travel_dude

It all depends what you have when you do those trades. If you have Reinhart, Eichel, Lindholm, Dube, Mangiapane and Monahan left, that's not bad. You can make two lines out of that. Don't get me wrong, I like Dube. Perhaps he's one of those players that can excel on the wrong wing. I would hate to think we do the same thing with him as we did with Bennett and that is force him to RW because he's one of our better players but we have no proper spot for him.

NJ has waffled between competing now and building for the future. The bought out Schneider to compete now. They traded Palmieri and Zajac to improve for the future and avoid losing a player for nothing. Gaudreau brings them a player that bridges between now and the future. And he's young enough to be part of that younger group. Mercer is not a guaranteed NHL player, so really it's Zacha + prospect for Gaudreau. In 2 years, they may still only have Zacha and Hughes and Hischier. How long does it makes sense for them to continue to build and not compete?

It's a crazy offer and they would be crazy to accept. The positives for them is that Backlund replaces two C's they lose this year and that Gio is the mentor for their young D. They lose out on Power, but get back $12m in salary. They have a lot of yutes, not a lot of vets.

If we keep Gaudreau and Tkachuk, Mangiapane is at worst 2nd line LW. But your point is well taken. I would suggest that even if we traded Tkachuk, Mangiapane still should stick to 2LW. We definitely should not have Mange playing with Backlund and Lucic.

I would think that NJ, while it's not the 1st team he would go to, is not the last team. He's a NJ boy, coming home. They would offer him max money to get him to sign. Or, he becomes the top pending UFA available to a few select teams. Yes, they would be dealing with Metro teams like Philly or NYR, but would get back what they paid or more. Let me turn it around a bit. Would you offer Gaudreau this year for 4th overall? That sounds like a steal for NJ. Yes, it would go a long way towards a rebuild, assuming we keep the 12th.

I felt he was one of the lesser appreciated players in VAN. Let him go for what they ended up paying Hamonic. They will probably end up trading Schmidt due to Hughes and Pettersen new deals.

Mangiapane with the GWG in OT against Russia. What a pass by Stetcher. Play moved up the ice by Mange, but some excellent passing between the two.

My point was without an injury is this considered a match penalty. Maybe it is. To protect players it should be. I'm not putting any of this on the victim at all. His head snapping back when it hit the ice is sickening to even watch.

There is a difference between freak accidents and intent to injure. You could probably argue that the force of the hit contributed to the concussion. That's a bit of a stretch. The hit caused him to fall awkwardly. Suspend or not, just try to be consistent and not knee jerk decisions.

Take the injury out of the discussion, is this 10 and a game? It was a late hit on a vulnerable player. Perhaps charging, if so interpreted. I don't think his intent was to take revenge on a EN goal. The goal; was scored just before the hit. Let's be honest, they are not consistent in the approach to suspensions. Dumba laid out Backlund at the end of a game after the results had basically been decided. No suspension. Graves lays out a player and Reaves gets suspended. Landeskog was cross checked in the face after a faceoff. No call, no supplemental discipline. If Evans gets the wind knocked out of him are we having this discussion? The whiplash of the fall did more damage to the player.

I don't really care if people dump on the team or not, that is your choice. The successes and failures are well known. We are wallowing about Bennett, which is both a systemic failure and a player failure. As far as Feaster, he had a direction that screwed us up for years. What plan other than team good enough to compete, so use Iggy's final year and don't set it up for success or future change. Trade Iggy for pennies. Force Kipper to play his only hand available by talking trade. Had years to define a direction.

I don't know why I have this feeling that Lysell will easily drop to us and we pick him. Maybe because it seems like the best D will get picked early and even the best goalie will go by 9. All we can hope for is that VAN picks another loser and a good player drops to us.

I tend to see a link between arenas and #1. Happens far too frequently to be just a coincidence. But, they supposedly are audited for the process. Cuz, nothing bad ever happens when things are audited.

I would be looking for more than just a prospect for Gaudreau. At least a Zacha + Mercer. Monahan for Mercer is maybe something to consider. Then we can do Gaudreau for Hischier straight up. Gives NJ a top scoring line until Hughes can step up. Shorten their timetable to compete.

Had he arrived about 1 second earlier, would he still have played it that way? Hard to say. On one hand, he was taking the body which is one way to play it. He could have made a play on the stick, which may not have removed the threat. I'm not in favor of taking a run at a player, but timing is everything. He wasn't skating down the ice with intent to injure, he was going to try to defend the net. A second longer to react, he maybe doesn't make a hit. A second earlier, it's a player walking out to score and has a target on him.

Best GIF ever...

Final season results had no impact on our placement. I didn't agree with Sutter's strategy, but that's why he was brought in. Well, except for playing injured players. I think we get a decent pick this year. If we fail to make the playoffs next season (doubt it), then we have a true #1 to win a lotto for. Saying that I would be happy with any of that top 3 you mentioned.

We shall offer Gio + Backlund + 12th overall for #1.

Buffalo #1 Sattle #2 Anaheim #3

Is Buffalo curse or is this a year for them?

12th it is. No change up to the top 3.

Thanks for the clarification. I guess I was less concerned about meeting the exposure over who they can select. I mean they could re-sign Ryan, but why do that before the draft. He wants to be here next year, but signing now might make it more enticing to select him. He has no choice in that respect. They have every right to work a deal with him as their selection, but he has the choice. Might actually get a decent contract,.

There a big difference between being responsible for winning the cup and contributing to it. MAF played 2 games in one playoff run and played zero games in the last 10 games in another. Go back far enough in the draft and you will find examples of 1st rounders taken (last one in 2012) that have blossomed into SCF winning goalies. MAF did in in 2009. Vas in 2020. And it took a powerhouse team in 2009 to win despite relatively poor SA% and GAA. For Tampa it took a cap manipulation and 5 failed years to get there. Let me be clear. I'm not saying a goalie in the first round is a bad thing. We have made some poor choices like in 2012 and 2013. But, I'm not convinced that any goalies passed up in the 1st round since then will be the next Vasilevskiy. Some we didn't even have a chance at. Criticism of what we have drafted is warranted, and I won't dispute that.

Hathaway kills penalties, while Ritchie does not. We are missing a 4th line of grit, speed and scoring ability. Signing Ritchie solves one issue. Still need speed, scoring and penalty killing.

I'm a little confused over the timing. The qualifying offer is not due until after the expansion draft. I've heard both sides of the issue where we can expose a un-signed RFA where other say they don't count and must be signed or issued the QO first. Do you know which it is? As little impact as Leivo was, I would still consider him a low risk signing.