Coconuts

Damn, I was sure there had to be more than that.. But sign me up Sold

I'd be a bit surprised if Lindholm accepted 7M to stay a Canuck when he'd easily be the most sought after center in free agency, during the first offseason featuring a sizeable cap jump in a while. 7M is just over a 2M raise given he's just under 5M right now. I think the Canucks would have to shave cap from their bottom six to make it work. But hey, moving out Garland to retain Lindholm should be a no brainer. His market value is almost certainly a good chunk higher than 7M.

I think it'd take more than a 3rd. If Andersson, as a top pairing RD, is actually available than much of the league would probably be poking around. The only D Calgary have signed beyond this season are Weegar and Andersson, he seems like a piece they should probably keep if they're retooling. With long term contracts doled out to Kadri and Huberdeau I think they're more set on a retool than a teardown rebuild. I do think they'll look to turn things over quickly, someone's gotta play for them next season. The only forwards they have signed beyond next season are the aforementioned, Mangiapane, Kuzmenko, Backlund, and Coleman, and all are up within 1-3 seasons. It's tough to predict what Calgary does, they'll have a lot of cap space though. They could be in for some more tough seasons though. If he won't stay they'll trade him though, but with two seasons remaining on his deal that's not necessarily a this season problem. The bigger threat is Sharangovich not extending, he's been good this season and only has a year remaining.

We're up to two Elias Pettersson's and an Elias Lindholm. Any more high end Elias's we can add to our stable?

Pittsburgh should be asking for a 1st and either a top prospect or a blue chip young NHL'er imo. Plus more on top of that. We're only really giving them the 1st in your proposed package. I also question whether Pittsburgh would want Mikheyev. If they're trading Guentzel their firepower takes a big hit, Mikheyev isn't going to plug that gap, I could see his term being an issue too. McDonough will be 25 in November, he's not really a prospect anymore. Kind of a meh piece. Kudryavtsev is having a solid season but he's also a recent 7th round pick. Overall it's just very meh, and a package other NHL teams should easily be able to beat if they're making serious bids.

If Pittsburgh does move him Guentzel should return a better package than that

Kesler hated losing more than pretty much any other Canuck I've watched play, he absolutely loathed it. I reckon he'd be too superstitious to count his chickens during the championship round.

It is, fifth line up from the bottom

It will smart a bit if we get knocked out and he walks, but I do understand that this is as good a year to go for it as any. I do hope Lindholm is retained, but I also think there's a solid chance he is. If it takes management having to pay to ship out Garland to retain him they'll do it. Could see Lindholm wanting to stay too. But as exciting as it all is, I could very easily see us going out in the first or second round. There are no guarantees come playoff time regardless of how stacked your team may seem. That being said, my bar for success for the season is simply making the playoffs. If they do that they'll have taken the first step. Most teams don't walk straight to a final, they have to hang around in the playoffs for a while before getting so much as a sniff at a conference final. Cinderella runs are rare, I'm not going to pretend otherwise. But after most of a decade of missing, the first part of becoming a playoff regular is actually making it, we'll probably do that. The important part is showing we can do is consistently going forward, that puts us in the mix. Some might see that as being negative, but I've seen many hyped teams get booted over the years, including us.

That's how I read it. But if I misread, no worries. Some folks definitely get carried away. I'm generally more pragmatic when it comes to contention, as you've said, it's the toughest trophy to win. I'm intrigued by two Elias's together. Extend him and play them together and maybe one of them wins a Selke.

Was it a good trade? Yes. Is there anything wrong with being excited? Absolutely not. Does this make a top team better? Yeah. Is counting your chickens before the hatch silly? Yes. Let's not crown ourselves champions yet.

It's February and we just added Lindholm, but we have to wait for games to start back up. Should be an entertaining finish to the season. I didn't get this up sooner so I'm kinda rushing it, more bare bones again. Schedule Week One https://www.nhl.com/schedule/2024-02-01 Week Two https://www.nhl.com/schedule/2024-02-08 Week Three https://www.nhl.com/schedule/2024-02-15 Week Four https://www.nhl.com/schedule/2024-02-22

There are some users who will be devastated that we're also now out on Crosby

But it's still around

Dude is a unicorn, one of the all-time American greats. It cannot be emphasized enough how impressive, and unusual, it is for players to maintain his level of play for as long as he has.

@Ribs can we replace the Kuzmenko emoji with a giraffe emoji

Monahan probably ends up being a Ranger or an Av

So not a former Penguin, but he may as well be

Nah, I'd keep Pettersson. Lindholm trade or not, we are not the cup guarantee some folks want to believe/pretend we are. If the goal is to chase a cup Pettersson lengthens our window, Lindholm is also not Pettersson. Having Pettersson peaking should hopefully negate some of Miller's inevitable decline. Nobody was expecting Miller to fall off immediately, but most forwards don't age as gracefully as Crosby and Pavelski. If you can keep all three, great. Play the Elias's together and maybe one of them wins a Selke.

It'll look less good in retrospect if we go out in the first or second round, but if there's a season to bet on I guess this one is as good as any. Hoping there's an extension in place, one of the Elias's can shift over. Lindholm looked much better playing with top talent in Tkachuk and Gaudrea, maybe he can get closer to that level again. That Pettersson line needed a better running mate and Lindholm's defensive game should gel well with Pettersson's.

Could be, gonna be interesting to see how things play out over there. Looks like more of a retool, but it could sink into a rebuild if they can't get youth to step up and help out. Sharangovich is helping in that regard. Huberdeau and Kadri with long term, Backlund and Coleman for another 2-3 seasons. At least Weegar's looked really good, but he has lengthy term too. Andersson is the only D they have signed beyond this season. Markstrom, Tanev, and Hanifin may still all be moved. Could be a lot of turnover.

I'm impressed that we didn't give up blue chip guys in Lekkerimaki and Willander. Keeping Podz and Hoglander is good too. I don't like giving up high picks but there was no getting around it in this case.

I'd argue that Kuzmenko was closer to neutral value, but I get what you're saying