krsmith17

Where he is tonight? Absolutely nothing. Right where he should be. I was referring to the past few games where he was playing on the top line with Larkin and Bertuzzi. Nielsen and Hirose are playmakers sure, but not very good ones... I'd go with... Bertuzzi - Larkin - Perlini Athanasiou - Filppula - Mantha Doesn't - Really - Matter Who - Givesa - F*** Yes.

F*** off with no offense Helm (I know he has 4 goals this season) and Erne in the top six. Give Perlini a shot up there...

Except, the more they play, the more their lack of ability is exposed and their stock plummets...

No. Seider's ceiling is much higher. I think Veleno has as good a chance to become a 2nd line center as Seider does to become a legit number one, stud defenseman (ceiling). I also think Veleno has as good a chance to become a middle six center as Seider does to become a top pair defenseman (floor). I can see Seider becoming a Josi type defenseman. I can see Veleno becoming a Nugent-Hopkins type center...

I know what you meant, but you don't "know" that... No more than I "know" that Veleno will be a 2C... We hope both players hit their ceilings... I think they will. You're just not as high on Veleno as I am, which is fine.

No.

Ummm okay? I do... I also "hope" we win the draft lottery. I also "hope" we're in the playoffs by 2022 (or sooner).

Krug will be 29, on the downswing of his career. He is going to get massively overpaid. No thanks! Seider should be a legit top pairing defenseman. Not sure if he'll be a top three defenseman all time though... I hope Cholowski becomes prime Green, but I wouldn't bank on it. I think Hronek will be better than prime Kronwall. Hicketts sucks. McIlrath sucks more...

Isn't that all we have?...

Where is Pietrangelo? Also, No.

Top 2 pick - 2020 Veleno NHL 2C - 2021 Hope that clears things up for you...

Aaawww s***... We're about to go on a winning streak...

I will continue to say it until I'm finally right... Srsly tho, THIS is the year...

Hicketts has as good a shot to become Krug, as McIlrath does to become Pietrangelo...

Lafreniere is the jackpot, but Byfield would be a great consolation prize... I'd be more than okay with either of those guys.

Yea... No.

And become what? I'd be okay with re-signing Hicketts, but only as a depth defenseman. I don't think he'll ever be a mainstay in an NHL team's top 6...

That's why he said *top 5*, not top 3... If we finish no better than 30th overall, we're guaranteed a top 5 pick. This is the year we get a top 2 pick though. It has to happen...

Huh? You think Hicketts should be re-signed? For what? Grand Rapids depth?

What would it take to get Provorov out of Philadelphia? Or Heiskanen out of Dallas? I know it's a major pipedream (never going to happen), but imagine either of those guys on the top pair with Sieder for the next 12+ years...

2021-22 Players still under contract... Larkin, Nielsen, Abdelkader, Veleno, Zadina, DeKeyser, Seider, McIsaac, Larsson, Fulcher RFA's that will be extended... Mantha, Bertuzzi, Athanasiou, Rasmussen, Svechnikov, Hronek, Cholowski RFA's that might be extended... Perlini, Hirose, Erne, Kuffner, Turgeon, Pearson, Smith, Bowey, Lindstrom, Kaski RFA's that shouldn't be extended... Ehn, de la Rose, Hicketts, Saarijarvi UFA's that might be re-signed... Glendening, Howard / Bernier UFA's that shouldn't be re-signed... Helm, Filppula, Green, Daley, Ericsson, Nemeth, Biega All LTIR contracts and buy-outs will be off the books by this time as well... Zetterberg, Franzen, Weiss, Ouellet Nielsen will be in the final year of his contract, but I think (hope) he will be moved by then. Hopefully sooner than later... Abdelkader will be in the final two years of his contract, and he'll likely play it out as the 12th / 13th forward... There will likely be a significant trade and / or free agent signing in the next couple years, but that being too difficult to predict, this is what I can see without any big moves... Bertuzzi - Larkin - Zadina Lafreniere - Veleno - Mantha Svechnikov - Rasmussen - Athanasiou Smith - Turgeon - Glendening Abdelkader / Pearson / Kuffner DeKeyser - Seider Cholowski - Hronek McIsaac - Bowey Lindstrom / Kaski Howard Larsson

I know that the SHL and Liiga are better than the CHL, but neither are playing in the top leagues over there. They're both playing U20, which is a tier below the men's leagues over there. I'm thinking the SuperElit and Jr A SM-Liiga may be a step below the CHL, but I'm not sure...

Yeah, I'm not going to put too much weight in the +/- of two of the younger players in the league. Veleno wouldn't even be eligible to play in the AHL if it weren't for the exceptional status. Of course it would be nice for both of them to get those numbers up, but I'm looking at overall production and even more than that, how they look on the ice. The way Veleno has been playing the past few games reminds me a lot of the way Athanasiou has been playing early on this season. He's been making things happen offensively, he and his linemates just haven't been capitalizing on their opportunities. Athanasiou has also fallen victim of the atrocious +/- stat (-18 through 13 games... woof...). I don't think Athanasiou has been bad, he's just been snake bitten. Like Veleno, he's been creating opportunities for himself and his linemates, but nothing seems to be going in. Zadina is starting to heat up, and I'm sure Veleno isn't far behind.

Surprised this wasn't discussed anywhere, but what the f*** are these lines? Nielsen and Filppula on the same line? Glendening centering Athanasiou and Hirose? de la Rose in the lineup? Daley in over Bowey? I know this is going to be a painful season, but come the f*** on... This is terrible...