Forge Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 1 minute ago, beekay414 said: I haven't seen much of Kaapo. He's probably really good but Hughes is a franchise changer and that's something we desperately need. The fact that Kakko is playing on the top line of the finnish elite league already at 17, plus putting up solid numbers (20 points, 27 games), I think says a lot. Slightly higher ppg average than Laine had his year in the finnish elite league. Obviously, not the same player as Kakko doesn't have Laine's shot, but still, I think that's a really good sign. Perhaps he's a little more playmaker than goal scorer, and we may need the latter more, but I think Kakko can play as soon as next year tbh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beekay414 Posted December 23, 2018 Author Share Posted December 23, 2018 2 minutes ago, Forge said: The fact that Kakko is playing on the top line of the finnish elite league already at 17, plus putting up solid numbers (20 points, 27 games), I think says a lot. Slightly higher ppg average than Laine had his year in the finnish elite league. Obviously, not the same player as Kakko doesn't have Laine's shot, but still, I think that's a really good sign. Perhaps he's a little more playmaker than goal scorer, and we may need the latter more, but I think Kakko can play as soon as next year tbh. Yeah, Kakko is really good, no doubt. I just don't wanna have the Eichel or Laine of the draft after a miserable run of seasons outside of a seemingly fluky one. I want McDavid or Matthews lol. Part of the reason is Kakko is a RW. We need massive C help at this point. By getting Hughes, you can either put him on the 2nd line and bump up that unit or you can drop Hischier and make an all out assault line with Hall, Hughes and Palmieri. You don't get the same effect from pulling Kakko. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forge Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 I know that we'd be taking a risk in his growth and progression, but I think Blackwood is largely ready to at least play a platoon role at the NHL level. I don't think we will be able to trade KK at the deadline given a somewhat up and down season, but I don't think that we need to re-sign him. If we don't buy out Cory, I think he and Blackwood should be the Goalies next year. Its too bad we don't have any shot of signing Duschene next season and that he's kind of a tool...we could really use that dynamic 2c. I feel like so far we are wasting Bratt putting him with the likes of Zacha and Qville and whoever else. He needs a legit player alongside him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forge Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 Just now, beekay414 said: Yeah, Kakko is really good, no doubt. I just don't wanna have the Eichel or Laine of the draft after a miserable run of seasons outside of a seemingly fluky one. I want McDavid or Matthews lol. Part of the reason is Kakko is a RW. We need massive C help at this point. By getting Hughes, you can either put him on the 2nd line and bump up that unit or you can drop Hischier and make an all out assault line with Hall, Hughes and Palmieri. You don't get the same effect from pulling Kakko. Yeah, the fact that he's a RW is the thing I like least about him. I know that he can play some center, and has, but obviously his most natural fit at the next level should be RW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forge Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 3 minutes ago, beekay414 said: Yeah, Kakko is really good, no doubt. I just don't wanna have the Eichel or Laine of the draft after a miserable run of seasons outside of a seemingly fluky one. I want McDavid or Matthews lol. Part of the reason is Kakko is a RW. We need massive C help at this point. By getting Hughes, you can either put him on the 2nd line and bump up that unit or you can drop Hischier and make an all out assault line with Hall, Hughes and Palmieri. You don't get the same effect from pulling Kakko. yeah, I don't know what to do about that Center position. Obviously Nico is C1, Zajac should be C3, and Zacha C4 with both of those also centering the penalty kill lines for the most part. We don't need a filler at center, we need a legit player. Duchene would obviously be the major guy, but there's no way he's going to want to come here. After that, I guess the top target would be Kevin Hayes? But I don't know...he doesn't instill a ton of confidence overall. He's having a great year this year, but he's pretty much been a 40 points per game player, and so he's going to be looking at a contract at least comparable to the one Henrique got from the Ducks, who was very similar in being a 40-50 point guy, and he got 5.825/per. Hayes is younger to boot. So 6 million for Hayes just seems steeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. After that, I don't know what you do. I mean, do you try to get Anders Lee on a shorter term at 3 years, or sign Staal to 1 or 2 year deal? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forge Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 Our power play is seriously offensive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beekay414 Posted December 28, 2018 Author Share Posted December 28, 2018 Yeah, make Blackwood our primary goalie from here on out. Kid was EXCELLENT tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forge Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 2 hours ago, beekay414 said: Yeah, make Blackwood our primary goalie from here on out. Kid was EXCELLENT tonight. He's been really really good since getting the call up. I'm floored that he's already there and that this is the same kid from last year who was in shambles. KK and Mac rest of the year, Cory on waivers sent down. Let KK walk (if not traded at deadline), and I'm actually okay with Mac and Cory to eat another year on his deal, or I'm good with buying him out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forge Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 Not what we obviously wanted when we drafted him, but the kid has a shot at being a legitimately great defensive center. That's worth something 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forge Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 Speaking of goalies, schmid was pretty impressive against Canada tonight. Didn't get the win, but the swiss were totally outgunned and he did well. Talvitie had a goal tonight for Finland as well, he's been one of my favorite prospects for the last year for us I love wjc time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyers0909 Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 How was Ty Smith last night? I unfortunately couldn't catch the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forge Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 4 hours ago, flyers0909 said: How was Ty Smith last night? I unfortunately couldn't catch the game. Only saw pieces, didn't notice him much, tbh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beekay414 Posted December 29, 2018 Author Share Posted December 29, 2018 Honestly, it's probably going to ruin our tank but there's legitimately zero reason to not make Blackwood our #1 goalie. Kid has been insanely good since the call up and he's at it again today. I had little hope for him after last season but, damn, just shows you how fickle being a young player in hockey can be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forge Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 57 minutes ago, beekay414 said: Honestly, it's probably going to ruin our tank but there's legitimately zero reason to not make Blackwood our #1 goalie. Kid has been insanely good since the call up and he's at it again today. I had little hope for him after last season but, damn, just shows you how fickle being a young player in hockey can be. Yeah, I hope that we can flip KK for a mid round pick, keep Mac and Cory on the ice. Great defensive play by Zacha on the PK to get the goal. Not going to lie, I love the aggressiveness of our penalty kill. It's starting to remind me of the early 00's when we had Madden and would play Elias / Sykora on the kill to boot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beekay414 Posted December 29, 2018 Author Share Posted December 29, 2018 1 minute ago, Forge said: Yeah, I hope that we can flip KK for a mid round pick, keep Mac and Cory on the ice. Great defensive play by Zacha on the PK to get the goal. Not going to lie, I love the aggressiveness of our penalty kill. It's starting to remind me of the early 00's when we had Madden and would play Elias / Sykora on the kill to boot. Our PK is legit the only entertaining thing we do right now. Back to being the brutal Devils of old. I love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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