krsmith17

Compare that to an all Ontario team... Seguin - McDavid - Stamkos Tavares - Scheifele - Giroux Perry - Thornton - Spezza Couture - Monahan - Marner Nash - Duchene - Hoffman Pietrangelo - Burns Subban - Doughty Fowler - Ekblad Giordano - Hamilton Murray Talbot

Abdelkader - Kesler - Rust Connor - Larkin - McCarron Boucher - Copp - Watson Porter - Glendening - Condra Motte - Tropp Werenski - Trouba Martinez - Krug DeKeyser - Petry Greene Miller Hellebuyck

Rasmussen plays for the Tri-City Americans of the WHL. This. Svechnikov and Adams both put up great numbers in college last season, but that's where the comparison ends between the two. One was drafted 2 years after he was eligible, in his last year of eligibility, an off the board 6th rounder, while the other is over 3 years younger, put up spectacular numbers as a 16/17 rookie in college, and is expected to go 1 or 2 overall in what's expected to be a great draft class. To expect Adams to become an NHLer some day is one thing, maybe he becomes a decent bottom 6 guy, but I think it's a bit of a stretch to think he could become anything close to a top line winger, playing alongside Mantha and Rasmussen... I really wanted McLeod in last year's draft. Maybe we could send Tatar or Nyquist to New Jersey in a trade that brings McLeod here...

What do we need cap space for this season? Other than re-signing Tatar, which you're advocating trading anyway, we don't need any more cap space this season. People keep referencing the Larkin and Mantha extensions coming up next season. Neither will be an issue. If there's one thing Holland has proven he is very good at, it's re-signing his RFA's. A lot can happen in one year, and there are plenty of other ways to make room under the cap, other than trading one of your better wingers away for draft picks... You don't trade your leading goal scorer in the prime of his career for draft picks. It makes no sense. If we're trading him, and I think we should be shopping him, he needs to be a "hockey trade", bringing in a proven commodity. We can worry about the Larkin and Mantha contracts when the time comes to re-sign them. We could potentially lose Green and his $6M after this season. If Sheahan doesn't have a bounce back season, or he does and we trade him, we could have his $2.075M off the books. Depending on how our goaltending shakes out, we could potentially trade one of Howard ($5,291,667) or Mrazek ($4M). We could also trade a Helm or Ericsson to shed cap space if it came down to it. Also, Weiss' buyout penalty goes down by $900K after this season. Basically we could have an extra $12M+ in cap space freed up after this season, without even taking into account the cap rising. So again, why do we need the cap space this season?

IF Tippett makes the team, I think he will be in the running for the Calder, may even lead all rookies in goals, but I doubt he wins it. I can see one of Hischier or Patrick winning it over him. I would have rathered Tippett over Rasmussen as well, but I'm hoping Big Ras turns out to be the better player. We only have to wait 3-5 years to find out...

To be clear, I don't, nor have I ever wanted to trade Mrazek. I still think (hope) he can reach his full potential. I'm hoping for a huge turnaround season for him this year.

Daley will wear #83, Witkowski will wear #28 and Sproul switches from #48 to #62 (Not that it matters for Sproul being healthy scratched every game....)

I agree with everything except the bolded... I'd trade Athanasiou or Svechnikov in the right deal, but I'm keeping Mantha and Larkin.

I'll ask you again, why would you want to trade guys like Tatar and Mrazek for picks? Because we need cap space? For what? Because we have better players in Grand Rapids? Who? Svechnikov? He might be as good as Tatar in couple years from now. Because the picks are more valuable than the players? They're not. So what? We trade them for a late 1st or early 2nd round pick. Then we hope that whoever we select with those picks, turn out to be as good as the players we're trading away... It makes no sense. If we're trading those types of pieces (Mrazek, Tatar, Nyquist, etc...) it needs to be in a package for a player, not picks...

I'd be okay with that. Trade him by Christmas for an upgrade on D.

A handsome, chiseled version of Harry Potter...

I bet...

I think it would be unlikely but not out of the question. Maybe a team with an awful defense like New Jersey or Buffalo would take a chance on him. Although there are other options available in free agency, like Markov (if he doesn't retire), Franson, Wideman and Michalek. There also may be options coming from Vegas if they're looking to waive or trade some of their defensemen. I still say the best option for us regarding Ericsson, is to trade him. I think a team could be interested in taking him along with a pick or prospect. It's a moot point though because Holland probably still sees him as a top 4 defenseman...

Our blue line is already way over crowded, with 8 defensemen being waiver eligible. There's no way we should be looking at anymore UFA's. There's not a player on the market that would move the needle, and it would just push a(nother) kid out of the lineup, which is counter intuitive to what we should be trying to do... Get younger. The only way we should be looking to upgrade our defense (team), is through trade. A trade should be made, but it won't...

Tatar's arbitration hearing is scheduled for today. I think it gets settled just before, last minute, the same way it happened with Mrazek.

So why trade Nyquist to shed cap and then sign Tatar for even more money and term? That makes zero sense. You want to sign Tatar for $5M X 5. So will you list him with those guys a year from now too? Tatar and Nyquist aren't close to the problem with this team. However, they could be part of the solution if they're (one of them) packaged to land a top pair defenseman via trade. You don't just trade these guys to shed cap, you trade them if you think they can be a part of a package to upgrade your team.

You admitted for the first time that Nyquist is on a reasonable contract, so can you please stop lumping him in with Ericsson, Abdelkader, Helm, and whoever else, saying that we need to "get rid of him", no matter the return... I agree though, I don't want Tatar signed long term at $5.5M or more either.

That makes no sense. You complain all the time that Nyquist is overpaid NOW, not 2 years ago. If it's the going rate now, why do you constantly b**** about his contract? Nyquist is on a very good contract for a complimentary winger. Tatar, being a very similar player, should sign a very similar contract.

So you'd do $5M X 5 for Tatar who has put up 194 points (99 goals, 95 assists) in 345 games, but yet you constantly complain about Nyquist and his terrible contract ($4.75M X 4) who has put up 206 points (88 goals, 118 assists) in 337 games... Great Logic! Also, Athanasiou will likely get more than $1.2M. I'm thinking somewhere around $1.75-2M X 2 years. And you don't need to have 23 players on your opening night roster, that's just the max you can have. Svechnikov needs more time down in Grand Rapids, and Smith is likely at least 2 years away. One more in Guelph and at least one in Grand Rapids...

@LeftWinger Would you sign Tatar to a $5M X 5 year contract?

I know it was a joke, but Petruzzelli (11) is only one letter longer than Zetterberg (10) and is a letter shorter than Konstantinov (12). It's not like his name is John Brackenborough (14!)...

I don't think anyone ever suggested trading Tatar for a draft pick. Anyone that has mentioned trading Tatar or Nyquist, have wanted to trade one of them in a package for a potential top pair (high end player / prospect) defenseman. I'd trade either in a heartbeat for a Trouba type player, or a Bean / Fabbro / Sanheim type prospect.

Yeah, the only player they picked up in the expansion draft that I really like is Theodore, and he was part of a deal, not an actual pick. That was an awful move by Murray that McPhee took full advantage of. Vegas did make some nice picks in their first ever entry draft though, with Glass, Suzuki, Brannstrom and Hague as their first 4 selections. Theodore will likely become a top two, possibly even a legit number one. Glass should become a solid top six center, maybe number one. Suzuki should be a middle six center / winger. And Brannstrom and Hague could become decent top 4 defensemen. Not a terrible young core to start out. Not to mention they should have another 2-3 first round picks (another top 6) again next year, and have some other decent pieces in Shipachyov, Neal, Perron, Marchessault, and Brendan's brother...

No he's not. Zetterberg is the best player on this team. No he's not. Mantha is better so far in his young career, and will be much better going forward. Tatar is a good complimentary winger. If we can keep him at a good price, great. If we can trade him in a package for a top 2 defenseman, even better.

Now if we could somehow land Svechnikov next year...