brownky

Where are you people getting "8m at 39"? His contract expires when he turns 36. So to answer your question, no, he won't be playing at 8m when 39. But he'll also be 3 years removed from the contract so it doesn't matter.

I don't agree with Frank. OEL is better than 'that' - he's a 6.5-7m defender "normally" and usually steady. Overpaid by the usual Jim Million, but only one guy this time rather than 4 guys overpaid by the Jim Million (Sutter's out too). He's not Loui. I think we're all jaded by the high/long contracts that Jim has signed rather than by players themselves. OEL will surprise in a good way. I've been to a few Arizona games (not last year obviously) while vacationing down there and his biggest issue is that he had nobody to pass to.

"This is SPARTA!" *kicks the servers into the bottomless pit* Good thing the board back end is really robust eh? Known for its stability

Who? Not even close on E-L. He's got 6 to go, and he's 30 now. Math isn't that hard.

So... potentials; OEL in Garland in Possibles Out: Ferland (LTIR/Insured contract allowing for easy cap floorage with no salary?) Eriksson (...maybe?) Virtanen (...? 10 foot pole? Arizona might not want that given the draft thing...) Schmidt (?) 1Rd almost assuredly One of the "B" prospects? I dunno. I'm terrified but also... not. I wonder if it's a deal hinging on the draft itself; IE if Jim's got a player he WANTS but is unlikely to fall to 9 but does, then it falls out. Otherwise he pulls the trigger. It's all about that cap though. The 'deck is cleared' next year if he does nothing, but this is... something.

What a terrible team in 2017 lol.

He's gonna get paid after the playoffs he had. Unfortunately, like 'contract year' performances, I doubt it gets a long term repeat. Somebody is going to get fleeced paying this guy for two-three years too long.

I had to pick Gordie because "even in his sport" he was a masterclass. I *almost* went with Alan Shearer because he did what he did playing for an otherwise AWFUL Newcastle team.

As is always the case, Ronny Franchise (Ron Francis) gets no respect. The guy is 5th all time in NHL points, played for a couple reaaallly $&!#ty teams (like Dionne) and got a huge chunk of those points in the dead puck era. Guy was amazing, but was supported by one of the best 'casts' in NHL history. Bure would be my 'other' pick. It's a tight race between Francis and Bure, but I opt for Francis. The guy was magic. Bure was far more electrifying.

It also leads to defencemen getting mashed in the corners and thus worn out / injured. Just because a couple (now retired) goalies were really good at it doesn't mean it shouldn't be gone. Watching Luongo handle the puck 'frequently' would have made for butt-clenching excitement and force goalies to actually be better at it or stay in the net. Look at Price - he's really good at it and it forces teams that play ONE WAY to figure out how to play differently. Or lose. Mike Smith is 'good but overconfident' at it - he screws up and it's hilarious. Now I like hitting, and think our team doesn't do enough of it on the forecheck with the trapezoid in place. But I also like players who have their own set of skills being able to use them, and a reduction in injuries. With the hybrid icing being what it is, I think the trapezoid's purpose has somewhat gone the dodo as well - a close icing call would mean the goalie 'plays it' in the old days and guys would go extra hard (into the wall, usually) trying to beat the play. Fewer injuries is better for the game.

I dedicate my victorious pick here to Chris Lee and the officiating team for completely screwing the habs and extending the series needlessly.

Focus? Defence. We have the goalie and the pipeline therein. The forwards should be able to sort themselves out. We will never go anywhere without a solid and competent D-corps. Puck retrieval, physical and capable of puck moving are hallmarks to it. Hughes is a 'specialist' D-man - he's offensive. He requires backup, this past year proved that; he's not the next coming of Neidermayer (who, ironically, had two of the best defencemen in the game beside him for most of his career in Stevens and later Pronger) so use him for where his skill is. If our defence is GOOD, that frees the forwards up to be more offensive and break out that little bit smoother. There's not much ice in the NHL, so if the forwards get an extra two feet on the basis of the defence, that will translate to goals the other side.

Particularly when it's the same dead horse hurr durr max max deal "joke" or "fun", as though it's original.

Greatness is truly achieved with a mustache. Dave Babych: Duster Lanny McDonald: You better believe it: Bill McCreary (the ref): A duster great enough to impose its own gravity well: Wendel Clark: As one un-mustached Bob Cole would say "Ohhhh Baby!"

I can translate that. Hey, my hair... it's FALLING OFF!

Lots of people are going to be eating crow. "He's not that good!" and so on. The Rangers just got a whole lot better. Whether he's "hard to work with" at a managerial level or not is something else entirely, but as far as on-ice coaching goes the Rangers got a whole lot more dangerous over there.

I cheer for: Vancouver Columbus Washington I cheer against: Toronto Edmonton Calgary Toronto Edmonton Toronto Boston Las Vegas Any team that gets *all* the breaks just because NHL. See: Boston, Las Vegas, Tampa and their cap cheating. Toronto. And Toronto. I don't care about: The rest. Like in these playoffs, I'm currently cheering for the Islanders and the Habs to an extent but mostly the Islanders.

If Savard takes a 2 or 3 year deal for "Chris Tanev" Money, that's worth jumping on. The other two I'm not as concerned with. Our forwards (if they "let the kids play") should be good enough; they are hamstrung by their reliance on scrambling all over the defensive zone and poor breakouts as a result. If our defensive structures improve along with a "better" replacement for Edler (Which Savard absolutely would be), I think we'd be a vastly improved team. After the initial "wow we suck" phase at the start of the season wore off after getting scored on 4-10 times a game, when we lost it was "that one goal" usually early that got away. Prevent that one goal and we're in the playoffs...or score one more goal and we're in the playoffs.

Shaw is their "defenceman" Ian Clark. Big fan of Shaw. Lesser fan of Torts (he got a raw deal here but he was also done in CBJ) and ... Not a fan of Big lARSEn. If the team let him do his thing here, our system issue will be rectified. I'm a little worried about D-injuries since he relies on a more active and physical defence in the lanes rather than the challenge type that lets [poopy] shots through, but... we'll see what he comes up with. Could be a product of what he was working with there.

I'm also a CBJ fan. Because I like hurting myself. To "us Canuck fans", this would be like Newell Brown or Nolan Baumgartner being promoted to head coach. A guy they've been screaming to offload... goes up the ladder. So yeah. Good times. Great.

And it helps the other guys in the organization too - Shaw's been around and clearly has the talent. If there are things Green or Baumer pick up coming or going it helps.

All of the above are to what I refer. And more. Paypal is absolutely awful. It's a shame they are so widespread.

And for people stumbling into this thread... if you have a Paypal account linked to a bank account, give those ol Paypal Terms and Conditions a read. If you still have a linked Paypal account after reading them, read them again, but slower. If you *still* have a Paypal account linked to a bank account after that... well... don't complain when it happens to you.

I don't like it, it's a "Leafs move". There's a reason that no team has won the cup with a 10M+ player even yeeaaarsss after having them. I think Price is the first one to advance in many years. Tying too much into one guy is not worth it, no matter how good they are. Exhibit: Connor f**king McDavid. Aggressive is good... knowing when it's time to cut bait and move on from guys. Blowing the bank on big free agents (Restricted or otherwise) is not aggressive imo, it's foolish. The best teams build from within and then add a supplementary piece or two from another team who has gotten out of control (see: Toews trade to COL) for relatively cheap or a UFA who decides they like the look / try for one really cheap go-around (Perry in MTL)

Take it seriously and be prepared for a lot of wasted time and 'rejection' - but it's a numbers game anyway so even if you roll "through" 1000 or 10,000 or 1,000,000 people to find your 1, you've still won in the end because you've found him/her. Manage expectations, dodge the fakes and be genuine and serious about it. It's pretty quickly apparent when one is not.