WildCard

And if was the kids, don't you think Botterill would have gotten rid of them? At least Reinhart and Risto?

God please just go to the freaking West @MikeCairns5 Hearing the rumblings and got a good feeling we may finally be getting close to a conclusion with the Lightning and Erik Karlsson. Stay Tuned.

I don't think locker room issues go away when you're winning, I think people just don't talk about them as much. Perfect example is the A-Rod / Jeter Yankees and Shaq/Kobe Lakers. The locker room issues are 100% still there, but if you're talented enough you can overcome it. I think it takes an absolute ton of talent to do this though, especially in more of a team sport such as hockey. Athletes are people at the end of the day, and with the extent of time and sacrifice that goes into a season, with all the travel/games/outings etc., being comfortable with who you're doing it with definitely makes going to work easier, more fun, and you're more excited to go

Bingo. Beat me to it

Doesn't look like we ever really tried it last season

@icemancometh #NHLDucks announce they will retire Paul Kariya's No. 9 jersey on Oct. 21 and Scott Niedermayer's No. 27 on Feb. 17 Ducks writer for the athletic

Why there? The rumblings were Florida or California. Granted they are just that, 'rumblings'

I corrected the misuse of word Right but you're not voting for him, old dinosaurs (sports writers) are. And Doan is universally loved with a hell of a long career with good point totals. I'd be shocked if they went any deeper into stats as you did

Came from the Peg, right. Not an expansion, a relocation. Good catch

It depends on what I would see out of him during the games honestly. There are 2 versions of Jack and we've all seen them, I'll reserve my judgement until I see which version we get

Nash probably not, but Doan has 972 points, a 21 year NHL career (92nd all time), the face of an expansion franchise...I think he gets in.

Agreed 100%. And I think it's the most likely outcome Allegedly was really only included because there was never a smoking gun; I think those two scenarios were about as close to being a 100% certainty as you're gonna get in the gossip world of sports and inter-athlete relationships I remember wanting Taylor Hall like no player I've ever wanted more

Right, that's my point. Granted they're a lot older than Tage, but they know how to finish better, and they didn't. Why? Because they are/were slow, and bad on the boards.

I mean like it or not this is the boat Jack is in. If the doesn't produce, the guy with the big money, the C, the guy we tanked for, the guy who allegedly had issues with major pieces of a core in a locker room, and a guy that allegedly had issues with a previous GM and HC...there's enough ammo there for him to share in that criticism. Which does suck because I think we go .500 or so, but he better have a hell of a season

Wasn't that the whole point of putting Okposo and Pominville on his line? To be finishers? Matt Moulson too, same thing.

I think it's 100% on Eichel. Botterill has done all he can at this point as far as a culture issue goes. If we still fail going forward for this same apparent reason, then Eichel will only ever be an elite player with significant flaws, instead of a legend that leads men and wins

The biggest under the radar prospect we've had in awhile: Olofsson Some guy on reddit projected the goals this season for our players. Used our very own IKP's math to do it too Here it is

If we haven't already reached that point in this thread, we're getting dangerously close.

Didn't we just get an entire club devoted to this topic for the very reason of keeping it out of the hockey threads?

True but at some point during such a long season, he has to be in game shape. There's no way you go through all of those practices and games without eventually reaching game shape. I'd bet by, at the latest, he was in game shape by January

Well at least we won't have the old offsides contest that we used to between Kane and Eichel anymore

Break out some of them fancy charts

Forgot Thompson existed honestly. Jack is fast though, Tage isn't as fast as Erod Jack shoots a lot, Tage shoots a lot Doesn't exactly sound like a great combination to me. Unless Tage is just going to park it somewhere and have Eichel feed him all day. How many times did we say it last season though, or even since Jack came into the league: he is at his best when he shoots the most. It's oddly impressive really.

Feel like on a hockey forum, 'last year' is pretty synonymous with 'last season'