OT: Around the NHL: That Bedard kid is okay at hockey

[Sidney the Kidney]

Strong.

I thought he was kind of weak while he was here. Must have hit the gym when he arrived in Seattle.

 

[OtherThingsILike]

 

[Gurglesons]

Oh no!

 

[66-30-33]

Back to the lottery.

 

[Extra Texture]

The Seattle Penguins beat the St. Louis Blues, goals scored by McCann, Strong and Tanev.

People can call me crazy for this: while I know he was a playoff no show as a Pen, and that he’s now getting tons of ice and PP time that explains the huge jump in his numbers. But I really thought Jared McCann could’ve been something here. I understand those that thought he was vanilla here, but I really liked his finish, and I thought injuries were going to force him into the top 6 at some point, and somehow, he would just gel with Geno or something. He just seemed like a guy who would eventually just be a great complimentary player here. Maybe I was alone in that feeling.

I know we were kind of boxed in by the Seattle draft, but I genuinely thought they were going to protect him based on what he’d shown, and that we’d take a calculated risk in exposing Carter and Tanev. Anyway, happy he is doing well in Seattle and got his payday. Happy for Tanev too.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

Watched a bit of the Avs game last night, f*** Makar is so dam fun to watch it's amazing!!

 

[BHD]

Shades of Sutter with McCann. He'd score a nice goal every once in a while. Otherwise, he was an underwhelming player.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Philly is awful. They look like an AHL team out there.

 

[BHD]

Philly is awful. They look like an AHL team out there.

That's because they are. They were a mediocre team before being hit with injuries (Couturier, Atkisnon, Ellis). Now, they have a bunch of guys playing above their heads.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Man, that Risto deal was absolutely bonkers at the time and is just looking worse with time.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

That's because they are. They were a mediocre team before being hit with injuries (Couturier, Atkisnon, Ellis). Now, they have a bunch of guys playing above their heads.

I like the fact we were told by Philly fans how they were going to be the new Metro powerhouse because of that young defense they were assembling. Fast forward and Provorov doesn't look like a #1, Sanheim's your generic 2nd pairing guy, and Myers was recently waived by Tampa. And the new guys they brought in to bolster their defense, Risto sucks donkey balls and DeAngelo is an offensive defenseman that everyone hates.

 

[Gurglesons]

I like the fact we were told by Philly fans how they were going to be the new Metro powerhouse because of that young defense they were assembling. Fast forward and Provorov doesn't look like a #1, Sanheim's your generic 2nd pairing guy, and Myers was recently waived by Tampa. And the new guys they brought in to bolster their defense, Risto sucks donkey balls and DeAngelo is an offensive defenseman that everyone hates.

Philadelphia is probably a good team if they had just followed Hextall’s plan.

 

[Turin]

Philly is awful. They look like an AHL team out there.

Wish there was a way to get Farabee on this team

 

[BHD]

To be fair, we did the same thing during the Shero years. Despres, Morrow, Pouliot, Dumo, and Maatta... Fast forward a decade, and Dumo is the last one standing. The thing with the Flyers is that their situation was kind of avoidable if they didn't deter from what Hextall was doing.

 

[McGroarty2]

Strong.

Baldo?

 

[66-30-33]

26-4 for the Bruins...I once did that in CSGO.

 

[BHD]

Spencer Martin channelling his inner Dan Cloutier

 

[Extra Texture]

Man, that Risto deal was absolutely bonkers at the time and is just looking worse with time.

The absolute mountain of resources they spent on flushing Gostisbehere down then toilet and replacing him with Risto was bad enough. Following it up w/ that contract has to make it one of the all time bad roster construction moves, ever.

It reminds me of when they had Andy Macdonald. They made the trade, he didn’t look good, and they just handed him a giant extension anyway. Two of the picks given up for that dud went on to become Brandon Carlo and Sorokin

 

[Empoleon8771]

If Seattle had competent goaltending, they'd be a legitimate force in the west. Jones and Grubauer are so damn bad.

Seattle has also seemed to figure out a perfect use of Sprong, which is "use him enough to score, but don't use him enough for his defensive issues to screw you over". He has 19 points in 25 games for them with 7 powerplay points, but he's only playing 10 minutes a night for them. Granted he's riding a crazy unsustainable hot streak right now, but an offensive 3rd line winger who is a major powerplay producer seems like his future in the NHL.

For some reason, Anaheim and Washington just never used him on the powerplay when they had him. I won't even really count his time in Pittsburgh because he wasn't an established NHLer at that time, but he only had 5 powerplay points in 55 games with Anaheim and 0 powerplay points in 89 games with Washington. If you're not using Sprong on a powerplay, why are you even dressing him? Makes no sense to me.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Philadelphia is probably a good team if they had just followed Hextall’s plan.

Eh, to some degree. But at the same time, I think people just overrated how good those young defensemen were going to be. I got into a discussion with a Flyers fan because he kept insisting all four of Provorov, Sanheim, Myers and Gostisbehere would be top pairing defenders, therefore Philly would be the top team in the division because they had four #1 or #2 defensemen.

 

[HandshakeLine]

To be fair, we did the same thing during the Shero years. Despres, Morrow, Pouliot, Dumo, and Maatta... Fast forward a decade, and Dumo is the last one standing. The thing with the Flyers is that their situation was kind of avoidable if they didn't deter from what Hextall was doing.

Had Despres stuck around, not been traded for whatever off-ice reason the org cooked up, and not gotten those concussions, I think the calculus would look a bit different. He was shaping up to be a legit top pairing dude and then things derailed.

Pouliot and Morrow were never-weres. Maatta was ruined by health problems outside of his control. That said 3 out of 5 would have been pretty great. But sadly, it's not what happened. I think people underrate that group just because DP and JM were so bad.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

26-4 for the Bruins...I once did that in CSGO.

Unreal, I really thought they were going to struggle this year. I don't think they can keep this up for much longer, but very impressed

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

Eh, to some degree. But at the same time, I think people just overrated how good those young defensemen were going to be. I got into a discussion with a Flyers fan because he kept insisting all four of Provorov, Sanheim, Myers and Gostisbehere would be top pairing defenders, therefore Philly would be the top team in the division because they had four #1 or #2 defensemen.

And Morin as well who never panned out. I remember the boards here freaking out on how good and deadly the flyers defense was going to be. Glad they ended up sucking!!!!

 

[Andy99]

Lol…what a surprise for an “independent“ investigation to conclude…

Bruins Announce Findings of Investigation into Mitchell Miller Signing

The Boston Bruins said the independent review of the organization's signing of Mitchell Miller revealed no signs of misconduct from the team.

thehockeynews.com

 

[Ben Grimm]

Bluelines: Who's Better, Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin?

Stan Fischler's crew answers the Crosby versus Ovechkin question, lists 10 stats about the Pittsburgh Penguins, recalls the worst practice rink ever and more.

thehockeynews.com

Crosby is better.