mackel

Lane Lambert was floated as a coaching possibility... which may explain why Blashill still has a job. Lambert is an assistant now and could really only be hired in the offseason. Which makes Blashill a "grocery stick".

This is painful... but it does highlight how well Bernier has played despite his so so stats. Saw our lineup on Instagram and a damn near cried. HF we're bad.

Whats with the Bernier hate? I think he's exceptionally well... he's kept us afloat in games we've had no business being in... Howard on the other hand has been a train wreck.

I think what he's saying is given a choice of a short/cheap extension of Bernier (1-2 years) or signing Holtby for 4-6 years for the salary he'll likely get, he'd roll the dice on Bernier. I tend to agree with that...

I think we have our old guy for the 1A/1B tandem with Bernier... we now need the younger guy who could take over as a solid #1 in 2-3 years.

I don't think either player is on 3/4 of the rosters in the NHL. We happen to be in the 1/4 where they are because we simply don't have any better options. These guys are placeholders, that's it. But I agree, by the time we can replace them, they will be history. I doubt Yzerman would think twice about having a 4/5 million per year AHLer for a couple of seasons.

We need a bold move for a goalie... Georgiev or that KHL guy the Leafs really want (Timur Bilyalov)... that's an absolute necessity moving forward. Howard is clearly done, Bernier has played very well but nobody can see that much rubber and stay sane. We literally don't have a minor league goalie who'll be a player in the NHL for 2-3 seasons if ever. Its downright ugly!

@ChristopherReevesLegs @krsmith17 thanks for the entertainment.

On the bright side Hutchinson is getting lit up tonight and Bernier was "sick" please god can we get a 2nd rounder and or a decent prospect.

Totally off topic... but to those folks who watch the Griffins, is/was Hirose hurt? it doesn't seem like he's played many games since being sent down.

Never say never we might... I concede it's not overly likely but its possible. I think taking bad contracts is a very viable option... that helped Toronto stock the cupboards. Their were a few people who were adamant adding Karlsson would put us in the playoff picture along with further development of our own guys and Taro Hirose looked like a 2nd liner etc.

I'd be 100% in favor or trading Bernier if a team cam calling. Howard/_______ to end the season with the best lotto odds.

Well it seems we were on the same page about Karlsson. Lol

Historically yes BUT his game has fallen off a cliff... That's a spot to field test someone else.

Nielson in the shootout? And people defend this coach? Wowzers.

I want to win the lottery... It's as likely to happen as a 100pt Larkin season.

Can we add Georgiev to our wish list and toss another pick maybe our own 3rd which is comparable to a late 2nd??? Please can we?

It's not a given that he will continue to improve. Larkin has the best linemates available to him and the ice time of a 1C since he's the best we've got... you can't have it both ways here, he gets the opportunity because of the crap team he's on it's not the crap team that's inhibiting him.

I think that's exactly what I said I wouldn't do considering the unseemly gloating that's resulted from this "moist spell".

I'm don't know what CRL thinks and I wouldn't be so ignorant as to assume I do. As for this stretch of play... I have to say Zadina looks not bad... but let's not celebrate too early. Lots of players have looked good for periods of time too... As for the term "bust" it seems to mean different things to different people. To be crystal clear I'm predicting Zadina is/will be a bust. Ie that we picked the "potential 3rd over all guy" who wont live up to that hype. He might be, maybe possibly if @krsmith17 says his prayers and eats his vitamins be a Vanek type player in his prime... still if he does manage that it's still far short of the hype. I'm done talking Zadina... my position is clear. He'll live up to one of our respective opinions in due time but to make that call we're looking 2 seasons down the road... between now and then short stints of good or bad play is just that.

Dude he's a 2C on most teams, a toss up 1C on a few and a 1C on teams that don't actually have a 1C. He'd be 3rd on the depth chart at center on a handful of teams... the only teams where he'd be in the role of 1C are teams as thin at center as we are. If at the end of our rebuild Larkin is our clear cut 1C, ie we don't have another player essentially the same where we platoon two very good 2Cs on the top two lines or we have a true 1C and he's able to fill the 2C role we're pretenders not contenders.** **this is assuming he doesn't have another layer of development and we're essentially seeing more/less prime Larkin. ------ EDIT: Of course this is my opinion guided by statistics of course BUT unless Larkin was actually on each roster it's impossible to factually where each coach would place him.

You didn't make any points you continued with your incorrect comparison by cherry picking a few stats here and there and presenting them as a complete picture... its nonsense that didn't rise to the level of a reply. Larkin is a 2C, I've gone team by team and made my assessment... he's a 1C on teams as thin as ours at center and on really good teams he slides to 3C. I'll concede a few spelling errors right off the bat to save you from pointing them out and thinking you're making some sort of point. By Team: ANA 1. Getzlaf/Larkin (Leaning Getzlaf for now... age advantage Larkin) ARI Platoon (w/ Schmaltz) BOS 1. Bergeron 2. Krejci 3. Larkin (May move up due to age) BUF 1. Eichel 2. Larkin CAL Platoon (w/ Monahan) CAR 1. Aho 2. Larkin CHI 1. Larkin 2. Towes COL 1. MacKinnon 2. Kadri/Larkin (Coaches Decision) CLB Platoon (w/ PL Dubois) DAL 1. Seguin 2. Hintz/Larkin (Coaches Decision) DET 1. Larkin 2. Warm Body EDM 1. McDavid 2. Nugent-Hopkins 3. Larkin FLA 1. Barkov 2. Trocheck/Larkin (Coaches Decision) LA 1. Kopitar 2. Larkin MIN Platoon (w/ Staal) MON Platoon (w/ Domi) NASH 1. Duchene 2. Johansen/Larkin (Leaning Larkin) NJ 1. Larkin Soon to be replaced by both Hischier & Hughes NYI 1. Barzal 2. Nelson/Larkin (Leaning Larkin) NYR Platoon (w/ Zabanejad) OTT 1. Larkin 2. Warm Body PHI 1. Couturier/Larkin (Leaning Couturier) PIT 1. Crosby 2. Malkin 3. Larkin SJ 1. Platoon (w/ Couture and Hertl) STL 1. O'Reilly 2. Larkin TB 1. Point 2. Stamkos 3. Larkin TOR 1. Matthews 2. Tavares 3. Larkin Van 1. Petterson 2. Horvat/Larkin (Leaning Larkin) VGK Platoon (w/ Karlsson) WAS 1. Kusnetsov 2. Backstrom 3. Larkin WIN 1. Scheifele 2. Larkin

Funny that's what you're doing with this Bergeron comparison... but it's easier to throw shade when you're clearly wrong than admit it... Larkin is a very good 2C thrust into a 1C role... end of story. They can't tolerate having their hype train positions challenged... and any conformation of their bias is celebrated. It's a wonder after last night's game some of these goofs aren't expecting Neilson to have a resurgence and be a legit 2C again... he did afterall have 2 goals.

PPG: Staal 0.57 Larkin 0.67 Bergeron 0.79 Closer to Staal than Bergeron. Staal is a responsible 2C, Bergeron is an elite defensive 1C, Larkin is again closer to Staal. So do you want to continue looking like an idiot or are you ready to go sulk in the corner.