greenrebellion

Is it just me, or does this roster blow chunks on paper? I think we are worse than last year.

Goalies are relatively easy to acquire.

I don't see how the Preds beat the Pens without Johansen. Pens are going to be the first team to repeat since the Wings did it. First 2009 and now this. I hate the Penguins.

No team has repeated since the Wings. Please, if there is a god, do not let the Pens be the next team to do it.

If they beat the caps, what team has the best chance of stopping the Pens?

Caps will win. Best thing that happened to them was going down 2-1 to the Maple Leafs. Capitals were playing very well last three games and Anderson kept the games close. Also, Caps couldn't handle the Pens speed last time they met in the playoffs, but Toronto was the perfect opponent to prepare them for this.

Agreed

Leafs have the greatest coach in NHL history.

Caps will destroy them

I am certainly in the extreme minority here, but I stand by my view that blaming Blashill is knee-jerk (and clouded by him trying to replace Babcock - big shoes to fill). I would give him another year or two.

Wow, what a thread.

Sad!

A lot of teams in this league would kill for the success we've had.

That's all well and good, and I don't necessarily disagree. But just because a GM is bad at somethings or made mistakes in the past doesn't mean that everything he does is awful and needs to be treated with pitchforks coming out. Vanek deal was best the market would give him, and personally I'd rather have the 3rd rounder than lose Vanek for nothing at the end of this season.

B+ Very happy with the overall returns we got but...would've liked to see an effort to move Green as I think his value is higher this year especially if we held back salary.

On its face, I agree the values look way off. But keep in mind that Smith is young and likely to extend. Vanek is much older and likely to test free agency. Finally, add in the fact that Vanek has a long history of completely disappearing in the playoffs, and you can begin to see the full picture here.

Guess I am a Panthers fan now....hope they make the playoffs!

The irrationality and double standards that fans on this forum have blows my mind. To believe that Holland, who has GM'ed for 20 years, doesn't know how to get decent returns for his assets by letting the market speak is absurd. It would be incompetence on an epic scale. Sure, he may not have been a seller at the deadline before, but it doesn't mean he hasn't been around the block a few hundred times, been involved in countless negotiations, seen first hand how other teams have handled their deadline deals. The guy is extremely experienced. That said, I am NOT some Holland apologist and it is fine to disagree with general team decisions and direction (which in many cases I do). But to say that Holland butchered the Vanek trade and took way less than other teams would've offered is truly laughable.

That's what people don't get, you take the third or you hang on to him. And we all know that if Holland held on to the guy, this forum would have been up in arms.

We won't be making the playoffs though

Possibly, pure speculation though. At the end of the day, while the Vanek return was less than I hoped, that part is largely out of Holland's control. I would've like to see us move Green as well at a minimum but given the players we did move, I'm satisfied with our returns overall.

Analogy is only worthwhile once you realize that the Charizard card becomes valueless at the end of the season. And you paid nothing to acquire the card (free agent signing). Edit: In which case, I will take the 2 pikachus.

Strongly disagree. I'm certain that Holland let other teams know what it would take to get a deal done and no one was willing to beat Florida's offer. Are you saying you'd rather have held on to Vanek and gotten nothing?

Honestly, I'm not pissed about the Vanek trade, if the market demanded Vanek, someone woudl have beaten Florida's offer. What I am pissed about is that we didn't move Green this year where we could get a ton of value given that he's not a rental and we could hold a ton of salary back. Could've gotten a huge return for Green. Not trading Green this season is a REALLY poor choice by Holland imo.

That and he's much younger than Vanek. So that means there was a chance that he is much more potentially than just a rental. Even if Vanek resigns with Florida (unlikely as he'll have too high of a sense of his value and want to test market), his prime years are fading fast.