded this summer at the earliest. He won't ask for a trade but he will not block it. TDL is different, since it involves uprooting a family or distrubing normality. There are a couple ways of getting top goalie prospects. One is to bite the bullet and hope a 1st turns into one. Another is to go high risk on a later pick, like Wolf and a couple other guys we have. Another is to trade for them while their value is lower. You want a Wallstedt or Askarov? Make an offer. Neither is killing it in the AHL, not like Wolf was doing every year. Trade a first for either? Might not do it, but perhaps there is something you can do.

I don't know that Ullmark would be available, since he is already signed and they don't quite have another guy ready to replace him. They are at the top of the league for a reason and Ullmark was the superior goalie last season. Saros? No way. Gibson? Maybe, but he has enough runway in him to outlast any rebuild they have. Every year the Playoffs expose goalie weaknesses, so teams in the hunt will look at options. Does COL ever seem happy? They have a nice backup, but the starter is the usual headcase. Francouz is likely retiring, or so goes the rumour.

There is a better chance banking on a team willing to give up a 2025 1st than NJ. There 2025 1st will likely be free and clear once the dust settles this season. And that's assuming we bother asking for the 1st and not players and prospects.

We have previously drafted a namebrand LW. If the D available is franchise level or there is a similar ceiling C, then I'm not looking at the name on the sweater. I still hold out hope for Celebration for Celebrini.

Perhaps we undervalue him. Gibson has had no good season since 18/19. He is only 30, but would you argue that he is worth that much more than Markstrom? If we are being fair, we play as poorly in from of Markstrom as any team does. So, maybe we devalue him because of the need to excuse the poor play or poor coaching. I don't see the "reported" offer any less believable than the reported one from Colorado for Hanifin. People leak stuff for various reasons.

The fanbase is a passionate bunch. Canadian fans seem like spoiled children when comparing the 7th man in the stands. They call out any weakness of the other team, and loudly. They deride the refs when they blatantly miss a call. They don't seem to spend the time knitting or texting. Half their forwards are making less than $1M. They signed castaway Janko and he has 12 points in 22 games. The once vaunted defense is down to one big name. The talent they have vs us is probably equal, or so it would seem on paper. We have a $15M shutdown line. Perhaps coaching is the difference. We both seem to be able to win games and the odd time the goalie steal one. Just can't figure out how the so-called top line is a combined minus 41 for just two players. Kuzmenko is only (!!) minus 10. So, the blame doesn't fall so much on him.

The funny thing is we had better success drafting early by drafting forwards. Monahan, Bennett, Tkachuk. We could have drafted Nurse or that guy that VAN drafted before Tkachuk. I just don't know if we evaluate D in the right light. We seem to be okay in 2nd rounders (for the most part). Thje only D drafted in the first in the last 15 years are Valimaki and Erizon. Unless we win the draft lottery, the BPA C/F available is Helly. How do you feel about Hage?

I always cheer for Arizona. Have a soft spot for them. I don't remember the last time I cheered on Pitts, maybe when they play the Oilers? Ottawa, blech. Montreal, merde. I was a Montreal fans back when Yvan Cournoyer was a thing. Back then you were either a Habs fan or you got beat up for wearing a Leafs hat. Seattle is approaching the expansion the opposite as Vegas. All in all it feels a little dirty cheering for teams to pass us. A loss with Markstrom still in the net is really annoyiing at this stage. Perhaps the coach has finally realized that 15 points behind with 11 games is not a playoff team. Running the table only gets us to 93. Vegas only needs 4 wins and Nashville only needs 2 wins to eliminate us. Our tragic number is 4, where 3 losses and 1 Vegas win eliminates us. There are more combos but they include NAS and STL.

Teas are sputtering into the playoffs right now, especially their last 10. WPG 5-5-0 EDM 5-3-2 PHI 4-4-2 TOR 5-4-1 DET 3-7-0 NYI 3-6-1 Other than WPG and TOR, the other teams have a points % of less than .6 That's 92 points on the season. Talk about backing in.

So the roster changes keep happening. Hanley and Hunt out, Okhotiuk in. Markstrom the starter. Trap game.