tomh009

Outscored 2-0 in the shootout, neither RHP or Ylonen could score.

1-1 after OT. Primeau has 38 saves on 39 shots.

Yes, very much agreed. Three might be enough, but another prospect or two would probably be good. We have enough late picks for that! My bigger worry is the medium term, whether we will have a manageable gap after Price/Allen and before one of the prospects is ready.

I’m less confident in Primeau now; he might still end up as an NHL goalie but in my mind the odds are getting longer. The three younger guys look promising but it’s a long path to the NHL.

I believe that Hughes and Gorton know what they are doing here. And they likely have more information than we do, about Lehkonen, about what teams are offering and about the extent of the future cap issues. So, whether they decided to keep him or trade him, I'll accept that as being best for the team. But, no, he surely would not be traded cheaply.

I freely admit that I never saw that coming, but he's definitely playing well enough for that.

Today’s article on the Athletic had relevant comments from Hughes. It’s about Kulak but as relevant to the Lehkonen discussion as well. “We love Brett Kulak as a player. We’re not interested in trading him,” the GM said. “I can never say that we will not trade a player. If there’s an offer we can’t refuse, we’ll definitely consider it. But I can tell you that we don’t make calls asking people if they are interested in Brett Kulak.” It’s all about getting more value in a trade. Which is how it should be.

OK, so who were they? Please do tell us!

Whether or not Lehkonen is traded, I am absolutely certain that more players will be moved, either now or in the summer.

Yeah. But just “feels like” and “my sense” so no actual insider info. We’ll know in three days, though.

Ahh, did not look so deeply!

40-point pace last year, too — and at a very team-friendly cap hit of $1.5M.

Assuming it’s not just TB that’s willing to pay two firsts…

In case this was addressed to me ... my view is that Lehkonen is valuable (though not irreplaceable), and while we have many other wingers, they are not quite the same. What I have proposed is that Hughes/Gorton should see whether they can sign Lehkonen to a good contract before trading him away. And that is what it appears that they are doing. That doesn't mean overpaying, but HuGo have way more information (about the team strategy, about the Lehkonen performance and about the contract possibilities) than I do, so I will trust their judgement on this. As I will trust them on their asking price if they do decide to make a trade.

Dreger can't spell "Artturi" either! 🤪 OK, that makes perfect sense: I really expected them to explore the contract before making a decision.

All unlikely. But, all for different reasons.

So far, only Toffoli and Chiarot traded; both would have been on the older side by the time we get to 2024 or 2025. Will that be the plan? Hard to judge based on only two trades.

Would MAF be the obvious choice?

If they extend Kulak for another year or two at a friendly price, that might be fine until we are ready to transform into a contender.

Nerdville, FL! 😂

Florida cleared about $5M in cap space, and we're retaining half of Chiarot's salary so they still have space. I expect the Panthers will be doing another significant trade yet in the next few days.

Most GMs tend to think like Bergevin: anything can happen in the playoffs.

Yeah, it’s the gap between Price and the three kids that I worry about. We don’t know how long Price will play, and neither Primeau or Montembeault is inspiring confidence at the moment. Hopefully Burke can help guide one or both to step up a level in the off-season.

Ed Wheeler also ranked him eighth in his prospect review a few months ago in the Athletic. He was a bit more pessimistic about the potential, though, basically seeing his ceiling as a bottom-six forward. Regardless of how well he turns out, I think HuGo did well on this trade.

Looks good but … goalies are voodoo and it’s a long, long way from Ohio to the Bell Centre.