kipwinger

Why can nobody on our team one-time a puck?

Wouldn't it be nice if we had a monster right handed shot on the powerplay point? Too bad I have no idea where to find one of those...ugh.

How can our powerplay be this terrible? I don't get it.

Well I've liked the Nyquist-AA-Vanek line at least.

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 5th in the Eastern Conference, and having played only 26 games have the best win percentage in the league right now. Given that this is true, I have a pretty hard time believing that the Wings are as bad as they are because of a mediocre roster. We also trail Ottawa and New Jersey as well. We may not be a Cup contender, but this roster is capable of more than it's giving right now. You cannot convince me that Columbus, New Jersey, and Ottawa have much (if at all) better rosters than we do.

I mean, we're not a very good team WITHOUT them at center, so what's the downside of playing them there? Both Larkin and AA have played center their whole careers. They've been top centers in every respective league they've played in so far. There's no reason to assume they'd be better on the wing in the NHL without ever giving them significant time down the middle. Also, we're likely going to miss the playoffs anyway (with Z, Neilsen, Glen, Sheahan, Helm) as regular centers. So why not see what the kids can do at their natural positions, get them some experience, and at best improve on what we're doing now? Or at WORST miss the playoffs like we're probably going to do anyway, gain the aforementioned experience for Larkin and AA, and get a better draft pick? Edit: Also, in tonight's game we're dressing Ott and Sheahan at center. Surely Larkin and AA are better options? And given that center is the more important position I think the relative gain there outweighs the relative loss of either guy on the wing.

AA has hardly played any center in the NHL, less than a couple full games, so he's obviously been better on the wing. But that doesn't mean that's where he should be playing. He AND Larkin are our most offensively dynamic players. AA is probably even better than Larkin is (offensively) but Blash won't give him the same opportunity for some reason. It's extremely important that both turn into top 1 and 2 centers over the coming years and they aren't going to do that by never playing center (for the record I'd have Svech playing center too in GR). At the end of the day I want the puck on the stick of the guys most able to make something happen with it. Put them both in the middle, let them get their reps, and if we miss the playoffs then so be it. At least they'll grow as players. Neilsen, Helm, Z, Sheahan, Glendening aren't the future of this organization down the middle, AA and Larkin are, and we're retarding that future by not allowing it to develop. I'd do something like this with all healthy. Nyquist-Larkin-Vanek Z-AA-Mantha Tatar-Neilsen-Abby Glen-Helm-Sheahan/Jurco

Lol. Ok.

I wish Blashill would get his head out of his ass and get AA (and Larkin) at center where they belong. His two dynamic players are playing on the wing on depth lines. It's unreal.

Jesus Christ I want to punch Jeff Blashill every time I see his lineups. Just got back from a long work trip and turned the game on, don't even know why I bothered.

I'm not opposed to relieving Blashill if this team continues to under perform, but not for Gallant lol. He's an old school, conservative, coach whose only NHL coaching success came after he walked on to a team that Dale Tallon had already STACKED for him. So what if he was a Jack Adams nominee, Bob Hartley actually won the Jack Adams and nobody confuses him with a good coach (same with John Tortorella). Gallant's done jack s*** in 5 seasons as an NHL head coach. This is just more "grass is greener" stuff from our (legitimately) pissed of fans. Gallant is no answer. We should be trying to find the next Jon Cooper or Mike Sullivan. Not some Canadian dinosaur.

He reminds me a little bit of Abby. He's a rough, physical, guy and he can step over the line on occasion, but I've never considered him "dirty" per se. I realize it's an arbitrary distinction, but I've never seen him look to injure guys the way some do.

I've actually always really liked Emelin and watched him throughout his career. I thought he was one of the better clean hitters in the game. He definitely doesn't have a history of playing dirty though he was very reckless last night.

If we're out of playoff contention by the deadline I'd like to see us explore trade talks on all the guys I mentioned above. In addition, I'd move Dekeyser, Svechnikov, and a 2nd for Dougie Hamilton. Losing Svech would suck, but we've got a ton of wingers. It's an organizational strength. The only thing I absolutely wouldn't do is trade our 1st rounder if we're having a draft lottery kind of season. Trade for Hamilton and put yourself in the best possible position to draft a high 1st round center.

If it looks like we're a playoff bubble team, or if we're out of the picture by the trade deadline, I'm taking offers on any UFA to be, any veteran, and any underperformer. That means Jurco, Sheahan, Ott, Smith, Vanek, Green, and Neilsen. You have to. If we're out of the playoffs this season we are obviously going to need to rebuild going forward. Given that we'll be a lottery team we'll want to bank as many picks as possible this season in order to have the flexibility to move up in the draft. Say you're drafting 8th overall and you got a 1st for Vanek and a 2nd for Smith (not unreasonable given what Kris Russell got last season). Move that extra 1st and the 2nd and you may be able to move into the top 5. Lots of good centers going in the first part of the draft this year.

Yeah, Tatar's play this season has definitely worked him down the depth chart, but selling low on a guy like him right now is silly. He's a good player. With AA healthy I'd think about something like this though. Nyq-Larkin-Vanek Z-AA-Mantha Tatar-Neilsen-Abby Jurco-Glen-Sheahan

I don't consider Hall a "superstar". I don't even consider Lundquist one. But I also realize it's an arbitrary distinction.

I genuinely don't know what his problem is. He's done these boneheaded things over and over for a couple of years now and I've never quite understood them but kept giving him the benefit of the doubt. But at some point results speak for themselves. If his plan was working we wouldn't look as miserable as we do because, again, while not the MOST skilled team in the league we're not as hapless as we look each night. For instance, I've been yelling at my TV for several games now because Blash has Sproul and Green on the PP together (along with Vanek now). It's ridiculous. All it does is ensure what one of the two defenseman can't use their shot from the most effective area to shoot from. I thought I was crazy until the commentators said something about it last night. But even then it was "oh look at all our righties on the same PP unit. How things have changed durrrr hurrrr". Also, I have no idea why in hell we don't use a 2-1-2 forecheck. We're one of the fastest teams in the league and we're soooo conservative. Using the following forward lines you could forecheck Larkin/Nyquist, Tatar/AA, Neilsen/Abby, and Glen/Helm. That's a SUPER fast team. Nyquist-Larkin-Vanek Tatar-AA-Mantha Z-Neilsen-Abby Glen/Jurco-Helm-Sheahan

While I agree that having superstar players in their prime is a HUGE factor, I don't think that's why we're as bad as we currently look. Check out some of the teams out performing us right now. Columbus, New Jersey, Carolina, Ottawa, NYR. Not a lot of star power there. Aside from Karlsson I'd say there are no "superstars" in the bunch. Maybe Lundquist, but Jimmy is playing just as well as he is. I think this pretty squarely falls on Blashill's shoulders. I don't think he optimizes our lineup when healthy (Green AND Sproul on the same PP unit), he doesn't play at all to our team's strengths (we're fast but don't forecheck), and our team is wildly undisciplined (turnovers, icings, bad line changes, etc.). Maybe we're not a top seed with a different coach, but we should be better than this with the talent we have.

Forgive my ignorance, but what reason is that?

You've found pretty much everything I read. As I said in the first post, Friedman speculated (I don't even consider speculation a rumor). However I saw today that both McKenzie and Dreger said he's been "on the block" for a while.

I honestly don't know. He scored 43 points for them last season, and his advanced numbers are excellent, so it's not like he's played bad. He's also 23 years old and like 6'6 and 210 lbs. I'm baffled why they'd be looking to move him. But if you're Detroit you've gotta look hard at this. Dekeyser isn't playing too well, and Kronwall legitimately could (speculation) retire soon if his knee stays this bad. Even with as good as Sproul has looked you've got to take a run at Hamilton if he's available.

Didn't see it posted elsewhere, but did anyone else see the "Dougie Hamilton to Detroit" trade speculation from Elliotte Friedman today? Pure speculation, but Friedman does get quite a lot right. For those not familiar with him, he was the one who broke the "Datsyuk retiring" story a month before Datsyuk acknowledged it. I'd give Dekeyser + Svech + 2nd for Hamilton.

My preference would be something like this with everyone healthy: Nyq-Neilsen-Vanek Tatar-Larkin-Abby Z-AA-Mantha Bertuzzi-Helm-Sheahan Jurco Smith-Green DK-Sproul Kronwall-Ouellet Ericsson Win or lose with it, but get Larkin and AA at the center positions where they belong. And get the best possible puck moving defense corps on the ice permanently.

I know. A 5-1 win in which their entire top six looked abysmal. You can't expect defensemen to score hat tricks too often. Nor your 3rd line to continue to be the different maker all season. We need our top six to be good. They aren't...yet.