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Ev wrote:Not sure I see a mcdavid level player out of Bedard but he certainly will be a superstar

He's not as fast and he's 4 inches shorter than McDavid. Height doesn't really matter but it's McDavid's speed and ability to perform at full speed that separates him from the rest. I think Bedard will be more like Matthews in that he'll be a shoot first top-line player

I've been watching hockey for over a half century. I've watched (live, in person) Kharlamov, Lafleur, Gretzky, Lemieux, Crosby, Ovechkin, Karlsson. I've never seen a player with this much acceleration, edge-work and ability to stick handle at top speed. McDavid (whom I have not seen live, in-person -- however high definition comes close) is better at most things than every one before him. I do question his so-called hockey-IQ, though. Maybe his physical tools are so far above everyone else that he never had the need to play "smart". Of course hockey IQ is not something that can be learned. The fact that he's playing in the cap era also doesn't help him, since hockey is *not* basketball and you *do* need a good supporting cast.

That's the problem with building a team in the cap era. It's hard to insulate the highest paid players. Would you rather Draistaitl and McDavid at $21M or Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson at $21M?

Matthews-Marner-Tavares-Nylander for $40M or Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson-Chabot-Stutlze-DeBrincat-Giroux for $43M?

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:That's the problem with building a team in the cap era. It's hard to insulate the highest paid players. Would you rather Draistaitl and McDavid at $21M or Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson at $21M?

Matthews-Marner-Tavares-Nylander for $40M or Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson-Chabot-Stutlze-DeBrincat-Giroux for $43M?

Let’s revisit those number next year after the Stützle and debrincat new contract

Brent Wallace
@Freeagentwally
· 1h
I’m told the #sens remain in pursuit of Jacob Chychryn. There have been talks this week. The ask remains two 1st round picks and a high end prospect plus Arizona would also take Zaitsev.

2 1sts and a high-end prospect? Feels a bit high.

I'd go 1st, 2nd, Formenton and retain $1M of Zaitsev's salary. And if Formenton doesn't get fingered in the sex assault allegations case forget the $1M.

wprager wrote:Brent Wallace
@Freeagentwally
· 1h
I’m told the #sens remain in pursuit of Jacob Chychryn. There have been talks this week. The ask remains two 1st round picks and a high end prospect plus Arizona would also take Zaitsev.

2 1sts and a high-end prospect?  Feels a bit high.  

I'd go 1st, 2nd, Formenton and retain $1M of Zaitsev's salary.  And if Formenton doesn't get fingered in the sex assault allegations case forget the $1M.

Formenton wouldn’t be moved before anything is resolved on that front. Id definitely trade two 1sts for Chychrun though

Ev wrote:

wprager wrote:Brent Wallace
@Freeagentwally
· 1h
I’m told the #sens remain in pursuit of Jacob Chychryn. There have been talks this week. The ask remains two 1st round picks and a high end prospect plus Arizona would also take Zaitsev.

2 1sts and a high-end prospect?  Feels a bit high.  

I'd go 1st, 2nd, Formenton and retain $1M of Zaitsev's salary.  And if Formenton doesn't get fingered in the sex assault allegations case forget the $1M.

Formenton wouldn’t be moved before anything is resolved on that front. Id definitely trade two 1sts for Chychrun though

I imagine Sanderson, Pinto, Greig are off the table. So my guess is the high-end prospect is one of JBD, Thomson, Ostapchuk, Jarventie and both 1sts would be lottery proected.

I'm in Ev's camp though. I suspect we're looking at a 1st, 2nd, Brannstrom, and a high-end prospect. If DeBrincat doesn't want to re-sign we would easily get at least one 1st+ back for him so I'm okay giving one up.

I also think Formenton not being signed is a clear sign that he's in trouble.

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:

Ev wrote:

wprager wrote:Brent Wallace
@Freeagentwally
· 1h
I’m told the #sens remain in pursuit of Jacob Chychryn. There have been talks this week. The ask remains two 1st round picks and a high end prospect plus Arizona would also take Zaitsev.

2 1sts and a high-end prospect?  Feels a bit high.  

I'd go 1st, 2nd, Formenton and retain $1M of Zaitsev's salary.  And if Formenton doesn't get fingered in the sex assault allegations case forget the $1M.

Formenton wouldn’t be moved before anything is resolved on that front. Id definitely trade two 1sts for Chychrun though

I imagine Sanderson, Pinto, Greig are off the table. So my guess is the high-end prospect is one of JBD, Thomson, Ostapchuk, Jarventie and both 1sts would be lottery proected.

I'm in Ev's camp though. I suspect we're looking at a 1st, 2nd, Brannstrom, and a high-end prospect.  If DeBrincat doesn't want to re-sign we would easily get at least one 1st+ back for him so I'm okay giving one up.

I also think Formenton not being signed is a clear sign that he's in trouble.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he is, but it doesn’t really mean much that he isn’t signed. Brannstrom isn’t either. Also even if he is part of the incident it doesn’t mean he is done here necessarily since nothing will be done criminally

Ev wrote:

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:

Ev wrote:

wprager wrote:Brent Wallace
@Freeagentwally
· 1h
I’m told the #sens remain in pursuit of Jacob Chychryn. There have been talks this week. The ask remains two 1st round picks and a high end prospect plus Arizona would also take Zaitsev.

2 1sts and a high-end prospect?  Feels a bit high.  

I'd go 1st, 2nd, Formenton and retain $1M of Zaitsev's salary.  And if Formenton doesn't get fingered in the sex assault allegations case forget the $1M.

Formenton wouldn’t be moved before anything is resolved on that front. Id definitely trade two 1sts for Chychrun though

I imagine Sanderson, Pinto, Greig are off the table. So my guess is the high-end prospect is one of JBD, Thomson, Ostapchuk, Jarventie and both 1sts would be lottery proected.

I'm in Ev's camp though. I suspect we're looking at a 1st, 2nd, Brannstrom, and a high-end prospect.  If DeBrincat doesn't want to re-sign we would easily get at least one 1st+ back for him so I'm okay giving one up.

I also think Formenton not being signed is a clear sign that he's in trouble.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he is, but it doesn’t really mean much that he isn’t signed. Brannstrom isn’t either. Also even if he is part of the incident it doesn’t mean he is done here necessarily since nothing will be done criminally

I sort of suspected that Brannstrom wasn't signed because he's being included in track packages. Let the new team negotiate salary and term. But that's 100% a personal opinion. He has no arbitration rights and therefore no negotiating power so maybe it's just not a priority. Perhaps Dorion gave him some incentives this summer and said come back in X shape with Y attitude and we'll pay you a little more. Is that even a thing?

Ev wrote:

wprager wrote:Brent Wallace
@Freeagentwally
· 1h
I’m told the #sens remain in pursuit of Jacob Chychryn. There have been talks this week. The ask remains two 1st round picks and a high end prospect plus Arizona would also take Zaitsev.

2 1sts and a high-end prospect?  Feels a bit high.  

I'd go 1st, 2nd, Formenton and retain $1M of Zaitsev's salary.  And if Formenton doesn't get fingered in the sex assault allegations case forget the $1M.

Formenton wouldn’t be moved before anything is resolved on that front. Id definitely trade two 1sts for Chychrun though

But two 1sts and a top prospect? I say that's too much.

wprager wrote:

Ev wrote:

wprager wrote:Brent Wallace
@Freeagentwally
· 1h
I’m told the #sens remain in pursuit of Jacob Chychryn. There have been talks this week. The ask remains two 1st round picks and a high end prospect plus Arizona would also take Zaitsev.

2 1sts and a high-end prospect?  Feels a bit high.  

I'd go 1st, 2nd, Formenton and retain $1M of Zaitsev's salary.  And if Formenton doesn't get fingered in the sex assault allegations case forget the $1M.

Formenton wouldn’t be moved before anything is resolved on that front. Id definitely trade two 1sts for Chychrun though

But two 1sts and a top prospect?  I say that's too much.

Is it? It also includes dropping Zaitsev. IMO there's no reason to trade Zaitsev. His bonus is already paid out and his salary for the rest of the season is $2.5M. Why pay his bonus and assets to dump him at this point? Keep him on the bench for depth or play him the occasional game. Buy him out in the off-season.

Chabot-Chych
Sanderson-Hamonic
Holden-Zub
Extra: Brann, Zaitsev

There's an interesting point made in the Ottawa Sun today that if Kleven were Canadian, he'd be compared to Dion Phaneuf

Kleven is basically pre Sens Zdeno Chara. Not saying he will be that good but he is menacing and nasty like Chara was

Ev wrote:Kleven is basically pre Sens Zdeno Chara. Not saying he will be that good but he is menacing and nasty like Chara was

Good comparison. I think he'll be a lot nastier than Phaneuf. Maybe a Jason Smith type or Andy Sutton type

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:

wprager wrote:

Ev wrote:

wprager wrote:Brent Wallace
@Freeagentwally
· 1h
I’m told the #sens remain in pursuit of Jacob Chychryn. There have been talks this week. The ask remains two 1st round picks and a high end prospect plus Arizona would also take Zaitsev.

2 1sts and a high-end prospect?  Feels a bit high.  

I'd go 1st, 2nd, Formenton and retain $1M of Zaitsev's salary.  And if Formenton doesn't get fingered in the sex assault allegations case forget the $1M.

Formenton wouldn’t be moved before anything is resolved on that front. Id definitely trade two 1sts for Chychrun though

But two 1sts and a top prospect?  I say that's too much.

Is it? It also includes dropping Zaitsev. IMO there's no reason to trade Zaitsev. His bonus is already paid out and his salary for the rest of the season is $2.5M. Why pay his bonus and assets to dump him at this point? Keep him on the bench for depth or play him the occasional game. Buy him out in the off-season.

Chabot-Chych
Sanderson-Hamonic
Holden-Zub
Extra: Brann, Zaitsev

If it’s Brannstrom + two 1st top 5 protected. I’m good with that. It’s not optimal but it gets it done and we are looking good going forward.

I seriously we can resign debrincat but knowing what Dorion paid for him I’m not sure when they would trade him if he’s not willing to resign. Next summer? They’d probably push that decision to the deadline. At the deadline if we’re in the hunt? I’m not sure Dorion pulls that trigger. This could become a problem. Hopefully next summer he resigns and this isn’t an issue. They don’t have to resign him 7 or 8 years. He’s young. He could resign to a 3-4 year contract and still cash in a big time after that. I’d be fine with that too.

Flo The Action wrote:

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:

wprager wrote:

Ev wrote:

wprager wrote:Brent Wallace
@Freeagentwally
· 1h
I’m told the #sens remain in pursuit of Jacob Chychryn. There have been talks this week. The ask remains two 1st round picks and a high end prospect plus Arizona would also take Zaitsev.

2 1sts and a high-end prospect?  Feels a bit high.  

I'd go 1st, 2nd, Formenton and retain $1M of Zaitsev's salary.  And if Formenton doesn't get fingered in the sex assault allegations case forget the $1M.

Formenton wouldn’t be moved before anything is resolved on that front. Id definitely trade two 1sts for Chychrun though

But two 1sts and a top prospect?  I say that's too much.

Is it? It also includes dropping Zaitsev. IMO there's no reason to trade Zaitsev. His bonus is already paid out and his salary for the rest of the season is $2.5M. Why pay his bonus and assets to dump him at this point? Keep him on the bench for depth or play him the occasional game. Buy him out in the off-season.

Chabot-Chych
Sanderson-Hamonic
Holden-Zub
Extra: Brann, Zaitsev

If it’s Brannstrom + two 1st  top 5  protected. I’m good with that. It’s not optimal but it gets it done and we are looking good going forward.

I seriously we can resign debrincat but knowing what Dorion paid for him I’m not sure when they would trade him if he’s not willing to resign. Next summer? They’d probably push that decision to the deadline. At the deadline if we’re in the hunt? I’m not sure Dorion pulls that trigger. This could become a problem. Hopefully next summer he resigns and this isn’t an issue. They don’t have to resign him 7 or 8 years. He’s young. He could resign to a 3-4 year contract and still cash in a big time after that. I’d be fine with that too.

Honestly two 1sts for anyone is a lot. Hell, DeBrincat was a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.... To pay a "top prospect" plus two 1st rd picks for a slightly above average d-man with an injury history is a huge overpayment. He's not even the RHD we're looking for...

At most, a 1st, 2nd, Brannstrom, and Formenton should get this deal done. No one else is going to pay that much

Jarventie 2 goals 2 assists and player of the game in the quarter final

Ev wrote:Jarventie 2 goals 2 assists and player of the game in the quarter final

He's coming into his own.  Big body, usually takes a bit of time.  What's his compete level like?  Hard to tell with that goofy smile he usually has in mug-shots.

Finland faces either Latvia (whom they destroyed in the prelims 6-1) or Sweden.  Sweden beat Germany 4-2 in and Finland did a little better at 5-2, so it looks good for Finland to advance to the semis.

Canada shouldn't have any issues with Austria and then would face either Czechia (whom they crushed) or USA.  USA cruised through its first two games but narrowly beat Sweden 3-2.  Assuming they get past Czechia they would likely be Canada's toughest competition.

Anyhow, it looks likely that we will have Greig/Ostapchuk vs. Jarventie/Merilainen in the semis.