Coconuts

Detroit was never going to be a short-term turnaround, progress has been made though. One more win and they'd have been a playoff team and suddenly the narrative looks very different. I think how they follow up this season will be critical, can they actually claw their way back in? They're lumped in with Pittsburgh, Philly, Buffalo, Long Island, Washington, New Jersey, and Ottawa. There's even a chance that Tampa slips down, they were very, very dependent on Kucherov this season and I'd be surprised if he hit 140ish points again. It's a tough league, lot of teams out east are trying to either remain competitive (Pittsburgh, Washington, Long Island, Philly, Tampa) or take that next step (Buffalo, Ottawa, Detroit, New Jersey). Only eastern teams I'd say are probably locks next season are the Rangers, Hurricanes, Panthers, and Bruins. Toronto's tougher to gauge, we could see significant change in Toronto, I reckon they're probably a playoff team though.

Replace Chicago with another team and that'd be a better result.

Retainment is an option, absolutely, and they'd probably be better off going that route (as opposed to a buyout) if they could bring positive value back. I think he'll be a King next season though, and I wouldn't be surprised if they're playing a different brand of hockey. It depends on what they do with their coaching imo, I don't think Hiller is a sure bet to hold on to the head coaching gig.

I think it's more likely they try to adjust their systems going forward, multiple forwards have spoken about wanting to play in a different fashion. LA's forward group could certainly accomplish more offensively if they weren't playing such a conservative style. I also think they'd rather trade him than eat more dead cap, one thing I saw the other day was someone mention something along the lines of Dubois for Kuemper. Not ideal, but Kuemper's cap would expire sooner than Dubois's buyout. Washington could also use a center and I could see them being willing to take a flyer on Dubois. I don't think it'll happen, but I thought it interesting.

Agreed, although I'd put Josi ahead of Hughes. It's hard to think of a D who did more for their team with less imo, Nashville's offense really drops off after their top line and Nashville's D doesn't resemble Vancouver's. Josi's in his 33-34 season and still put up only 7 fewer points than Hughes in the same amount of games, that's nuts.

Pasta would have been a deserving candidate, certainly. I've argued that in a lesser year Josi would warrant consideration as well.

And Kucherov is an arrogant prick, doesn't change the fact that he had a helluva year.

I don't see McDavid getting it, but I do think he's a deserving nominee. He's a big part of why Edmonton was able to climb out of the hole they dug for themselves early on and if he'd been healthy all year it'd have probably been another Art Ross win for him. Kucherov just doesn't have the same buzz around him that MacKinnon does and I think that'll influence voting. Narratives matter, it's why being nominated at all matters, once you've been nominated you're more likely to win imo. MacKinnon is also more likeable than Kucherov.

Not sure they'd be willing to give up on Doan given how he transitioned to the NHL late in the season, I'd take him and two 2nd's if it were on the table though. My preference would be to ask for Geekie or Simashev though, our prospect pool doesn't have anything of Geekie's caliber at the center position or Simashev at the LD position. I really, really covet a higher end center prospect and there's no way they're giving up Cooley. If we could get a higher caliber piece I'd take be willing to take fewer pieces back for Hronek, even a 1-1 deal wouldn't be off the table if it were a top tier prospect.

Mmm, I don't think I'd go longer than five years personally. I'd rather pay a slightly higher amount for shorter term, Zadorov is effective now but even five years is more than I'd personally like to give. Personally I'd prefer it if we could keep Zadorov's deal to four years, which would have his deal expiring when he's 34. I'm generally not keen on deals that take guys into their later 30's and while Zadorov can be an effective D I question whether he'll be playing at this level a few years down the road, let alone five or six years down the road. The Canucks should be sticking to short and medium term deals for anyone who's not a core piece imo, this approach will give them more cap flex more often than not. This is best case scenario of course, but it's something they should be trying to do.

Not sure that makes sense for either team imo Hronek doesn't strike me as the sort of D Toronto should be looking for San Jose is a team that is clearly rebuilding, they shouldn't be moving out high picks at all, more than likely it's going to take a while and I don't think Hronek's best remaining years line up with their timeline Something with Ottawa might make more sense, something around him and maybe Chychrun Nashville could be an interesting trade partner, they've got multiple 2nd's this season, all of their 1st's, and Tampa's 1st next year, they also have Matthew Wood (2023 15OA), it really depends on what Trotz wants to do but they could use a top 4RD of Hronek's type, Josi ain't getting any younger Utah has a bunch of picks, prospects, and some talented young NHL talent, they could be interesting and their ownership might be open to making a splash that helps make them more competitive next season

If we do end up trading him I hope we get a 1st back as part of the deal, I'd love to see us draft a center in the 1st round

I guess time will tell I'm not expecting him to shit the bed, I'm just skeptical as to whether he can get the job done this series If we do get past the Oil hopefully Demko's healthy and back, because I would not be confident with Silovs in net against Dallas or Colorado in a seven game series

MacKinnon also has the power of a narrative behind him, many view him as being due. I wouldn't discount that, because there's a good chance it'll work in his favour.

Perhaps, but it's not as if they'll have nothing. Like I said, Oilers players and staff were almost certainly watching the Nashville series. He also played a few games down the stretch. No bones about it, he's no Demko. This isn't to say he can't play well, or that he won't, but I do question how things will go without Demko.

I am concerned, neither Silovs or DeSmith are Demko and I'd be much more optimistic about the Canucks's chances with Demko in net. Silovs played rock solid against Nashville but Nashville offense is not Edmonton's, I also firmly believe NHL experience matters, Silovs has played big games but this the NHL playoffs. That being said, there's not a whole lot anyone can do about it. It's shortsighted to risk Demko's health.

Not terribly surprising, teams don't get to the second round by accident and players know that, they're almost certainly watching their potential rivals play too Edmonton cruised past LA but they still had to work for it, Nashville was not an easy out for Vancouver Come playoff time regular season head to head records don't really matter because the playoffs are a different animal entirely

Not surprising, sounds like he could potentially be out all series regardless of how things go Sounds like they're being cautious with him, which is good, because given his health struggles this season it's key that he get a healthy offseason in before camp

Sounds like Ottawa went a ways down the road with Berube but he thought there may have been better setups elsewhere, as per Friedman It sounds like money could have been a thing too, Berube may have cost more than Ottawa wanted to pay Roughly 8:30 onward https://www.sportsnet.ca/590/jeff-marek-show/ He also makes some good points about Green

For those who don't know, Justin Hawkins of The Darkness has a YouTube channel and he reviews music. His videos are well done and often quite entertaining, it's neat how he breaks songs down.

4-3 Oil Kane