Dabura

PP (for my bunghole) Hope we don't get SHUT OUT

The Flames are so positionally sound, great puck support.

Sup loo. You didn't miss anything re: the Ducks game. Both teams played miserable hockey and the boards were down so we couldn't even commiserate about it here.

Jimmy stones Tkachuk!

I think AA has successfully deked around a defenseman maybe once or twice in his entire NHL career. Needs more Brett Lebda, imho.

Verdict: Wings whites + retro Flames reds = '80s goodness. I approve. And the one Wing from Calgary is named Green. Go home, universe, you're drunk.

LATE NIGHT HYPE! LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Welcome aboard!

Alas... They should just go back to that old look for home and away. I guess I don't mind their curent whites, but I've never liked the home reds with the black logo. "Yo, why's their logo black? Is fire black?" "Well, you see, black is the opposite of white, so it symbolizes HEY LOOK OVER THERE [runs away]"

Have fun!

Re: Lindstrom, I think it's the lack of points and flash. I haven't seen much of him, but my impression is he's projecting as a quality two-way/shutdown guy. We could certainly use a Mattias Ekholm type.

Shoots right, good skater, good puck-mover, right side of 30, can play in all situations, eats a lot of minutes on a bad Wings blue line and has played surprisingly well on said blue line. You might be surprised what that kind of defenseman can fetch at the deadline. Though, yeah, I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Am I alone in thinking Jensen might be able to get us a 3rd or possibly even a 2nd?

I could maybe get behind $5.25M x 3, assuming he continues producing like he has this season and also assuming we're not going anywhere for at least another season. I don't like those assumptions, though. I guess the most scathing thing I could say about a moderately big Nyquist extension is that it doesn't seem all that necessary and there's probably a lot of room there for regret. Word. Mantha and Athanasiou are the new Nyquist and Tatar. Let's continue phasing out the old guard and continue stockpiling picks and building for the future. PICK HYPE!

Keep an eye on Bobby Brink and Connor McMichael.

Also, with the forward depth in this draft class, I wouldn't be at all surprised if a Veleno type slips to the end of the 1st round again.

If what the beat writers are saying is true and a Nyquist extension would look something like $5M+ x 3/4 years, I don't want him back. He's having a career year in a contract year, as a 29-year-old. Last season he put up 40 points...

["the most annoying sound in the world" scene from Dumb and Dumber but it's "the most depressing sight in the world" and it's just Lloyd writing the names of our defensemen]

"Let's acknowledge that the Smith trade was a good one and let's discount the fantastic Tatar trade "because luck" and let's ignore that he's gotten pretty good value for middling players and let's ignore that if Green doesn't get hurt late last season we probably go into the 2018 draft with three 1sts and let's ignore that the whole problem with this team is the lack of really sexy assets/trade chips. Holland is garbage and there's no reason at all to believe he can get anything of significance in a trade this season, because he is garbage. I'm not biased, I'm just stating facts." Excellent talk. Another defenseman goes out with an injury. Been this way the past 90 years, don't know why this month should be any different.

(And lazy)

I was under the impression we were talking about trade deadline deals. My argument is "Look at the trades he's made over the past couple of seasons. Where's the basis for saying it'll be a miracle if Holland gets anything of significance in this season's trades?" Your argument is "Holland suxxx ass." Good talk.

Don't you be talking s*** on Mountain Dew!

"That was just dumb luck!" is a pretty convenient stance. Not that I entirely disagree that the stars aligned for him on that Tatar trade. But, I mean, c'mon. "It'll be a miracle if Holland gets anything of significance" is a dumb take. If anything's working against Holland, it's the fact that we just don't have many sexy assets. It's not a matter of Holland refusing to move players, nor is it a matter of Holland losing all the trades he does make. He got a 3rd for Jurco, who was a fringe roster player and is now out of the NHL entirely. He got a 3rd and a roster player for Sheahan, who was coming off a season where he scored two goals (both in the final game of the season). He got a 4th for Mrazek when all the signs were pointing to no one wanting Mrazek *for free*. He got market value for Vanek. He might've traded Green had Green not gotten hurt.

Good call. Lazy mistake on my part. Agreed. Really, it's all about expectations/desires. If you expect or desire Holland to move out all the veterans, you're in for a world of disappointment. If you're expecting Evan Bouchard and a 1st and a bunch of other high picks, you will be angry. If you're expecting a 2nd for Nyquist and a 4th for Daley, that's realistic and it leaves some room for you to be pleasantly surprised. Personally? Holland's exceeded my expectations re: trades and returns in each of the past two seasons. With Holland himself having all but stated that this season was always going to be a throwaway season and next season is when he wants to start to see a serious turnaround, I think there's reason to be pretty optimistic. I won't be surprised if he goes HAM on this s***. Not expecting it to play out that way (re: this season's trade deadline trades), but I certainly wouldn't rule it out. Here are some (rhetorical?) question for folks: Do you think the DRW brain trust wants to go through another miserable season of close-but-no-cigar losses and empty seats? Do you think this is how Holland wants to go out? Do you think the brain trust doesn't want to shake things up? I've gotta think big changes are coming. Maybe not today, maybe not tommorow, but soon...