BigBird79

Ha! Totally forgot about the brewery. It's been over 20 years since I was there. Tried to get in working there but everyone and their mom applies when there's an opening so it's tough. I'm pretty sure Kokanee would just give him a sponsorship if he cracks the NHL! Not sure how it works over there but the schedule shows them in CCHA semi's tomorrow, Finals next Saturday if they win. Same schedule for Cornell and Malinski. Then there's the NCAA Regional and NCAA Frozen Four? Do all College teams play NCAA games? Worst case end date is April 8th for them.

I don't think that even our management thinks OEL buyout makes sense per se but it's on the plate potentially as a last resort I believe. Fact is that we save 8m, 5.6m, 2.8m, 2.8m for the next 4 years. That's some good cap space to have for extensions. If we can't shed other contracts (Boeser and Garland) then Myers and OEL are the only major options. Myers should be easy this summer after the bonus. Even if they think he can play better if we need the space from OEL we need to space. It's a crap situation to be in but it is what it is. I think it's a better option than throwing away another 1st to get rid of him. If the player replacing OEL in the lineup is cheap then I'd rather have that. Option A: The black hole of defensive garbage that is OEL @ 7.25m Option B: A cheap 1.2m contract +2.1m buyout effectively being a 3.3m LHD cost who's only requirement is being defensively responsible?

Between Jake, Malinski, Pulli, Biakabutuka etc etc there's a lot of good options that realistically could make our roster. Then we can hopefully turf Garland and Boeser for picks at the draft, &/or trade JTM for 2C and more picks. Despite all the moves getting wingers management has overall done good and has made strides in the defense. One way or another I think OEL and Myers are both gone in the summer (like it or not) and that will free up space for the right guys to play D. Even if Bear gets traded/walks we just need defensive minded LHD and RHD for Hronek and Hughes from NCAA and Wolanin and Burroughs can be 5/6. They've both been playing well and Burroughs can be the Schenn-esque dad replacement, he has the 'stache for it. If we don't get the college kids we wan then they can pivot focus on finding D partners with Boeser and Garland trades. In the extremely unlikely event we land the lottery gold I'm sure they'll pivot again with plans.

I had a big post written but realized I wasn't approved. Ugh. Long time lurker first time poster! TL;DR from what I wrote: I used to live in Creston. It's all hay and dairy farmers, small town, big trucks and hunters. Lots of hunters. While I hope to heck Livingstone signs here it's unlikely he has much personal connection to Vancouver. Most people that lived there would much rather go to Calgary than Vancouver for anything. We just have to hope management can sell him on the team opportunities since we're not going to lure him in with our housing prices