Blonde Demon

Burke is a prick...He doesn't do anything at the deadline to help Wilson, says he "believes" in this team going forward, then cans his ass..Leaf fans relentlessly burned our Habs at the stake for trading Cammy mid game, only to have that loud-mouthed POS (Burke) fire his coach all the while doing NOTHING at the trade deadline to help him out..

Geez, way to misinterpret what I was trying to say...Giroux and Eberle have elite skill, that is a given, but they play a bigger game than their size dictates...If scouts believed that those 2 would be the player they are now, then why weren't they picked as top 10 talent? Size..Its a HUGE gamble to take a smaller type of player because they could easily turn out to be a Zach Hamill or a Gilbert Brule, whom were picked much higher than Giroux or Eberle...

I was simply comparing a franchise d-man that has a great 2 way game with a flashy forward that has a lot of skill..

So, you are saying Yakupov and Grigorenko will be impact in the role we need them to be? You can say the same for both of those youngsters, as well, but, IMO, our glaring need IN THE SYSTEM is a #1 d-man..PK is great, but I don't think he is a true #1 ceiling like Murray has..

IMO, Yakupov could turn out to be a bust simply because of his size..The guy was knocked around in junior and has already had an issue with his knee..Grigorenko for me, IF we pick top 2-3 and he is still there, but after that, if we have, say, the 4-5th overall pick, I want Ryan Murray or Griffin Reinhart.. We won't be getting a chance to land Yakupov, anyway..CLB will have that option and then EDM.. Hypothetical question..If you had the chance to draft Larry Robinson or Denis Savard, who would you take? Easy one for me..

I agree with the assessment of needing an Elite forward in the system, but we are a team building from the net out..We really haven't got that Elite guy on the back end yet, either, IMO..Beaulieu and Tinordi are great prospects, but they are more of a 3-4 type, not a premium #1 guy... Ryan Murray and Griffin Reinhart are what this team needs going forward, in the system..Both have the potential to be a bona fide #1 d-man..Murray has the positional skills that rival a Neidermayer/Markov and Reinhart have the skill set of a Weber or a Pronger...We have a number of picks in the 1st 2 rounds in the next 2 drafts..We can make do with what we have down the middle, as is, for now..DD, Plex, Eller are still young and already NHL prductive...Center is a need, but not as glaring as defense..Besides, Murray is NHL right now..

Finally someone is opening their eyes..lol Just for the record, our "top 2" d-man were on the ice for two of the late goals last night, Gorges and PK, so, yeah... We NEED some size/grit on the blue line 1st and foremost...Markov plays a great positional game, but we need a guy that makes players think twice about screening Price or, at least, a guy that will be physical in that area... If we sign, say, a Shane O'Brien, we can probably get away with picking Grigorenko, but, IMO, our focus should squarely be on getting some help on the back end... Why would Price re-sign here knowing he is anchoring a soft BL like this going forward? Get the guy some help, for God sake..lol

Why get rid of Campoli? I thought we were going for the pick? lol

Moen will be back... I would say we need a couple of d-man before a number 1 center..We really need to give Price some help back there..Too much traffic in front of him..Eller is not 4th line talent..The kid needs to be in the top 9...If not, top 6 forward position..

Commandant, we blow leads like there is no tomorrow...Talk all you want about PK, Gorges, and Emelin being shut down, but if we had a Pronger/Weber type of guy in here we don't blow all those leads...IMO, if we had another blue chipper to pair with PK down the road, we have a much brighter future than drafting a center..We need to insulate Price..We had Gill, but he was getting way too old and was one dimensional...Now that he is gone, guys like Matt Kassian have career days against us..If Gill was still here, we win that game last night 4-1, maybe in 4-0..All of the MINN goals were within 3 feet of Carey..We are undersized and soft on the back end.. Tinordi is a solid prospect coming through the pipe and I love what I see from the kid, but having a Pronger/Weber type would be such the better thing to do with, I hope, a premium pick.. Like I have said earlier, I would love the premium at the top of the draft in terms of forward potential, but D is our biggest hole..

I am just stating the obvious..Sure, our center position is needing of a player like a Grigorenko, but our defense is BAAAAADDDD... Its like needing a running back in the NFL, but lacking the less "flashy" player of an elite offensive line man to clear holes for the running back... In terms of elite shut down defensive prospects coming through the system, we have Tinordi and that is it...Beaulieu is more of a QB type of D and those other players that The Commendant listed are more organizational depth players..

How does Beaulieu also take care of the grit issue? We need more than 1 prospect in the system with a mean streak on D..IMO, the back end is a more glaring issue, especially if Markov can't go... I, too, would be ecstatic if we landed a Grigorenko, as it would be the BPA, but we really need to think about getting some more size in the system on the blue line..

How does that take care of the lack of grit?

Going into next season, we need some serious grit on the back end...Too much soft play in front of our net...Nobody knocking bodies and tying guys up...Kassian had zero career goals coming into this game..lol I want Grigorenko, but, IMO, a d-man would be the better pick..If we can somehow drop down and pick Reinhart, we HAVE to do it...I'm sure Price would comply.. We can make do with what we have down the middle..Maybe even sign a stop gap during FA, but the defense issue has to be seriously looked at..

Just for those who say Grigorenko is dropping in the rankings because people are saying he is lazy or whatever, Corey Pronmen (NHL Draft/Prospects writer for Hockey Prospectus and ESPN) says this about him.. "Grigorenko is not as physical as you'd like, but considering his physical gifts he has an average physical game overall and I have no concerns with his work ethic. He plays a slow down, cerebral type of game which IMO can look like a lazy player. He doesnt go all out every shift but hes not lazy and as one Head Scout says, "Grigorenko at 80% is still the best player on the ice". He's actually a very effective defensive forward and can win board battles. There are no major intangible issues with him ala Filatov." If he is there we take him...

Wearing the #4 in my signature...Get well Le Gros Bill..

It's nice to finally have an effective tough guy in the line up...Great work by Staubitz...Way to make an impression with your new team mates..

Actually, teams can only have 3 20 year olds on the roster at the time of the tourney..Yakupov is 18 so he right around the same age as the majority of the players in the WJC tournament..

I just feel that us Habbers have been starving so long for a top line franchise type of center that we forget that we don't really have anything in terms of blue chip d-man besides PK in the system...We are a team that is building from the net out and adding a talent like Ryan Murray would be better than adding another under sized/flashy winger..I just don't want the team to screw up this chance at a franchise talent..I have watched Ryan Murray, as well..He makes the game look easy and skates exceptionally well..He ,may not be the most physical guy back there, but everything they are saying is true about the kid.. Like I have said, if we have a chance at the number 1 pick, I would be hesitant to pick Yakupov simply because he is supposed to be the best prospect in the world, but didn't score 1 goal at the WJC against players that are his same age..

5 = Boom Boom 7 = Morenz --------------- 57 ...and yes, he will be wearing #57

Meh, I'm not big on Gaunce...I was earlier, but I have been hearing a lot of concerning things about him..Namely, his ceiling..More of a 2nd/3rd line center... His size and grit is really nice, but his skating ability has been suspect..

All I know is, if we go forward, I want the big center..If we don't have a chance at one of the big centers, I want the top d-man..Yakupov is going to CLB, anyway, so I don't know why we are even talking about him coming here.. I agree, but I don't think think that those type of players will be there when we pick...Ryan Murray will be and be the BPA at the time of our pick.. Ideally, Grigerenko..Otherwise, its the d-man, for me..

The only problem I have with him is his size and he has already had a major injury this season and didn't score a goal against top talent/competition at the WJC...

Well, I am just going by what I have been reading from numerous hockey writers..They are saying he is in the Scott Neidermayer mold.. I am not saying Yakupov is a bad hockey player and I certainly wouldn't be mad if we picked him, but I just feel we should go with the center (Grigarenko) or the d-man (Murray).. http://thehockeywrit...tt-niedermayer/ http://whl-from-abov...yan-murray.html I will hold you to that case of Keith's seeing I am a Nova Scotian..

Would you choose a Scott Neidermayer or a Pavel Bure? I know who I would take and he isn't Russian..