Hockey Randomness

[shafnutz05]

I like that he went ahead and opened the package, too.

C'mon, you can't tell me you wouldn't.

[shafnutz05]

@mikey, what do you think Edmonton's strategy needs to be to not completely waste the prime years of Draisaitl and McDavid? Just seems like they have no forward depth, shtty goaltending, and a lackluster defense. Hard to envision them putting together a Cup-contending lineup quickly enough.

[mikey]

Oh geez, how much time ya got...?

You have zero top pair d-men probably...so, I'd look around there...you're gonna need top 4 d-men...you have to consider how big of a band-aid you want to add here...do you want to get Keith Yandle and other cast-offs...? Can you take on a ticket...? Doughty, Letang...? And start paving the way that way...there's a couple of kids on the way...Samo, maybe Bouchard finds his way, Ethan Bear looks good...

They missed out in the goalie musical chairs this offseason...no Markstrom, no Holtby, not even Murray...they got nothing...gonna need that, but that's not too hard...

They have three top-six forwards, one of them is a long-time soldier in RNH who is a UFA...so...what are you gonna do there...? Overpay to keep? Try to get a young piece with a contract...?

They just have two guys and nothing else...if they got another top-six forward, maybe they're the late 90's Pens...where it was just Jagr vs the world...defense is bad, goaltending is unreliable, tons of coaching turnover...Zubov for Hatcher / Hall for Larsson.

I don't know, you gotta start drafting better...because they're not good in free agency for various reasons...you're not making good trades...

At 14 in 2020, is Holloway really a super high upside guy? Not really for me...
At 8 in 2019, they go Broberg...leaving Zegras, Soderstrom, and York on the table...plus the goalie Knight...
At 10, they go Bouchard, leave Ty Smith behind...
Yamamoto at 22, that might be worthwhile, we'll see...
Retrospect on Puljujarvi at 4, leaving Tkachuk, Keller, Sergachev, McAvoy there...though, that one, I'm not sure I could have blamed at the time...

Those first three though, I think they are at the time bad picks...the 2016 pick of Poolparty, that's a bad break...but they don't look so bad if you draft better since...

They're such a long way off...

[MR25]

Do they even have cap space to add a Doughty or Letang?

Theyre at the cap this year and will have $24 mil next offseason to sign 8 skaters and only have one goalie under contract.

[mikey]

They could make that work next year if they wanted...there isn't a lot that's nailed down next season that's worth having around...

[Jim]

Hopkins, Russell for Letang, Sceviour/low forward.

Russell included for cap, low forward included to even out.

Do it CP

[mikey]

That would accelerate our decline into the abyss...I guess the thought is we dump RNH for a pick at the deadline and move on with our lives...?

[willeyeam]

That seems like a bad idea

[Jim]

That would accelerate our decline into the abyss...I guess the thought is we dump RNH for a pick at the deadline and move on with our lives...?

I do not really want Hopkins, but the discussion was Edmonton and it would solve the Letang problem.

[mikey]

Yeah, that's really doing Edmonton a huge favor...they've been looking for a Letang for a decade now just about...that checks off a near-impossible box to check off on the market, even if it's just for whatever prime time Letang has left...he is criminally underrated at this point on this board, even with his warts..

[shafnutz05]

@mikey, just what I was looking for, many thanks sir!

[Lemon Berry Lobster]

Not trading John Marino for a 6th probably would have helped Edmonton out.

[Lelldorin]

Not trading John Marino for a 6th probably would have helped Edmonton out.

They probably need to better at developing players as well...

On a side note - is Letang really that expensive? He is one of the most valuable/best D's in the league, right handed and has a cap hit of $7.25 M. I would rather have one or two like him and a lot of $1 M defenseman than a defense consisting of $4 M players.

[mikey]

No, Letang is a high-end defenseman who has been a deal for us from a career:contract value perspective...

[dodint]

Nope.

[mikey]

This is a classic grass is always greener case...since Gonchar left, this has been - at worst - a top 20 d-man in the NHL...

4 x $3.5 mil per
8 x $7.25 mil per

during that duration...

[dodint]

His durability alone sours it for me. He's on yet another partial season and not getting younger or healthier.

[willeyeam]

The Wild reverse retros are so good

[mikey]

That's true. He's only 59th in defenseman GP (not including playoffs) since 2010-11 coming into the year. In that same span, he is 20th in +/-, 9th in goals, 7th in assists, 5th in points...

Most players don't get younger, and Letang will be no exception...the idea is that he's been a hell of a value during the last decade...

[shoeshine boy]

Sabres HC has the 'Rona

[shoeshine boy]

NWHL suspends it's "season" due to COVID.
1) it wasn't really a season. it was a tournament
2) their bubble was far from airtight. not sure what they expected.

https://www.si.com/hockey/news/after-nw ... -from-here

[Dickie Dunn]

Sabres HC has the 'Rona

Krueger’s continued employment in the league amazes me, but I applaud the guy’s effort to have a “most interesting man in the world” existence.

[Gaucho]

[NTP66]

We got him a promotion.

[DigitalGypsy66]

As expected, the first reply was a Dwight Shrute gif.