I really am not seeing how this team had something special unless by special you're referring strictly to Hall, then yes. However, as a team it's been an absolute abortion.

I can't see how you can only see mediocrity. Our team features the-soon-to-be-if-not-already best player in the world, two MORE young Cs with elite potential, a RW who's been top-5 in scoring at his position over the past 5 years, a top pairing featuring two young two-way guys locked up long term at under $8.5mil, an actual starting goalie, a some quality support players (Sekera, Pouliot, Maroon, and Davidson), AND we just added a premier powerforward to go with an elite RW prospect who offers Hall-like upside.

At worst, the future at least offers a top 6 and top 4 that look like this:

______- McDavid- PUJU
Lucic- Draisaitl- ______

Klefbom- Larsson
Nurse- ______

And that's assuming RNH and Eberle have to be traded and without factoring in their returns. I loved Hall as much as anyone, but there's nothing great that was bound to happen before that still isn't fully capable (and I'd argue more likely) of happening now.
- MaximumBone

I understand and appreciate the thought that you put into your response. You represent one of a handful of posters who's opinions I value.

Yes; Hall was a big part of the "something special" I had suggested. Something akin to a Perry/Getzlaf, Crosby/Malkin, or Towes/Kane. Now that is lost.

My frustration lies in the series of mis-steps that lead to this becoming reality.

I am totally despondent over the Hall trade. I felt physically ill reading Mckenzies tweets... like the wind had been knocked out of me.

Hall was my favourite. As fans of this team we have endured more than our fair share of heart ache. I feel terrible for him; as Taylor said... he wanted to see this through to the end. I believed him... now I have little hope that the end will be anything but prolonged mediocrity as Iggy has eluded to.

This team had something special... acquired through terrible play and luck but it was squandered years ago.

Hall's trade is the result of years of mis-management and piss poor drafting. From Visnovsky, to Souray, to absolutely horrendous 2nd round drafting. Hall and crew needed a top flight defensive prospect developing in the periphery. We had one in Petty... the best? No... but still useful. Lost for nothing. Shultz potential... ruined. Last year's late first early second... thrown away. Hall is the cost for years of ineptness.

It hurts because it was seemingly preventable.
- OilDerek

It sucks. Hall was a great player that imo should have been the Captain in the coming years (yea, that's right, him, not McDavid). I would have loved if a deal involving RNH + Yak + maybe Reinhart or Davidson was done, which arguably makes more sense in terms of what both teams wanted, the holes that would be needed to be filled, and etc. But then again, even Shero said it was gonna take Hall for him to say yes.

Nonetheless, many people are highly undervaluing Larsson here. Defensemen like him take time to grow, especially large defenders. Hedman, Lidstrom, Chara, and other notable defenders (might be exaggerating here a bit) didn't fully develop until they were in their mid twenties. I'm not saying that Larsson is a Norris Candidate, but he can definitely become a pietrangelo, Josi type of player. He has the tools and skills to do so.

Offensively, he has a great first pass and a good shot from the point. We don't know his full offensive potential, especially since he played on a team that has one the WORST offensive lineup in the entire league (Until now)! Now, he gets a chance to play with a plethora of offensive talent.

I've already said this but right now NJ has the edge on the trade, but long term wise, Edm might be the winners, especially if Larsson develops as the stud defender he was projected to be.

The way I see it, Klefbom is our #1 both statistically and by eye. Eats up minutes, produces at a decent clip (12 in 30 with 2nd PP time), destroys on the possession and high danger chance fronts, and looks effortless doing it. Bringing Larsson in makes sense on multiple levels, the least of which being how he's stylistically comparable to Brodin. A safe bet who doesn't make many mistakes, moves the puck well, and covers the right side.

I'm a big believer in Klorfborm so I can get skepticism on the part of others and it remains to be seen if there are any negative consequences from the infection, but if things work out I'm confident we have our #1.
- MaximumBone

Klef really needs to stay healthy this year that will be a key for our team for sure.....if Larsson can be that #1 guy for us then as Jero said I can live with the trade in the end and tbh that would make for a pretty good first pairing....I guess there is one sure thing about this team this year...we certainly arent going to be soft with all that size we have now thats for sure

I understand and appreciate the thought that you put into your response. You represent one of a handful of posters who's opinions I value.

Yes; Hall was a big part of the "something special" I had suggested. Something akin to a Perry/Getzlaf, Crosby/Malkin, or Towes/Kane. Now that is lost.

My frustration lies in the series of mis-steps that lead to this becoming reality.
- OilDerek

That's fair. It really all does come to a head with the acquisition of Ryan Whitney. A guy that, to all intents and purposes, was supposed to carry our blueline through the rebuild (read: be our Giordano) but instead ends up degrading into nothing due to an injury that was foreseeable well before it happened. It's really been a cesspool of incompetence, nepotism, and ridiculous bad luck.

At the end of the day, I look forward to seeing what this iteration of the roster can do and am no less optimistic about our chances of competing for a long time.

Even that's assuming he really takes some big steps. As of now, I'd be more inclined to offer a bridge, but my mind is open to be swayed by an excellent season.
- MaximumBone

I like the idea of a bridge, but I'd personally think Chia will take another gamble with Nurse by signing him to a Klefbom type contract.

Klefbom has already made his contract look like a steal and if it weren't for that freak strep infection, everybody would be praising Chia for the contract he gave to Klefbom. Seriously, Klefbom was having a great year and Edmonton was looking like a competitive team for a wildcard spot at the very least up until the injuries to Klefbom and McDavid.

If Nurse pull's of a Klefbom, your looking at your top 4 costing you only 16mill (unless we pickup a Barrie or something...) for the next 5-6 years. That is scary cheap and could be the best strategical move done by a GM in the last decade.

Klef really needs to stay healthy this year that will be a key for our team for sure.....if Larsson can be that #1 guy for us then as Jero said I can live with the trade in the end and tbh that would make for a pretty good first pairing....I guess there is one sure thing about this team this year...we certainly arent going to be soft with all that size we have now thats for sure
- RatedR80

Staph infection and a broken knuckle shouldn't reoccur.. But you guys do have bad luck...

Staph infection and a broken knuckle shouldn't reoccur.. But you guys do have bad luck...
- fry

Hard for him to develop into that true #1 guy when he isnt on the ice...im a big Klef fan but he has to be out there...that being said I dont think he runs into the same luck as last year

I like the idea of a bridge, but I'd personally think Chia will take another gamble with Nurse by signing him to a Klefbom type contract.

Klefbom has already made his contract look like a steal and if it weren't for that freak strep infection, everybody would be praising Chia for the contract he gave to Klefbom. Seriously, Klefbom was having a great year and Edmonton was looking like a competitive team for a wildcard spot at the very least up until the injuries to Klefbom and McDavid.

If Nurse pull's of a Klefbom, your looking at your top 4 costing you only 16mill (unless we pickup a Barrie or something...) for the next 5-6 years. That is scary cheap and could be the best strategical move done by a GM in the last decade.
- EdmHockeyMan

The problem with that is Nurse has to actually have a season like Klefbom had in 2014-15. That'd be a huge step.

The problem with that is Nurse has to actually have a season like Klefbom had in 2014-15. That'd be a huge step.
- MaximumBone

That would be alot to ask of Nurse for sure I personally dont think he is ready to be put in that situation just yet but I guess we will have to see how the season goes

Disagree. He's balanced the roster and changed the dynamic of the team to one much more suited to the Western Conference. I won't go into detail again as I've clearly laid out my stance a number of times this past week or so, but at the end of the day, this team needed to win and to do so we needed Dmen. If you can tell me what Chiarelli should've done to acquire a young top-4 Dman with the potential Larsson has, I'd love to hear it. Give me an alternative that you think would produce better results.

The fact of the matter is Shero said what I believe every other GM in the league was thinking whenever dealing with Chiarelli and that is, "(I)f it wasn't Hall, it wasn't going to happen".
- MaximumBone

Disagree. Before Chia the talk and plan was to build a team like Chicago. They won 3 cups and now a similar styles team Pitt just won. Instead Chia came in and decided we need to go Boston/ La model. That switch set us back IMO. And I don't see us contending as is any time soon. Hall being dealt for potential is fireable. Chia better hope to god Larsson lives up to Chias expectation or we are set back.

The problem with that is Nurse has to actually have a season like Klefbom had in 2014-15. That'd be a huge step.
- MaximumBone

Clearly though, we should now know that Chia loves to take gambles.
The Reinhart and Larsson pickups are great examples of this.
Reinhart has to turn into a Top 4 defender for Chia to win the deal or at least consider the deal mutual.
Larsson has to turn into that #1 Stud for Chia to win the deal or at least consider the deal mutual as well.

Face it, Chia is all about gambles at this point. Hindsight is inevidable when we look at what he has done 2 or 3 years from now.

Hindsight is always going to be 20/20 and Chia knows it, we know it, and every other GM knows it.

I'd rather have a GM that makes bold moves and addresses things than one who just plays it safe. Not hating MacT here at all, but every GM has their strengths and their weaknesses.
MacT did some great moves ranging from the draft pick swaps to the Perron trade that required cunning and tactical thinking, but his analysis of Petry and Schultz was a major flaw that has lead us to the mess we are in now defensively
Chia is no different. He has made some balls of steel moves that no other GM before him would ever think of doing, but we cannot fully evaluate him just yet. We need to see how these moves pan out before we lay any (Or some) criticism on him.
Sure GM's are responsible for what happens, but there lays a thin line with that accord.

Staph infection and a broken knuckle shouldn't reoccur.. But you guys do have bad luck...
- fry

...McDavid.

They are the luckiest SOBs since Pittsburgh won Crosby.

- laughs2907

Fat Camp ?

I wonder if we could turn Yak around like Tampa did to Drouin. Put him a place he can succeed.

Lucic / McDavid / Eberle
Maroon / Draisaitl / Yakupov
Pouliot / Nuge / Pulujarvi
Hendricks / Letestu / Zassian

Lander & Pakarinen

Fat Camp ?
- prismo

And Katz most certainly has young Harrison on some Rexall Growth Hormones...

I wonder if we could turn Yak around like Tampa did to Drouin. Put him a place he can succeed.

Lucic / McDavid / Eberle
Maroon / Draisaitl / Yakupov
Pouliot / Nuge / Pulujarvi
Hendricks / Letestu / Zassian

Lander & Pakarinen
- prismo

I have some b1tch telling me I'm sexist because I think the new Ghostbuster movie will be garbage.

I wonder if we could turn Yak around like Tampa did to Drouin. Put him a place he can succeed.

Lucic / McDavid / Eberle
Maroon / Draisaitl / Yakupov
Pouliot / Nuge / Pulujarvi
Hendricks / Letestu / Zassian

Lander & Pakarinen
- prismo

We haven't done it since day 1. Why start now?

I wonder if we could turn Yak around like Tampa did to Drouin. Put him a place he can succeed.

Lucic / McDavid / Eberle
Maroon / Draisaitl / Yakupov
Pouliot / Nuge / Pulujarvi
Hendricks / Letestu / Zassian

Lander & Pakarinen
- prismo

Problem there is you're then tasking Draisaitl with carrying not only the the worst of our top-9 LWs, but also the worst of our RWs. For a guy many people are concerned isn't gonna be able to carry a line now that Hall is gone, that's putting unnecessary burden on him. Swap RWs with McDavid's line and proceed (because Yak has done nothing with Leon or Nuge).

I have some b1tch telling me I'm sexist because I think the new Ghostbuster movie will be garbage.
- laughs2907

It will be

We haven't done it since day 1. Why start now?
- Xaos22

Boooooo

I wonder if we could turn Yak around like Tampa did to Drouin. Put him a place he can succeed.

Lucic / McDavid / Eberle
Maroon / Draisaitl / Yakupov
Pouliot / Nuge / Pulujarvi
Hendricks / Letestu / Zassian

Lander & Pakarinen
- prismo

I'd rather trade him than send him to the AHL... I mean, even if we get a 3rd rounder for him or something.

It will be
- Xaos22

It looks amazingly bad... No way in hell will I pay money to see it.

If we're set on bringing Yak back (as it unfortunately seems we are), I sincerely hope the team stops trying to make him a one-time weapon on the PP. He's so evidently not that and would be better suited as the guy down low and beside the net where Hall used to play. That's where he's least likely to catastrophically (frank) up (blueline) or be relied up as an integral piece of the PP (right halfwall).

---------------Lucic---------------
Eberle------------------McDavid
-------Larsson----Nuge---------

--------------Pouliot---Yakupov
--PUJU---------------------Leon
--------------Klefbom-----------

If he can't manage some production there and fails to be anything away from McDavid, then can we finally flush him?

It looks amazingly bad... No way in hell will I pay money to see it.
- laughs2907

It's a movie featuring Melissa McCarthy; it'll be the same as the rest of her movies.