Jacksoni

I have thought about this situation and the stance of the stakeholders. I predict 2 million x 2 years for AA, give or take 10% and the deal should happen fairly soon. I can entertain bets if someone differs wildly.

If those variables apply when a collision occurs, respect to your street hood equations. Being scientific and all, I would fund you say a couple hundred bucks to get your booty to Stockholm to try that live experiment on yours truly.

Has all the tools, got the mindset. He is however small enough to warrant if it is at all possible. 10 years ago the answer would have been a clear no, 20 years ago he would not have gotten a spot on the farm clubs. So game is changing which favors Hicketts, however the law of force=mass x acceleration (F=MA) still applies. On skates that force is considerable mostly due to higher speeds upon collision. So can he play on the big club regularly? Heck if I know. Only one way to find out. I am predicting he'll get a few games this season to see what's up with that.

Mantha has been hitting the weight room, very nice. Easy to discern. Larkin looks thin though. He will be royally punished if he plays 2c I believe. Well well I may be wrong,

Svechnikov gets the first nod if a top 6 forward goes down, which will happen soon enough sadly. By watching him he's ready and should fill that spot nicely. Kid can play at the top level, thinks the game quick, instinctively. Only worry I have is that he seems a bit careless, might get hurt.

I for one think the title is right on given the history of Cleary on this forum the last few years, with people dreading his return to the Wings. However since now two members asked for it, sure, I'll clarify the title. You don't do embroidery by any chance?

I have seen Dahlin play live twice now. He's 17 and it's his second year in SHL, Sweden's top league. Right now he's about 6'2, 180ish pounds. He'll probably end up 6'3-6'4, 190lbs with about Erik Karlsson's skill set. Think Victor Hedman from Tampa Bay with Karlsson's offensive ability. He'll define whatever team he ends up on for over a decade.

Ok stop arguing you two or you won't get any dessert. *looks at Khan's lines* Hm I gotta watch that second line some. We will loose a lot, might as well get some excitement factor in.

I most certainly agree with this. However there is another bad dimension to this, which is that we only have 2-3 guys with more potential than this 'greek lightning', which in a sense brings him up as a prime subject. This was unheard of some years ago but our roster is in such a bad shape that he is one of the hopes for our future when in the past he would have been protected and not eagerly awaited for, albeit clearly noticed for what he might be possibly be doing in the future. He might crack, he might be a bust. But it's what we got. Can't let him go.

I agree with this. Given the cap, you have play the angles to get ahead. Perhaps a donation to Andreas's grandma using an anonymous third party. I am not being ironic.

My hype meter is completely non-existant. I am merely Hoping that Larkin will show star quality and Mantha will blossom out. Would apply to AA as well if he somehow stays on. That is All. I am sure something nice will happen but right now I can't see it.

This is grim. No other way about it. That's all I have to say until this dust has settled.

Any tangible news on this AA debacle? Been a while now. And we ain't getting any younger, nor is the season starting later. My stance is that we need him on the team, he's young and exciting, not perfect but makes people watch, including me. Has possible star potential (not super). All these points I have made before, I am just reiterating them. Could be that I'm old or trying to assert that this deal is somewhat important in my opinion, going in to LCA.

AA is fast as the wind and has the hands to finish at the goal line. He has The excitement factor, which should play as to the price, raising it in my mind considerably. I can see a team offering him 3 million for 2 or 3 years. Did we suddenly forget that this is entertainment and that the final customer still is the one paying for the National Hockey League? Eat my words if that was to happen. An outcome which would logically lead me start watching the Griffins for a year or two instead of the big club.

Agreed. We need Top talent badly and he doesn't fit the bill. Short of extortion, bribes or murder I don't see it happen though - unless (once again) we draft them. Which is chapter by itself, excessively written about. A rock and a hard place.

He looked pretty good in the international tournament playing for Russia about a year ago. Much better than he had looked playing on the Wings roster. Made me think he'd be much improved for us. It didn't materialize and I lost enthusiasm and had no issue with him leaving us. He'll probably be heading back to the motherland if someone doesn't pick him up, which could happen of course. No worries though, it won't be us that I am sure of.

In a Majority of countries in Africa this dude would be in serious trouble. Every part of his body would be sold at a price higher than gold. Better not travel to much.

I think we'll find out this season where he'll fit in long term. I keep wishing he's like M. Jordan, with a clinically crazy drive to win (and train) which like a force of nature makes him top notch while initially considered high end in the middle of the pack. The more realistic view is what kliq writes and what I agree with so far, most likely a 2c. Good, but not a star. Hope I am wrong.

If you are Bill Berzeench, could you please take his true persona from time to time? I miss some of his comments that made me look at the world slightly differently. As a med student friend of mine (addon: he is a doc now) said late in his education "They are rarely wrong with their initial premises. They just shoot slightly off (in their conclusion) consistently, as if their deductive reasoning was impaired.".

That seems excessive. A little more tact is preferred. How rude. However, you are very much correct. It will certainly be the worst defensive lineup this team has presented in 2 decades at the least. You might as well waive the last pairing and put Hicketts - random AHL complimentary defender there. Things are grim. And we'll see it live soon enough.

Good points. Cut you short but yes I did read it all. With your points in mind, God Damn is he fun to watch on the breakaway though. That's what gets people in to that Little Ceasars Arena, freshly built and all. Everything, with no exception, is worth what a purchaser is willing to pay for it. This team is paid by the attendees. Starts there, trickles down. With that logic he should get paid more than good old Teletubby Sheahan. Would I like him get a lousy salary? No. Why not? He'd slow down a little. Feel some negative thoughts. What I would like is for him to get just enough to be hungry, whatever that amount of dollars that equates to. Same goes if he gets overpaid. He relaxes. Find that sweet spot. "You gotta earn the... bla bla". Lame, but it works.

Take the bike. Yeah take the bike.

I hear you, and I do not disagree to your point. But I believe we are using different glasses here, you are looking at the overall picture of the Maple leafs over say almost 10 years. I am looking at the state of the Maple leafs 3 seasons ago, which was the statement I replied to. And comparing them to now. Backing 3 years the Maple leafs were scrubs, with little to no chance chance of making the playoffs, and if they by some stroke of luck were to make it they would be brushed off by almost any team they were to face. The picture today is different. They have our coach and an intelligent, veteran and battle hardened back end. They have superstars not even in their prime, most notably in Matthews, complemented by budding stars in for example Nylander just to mention one. They shook it up in the playoffs this year and in my opinion you could see what is to come, this and many following seasons. They will finish in a playoff spot in our division for many years. I would argue that they did retool, not rebuild, as good as any team could have possibly managed to do in 3 years. Exceedingly, in this case I would argue that their retooling exceeds the traditional notion of the word, closing in on, although not quite reaching what is normally mentioned as rebuild, given all the factors mentioned above.

I would have to agree.

I'll fill every other position with lots of Sheahans if we get these two. Don't get into how to do it practically.