gameburn

The Russian national team is something else, certainly not the SC playoffs. More of a burden than a benefit for the Russians that play in NA, imo. Too much pressure. Maybe I'm cutting him too much slack, not sure. In any case, mailing it in does sound bad, though, I agree. In the playoffs you can't do that: the present game is used to send a message for the next game, it can be brutal. We know from experience here that those brutal losses in Boston just prior to the seventh game in Vancouver in the SCF a few years back were soul destroying. Beaten psychologically somehow.

Ovechkin was heartbroken not to go further in the playoffs last few years. He has changed his game with Trotz to be a better player for the playoffs. A lot of pride in Russians. Ah.... Bure?

With his degree of opacity, he should be able to just float up there. And we won't even notice. They can collect him at the end of the game with a ghostbuster. Would the storage facility be in Utica?

Lol. Mentorship is not enough, Ryan Smyth 2.0 (in his last year) is not required on this team. Look what Virt is doing without a bona fide power forward model/mentor. We have no place for Burr next year, nor for Vey (unless we have more injuries than this year!) -- the overpayment for Burr is only half the problem. The other half of the problem is the logjam of forwards: and these new players such as Gaunce, McCann, Virtanen and now Granlund and Etem will need a great deal more playing time and opportunity. Outline your lines, play with the numbers -- I just don't see a space for Burr -- maybe in Utica maybe not in any form. IMO, Burrows retires this summer. He offered to be traded in February -- he knows his time is coming to an end. He is a proud part of this team and its history. He will not sit in the press box. Somewhere towards the end of this season, maybe, or in the summer, he will announce his retirement. My guess.

Burrows is not injured or fatigued from a long season. The only conclusion we can come to is that, like Higgins but even more obvious, he is finished. Good career, great guy, cannot do it. And, with more forwards ready right now, and more to come in the Summer/Fall, he has absolutely no future as a regular. And, ruthless as it sounds, not only do new players need his spot, the team also needs that money to go to ppl who earn it. Imagine taking that money and getting a stop-gap good quality D: RFA/UFA in the Summer. Until Pedan and maybe a drafted prospect from 2015/2016 comes along we will need a Sutter quality player, but one D who can mentor the guys. A Tanev type but better with the puck in Offensive zone, or like Tanev but more physical -- either way. Someone about the age of 27-29, signed for 3 or at most 4 yrs at Burr's salary or somewhat higher -- someone with Sutter's role but on D. We have no core D at the moment: Hamhuis is getting old, Edler seems to have lost it, and Hutton is already at 28 minutes TOI. Sbisa is okay, Bartkowski has moments, but a stalwart D? We need one, and until Sergachev, Juolevi or (salivating here) Chychrun arrives via Draft Day 4 months from now, we better sign one. Ergo, no money for sentimental has-beens. I would like to think that this signing of a core D type should have/could have been done last Summer at the same time as the Sutter pick up, but I think D is harder to find, and even harder to sign. Benning is no idiot, indeed he drafted D in Boston and Buffalo, so it must just be harder to identify and then sign/draft D.

Heartless!! But, accurate.

Trading is the first choice, obviously, but given how quickly things are moving, it is difficult to see any of the vets like Edler being kept on for years. I thought Higgins was safe, a "glue guy" we were told. This time next year a lot will have changed/evolved. Perhaps even by Summer.

So players we can't trade are the ones we keep? Yikes. This is like university tenure. Not going to continue this way. The way that Weber, Higgins, and Prust have been dealt with is a sign of the future. Probably Burrows and Edler are closer to being "Prusted" than kept on.

One of the wiser comments in the whole thread. I like the way Hansen and Burr are compared along the lines of the mentoring vs. playing value criterion. "To save the waiver eligible players like Grenier" is also noteworthy: who else -- a la Corrado -- will be made vulnerable to keep Burr? (We dumped Corrado to keep Weber.) I think Burr is done at TDL (least likely) or summer. If the team is as successful at the Draft as I suspect they will be, a lot is going to change. We have a backlog of forwards that need a genuine chance to prove themselves -- before a second crop of draftees get a chance (i.e., Virt, Mac and Horvat are the new norm). Rotating 5 or 6 of them in and out is tricky with waivers a factor; actually just the numbers suggest Burr is done this Spring/Summer. It's not his skating that is killing him, it's the inability to finish or break up plays/forecheck like he used to. Yes, he still blocks shots and can pk, but so could HIggins.

On paper, Burr is Higgins 2.0. Do you remember what Torts said about Higgins, who he liked as a player, "he does everything for you but score." He meant this as a compliment. Burr is at about the same place as Higgins was recently. Do they waive him? Probably not, certainly not. The guy bleeds Canuck. But on the other hand... if you look like a Higgins, you skate like a Higgins and you are a "glue guy" like a Higgins, maybe you are a Higgins. This is the dilemma for the Canucks.

Burr is starting to look and play like Ryan Smith of Oilers fame did in his last 2 years there -- similar drop off in production, slight narrowing of role. Had one bad year and then a second almost as bad year. Called 'er quits. About the same age, maybe one year less than where Smith was in 2012. The Oilers appear to have let him play himself to the point of realizing he couldn't do it anymore. Got a big send off. Is this how Burr is going to end here? Is Burr at the level of Smith in team history/value? Smyth I believe retired in the city, is regarded highly... sounds nice. But can the team afford to carry a player in the last year or two of a career? (Other than the Sedins/Linden.) Smith was scratched a few times in his last season, and looked frustrated. Is Burr almost at this point? Or will it be next January/February?

I believe that Higgins's hands went first, started last year. Legs slowed as well this year. Burr: both hands and legs, but began with his hands 2 yrs back. Ankle injuries are bad, though.

If you look at the number of chances he generates for other players, he's not doing it anymore. If you look at what he does with the chances others give him, he is only a tiny bit better. What is it they say? The hands go first? In Higgins case it has been the hands going, Burr's decline is a mix of things, but the hands are part of it. Alf has got me on board the revitalization train.

You're on to something here. Just who does get dealt or delayed in order to keep Burr? I hadn't realized how many players we have on contract/knocking at the door. Burr is pretty much redundant right now... imagine next year with a free agent signing and Gaunce or Shink making the move up to the NHL. And you didn't even add in Etem! At 4.5 million Burr is not a good guy to have in Utica or playing limited minutes. He doesn't seem to get chances anymore or create the turnovers/forecheck he was famous for. He does however still get paid like he still does these things. Buyout seems more and more reasonable, or some version of that. Higgins is the benchmark. I thought Burr was special -- good leadership, but looking at your list is sobering.

I'd forgotten about the biting... lol. Grrr. Bieksa was loved and admired -- and he was good with the fans and the media -- the latter has more value than we want to admit sometimes. (It matters when it comes to choosing coaches and GMs!) He will be missed for years. One bad playoff and a bit of rattling by Ferland and someone (maybe Bieksa?) thought a trade was in order. A better team wanted him: hint to better self: this is a sign of a thing's real value!

Team history and culture are not separable. Fourth liners with character are actually a dime a dozen, and not enough -- e.g., look at Prust and so many others that have come in on that assumption/hope. Even Dorsett isn't the same as what Burr has and does offer. Burr was there for the team in the critical 2009-2012 period, he helped make the Sedins who they are. (Not in a big way, but he was the first decent winger they ever had, remember Klatt and Carter? lol.) But you are right about the penalties -- reckless stick in particular -- and at anything more than Dorsett's salary going forward a year or two this has to be adjusted. The same probably holds true for Hamhuis, maybe, and Edler, less certainly. It is more about history, and who you keep, rather than bringing in veteran leadership -- the latter never seems to work. Interesting challenge for mgt though: I'd rather we'd kept Bieksa than either Edler or Burr -- assuming that that choice had to be made.