Dabura

Same, lol. I agree with everything he's saying...and at the same time I want to scream at him. Fortunately, the young talent we currently have in the system is generally a cut above what we're used to. If Hronek turns out to be a home run (and he does seem to be trending that way), that gives us something concrete to work with and build around.

Admittedly, I'm not overly familiar with Fox. I know he has scoring upside and is a natural PP quarterback, but that's about it. That being said, I'm guessing "a pick and a prospect" means something more substantial than, say, a 2019 2nd and E. Svechnikov -- especially if this is going to be a bidding war situation. We don't have a late 1st and I'm not sure we have a prospect that's both extremely appealing and expendable. I agree that we should be looking at guys like Fox, I'm just not sure our asset pool is rich enough for hunting expeditions. The upcoming draft might finally get us there tho.

Can Red Wings realistically improve defense in 2019-20? [MLive]

Part of me wonders if the Caps will struggle with fatigue in these playoffs. They play a pretty taxing brand of hockey, they're coming off the deepest postseason run of most of the players' careers...

That nose has seen some s***.

Give him a mustache and he's basically Quenneville.

Rod the Bod must've given one hell of a pregame speech.

Ovi vs Malkin would be an interesting fight. Then again, it's Malkin...so he probably just literally stabs Ovi in the back with a literal katana. Where'd he get the katana? I dunno, it's Malkin, I just assume he has a katana on hand at all times.

If he did that to Crosby, I'm pretty sure he doesn't leave the ice surface with his head attached to the rest of his body.

Holy crap, Season 2019-20 looks amazing!

Wings-Caps is the new Wings-Avs, change my mind. It's a shame the 'canes don't have a bit more firepower and muscle up front. I can imagine them being a real threat in a couple of years.

From what I'm reading, sounds like Svechnikov wanted to go with Ovi. I can't recall any instances where Crosby straight-up said "Let's dance!" to a maniac like Ovechkin and really, truly meant it. There've probably been some instances, but I'm not a Crosby historian so I wouldn't know.

yikes

come home stevie

Different energy. That was old-people-clinging-to-relevance energy.

I'm just happy to see the Vegas experiment working. This is good for hockey. The Sens are bad for hockey and they should feel bad.

F Yep, short shelf life. Same deal with Ken Hitchcock. Which makes the way the Jackets are playing right now all the more impressive, imo.

Didn't realize they were so strapped for cap space. lmao

The way this series is going, Bolts fans would probably gladly take the four 1st-round picks or whatever the compensation would be for Point. Roman Reigns did nothing wrong.

Wanna hear a joke? The Pittsburgh Penguins.

I mean, I get what you're saying, but I think you're stretching on this point. The last team to win the Cup before the cap was implemented was...the Tampa Bay Lightning. Even if I grant that Tampa and Columbus meeting in the playoffs couldn't have been a thing three decades ago and certainly couldn't have become a big story three decades ago (note: I'm not granting these things), I'm not sure that really has much to do with parity and the salary cap. Tampa's as good as they are largely because they were bad for a few years and reaped the benefits in the draft. Columbus is riding an all-in trade deadline haul. You could say the Lightning were able to keep Stamkos because of the realities of the cap world, but I could point to favorable taxes... https://hockey-graphs.com/2019/01/08/how-much-do-nhl-players-really-make-part-2-taxes/ I know all of the pro-cap arguments. I know you can point to something and say, "Cap!" And, well, fair enough. But I'm still not entirely convinced that we're seeing this explosion of new realities and new possibilities and it's all because of the cap system. I think to a large extent we're just seeing the NHL arriving at a place where it probably would've arrived (more or less) without the cap. I don't think "pseudo-parity" is an entirely inappropriate label for what we have today.

Gonna be weird when we trade up to get Spencer Knight with our first pick.

Nah, I'm all for talking s***. It's a big part of what makes sports fandom so great. Which is why I'm doing it and why I'm not saying you should be silenced or banned or punished in any way. (How noble and merciful of me, I know.) I'm just meeting you on your level. If you pop into a thread and take some potshots and I think your game is weak, I'm going to challenge you and call you a dingus. That being said...you seem to believe 1) this kind of series we're seeing wouldn't have been a big story 30 years ago, and 2) the salary cap is a big reason why this series is a reality. Your own words: " [ . . . ] the entire hockey world is currently talking about a series being played between a team from Tampa Bay and a team from Columbus. 30 years ago a series between these two teams would be an afterthought. Today it's the best story of the playoffs (so far)." This makes me feel like either you're arguing in bad faith (which, I mean, ok, fair enough), or you really don't know what you're talking about. In any case, I've said my piece, so I'll go ahead and drop this. Sorry for derailing the thread, folks.

Just another thing Little Gary Bettman has taken from us. smdh.

Oops, I just saw you posted this news in the goalie thread. Sorry, m8.