kipwinger

Not "leaves", get's traded to San Jose along with a 2nd round pick for future considerations.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a Will Cuylle trade but I know I'm just setting myself up for failure.

I love having a genius GM. He zigs when everyone else zags. Like, the whole world seems to think we need to improve our defense and get tougher up front in the top six. Hell, Yzerman said so himself in his end-of-year presser. But wait...SIKE!!!...we don't need no stinking defensemen or power forwards. We need John Gibson and Berggren. #Legend

I'm so ready for SY to sign some 4th line turd like Tyler Motte and then be done for the day. The press conference will be amazing.

I’ll admit I don’t know much about him, so I have been deep diving since the pick. But I like it. Seems like a Sam Reinhart-lite sorta winger. His size and skating are good and will get better as he gets more muscle. His skill looks good, tho I’d caution that his junior team was a wagon the last couple years so his stats may be inflated a bit. All in all a great pick at that position. I feel really good about it.

I've seen some media reports that NYI are looking for multiple 1st round picks coming back in a trade for Dobson. I can't really recall the last time any player got that kind of package coming back...maybe Hertl? So I think it's probably overblown. But if that's truly the price then I'd walk away. He's a really good player, but he's a RHD and we've got Seider and ASP long term. Use those same assets to pin down a heavier power forward type and address the LHD holes in the lineup in free agency.

Another year another Wheeler mock draft with the wings taking a 5’11, 160 lb. winger. Wash, rinse, repeat. I don’t really like our options with this pick and I think we should trade it for Dobson. He’s a stud and if we trade for him and sign Provorov/Gavrikov we would go from having one of the worst defenses in the league to one of the best.

Also, if “McJesus” wasn’t such a McPussy and scored more than 1 goal in the finals things would likely have looked different as well.

Ekblad worries me because he’s going to get paid a premium but hes constantly injured. I worry about signing too many guys who don’t really have anything left to play for.

Fun thought: After the Panthers win last night much was made about it being a "dynasty" and how were they going to retain their core guys (specifically Bennett). To do so they'd have to shed salary elsewhere, which makes them primed for fleecing. Take a look at their organizational depth and see if there's anything of interest. I like Mackie Samoskevich. He plays really hard and fast, was trained well in Florida, has ties to Michigan (USNTDP and UofM) and is an RFA so he'll need a raise. He seems primed to get traded when you consider every dollar will count down in Florida this summer.

I haven't been dialed in on the draft like I have been in years past, but I do think we need to either target size/offense in a forward or a better LHD prospect than Wallinder or Buium. I like Aitcheson and Carbonneau. Both seem big, tough, and can score. We have excellent center depth with Larkin, Marco, Danielson, Plante (this dude is really really good), and Finnie. Our defense can probably be rounded out in free agency. But our wingers kinda suck and we've got not depth there. So I'd probably prioritize Carbonneau on the wing rather than Aitcheson on defense, but those thoughts should be taken with a BIG grain of salt because again, I haven't really been as involved this year.

Yawn, I fell asleep early last night. Who won? Probably the team with the superstars right? I keep hearing that you've got to have superstars to win Cups and boy oh boy does Edmonton have some superstars.

Is Isaac Howard actually good? His calling card is his offense, which has been okay in the NCAA but nothing amazing. It took him 3 seasons to best Dylan Larkin’s 19 year old campaign in the NCAA.

Hellebuyk has been pulled in all three road games in this series. You can blame the team all you want but it sure seems like he’s the problem here.

Hellebuyk having a total meltdown right now. Damn…