J-P

Boeser to the Pens actually makes a lot of sense short term, and maybe short term is where their prio lies. Not sure what the fit from our side would be but Kapanen could be one piece.

Just me that was really unimpressed by chychrun last time we played the yotes? Definitely a good player on a good contract, but not a difference maker worth the expected trading price imo. Maybe if we can dump more cap on them. Something like Boeser, Ferland, Hamonic and Rathbone maybe. A nice scenario would be for the bruins to empty their prospect pool even more to aquire him and then still get wiped out in the first round.

Yes and actually making the playoffs again with a team that can control games. I agree that Miller is not captain material on a contender - maybe not even a guy you win with, Hirsch might have been right about that for once - and while I don't think Bo is either (at least not this regular season Bo) I also agree 6 mil for a 2C that can do what he does is not an asset you trade. So if things look the same next season it might be a different story, but I don't think they will.

If OEL is out the season is pretty much over. Even if he isn't, that 1st period last night probably sealed our faith anyway.

Hamonic should earn his paycheck

I'd say Boeser is a 6 mil player on the right team.Those timely goals can't be learned or coached, it's the kind of contribution every contender needs. Unfortunately - as I like Boeser - this is not the right team at the moment as we have other more pressing needs and so I agree 6 mil is not worth it for us (nevermind the expected 7 mil+ cap hit on his next contract). I also believe we have enough snipers on the team (although Boeser would need to be replaced long term), our lack of scoring is more of a depth issue + need more contributions from D.

At the next deadline we should trade Miller from a pure asset management perspective if he won't be resigned, but this year you're right, asset management is not an issue. Either we get a deal too good to pass up on, like Laf and Schneider, or we just keep him.

So what do you mean he is focusing on now? Not arguing we need more toughness or that Pearson has his flaws, but being soft is not one of them as witnessed by his board play and fights since BB took over.

Personally I think Hamonic has been pretty awful in the 2 games since coming back. Replacement level, at best. I'll give him some slack as it's a bit of a pattern with him that he needs a few games to get into it - it's also a pattern with him unfortunately that he's on extended leaves making this apparent - but looking at the bright side he might give the team a boost when/if he gets going and if he can stay in the lineup.

Not questioning you and you don't have to dig up a quote - but when did he say that? I like Boeser but see him as a bad fit for what the team needs going forward both regarding cap hit and playing style. So it would surprise me to see JR endorse him as he's more of a final piece you'd like when being an actual contender. Of course he might have said it to up the trade value ;-)

Pretty sure trading Hogs would be a mistake. He's an ELC player who had a great rookie season and a not so great sophomore season, so trading him now would be selling low. It's also quite likely he bounces back next season meaning he'll likely be on an affordable deal as an elite middle six winger in his prime. So the potential loss if trading him now is huge while the risk in keeping him is pretty much zero even if he doesn't bounce back.

Really important win for the standings - although our hopes are still slim - but the shot count and o zone time tells us exactly where we're at as a team. I.e. a middle team that don't really match up to the top teams although we do have some good players. Also obvious that all 4 laffs lines could keep the puck and create offense in the o zone. I like Motte/Lammiko on the 4th line but we really need 3 lines that can play and Podz and Hogs in current form are not top 6 players.

Agree. Think Podz is losing a bit of confidence though, seemed a bit hesitant and also a bit wobbly on his skates yesterday. Had a few good plays, a good scrap and a nice assist though so hopefully that helps. Hogs also needs a some puck luck to gain a little bit more confidence.

Happy for Tanev so far that he's doing well and no doubt he would have helped us both last season and this one on a reasonable contract. I'd say the jury's still out on whether letting him walk was the right move or not though. If he misses lots of games and slows down a bit during the last two years of his contract things start to look quite different. He's also not the long term answer for us anyway.

I think he has problems with his positioning which probably is a thing that could keep him out of the lineup when everyone's healthy and if the games are meaningful down the road as he tends to cause 1-2 high danger scoring chances each game. That said, he does show flashes and for the most part complemented OEL really well. If he could develop into a cheap 2nd pairing D with OEL that would be a huge win.

My guess is the qualifying offer will never come into play as management has no interest in that cap hit, so he'll either be resigned before the QO needs to be made (he can be right as it's the last year of his deal?) or he'll be traded. I think he'll be traded as he doesn't really fit our needs going forward and haven't really turned out like we hoped. He might bounce back, but at 25 there's equal risk he's more or less peaked already.

Miller was also the one that caused the shorthanded goal with one of his many turnovers. EP and QH had a few bad giveaways as well, but hard not to see Miller having multiple really bad ones pretty much every game. That will cost. Miller is a really frustrating player. At times he leads the team, scores game winners etc. but just as often he just glides around and makes mistake like last night. To be creative you need freedom and that involves the odd mistake and turnover, but if you're a leader on the team you gotta make sure you have a positive impact on the game overall. Me for one I'm not interested in Miller's next contract (likely 7 years at 7-8 mil if he stays around PPG).

Agree. I could see why we would consider trading him, but as he's on a good contract and young enough it's a simpler situation vs JT. If there's a really good offer for Garland that makes us better long term without sacrificing too much short term - and ideally for less cap vs Garland - then sure do it, but otherwise we just keep him and continue to enjoy his play.

I like Al, let's try and make that the standard nickname. JR is a cool nickname but JB got really old.

Very interesting thought. Depends a bit on what other offers will be available of course, but my initial thought would be no, we'd need a better piece than Kravtsov (although I haven't watched him enough to have a fully educated view on him), otherwise keeping JT makes more sense.

Is Al his nickname now? Good one! Could be confused with the one and only Alf though of course...

Great footage, thanks! I see what you mean, but in the end it was the right call and I give the referees the benefit of the doubt here as it was hard to tell in real time.Also while frustrating at times I think that refs taking time to talk things over, doing reviews etc are a good thing as it avoids referees having too much of an impact on games. Generally I try not to get into the referees too much, very few if any of our games this season have been decided by refs. Last night had a few missed calls both ways, e.g. on the Myers play the Calgary players should have gotten at least one minor penalty. I think the major on Myers but no suspension was the right call, but even those who don't agree should see that it was a stupid play, if you're gonna do a revenge hit you have to make it clean and not borderline dirty or every ref will call you for it. In the end none of it changed the outcome. Far more frustrated by our PP and OT than refs.

In real time it looked like a bad call, but you could see on the replay that the D got his stick in good over the smurf's stick (the D was schenn iirc).

Hated the turnover by JT, still get mad thinking about it, but man, that other play by Myers was something. Commentators couldn't believe he did that and could hardly come up with anything to say!

I agree with most with what you wrote bug guess for myself and many others the playoff hope is part of the fun. While we are a longshot to make it, we do have an easy schedule remaining and the last 10 games have been against elite teams and with a depleted roster. So I think there's still room for hope and also the hockey usually turns pretty bad quickly once a team is really out of it. I think we need to be sellers this year regardless, and thankfully front office seems to agree. But yeah - let's enjoy the games regardless...