J-P

I would like one more year for OJ to get comfortable as 4-6D and on the PK and for Rathbone to be brought along without pressure, so Edler for one more year is fine as long as the coaches don't play him 20+ mins a night. Personally I would focus on fixing the right side D, and if that means trading Schmidt it makes even more sense to keep Edler around. But yes, Edler lost a step this year (while still being valuable for the PK and shutdown role) and no, he's not part of our future more than 1 or max 2 years.

Oh yeah, I sure would. Hard to determine what offers he'll get, and I don't think we should pay more than your suggestion, but if it's around that number definitely. Also think he would be a good fit and that he might want to come here. The trade that got him to EDM from NJD for Hall has taken its toll on both players. Don't have any insight but just speculating I could see him not resigning with EDM. A team 1-2 years further along compared to us with the needed cap space makes more sense though.

OEL with 56 games played (he played 46) this year projects as 5th in scoring for the Canucks this year. That's while having a down year on a bad team with a shooting percentage around 3% and while still being good defensively. I think if you compare him with Schmidt they're just not in the same tier. OEL is still a great player and would he regain some magic once freed from the desert? I think he would. Overpaid? Maybe, but compared to Myers, Schmidt and comparables, not sure... If Arizona retains like 1-1.5 mil and we don't give up a core player (and that includes both OJ and Hogs IMO) that's a steal for us. The OP suggestion is also something we should jump at but maybe not that realistic.

Pretty sure Edler would sign 1 year for 2-3 mil. That makes sense if he plays 15-18 mins and shares time with OJ/Rathbone, but yes, it makes no sense if he's still relied upon for 20-25 mins a night. Moving QH to the right side would definitely fix a lot of problems as Myers/Hamonic are ok for 2RD and 3RD.

It would definitely sting... But I don't think Motte will be on our PK in 2-3 years when it really matters. Hope I'm wrong of course.

Good point, Seattle would need to really believe in Lind or Gadjovich to pick them up. I do believe in them and think they can be at least 12/13F next year and also that they don't really need more time in the minors. So I wouldn't expose either as they have high potential, and if it means losing Motte I could live with that even if neither of these players pan out.

Agree, makes no sense to give something up for LE at this point, should've been done earlier in that case. Also agree JB has actually set us up nice for the expansion draft, we can pretty much choose who we give up and it won't hurt that much all things considered. Guess the exposed forwards that we don't want to lose will be 2 of MacEwen, Lind, Motte and Jonah. I would personally expose MacEwen and Motte, but I can of course see the reasoning for not exposing Motte. As I mentioned I definitely want us to hang on to all 4 players below and hope Seattle goes with Holtby or an exposed D (hm, who would that be...) but likely they will end up taking one of the exposed forwards. MacEwen: needed toughness and some scoring touch but not good enough defensively (yet?), could see Seattle taking him but not sure he has that next step in him and if not we win out Lind: talented and gritty but IMO projects as a 4th liner with some scoring touch considering his development curve, he does have potential though so it's hard to say, he could be that coveted 3C in a year or two or even a scoring top 6 winger down the line Jonah: obviously adding needed toughness, has all the raw tools but still pretty much an unknown and he needs to be a lot better to even play in the NHL (he has shown better/faster progress compared to Lind though as I see it), but he just has that power forward potential though, so if I'm Seattle and he's exposed I'll take him with no second thoughts, and although it's 50/50 IMO he'll ever be an NHL regular that's also why we shouldn't expose him, a line like Jonah/EP/Podz could be just deadly if all players reach their potential Motte: love him as a player and on a good contract and when healthy he's exactly the player with that cap hit that you need to win in the playoffs, but in 1-3 years when we are contenders he's likely banged up if we're being crass, so I would expose him, he does make sense for Seattle short-term but not if they're playing the long game and building a team that will contend more consistently in a few years

It does make sense for Seattle to pick up a few players/contracts like Highmore, but I'm thinking they will find them as FA. If not, or if they don't like our other options, we can only hope... Really hope Gadj is not exposed though as him or Lind makes even more sense for Seattle IMO.

Agree it would be awesome to have both Mac and Gadj on the roster but they both need to take at least one more step to be everyday NHL players. Seattle taking Holtby would be ideal, but losing Mac or even Motte is not too bad either considering the protection rules. Not sure Motte makes sense for Seattle though. My feeling is they will build slower but be better for a longer time vs Vegas who I think are at peak level now. That said Motte's contract is a bargain for what he brings when healthy. I don't think JB will expose him, although he should imo, so might be a moot point.

He's needed to give us flexibility regarding the expansion draft as he can be exposed, so probably that was the major reason for trading for him.

In a way it makes sense to trade Schmidt for a physical RHD and i don't think he passes the eye test so far, on the other hand his defensive advanced stats while playing hard D minutes paints a different picture. It's up to OJ to take Edler's spot. Personally I don't think either OJ or Bone is ready for 80 games and considering expected injuries there will be room for all of them.

Agree that he's made mistakes as all GM:s do and we can discuss how big they are (we won't know the full impact of signing e.g. Beagle and Myers yet for a few years, Beagle for influence on younger player and Myers since he could still be a valid asset once we are contenders), but are you seriously (pun intended) suggesting his drafting has not been top notch overall?

Agree with most of this. If we could add a reliable 3C who can put up some points (or another scoring winger to roll three scoring lines with Miller at C) and a physical RHD for second or third pairing things look good going forward. I do feel Benning need helps from e.g. an experienced president and that our assistant coaches are not good enough for a contender (I think they are good with young players though), but maybe it makes sense to keep them all for a couple of seasons more until we actually (hopefully) are contenders, but well, that's another matter...

That would break my heart actually... I also think it would be a mistake both for cap reasons and for the team in the long run. EP didn't have a great season which raises some questions about his offensive ceiling, but that ceiling is still an unknown whereas Eichel is pretty much at peak level already and has injury issues. sure Eichel is the better offensive player right now, but EP is already a more complete player and is years from reaching his peak. Plus you can get EP and a reliable 3C for the same price as Eichel alone probably.

How is that not at least one penalty on hoags?

I get what you mean but it's really the other way around, isn't it? ;-)

Not to mention if JV had OJ:s determination...

Always loved the mobility of the bruins PP the last few years, we have the players to do that but not the coaching apparently

Hate to say it but that's a really smart play by Wilson and a well deserved goal

Love the intensity so far. Are there fans attending? How many?

I think OJ:s stretch passes (best on the team even at this stage) and abillity to be a PP2 quarterback + shutdown potential is a very valuable commodity for around 2 mil a season. Yeah I get that maybe he isn't the 1-2 D you'd hope for when you draft a kid top 10 (although we never will know as his career will unfortunately always be somewhat derailed by injuires) but his talents and a proven ability to step up when the games matter the most at a salary below league average seems like a keeper to me and the kind of middle pairing D you need to win. So yeah - I'd also keep all 3 of QH/JR (why is that not a nickname yet?)/OJ as they bring different elements that are all needed on a winning team. But yeah - would be nice if one of them was a RD...

I believe it's a bit of both. Benning himself being a good scout is part of it, assembling a better team and working better with it because he's a good scout is part of it, the team itself being much better is part of it etc. But the selections of EP, QH, Podz and Hogs took balls, no denying that.

I did not follow Eldebrink's stint in VAN (which would have been pretty much impossible back then anyway living in Europe) but did follow him in SHL/WC etc and would say he was easily top 5-10 among defensemen in Europe for a number of years. Maybe Ohlund didn't quite reach his potential due to the eye injury and Ohlund was a bit more physical but no doubt in my mind that Eldebrink was the superior player both offensively and defensively. (As mentioned, no insight as to why he didn't work out in the NHL or how his game translated to NA)

OJ had a somewhat uneven game IMO, he definitely does have the occasional mistake in the D zone still, both on the rush and around the net. On the other hand he made at least 2 breakout passes last night that no one else on the time has the ability for. One or two of these each game adds up to at least 20 extra goals per season, so if OJ can provide that + at least second pairing level defense that is the kind of player you need on all contenders. Not even mentioning he has the potential to run PP2 behind QH/Rathbone which in itself should mean x extra goals per season.

Don't mind him showing emotion but too often he just stops playing and whines. That's not ok and there are multiple examples of this each game. So while loving the trade last year - obviously - a bit more mixed feelings now, especially since I'm not sure his peak aligns with the contending window.