Around the NHL — Episode XLXVII

[Sens of Anarchy]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1837549466015936639

 

[BondraTime]

One of the best passes I’ve ever seen, there’s a better angle on Spittin chiclets Instagram, unbelievable.

 

[BigRig4]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1837549466015936639

He's gonna be so good.

 

[Senscore]

He could be Rundblad good

 

[LiseL]

Debrusk walking is not good. Lindholm could be bad. Overall the roster looks great imo. That d squad is crazy big. Will be interested to see how they do this year.

They've built a team from the net and D out so most of their games are low scoring affairs as they are hard to score against. But they don't have a lot of offensive players besides Pastranak/Marchand. Shut those 2 down and they're beatable. The only way I see them taking a step back is if it takes awhile to sign Swayman to a new contract.

According to what I've read, Korpi had laser surgery done in the off-season and he has a new helmet where I would think he didn't repeat the sightline issue he had with last season's mask. With those improvements + playing behind a solid defense + being coached by one of the best goalie coaches in the league, I expect he will do a lot better in Boston. He'll also be the backup, not the starter. I don't think we can count on his being the tire fire there that he was here.

 

[LiseL]

Yeah but you can't be paying your backup goalie 7-8 million, which is what Ullmark is gonna make once he hits UFA.

They needed that $2 million saving to be able to pay Swayman and replace DeBrusk. If they had kept Ullmark, they wouldn't have been able to make the moves they did in the off-season. Even with their current $8.6 million in cap space, they still haven't signed Swayman. Wonder what his ask is. No one knows if the issue is money or term or a combination of both. Needless to say, may Bruins fans are nervous.

Also, didn't Ullmark say he wanted to be a starter? I think he wasn't happy that they didn't continue playing the tandem in the playoffs.

 

[JD1]

They've built a team from the net and D out so most of their games are low scoring affairs as they are hard to score against. But they don't have a lot of offensive players besides Pastranak/Marchand. Shut those 2 down and they're beatable. The only way I see them taking a step back is if it takes awhile to sign Swayman to a new contract.

According to what I've read, Korpi had laser surgery done in the off-season and he has a new helmet where I would think he didn't repeat the sightline issue he had with last season's mask. With those improvements + playing behind a solid defense + being coached by one of the best goalie coaches in the league, I expect he will do a lot better in Boston. He'll also be the backup, not the starter. I don't think we can count on his being the tire fire there that he was here.

Laser surgery. Ha. That's about the only thing that could explain korpisalo's year. He couldn't see

 

[Xspyrit]

So many Habs fans on this board

 

[Ouroboros]

Filip Nordberg could also make that pass, he just chooses to play a simpler game.

 

[Wallet Inspector]

Filip Nordberg could also make that pass, he just chooses to play a simpler game.

True, in the sense that being an AHL player is simpler than being an NHL one.

 

[albator71]

So many Habs fans on this board

Yeah and it's sickening to be honest. The way they are drooling all over Lane Hutson because he made a pass during practice Oh yeah he's the next Cale Makar I wanna puke!!

 

[BondraTime]

Yeah and it's sickening to be honest. The way they are drooling all over Lane Hutson because he made a pass during practice Oh yeah he's the next Cale Makar I wanna puke!!

Talking about highlights of other teams players in “Around the NHL” tread. Strange.

 

[Tuna99]

ya, Yzerman acquired Kucherov. But it was kind of lucky was my point. 58th overall. The rest of the guys you mentioned are good players. Kucherov is the HoF player. Not many HoF players come form 58th overall. Or from the 2nd round like Bergeron did

Shane Pinto?

 

[frightenedinmatenum2]

That pass was nice, but would you really rather have that than Gabriel Eliasson punching someone in the face?

 

[Masked]

Filip Nordberg could also make that pass, he just chooses to play a simpler game.

Or he needs to find a league to play in first.

 

[Xspyrit]

Oh and Peterka already has a hat trick in the first pre season game, gonna have a huge season

I tried to like Jarventie as much as I could and still do but damn, that one hurts too.

Yeah and it's sickening to be honest. The way they are drooling all over Lane Hutson because he made a pass during practice Oh yeah he's the next Cale Makar I wanna puke!!

I was sarcastic of course, having weirdly been accused of being a Habs fan because they have prospects worthy of discussion, just like many other teams before.

I see the Habs and the Sabres as our future main competition within the division (assuming Panthers, Bruins, Bolts and Leafs don't take too much time to decline)

 

[GCK]

Oh and Peterka already has a hat trick in the first pre season game, gonna have a huge season

I tried to like Jarventie as much as I could and still do but damn, that one hurts too.



I was sarcastic of course, having weirdly been accused of being a Habs fan because they have prospects worthy of discussion, just like many other teams before.

I see the Habs and the Sabres as our future main competition within the division (assuming Panthers, Bruins, Bolts and Leafs don't take too much time to decline)

I’m not sure you are a Habs fan but your irrational fear of them is weird. They have a multitude of decent prospects but their top end talent is meh.

 

[frightenedinmatenum2]

If Galchenyuk ever puts it together for the Canadiens, we're screwed.

 

[Tuna99]

Just looking at the Salt Lake City Canadiens men’s Olympic team and even that team (my favorite team ever assembled) had some dudes that were just good hockey players and weren’t even the best players on their NHL teams:

Eric Brewer, Simon Gagné, Ed Jovanovski,
Owen Nolan, Michael Peca, Ryan Smyth

 

[Senscore]

Congratulations to Jesse Puljujarvi on his hat trick.

The first of many this year I expect.

 

[Icelevel]

Congratulations to Jesse Puljujarvi on his hat trick.

The first of many this year I expect.

Imagine living with the fact you picked puljujarvi or juolevi over Matthew Tkachuk?
That’s a big ouch. Fireable offenses.
With laine at 2 that was 3 fins in the top 5. Not a good showing for the country since.
Most of the fins taken high there before 2020 have struggled a lot.
Kakko at 2, kotkienemi at 3
Hence the 2020s fall of the high fin.

Barkov and rantanen are pretty good though. Understandable there was a bit of hype following.
Not sure if any of this is connected or factual

 

[Qward]

He could be Rundblad good

Stanley Cup Champion, David Rundblad

 

[Xspyrit]

I’m not sure you are a Habs fan but your irrational fear of them is weird.

lol when I came to Canada, I had never heard of hockey before but became a Nordiques fan right away. Then I saw the Habs win the Cup in 1993 but still didn't become one of their fans, or even after the Nordiques left to Colorado. 30 years later, I still live in the Montreal area and I have been cheering for a team in the "enemy province" all that time. I mean, it's not like you are new on this board and haven't seen me post much before. It's completely ridiculous for you to say that you're "not sure" if I am a Habs fan or not.

But glad one of the weirdos that called me a Habs fan before reacted to that post. Maybe the FEAR is within you don't you think? My guess would be anything that has to do with Toronto or Montreal in particular. But to me, while they are my most "hated rivals" with the Leafs, they are just part of my favorite team's division as our DIRECT competition

Maybe the difference with some is I am perfectly capable of being impartial and to call a spade a spade without being controlled by my biases. Their management has done an incredible job since they made their changes 3 years ago (while we were squandering our assets under Dorion). I hope you are right and ALL of their young guys flop but as of right now, they do have an impressive bank of young players.

So, in summary, I am looking at our potential window of opportunity and its timing and these are the teams I am concerned about within our division, in that order :

- Buffalo
- Montreal
- Florida
- Boston
- Detroit
- Toronto
- Tampa Bay

If you think it's going to be a walk in the park for Ottawa to ever get out of this division, good for you.

They have a multitude of decent prospects but their top end talent is meh.

Guys like Hutson, Demidov, Reinbacher, Mailloux, Fowler, Roy, Beck and Hage are just "decent"?

What does that make about guys like Pinto or Greig? Kleven or Ostapchuk? lol pure bias again

And their actual top talent is not looking too bad either...

Suzuki : just had a 33 goals, 77 pts season while being voted 13th for the Selke

Slafkovsky : just had a 50 pts season at 19 y/o (Brady had 45 pts at that age) and totally broke out in the 2nd half of the season. Already has better defensive metrics too.

Caufield : he hasn't put the impressive goals totals that many were expecting yet but he has impressive scoring pedigree and already 81 goals, 149 pts in 205 NHL games at 23 y/o

Laine : Has missed a lot of games in Columbus but at 26 y/o only has 24 goals less than Mike Hoffman in all his career. We have to hope that he remains enigmatic or they'd have just gotten a top end talent for free (actually got paid to take his contract)

Guhle : only 22 and already a Top-3 D-man. Hopefully he stops progressing but that's wishful thinking

Dach : is like Norris, could be good if he was able to stay healthy. He is their x-factor


Buffalo has an even more promising group, do you want me to talk about them? Because I can

 

[GCK]

lol when I came to Canada, I had never heard of hockey before but became a Nordiques fan right away. Then I saw the Habs win the Cup in 1993 but still didn't become one of their fans, or even after the Nordiques left to Colorado. 30 years later, I still live in the Montreal area and I have been cheering for a team in the "enemy province" all that time. I mean, it's not like you are new on this board and haven't seen me post much before. It's completely ridiculous for you to say that you're "not sure" if I am a Habs fan or not.

But glad one of the weirdos that called me a Habs fan before reacted to that post. Maybe the FEAR is within you don't you think? My guess would be anything that has to do with Toronto or Montreal in particular. But to me, while they are my most "hated rivals" with the Leafs, they are just part of my favorite team's division as our DIRECT competition

Maybe the difference with some is I am perfectly capable of being impartial and to call a spade a spade without being controlled by my biases. Their management has done an incredible job since they made their changes 3 years ago (while we were squandering our assets under Dorion). I hope you are right and ALL of their young guys flop but as of right now, they do have an impressive bank of young players.

So, in summary, I am looking at our potential window of opportunity and its timing and these are the teams I am concerned about within our division, in that order :

- Buffalo
- Montreal
- Florida
- Boston
- Detroit
- Toronto
- Tampa Bay

If you think it's going to be a walk in the park for Ottawa to ever get out of this division, good for you.



Guys like Hutson, Demidov, Reinbacher, Mailloux, Fowler, Roy, Beck and Hage are just "decent"?

What does that make about guys like Pinto or Greig? Kleven or Ostapchuk? lol pure bias again

And their actual top talent is not looking too bad either...

Suzuki : just had a 33 goals, 77 pts season while being voted 13th for the Selke

Slafkovsky : just had a 50 pts season at 19 y/o (Brady had 45 pts at that age) and totally broke out in the 2nd half of the season. Already has better defensive metrics too.

Caufield : he hasn't put the impressive goals totals that many were expecting yet but he has impressive scoring pedigree and already 81 goals, 149 pts in 205 NHL games at 23 y/o

Laine : Has missed a lot of games in Columbus but at 26 y/o only has 24 goals less than Mike Hoffman in all his career. We have to hope that he remains enigmatic or they'd have just gotten a top end talent for free (actually got paid to take his contract)

Guhle : only 22 and already a Top-3 D-man. Hopefully he stops progressing but that's wishful thinking

Dach : is like Norris, could be good if he was able to stay healthy. He is their x-factor


Buffalo has an even more promising group, do you want me to talk about them? Because I can

Buffalo has a great group.

Hutson, Demidov, Reinbacher, Mailloux, Fowler, Roy, Beck and Hage are just "decent"? - Yes other than Demidov.

 

[Wallet Inspector]

Peterka is gonna be a 35+ goal, 65+ point player and I'm gonna be a moody bastard about it for the next decade or so.