To me the sky is not falling. I’m ok with starting the season with the forwards we have or if we exchange Rust for a lesser forward we’re still fine. This is the time where you hope your young guys give you a little more. We all saw what this team CAN do even when some of our stars are hurt. Murray didn’t have a good start but he ended strong, Brassard was dragging us down for a while, JJ in a top 4 role drug us down all year.

Schultz should rebound with a full offseason of training and hopefully he pairs with Petts and as we all said weeks ago we’re hoping JJ gets passed on the depth chart

McCann-Crosby-Guentzel
Kahun-Malkin-Hornqvist
Simon-Bjugstad-Kessel
Blueger-Palve-ZAR

Dumo-Letang
Petts-Schultz
Kola-Gudbranson

And then let GMJR trade for a LD sometime during the season

I highly doubt JJ will be on the 2020 playoff roster and he’ll be gone by 2021. We just don’t have the cap space to keep him. Kahun, McCann and Murray will need raises and Schultz will need to be replaced. Props to Tojo for outlining Shattenkirks pros. He would be a good fit imo. If only, IF ONLY we could send JJ to NYR for Shattenkirk $1MM retained and then NYR would buyout JJ. Schultz then becomes an asset in a trade. Doesn’t look like a whole lot of teams have room in their top 4 for RHD atm. Tampa needs one but they need to send salary out as well
- WSCTeton17

Not picking on you because I agree with a lot of what you say, but I also think for the first time in a decade it’s presumptuous to simply assume there will be a 2019/2020 playoff roster

Not picking on you because I agree with a lot of what you say, but I also think for the first time in a decade it’s presumptuous to simply assume there will be a 2019/2020 playoff roster
- stayinthefnnet

This is what I said yesterday. This upcoming season is the first season in over 10 I won't be just assuming they're making the playoffs.

Ryan Wilson: Backed into a corner
Backed into a corner
- Ryan_Wilson

lol

Does anybody know who he meant by Kola?

Does anybody know who he meant by Kola?
- Doogs

He means Juuso Riikola.

He means Juuso Riikola.
- MikeyKay

WOW, I am not wearing my observant pants today... it’s right there in the name.

Sorry

Zaitsev > JJ, The value Kadri brings offsets the price difference
- RoloTahmasee

Not only is this not true, his contract is way worse.

Not only is this not true, his contract is way worse.
- Rinosaur

Plus the baggage he brings?

Plus the baggage he brings?
- Doogs

?

?
- Rinosaur

Kadri is dirty. He is a magnet for penalties and drama.

Kadri is dirty. He is a magnet for penalties and drama.
- Doogs

Oh yeah, I thought you were talking about Zaitsev. Kadri is a liability.

I bet Kessel is staying in tip top shape at the poker World Series. Meanwhile Sid and Geno are working out twice a day.

WSCT, in your post...who is Kola you have paired with Gudbranson? Did I miss someone/thing?
- Doogs

Riikola, goes by Kola. My hope would be that he could surpass JJ which makes unloading him or buying him out next season that much more obvious. I’ve looked up the numbers and Zaitsev is better than JJ. He’s not going to carry anyone but he’s not going to be a huge drag like JJ either. It would be worth it to get him and dump Rust for additional cap space imo. TO may be inclined because of the cap savings

Not picking on you because I agree with a lot of what you say, but I also think for the first time in a decade it’s presumptuous to simply assume there will be a 2019/2020 playoff roster
- stayinthefnnet

And that’s fair but for my money this is a better roster than what we started last year with. It’s younger, it’s faster, it’s deeper overall. Murray had a good year of seasoning and finished strong and played well at the WHC. There’s still a long way to go but as of today they’re in for me

that trade with Toronto makes absolutely zero sense. Why do we need Kadri? Why do we want to trade Johnson just to get a bottom pairing guy that appears just as useless as he is and more expensive?

The only trade that makes sense with Letang is if they have Schultz extended first. If you trade Letang, Schultz's value for a new contract goes way up because he knows we pretty much have to extend him.

I just dont see a trade where trading Letang makes sense. No team is going to pay top dollar for him, he is on a great deal when this team really needs guys to be on good deals, & we do not have a defense corps that is capable of taking the blow of losing their top guy.

I bet Kessel is staying in tip top shape at the poker World Series. Meanwhile Sid and Geno are working out twice a day.
- Grinder47

They have a gyms at whatever hotel he's staying at.

and in the PG, MacKey didnt have anything huge to mention. Said the idea of trading Johnson is there, but unlikely. Thinks Tristan Jarry is an easy trade chip and should have some value. Says the two guys to watch is Rust & Bjugstad.

I agree about Bjugstad. I said from the beginning that he should be a target to trade if this team wants to be a skating and speed based team. He isnt a bad player, and should get us some value, but i have always felt Rutherford viewed him as a throw in for the real target, McCann, in the Florida trade.

Dobber sports / hockey reference:
Zaitsev vs JJ: Zaitsev wasn’t happy in TO and still had a somewhat tolerable season. He starts more of his shifts in the D zone but drives play more than JJ. He also logs more TOI, takes more shot attempts (as opposed to just dumping it back into the corner where Phil and Geno won’t go get it), and his possession quality is +3.7 whereas JJ this season was -8.1. Zaitsev in a down year is better than JJ and he played for flippin Babcock. With JJ you’re going to get a dumpster fire, it is known. With Zaitsev there’s at least a chance that he improves in a new system. Per Dobber Sports Z saw stiffer competition but performed better than JJ. Schultz actually had the highest QoC of any pens defender not named Letang. Swapping JJ for Z solidifies our left side for our window, Petts likely passes him this year or next anyways

and in the PG, MacKey didnt have anything huge to mention. Said the idea of trading Johnson is there, but unlikely. Thinks Tristan Jarry is an easy trade chip and should have some value. Says the two guys to watch is Rust & Bjugstad.

I agree about Bjugstad. I said from the beginning that he should be a target to trade if this team wants to be a skating and speed based team. He isnt a bad player, and should get us some value, but i have always felt Rutherford viewed him as a throw in for the real target, McCann, in the Florida trade.
- SuperHenderson13

I don't agree with your take on Bjugstad. I think he's a very effective player, but I do agree is one of the likeliest players to get moved out and that's unfortunate.

Since Tojo isn’t here I would also remind everyone that Shattenkirk is a good 2nd pairing option for us as long as it’s at a lower cap hit. He finished the year with 18 points in his last 40 games (only 5 of those on the PP), played primarily with Claesson Skjei and Smith (had awful production with Smith, shocker!), he’s a huge positive relative to his teammates in CF and FF.

Tojo nailed it. If we could send them JJ with them retaining $1.65MM of Shats then we would have him with a $5MM cap hit and then Schultz becomes a big trade chip, plus we alleviate all of JJ’s cap hit

This is what I said yesterday. This upcoming season is the first season in over 10 I won't be just assuming they're making the playoffs.
- MattStrat

I tend to agree with this, but it shouldn't be the case. Too much talent on this team. If they develop a "team-D" conscious they should be fine. I have a handful of games on my DVR from those cup runs and the structure and attention to detail was a night and day difference from how they played last season.

I don't agree with your take on Bjugstad. I think he's a very effective player, but I do agree is one of the likeliest players to get moved out and that's unfortunate.
- Rinosaur

This.

I am of the mind that the fix is needed in the D end of things. The O is talented and will rebound. qwell some of the chaos and disorder by Sullivan sitting down and laying the Law and fix the D.

I tend to agree with this, but it shouldn't be the case. Too much talent on this team. If they develop a "team-D" conscious they should be fine. I have a handful of games on my DVR from those cup runs and the structure and attention to detail was a night and day difference from how they played last season.
- madmike71

The 2016 cup team was a monster. Fast, relentless and total puck support. They didn't just skate fast, they moved the puck fast.

This.

I am of the mind that the fix is needed in the D end of things. The O is talented and will rebound. qwell some of the chaos and disorder by Sullivan sitting down and laying the Law and fix the D.
- Doogs

They can't fix the defense unless they're willing move the bad ones out.

If Bjugstad is moved it will be for a lesser quality bottom-six player to free up space to simply keep what they have.

I don't agree with your take on Bjugstad. I think he's a very effective player, but I do agree is one of the likeliest players to get moved out and that's unfortunate.
- Rinosaur

I like Bjug too. From what I've read, Rutherford loves him. I thought the third line of Bjug, Hornie and Simon was one of the brighter spots at the end of the season. Honestly.... If it came down to Rust of Bjugstad, I'm keeping Bjugstad. Can play center or wing.