but there might be a Korbinian Holzer
- matt1337

(frank)! Horrbinian Foldzer! Why you always heff to kill my Buzz Matt!??

what line does grabo play then? 1st? 2nd? kadri needs a more prominent role, but 1st may be too much. 2nd seems like the perfect fit for kadri. bolland was brought in to be a 2/3C, so i'm guessing we are again going with an offensive top 9 like how we started the season, and the bolland line and kadri line will get similar minutes (one will get more depending on which line is having the more effective game). do we slot grabo in at #1? sure he's being paid like a #1 at 5.5 mil, but can we truly expect him to be able to excel in that role?
- matt1337

really depends on if a signing like lecavalier happens, which it doesn't look like. if it does, i'd have no issue with kadri centering the third line again, with more offensive balance. he should play the second pp unit as well, which carlyle didn't seem to like doing until towards the end of the season.

i think the lineup up the middle won't really be changing from what is in place now, which would be kadri, grabo, bolland.. mcclement. either way, i think carlyle is a fan of his 3 balanced offensive lines, which he only seemed to stray from when injury hit. he seems to be more a fan of holding players at any position to an extremely high defensive standard as opposed to having a specific defensive attack.

hey, if he doesn't fit due to upgrades, than he doesn't fit. i certainly won't argue that one if thats how things pan out. my issue is with people suggesting he has to go based only on the reasoning that he's a complete bum with no use.

The problem is, he gets hit and goes down and gets up again. We need him to knock other players down and force them to get up and get into the play. He is more suited on a team like Ron Wilson had employed, but not a Randy Carlyle type team. You can see by the most recent acquisitions that we are headed into more of a hard forechecking type of team, then a team that plays on the flow. Grabovski just does not have a role on this team. It appears that Nonis is looking for players with rings to start changing the culture of losing, in this dressing room. We lost against Boston, due to the inexperience factor and the thought of the unknown, by our players.
- PrinceLH

well then lecav would be a perfect fit

(frank)! Horrbinian Foldzer! Why you always heff to kill my Buzz Matt!??
- Byfuglien Ate Me

because it saddens me that people call out phaneuf when he had to play with that scrub, and kostka. ugh i hope he isn't back. i still don't understand the logic carlyle had in playing him over gardiner in game 1. thank god that the hockey gods agreed and got kostka injured so he had to play gardiner.

well then lecav would be a perfect fit
- matt1337

Exactly!

kadri doesn't answer our need for a big #1 center though. we need a guy like vinny to come (wish he was better defensively, carlyle could help with that) cause he's basically the #1C we need.
- matt1337

If we get Vinny, bye-bye Grabo. I agree. He's what we need.
But here's the thing: Nonis is smart. And patient. He's looking to upgrade at #1C. Kadri is an upgrade over Bozak. Vinny is a better upgrade, but not necessarily obtainable.
If we cant get vinny, then we roll with Kadri/Grabo until we can upgrade again. Nonis won't pay both of the teams arms and legs to get a #1C when patience pays off.

really depends on if a signing like lecavalier happens, which it doesn't look like. if it does, i'd have no issue with kadri centering the third line again, with more offensive balance. he should play the second pp unit as well, which carlyle didn't seem to like doing until towards the end of the season.

i think the lineup up the middle won't really be changing from what is in place now, which would be kadri, grabo, bolland.. mcclement. either way, i think carlyle is a fan of his 3 balanced offensive lines, which he only seemed to stray from when injury hit. he seems to be more a fan of holding players at any position to an extremely high defensive standard as opposed to having a specific defensive attack.

hey, if he doesn't fit due to upgrades, than he doesn't fit. i certainly won't argue that one if thats how things pan out. my issue is with people suggesting he has to go based only on the reasoning that he's a complete bum with no use.
- joel878

grabo has use, just maybe not for this team. wish he wasn't a puck hog cause his passion for this team is through the roof. he plays the game with his heart on his sleeve.

If we get Vinny, bye-bye Grabo. I agree. He's what we need.
But here's the thing: Nonis is smart. And patient. He's looking to upgrade at #1C. Kadri is an upgrade over Bozak. Vinny is a better upgrade, but not necessarily obtainable.
If we cant get vinny, then we roll with Kadri/Grabo until we can upgrade again. Nonis won't pay both of the teams arms and legs to get a #1C when patience pays off.
- UsernameUnknown

If we roll with Grabo, we either lose in the first round or miss the playoffs, altogether. We have to get better up front. Bolland is an answer for what happened to us, when the Bruins rolled their bottom 6 and we had no answer.

If we get Vinny, bye-bye Grabo. I agree. He's what we need.
But here's the thing: Nonis is smart. And patient. He's looking to upgrade at #1C. Kadri is an upgrade over Bozak. Vinny is a better upgrade, but not necessarily obtainable.
If we cant get vinny, then we roll with Kadri/Grabo until we can upgrade again. Nonis won't pay both of the teams arms and legs to get a #1C when patience pays off.
- UsernameUnknown

kadri is an upgrade offensively, downgrade in the faceoff circle and defensively. is it really worth it in that regard though? thats why i'm really hoping for lecav.

I think there are some very good points being made here.

Grabovski has had 1/2 of a bad season. His playoff performance I thought was decent. I would give him some time next year to turn it around. If for no other reason than to improve his trade value if he just won't fit in Randy's system.

Bozak will not really be missed that greatly. And him leaving certainly won't impact kessel 's performance unless he gets lonely for his best friend. :-( and goes into a dark depression.

A few other thoughts. What about just a straight buyout on komi? Not a compliance. With 1 year left why waste it on him ? A regular buyout would be only what about 1.5 on the cap the next 2 years. ? Still saves 3 M. Use the compliance buyouts on longer term remaining deals.

I think Clarkson is all but a leaf. No one will match the leafs offer on him. I think he fits the system they want to build too well. Or at least they think he does.

The problem is, he gets hit and goes down and gets up again. We need him to knock other players down and force them to get up and get into the play. He is more suited on a team like Ron Wilson had employed, but not a Randy Carlyle type team. You can see by the most recent acquisitions that we are headed into more of a hard forechecking type of team, then a team that plays on the flow. Grabovski just does not have a role on this team. It appears that Nonis is looking for players with rings to start changing the culture of losing, in this dressing room. We lost against Boston, due to the inexperience factor and the thought of the unknown, by our players.
- PrinceLH

You do realize one of the main reasons we did so well against Boston is because of our speed. Kadri, Grabo, Lupul, Kessel, and Gardiner. Even Bozak is fast. We have a speedy team. And its why we're as good as we are. Thats why we have so much power and grit in our bottom 6. Balance.

grabo has use, just maybe not for this team. wish he wasn't a puck hog cause his passion for this team is through the roof. he plays the game with his heart on his sleeve.
- matt1337

Hell, I play with my heart on my sleave, but I don't get paid 5.5 to underperform on a playoff team. He is not a winner and needs to be moved to a team that needs a center, but not in our conference.

You do realize one of the main reasons we did so well against Boston is because of our speed. Kadri, Grabo, Lupul, Kessel, and Gardiner. Even Bozak is fast. We have a speedy team. And its why we're as good as we are. Thats why we have so much power and grit in our bottom 6. Balance.
- UsernameUnknown

Grabo was probably our worst minus player, in that series. He was just out of sorts and couldn't get his game going. The playoffs is a different game and players like Grabovski, get eaten alive!

If we roll with Grabo, we either lose in the first round or miss the playoffs, altogether. We have to get better up front. Bolland is an answer for what happened to us, when the Bruins rolled their bottom 6 and we had no answer.
- PrinceLH

I hear you, and that's what I'm saying. We aren't going to win the cup next year. So be patient. I think Lecav should be our reward for already being patient and not upgrading Bozak already, but if we don't get him, we lose in the first couple ronds til we get a better #1or until Kadri grows into one. Then we get a 2.

because it saddens me that people call out phaneuf when he had to play with that scrub, and kostka. ugh i hope he isn't back. i still don't understand the logic carlyle had in playing him over gardiner in game 1. thank god that the hockey gods agreed and got kostka injured so he had to play gardiner.
- matt1337

I agree with you. That's why I've been saying bring in UFA D help. Ryan Whitney, Doug Murray and Andrew Ference come to mind, grab two.

I think there are some very good points being made here.

Grabovski has had 1/2 of a bad season. His playoff performance I thought was decent. I would give him some time next year to turn it around. If for no other reason than to improve his trade value if he just won't fit in Randy's system.

Bozak will not really be missed that greatly. And him leaving certainly won't impact kessel 's performance unless he gets lonely for his best friend. :-( and goes into a dark depression.

A few other thoughts. What about just a straight buyout on komi? Not a compliance. With 1 year left why waste it on him ? A regular buyout would be only what about 1.5 on the cap the next 2 years. ? Still saves 3 M. Use the compliance buyouts on longer term remaining deals.

I think Clarkson is all but a leaf. No one will match the leafs offer on him. I think he fits the system they want to build too well. Or at least they think he does.
- D.Lemieux

i just hope we dont overpay too much for clarkson. if we give him 5mil + then what is kessel worth?

then why does everyone say hes the perfect #3 if he isn't good defensively and thats generally a defensive centers spot?
- matt1337

I don't know.... Why does what some say make a difference?


IMO they say it because he's not good enough for the top 2 spaces, so lets put him at 3. He's not a 3rd liner. He's a decent 2nd liner on an average team. He doesn't bring te attributes you want or needs from a #3.

I agree with you. That's why I've been saying bring in UFA D help. Ryan Whitney, Doug Murray and Andrew Ference come to mind, grab two.
- Byfuglien Ate Me

no to whitney, murray too slow, yes to ference. if fraser doesnt come back i would explore fistric for bottom pairing

hmmmm,
2011/12 Grabo was 51.5% in the faceoff dot.
2010/11 he was 48.4%.
2009/10 he was 49.8%.

2012/13 he was 50.6%.

I agree with you. That's why I've been saying bring in UFA D help. Ryan Whitney, Doug Murray and Andrew Ference come to mind, grab two.
- Byfuglien Ate Me

Ference for sure, because he has a ring and if he's cheap enough, bring in Whitney. We need players with grit, that can play big minutes. Right now, I only see Phaneuf, Gardiner, Gunnerson and Franson, as defensemen that we should keep. Out of those, we only have one right shooting defenseman. Liles can go ASAP!

Grabo was probably our worst minus player, in that series. He was just out of sorts and couldn't get his game going. The playoffs is a different game and players like Grabovski, get eaten alive!
- PrinceLH

Most of those minuses were in third periods. Clearly he isn't a defensive centre, yet Carlyle even used him as one in the playoffs.

hmmmm,
2011/12 Grabo was 51.5% in the faceoff dot.
2010/11 he was 48.4%.
2009/10 he was 49.8%.

2012/13 he was 50.6%.
- mykokes

Short season and too many players were not in game shape, when the season started. You can throw these numbers out the window. How was he in the playoffs?

Oh, Bozak's a number two alright...
- Atomic Wedgie

I hear you, and that's what I'm saying. We aren't going to win the cup next year. So be patient. I think Lecav should be our reward for already being patient and not upgrading Bozak already, but if we don't get him, we lose in the first couple ronds til we get a better #1or until Kadri grows into one. Then we get a 2.
- UsernameUnknown

Lets not sell this team short... We had the Bruins to the brink, and imo The bruins could have easily won the cup against chi..

I don't know.... Why does what some say make a difference?


IMO they say it because he's not good enough for the top 2 spaces, so lets put him at 3. He's not a 3rd liner. He's a decent 2nd liner on an average team. He doesn't bring te attributes you want or needs from a #3.
- burn

Honestly? Like what? Faceoffs, bodychecking, penalty killing. Bolland bring's those things?

Going to bring up the defense again? Have you checked Bolland's corsi yet?