D-Money

Buying out Sutter would affect our cap next season. That’s pretty much a non-starter.

Salomaki looked like he was going to be a solid bottom-6 guy, but injuries kept setting him back.

Season 2 is supposed to suck. I watched season 1 of Goliath, and it was decent...but after reading how poor season 2 is, I just decided to stop there. On the other hand, I just finished season 3 of Cobra Kai. Truly awesome - even better than the first 2!

Alex Ovechkin - Kevin Hayes - Reilly Smith Andre Burakovsky - Nazem Kadri - Charlie Coyle Zack Smith - Carter Rowney - Ilya Mikheyev ?????? - ?????? - ?????? Kevin Rooney Victor Hedman - Nate Schmidt Mikhail Sergachev - Mattias Ekholm Ben Chiarot - Marc Staal Jeremy Lauzon Nikita Nesterov Andrei Vasilevskiy Collin Delia

Carolina calls up Gerald Mayhew. @Nail That's the only waiver-eligible guy in my minors, and it puts me at a full 23-man compliant roster. Although, I suspect I may still need to find a depth forward or 2, depending on how things shake out at the NHL camps. But willing to wait and give some of my older prospects (Letunov, Brome, Yurtaikin, Quine, Thompson, etc.) a chance to make a full-time NHL roster.

Oh yeah, that's right about Hughes. Then I agree completely. Myers isn't worth protecting. I guess then there is a possibility that they might protect Tryamkin if they get him over. But I prefer your suggestion (adding a D prior to the draft that another team can't protect).

I'd hate for Benning to move mountains to get Tryamkin in the lineup, just for him to get taken in the expansion draft, then have to face that monster multiple times per season. Not that he's a hockey master, who will beat us on the scoreboard - but that he's more likely to injure opponents (just ask Brad Richardson). And there's no way we'd protect him. Our 3 would almost certainly have to be Hughes, Schmidt, and Juolevi. Unless Benning is willing to trade something to Seattle to get them to take Myers' contract (I'd consider that - he's overpaid now, and may not age well). If Tryamkin doesn't come this season, he's not eligible, and doesn't need to be protected. So we can just sign him for next year.

Definitely. I figured when we let everyone walk, it was going to be a down year. But now I’m not sure about that - all comes down to goaltending. Our defence has improved quite a bit. And I’m pretty sure we’ll be glad in 3 years not to have 34 year-old Tanev, 33 year-old Markstrom, and 31 year-old Toffoli eating up $14.75M of cap space. Benning definitely made some errors in previous off-seasons. But this year he has done some excellent work, despite the limitations he was dealing with (even if they were his own fault).

Thanks to @JimLahey for the smooth negotiations. I really like Kuraly, he’s a solid bottom-6 guy who always shows up for the playoffs. Didn’t want to trade him, but was running tight on cap space, and had to cut somewhere to fill out a full 23-man roster. At least I’m not trading him in my division for this season. Letunov is an interesting player. Not sure if he’ll be a regular NHL-er, but then again, wouldn’t surprise me if he sticks with the Sharks this year. Going to need a couple guys to step up to fill out the roster, maybe he’ll be one of them.

It probably had to do with Hamonic opting out of the playoffs. There were likely legitimate concerns that he would choose not to play this year. Him holding out until now may be an indication that even he wasn't sure. But now that the vaccines are rolling out, and a family with immunodeficient kids should be receiving them soon, he is now comfortable to play. But he has to sign with a Canadian team (can't cross the border), preferably a Western team (closer to home). And Vancouver has an obvious need for his talents, and the cap opening up with Ferland's LTIR to pay him decently. So really, it's a perfect match on both sides.

I'd be willing to bet Hamonic will play more games.

My favourite feature of Spotify is “Radio”. When you finish an album or playlist, Spotify will play other similar songs, based on what other users like. I have discovered/re-discovered a lot of great stuff with that. Just pick an album or make a playlist, enjoy it, and see what you get when you’re done. Or you can just pick an artist you like, and select [INSERT ARTIST] Radio from their artist page. You can also find a lot of B-sides or rare tracks you might have missed from your favourite artists. I spent a lot of money back in the day hunting down Radiohead singles to get their unreleased tracks. But now they’re all there, at the touch of a button, and I can compile them into a playlist quite easily. And a couple weeks ago I found a bunch of songs by The National (also one of my favourite bands) that I’d never heard, from soundtracks or other compilations.

The Expanse - Season 5 (so far: E1-5) - 9/10 Starts off slow, but is just setting the stage for what’s to come. Episode 4 is one of the best single episodes of TV I have ever seen. The first few episodes of the first season are hard to get through, but man is it worth it. The 2nd & 3rd seasons are just outstanding. And after a bit of a step back in season 4, looks like 5 is going to be a wild ride.

This song popped up yesterday, hadn’t heard it in a while...soooo good... On a side note, really made me think of a couple friends of mine. Both are much older, retired, and have wives that have succumbed to severe dementia in the last few years, and had to be placed in full-time care homes. For both, their worlds still revolve around their wife - each would go spend hours every day at the facility. Only COVID restrictions & lockdowns could keep them apart, and even then they will be pulling every string to get FaceTime and window visits. If they get a “good day” - which may involve just an hour where their mate is quite lucid and remembers just a small fraction of the life they’ve shared together - they are just glowing about it. In a world full of selfishness, that’s true love, and it’s just beautiful. They’re my heroes.

Reserve

Happy season 3 of Cobra Kai, everyone!

I remember back in the day Andrew Alberts would occasionally dress as a forward for us. ...At least until McGrattan ended his career with a ridiculous cheap spot (no suspension, of course).

Morin is a big guy. Wouldn’t want to see him coming in to forecheck me! Speed might be an issue though. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

6’, not 6”.

Best movie of 2020 for me? Probably this...

He’s still not signed, and is home in Columbus.

We’re already at the point where Roslovic would miss camp if traded to a Canadian team. So if he does get moved, I expect it will be to an American team.