Well, Skjei won't even get taken in an expansion draft if he's not living up to his salary at that point. And who else can we afford to expose from our D corps by then? Can't be DA(if still here), Fox. Lindgren, Hajek(?), Trouba or Miller/Lundkvist who both will be exempt. I'm not saying he won't play well from here onward but it could be a way to 'lose' his salary off the books if they don't see value from him. The only other option would be if we signed a FA dman this summer for 3y and they played him enough to expose him, but that wouldn't make any sense with all we have in the pipeline.
Like some said here. Our fans are ridiculous with ripping our defenseman. Skjei would have big value across the league. We could easily get a top 6 forward for him or a top prospect. No reason to let him walk for nothing.
Considering Andersson is a mental case right now. Howden is not improving. Kravtsov is sucking it at the AHL and can't score. This team needs to re-stock the team with some more, young, talented forwards.
I'm not ripping him, just being honest that it's alot of hit and miss with the guy. I just don't know who else they realistically would expose on D from this roster. I agree they definately need to continue stocking up mostly on F prospects. It would be nice to see them start drafting a few more Canadian players.
Tru that. I think JD will draft more hard nosed, forwards. He said they need to get tougher. They can't afford to lose any player with good value for nothing at the expansion draft. With Rykov, Hajek and Miller coming on the left side as well as Gross who is underrated as a prospect, they can replace Skjei and Staal if they wish. Even Staal who is playing decent might have a little value with half retained to a contender. I'm not writing off Kravtsov yet but it sure doesn't look to promising. He should be at least on a 45-50 point pace in the AHL. He sucks right now. They need to make up for him and Andersson with at least 2 yound forwards. It may cost us Georgiev to do that. Honestly, I wish Hank would retire. Pay him his salary next season. He's earned it. Make him BA's assistant if he wants the job. The best thing for the organization would be to have Shesterkin and Georgiev going forward. I really want them to go after Bennett on the Flames. He's having a crap year but he's a lot like Lemieux. We need another guy like that big time. If Gorton could do Buchnevich for Bennett and a pick, I would jump for joy.
Skjei is an elite skater with size. Honestly, Trouba makes more boneheaded plays than Skjei. To show you how over the top our fan base is with picking on our defenseman. Florida fans think Yandle is this great defenseman. Yandle fucking sucks moose dick defensively. He was one of the worst defensive defenseman I've seen here in the past 20 years. Our fans said, oh Ryan Graves can't skate. The same Graves that has 8 G 11 A and is a +34 now for the Av's. They said Pionk sucked and was crap. The same Pionk that has 31 points is a plus 6 and averages over 23 minutes of ice time a game. Skjei has 21 points and is a -1. So basically he's playing even against the other teams top lines. He probably will finish with 30+ points. He's not the reason this team isn't making the playoffs.
It's not too late for Andersson if he gets his head on straight and comes back. Kravtsov i think sort of same thing but he's getting acclimated to the US and i think next year he will break out and be good to go. Lost year for both guys. I just don't know that Andersson has more than 4th line ability. Some early mock drafts have us taking Millers WISC teammate, C Dylan Holloway if we pick around 10. I don't see HL retiring but you never know. I think he'd accept a trade somewhere first. The problem with keeping Georgiev is he will be at risk for the expansion draft if we don't have a 3rd goalie. May as well get something now while the iron is hot.
With Skjei it's just you know he's coming into the season always seemingly out of shape, i think that's what can be frustrating, but he's gotten better as he usually does after Oct. Both guys together just don't seem like a great match, as someone said earlier. Skjei really is geared to be a real good 2nd pairing guy.
His contract will be up by then anyway so he'll be out of that equation. If Georgiev is still around i guess they could sign a 3rd goalie to an NHL contract just to expose him.
Saw that Lebanc may want out of SJ. He wouldn't be a bad bottom 6 guy to have at 24. He's from Brooklyn so I'm sure he'd be down with coming back to NY.
Pass. 5'11. Not what I'm looking for in a role player. I want this team to get bigger, nastier and more physical with some offense with it's bottom 6 forwards.
We don't really have any great 4th line type prospects. Lettieri is decent but like Nieves he's more of an AHL type. Gettinger sucks for the most part and Fontaine never turned into anything. Barron looks like he could be a player.
Gettinger doesn't suck. He's 21 with 10 g 19 points this year. He's 6'6. Guys like that sometimes don't figure it out until 23-24. Like Boyle. Fontaine unfortunately got hurt this year but I always liked him and he's a beast on draws. He was their best defensive forward from all reports and has been a guy historically that produces better offensivley in the playoffs. He has good size as well. He is out for the season with a shoulder injury. I think next year he has a good chance of making the 4th line as the center. Both Gettinger and Fontaine would be 2 guys I would be targeting if they don't get a chance here. A team like Edmonton, Vancouver, Chicago, etc... could use those guys for depth. Nieves and Fogarty suck.
Figures dickless J.T. Miller is 59% on draws this year with 46 points. Wait until Caschmuck fans see him do jack shit in the playoffs as always. Thank god the Bruins were stupid in 2015 when they had the 13th, 14th and 15th overall picks. Two of them are crap and the players selected 16th 17th were Barzal and Kyle Connor.
Plus side it sounds like Kreider is as good as gone. That is very smart for a few reasons: 1. He is the best forward available at the trade DL, which means we should get a great return. An NHL ready good prospect and a 1st round pick to start. 2. We are not making the playoffs this year. We at best will be a fringe type playoff team next year with a lot of dead money against the cap, and more kids getting their feet wet. So in 2 years when we are really ready to win Kreider will be 30, and maybe have 2 good years left. 3. He is going to get a 6 or 7 year deal for 7 mill per +/-. No shot we should pay him that. And before anyone says we can afford him, I am NOT saying we cannot afford him, we can, I am saying it would not be a smart move given the haul we can get in return, the fact we are not a playoff team this year and most likely next year, and he is simply not worth 7 mill per +/- for 6 or 7 years. Smart move by Gorton. I have thought all along he was getting dealt for sure.
Hope the Blues trade for him. Not the stupid Bruins. Definately will bring back a 1st, but what else in addition quality wise is debatable. I'd think he'll garner more than Hayes did.
If were not in the playoffs next year we need a new coach. Trading kreids who we can't replace for another pick in the 25 to 30 range that will take 3 to 4 years before we see them and another B prospect as no one is giving their best prospects these days is just dumb! We have plenty of other things we can trade for picks and/or prospects such as georgiev and D'angelo amongst others that we actually have replacements for. And if miller is ready next year you can add skjei to that list. Were short top 6 forwards now so yes lets trade kreids by all means so were short another top 6 forward. Why the hell did we just sign panaran who is great to the contract that we did if were not going to compete for another couple of years. And I'm not sorry to say this but Hank and his 8.5 million backup goalie contract needs to go. He is the 3rd best goalie on the roster right now and its a ridiculous contract to pay for someone to play 25 games next year as shesty will be our main goalie. At this point Hank is being selfish and needs to do the right thing by going to a team with a shot at the cup.
If they absolutely know they would resign Kreider, then I'm all for dealing him for a 1st and a prospect like Lemieux which this team doesn't have nearly enough of. Only if they resign him 100%. However as I said before. Trade DeAngelo. Trade Buchnevich. Trade Georgiev. Trade Fast. My first choices.
