Wing Across The Pond

Does Colorado getting the first pick change things? Like if they have free reign over any player, but realise they need something other than Hughes surely they have less pressure to pick him? They're not stacked, but are in better shape than we are; but could they get away with not choosing Hughes when Ottawa would be laughed out of the league if they did the same? Or is it just a case of "sign him and deal with it later"?

San Jose don't have a first until 2022. Their 2021 first is already a conditional in the Karlsson trade. If the team was going to be SJ, no firsts to go around.

I don't think it's a case of "we scouted Europe first" or that we noticed skill differently to other teams, but I think it's a lot to do with scouting beyond hockey. It's no surprise the three guys mentioned - Lids, Z, Dats - were superstars not because of their hockey play as such. but also because of attributes beyond hockey. One guy who was calm, calculated and worked to understand the game and his position better than anyone. Another who had unreal determination and "team spirit" for want of a better term. And a third who trained absolutely every aspect of his game to become a great two way player who was strong, creative, and continued to improve as he got older. Look at guys like Ericsson and Helm. Both had good skills and were exciting younger players when they came in, a lot of "oh this guy could be something one day" but didn't have those extras and as such are in a position where they really don't do anything apart from take salary that was given to them because they were there for a long time. Crosby and Ovi will always be better than Stamkos because they have that extra little bit beyond their hockey ability. I honestly think if we start to include personality more into our scouting we could begin to find some real gems again. I think when the rest of the league "caught up" with our scouting, we started to think "okay darn we need to really get some good players in here or other teams will take them" and we looked exclusively at hockey ability rather than the extras. Even little things like how well does a player respond to an injury? Look at Matthews; what happens if he comes back from his injury and is in his shell?

Red Wings just posted this video on Facebook. Would be pretty cool to see, and was wondering if its ever happened before? Basically mulling over the hypothetical situation of losing both goaltenders to injury during a game. How would a player like Bert fair between the pipes?

At that time the Tigers were a WS calibre team. They were stacked themselves. The bullpen was mad with JV leading, Max Scherzer, then some younger studs. I mean... as an owner he would have been mad not to focus on getting them a win. Now that time has passed, they're going full rebuild. I don't think it proves he concentrated on the Tigers over the Wings any more that saying when the Wings had Yzerman and Fedorov and other generational talents he concentrated on them more than the Tigers. Basically if there's not much to work with, focus on where there is

Great stats, but Philly have also won 6 in a row, and 10 out of the last 11. They're on fire. Mraz probably helps, but isn't what's winning them games. For comparison: Howard: 917 sv%, 2.6 GAA in his last 5, also with 31.6 Shots Against (158 total) compared with Mraz's 25.3 Shots Against (total 76 in 3 games). Howard just faces a lot more shots (understandable). Taking Mrazek's last 5 games (3 with Philly, 2 with Detroit), he's faced 28, 28, 20, 34, 32. We give up a lot of shots consistently. Unfortunately we won't know if we made a mistake until after both guys are done.

I always feel a little "wft?" at these sort of NTC/NMC things. Basically Green said he'd go to a favourite team or a team who's pretty much odds-on to win the cup. There's really no room to work there, considering he wasn't Tampa's first choice is seems. Which leaves Washington who had no space. I read a few bits about players saying they'd waive their clauses to go to Tampa... well no **** of course you would, but the best team in the league is only really going to look at 2 guys across the whole league most likely, that they have any chance to get at a worthwhile price. Think there was way too many conditions going against us to get anything done for Green. I didn't really expect us to make any moves, so the haul for Tatar was nice (but I'm sad seeing him go). Would like to see him re-sign unless there is a better option in FA - which there isn't (minus Carlson, who won't sign here). Guess it's Green or trade.

It's the reason they signed him. McPhee said the fact he had years on his contract was one of the reasons:

New PC desktop. Be awesome to see anyone else's Wings themed backdrops.

I hope this is a sign... two first goals in LCA: Mantha and Larkin. Frk getting an A

Just thinking the same. I dunno if everyone is still taking in the concessions, etc, being opening night and all

"This is by the Chevrolet entrance, they're all official Chevrolet parts. It's made by.... someone" I don't think he really knew where he was going with it.

Genuine question: Are people as unwilling for Tatar at ~5 if Ericsson isn't getting 4.25 and Nyquist isn't getting 4.75? Do people think it's too much for Tatar because we're already handcuffed, or because it's just not worth it for him? The list of RFAs out there currently seem to put him in the lower portion of the top players based on numbers so hopefully whatever they get will force his hand a little. Never really 100% understand the process with RFAs lol. Also worth noting we get some cap relief next year on the Weiss buyout (I believe) - from around 2.5 to 1.6 hit. But we still keep that hit for 3 years.

No lie. Amazing to think Tatar went 9 games without a goal during the early stretch of the season. 30 goal scorer next year is for sure reachable. I know there's a lot of contract talk and that people don't want him for the money expected, but he ain't really the problem when we need guys like Gus to give something. Mantha-Z-Tatar is something I'm looking forward to next year.

Looking good dude. Out of interest, what drone do you use? Had a go on the Mavic recently and trying to decide between that and the GoPro Karma.

Reading Tampa Bay Times this morning and Kurcherov told Russian paper Sovetsky Sport that some Tampa players "got their money and stopped working". He said some players overstayed in the team because they knew there was no competition for their place. He also criticised coaches for switching up lines too much when Stamkos got injured. The TBT claim that Kucherov signed a team friendly contract and now feels let down.

I agree. Went to Game 7 and we weren't embarrassed at all. Just a night of bad bounces. I reckon these comments may be more a frustration of a Stanley Cup final, to a conference final, to missing the playoffs altogether. If after the final he felt the team didn't change or try to improve and inevitably went backward or were overtaken by other teams, then missing the playoffs this year probably hit him hard.

I was thinking about this. In soccer over in the UK players contracts can reduce if the team gets relegated to the next division down. If the waiver rule can make it easier to send players down to the minors I'm sure a lot of bottom line players would work harder to keep their place. Currently 4th line players work hard as they're in the direct firing line, but 3rd and 2nd line players should feel that pressure too.

Was candid enough to not name names, but also waited till he was in Russia before saying anything. Yzerman didn't seem too happy either. Cast it aside but said he wants these things dealt with internally and he'll talk to him when he gets back.

This caught the press eye over here in the UK last month, in that they were talking about how the Rangers could actively look to lose in order to gain a playoff spot that pitched them against an Atlantic team rather than a Metro. Teams at the bottom tanking, teams at the top (mini) tanking lol. Genuine question... I know likely nothing needs to change, but what happens next year with the lopsided conferences (with the addition of LV)? Will the West play more games? I mean technically it reduces odds of making the playoffs from around 1-in-1.9 to 1-in-2 chance. But not for the East. Small difference so probably doesn't matter but still.

Ah okay, in that case yes, in a heartbeat. Unfortunately with his contract I don't think the market will be there. As I said, more likely to be there for Kane. Edit: the problem isn't even "10.5m is too much", it's 6 more years. He's 29 at the end of this month, and he could probably play to a good standard when he's 35. But man no one is taking that money for that term. Even if the market is there to move him, the next market isn't going to be and that will put some teams off

No. Trade Kane. IDGAS (yes should also be a poll option lol) that Kane is top tier offensive guy, no one will take that Toews contract but someone will take that Kane contract - because it's Kane. If it's purely salary Kane is the guy to move. Also you can replace scoring for 10+m fairly easily, and replace again if it dries up. But also I don't think they're in as much trouble as some will after this loss. It's also worth noting how far Nashville have progressed so not that much of a #1 vs #8 shock.

https://www.nhl.com/news/dallas-hires-ken-hitchcock-as-head-coach/c-288745470

Probs in that new dressing room... which is like 4x bigger than the Joe. Cray amount of room

No kidding! It's even messing up the ad algorithm