kipwinger

Totally agree. Love this kid. He's Glendening with a little more offense. He actually scores quite well when you consider how little TOI he gets. He's also another guy I could see playing the "Tyler Bertuzzi" role on the wing if he can't stick at center. Big fan of Pearson.

I really like how the team plays under Blashill. We are playing top teams REALLY tough. Add Larkin, Bert, Fabbri, and Seider to the lineup tonight and we probably win that game. The system is good, the guys are playing the right way. We just need talent.

Am I the only one who thinks we are going to be good next year?

I think the Pronger comparison is more accurate. Despite the fact that Seider skates much better the rest of his game is comparable. Konstantinov didn't have the offensive chops that Pronger, or Seider, have.

I didn't see the whole game, missed the first period, but I thought he played fine. Had a really nice backcheck that definitely made me take notice.

Hot take: Liam Foudy is a faster skater than McDavid.

Seth Jones is soooooo good. He does everything at such a high level. Seider reminds me of Jones, except with massive hits.

Don't worry. Veleno only Paniks when he has to play defense

I like Panik-Veleno-Gagner as a line. Should be a good safe way to break the kid into the league by putting him with some solid vets.

Missed the first part of the game. How has Joey V looked?

Let it wash over you. Let acknowledgement of your superior intelligence nourish and sustain you. Look down upon those piteous Veleno slappies as though a God looking down upon a baby duck. Know your superiority. Live your superiority. Let Man-God Rasmussen be your guide.

Yeah, he definitely isn’t going to win speed skating competitions but he keeps up with the play just fine.

I saw on Twitter that Glendening and Rasmussen work on faceoffs after every practice lately. Absolutely love the thought of Rasmussen with Glendening-esque faceoff ability.

Eklund is a natural center, he's just playing on the wing in the SHL because he's an underager in that league and they're easing him in.

Totally agree. This team looks an awful lot like how Tampa's team was built. Very good wingers, two way centers, big defensemen. Just missing the stud goalie and its pretty much the Tampa blueprint. I made fun of some dude on The Athletic the other day for suggesting that Zadina and Vrana should be on the same line. Boy was I wrong. I'd love to see those two with a center like Chaz Lucius that can win draws at a high percentage and shoot the lights out. They'd be a terror in the offensive zone. And then leave Larkin, Bert, and Raymond to eat teams alive as a matchup line.

Absolutely. I'm really liking our top wingers right now. Add those two to a pool of Bert, Raymond, Fabbri, and (possibly) Veleno and you've got some serious skill on the wings. Plus they're all pretty quick (aside from Fabbri) and gritty. We have the makings of one of the best forechecking teams in the league given that in Blashill's system the center is the third forward back.

My main takeaway from Vrana's night was that he scored four goals in four different ways, which is what you have to be able to do if you're going to reach those 35+ goal totals. He sniped the first one, tipped the second, breakaway on the third, and jumped on a loose puck for the backhand on the 4th. This guy is not a one dimensional scorer, and that kind of offensively skill has been sore missed around here.

Viro and McIsaac remind me a lot of one another, though it's possible Viro has more offensive upside. His shot (as seen in that clip) seems to be a little better than McIsaacs though I expect both to score more at even strength than on the PP

Lol, so in your version of reality Buffalo is going to get better (despite playing better teams) but Florida will get worse (despite playing easier teams) next season? Similarly, ONLY Florida will be hurt by the return to the old divisions but not Tampa or Boston or Toronto or Carolina? You HAVE to know how silly your reasoning is no?

Viro's more physical than that. Seems like more of a Kronwall type to me but what do I know?

@Gniwder

Apparently YOU don't get it. If you play the same teams over and over, but those teams are really good, then it actually suggests you'll have a better record next year. You seem to think the addition of Boston and Toronto make some big difference but you're ignoring the fact that they'll play Buffalo and Ottawa just as often. So even if Florida lost every one of the games they'll play against Toronto and Boston (they won't), they'll have about 12-15 games against the Red Wings, Ottawa, and Buffalo to pad their stats. Plus, they'll only play Carolina (2nd in the league and conference finalist last year) twice (instead of 8 times). Will play Dallas (defending Stanley Cup finalist) twice (instead of 8 times). Will play Chicago or Nashville (both currently playoff teams) a combined 4 times (instead of 16). They'll also play Tampa 2-3 fewer times. It's almost like you start with your conclusion and then work backward to try and figure out the logic.

If anything Florida is BETTER than advertised because of that. Three of the top five teams in the league are in our division. Six of the teams in our division would currently be in the playoffs based on points. Florida is the top team in the top division in the NHL right now. No other teams in the NHL play as many good teams, as often, as the teams in our division do and Florida is the top of that division. Svechnikov and Hanas are top six wingers now? Lol. Maybe...if you're talking about Andrei Svechnikov and you're considering Hanas a top six winger in the USHL.

Lol, Florida is top 10 in both team offense and team defense and they're tied for second in the NHL in total points with Carolina. Both teams are in our division. Do you even bother verifying the things you say?