TropicalFruitGirl26

I'll be updating my opening post with each team's picks as they go...but only for the first round.

You got it Doc... Stutzle it is.

Maybe the Sens go with the highest rated defenseman to go along with Chabot? That would be Jamie Drysdale.

Byfield was compared to Anze Kopitar...guess the Kings wanted another Anze... lol Ottawa Senators are on the clock with one of their bazillion first round picks... heh.

Seems to fit right in with what the Kings like....big, strong forwards.

LA Kings go with big Quinton Byfield.... 6'4 220 pound 18 year old center. Wow.

Lefreniere, Kakko, and Shesterkin? Some prime talent there for NY.Z LA Kings now on the clock.

It's official. Alexis Lefreniere number one overall pick to the NY Rangers.

Rangers on the clock..............oh the suspense... lol And Commissioner Bettman says they are shooting for a January 1st start to the new season.

Also, read some tweets that the LA Kings have been hounding the Rangers GM with offers to send a huge package of other picks and prospects to move up to the number one selection. I doubt NY does that though. Rangers feel they are close to contention NOW, and the number one pick will put them over the top in that regard.

About 4 minutes to go before the first overall pick is called. I see NHL Network has moved Tim Stuetzle, a German player, to the number two position. Interesting. Ahead of Byfield.

Good deal for the Jackets...will agree with that. All things being the same and injuries not being an issue, I'd say Anderson > Domi overall. However, probably due to the way he plays, Anderson has seen his fair share of IR time. If he stays healthy, he can certainly help the Canadiens shed that "soft team" aura they've had for a few years now. Sure, they toughened up some over the last two seasons, but none of those tougher players they got have the skillset of Josh Anderson. Domi....all around player? Probably. Can do lots of things, and do them well. He and Cam Atkinson on the same line could be lethal.... Or maybe he can be the guy that finally gets that enigma Alex Wennberg going consistently. And as Yave already said, Domi is a PITA to play against.

Here is the rest of the 1st round picks in order..... 11. Nashville Predators (G- Yaroslav Askarov) 12. Florida Panthers (C- Anton Lundell) 13. Carolina Hurricanes from Leafs (C- Seth Jarvis) 14. Edmonton Oilers (C/LW- Dylan Holloway) 15. Toronto Maple Leafs from Pens (LW- Rodion Amirov) 16. Montreal Canadiens (D- Kaiden Guhle) 17. Chicago Blackhawks (LW- Lukas Reichel) 18. New Jersey Devils from Yotes (C/RW- Dawson Mercer) 19. New York Rangers (D- Braden Schneider) 20. New Jersey Devils from VAN via TB (D- Shakir Mukhamadullin) 21. Columbus Blue Jackets (RW- Yegor Chinakhov) 22. Washington Capitals from Car via NYR (C- Hendrix Lapierre) 23. Philadelphia Flyers (RW- Tyson Foerster) 24. Calgary Flames (C- Conor Zary) 25. Colorado Avalanche (D- Justin Barron) 26. St. Louis Blues (LW- Jake Neighbours) 27. Anaheim Ducks from Bos (RW- Jacob Perreault) 28. Ottawa Senators from NYI (C- Ridly Grieg) 29. Vegas Golden Knights (C- Brendan Brisson) 30. Dallas Stars (C-Mavrik Bourque) 31. San Jose Sharks from TB (RW- Ozzy Weisblatt) Most sites have forwards Alexis Lefreniere, Quinton Byfield, and defenseman Jamie Drysdale as the top 3 selections. Anyone agree or disagree with those three as the cream of the crop? Lefreniere probably is the universally agreed upon number one....but after him? Between the 1st and 2nd rounds, Ottawa really has a chance to clean house on picks..... 3 picks in the 1st round alone! Unless they decide to trade one of course.

Yea, that salary of his will definitely haunt the Red Wings for the foreseeable future, but I agree it was a move that needed to be made if the Wings are to be transformed into a high level, high skill, competitive team. On the flip side, if Abdelkader is not "done" in hockey, and be willing to play for a sub 1M AAV contract (considering the Wings will still be paying him, not out of the question for him to accept a relatively low contract offer), he'd probably make a very fine 4th liner for a deep team. His skillset may have mostly deteriorated, but he still has a bit of snarl and bite to him, and if not asked to play anymore than 8-10 minutes per night, could bring something to a team filled with young players still trying to find their way or a team that could use a battle tested old warhorse on their 4th.

When? --- Tuesday, October 6, 2020 ------- 7pm EST/4pm PST Where?--- Being held virtually Broadcast?---- NBC Sports Network, but check local outlets as that may vary depending on where you are or device used. Top 10 Draft Order (barring any trades of course): 1---- NEW YORK RANGERS (LW-Alexis Lefreniere) 2---- LOS ANGELES KINGS (C- Quinton Byfield) 3---- OTTAWA SENATORS from Sharks (C/LW - Tim Stutzle) 4---- DETROIT RED WINGS (RW- Lucas Raymond) 5---- OTTAWA SENATORS (D- Jake Sanderson) 6---- ANAHEIM DUCKS (D- Jamie Drysdale) 7---- NEW JERSEY DEVILS (RW- Alexander Holtz) 8---- BUFFALO SABRES (RW- Jack Quinn) 9---- MINNESOTA WILD (C- Marco Rossi) 10-- WINNIPEG JETS (C/LW- Cole Perfetti) All pre-draft, during draft, and post draft discussion for all teams can go here. Enjoy!

I don't have an issue with him wanting to go where he wants to.... that's the perk of having a NMC. But he also needs to understand the GM will try and get the very most he can, the very best deal.... and that takes some time. Even if the GM were strictly talking to teams OEL wants to go to, again, I will say, OEL is either dense or selfish if he doesn't realize that the GM needs to get the best possible deal for him.

If OEL really is "angered" the process is taking long, then I would have to question either his intelligence or his selflessness. He has a NMC, has made very specific conditions for him waiving it....and THEN is 'angered' by the process??? This is one of those situations I am glad the Bolts are cap strapped and aren't in this particular mix, or the Wild, who are rebuilding now and have no need or place for an expensive 30 year old blue liner. No doubt his offensive skillset is among the best in the league, but like you said before....his defense is suspect, and frankly, there are guys out there that still can provide decent offense without being complete liabilities on defense. And also, I consider this: If OEL is such a game changer, then why does it it feel, all his years in the desert, that the team really hasn't been able to build around him? I mean, even inept management would have accidentally found a way to get players in there to supplement a supposedly driven talent like OEL. Despite his skillset, he seems more like the passenger type than the driver type. Good luck to whomever ends up with him...and hope they have other drivers on the team because OEL as a guy who stirs the drink doesn't seem quite right to me.

Just putting this out there, but from the Capitals, Radko Gudas woudl be available once again, as well as Brendan Dillon. Dillon is a good sized (6'4 225), good hitting large defenseman who also doesn't turn the puck over that much. He made about 3.5M for the Caps last season. Might be worth a look. He is just 29.

That was my thought....salary dump....well, a HALF salary dump anyways. Oh, and the 5th isn't till 2022, so it will be up to our intrepid Wild scouts to foresee that far ahead to see who is a gem in the 5th round two years from now.

Capfriendly, usually very reliable about things like this, already has Dubnyk on the Sharks at half his salary, meaning of course, the Wild are still paying him his other half. https://www.capfriendly.com/teams/sharks

Wow...Niskanen suddenly retiring really does leave a big hole in skill, leadership, and experience on that blue line. The newly re-signed Braun and Gostisbehere are now the only regulars on the blue line over age 25. Niskanen's non return suddenly leaves the blue line very young. Flyer fans better hope others take big strides and grow a bit faster than they were expecting, or that Philadelphia uses the extra room to sign a decent defenseman with experience and NHL staying power. I mean, if guys like Provorov, Sanheim, Myers...even Hagg and the aforementioned Gostisbehere up their games, then it won't be such a big deal........ but if they don't, then people will point to the Flyers "not having enough experience" on the blue line if they start giving up ridiculous amounts of goals and/or chances on a regular basis.

When I said "better options" available, I too was thinking Greiss....but also Dell and Khudobin. But if Hart feels "centered" having Elliot back, hard to argue with that....although I can see Flyers' fans cringing whenever Hart needs a night off.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nhl/brian-elliott-re-signs-with-flyers-on-one-year-deal-turns-down-chance-to-become-free-agent/ar-BB19Fuql?ocid=uxbndlbing $1.5M for the year. According to the above link, Elliot may have Carter Hart to thank for his stay with the Flyers. Hart really seems to like him as a mentor. What do the O and B faithful think? I think the Flyers could have done better with another backup.....some real good options would have been available. However, when it comes to keeping your starting netminder happy, I guess you can't really put a price on that.

Solid, safe signing. Like the Brodin signing....but on a lesser scale. He may not drive offense all that much, but he is pretty decent defensively, won't cough the puck up with regularity, and should just continue to play a steady brand of defense while chipping in with an assist here and there. Not bad at all in an upcoming year where things seem to project the Wild will take their lumps.

Just a matter of "re-loading" and going for it again. Bolts STILL have plenty of manpower to grab themselves another Cup with this main core, but it will come down to what the supplemental players will do....which stay, which go....and probably most important, who the Lightning have in their system that can step in and start playing some support roles (I am thinking guys like Alexander Volkov, Taylor Raddysh, maybe even Cal Foote being ready to join the big club). No doubt the Lightning will lose a good player to the Seattle expansion draft....hopefully they can find a way to sign and hang onto Anthony Cirelli, Erik Cernak, and Mikhail Sergachev, as I feel those three are the most important RFA's they have. And yes, someone may have to be moved, and sadly, looking at the contracts and factoring in cap hit plus clauses, it looks like Alex Killorn may be it. I say "sadly", because he really is a part of this leadership group, and my preference would have been to try and trade either Tyler Johnson or Ondrej Palat, but both of those guys have NMC clauses as opposed to Killorn's M-NTC. Who don't I expect back? Probably many of the vets on defense, except maybe one. Shattenkirk will likely want a bigger payday now...something the Bolts given their cap won't be able to to. Zack Bogosian may also be looking for a significant raise and while I don't think he would be too expensive, I don't really like his overall game to keep him on anymore than the one year he was with TB. I'd actually bring Luke Schenn back on a team friendly deal....he made 700K last season....I think a 2-3 year, 975K- 1M AAV deal should be a nice enough raise and keep the 30-year old happy playing on a winner, and I think his size and improved defense helps the Bolts. So he'd be the one I'd keep. Jan Rutta can walk, plain n simple. He is average at best...and a liability at worst. He was paired with Victor Hedman in the Finals at times, and Hedde made him look a LOT better than what he is, but I don't feel it's fair anchoring a guy like Hedman with someone like Rutta...not when you can have Cernak play that role, or even bring up a younger defenseman for Hedman to help mentor. Back to back titles, are of course, very difficult to come by in the NHL. But certain elite franchises have pulled it off and now we will see where the Lightning really stand in the context of past great franchise accomplishments from teams like the old Edmonton and NY Islanders, and more recently, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Chicago.