You can really see a preview of what the team could be once Kakko, Chytil and Howden mature. Howden is finally starting to show something. Kakko will be a terror once he physically matures and improves on a few things. That line gave the Blues problems all night. Right now they are just the maturing of young players away. That and a couple of key deals.
Not sure if I agree with Quinn putting the three kids together. I guess you could look at it both ways. On one hand, it hurts their ability to put up offense. On the other hand, they are developing chemistry for what might be a line for the future as well as learning how to play when they are producing offense. DeAngelo should have been benched for his dumbass pass that led to the first goal against. I notice that the board ignores when he makes stupid turnover after stupid turnover but jumps all over Staal when he has a couple of bad games. That being said, I'd like to see the kids play down the stretch over Staal since he won't be here as part of the future plan.
They're really struggling 5/5 lately, especially with #20 out. Played a solid game, much better than the 2 Philly games. I would let AG start the next two and hope Shesterkin can maybe come back by the start of the road trip.
There is 0% chance Shesterkin is back in one week. It will be after St Patricks Day and likely just before the end of March before he is able to play. My guess is March 26th vs Was.
This team has made huge strides but reality sets in when they face these top teams. They're still about a year away. There's nothing wrong with that because this season has been a nice surprise.
Agree. You can see it coming with Kakko. You can't expect much out of him offensively now when he's playing with Howden and Chytil. Howden reminds me of when we had Dubinsky, Callahan and Anisimov coming up except they really didn't make the NHL until 22 and it took them a few years to develop offense. Howden is 21. I've yet to see Quinn work any magic with the young forwards. I'm hoping that will change next year with those 3. Gauthier is showing flashes. Needs to shoot the puck and be more selfish. His scouting reports stated that he often shot too much so he's probably trying to make a good impression with the vets. Fuck that. Shoot. It's what he does well.
Throw in a retained salary HL trade, a possible buyout of Smiths last year and they probably have no problem with both Strome and DA if they want, with room to spare.
In 21-22' we could really have a boatload of extra cap space(20m or so), as Trouba could be the only Dman making over 4m and even with a Zib extension there will be great value with 2 goalies totalling around 6m. The forwards will be mostly making 3m or less except Zib, CK, Panarin and maybe Buchnevich if he's around. I'm starting to think they should bring back Fast if it's less than 3.5m for 3y with the new cap bump. You know what you're getting with him as one of the best 4th liners who can also play higher up in a pinch. He does so many little things that addWe don't really have any up and coming grinders other than Lemieux. It'll be interesting to see what they do with Digesuppe too who's useful.
Today's Canes/Isles game is another reason why it will be tough to get in. All we really needed was for one team to win in regulation, but it turns into a 3 point game. That is no good for us, and adds yet another hurdle we will need to overcome to get in.
Yup, very annoying. We just need to start getting points again and maybe Columbus and the Isles will continue to slide. Can't lay an egg against NJ. Tough schedule isn't going to help but with Shest back at least there's that reinforcement.
Lets hope he didn't come back too soon, he is going to need full range of motion. 2 points tonight is a MUST!
