Dabura

Trotz demoted Green to third-pairing duty because Trotz hates offense. He was better than a third-pairing guy. Green signed a short-term deal with us. It was a solid deal for a solid top-three defenseman, which Green is. Carlson at 7 x 7 would be a much bigger commitment and therefore a bigger risk. If you're sold on him being a spectacular 1D who could solve at least 50% of our problems right away, I can understand why you'd be perfectly fine with that deal. Personally, I'm not sold on Carlson being the kind of player that a team in our position (cap problems, probably multiple years away from being truly competitive even if we sign Carlson) should be signing. I think he's good. I'm not sure he's great. IMO, he's the flavor of the year. He's the "Well, it's a thin UFA class, so WE HAVE TO GET THIS GUY, HOLLAND!" guy. There's always a couple of those guys. I'd rather settle for being a basement team against next season and adding another much-needed high first-round selection to our bare cupboards. I'd rather save cap space for 2019's UFA class, which is shaping up to be pretty much the best UFA class ever.

End of 2nd. Much better period.

PP

Well, that was an awful power play.

LOL, intended pass hits Marchand in the face. Bertuzzi nearly gets his first. He's been good. PP

Definitely looking better. Game seems to have opened up a bit. Chara saves a goal. Boooooo.

It's all good, my dude.

Guess it's just you and me here, datterberg. lol

End of 1st. 1-1. Not a good period. Need to make several big adjustments.

Frk back on the ice. Phew! (Deja vu...)

PK We are being dominated. Too many men on the ice. 5-on-3 PK. Great start, guys. Great start. Marchand scores. 1-0. NIELSEN! SHG! 1-1! Helm with the assist.

I'm wondering if they won't try Z on Nielsen's wing next season. Z's clearly running out of gas. Frk hurt. Lost an edge, went tumbling into the boards.

Bs giving us zero time and space in all three zones. They did their homework on us.

30 seconds in, Bertuzzi hurt blocking a shot. Larkin hit in the face with a puck. Mantha intercepts pass, all alone in the slot, bobbles puck, doesn't get shot off. Inauspicious start. Bertuzzi back out on the ice. Phew!

Hanta yo, baby!

I'm guessing (hoping?) it's because of the injury he sustained in the preseason. Kept him out of the beginning portion of the season and he hasn't been himself since returning.

Struggling mightily in the AHL.

P.S. Happy Holidays and such!

Dude.

Last year he was average. That's fair. By the end of last season, I was pretty down on him. This year? He's been a revelation. I'm not at all concerned about the measly five goals, because he's clearly focusing on being a better playmaker and a reliable two-way centerman. And because he's hit about 4,000 posts. He could very easily have 12 goals, puck just hasn't gone in for him. Some of that's probably him needing to make some slight adjustments, as opposed to it being pure bad luck -- but, point is, he's nearly a point-per-game player this season, and that's with about ten fewer goals than he really ought to have. And he's playing on a scoring-challenged basement team. And he's only 21.

Tough but fair. Mantha shall henceforth be refered to as Mr. Cockyman.

Was just about to say the same. I'd feel a lot better about the idea of signing him to a 7 x 7 deal if we had much more cap flexibility than we currently have. That, and I want to see who our first pick in the draft is. If it's one of the absolute best players in the draft class and it looks like the player is good enough to step right into the NHL and be an impact player, I might start to think along the lines of "OK, let's maybe try to run with this and see if we can't put together a legitimately good playoff team right now." Like, if we get Dahlin or Boqvist and it's a straight-to-the-NHL situation, I'd probably want a proven top-pairing defenseman on our blue line to pair the player with and/or provide some insulation so the player can, in theory, play a role he's totally comfortable with.

Debatable. He's a good 1D. I'm not convinced he helps us all that much. It's going to take us at least three years to become serious Cup contenders again, at which point he'll be 30. He's played on powerhouse Capitals teams, which has boosted his numbers and his profile. He's had a hand in the success of those teams, but I don't think he's ever put himself in the "franchise cornerstone, perennial all-star defenseman" category.