laddie

Our current lines this morning and I would choose McKeown over Burroughs. He had Covid in September so just started to play in Colorado but would be a low risk acquisition. Garland-Pettersson-Chiasson Pearson-Horvat-Höglander Petan-Miller-Podkolzin Di Giuseppe-Dickinson-Dowling Extras: MacEwen, Bailey OEL-Myers Hughes-Poolman Rathbone-Schenn Hunt-Burroughs Demko Halak

I think McKeown would make a great depth signing and give us more flexibility on the right side.He played for Skelleftea last year in the SHL and before that was trying to break the Hurricanes lineup which was difficult because of who was in front of him. He skates well, solid defensively and would help us in a time where we need more quality RH dmen.

Before injury Will Borgen was slated to skate beside Dahlin in the Sabres lineup and, as you read through his scouting reports, he sounds like someone who potentially could be a longterm fit with Hughes. "Borgen is not one that stands out with flashy offensive plays but is a defenseman that likes to “fly under the radar”, to use his own words, with a solid defensive game where he tries to get the puck up the ice and let the more creative guys work their magic. His skating is strong and he moves well for a player his size." "A defensive defenceman who plays a hard-nosed style in the corners and maintains close body position against the opposition” - Dobber Prospects https://sportsjone.com/will-borgen-neck-injury-contract-scouting-report/ https://www.diebytheblade.com/2020/7/29/21346320/buffalo-sabres-top-25-under-25-10-will-borgen https://dobberprospects.com/player/will-borgen/

Seattle D Pairings today: Cholowski-Larsson Giordano-Dunn H Fleury-Oleksiak Louzon-Soucy I agree that Will Borgen would be a great pick up.

Noah Dobson and Wahlstrom?

Jani Hakanpaa is looking really good right now.

Very little but I was wondering if someone like Roland McKeown would be an interesting project. A solid stay at home defensemen that was never able to crack the Hurricanes lineup. He is inexpensive but might be a dark house. Otherwise I think it would be difficult to get even a 3 round draft pick for Joulevi at this point.

If Joulevi is surpassed this year by Rathbone and Hunt is it time to see if we can trade him for another prospect or player much like Ottawa did with Logan Brown?

If he is missing details in his game is it best if he goes to Abbotsford vs QMJHL? In Abbotsford Trent Cull and the skill coaches can continue to work with while being close to the big club so we can ensure we are controlling his development.

I’m sure that Hamonic is eventually going to be in camp, but in the off chance that he is unable, would you consider a trade for PK Subban? In this scenario the NJ Devils pay his 6m bonus just leaving 1 year at 2m for salary? At this point NJ may be looking to offload Subban for a younger prospect such as Joulevi. This would give our RHD prospects like Woo another year to develop before joining the big club. Thoughts?

Brandon Sutter’s fatigue sounds a lot like what Jayson Tatum suffered through regarding the after affects of covid. https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/celtics-star-jayson-tatum-gives-update-his-breathing-post-covid

If money is not a factor the Bollinger looks interesting for those that like the rugged minimal look that focuses on power. I put a reservation down on the F-150 but with 120,000 reservations and only 15,000 being produced in the first year I’m not hopeful that I will receive it anytime soon.

I was referring to the translator

It definitely wouldn’t hurt to smile either and look somewhat enthusiastic about what you are discussing.

Hopefully Dickinson’s attitude is contagious because a focus on team defence and being hard to play against will make our defensemen look a whole lot better.

The highlight of his career has been the U18 tournament in which he had 6 goals in 5 games but was a minus -4. That was the worst plus/minus out of the top 30 skaters. Finally he wasn’t selected for the Belarus Olympic qualifying tournament even though there is currently I believe only one active player from Belarus in the NHL. So even if he comes to camp and is lucky enough to score a hat trick in pre season he goes back to play in the Q or the AHL. This way he can improve his overall game and so that we have legitimate prospects in the pipeline that we aren’t rushing to the NHL but instead allowing them to take the time to develop and be a complete impact player for years to come.

As precise as this answer is, it doesn’t change the fact that he was drafted as a scoring right winger. So is he taking the spot of Boeser, Garland, Podkolzin, Hoglander...? Several interviews have noted that the plan for him is to play in the Q not the AHL and most certainly not in the NHL. We also have an abundance of options for a 4th line RW which again he was never drafted to fill that type of role.

There is zero chance that he makes the team out of camp. We are deeper than we have been in recent years and whose position would he take?

He will finally get the chance to play with Pettersson....

Losing Lind isn’t ideal but it could be much worse. Look at the Oilers offseason so far: Out: Jones, Larsson, 3rd In: Keith Staying: Smith for multiple years

It would be nice to sign Adam Larsson and Jani Hakanpaa to deals which would allow us to move Schmidt back to his natural left side. It would give us a d core of: Hughes - Larsson Schmidt - Hakanpaa Rathbone - Myers Joulevi I think these are affordable moves if we can move Holtby and buyout Virtanen. It would also allow us to potentially pick up another winger from Seattle to strengthen our scoring depth. My personal choice would be Mason Appleton but that would require a lot of assets going the other way in draft picks but it would give us another option to take face-offs and move up and down the lineup when needed. The outcome would be a lineup like this: Miller - Pettersson - Boeser Pearson - Horvat - Hoglander Appleton - Dickinson - Podkolzin Motte - Beagle - Highmore Hughes - Larsson Schmidt - Hakanpaa Rathbone - Myers Joulevi Demko

Jason Dickinson

Jim Benning’s comment yesterday about wanting to bring in another Russian player to help with Podkolzin’s transition to the NHL makes me wonder who that individual may be. One name that comes to mind is free agent Ivan Barbashev who would be inexpensive, can play a physical game and is a free agent if he isn’t signed soon by St Louis. He could play 3rd line centre or move up and down the lineup as needed. Although I can’t understand why St Louis would allow him to get to free agency except that they are trying to move out salary in Tarasenko and bring in a big name free agent.