DarthEbriate

I hope he does well. On the positive side, he's 25 and has played 30 games in the NHL so this won't bedazzle him in any way. He's been solid for ROC and Taylor so hopefully he's mostly positionally sound and keeps it simple. He's a deserves a call-up since Asplund got his chance and was replaced by Frolik and Mitts needs to just stay down. Is he a savior? Anything long term? Nah, but he's a 14th forward and can step in for a few games while Okposo (not a concussion) gets healthy.

Nope. I think when JBot was hired (spring 2017) both he and fans probably looked at 2020-21 as the season when we should finally start competing again. Even with ROR on the roster, there were still a ton of holes to fill and a D-corp to redo and a farm system to rebuild. Through this year we needed to learn if Ullmark was NHL-ready (he is, maybe not a starter, but he's improved to NHL-level). Nothing in the past said that Hutton would completely fall off a cliff -- he was a solid veteran backup, he would hopefully continue to be a solid backup. We still had to either move (and no good return) or wait for Moulson and Bogo contracts to expire. This coming offseason is when JBot would really be able to go shopping -- for good or ill. The D-corp is now fairly constructed as he wants it (whether we like how it's built is irrelevant), and ROC and Cincinnati are now both self-sustaining and in the playoff race in back-to-back seasons. The team is a mess on-ice at the moment. However, with the addition of a 2C and top-6 winger -- on paper I think we'd say next year this roster should be able to keep in the fight for a wild card. And of course, now we may need a goalie because Hutton appears broken, although goalies can waver wildly from year to year. It hurts that our division is viciously good, but we should be able to compete with Florida, Columbus, NYI, Carolina and the like next season. That's what I think was the timeline.

I kind of put Asplund as the 1C and Dea as 2C. Admittedly I don't have nearly as many notes on ROC, but what I do have has Dea all over the place. CJ Smith - Dea - Lazar (most of December when ROC was humming --- which is what I used as my reasoning above) Gilmour - Dea - Paetsch (Now that's a line right there!) Wilson - Asplund - Dea (Most recently with Mitts down) So, in summation, Dea could be anywhere. But I'd try him at 2C first with two veteran wingers (MoJo and Frolik) and get Skinner up top so at least we have one threatening line. Skinner has been so close, if he gets one... it could totally reignite him. He is one of those streaky guy who can carry a team for a couple weeks at a time if he gets hot. (Vanek/Stafford most recently for us).

This homestand had a chance to be a blessing (we had a good record at home; get some momentum and make a heroic run to 9th, at least get the team looking good and playing competently game-in and game-out). Or, it had the chance to be a curse (be flat, lose hope, get further injuries, have the fans/wolves start howling). In two games, it's become the latter. The problem is that JBot knows (and we all do, somewhere deep inside) that the team is still a year away from competing for playoffs based solely on timeline of prospects and clearing out some contracts. So last year and this year were low investment. The problem with that stagnation is burning the years of your young studs, and having to patch a lineup rather than building it. Last year -- fast start. #1 in the league. Sustainable? Emphatically no! But we lost Berglund's role (not necessarily Berg the player, but the role. Steady middle-6 veteran C). JBot never replaced him. A traded player and pick and maybe we miss the playoffs, but at least stay relevant all year (sadly, then no Cozens. But we could still be excited about whoever we drafted in the 1st round). Instead, Mitts, Sobotka, and Rodrigues were pushed at that role -- ERod with ... some minor success, but nothing that said "2C". We learned Mitts and Thompson both needed AHL seasoning. This year, still no 2C. But again the fast start. More depth! Sustainable? Very likely no, but a glut of D, including Pilut and Bogo coming back shortly --- the assets were there to get the 2C. Instead, Mitts cooled off after a good first few games. And JBot did nothing. This team needs centers, and nothing was done about it. MoJo is a good winger, he hadn't played center in 5 years when WSH determined he'd be a better fit at wing. So we were going to Leino-ize him? That's not a plan. Why am I writing this? You all know this. Never mind I just lost my starboard engine. Get set up for your attack run. AAAAAAAIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!

Over herrreeee! Help, Dea! Please, help! Hopefully, Dea gets a try as a 2C -- what he's been doing in Rochester. And that allows us to play real forward lines and not try to get minutes to Bogo. Skinner-Eichel-Reinhart; Johansson-Dea-Frolik; Girgensons-Larsson-Vesey; ERod-Lazar-Sheary

It's a one-goal hockey game in the third period and we need that goal.... and... I kind of just want to go watch Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, which is a show I could watch at any time because it's on streaming service. And it's about puppets.

Professor Rolston (at the NHL level) begs to differ.

Blasphemer!

I can't see that word without thinking of the little party favor thingie.

I wish Grosek hadn't injured his back in the playoffs. He was a bull all that season. Having both he and Satan at limited capacity was bad. Just looked it up -- that's two of the top 3 goal scorers (Peca) that season.

Down one and on the PP --- it's not over yet. It is for me, sister!

This is on us. We're all part of this Bantha fodder.

You cannot get outworked and outhustled on such a consistent basis, especially when only a few of your players have the skill to make up for a lack of effort (and Jack tries pretty darn hard most of the time) and expect to do well. The Habs look as good as the Sens. And... neither of them is exactly a world-beater this season. The common denominator is us.

How we doing? Same as always. That bad, huh?

Checkers? (or in-idiom: Holochess?)

Off thread -- but this is one thing (of several, including local Sabres games) that excites me about the Seattle expansion. Rumor has it that KEXP will be running their music. It's like putting a college station in charge, but with an emphasis on local music and unfamiliar music. It could be glorious (or....off the rails weird). Either way: fun.

Never said it was likely, just that that's the kind of play we need now to have a chance. But it didn't have to be that way. What's the most disappointing in all of this is that we've seen good stretches. A quick start, a few five-game stretches where we compete shift in and shift out (and sometimes win and sometime lose, just like other teams). That sickly stretch by the GLO line. And we got to see MVP-caliber play from Eichel, where if we were in the playoff race, then he'd be a Hart contender. But we also lost 10 of 11 in November and 7 of 8 to close out 2019. And we weren't picking up a bunch of OT/SO loser points during those time either. Those more than undid any consistently good stretches we've had. A 2C (which we needed going into the season) and a backup goalie (which we could've found as early as November) would've gone a long way to keeping those good stretches more consistent.

If only they had cloned Eichel instead of Jango Fett we wouldn't be in this ridiculous position.

No scouting report on him; the guy is riding an emotional high --- and the team can buy into him with one big game or save, as well as believe they both have to play better because he's an AHL guy, and have the confidence that he's got their back. It's a fairy tale story. I like space fairy tales.

Or the Hamburglar's run in 2014-15 Ottawa. (He's in ROC.) He went 20-1-2 that regular season to get the Sens into the playoffs. That's the run we need from Hutton/Johansson. Legendarily hot goaltending. Sub 1.90 GAA, .94+ sv %, and win every OT/SO except 1.

The current pace in the East is right about 98-100 points as the playoff threshold. We would need to average 15 points in every 10 games from here on out to hit that (7-1-2) in our remaining 32 games. The playoffs are beautiful place, and there's always hope... Sometimes you blow up the Death Star and sometimes there's another Death Star or fleet of Death Stars and your doomed. (We're currently on pace for 83 points) Edit: Adding Binnington Last season in 32 regular season games (the same as we have remaining right now) Binnington went 24-5-1. We need that. If Johansson is Binnington (and we have STL's defensive structure).... That's the type of run we're looking at.

That's the fear. When you look at each trade in a vacuum it's an OK balance in some form (even ROR, which balanced the salaries and was expected to fill out forward depth and get Berglund as a temporary 2C). When you look at it holistically --- we've not really improved beyond Eichel and Reinhart's continued growth (which is expected) and our depth has gotten a bit better because of Olofsson and MoJo (already in system and free agency). Here's outcome of JBots's trade world, excluding extraneous picks/players (Fasching trade isn't on here): DLo -> AHL Redmond BUF 5th -> AHL Wilson Kane (UFA - rental) + Guhle -> Sheary, Hunwick, Montour ROR -> Thompson, Sobotka, D Johnson, D Miller Pu (+ picks) -> Skinner BUF 3rd -> Vesey Nylander -> Jokiharju Scandella -> Frolk

It's true. No - fighting doesn't make you tough, but the only fights I can remember this year are Vesey and Eichel's double-minor non-fight. The only guy who routinely sticks up for his teammates is Reinhart. And the only guy who's consistently agitating and on-edge is Skinner (likely because he's so frustrated at his slump). We don't protect our net fiercely or force turnovers because if you don't rush the pass you're going to get hit squarely. The only time we're difficult to play against is when Eichel has the puck on his stick in the O-zone. (And that couple week stretch when the GLO line was raising hell, which was unsustainable.)

The two top 6 forwards is tricky, but one via trade (2C) with several assets going back and one via free agency (winger) is definitely doable. I think you're right that the roster isn't so far out of whack. The 2C is the key. Just swap ROR back into our lineup for Berglund/Sobotka/Thompson (hey, that was easy!) and on paper a lot of other things slide nicely into place and it looks like a playoff team. And you can always trade for a gritty winger with playoff experience at the deadline as a rental (provided you're about to make the playoffs and the other team isn't). As to the roster dismantling. It isn't needed if you land the 2C. My worry is all the expiring contracts --- it's absolutely an opportunity to improve, but also we're dismantling our bottom 9 this offseason whether we want it or not. (Which means an entire team learning cohesion and chemistry, etc. to start next season, which could mean a very sluggish start, which could lead to more suffering if the team doesn't find itself after 20 games and get it in full-on winning mode.)

hehehe... Samson has his own thread for this. ? (For the right price, no one is off the table, even Gretzky. But Dahlin could get more in return than Samson.)