Dabura

Kronwall Smith DeKeyser Boyle Ericsson Sproul OMG THAT'S TERRIBLE IT NEEDS MORE YOUTH OR WE'RE SCREWED

Claude Lemieux was a class act all the way. Draper was a whining, diving prima donna who acted like he was entitled to everything and thus got what he deserved. McCarty is a gutless coward whose one claim to fame is a sucker punch he pulled on a guy who isn't even a fighter. Avs forever. EDIT: Also, the Wings bought their Cups. I think that tells you all you need to know about them.

How do we have a chance in hell at Krug? Has someone floated a juicy rumor or something? As for Boyle - we could do a lot worse, even if it's for two years (talking him down from three). It's not like we're hurting for cap space or we've got a stacked blue line. "DAT MARCHENKO THO!" Sure, give him a spot. Boyle and [one of the kids] don't have to be mutually exclusive. Indeed, I'd rather have a solid top-four guy and [one of the kids] than [two of the kids]. I think I'd prefer Niskanen, but Boyle could be a good option. I'm not saying that's a good idea. I just have no idea where you're coming from in pretty much everything you're saying. But whatever floats your boat.

Oh, please. (As in "Give me a break." Not "Please let this happen.")

If you think Wheeler isn't worth more than a 3rd and Burns isn't worth more than a 1st and we should simply pass on a first-round pick UFA because we should and yet you'll report in every time Anthony Mantha scores a goal in junior and pencil him in alongside Datsyuk and Zetterberg on our first line and then say someone's trade suggestion is flat-out retarded...c'mon.

The funny thing is Rask - the guy who's known to break things in half with his stick when he loses - seems surprisingly ok with this whole being-ousted-in-the-second-round-by-the-hated-rival thing in his post-game scrum, almost like he's about to crack a big goofy smile. Maybe I'm reading too much into this (I am), but he struck me as a guy who's had the weight of the world lifted off his shoulders. Maybe being the goalie and seeing everything that goes on at ice-level he knew better than anyone that his team wasn't as good as advertised. Maybe he'd been dreading what was, to him, pretty much an inevitability, and he's glad they got it over with sooner rather than later.

Give us Jamie Benn and maybe we'll consider it.

My guess is Trotz has no issue with offense and simply felt that if the Preds were going to become a winning team with the forwards Poile was giving him, they had to be all about defense.

What if they put aside their differences and pooled their resources to create a superteam? Conference Finals teams should be allowed to do this. Then if they beat the [insert Western/Eastern juggernaut] in the SCF, each organization gets half the Cup. Or they could split apart and square off against each other in a second, winner-take-all SCF round. And the Anthems would be performed by Freddie Mercury and Jeff Buckley, undead duet style.

I get the sense the tide may be turning there, a bit. Even in Pittsburgh and the studios of NBC.

*N'yawk Rainjizz I'ma call this The Prust Wars.

Wait, why would anyone pass on signing Hayes? Because he'd wreck our cap situation?

Emmerton for Wilson and Ovechkin. Straight up.

He'll be a UFA, no? I agree, though - the Bruins are older than people seem to think, and they're definitely not built for speed as it is. Also, getting past at least the first round every season does take a toll on you, especially if you make a really deep run or two. I'd like to see us be more like the Stars than the Bruins. Fast, aggressive, fast, fast, skilled, tenacious, fast.

Only if it's officially his final season. Then we could be the ones to officially deny him the Cup, forevz.

Yeah, I've been wondering if that isn't a possibility. I'd take him over Renney.

Belichick?

Handshakes don't suck. Lucic sucks.

http://msn.foxsports.com/detroit/story/wings-notes-update-on-detroit-s-prospects-051414 I wish he'd just come out and say he doesn't trust anyone under the age of 30.

The weird thing is that their biggest shortcoming - drafting/development/depth - was a major strength of theirs back when they were legitimately contending for the Cup (e.g. Staal centering the third line). I don't know why Shero allowed himself to get away from that. As for Bylsma, I really like him as a person. (Not that I've met him, of course.) But you do have to wonder if his meteoric rise wasn't largely just a matter of those teams being really deep and the young core guys being over-the-moon for this hip, young, upstart coach who was pretty much the total opposite of Michele Therrien. My gut says Barry Trotz gets the gig. Maybe. I think Jacques Martin would make sense, though. I just pray it's not Blashill.

If we could sign Hayes, draft Brendan Perlini, and swing a trade for the Caps' Tom Wilson, we'd have a crazy-bright future, up front and on the back end and in net (Mrazek).

That's just a blog I craftily quoted to suite my purposes. It's in no way official, and, in fact, the kid's agent has stated that whatever happened with Jimmy Hayes isn't an issue... http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/blackhawks/post/_/id/4682279/agent-prospect-hayes-weighs-signing I wouldn't put too much stock in what his agent says either, though. (I mean publicly.) Bottom line, the kid's not obligated to sign with Chicago. Should he become a UFA, more than a few NHL teams will be courting him.

Thoughts on Kevin Hayes? Chicago's first-round pick in the 2010 draft, just finished his senior year at BC. The point of intrigue: the 'hawks haven't signed him yet. And if he hasn't signed by June 1, he is, at that point, eligible to become a UFA in August. He's playing in the Worlds atm, on Team Abdelkader. Maybe Abby and DK can do a bit of recruiting? "Don't sign with those guys. They're all assholes." http://thebostoncollegehockeyblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/updates.html

I'm gonna f****** kill you? That's the best he can do?

It comes down to what we'd be getting in return. The thought is we could get an elite NHLer for a prospect who may or may not become an elite NHLer and, either way, probably wouldn't end up being as big for us as the elite NHLer in question is going to be for us in the here and now and for however long he's a Red Wing.