_______ on a team like Pittsburgh, with actual stars, would be good player for a playoff run. Depth in the post season is important. Hell Justin Williams and Higgy had similar numbers last year and Williams won the Conn Smyth.
- LeftCoaster

I think you could put Burrows' name in there too. Both can compliment but not really carry the load- especially in the top6.

Burrows reminds me of Hansen in that I think he has to dumb down his game a bit - hit more, go to the dirty areas and front of the net, etc..

And he has consistency in his favour. He plays a workhorse style that teams will like. Swiss army knife
- bezz44

Ooh I'll take Brian Burke quotes for $200

- Bieksa#3

This year they are better than us.

We have a team of mostly third liners , and all have been asked to play out of position on the second line and first.

Higgins Burrows Kassian Hansen Matthias Jensen Vey all have third line numbers. Pick two or three and move the rest and get proper top 6
- VANTEL

How do you do that if you give all of said players away for nothing? It is not that easy to create a 2nd line out of nothing. Just ask Boston, they are in the same position

We have a team of mostly third liners , and all have been asked to play out of position on the second line and first.

Higgins Burrows Kassian Hansen Matthias Jensen Vey all have third line numbers. Pick two or three and move the rest and get proper top 6
- VANTEL

This year they are better than us.
- VANTEL

And.....

We have a team of mostly third liners , and all have been asked to play out of position on the second line and first.

Higgins Burrows Kassian Hansen Matthias Jensen Vey all have third line numbers. Pick two or three and move the rest and get proper top 6
- VANTEL

I think our best shot is to DRAFT & DEVELOP a top six, because we're not getting an immediate top six guy for Higgins, Burrows, Kassian or Hansen.

I think our best shot is to DRAFT & DEVELOP a top six, because we're not getting an immediate top six guy for Higgins, Burrows, Kassian or Hansen.
- LeftCoaster

How do you do that if you give all of said players away for nothing? It is not that easy to create a 2nd line out of nothing. Just ask Boston, they are in the same position
- bezz44

We picked up two top 6 forwards this year by FA and trade. Do it again this year. Create the cap space and move out players.

You are telling me that we could not move Bieksa or Edler for a top 6 guy?

I would look at moving Kassian and another piece to try to get a very good Dman

Burrows trade for a second rounder at TDL and pick up a FA this summer

What you see is what you get for the next three or so years, they'll try to stay as competitive as they can why drafting and developing their young guys....sad but true.

Although I like our team much better than I like the Oilers; I'm not a proponent of losing on purpose. Like Fosco is doing

I think our best shot is to DRAFT & DEVELOP a top six, because we're not getting an immediate top six guy for Higgins, Burrows, Kassian or Hansen.
- LeftCoaster

Virtanen should turn out top 6 and a high draft pick could get us another

We picked up two top 6 forwards this year by FA and trade. Do it again this year. Create the cap space and move out players.

You are telling me that we could not move Bieksa or Edler for a top 6 guy?

I would look at moving Kassian and another piece to try to get a very good Dman

Burrows trade for a second rounder at TDL and pick up a FA this summer
- VANTEL

We did? Boner is a tweener just like Higgy.

Trust me friend , we see year after year how hard it is, but they have to find ways and be creative. I dont think fans will accept a mediocre season again
- VANTEL

I think they will as long as they keep seeing changes being made. Get rid of one or two NTC's by the TDL or the off season, a shrewd trade or UFA signing and more good drafting. Like Lefty keeps preaching, patience and good drafting & development, start adding youth as the veterans move to a mentor role and the Presidents Trophy dynasty will be ours.

Trust me friend , we see year after year how hard it is, but they have to find ways and be creative. I dont think fans will accept a mediocre season again
- VANTEL

I think they will as long as they keep seeing changes being made. Get rid of one or two NTC's by the TDL or the off season, a shrewd trade or UFA signing and more good drafting. Like Lefty keeps preaching, patience and good drafting & development, start adding youth as the veterans move to a mentor role and the Presidents Trophy dynasty will be ours.

Virtanen should turn out top 6 and a high draft pick could get us another
- VANTEL

Not any time soon he won't, needs to be given time to develop properly before they put him anywhere close to the Canucks. I suspect he'll play another year of junior and then a year in the AHL.

I think they will as long as they keep seeing changes being made. Get rid of one or two NTC's by the TDL or the off season, a shrewd trade or UFA signing and more good drafting. Like Lefty keeps preaching, patience and good drafting & development, start adding youth as the veterans move to a mentor role and the Presidents Trophy dynasty will be ours.
- Marwood

I think our best shot is to DRAFT & DEVELOP a top six, because we're not getting an immediate top six guy for Higgins, Burrows, Kassian or Hansen.
- LeftCoaster

If we had Jensen on the 2nd line for an extended period of time, would that be worse than with Bonino and either Burrows or Higgins, would we have similar results to what we have now?

If the results are similar and if Jensen's development isn't screwed up because we may be asking too much from him before he is ready, then I don't know why he isn't there...

Just seems like we are treading water and the ceiling with this lineup is too low as it stands.

We picked up two top 6 forwards this year by FA and trade. Do it again this year. Create the cap space and move out players.

You are telling me that we could not move Bieksa or Edler for a top 6 guy?

I would look at moving Kassian and another piece to try to get a very good Dman

Burrows trade for a second rounder at TDL and pick up a FA this summer
- VANTEL

We picked up 1 top 6 forward since we also lost one. Bonino also has been as quiet as Higgins and Burrows lately, so I don't see how he is a bonafide top 6er and not a tweener. With FA you are limited by both the market and the number of top 6ers available. If you are trading Bieksa (who has hit rock bottom in value) or Edler (who is playing like a top pairing d-man) our D will be Tanev-Hamhuis* Sbisa-Bieksa Weber-Stanton

If we had Jensen on the 2nd line for an extended period of time, would that be worse than with Bonino and either Burrows or Higgins, would we have similar results to what we have now?

If the results are similar and if Jensen's development isn't screwed up because we may be asking too much from him before he is ready, then I don't know why he isn't there...

Just seems like we are treading water and the ceiling with this lineup is too low as it stands.
- hillbillydeluxe

I'm fully on board with getting rid of Higgins and or Burrows to allow Jensen a spot in the top six. He's having a good year in the AHL thus far, I think he'll get the call come the TDL when moves are hopefully made.

We picked up 1 top 6 forward since we also lost one. Bonino also has been as quiet as Higgins and Burrows lately, so I don't see how he is a bonafide top 6er and not a tweener. With FA you are limited by both the market and the number of top 6ers available. If you are trading Bieksa (who has hit rock bottom in value) or Edler (who is playing like a top pairing d-man) our D will be Tanev-Hamhuis* Sbisa-Bieksa Weber-Stanton
- bezz44

Trading Edler is a stupid idea, we need more players back there like him not less. Getting a real number one dman is what they need to do.

Trading Edler is a stupid idea, we need more players back there like him not less. Getting a real number one dman is what they need to do.
- LeftCoaster

Agreed. And if we were to trade Kassian+ for a d-man then we wouldn't really end up any better off. Maybe we'd have a superior top 6 fwd, but we wouldn't be getting back a D-man better than Edler. We need to hold the course, and draft strongly in rounds 2-5

Agreed. And if we were to trade Kassian+ for a d-man then we wouldn't really end up any better off. Maybe we'd have a superior top 6 fwd, but we wouldn't be getting back a D-man better than Edler. We need to hold the course, and draft strongly in rounds 2-5
- bezz44

I think you are prolly right (98.7% sure), but I come here to biatch and let off steam so I am going to continue to say Benning should trade players I am not happy with for better top line players, salary cap and logic be damned.

I think you are prolly right (98.7% sure), but I come here to biatch and let off steam so I am going to continue to say Benning should trade players I am not happy with for better top line players, salary cap and logic be damned.
- hillbillydeluxe

It's more fun that way yes

Drafting high is NO gaurantee of any type of success, Edmonton, Florida and the NYI are prime examples of this.

I agree drafting is the key to success, but, you don't need top three picks to find that success IMO. McCann, Virtanen, Horvat & Jensen have all been good picks that will pay off in the future...again...IMO.
- LeftCoaster

I don't disagree at all (aside from Jensen-he has been invisible when called up this season). And theoretically, that's where Benning can really shine: not just nailing it in the first round, but finding serviceable players in later rounds. I am a little bit nervous that he hasn't made any changes to the scouting department that I know of. Edmonton's scouting staff is getting nailed right now, and frankly, ours hasn't been much better.

Which is all to say that any impact players are a few years away. Until then, it'll likely be more of the same.

I think you are prolly right (98.7% sure), but I come here to biatch and let off steam so I am going to continue to say Benning should trade players I am not happy with for better top line players, salary cap and logic be damned.
- hillbillydeluxe