krsmith17

Smith really impressed me in that Red and White game. His skating was also what was said would hold him back, but seems to be much improved. He had no problem keeping up with Ras and Zadina, and created space for them. I was always hopeful that he'd develop into a solid bottom six winger, but maybe top six isn't so far out of reach anymore...

Fair, but if that's the case, you probably could have stopped after Cholowski, Hronek, Veleno, Svechnikov. What idiot is going to pick Pope, Hicketts, McIsaac, Lindstrom over those guys?...

Veleno. You forgot Smith. I'd put him ahead of a couple on that list. and yeah, I'd put Berggren up there as well.

11. Dan Cleary.

I really think he is, but hope I'm wrong...

Which would be fine if we went with 4 somewhat balanced scoring lines... Abdelkader - Larkin - Mantha Bertuzzi - Zetterberg - Zadina Rasmussen - Nielsen - Vanek Svechnikov - Athanasiou - Nyquist There's no way Glendening and Helm aren't in the lineup every night, unless they're injured though. I just don't want to see Athanasiou with Helm and Glendening all season, which is likely what we'd see if he were centering the 4th line.

I don't see how Athanasiou and Franzen are remotely similar in their style of game. Athanasiou is one of the fastest skaters in the league, has great hands, and a decent shot. Franzen was an average skater, decent hands for a big man, great net-front guy, and a lethal shot. Not very similar at all. In saying that, I don't think it's really fair to compare them at all. Franzen was streaky (most goal scorers are) but when he was on, he was one of, if not the most dominant players in the entire league. Athanasiou can break a game open with his lethal speed, but he hasn't yet been able to dominate a single game, let alone a stretch of games. I believe AA does have the potential to get there. He has all the skill in the world, it's just a matter of putting it all together, and putting in the work to get there. People seem to forget that he's just 23 years old (24 to start this season). Franzen didn't play his first NHL game until he was 26! Let's see where Athanasiou is in a couple years once he matures a little as a player, and (hopefully) develops more of a two-way game.

Happens every training camp... I just hope Zetterberg has one last year in him... I also hope Zadina gets a full year on Hanks wing... I also also hope Z senior helps Z junior win the Calder Trophy that he got robbed of 16 years ago, while Z junior helps Z senior hit the 1000 point milestone.

I like that we have two Mantha's now, but Glendening will not be healthy scratched. Not going to happen. A trade needs to happen or Zadina doesn't make the team.

That's only a 22-man roster (with Franzen on LTIR), which isn't ideal, but manageable, at least to start the season if we're against the cap. But with Frk being waived, who is your other healthy scratch along with Witkowski (who I assume is moved back to D in your scenario)?... None of the guys you'd want to scratch (Glendening, Helm, Abdelkader) will be scratched. In that scenario I think the healthy scratch would come down to Athanasiou or Bertuzzi, which would be terrible. Either a trade (or injury) needs to happen, or there's no room for Zadina...

I'm not sure if a lot of people have really turned on Athanasiou. For me anyway, I just see him as one of our better trade chips. I really like AA, and I'm all for keeping him, but if we can trade him in a package for a young, top 4 (potential top 2) defenseman, I'm all for that too. I don't think in any way that this is a bad deal. Even if Athanasiou plateaus and never scores more than 35 points, this is still a reasonable contract. I still think he has the potential to hit 50+ points, and if he does that in the next two years, this is a great contract, and he'll get a significant raise again in two years from now. I just honestly thought, with the fantastic job Holland does on every single RFA, always signing them to a lower cap hit than I expect, that he would have came in a bit lower. I'm not sure why some think it's a bad deal, or that it will somehow lower his trade value though. If anything I think it raises his trade value. Good signing. I like it.

I don't see how / why Frk would be waived though. Assuming we go with the standard 14/7/2 (23-man) roster, two forwards and one defenseman need to be healthy scratched every night. The most logical choice in my opinion would be Frk, Witkowski and Jensen / Hicketts (Cholowski won't make the team). If you waive Frk, who becomes your regular healthy scratch among forwards with Witkowski? Glendening isn't going to be scratched every night, nor is Helm or Abdelkader. You don't want a young kid up in the press box every night when they can be getting big minutes in Grand Rapids (or junior for that matter). To me, Frk was brought back to be that guy, play a scattered game, and fill in for injuries. Regarding the cap, like I said, I didn't include Franzen's LTIR in my $4.5M. I included Rasmussen and Hicketts, and I came out with $4,598,790 remaining, plus Franzen's $3,954,545, which is still only $8,553,335... I'm not sure where you're getting over $10M...

Yeah, I was expecting more along the lines of $4-4.5M over two years. I don't hate it, but Athanasiou definitely has a lot to prove...

Well we only have approximately $4.5M in cap space remaining (not including Franzen on IR) to sign Larkin and Mantha... There has to be a trade in the works... Doesn't there?

The dumbest GM in the league has just lost his number one defenseman for what could be half of the upcoming season... We also have a number one defenseman (Jonathan Ericsson) on a great contract... We could trade Ericsson to Montreal to replace Weber at a very reasonable price. I'm thinking a 2019 2nd round pick should get it done...

You really don't think a team will massively overpay? I do. Teams that are interested in trading for Karlsson, aren't going to risk waiting until last minute because they know some other team will swoop in and make the trade before they get a chance. Sure, teams should be patient to lower the price, but they're not going to. For the same reason, when a big name free agent hits the market, teams don't all decide as a collective group that they're going to wait it out to avoid overpaying. The first team with the opportunity, signs the player to a massive contract that usually ends up hurting the team long term. A team that is in win-now mode, can afford to take that risk, to hopefully have an opportunity to win a Cup. We're far from win-now mode. Trading for Karlsson would be a bad idea for this team in my opinion.

There's no way a team gets Karlsson without giving up their 2019 first round pick. They're going to want to replenish the pick they lost in the Duchene deal. We're not going to get him with a 2019 2nd, 2020 first, and a couple spare parts. It would likely cost us come combination of 2019 1st, 2019 2nd / 2020 1st, Larkin / Mantha, Hronek. That's way too much to give up for a 28 year old defenseman, for a team that is rebuilding and likely 3+ years away, even if he is signed for 9 years. I agree with those saying that Trouba would be a much more realistic option. He's 4 years younger, and would cost much less. I personally want no part of the Karlsson sweepstakes, and am glad to hear Kenny doesn't either. If he hits free agency, sure, go all in. But trade? No thanks.

If all it took to get Faulk was Svechnikov or Athanasiou and a 2nd or 3rd round pick, like I said, I'd do it in a heartbeat. However, I think it would cost a lot more than that. I think they'd want Mantha or Rasmussen, and for me that would be a Hell No!...

You missed the part where I said "Keep in mind, you want a Witkowski and possibly Frk (unless it's going to be Glendening) in that group of 14 as the two healthy scratches most nights." Glendening isn't going to be a regular healthy scratch, we already went over this. Neither is Helm or Abdelkader or whoever else. We need Witkowski and Frk on the roster as the 13th/14th forwards. Or we need to make a trade (or two). Otherwise, Zadina will be back in Halifax, barring an early injury in training camp...

Yeah, the "thing" being the Canes wanting to reunite the Svech bros. I'm sure they'd entertain the idea, but I doubt he'd be a prime target.

In saying that, if the Canes are selling low on Faulk (I doubt it), and really want Svechnikov (I don't think this is as much of a thing as fans want it to be...), I'd make that trade straight up (even throw in a pick) in a heartbeat.

Yeah, pretty much my thoughts exactly. I was a huge Faulk fan a few years ago, still am, but I don't think it's the ideal move for us right now. If we're trading with Carolina, I'd prefer to go after Bean. He would likely be a fair bit cheaper, under team control, doesn't hit restricted free agency for another 3 seasons, and would likely re-sign at a reasonable cap hit, and is right in that age group with the rest of our young core. He may not ever become as good as Faulk (I think he will), but we wouldn't be paying the high price either.