Stopped reading there. Phaneuf is an arrogant caveman.
I know him a bit from growing up in Edmonton around the same time and yeah he's not a great guy but whatever. I see that as a relatively lateral move - overpaid, underachieving players, near identical cap hit, same contract term.
I know him a bit from growing up in Edmonton around the same time and yeah he's not a great guy but whatever. I see that as a relatively lateral move - overpaid, underachieving players, near identical cap hit, same contract term.
Phaneuf is a locker room cancer and divisive presence in the room.
And I'd argue Stastny's offense and defense are better than Phaneuf's.
Phaneuf is a locker room cancer and divisive presence in the room.
And I'd argue Stastny's offense and defense are better than Phaneuf's.
I know about some of the things that happened in Calgary but I haven't heard much about the situation in Toronto other than that I thought he had grown up a bit according to reports.
Regardless though, Phaneuf was an example as mentioned in that post of someone I thought was reasonable for us to acquire, the gist of that post was otherwise very simple.
1) Trade a center for a 2/3 dman (depending on the center moved)
2) Draft Barkov/Drouin/Monahan depending where we end up, I'm guessing 3-5
3) Sign a couple of bottom 6ers (I like Nystrom as a 4th liner) since I think Kobasew and Hejduk will be gone next season
4) Offer Smid a big contract if he makes it to FA
Other than Smid and Streit I'm not really interested in the other defenders available this offseason. If we strike out (as is probable) we'll have to make some small trades I guess. I mean we traded Liles for a 2nd, maybe we can get a similar contributor back for a reasonable price as well.
I know about some of the things that happened in Calgary but I haven't heard much about the situation in Toronto other than that I thought he had grown up a bit according to reports.
Regardless though, Phaneuf was an example as mentioned in that post of someone I thought was reasonable for us to acquire, the gist of that post was otherwise very simple.
1) Trade a center for a 2/3 dman (depending on the center moved)
2) Draft Barkov/Drouin/Monahan depending where we end up, I'm guessing 3-5
3) Sign a couple of bottom 6ers (I like Nystrom as a 4th liner) since I think Kobasew and Hejduk will be gone next season
4) Offer Smid a big contract if he makes it to FA
Other than Smid and Streit I'm not really interested in the other defenders available this offseason. If we strike out (as is probable) we'll have to make some small trades I guess. I mean we traded Liles for a 2nd, maybe we can get a similar contributor back for a reasonable price as well.
We traded Liles before all puck moving defender were considered to walk and **** platinum.
I say we trade O'Reilly/Stastny for a Yandle type, stop holding our breath for EJ to break out offensively and accept who he is. Then we absolutely need to sign Bozak as a free-agent to fill out third line center role.
McGinn - Duchene - Parenteau
Landeskog - Stastny/O'Reilly - Downie
Mitchell - Bozak - Another UFA than can kill penalties...
McLeod - Olver/Malone - Bordy
Yandle - EJ
Hejda, Wilson, Hunwick, Barrie, SOB
Yeah... I dump Jones, Zannon and ROB for any type of picks I can get. And hopefully in a year or so whichever forward we draft or Sgarbossa can can push Downie down to the third line.
IMO if McGinn doesn't show something this year, I don't like banking on him for our top 6. Wicked shot, tries to make stuff happen out there, but end result is that he isn't super skilled. He'd still be a very good 3rd liner who can fill in, but unless he improves I think we need to find another top 6 player.
IMO if McGinn doesn't show something this year, I don't like banking on him for our top 6. Wicked shot, tries to make stuff happen out there, but end result is that he isn't super skilled. He'd still be a very good 3rd liner who can fill in, but unless he improves I think we need to find another top 6 player.
I hate so much that we let Mueller go.
I dont really understand critizing McGinn. He's about to break his point total record in 48 game season. Hes doing well! Not to mention how many posts his got this year... Unlucky as well.
IMO if McGinn doesn't show something this year, I don't like banking on him for our top 6. Wicked shot, tries to make stuff happen out there, but end result is that he isn't super skilled. He'd still be a very good 3rd liner who can fill in, but unless he improves I think we need to find another top 6 player.
I hate so much that we let Mueller go.
I think McGinn has done pretty well. IMO shown that he can hold his own as a top 6 player. 6 points in 10 games is a ~49-50 point pace over 82 games. That is second line winger territory. He also could have 3-4 more goals easily. McGinn and PAP are the two legit top 6 wingers currently playing. Landeskog is 1st line capable and Downie is a 2nd line capable wing.
I think our forward core is good enough for us to be a 4 or 5 seed on a number of years. We have a ton of injuries and a holdout that make us look worse than we are up front (need to draft some prospect depth). Now I would love to have a pure goal scorer on this team, a guy who we could count on for 35-40 a year, but what is currently there is good enough. The issue is that we have one of the 3 worst defensive cores in the league. EJ is the only guy who can be on a top pairing, then you have Hejda who is a #4 on a good team, Wilson who is a #5 but can sub in the middle pairing without looking lost, and the rest are a bunch of bottom pairing players that should never get more than 16-18 min.
I can't wait until the Trade Deadline. A lot of teams were supposedly looking for help on defense and we have a ton of "solid" "veteran" "defensive" defensemen that we could sell.
O'Byrne is fine when paired with a more skilled guy. He did a good job when paired with Liles. The more you ask him to do of puck retrieval and first passes the worse he will look.
I think there are plenty of playoff teams that could use him on a third pairing.
I dont really understand critizing McGinn. He's about to break his point total record in 48 game season. Hes doing well! Not to mention how many posts his got this year... Unlucky as well.
I'm not sold on McGinn as well, but i'm no criticizing him. I just want to see more of him before i call him a legitimate top 6 player.
Right now, IMO, he looks more like a 3rd line grinder that can fill-in well in the top 6, eventually.
Next year, if Sgarbossa shows enough, i would like to see something like this:
Sgarbossa - Duchene - PAP
Landeskog - ROR - Jones
McGinn - Mitchell - Downie
McLeod - Over - Kobasew
Bordy
Van der Gulik got sent back today. Is Wilson back? or are we making a move?
My guess is one of 3 things:
1) Palushaj claim allowed VDG to be sent back down.
2) Wilson or Landy will be back for our next game
3) Somethings up.
Highly highly highly doubt its number 3, and expect it to be #1.
BUT then again, Lots of rumors swirling today with Oreilly involved, and many of us did agree that this 5 day break could be when we see management make a move if they feel its necessary. The season is still really young and were by no means out of anything yet. Maybe now's the time we make our move and start playing playoff race hockey from here on out.
I mean after all, Ecklund has an Oreilly/MTL(E4) on his page right now.
