Neech

Slaf just gave the best on ice interview with Marc Denis (not a high bar to clear because those are normally cringey as hell). What a beaut - literally, though, he looks like a model. Harris and Guhle are both looking like seasoned vets. Suzuki and Caufield are future ppg studs. Xhekaj just sent a message to all the heavyweights in the league by dummying Kassian. We've got ourselves a future core, folks!

What a fun game. I want all our wins to be blowouts at home. Slaf is on the board so I can sleep easy. Suzy just went full Datsyuk. We have some young studs in the stable boys!

Drouin's deal is expiring at least, so we could likely dump him at the deadline. Hoffman was a panic signing, but at least he'll be off the books after next season and won't get in the way of our rebuild too much.

At least we're giving the home crowd some fun games. Great to see our future core put up points. Now we just need Slaf to get on the board!

I hope this isn't the game we get shellacked. Or if we do we at least put up 2 or 3 goals.

Well we lost our trucker fans with this signing.

Juraj was a boom or bust pick. We can all see the tantalizing skillset and physical package, but he's also clearly very raw and is lacking a bit in hockey sense. Thank god we finally have a modern coaching staff and developmental system in place - if he doesn't pan out, I don't think it will be because of organizational malpractice. I think we'll send him to Laval if that's what's best for his development, and my prediction is that he'll spend at least a couple months there if not most of the season. We won't know for sure what type of player we drafted until a few years down the road, but my hope is that he's a stud power forward scoring 30+ while dominating 5v5!

Unfortunately, I believe Drouin is in fact a "bum" who "lacks heart". Doesn't mean he's a horrible person, I just don't want him on my favourite team. It's no coincidence we went on our best run without him and always seem to look better when he's out. We have a really deep forward group and offence on all four lines, and since he doesn't figure into our future plans, I'm fine with him riding the pine until injuries hit. It's not like he'd get that much back at the deadline anyways - I'd rather boost the stock of Dadonov, Hoffman, and even Armia. The whole Drouin experience was regrettable and I'll be happy to see him go next summer (or earlier if we're lucky).

Really encouraging to see Gally look like his old self out there. He just might have a chance of producing to the level of his $6.5M price tag if this continues.

First season opening win in 5 years! Guhle with a strong debut. Cole is an elite sniper - we're on 40-watch already. Now Slaf just needs to get on the board and I'm good for the month.

Hopefully we get a W and Slaf scores! Then we can lose the rest of the year and draft a superstar.

Canadian Tire out now, citing HC's resistance to change. The documentary HyperNormalization (on youtube) offers an explanation for this.

We'll be thankful for this come next June.

He definitely is a great player for his AAV. As such, I'd only move him for a great return (like or close to what we got for Lekhonen).

lol I wonder why you quoted me to start a completely different conversation.

I have high hopes for Logan, and if he pans out he might be one of our most significant draft choices of this era. Not only in becoming a good player himself, but in generating the ill will that facilitated much-needed regime change following a finals run.

It's remarkable that the leadership of hockey canada is still in place. Are they not beholden to any higher powers? Who's gonna can their asses?

A little insurance policy until we find a new number 1. AAV doesn't break the bank and the term gives us flexibility.

I think even if the young defensemen are struggling out there, we now have the proper coaching and developmental system in place that it won't be career-threatening to them. They'll be able to mess up and grow from it, whereas under previous regimes they'd be kicked to the curb.

Luckily we're so deep on the wings that we'll be able to put him with good wingers even when Suzuki returns.

I think he's just a physical beast. His game is very raw though, I think we're realistically looking at age 21 or 22 when he really puts it all together. We have to be very patient with Slaffy.

Wow I like tethering our players. They'll be shot out of a cannon when we untie 'em!

Yep we have a chance for too much early season momentum with a new group. Gotta nip it in the bud!

I'm not sure who you're disagreeing with here but it's not me. I'm all for a slow and steady rebuild. We're in the early stages yet - the time to hit on some top picks. So I'm in the camp that believes we're tanking.

I hope this regime will take any warm body off the street to plug lineup holes rather than jeopardizing our prospects' development.