mineral

Are we needing to make space for a #1 center in Laval? Were we deficient in RW, somehow? This is a head scratcher - Holland had 18 pts already.

Wasn't there a two-year offer made at some point too? Anyone know what the numbers were for that, or has it been mentioned here already?

This is a decent upgrade on Emelin. $500k more for a helluva lot less turnovers and brain farts. We'll miss the hits, but as The Cucumber stated, he could stabilize the 2nd pairing quite well. Petry can take some more liberties offensively now.

I want to down vote this.

Ugh. Chalk it up as due dilligence and nothing more? Stats-wise, he's a bottom pair, and we've already got Schlemko for that.

Markov is apparently asking for $7m over 2 years and Bergy hasn't signed that yet. WTF. We've had him on the cheap his entire career and we can't give this last contract to him?

He was a waiver claim twice (which doesn't bode well either, mind you), and the other two times he was a free agent. Technically, this is his first time being traded.

Seems like an expensive depth player, but maybe that's just me. I guess he'll be paired with Benn and battle that spot with Davidson. Looks like he gets injured fairly often, though. I guess Jerabek is likely to slot into the top 4 now? Or will it be Schlemko/Jerabek/Davidson for 5/6 spot?

Agreed. That is the cheapest goals/$ in the NHL, by a country mile. It would be poor asset management to dump that before his contract is up, unless you are getting the moon in return. Throw in Mars for good measure. Gally for Leddy + Beauvillier is flat out too good to be true. I'd almost think it would be just Gally straight up for Leddy. Leddy, as mentioned, is 40+pts per year lefty signed at 5.5m for almost his entire prime, cheaper than Markov. That's a steal in itself. Beauvillier went straight to the NHL and seems to have legit upside (i admittingly know nothing about him). I would have thought they'd give Strome instead, seeing as he's been a bust so far, given his pedigree. The question must be asked: why the hell would Snow do such a move? He just spent a 1st rounder to protect his forwards, and now he's going to give that to Bergy?

Agreed. Like most folks around here, I've been very skeptical on The direction of the farm team and our success rate of NHL graduates from the last 5+ years now.

This is Buffalo's third pick, so it's almost as good as a late 2nd rounder. Unless it is another teams pick, not sure on that one. I was never big on Nate. Not sad to see him go. I don't feel he lived up to his potential. Also, didn't we have 8 defensemen during the playoffs? There is a glut of bottom pair options for us, which was ultimately the spot Nate earned himself. I think that KHL pick up has a better chance to be our top 4 filler. Maybe Phaneof is coming?

You mean the Andrighetto that now plays for Colorado?

Maybe Julien feels that Beaulieu can't take Emelin's minutes. Nathan played less than 14 mins against Edmonton - roughly what we'd see Davidson play given his ice time against Vancouver. Certainly Beaulieu, the young buck, could easily handle more time, but not likely the responsibilities that come with it. That said, Davidson will be playing against a helluva better team than the Canucks.

LOL, man you guys are surly when it comes to off-games, which is what this was. Call me an optimist, but we just had a string of 6 wins. While not all were pretty, we did play as a solid team during most of them. This was terrible game, but not exactly the defining view of the team - which seems to be the narrative in a lot of this thread. I think they came in, high off their winning streak, thinking this would be an easy game. Calgary deserves credit for exploiting their weaknesses and keeping them on their heels all night long. They were sloppy as hell, seeming to think the plays would come together on their own without having to work for them (something Calgary was doing all night long). Emelin is definitely worried about his status on the team, and you can see it in his play. Weber is great and all, but i highly doubt he's been masking Emelin for the 50+ games they mostly played together. He's unquestionably in a rut.

I was referring more about the return from injury comparison. Crosby is unequivocally one of the best players on planet, and not just between the ears; he is a physical specimen that doesn't quite compare to many, especially a 3rd pair defenseman. And Syd did come back to the same team, teammates, system and coach. That said, there is room to argue about some of this - I can't find the game by game logs for Davidson on TSN at the moment or details on his injury, what rehab he needed, etc. Everything else you elaborated on can't be argued, however. I've heard a lot of intriguing things about Davidson, but it's hard to judge given he's been on a shit team with crappy teammates. I remain a little optimistic and kind of hoping for a Gorges 2.0.

Well there's a bulletproof argument.

I haven't done an analysis on DOB of the roster, but i don't believe the team has aged dramatically. Outside of Pleky, our entire group of forwards are in their prime. Ott is likely a spare part and Mitchell still brings his game, but everyone is 30 or younger. On the back end, both key additions are relatively young and will have quite a few to many years ahead of them - if they do indeed stick around. Really, it's Pleky, Markov who are the old boots (or perform like it), and Mitchell, Weber are still going strong. I think a lot of playoff-potential analysis has been, rightly so, focused on the players. But let's not forget who is now behind the bench. Julien has 107 playoff games coached in the 7 years he got Boston to the playings, with a very respectable 57-40 record, .588 winning pct. Him and Muller will take this team to another level, that i am sure of it.

February is the abberation, not the statistical mean. 30th in Feb, but 17th overall. If we had 0.1 better goal per game average, we'd be in the top ten. Why don't we talk about October when we were on top? Same reason we shouldn't be talking about February.

Amen, Huzer.

At the end of the day, did any team really make a major move for a top 6? Outside of Vanek and Stafford (who has been a top 6 producer once in the last 5 years), what other big names at forward were moved/acquired? No, neither Iggy nor Hanzal are top 6. The entire trade deadline was all about spare parts, save Shattenkirk.

Man, i guess Sakic really was asking for the moon.

I'm on the phone at work, so i'm shooting from the hip here. Thanks for clarifying. Really begs the question on who's on the block, i.e. who can/will sit? Flynn, Byron, Lehkonen (i really hope not)?

Not what i was hoping to see in a deal with Colorado. Barely has spent any time in the AHL and i'm guess that's where he is headed.

And there goes Ghetto....

I'd probably go for Landeskog instead, and not with Gallagher in the mix. I think Beaulieu's time in numbered. That would make 3 former team captains on this team with Weber and Ott (yeah, yeah, i know).