PavelValerievichDatsyuk

Ah, JR's on, glad I found a non-NBC stream!

Kind of disagree. The 1st period was pretty horrible, but the Wings looked like the more dangerous team in the 2nd, to me.

Ah, I must have missed the Spezza and Fleury signings. I actually thought that the Pens would let Fleury go if they didn't have more success in the coming playoffs. He has played well this season, though. I think if we sign a free agent, it'll only be to fill that D spot (Franson, Green, Boychuck, Erhoff). Otherwise, I think it'll another offseason of no movement and add by subtraction. Cleary leaves to make room for Pulkinen, Andersson makes room for Callahan/Ferraro, Monster-Mrazek. If no trade/signing, maybe Lashoff-Marchenko, and hopefully Kindl-Oulette. Then the following year Quincey-Sproul. That could be great for us. I'm all for a trade if it gets us what we need without too much sacrifice or picking up a FA if the price isn't outrageous, but our recent "worst offseason ever," as some called it, should show that no movement isn't necessarily a bad thing.

As you pointed to, the league has changed dramatically with the salary cap and contract rules, and the situation of the team has changed - You've got to adapt to survive or get left behind. I look at the Devils as an example of a GM who didn't make the transition well. I think you're sentimental for something that isn't possible anymore and also isn't necessarily needed. There looks like some good UFAs available to me: Franson, Greene, Boychuck, Erhoff, Staal, Martin, Oduya? Fleury, Zuccarello, Stewart. Williams? Spezza? Potentially a lot of Dmen, specifically.

I think you missed the joke. I think Nyquist's fine should become like that embarrassing secret about your uncle that everyone knows, but no one will ever mention out loud

When a problem comes along you must TANK it! Tank it Good!

Franson's having a great year point-wise (29 in 49 games), but the most he's managed in any previous season is 33pts. I'm not really ready to bank him for an automatic 50 pts. I would go up to 5 mill for him, though. With E at Q at 4.25 it would fit into the team pay grades, I'd say. Also, I think we were prepared to pay Niskanen's 5.75 and he had similar stats. (he has 17 pts this year - Good that we didn't land him) Side note: I just saw that the Leafs originally got Franson with Matthew Lambardi for Brett Lebda and Robert Slaney. Slaney never play in the NHL and Lebda played 30 games before being banished to the minors. That's a hell of a trade for The Leafs.

Sorry I missed your responses. I do think Weiss was a risky Free Agent signing when we signed him, given that he'd played 17 games the year before. Green does have a much, much more exstensive injury history than Green's, but Green's been pretty healthy this year and last year. I threw in Coliacovo and Monster as other Free agents that we've signed with extensive injury histories. People forget the Monster, besides a long history of groin injuries, also had received 3 heart ablation surgeries while with the Leafs and was nominated for a Masterton Trophy. You're right , though, because of they were signed for smallish contracts and they were brought in for lesser roles, the risk is not near what Green's would be. I do think Weiss is somewhat comparable. Weiss: Role: 2nd line C, Caphit: 4.9, Injury history: Wrist surgery, groin injuries in previous season Green: Role: Top 4 Dman, Caphit: (I think less than his 6), Injury History: s*** load, but 2 healthy previous seasons

Can't tell if this is one of your sarcastic comments. When thinking of Weiss, I'm thinking yes. Thinking of Gustavsson, Coliacovo, also... I wouldn't be that worried about bringing someone in with injury history. Every injury is a call up for a solid D prospect. Not sure what Green's price tag would be in the offseason. I'm thinking a little less than 6 due to injury concerns and his diminished role. Maybe I'm off thought

I remember Brodeur Openly criticized Lamoriello pretty harshly for not resigning Parise and I think also for the Kovalchuk situation, I think. I sensed there's some bad blood there.

I think we've also gotten rid of the #90 curse too. The team must have performed an exorcism.

Since The Sabres have been kind enough to abstain from taking points there are plenty to go around. Seriously though, it's because of all the Shootout/Ot games. More and more points as parity becomes the norm.

MSG stream is sooooo boring!

We'll find out

It was a 3rd round pick in the Legwand deal. I agree with a lot you said. We do have pieces that could be moved for that high end D man and we will definitely be looking at the options, but it does have to be the right deal and I'm not sure that it's available. I feel if it's not a home-run we should wait until free agency. Yandle's a great player, but how would he fit with our D corp. He plays the left side - are you going to make Kronwall or Dekeyser switch? Will Dekeyser be forced onto the 3rd pair? I think those two are our building blocks on the back end and I think we should be trying to build around them not forcing them to to change. Also, where would get the RH shots from with Yandle, DK, Kronwall, Quincey, Smith, Kindl signed? As for Myers, There seems to be a lot negative opinions on him, so that doesn't feel like a homerun either. It would be with the hope that he returns to his earlier self with a better team. It could turn out great, okay, or a be burden. I think the players we really want are Greene, Franson, Erhoff. All lined up to be UFAs. We are contenders, but realistically, next year we seems more likely to damage - I hope we don't get the itchy trigger finger and make an okay deal. Especially since there is chance our own prospects could be the answer to our needs in a couple of years. Edit: sounds like wings4thecup06 beat me to my own thoughts while I was writing.

Sproul undoubtedly, i think. Jensen is probably the or two. Maybe Callahan? I mean, he's only played 1 NHL game in his 4 years in GR. That not the cup of coffee he deserves - it's an Espresso maybe.

Mrazek is fine. He started 6 or 7 games in a row - That's hard for any goalie except the firmly established work horses. A young goalie wouldn't usually be put in that situation. He was forced there because of injuries and has done fine overall. He'll be here as a backup next year and ease into being a full-time NHL goalie.

Yeah, I didn't mean a leadership role. I know Veteran presence does usually mean that (though many veteran players are not necessarily a good influence) I just wrote the phrase without thinking. I just meant if he rides the pine for a lot of his last two years I think that's fine. I don't really think we need to worry about bad influence in the locker room, though. With Z dats, Abby, Helm, etc. I feel like there's a stronger culture of hard work.

Franzen has 5 more years on the contract. If he spends the last 2 years of that like Cleary is and Bert did at the end (mostly in the stands) I think that's totally fine. He looked very good at the beginning of the season - I think he's good for another 3 years of keeping his game roughly where it's been. I know people don't particularly like him, but I still feel there's still no problem here and it's still the same situation. He's never played an entire season worth of games and we haven't got 70 games out of him in a while. Also, we should not be worried about keeping Andersson. If he goes, we have Callahan, Ferrarro, and other prospects on the edge that can fill that spot. If Pulkkinen is the 13 or 14th forward next year that's fine. I like that our offence has been doing so well and next year there's the possibility of adding Teemu and Jurco's (think he'll get the mojo working) production to that.

We don't know that Marchenko is an NHL ready righty - he's only played 1 game. We might find out on this call up though. I do agree that 1 or 2 of the lefties on the roster (minus DK and Kronwall) would likely be part of any trade. I think Kindl, Quincey would be the ones we're most willing to give up then. Don't imagine we'd want to give up Ouellet, but who knows. I think these moves are just due to Babcock wanting a RH on the blue line. We have all these prospects we might as well give them a shot before we make a move. We've made some moves where, I think, a prospect ultimately filled the position that the other player was brought in for (Weiss-Sheahan, Tootoo-Glendening, Sammy-Tats/Nyquist) I hope they're seeing if the prospects are a realistic option right now or if we'll need someone else

Okay I can see that - Maybe the "Franzen has regressed" narrative is overblown. I did seen in places people say that "injuries have caught up on him and he's done." I definitely don't buy that. But looking at goals, he is set for the lowest goals per game since his second year. You're right, though, It wouldn't be a huge drop off and he has been playing with lesser line-mates often this season so you could credit it to that. I do think, if the season was over today, it would be looked at as a down year for him. I hope he goes back to the way he looked in the first 10 games. My thinking for using +/- is because -12 is a large enough number that I thought it to be significant. If one player contradicts the trending stats of the whole team dramatically (and doesn't play on the PK) then I do think it shows something. The only other regulars with a minus are Nyquist (-2) and Miller (-1). Thinking about it now, though, you could partly explain Franzen's -12 by the fact that he's been with lesser line-mates. Also, comparing his stats to the team's now does skew the picture since the team has been winning since he's been out - I'd have to look at the stats when he went down to be fair.

Hmm...Franzen's definitely not where he always is. He's a -12 for one thing. He's never been a minus player over a whole season. That will be a hard hole to dig out of. And 7 g in 33 gp vs. 16 in 54 or 14 in 41. I don't want to attempt the math, but he is not at his usual pace for goals. We have 34 games left and, if he played the rest (not probable) and kept current pace, he would be at 14 in 67 games. Not good. It's too bad. He looked really good for the first 10 games. Maybe he's decided to get his quota of bad games in before Christmas and make a push in the second half. Let hope, but it's good that it hasn't effected the team all that much.

I think if one misses out on a spot, I think the most likely would be Jensen. Ouellet (still always f*** up the spelling) is pretty well claimed a spot. Everyone says Marchenko looks solid and plays a more risk-free game that will transition to the NHL well. Sproul has the greatest offensive potential and we badly need that ingredient. Then again, Jensen has an offensive upside, has a +9 to Sproul's -6. Good problem to have. Mantha vs. Larkin is not a question we'll ever really have to ask. I like that we're asking it, though, since it means Larkin has been doing really well. Definitely made an impression in the WJC.

I think the wheels are officially on the bus!

I agree. Unless they were assured that someone would take him off waivers it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Otherwise, they'll now be stuck with his caphit either with him in the AHL or as a buyout in the off season. Is there another player they're trying to make room for? He can't be that much of a liability on 3rd line. You might as well keep him as depth and get something out of that contract. It seems like the better option would have been to trade him and retain some of the salary. He is 29 - I think someone would have taken a chance on him then. It seems less likely with that big of a caphit.