J-P

Boeser is a scorer, but not a good enough one to be the best player in this trade proposal (unless you value scoring as the defining attribute and think Boeser will return to at least 30-35 goals a season). I'd argue that apart from shooting Kapanen is way better at everything else vs Boeser. Marino imo is still a bit of an unknown even though he turns 25 next month, might be very valuable, might be replacement level in a few years. I don't hate the idea of trading for him but with a cap hit of 4m+ I would prefer somebody more proven.

Kapanen is a bit inconsistent which is also the biggest knock against him. For whatever reason he doesn't seem to be a good fit in PIT. When he's on his his game, he's definitely at least a 2nd liner, but yes when he's not I guess a 3rd liner. He's not very physical, although bigger than you might think, but very fast, skilled and aggressive. Feels like a good fit as middle six forward with us..

Vegas goaltending looked suspect as well. If they don't get Lehner back soon they are in trouble.

Yup, Bouchard has some good offensive instincts but his reads and hockey iq seems questionable. Keith looked awful as well, too slow to keep up and constantly under stress when handling the puck.

They sure did and as STL was already on the PP it ended up a 5 on 3.

Oilers D is also entertaining but in a more negative fashion compared to their forwards. Nurse and Ceci are their first pairing and they have been surprisingly good today. Keith and Bouchard are their second pairing and they have both been brutal. Russell and Barrie are the third pairing but barely play 5v5 (they've been ok on special teams). Honestly don't see any of their bottom four D getting regular shifts on our team. Not sure how Vegas have been unable to score although Smith in goal has actually played really well.

Watching STL-MIN in the intermissions of the Oilers-Vegas game. I don't think the standings lie, both Oilers and Vegas will have a hard time measuring up to MIN or STL in the post season. Oilers obviously have good forwards who are fun to watch, but I don't like their chances regardless of who they play in the first round, just not a well rounded team and they don't really play as a team either. McD really on another level vs everyone else, must be frustrating at times to be one step ahead of his teammates all the time both regarding speed and processing.

Harder than I expected to cheer for EDM. They don't really play like a team (Vegas has been much better first 10 mins), their orange jerseys are ugly and they have Keith. The line with McD, Kane and Poolie sure is entertaining though as is Draisaitl.

Lots of comment about Holtz coming back to us in hypothetical deals for QH. I'm not sold on Holtz who has a good shot but seems a bit slow and lacking intensity. Kinda like Boeser... To be fair, I've watched Holtz play mainly before he got to the NHL, so maybe he's taken a step since then.

Getting ready to cheer hard for the Soilers tonight, feels weird although Vegas has that arrogance about them which rubs me the wrong way, so guess that'll make it easier...

Not saying you're totally off but imo OEL is still a 6 mil player and Myers a 5 mil player. Sure I would like Myers traded for a player that could do the same defensively at around 4 mil, but without OEL/Myers this season, where do you think we would be in the standings?

I'm no fan of Baumer but this level is a few tiers below NHL and you're more qualified to make a judgement vs the professionals that hired him? Good 4 u.

Nobody's given a chance at a pro level, that's not how it works. How many tip ins and primary assists have you seen Motte do vs Chiasson who's on a league min contract? Not bashing Motte, he's a great player at around 1.5 mil although injury prone and made a difference on our 4th line, but let's not pretend he's a top 6 forward because he's never been given a "chance".

Yeah I like Lamikoo as 4c and Bo as 2c. If EP can take the next step I'll be happy with JT bringing back a good 3c, a top 4 D and a prospect. That said, I'm not totally against retaining JT but I just don't see how we can make it work cap wise.

I agree with that. That 1-3 C punch would be too much to handle for most teams if we have balance on wings and D. I don't think Miller is a game breaker in the playoffs though. He's fine as a 1B center along with Horvat, and that's not a put down as most teams don't even have one of those centers, but we need someone to take another step and that's obviously EP in my mind. Miller's contract is obviously an issue, and while I would love that 1-3 C punch his tendency to give up on plays and take bad penalties is real, so sorry, not really seeing him on our contender.. (although I will also admit he's taken over games this season as a true 1A C, so it's not black and white)

Either a player who makes the difference offensively more or less every game or someone who's just the best player on both ends of the ice (Bergeron, Zetterberg, O'Reilly etc). The bubble playoffs gave an indication of the difference between EP/Horvat/Miller in this regard although all three had a really good playoffs and EP was still a bit too young and raw at that time (while still being the best of the three). EP has been better the second half of the season, but still nowhere near where we need him to be imo and not close to his first two seasons.

Don't agree. If EP doesn't take the next step and make questions like whether he's worth 9 mil irrelevant we're not going to be a contender. Horvat, Demko and QH (and in my mind even OEL and Podz) are equally important in their own ways, but I don't think you can contend without a game breaking 1C and that's not Horvat or Miller however good they are.

I don't think Horvat is going anywhere, but we need to make the playoffs next year or risk losing him. I would be very surprised to see Boeser on the team next year. I'm fine with just not qualifying him if that's what it takes to allocate his cap space elsewhere. Pearson is useful but probably not a good fit regarding cap and age. It would hurt losing him, but I can see it happening. Garland is fun and a good player, but he lacks finish and doesn't really accomplish that much most of the time. A bit torn on him.

I think it's only natural to be a bit disappointed and frustrated right now as we're missing out on the fun stuff when the real season begins. After a while without hockey, the draft getting nearer and so on, the enthusiasm will return. Also looking forward to the playoffs, even if it stings that we're not in them.

Always wants the team to win, not least against Vegas, but last time I checked we can't really finish much lower in the standings even if we lose most of the remaining games. Sharks and Ducks are way behind and have no intention of catching us and there are only 2 eastern teams with a realistic opportunity (of which Islanders have won 3 in a row and Blue Jackets lost 3 in a row).

I think management had decided the price for moving JT well before the deadline and it wasn't met. Nothing wrong with that. While I agree icing pretty much the same team would look very bad, I do believe Allvin is the kind of person who lets his work do the talking. And I do think some of his quotes are quite decisive if you read a bit between the lines. - no superstars, everyone needs to prove themselves - team needs to learn to prepare like pros and be ready for each practice and each game from minute 1 - need more speed, size and skill - can't be a cap team Hard to tell as Allvin hasn't really made any moves yet (although Dermott could be a win), but I don't see how that strategy could be implemented without 1-2 cap dump trades and at least 2 ELC:s coming in. Also, since JR is kinda Allvins mentor the last few years I wouldn't expect him to be gun-shy ;-) I'm hoping for something like Boeser's negotiation rights + Dickinson to Dalls for a 5th!

Yeah, on a serious note that was a bit no class by Beagle, especially continuing throwing punches when the other guy is down and defenseless.

We sure miss Beagle and Louie. Just look at how they manhandled these young Anaheim pnks last night.

Watching pens - AVS. Great game so far. Also a test for my theory that all the eastern playoff teams can play with the Avs (also believe Avs is the only team who could beat an eastern team in the finals although I don't think they will).

Quite obvious imo that BB is a stopgap coach, but that includes next season and that was always the plan. Beyond that I don't think he's the guy. Next year we need big steps from a few of the younger players. Especially EP, which kinda gets forgotten in all of the Miller discussions. EP reaching the next level is more important than keeping Miller for our future. Of course both won't hurt either. But I just don't think it's a good idea to switch coach at this stage with the younger players needing consistency and lots of expected roster changes. I believe that's how management sees it too.