Phil_314

I view the "old guard" comment in a different way, like others have said it adds richness of history, so it's fun hearing the narratives behind the battles between storied franchises. On the flipside, more recently I've liked the Canes' Bunch of Jerks and Islanders' hardnosed culture in recent playoff runs, so it seems like there's more identity in certain teams (though the Kraken very much have identity as the upstarts, the Avs are the flashy defending champs, Oilers have two of the best scorers in the world and Kirill is fun on the Wild... but I don't care about the rest of the west). Conversely, Toronto I root against, but Jersey/ Rangers/ Tampa/ Florida are all fun teams loaded with talent, and Boston's a historically great team this season (plus I like Bergeron so I hope he can retire on top). So with that said, I probably have personal biases but I don't think the East is all that boring (unless the Leafs come out on top, in which case *shuts off the TV*).

That looks good on paper -- though the amount of term in Anderson's contract and his inconsistency might wear out his welcome here really quickly. Dvorak for Beauvillier I'd definitely be onboard (esp. if they want a French Canadian winger), but if the difference between our two wingers and their two forwards is Bear, I'd probably want to keep Ethan around.

Yeah if we can even find suitors for the pricier contracts (e.g., some less expensive but longer-termed player in return for Myers, probably some other cap dumps along with picks for Garland/ Boeser) I'd already consider that a win. Not really anticipating a Barbashev or Gavrikov acquisition, and if you're saying entirely new players I would probably say 3-4? Even if e.g. we trade Boeser to Pittsburgh for Rutta (pricey, older vet who's lower on the depth chart but good value as top-4 RHD), Myers for some overpaid but still cheaper 3rd C with term and Garland for a pick and some depth guy, that's still a decent turnaround IMO. I think the depth is solid and so are the guys at the top, it's filling out the middle and letting the kids develop. Kuzmenko - Petey - Beauvillier Di Giuseppe? - Miller - Mikheyev (Podkolzin/ Hoglander/ McDonough...) - [3rd C/ Raty] Joshua - Aman - Kravtsov (maybe one last show-me contract for the Russian) Hughes - [Rutta?] OEL - Hronek Hirose/ Wolanin/ Rathbone - Bear Demko Martin/ Silovs/ Delia...

Uvis, more like Whodis?

Oilers, Toronto pretty much (initially I voted for the Islanders due to Horvat's comment, but on second thought I hope they do win so we'd be trading away a late 1st round pick for Hronek, instead of a pick in the 'teens). Vegas I'd still rather not see win, seeing how they pretty much manage their team such that they pay their way to championships, but I'd be very happy seeing that backfire and they end up with an old roster with no future assets. Also didn't pick the Kings (even though Edler's there, it does nothing for me, rather not see Doughty get another Cup).

I wouldn't rule out a move TBH. Not every great is a Lidstrom or Yzerman (though they stayed due to the longevity of their team's success). Gretzky's been traded, Marty Brodeur and even Pat Kane (who's also a 3x Cup winner) have been moved and played in a different jersey to end their career. Not saying that it'd be easy on the eyes to see Sid in other colors, but that it's not impossible IMO.

That plus they both play that physical brand of hockey teams believe they need to in order to win that war of attrition that is the postseason. Jeannot might not look like that guy now, but he could very well develop into that beast that we saw last season in Nashville.

We have no cap space, if we can trade a winger (some of Garland/ Beau/ Boeser) for some early picks, plus Myers gets dumped, plus we don't have any interest in the prospects available at #11 then I'd consider it, though I'd be much more open to the 2024 1st.

Are McDonough/ Hirose/ McWard eligible or only on one-way contracts?

If Di Giuseppe is truly a permanent fixture and Beauvillier gets moved to the 3rd line, we gotta move Beauvillier otherwise he's gonna be the next Garland (speedy, can score, but underproductive and underutilized). Haven't seen enough from Aman and Dries to be convinced that they're our #3 and #4, and I would be fine with Myers here, as long as he's not in our top-4 or next to OEL since that pair doesn't work.

Agreed, pretty much a top-9 tweener, with top-6 upside? 0.4 points/ game is pretty solid, as is his near-50% faceoff percentage, with roles on both PP and PK.

Lol we'll raise a Future Considerations, final offer .

I'm mostly on Instagram (for swiping and connecting with friends/ potential romantic interests) and then Facebook Messenger for chatting with friends. Twitter only comes up for some news stories, and some notifications are just for peoples' hot take Tweets.

Hope we sign him; nothing wrong with another free prospect in a position of need. By the sounds of it, even if his offensive game doesn't translate, we could still have a defensive workhorse.

RHD? Lol wonder if we might (though our depth is pretty good now with Hronek, Myers, Bear, Burroughs/ McWard/ Juulsen). Scouting report wise, he sounds like another Stecher.

If they would throw in Kuraly I'm down. I don't think Peeke alone is worth more than a 55 point Boeser who's scoring about as much as usual.

Yup, both this year and next I hope they make the playoffs and go for a run, and then they can fall as far as they want.

I wonder if they'd do Miller for Coyle, Carlo and pick, Miller for Zacha and Carlo. In either case we'd get a cheaper middle 6 C and top-4 defensive RHD. Miller can probably replace Bergeron's role and they'd only be giving up depth pieces for a tougher roster hole to fill.

I'd do the McDonough portion of the trade (and the Bruins might as well seeing how they'll need to prioritize spending cap higher up in the roster, in goal and at center) and so that portion may work (McDonough for Mast is a move that I'd do). That said, agreed that Rathbone doesn't move the needle when they already have Lindholm, Gryzelck and Forbort as their LD. EDIT: also pretty sure he wasn't serious about the Garland addition, since he eats up more than half of their remaining salary cap space for next season.

Lmao rough first day on the job for McWard PI

Bigger Stecher perhaps? If he reaches Tanev level defensively I'd be so happy.

Cole McDonald in our farm, how high will he go?

Agreed, let them gel and form the pipeline that we need. Think that if we really properly develop the kids and they go on a run for the Calder Cup, perhaps they could be a poor man's version of what the Lightning had, a group that can move up en masse (Hoglander, Rathbone, Podkolzin, Raty at least all should have middle-6 forward/ bottom-4 D potential, and there's good depth in Bains/ Sasson/ Hirose/ Karlsson/ Klimovich, etc.).

Yeah he probably will get a "show me" deal, but they still do have guys like Turcotte and Madden waiting in the wings. Re: the #1/ #2 C's, Byfield and Vilardi technically have the positional versatility to play either wing or up the middle (Petey's done both too so it's not like either are stuck on the wing). Regarding your point about preferring to have more C's and in being a consistent playoff team, Kupari is not the be-all, end-all for either component of the roster as he plays 9 minutes a game on the 4th line. I think he probably will stay too, but if push comes to shove and they look to sign the FAs as I noted (Gavrikov probably $5-$6 million as FA, Korpisalo could cost some too, Vilardi maybe $2-$3 million) then some of their pricey depth could again be on their way out, and they have many ELC guys that they can bring up so potentially moving Kupari wouldn't be too much of an issue IMO.

I think it really depends on what they'll re-sign Korpisalo, Gavrikov and Vilardi for. If those come close to the cap ceiling forget Kupari, they might be forced to move other money just to accommodate those three (and the other minor free agents they have).