kipwinger

I'd have to dig up the article, but I read recently that the "upper body injury" was an aggravation of the sports hernia issue. Doesn't look good. I wouldn't touch him unless he fell down the board and I could move back and get another pick.

Here are a few centers in this year's draft that I like. Big fan of Vilardi and Hischier. I'd avoid Patrick at all costs...unless he falls way down the draft board and we can trade back to get another asset. Sports hernias are devastating (ask Stephen Weiss), but it is happening early enough in his career that he may be able to rebound. BIG risk though.

I already agreed with selling at the deadline. But that's not what I mentioned above. I talked about maximizing our lineup with correct roster decisions and you said that "wouldn't be in our best interest". Which seems to suggest that you think we SHOULDN'T ice the best lineup possible. Which is equivalent to losing on purpose. And I don't agree with that strategy. I also don't think our team, as constructed, "will never win any PO games". I think our lineup is WAY better than our coaching. We're bigger, faster, and more talented than we've been in a few years. We're not a great team, but we're not as bad as we look. Our coaching, however, is awful. And it's becoming increasingly clear that we've got locker room issues as well.

It would be a slight gamble, depending on how routine the injury/surgery is. Given that he's playing through it I'm guessing that it's probably not career threatening or anything. And again, RFA's have huge value in trades because the organization holds all the cards when it comes to negotiations. His "pace" is sort of irrelevant in this scenario because A) he's injured, and B) our team is awful. He's pretty clearly shown he's a 20+ goal scorer over his career. 4.75 million is a steal for that production, especially because the term on RFA contracts is usually fairly short.

If Tatar is an RFA this summer then he'd have good value. He's obviously a very good player (injury aside) and if someone could get a guy of his offensive ability AND have him be cost controlled via RFA they'd jump at it. I would.

I don't believe in tanking. Losing on purpose is for losers. I'd rather we ice the best lineup, and go where that takes us. I'm not opposed to selling at the deadline in preparation for a big draft, but I've never advocated tanking and I don't think it's the way to go now. If we miss the playoffs Blash will likely be out anyway.

I'm actually happy that we've finally got a top six that seems to be able to score. The Tatar-Z-Mantha and AA-Neilsen-Vanek lines are scoring. Abby and Helm should help fill out the bottom six (if Blashill doesn't do something stupid). If we can get Green and Smith back and ice the BEST possible defense, we might be able to go on a late run. May not be enough to make the playoffs, but I'm optimistic we'll look better down the stretch with just a few returning players.

I don't disagree about Coreau last night, but I also don't think it was a bad idea to go with the same lineup coming off the Los Angeles game. It was the best game we've played in months.

I probably would have requested a trade last year too if I was him. He was stuck on the third line getting garbage minutes. He had less top six time than Richards or Helm. But if he still wants to go then Holland should dangle him. Don't necessarily trade him, I mean, the Trouba and Drouin trade requests didn't necessarily mean those guys wanted out permanently. Just wanted to see changes made. They got what they wanted and are playing great so I wouldn't say "do it" just to do it.

I didn't accuse you of being negative. I accused you of masking the essential baseness of your posts under an air of condescension and sarcasm. I'm sorry that AA hasn't played more games. I have no control over that. But it's all we have to judge his NHL career, and so far his scoring rate has been elite. As is, obviously, his speed. Both of which support my point. If you disagree that his scoring rate has been elite and is inflated because of sample size you could have said so to begin with, instead of "Elite. People keep using that word, I don't think it means what they think it does.". But I suspect being patronizing on the internet really just sorta does it for you.

Predictably you've decided to argue that AA isn't an elite player. Something I made clear, TWICE, that I wasn't saying. He's been in the top 1% of NHL players in even strength scoring for the last two seasons. That seems fairly elite thus far too. Again, I said he's got an elite skill set which you seem to agree with as far as skating. His scoring rate is elite too. Did you want to address what I've actually said, or just keep arguing against the strawman you created?

I obviously know what the word elite means. And I wasn't even saying AA was an "elite" player, like Seguin is. I was saying that he had an elite skill set. If he utilizes that skill set each and every shift, against top competition, he'll be an elite player. It was all pretty clear in my original post. Dickie just thinks being cynical and condescending masks the fact that he hasn't contributed anything productive or intelligent to this forum in years. It doesn't, after 2,000,000 snarky "Blashill/Abby/Helm sux!" posts we're all pretty hip to his shtick.

Well then enlighten us, by all means. What I said was, "he's got elite level skill". I stand behind that. He's above average in size, his skating is better than all but 1% of the league, he's in the top 5% of the league in even strength scoring per 60 minutes of play, and is in the same percentile in shot generation. Seems like elite level skill to me. But as I insinuated above his ability to do that every single shift, against top players, hasn't been proven. So he's not an elite player. Just has the skill. Edit: I stand corrected. He's in the top 1% of the league at 5on5 scoring per 60 minutes of play.

AA has a little more maturing to do, if Blahill's criticisms are to be believed. I think there's some credence to them actually. He's got elite level skill, but may have been rushed along in his development. I think he's still got the mindset that skill is the most important thing. But what separates good players from great players at the NHL level is their engagement. Think about a guy like Alexander Semin. More skill than 99% of NHL players but the drive wasn't there. When AA finally realizes that he can be as good as any player in the league when he puts in an honest effort, he will be. I've said in the past that I think he could be Tyler Seguin level. I stand behind that. But he's got to mature. As for your second question, I do believe he's more skilled than Larkin. AND I agree he hasn't had the same level of opportunity as Larkin (or Mantha for that matter). But I disagree with trading any of them. You need two good centers in the NHL anymore, and moving one out for a defenseman just creates another hole. As I've said elsewhere, if we want a top defenseman I'd call Calgary and offer Dekeyser, Svechnikov, and a 2nd for Hamilton. No need to trade any of our future core.

No AA, but Sheahan and Jurco are on the ice? Good call Blash.

I am, but I guess it's fair to question his attitude. Otherwise he's a stud. He's got better fancy stats than Trouba or Fowler (for example), much better offense, is bigger, younger or as young, plays as many minutes, and is cost controlled. Maybe he's got an attitude, but so did Trouba when he demanded a trade. People seemed willing to overlook that bout of bad attitude (admittedly I don't know if you wanted Trouba or not, just using him as a benchmark).

I agree. But that doesn't mean he's not worth trading for Hamilton. In another thread you argued that a top defenseman is worth more than a future second line center (You were talking about Larkin). If that's true, then surely you think a top defenseman is worth more than a lesser defenseman who's in over his head, plus a draft pick, and a prospect?

Maybe. But he's got 21 points in 37 games. He's poised to hit 40+ points from the blueline for the third time in his short career. He's huge, plays big minutes, and is signed through 2021 at 5.75 million. It's entirely possible he's the next Evander Kane. It's also entirely possible he's the next Tyler Seguin. Both were accused of attitude issues early on, though neither were traded twice. You're right, there may be some risk involved. But I'd gladly move a mediocre defenseman with a bad(ish) contract, and an unproven prospect, for the chance to find out.

1. Fire Blashill and hire Todd Richards with the understanding that he will play the kids, in their right positions, regardless of how the season turns out. Line combos and depth chart are his decision, Larkin and AA at center are non negotiable. 2. Trade Dekeyser, Svechnikov, and a 2nd for Dougie Hamilton. 3. Trade Vanek, Ott, Miller, at the deadline for picks if out of playoff contention by the deadline. 4. Draft best possible center. 5. Reassess next year after seeing whether a coaching change improves our offensive output.

I think AA is better than Larkin too. Not that this means Larkin is bad or anything. But they're both pretty good defensively, so I'd call that a wash. Larkin scores more total points, but that's probably because he gets more minutes. AA scores at a better rate than Larkin per 60 minutes, so he's probably the more dangerous offensive player during any game. I think these two both have it in them to be high end NHL centers. They just both need to A) Mature physically, and B) Actually play the center position and gets some reps. Otherwise, Mantha will be a good (but not elite) power sniper. Someone like James Neil comes to mind, and I'm not scoffing at that kind of production. Same with Mrazek, I think he'll be good but not "elite". Then again I don't think most goalies who are labeled "elite" actually are (other than Carey Price obviously). I think the two biggest X-factors are Sproul and Frk. Sproul is quietly having a very good rookie season on the blue line and should only keep getting better. Pair that with his tool set and he's got a real nice upside (wouldn't surprise me to see him get up in the 40-50 point range one day). I don't think Frk will be elite either, but with his tool set and size I could see him being a very dangerous 3rd line winger/PP specialist. Someone along the lines of a Michael Ryder type, putting up 15-20 goals in a limited role. That would be huge from a guy nobody thought would even be in the NHL.

Hey, what do you know? Putting Larkin and AA at center led to more offense? Who would have thought?

We have got to be one of the worst passing teams in the NHL. Ugly passing is our hallmark.

Since we're throwing around the names of coaches we're interested in, I'll play too. Top of my list is Todd Richards. He did a lot with a little in Columbus and got fired when he shouldn't have (the Gallant treatment, if you will). His teams play relentless, aggressive, and fast paced. And he did very well developing several young centers (Johansen and Jenner), which appeals to me with Larkin and AA needing to take over in that regard. I'd also be interested in Ralph Kruger, though admittedly I only know him from the World Cup and would need to do more digging before finally endorsing him.

It's a good thing our coach doesn't believe that shots on goal mean anything. I mean he's stated himself that the team doesn't care about shots, just scoring chances. So by that metric we're playing pretty well. Ugh.

ONE TIME THE ******* PUCK!!!