Around The League Thread | Let the Games Begin

[Bourne Endeavor]

It's the thing I was most cautious about. Every time I watched him play, he was like a 4th forward when it came to zone reads. Dynamic and creative with the puck on his stick but has a lot to learn about defending and transitioning at the NHL level.

I've only seen a few highlights but he reminds of rookie/sophomore Hughes, albeit with less overall skill. The kid seems to have genuine talent and while I like MSL giving him a long leash to figure things out, they definitely need to calm the kid down.

Montreal's top priority by next season should be finding a Tanev type and gluing him to Hutson.

I think the Oilers completely cooked their chances at a cup with an offseason that saw them get rid of a strength (speed in general, but hard on the forecheck) and turn it into a weakness. They really screwed up that Blues offersheet and destroyed their defence and middle/bottom six.

Why their fans are hating the stars when it's their management that did them dirty.

I love how much Oiler fans instantly turned on Broberg when he's exactly what they need. Even losing Holloway wasn't great but you can forgive that. He's not a hard player to replace. And yet they still messed that up thinking Pod would do the job.

I had a feeling the Cup loss would hang over them. It did for us in 2012. I didn't think they'd be this bad though.

 

[Diversification]

Lane Hutson is getting absolutely cooked defensively. -8 in his last 3 games.

Who could have foreseen...