dirtydangles

I'd love to see smith progress more to a hitter in this league. He shows flashes of a decent hitter he just needs to consciously do it more.

Called Cammalleri "calamari" on the breakaway

damn smith has looked bad tonight

I think we should target a stay at home dman. Ideally that is Girardi due to RH shot but doesn't have to be. We really need to be subtracting Quincey rather than Smith and we can DEFINITELY afford to trade our 1st this year with the plethora of prospects jammed in the pipeline. Franzen isn't worth much due to the contract length despite the cap hit - and we are screwed if he retires (compliance buyout). Edler is very expensive because he is on a great contract and is a top 2 defender on a team that needs him. I would prefer to do something like: 1st 2014 + 2nd 2015 + Quincey for Girardi at the trade deadline if NYR are out of the playoffs and can't re-sign all their guys under the cap. EDIT: Also no interest in Booth anywhere near this team.

Question: Is the cap stuck at 64.3mill again next season? I just ask because there seems to be no way to add a guy like Vanek/Gaborik (7.5-8mill) and trade/sign a Dman like Girardi (around 5 mill) from trying on cap geek without buying out Franzen, losing Alfie and promoting loads of youngsters.

Not much we can do right now. I would personally try to see about Girardi (impending UFA) if the Rangers decide to pack it in this year and tank. The Rags have to re-sign a lot of players this offseason and may not be able to fork out 6+ mill for Girardi. Would likely take a 1st + Good Prospect + Cap dump (Quincey) for the rental. I think we just have to wait for contracts to expire after this year... Our team is currently built with a load of bottom 6 guys. I would like to see money spent bringing in top 6 talent this offseason and then promoting guys like Ferraro, Sheahan, etc. for the bottom 6 to grind it out and earn it in the NHL. I think that is the key to a successful team that is cap efficient. Hopefully this season has been a lesson to Holland that you can't hoard all the ex-RW players that are past their expiry date and hope to ice a competitive team.

Lets hope its actually saturday this time....

Damn, I like the look of the bottom 6 for once (hardworking). Too bad Cleary and Bert are top 6 - Substituting nyquist in there for cleary would make everything sweeter.

Moulson is a pending UFA and Mrazek could be a number 1 guy for the future... add in the 1st and it doesn't work at all.

DO SOMETHING HOLLAND. We have loads of kids with talent waiting for a shot. Holland needs to make some room somehow - even trading highish picks with players to clear out space (we have enough kids in the farm for now). I don't see this just magically turning around. The only saving grace is that helm comes back and miraculously makes everything gel but its unlikely.

Tatar looking sick

Smith hasn't looked like s*** tonight...

I'd like to see Tatar - Weiss - Alfie. That line has effort - Franzen just kills lines when he doesn't skate hard.

I think the main thing we are lacking is SPEED. We are slow and both these guys have wheels (Helm in particular). The only reason Tootoo is useful out there is because he skates and is everywhere - we need more of this.

No more mucking around with the C position. Here it is on Wednesday: Z - Dats - Bert Franzen - Weiss - Alfie Abby - Helm - Cleary Miller - Andersson - Tootoo I'd love to see this though someday: Z - Dats - Abby Franzen - Weiss - Alfie Tatar - Helm - Nyquist Miller - Andersson - Tootoo Maybe someday when Cleary, Bert, and Sammy are gone...

Played awesome. He would only improve with more time (which he won't see likely). Loved the reverse on Thornton. He outletted nicely from behind the net also which was a great surprise at this level. Played good and physical in the corners and didn't look too young out there.

When dats misses we lose - when dats scores we win. this is the trend more often than not in the shootout. he shoots first and sets the tone.

Hopefully Sproul gets a shot soon too - we have been lacking a big RH shot from the backend that can be an asset on the pp (without the defensive liability) for quite a while.

I just want to weigh in on the penalty issue. I think it is completely plausible that the refs are told to influence the game slightly to keep it close. How many times have we seen a pp for a team right after they were scored on? All the time. In a big original 6 game with the home team down and the only game on tv i think the refs went a little overboard tonight. They made knit pick calls on detroit that they turned the blind eye to when boston did them. Thats my 2 cents.

I wouldn't mind selling "high" on smith. If he doesn't turn things around then we will be losing value on him. We have loads of D prospects that can fill the void as our D won't be turning over too much for quite a while. Franzen is amnesty buyout material after this season - we can't just trade him off and have him retire early - this will screw us capwise. The only real "trade-bait" we have would be a tatar or nyquist in combination with smith. And I would want a pretty good player in return. As for the "power forward issue" we could always see what mantha can do for 9 games...

Dats also took a slapshot during the game which was pretty unusual for him.

^Smith still looks so uncomfortable in interviews

I'm almost scared of what will happen if we WIN tonight... that lineup is terrible but will keep rolling until we lose. More likely what will happen is we get scored on 3min in and babs scrambles the lines like always. When you look at the Smith situation - yes he is immature as a dman - no, staying in GR did not "overripe" him. Holland things leaving kids in GR is the same as NHL experience and that they will have less growing pains as a result. This is bulls***, look at Danny D who has stepped in and played with poise. The NHL is different than the AHL no matter how many years you play in the AHL. Kids need a shot and a chance to learn early while they are still developing or else they look like duds when they are mid 20's and still look rattled out there.

Hank. Sick dog name for a male. The bigger and fluffier the better.

tough to watch... there is pride to earn though by playing this one out NEEDS MORE HELM!