Diamonds

Hard to pick one. Trying to figure out if @Rob_Zepp was the real Rob Zepp has to be up there though.

Yep, the only real issue would be if Miller didn't respect Hughes but he clearly does. It was actually really nice to see Hughes emerge organically at the end of last season and Miller will clearly still be a vocal leader.

Thanks for the info! Option 3 stuck out as a weird one to me. How is a 1st round draft pick from the most recent draft a veteran? Probably should have been listed as an exception rather an example. Also saying "permitted to dress a minimum" rather than "required to dress a minimum" is weird language. But I don't write contracts so *shrug*.

I would love 6M x 4 years. That would take him to 33 and pays him for his late prime. Even if he starts to decline it wouldn't be very drastic. My concern would be a 7 year contract which he will probably be looking for. Most of those guys you listed are LD. Even if Pesce starts to decline slightly in year 3 or 4 he would be an amazing partner for one of those young guys so would still have value. If Willander is ready to make the jump in 2 years he still probably isn't ready to be Hughes' partner. At a minimum we probably need someone who can play with Hughes for 3 years before any of our prospects might be able to handle it. I'm personally hesitant on going after Pesce because I don't want to be paying more guys into their late 30s. But, if we can actually sign him to only a 4 year contract then please sign me up.

Based on what has come out so far, I don't think there was any malicious intent behind Babcock's poor attempt to establish a rapport. For the most part it seems the older and more established guys didn't think much of it other than maybe being a little odd/forced. However, it's easy to see why younger players would be much more uncomfortable and feel like it might be workplace abuse. It will be interesting to see what comes of the joint meeting.

I'm still upset we never gave Jasek a call-up. He has always come across as incredibly hardworking and is just a hard guy not to root for. I wonder if new managment will make him a pitch if he has a good full season in the SHL.

I'm with you. While tip-ins will help bump a shooting percentage I'm quite positive there were will be a decrease in his shooting percentage this season as teams start to play him tighter. It's not impossible he could hit 45 goals this season, but I will be quite happy if he can get 30 goals and roughly 60 points.

Too many colors on the ice. That's brutal. But a nice goal, hope he can really break out this season.

Forsling is also due a hefty raise. It'll be interesting to see what Florida does.

After seeing the statements on this issue and hearing Corrado talk it's starting to sound like Babcock might be on the autism spectrum and really struggles with knowing what to do in social situations. Obviously that doesn't excuse some of his past behavior, but I thought it was interesting how Frank talked about him being a weird dude and not knowing how to talk to people.

Definitely sounds like two players to keep an eye on. Thanks for sharing!

Where are you getting that Matthew Perkins was the highest scoring C with Youngstown? Whitelaw is a C and scored 17 more points than Perkins. Mueller I don't mind as much (4th round still seems high though), but I'm still scratching my head a bit on Perkins.

It's definitely going to be interesting to see what they do with Aman. He certainly could play wing on the 4th line or start the season as the 13th forward until someone inevitably gets injured. However, it does seem like there's still some untapped offensive potential there and maybe a larger role in the AHL would give him more benefit.

This is definitely starting to sound like a scenario where one of the Columbus players found the interaction a little weird but amusing and went to Paul Bissonnette and like, "hey Biz, you wanna hear something funny? Babcock was trying to bond with us by having us show each other pictures of our families. Can you believe it?" And Bissonnette went "ooo, I've got a juicy story now!"

How dare you besmirch Jason King's name? Vote for Rory! But in all seriousness it is surprising how long it's been since a solid contributor has worn 18 for the Canucks. Hopefully Klimovich can channel his inner Igor Larionov and not Virtanen.

I really wish that wasn't so likely to be true.

Does this mean he's been cleared?

How about Muse - Hysteria? (For an entrance song)

I like The Black Keys, but I think Arizona is currently using Gold On The Ceiling

For the other questions, I think the best player currently in the NHL to be Hughes' partner is probably Cernak. But there's no way Tampa moves him so for most realistic partner acquisition I still like Peeke.

The allegations are that he's asking to see players phones then transferring their photos to his computer. Apparently under the guise of wanting to know them better but also sounds like it could be for blackmail down the road. Personally I would be very surprised if this is true, especially since Babcock knows he's skating on thin ice.

Podkolzin also might earn a raise if he has a decent year

That's kind of the problem we have with all of Beauvillier, Boeser, and Garland. All are decent players but none are suited for the 3rd line. However, we have too many wingers so one of them has to play on the 3rd line (unless you bump Mikheyev down instead). Theoretically for our top 9 we could run Beauvillier-Petey-Kuzmenko Garland-Miller-Boeser Mikheyev/Pearson-Suter-Podkolzin However, I would much prefer Mikheyev in the top 6 when he's ready to go.

But also just a really well done graphic. The longest servings captains larger and at the top and then filtering down. Plus the C glowing on Hughes' sweater is a nice touch.

Maybe it just came of wrong in the article, but a guy who would rather move teams than deal with some competition to be the top dog is not someone I really want on my team.