GDT: TankTown Express faceoff with the Devil(s)

[taylord22]

Saad is one of the most versatile, flexible athletes that the Blues have ever had.

Great encompassment, and agree. He reminds me of Bozak in the sense that I watched them both play on other teams, knew they were good players, but didn’t appreciate what made them so good until they played here.

Bozak -I maintain- is one of the smartest and craftiest players to ever wear a BlueNote. He could play anywhere on any team and find a way to contribute. I think Saad is also a player that fits that description. Few weaknesses and can stand tall on his athleticism.

Frankly, I could see the Blues getting more interest than we’re assuming around Saad if they’re going to go nuclear. If you’re firmly in a cup window, he’s the type of middle-6er you want/need. Not saying I want it to happen, but I wouldn’t be shocked.

 

[Xerloris]

Great encompassment, and agree. He reminds me of Bozak in the sense that I watched them both play on other teams, knew they were good players, but didn’t appreciate what made them so good until they played here.

Bozak -I maintain- is one of the smartest and craftiest players to ever wear a BlueNote. He could play anywhere on any team and find a way to contribute. I think Saad is also a player that fits that description. Few weaknesses and can stand tall on his athleticism.

Frankly, I could see the Blues getting more interest than we’re assuming around Saad if they’re going to go nuclear. If you’re firmly in a cup window, he’s the type of middle-6er you want/need. Not saying I want it to happen, but I wouldn’t be shocked.

I remember Kane being upset that Saad was traded way back. Now I see why.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

I remember Kane being upset that Saad was traded way back. Now I see why.

I thought that was Toews who was upset?

 

[Xerloris]

I thought that was Toews who was upset?

Eh they're both crybabies.

 

[pseudoswede]

Cheer up, folks. I have full confidence the Blues will poop the bed in Montreal.

 

[TheDizee]

Watched Highlights:

That devils second goal was so idiotic of Neighbors. Thats the definition of low hockey IQ. Looks like Barbashev had a good game also.

 

[Thallis]

Are you trying to say that a slash isn't a slash if it's on the shin pads? A slash is a slash man, you said so yourself.

No, I very clearly didn't. I would suggest reading context and attempting to understand the conversation instead of just attributing things to me.

Also, it doesn't make it harder to hold onto your stick, who the f*** told you that stupid shit? Know what makes it hard to hold your stick? Not having a proper grip on it to begin with.

Think about how you hold a stick. When you're taking a stride, where is the opening of your top hand, which is where your control over the stick comes from? Apply a sudden downward force. Now compare that with when someone comes under. In which scenario is it more difficult to hold onto the stick?

Either way this is a f***ing stupid conversation and if you can't see why a slash away from the puck that created an odd man rush in the third period of hockey game for a team up by 2 goals was called there's not much left to be said to you. This should not be controversial. It was a stupid play to make in the offensive zone.

 

[542365]

Impressive commitment to such a moronic take.

 

[Reality Czech]

Another huge game from Binnington. Guess no one told him we're supposed to be tanking!

 

[Frenzy31]

Very Bluesy thing to do. F'n up the tank.

 

[BlueOil]

lou has finally sniffed out the swiss cheese blue line

 

[TurgPavs]

lou has finally sniffed out the swiss cheese blue line

Would love to add Luke Schenn to this team.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Big brain idea there, if every team magically fixed their biggest issue, they'd be a lot higher in the standings.

I get it though, he's just trying to say it's not all bad, the offense is at least very good.

 

[TruBlu]

Part of the success of the offense directly leads to the lack of defense. If you're not being defensively responsible and only focusing on putting shots on net that's going to happen.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Although to that point, if the Blues do channel that 08/09 energy and crawl back into a wild card spot, I do wonder if Army would show interest in Chychrun or someone that is more a long-term target for defense. I think Colorado has 1 wild card spot, but the other one is very much up for grabs. Us, Nashville, Edmonton, or Calgary could all reasonably get it.

So, to Lou's point, if this team magically fights through these injuries, Army is going to have some interesting decisions to make.

 

[Louie the Blue]

Although to that point, if the Blues do channel that 08/09 energy and crawl back into a wild card spot, I do wonder if Army would show interest in Chychrun or someone that is more a long-term target for defense. I think Colorado has 1 wild card spot, but the other one is very much up for grabs. Us, Nashville, Edmonton, or Calgary could all reasonably get it.

So, to Lou's point, if this team magically fights through these injuries, Army is going to have some interesting decisions to make.

Mortgaging the future to plug a hole in a significantly flawed team long term is not idea.

 

[Brian39]

I think Colorado has 1 wild card spot, but the other one is very much up for grabs. Us, Nashville, Edmonton, or Calgary could all reasonably get it.

Minnesota needs to do more to convince me that they are a playoff lock. They were 13-11-2 before this 11 game hot streak that has put them into the C3 spot. Their goalies have a .946 SV% over that stretch, which is obviously unsustainable. They were .898 in the 26 games before the hot streak. I don't know what the two of them will be over the next 45 games, but if it looks more like the first 26 games than the last 11 games they could fall right back down into the Wild Card battle.

Copley saved the Kings season, but he's also Pheonix Copley. I could see the Kings cooling off in the near future and falling back into the Wild Card hunt (allowing one of Edmonton/Calgary into the P3 spot and removing them from the Wild Card battle).

Finally, I'm becoming more open to the notion that Colorado isn't going to get healthy enough to lock in a playoff spot. The only update on Landeskog is that he's 'not close.' Nichuskin played a few games and then got hurt again. The update on Byram is that he didn't respond to treatment at first so his recovery timeline 'essentially doubled.' Francouz got hurt again which has forced Georgiev to start a bunch of games in a row. He's been brutal since Christmas and the team is 0-4-1 in that stretch. Last year everyone spent 60 games waiting for Vegas to get healthy and then climb the standings but it never happened. Colorado appears to have at least another several weeks battling the current injury bug and they are struggling to score goals (just a single game with 4+ goals scored in their last 16). I wouldn't bet against them making the playoffs with even odds right now, but I don't feel like they are locked in.

I think there are still 2 playoff spots up for grabs.

 

[Xerloris]

No, I very clearly didn't. I would suggest reading context and attempting to understand the conversation instead of just attributing things to me.


Think about how you hold a stick. When you're taking a stride, where is the opening of your top hand, which is where your control over the stick comes from? Apply a sudden downward force. Now compare that with when someone comes under. In which scenario is it more difficult to hold onto the stick?

Either way this is a f***ing stupid conversation and if you can't see why a slash away from the puck that created an odd man rush in the third period of hockey game for a team up by 2 goals was called there's not much left to be said to you. This should not be controversial. It was a stupid play to make in the offensive zone.

Seriously, hold onto your stick. It's not f***ing hard, I promise. Players have their sticks broken all the time by slashes and they're left holding one end in their hand because they actually had a grip on it. If you're not strong enough to hold onto your f***ing stick you need to get to the weight room because that's f***ing embarrassing.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Mortgaging the future to plug a hole in a significantly flawed team long term is not idea.

That's why I said Chychurn or another target that fills the whole long-term. I'm not suggesting we move for Gavrikov.

Minnesota needs to do more to convince me that they are a playoff lock. They were 13-11-2 before this 11 game hot streak that has put them into the C3 spot. Their goalies have a .946 SV% over that stretch, which is obviously unsustainable. They were .898 in the 26 games before the hot streak. I don't know what the two of them will be over the next 45 games, but if it looks more like the first 26 games than the last 11 games they could fall right back down into the Wild Card battle.

Copley saved the Kings season, but he's also Pheonix Copley. I could see the Kings cooling off in the near future and falling back into the Wild Card hunt (allowing one of Edmonton/Calgary into the P3 spot and removing them from the Wild Card battle).

Finally, I'm becoming more open to the notion that Colorado isn't going to get healthy enough to lock in a playoff spot. The only update on Landeskog is that he's 'not close.' Nichuskin played a few games and then got hurt again. The update on Byram is that he didn't respond to treatment at first so his recovery timeline 'essentially doubled.' Francouz got hurt again which has forced Georgiev to start a bunch of games in a row. He's been brutal since Christmas and the team is 0-4-1 in that stretch. Last year everyone spent 60 games waiting for Vegas to get healthy and then climb the standings but it never happened. Colorado appears to have at least another several weeks battling the current injury bug and they are struggling to score goals (just a single game with 4+ goals scored in their last 16). I wouldn't bet against them making the playoffs with even odds right now, but I don't feel like they are locked in.

I think there are still 2 playoff spots up for grabs.

Fair enough, I was being more conservative in thinking that even just that 1 spot was pretty winnable. I don't think any of the teams involved really scare each other. All have some really good players and potential to go on some hot streaks, but all have also proven to be pretty bad at times.

 

[Louie the Blue]

That's why I said Chychurn or another target that fills the whole long-term. I'm not suggesting we move for Gavrikov.

The assets required to acquire Chychurn, along with the current AAV cap hits of Faulk, Leddy, Krug, and Parayko, make me completely uninterested in acquiring someone like Chychurn.

Best way to get out of this situation is to trade players for picks and prospects-not trade for guys under contract long term that require a lot of assets to give up.

 

[bleedblue1223]

The assets required to acquire Chychurn, along with the current AAV cap hits of Faulk, Leddy, Krug, and Parayko, make me completely uninterested in acquiring someone like Chychurn.

Best way to get out of this situation is to trade players for picks and prospects-not trade for guys under contract long term that require a lot of assets to give up.

All depends on the acquisition cost, and Chychrun is at just 4.6M, it's a doable number, really just depends on what the plan is with the forward group. I'm just saying it's an option for Army if the Blues pull some 08/09 mojo and that the core is worth adding to for next season.

 

[Louie the Blue]

All depends on the acquisition cost, and Chychrun is at just 4.6M, it's a doable number, really just depends on what the plan is with the forward group. I'm just saying it's an option for Army if the Blues pull some 08/09 mojo and that the core is worth adding to for next season.

I respectfully disagree regarding the core.

One of Leddy/Krug has to be moved big picture to make room for an upgrade. I don’t think losing Tarasenko will hurt in the future as much as losing ROR would.

And 2008-2009 was a completely different situation. That was a younger team trying to compete. This team was supposed to be a contender.

 

[Allens Five Hole]

Although to that point, if the Blues do channel that 08/09 energy and crawl back into a wild card spot, I do wonder if Army would show interest in Chychrun or someone that is more a long-term target for defense. I think Colorado has 1 wild card spot, but the other one is very much up for grabs. Us, Nashville, Edmonton, or Calgary could all reasonably get it.

So, to Lou's point, if this team magically fights through these injuries, Army is going to have some interesting decisions to make.

To Brian39's point, I really think the Kings are a paper tiger waiting to fold. GD is typically a fairly good indicator of sustainability and there are some deficiencies in that department. They have banked points so they do have a bit of a buffer but if I had to bet on any team in the West to fall out of the current playoff spots, it would be them without a doubt.

By the same token, our GD is awful so it's very likely that we are not the team that will take a playoff spot from anyone.

 

[bleedblue1223]

To Brian39's point, I really think the Kings are a paper tiger waiting to fold. GD is typically a fairly good indicator of sustainability and there are some deficiencies in that department. They have banked points so they do have a bit of a buffer but if I had to bet on any team in the West to fall out of the current playoff spots, it would be them without a doubt.

By the same token, our GD is awful so it's very likely that we are not the team that will take a playoff spot from anyone.

Yeah, the West really only has about 4 good teams this season. Dallas, Winnipeg, Vegas, and Seattle. Colorado got hit with injuries, but all the other teams, us included, have reasons to be scared of and reasons why they will fall apart. Kings and Wild have the current benefit of a cushion.

 

[Brian39]

Mortgaging the future to plug a hole in a significantly flawed team long term is not idea.

Chychrun is a 24 year old top pair D man on a team friendly contract for 2 seasons beyond this one. I'mnot convinced he's a legit #1 D man, but he is a top pair guy and he might be a #1. He arguably plugs the single largest hole on the roster for both the short and medium term. And if his play merits an extension, that deal would begin when the cap is over $90M and all our veterans on long term deals see their NTCs weaken. He would turn 35 in March of the final season of a max-term contract, so he isn't in that age group where you expect the entire back half of the deal to suck.

Obviously the calculus on a Chychrun deal would determine its value, but simply targeting and acquiring him wouldn't be mortgaging the future. There are plenty of trades involving futures for Chychrun that push our team in the right direction both medium and long term. It is almost certain that any pick/prospect we have/acquire in the next 2 years will not fill the top pair LHD hole at anything resembling the level Chychrun would between now and the conclusion of the 2024/25 season. It is pretty unlikely that it could fill that hole better than an extended Chychrun would from 2025/26-2028/29.

I want to see the Blues trade Tarasenko and ROR this year. But I wouldn't be at all opposed to flipping some of the assets acquired in those deals for Chychrun. If we snag two 1sts and a decent prospect for 90 and 91 then I think there is merit in trying to flip one of those picks, a prospect besides Bolduc/Snuggy, and something else of medium value for Chychrun. I don't know how involved Bill Armstrong was in the scouting of Neighbours, but I might be willing to center a deal around Neighbours and a 1st (not our own) for Chychrun if we had three 1sts this draft.