yave1964

I think that Glass is a mortal lock to play top six minutes with fellow first rounders Brannstrom and Suzuki riding the shuttle between the AHL Wolves and the bright lights of Vegas, so they have three top tier kid prospects ready to step in.

   I thought, to say the least that the payment for Tatar was a reach but in a lot of ways it makes sense as Perron and Neal are almost certainly gone, Tats takes one of their places going forward with the aforementioned kids taking the other. On the back end Sbisa could be easily gone and just as easily replaced.

   They should be in good position to make a run at a free agent or two, my guess is that they will be linked all summer to Tavares and possibly to a trade for Karlsson. This clearly is unlike any other expansion team ever.

IMHO the Oilers are in a bit of trouble mostly because of poor drafting, trying to add veteran pieces such as Letestu and Maroon and hoping to catch lightning in a bottle is one thing sometimes you get lucky but more often than not it doesn't. 

  Take a look at a team such as Chicago or Pittsburgh, they have kept afloat with the elite core but to stay under the cap a flow of young hungry cheap players flows constantly. If a player doesn't work out, he was on the cheap and he is dispatched, quickly forgotten and replaced by the next hungry eager beaver. Edmonton doesn't have that. 

  Talbot is not an elite goalie, he is not even in the next class, he is middling and exposed by a mediocre defense, he is an Osgood type who will perform up to or down to the level of the team around him. Could you win a cup with him? Sure, possibly. Will be WIN the cup for you, carry the team when the seas are rough? No. Not a chance. 

  So IMHO the Oilers need to improve the pipeline and replace Talbot.

6 hours ago, InsideEdge said:

I question if Greiss is ready to start too.  But I question about 40% of the starters.  I am not sure anything will happen with this, but decisions need to be made.

I agree wholeheartedly. Greiss does not do much for me, he is not the answer unless the question is who is a capable backup. Berube is already 25 and was waived out of Los Angeles even after the Martin Jones trade so they did not think much of him. He is, IMHO an organizational third goalie at best.

  Halak is past his prime and the Islanders are loaded. Kids like strome, Nelson, Anders Lee and then throw in Barzal and Del Colle along with Tavares and the remaining vets, this is a team primed with tough and skilled young forwards simply chomping at the bit. They need a skilled young goalie to complete the team.

  I like to play around with trade scenarios, which teams need what and how they match up, to me the Ducks and Brooklyn are perfectly mated for a deal. The Ducks lacked offense for much of the year, especially secondary scoring after the top line. I think they match up perfectly with a trade along the lines of:

Anders Lee for Frederik Andersen

 Lee is big and a net front presence but expendable because of Del Colle and Barzal chomping at the bit and the hope that Strome is ready to take the next step. It is a scenario that makes too much sense for both clubs which is why it probably would never happen, lol, but I would do the trade in a minute if I were either team. Then swap Halak for whatever you could get, Calgary would give up a high second rounder in al likelihood as they need a veteran goalie to bridge a year or two until Gillies is ready.

  Just my two cents worth. Thanks for posting these.

Greiss is a career backup and I do not think much of him. Nothing there,

Berube is not really much of a prospect. Nothing there either.

That said I agree with the premise that Halak may not be the answer for long in net. He is getting up there in age, and he is starting to become brittle. I think if he had stayed healthy the Islanders may still be playing in this round. His health failed the team.

 IMHO if the Islanders can find a taker for Halak they should go after someone like Frederik Andersen or Varlamov, or even a Jake Allen. All could be had in the right deal in the offseason.

On 5/18/2016 at 2:17 AM, Polaris922 said:

Wasn't much of a trip attempt but still somehow hurt the kid.   Is Perry really thought of as a malicious player?  I don't get to see him enough to really know... 

Seriously He is one of the biggest crybabies in the game, he bitches and whines at every whistle and God forbid you call a penalty against him, he could sharpen his stick and drive it through the eye of some poor slob over and over and you call a penalty he acts as if you killed his dog. I have no use, literally zero use for him.

Great blog as usual.

The flames are a strange mix, while most teams build around offensive forwards and responsible defenseman in their own zone who have a nice first pass, the Flames are built around the best collection of offensive defenseman in the game and forwards who know what it is to back check and avoid breakaways as a Giordano or Brodie carry the play. They are a lot of fun to watch but often leave the goalie more than a bit vulnerable. Kind of an inside out style that bob Hartley has his team play, it is a breath of fresh air to see someone play something other than the cookie cutter game we have now where teams are often indistinguishable.

  None of the men playing the position showed anything to make one think they were worth consideration long term. I list Ortio in the conversation.

 Gillies may be the long term answer but he is a year or two away.

  I think someone is going to overpay for Reimer, but do not see his style fitting the Flames. ward is likely done or close to it, he will want one more payday and does not excite.

  My personal choice for the Flames would be bobrovsky.

  I know he was injured and off his game this yearbut when he is on he is an exciting goalie who challenges shooters, he would be ideal and would find new life in Calgary. And Columbus has Korpisalo and Forsberg, two very solid netminding prospects pushing hard.

My p[inion is the potential loss of Crawford is much worse than the loss of Keith for one game, although I do believe that Keith is the best defenseman in Hockey today. Kane has elevated his game and matured into the heart of this team and can help overcome one game without Keith.

  But Crawford is another matter. While I feel he is overrated, an average or slightly better than that goalie, Darling is an ECHL tender who does not belong. If he plays the Hawks are done in round one.

  As for the slash, simply brutal. The punishment fit the crime based off past offenses. I still see Keith as an elite level talent but he has tarnished his rep a tad lately.

My last word on the subject Joe,and then it is all yours, in 2002 the Devils traded popular Jason Arnott and a pick and a package for Jamie Langenbrunner and Joe Nieuwendyk. The Devils were shocked by losing in the first round in 5 games. The following year the Devils won a cup with Langenbrunner leading the league in postseason goals and Joe playing a key role.

  Was the deadline trade a success? IMHO emphatically no. Lots of players dealt at or around the deadline who lose that year but who play key roles a year or two later, I do not believe that qualifies.

Joe,

I have no problem with your assessment of Bourque as the second greatest defenseman of all time, I say Lidstrom, you say Bourque, both were amazing, both were unique. Bourque was capable of doing things with the puck on his stick that Lidstrom could not and Lidstrom was arguably the greatest defensive defenseman of all time. They separated from the pack, they were truly all time greats. He was one of Bostons all time great players and a class act.

  I just think that his short time in Colorado has been romanticized and blown out of proportion.

  Colorado was an amazing team before he got there, always in the thick of it, Forsberg, Sakic, Roy all gone to the Hall. Lemeiux, Keane, so many great spear carriers. And Adam Foote was amazing on the back end, leading a very underrated defense.

  I hate the Avalanche from that era, it has only been in recent years that I have grudgingly learned to love to hate them, before it was a white hot hate that made my temples throb unlike any other hate for a team I have had before or since, so my bias surely is capable of clouding my judgement as surely as your love of the Bruins and of Bourque could cloud yours.

  As for the thin, narrow scope of the discussion, greatest deadline acquisitions ever, not even close. The Wings traded for Cheli at the deadline in 99 and won a cup in 2002 with him as a key component. Does that mean we need to rank him? Of course not. Great deadline cup acquisitions are the ones who get your team over the top that year, period. It did not happen. It was not Bourque's fault, the Stars were loaded that year and beat them in a fun, tough series.

  Was Bourque instrumental in the Avalanche winning the cup the following year? Did he play a key role? Of course and of course. I personally feel they would have won without him, the Wings were down, the Stars were tired after two straight cup finals, the Devils had an off year. The three teams to beat of that era not named Colorado were all off there game, leaving Colorado as the last giant standing. They would have won if Bourque had been there or not.

  He did show what he was capable of doing with brilliant players around him and I agree it is a shame that he did not play on a better team for most of his career. If you want to argue that he meant more to the Avlanche than I am giving credit for because of my intense hatred of everything Colorado of that era clouding my judgment I will say okay, maybe in 20 years I will revisit it and see if my hatred for the team has abated enough to give anyone on the team credit for much of anything. But.

 He was one hell of a player but as a deadline acquisition his team lost. End of story.

On 2/29/2016 at 4:53 PM, J0e Th0rnton said:

Wrong. The inclusion of Bourque enabled that team to play much more confidently up front and his breakout transition play drove the bus .

 

Sakic credits his best season ever with Bourque being back there making it all happen. Most of the team said the same before they won the cup. It was like having 24 better players

Bourque as a deadline deal addition was an absolute failure, period, no discussion. to me a deadline deal that does not result in a cup that year cannot be considered one of the greatest ever. They won the following year, but that was the following year. does that mean that the Wings trading Coffey and Primeau for Shanahan in October deserves to be cosnidered a great deadline deal because they won that year? No. deadline deals have to result in a win that year for it to count. Bourque was an all time great, but not one of the all time great deadline deal winners.

  And gloss it over all you want, the year they won it he scored 4 goals and 10 points in 21 postseason games. That was a tired old man, the team won and would have won without him. Sakic was a superstar before the arrival of Bourque and was still one long after Raymond rode off into the sunset. I think your prejudice is showing.

I would disagree vehemently on Bourque, I am not saying he was a passenger but he certainly did not drive the train. The Avalanche would have won the cup with or without him. He should be grateful to the Avalanche, not the other way around.

  The trade deadline deal that all others are matched against and come up short of course was the Isles trading Lewis and Harris to the Kings for Butch Goring who was the perfect fit as a 2C for a team that was full of talent but needed veteran leadership.

  Larry Murphy booed out of Toronto and landing in Detroit was the perfect final piece for the Wings semi-dynasty.

 And not at the deadline but close enough, Ron Francis to the Penguins was legend.

I have always said I would love to see Evander Kane in a Wings sweater, warts and all. A rugged power forward with a nasty streak, the Wings have not had anyone of his ilk since Shanny.

  I do not see Buffalo trading him, most important if they do it wont be in the division. But the Wings have not had a black player since, well....Tony McKegney a quarter of a century ago for half a year comes to mind. Seriously, MoTown has never had a black player of substance, let alone a star quality player.

  Color should have less to do with it than actual talent and I think he has it in oodles, just the wrong orgazinations where he has been a poor fit have held him down. I could see Kane finding his groove with the Wings, but like I said, unless the Wings wow Buffalo with an absurd offer I doubt he is coming. He would be my first choice of anyone out there who is potentially available tho.

2 hours ago, BluPuk said:

Canada had been caught out for sure. When the series moved to Moscow, we had to win 3 of four games in their arena. On the big ice. With inferior and slanted officiating. With spearing, kicking, and butt-ending by the Soviets going uncalled. Everything was in their favor. Or was it? I can remember it like it was yesterday.  There were approximately 3000 Canada fans there but they sounded like 15000. I can still remember the looks on the faces of the Soviet fans, the officials, and even the Soviet players. They had never seen anything like it for sure; and it helped.

It was the greatest hockey I ever witnessed still to this day. In the end we learned our lesson well, and for the Soviets - so did they. They were stunned. I have no doubt that the powers that were at that time in Moscow were completely convinced that their style of play could not be defeated. They were sure they were going to win and strike a blow for their political views.

It still feels good today....

Yup, the 3000 fans screaming "Soviet!  Nyet, Nyet Nyet! cheering the boys on.

  Scott, what I meant was the officiating probably deserved its very own reason, as the gamesmanship off the ice, Espo wrote in Thunder and Lightning that the Rsukies stole half the food and beer as it came through from customs, that the KGB followed and intimidated the wives, that some players like Pete Mahovlich simply caved to the off ice pressure and it ruined their game. That is what I meant that Gamesmanship on/off the ice were two separate things, IMHO. Horrible officiating on, horrible treatment off. Wayne Cashman talked about breakfast being green rotten eggs with moldy bread on the morning of a game and because they were forced to ration the food they brought with them that most of the players skipped the pregame meal. He swore they were served horsemeat at one point by the kitchen help who stole the steaks that had come from Canada. Simply awful. Of course to many of these people living behind the Iron Curtain they had never seen Westerners and their ways and the chance to eat real food and drink something other than rotgut vodka was probably more than they could take. That is not counting what the KGB stole......

Great article, as usual Scott. My favorite era for the game.

 I would add officiating (although that very well might fall under gamesmanship) as the games in the USSR were so poorly officiated that the men in stripes were almost like having an extra player in the other side. It got so bad the that mild mannered easy going JP Parise lifted his stick above his head and had to restrain himself from tomahawking a ref for calling yet another bogus penalty.

  Yeah keeping Cheevers, Hull, Tremblay and Sanderson from playing was simply a lame move. They would have made a difference. But the biggest loss IMHO was the hobbled Bobby Orr who was a spectator as he recovered from yet another knee surgery. If Orr had played it would have been a different series.

 The Soviet team was really, really good, and Phil Esposito laughed years later about telling the boys on the bench to try not to run the score up too high on them. Canada went up 2-0 in the first but they were sweating and looked tired while the Russians were not even sweating yet. Throw in the fact that the Russians played together in all kinds of tournaments for years and years and the Canadian club practiced for a couple of weeks and had zero cohesion.

  IMHO one thing Sinden did wrong was he should have given the young Turks such as Dionne and Perreault a fair shake. Instead he played guys like Dennis Hull regularly and the kids sat and stewed, the Buffalo contingent actually went home in exasperation halfway through the tourney.

  Great subject matter Scott.

I told the wife after the epic 3rd period collapse against the Bruins in game 7 several years ago that the Leafs should trade Reimer immediately. Not to blame him, but because he would never recover in the fishbowl that was Toronto. Some fans rallied to him, others railed against him, but he would live under a microscope from then on.

  And if you propose that the Leafs make the playoffs again, and face a game 7 once again, would you as a Leaf fan really want him in net? It is not a talent thing, it is an emotional thing. His psyche has to be permanently scarred. The last couple of years since the incident still playing in Toronto has to seem to be a jail sentence to him. I think Reimer in the right environment could salvage a career but the longer they wait to trade him the less likely that is going to be.

Leo Komarov on pace for 30 goals is a very pleasant surprise to me, the hard hitting, hard working winger is finally getting his due.

 A bad surprise is Pekka Rinne who is now 1-8-3 in his last dozen road starts and is not much better at home.

10 hours ago, InsideEdge said:

Some very good points.  I think the term that should be used is "big name" instead of star.  Thanks for your insight.  Just for the record I do not see Carolina making the playoffs.

I do not think they are a playoff team either, just better than people gave them credit for.

It is going to be an interesting trade deadline, more teams are going to be in it than in past years so trades might be a bit trickier. If Carolina is within striking distance (within 4 points of the Rangers as of this morning and actually in 8th place in the East (!) trading Staal or someone else might get Francis in hot water with the fan base a bit, same in New Jersey with Stempniak who is having a fine season and would net a good solid return. Teams that are on the fringe might have to hold onto players a bit longer. Of course it is five weeks until the deadline....

IMHO Staal is absolutely not a star anymore, not by a longshot. His skills have eroded and he no longer even regularly takes faceoffs playing the wing instead. His numbers continue to drop and have for several years. He is a good player, a top six winger who could play center in a pinch but sooooo not a star.

  I put a article in here before I saw yours pointing out that Carolina is 2 points out of a playoff spot (!) and that leaves them with a what to do conundrum with UFAs to be Ward, Versteeg and Staal. Staal has told Francis he will waive his NTC if dealt to a contender.

  I don't see him fetching much, his days as a top line player are over, at 30 he has so clearly lost a step, perhaps two but he could still help someone in a playoff push. Of course that someone might just be Carolina.

Understanding this was posted awhile ago:

Realistically every single team in the West is still in the running, up to and including the Oilers who sit 5 points out of a spot with McJesus looking to come back after the AS break. Literally, you could make a case for every team in the West.

In the East, I would say Columbus, Buffalo and Toronto are all pretty much done with Carolina and Philadelphia on the cusp. Both have 43 points, a handful of points out of a spot but living on the razors edge.

 So I see three teams out of it, that is it. Remarkable as we enter the second half.

The Wild or Preds would have to be drooling over the opportunity to add a player such as this, he is a top tier talent, he would make either team one of the teams to beat in the West. If I were in charge of either team I would be willing to give up whatever it took to make it happen.

He has faced his share of demons off the ice since the end of his career, a failed suicide attempt, a life that he has freely admitted has spiraled out of control with substances on more than one occasion. From what I read recently he is doing well in life now, and I wish him all the luck in the world.

As far as greatest line ever, it has to be cosnidered right up there, the Isles great line, any line with Gretzky, Lemieux, Jagr and whoever, the Habs with Richard, Lach and Blake, the Habs with Lafleur, Shutt and Lemaire, lots of great ones over the years. But I would agree the production line tops them all.

One of the all time greatest lines in hockey history, if you look at them, they remind me for all the world of the Isles main line in the eighties, Trottier and Abel, Howe and Bossy and Lindsey and Gillies. I knew an old timer (my Grandfather) who had been a Wings fan way back in the day, and I remember him comparing them at the time to the dynasty Isles top line, and really the similarities are definitely there.

Read a great interview between the esteemed Todd McFarlane and Cyclone Taylor who was in his eighties and still skating at the time. Great interview about the early days of the game.

Taylor had a rep for skating faster backwards than nearly anyone of his time could skate forward, he swore it was more PR than truth but he was reputed by his contemporaries as the greatest skater of his time. That rep carried with him through his whole life.

For years this team was Price and Subban and hope that they could push a goal or two across, that was about it.

Pacioretty has turned into a star, Gallagher not quite but a heck of a player. Plekanec has taken it to another level, Galchenyuk is ready to break out. Throw in this talent and the best defense that Price has had in front of him since turning pro and they are ready to do some serious damage.

Anything can happen in this day and age of parity, but the Canadiens must be considered the frontrunner.