Dabura

Oshie's out indefinitely: https://www.nhl.com/news/tj-oshie-out-indefinitely-for-capitals-wont-play-game-5-against-hurricanes/c-306897762?tid=306191616 That's a big loss for the Caps. Oof. Is it just me or did each team's luck turn when Ovi took down Svechnikov? In hindsight, maybe Ovi really shouldn't have fought the kid. Doesn't really give Caps Nation much to cheer about (congrats, your 300-pound gorilla took down a rookie who'd never fought an NHLer) and very much DOES give Hurricanes Nation something to rally around.

Does seem that way. I think it's just that sense of nearly-perpetual futility that holds them down and prevents them from really growing their fan base. String together some playoff appearances and make some noise in them and I think business will boom. They'll never be a top market, but I think they can be much bigger than they've been. Star power is the real key, I guess. They've lacked it, they've needed it, and now they might finally be getting it with guys like Aho (still not really a household name...yet) and Svechnikov. Even in '06 they were basically a misfit blue-collar Cinderella team that did things by committee.

The great irony, of course, is that everyone took one look at last season's Vegas roster after the expansion draft and said they were going to be historically awful. That's why I wouldn't expect Seattle to have the same success straight out of the gate. GMs are probably going to be more careful and conservative re: the expansion draft. Teams aren't going to take them as lightly as they probably took the Knights. Of course, again, everyone thought last season's Vegas team was going to be terrible, so maybe it doesn't even matter how the expansion draft goes. Maybe there's just some weird cosmic energy that comes with being an expansion team in this day and age. And if that's the case and Seattle has a Vegas-like first run, I guess I'd expect some owners to be a bit miffed. They'd have no one to blame but themselves, though. They own Bettman, so they own all the league's successes and failures and controversies.

I'm guessing he takes a GM job elsewhere at some point. Yzerman said the advisor thing didn't feel right, that he missed GMing. I'm assuming Holland will go through the same thing. He does love Detroit and the Red Wings tho. And he's not facing the family situation that Yzerman was facing. So who knows at this point.

I picked Nashville to win this series in 5. As with NYI-PIT and TBL-CBJ, I'm happy I was wrong. Nashville's forward group is even more boring than ours. Go Stars.

That doesn't sound stupid at all; it's perfectly rational to have faith in Yzerman. He did a great job in Tampa. He knows what the Wings organization is all about. He has a bigger love and deeper appreciation for the Winged Wheel than 99.9% of the people on this planet have. I believe the Wings are in very good hands. I just hope people aren't expecting miracles. Like you said, and like Yzerman himself said, it's going to take some time.

To be fair, everyone in the NHL is a ginger. You think I'm joking, but when the eventual Cup champions do all their victory lap stuff on the ice with their helmets off, watch closely and you will see nothing but gingers. It's disgusting and infuriating.

I don't buy that Yzerman has proven to be the superior GM. I don't buy that Yzerman taking over radically alters the calculus of the rebuild and "puts the Wings back on track." I DO feel Yzerman taking over is an entirely positive thing. At worst, it's business as usual, at least for his first year or two. (See: Yzerman signing off on the Blashill extension, which, to me, says he's not going to come in like a wrecking ball.) Here's the thing that really excites me, beyond the warm and fuzzy feelings about The Captain coming home and all that: We don't know what we're getting. We don't know what a 21st century DRW franchise managed by someone not named Ken Holland looks like. This has ship has been captained by Ken Holland for an entire generation. What happens when he's no longer at the helm? We're going to find out. And that, my friends, is a very HYPE! thing.

Understandable.

@ChristopherReevesLegs get in here!

The HYPE! spreadeth.

HYPE!

Amateur scouting is one area where I absolutely give the edge to Yzerman & co. over Holland & co., so I'm good with this.

WOW! Understatement! lol

I read somewhere -- can't remember where -- that Yzerman's been scouting Byram as well. It's probably just him being thorough so that he's prepared for anything. (Wouldn't surprise me to see the Bolts trade into the top 10.)

I think they're good for hockey if they're a really good team. Their problem is that they're never a really good team. Hopefully they've turned a corner. How the Carolina Hurricanes reinvented hockey in North Carolina, and what's next [ESPN]

I've gotta think Brind'Amour is using the Jackets' triumph as inspirational material, maybe also the Isles' triumph. "Why not us?" Imagine not having any of those three teams -- Caps, Bolts, Pens -- in the second round. lol

Nope, tied at 2. Still impressive tho.

Cam Robinson's 2019 NHL Draft Rankings - April 2019 [DobberProspects] (Kokkonen @ 35. w00t w00t)

Nice! That's pretty much how I feel, and I'm sure many scouts feels the same way. Guess the question is "Do Chicago, Colorado, and LA feel that way?"