kipwinger

Kassian went HARD on Tkachuk. Pretty brutal beatdown. If I recall correctly that fight started because earlier in the game Tkachuk put a pretty predatory hit on Kassian behind the net?

I thought Edvinsson, Gustafsson, Larkin and Compher were all pretty bad. Edvinsson looked slow and behind the play and I wonder if all that extra muscle he gained has affected his cardio and foot speed. Gustafsson was absolutely brutal and was getting torched in ways that even Shayne Gostisbehere would chuckle about. Larkin and Compher were totally invisible, not something you want out of BOTH your top centers.

Veteran move. It's a blowout in a meaningless game. Frederic is a clown if he thinks a superstar is fighting him in this scenario. Gotta wait till the end of the movie to fight the boss.

I don't think they'd be GOOD per se, but given that all three play pretty responsibly for their positions I don't think it would be a disaster either. Kasper and Mazur are both very responsible and effective defensively and I think Berggren is better than he gets credit for. Lalonde very publicly benched Berggren last season after a couple brutal turnovers, but he's never criticized his defensive intelligence or commitment. I've watched a lot of Berggren in Detroit and GR and I think he's actually a pretty effective forechecker and backchecker.

I hate our 4th line and don’t understand the point of it. I’d rather see Berggren-Kasper-Mazur with either Veleno or Motte as the 13th forward and Watson in GR. But oh well. Outside of that we need to Upgrade at 2C (looking more and more likely to be Kasper or Danielson long term) and we need a big upgrade at RHD on the 2nd pair. Otherwise this is a pretty competitive roster.

Standouts tonight: Kasper, Johansson, MBN, Lombardi

Watson is this team's Aaron Downey. Sometimes he'll play for GR and sometimes he'll get called up to Detroit. I doubt he was intended for a full time roster spot.

Yes, it is. We traded a more or less similar player (Walman) along with a higher end prospect (Andrew Gibson) to free up that roster spot. Now you wanna trade something else (cap dump plus picks or prospects) to acquire Fowler. I don't care about his salary. I care about what it costs to get him. And that's a VERY steep price to pay for something that was already on your team when you had Walman. In short, it's not a smart idea. Acquiring Fowler (even at 50% retained) still costs this organization quite a lot more than Chris Illitch's money, and that makes is a bad idea.

I'm not sure Fowler is any good, but I'm positive he's overpaid. No thanks.

I don't think that's out of the question. Nobody needs a goalie right now and it's hard to get teams to take on that salary right before the season starts. But if we hit the end of November or December with three healthy goalies there should be more of a market given that there will almost certainly be injuries around the league. I think we're in a strong position if we've got three healthy, capable, goalies.

All game long, very chippy. Watson came to Seider’s aid and wiped out some fool and dragged him around the ice. Then Edvinsson stepped into a guy really hard then ragdolled a teammate when the dude tried to fight him.

Marco with two in the first period. You love to see it.

Sounds like exactly the kind of player I want playing for a division rival.

Petry is laying the body tonight. Not sure if he’s mad about something or just wants to add value.

So far it seems like Seider has gotten the green light to play offense this season.

If I were betting money I’d bet on what you’re saying. I think it’s the most likely outcome. But I genuinely believe Kasper and Mazur out performed Veleno and Motte up to this point. Kane’s looking a lot stronger on his skates this year so far.

Kasper getting an audition with Kane and Tarasenko for the game. If that goes well (it’s looking solid so far) I’d like to see: Dcat-Larkin-Raymond Kane-Kasper-Tarasenko Berggren-Compher-Mazur Ras-Copp-Fischer

Pass on Swayman. Now he's out here doing interviews were he said he still has a bitter taste in his mouth from his arbitration hearing last season. Apparently he's holding his team's feet to the fire because during arbitration he didn't get as much as he thought he was worth and he's holding out this year because he's all pissy pants about it. What a loser, I'd rather wait on Cossa and Augustine.

Out farm system is so loaded. We just added Edvinsson, Berggren, and Johansson and I'm already pumped about Kasper and Mazur, and we've got Danielson, ASP, MBN, Lombardi and Cossa right behind them.

Yeah, Husso looked really solid and he was getting peppered all night.

That makes a ton of sense, might be the only way to salvage something out of this. Pitiful asset management though, considering they already had a 31 year old (Vezina) winner on their roster. Imagine trading both Ullmark and Swayman and winding up with Gibson and Korpisalo in goal.

Sick breakaway goal by Danielson

Lombardi with another good chance just now. He’s looked really good all preseason. He will be ready for the roster after another year in GR. He’s good.

The Red Wings broadcast team is doing a deep dive on Albert Johansson during intermission. He’s a profoundly ugly dude. Looks like a hockey player. I thought he was for sure going back to Sweden. But he may have changed his mind. He was going to be playing for Skelleftea, last year’s SHL champion. Unfortunately they suck an egg so far this season, losing to several low level teams (including a team from England lol) in the European Champions League.

Griffins playing Crosby, Malkin, and Letang tonight so they’re scrambling. Sodorblom looks like his skating has improved, Lombardi is noticeable at even strength against the real Penguins (good sign), and Johansson is a really solid defender too.