kipwinger

I know Ken and Mick are going to give updates on the Caps/Flyers game throughout the broadcast but I wish they wouldn't. I'd really like to watch our game and then check the scores and see if we made it. If I know the score of that game then the stress of ours might kill me.

Fuuuuuuuuuck I'm pumped up. This game isn't going to start soon enough.

I really liked Husso two years ago. But again, if they upgrade I'm not going to throw a fit. I genuinely don't understand the Stamkos love around here. He's not good. He's the Erik Karlsson of forwards. He's going to get paid a bunch to score on the powerplay and be an absolute liability at even strength. He plays on a team with a +21 goal differential and he's a -22. He's scored 39 even strength points (that's Rasmussen level production) and has been scored on 61 times at even strength. You put him on a line with Kane and you're basically handing the opposition goals. And you're going to pay a premium to do it. He's not JUST being let go because of the cap. He's being let go because he's expensive AND he needs to be heavily sheltered in order to produce.

There's a reason Tampa is letting their captain walk...just sayin'. I do completely hear you on the goaltending issue and it's tricky. Did our goaltending collapse because our defense is complete trash or did it collapse because Husso and Lyon suck? I genuinely don't know but I do know that both Lyon and Husso have played extremely well for stretches during the last two seasons. Enough that it makes me wonder if we couldn't squeeze more consistency out of them with a better defense and a more equitable workload. But I also wouldn't hate if we upgraded.

SY should be looking at this relocation as an opportunity to dump contracts. I'd imagine Utah management will be looking to compliment the already solid young players in Arizona with some competent veterans so that they don't absolutely blow right off the bat. Enter guys like Maatta/Chiarot/Copp. They'll have cap space and the willingness to use it (for once) and they won't have the benefit of starting from scratch like the expansion teams did.

You and I have very different ideas of what should happen this offseason. The LAST thing I want is more expensive 30+ year old free agents. You look at all the bright spots for us this season and it's clear the the future is now with respect to the youth. The ONLY UFAs I'd look at are guys that you can get on reasonable deals (Matt Roy). Otherwise I'm bringing in as many young guys as I can to take advantage of their entry level deals. I'm trading for 25 year old Yegor Sharangovich to play 2C, and I'm probably running back Husso/Lyon with two caveats, 1) we've got the cap space to upgrade at the deadline (or earlier) if we need to, and 2) a full season of Walman, Seider, Edvinsson, Roy in the top four such an upgrade that Husso/Lyon hopefully won't get exposed. Dcat-Larkin-Mazur (Debrincat comes alive when he's with Larkin) Kasper-Sharangovich-Raymond (Raymond can carry a line and his playmaking will pop with Yegor) Ras-Compher-Fabbri (utility line) Veleno-Copp-Fischer (matchup line) Walman-Seider Edvinsson-Roy Chiarot-Gost (this bottom pair is just a placeholder and is determined by who's re-signed/traded) Johansson

It's been an absolutely joy to watch Kane play as a fan, but I genuinely don't want him back next season. He's soft as warm butter, can't hang on to the puck for s***, and needs to be sheltered a lot at this point in his career. If I have to choose where to allocate money for offense Id' MUCH rather have Gostisbehere back than Kane.

Well, I definitely said "better leaders" and not just better captains...so I'm counting MacKinnon. The "problem kids" was in reference of Ovi, Semin, Kuznetsov, Vrana, Ethan Bear, etc. Until Barry Trotz was hired there were very serious calls for Ovi to be stripped of his captaincy by the Washington fans. He famously didn't give a sh*t. Any insinuation that he's been a great leader is WAY off the mark. I think Matthew Tkachuk is a quality leader as well and really exemplifies the "do or die, anything to win" attitude I'd way from my leadership group. My point was that there are plenty of good leaders in the league, and Dylan Larkin is amongst the very best. The guy was dealt a pretty sh*tty hand of cards for most of his career and it would be easy to understand if he demanded a trade or just stopped caring. Instead he committed to the team by signing a max deal, worked his tail off to become a more complete player, plays through injuries, plays in all situations, and never takes a shift off. I absolutely love the guy.

Several those players are better overall players, but I'm not sure they're better leaders. None of them have had to play most of their careers on absolutely garbage teams. One of them isn't even in the league anymore. Another is famous for being a terrible leader and the guys on his team are a who's who of problem kids. At least two others consistently underperform expectations and have yet to really step up their play when it matters. Of those guys I'd say Crosby, Barkov and Kopitar are better captains. I'd add MacKinnon to the list as well. Otherwise you've just listed better players, not better leaders.

If there was ever a time for the "we'd rather be doing coke" Washington Capitals to show up it's tonight. I really really want that for them.

I've never, EVER, wanted the Philadelphia Flyers to win a hockey game in my life. That changes tonight. F*ck I'm already pumped up.

Dylan Larkin is absolutely unbelievable too. Is there a better leader in the league?

He's a legit superstar. His ceiling keeps going up. He's a dominant player right now.

Same here. My head is pounding. I'm losing my s***.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!