Coconuts

Funny how time changes things. He's gone from a guy who was viewed as considerably overpaid, to a guy some folks wanted to dump, to a guy who's had a career season. One year left a 6.65M though, gotta think he'll be due for a healthy raise if he can put up 30+ goals and 60+ points again next season.

Schenn's a likeable dude, his stop in Tampa really was a career renaissance of sorts for him. He went from scrambling to stay in the league to winning two cups, to another stint in Vancouver, and finally some well deserved stability in Nashville.

Hellebuyck's covered for the Jets all year, which isn't to say their defense is a poor. To be frank, as far as tenders go Hellebuyck was in a league of his own all season. He is their most valuable player, and he's an incredible goalie, which makes his being lit up this way all the more baffling. I don't necessarily think Hellebuyck has played poorly, I think the scores thus far have been more a reflection of how talented Colorado's gamebreakers are. They're doing this without Drouin to boot. Having a player like MacKinnon up front and a player like Makar on the back end is simply an embarrassment of riches. We have a player in the same tier as Makar in Hughes, but we simply do not have anything resembling a MacKinnon tier forward. Whichever team comes out of the Dallas/Vegas series is going to be in tough, things are really clicking for the Avs right now, hard to see the Jets clawing their way to a series win.

I agree that upgrading the defense has stabilized things. A Chychrun/Hronek swap would be interesting, assuming both teams were able to come to terms on extensions. Chychrun's a little older and an LD, but they're probably in the same tier of D. I'm not convinced Tanev comes back, I think he'll go elsewhere but I'm just speculating. Myers could very well be back imo. I'd be a little surprised to see Cole back, could see them looking for a younger option, but he may be. I think there's a chance Zadorov may price himself out of Vancouver, but who knows. I'm really not overly keen on the prospect of paying him 4.5M+ to be a 5D. But if we do, hopefully it's the term isn't more than four years. Only Soucy, Hughes, and Juulsen are signed through next season, we could see a very different group. Mikheyev's an oddball, he's a middle six tweener who does bring some useful tools, but he's struggled to produce. Wouldn't be surprised if we pay to move him, wouldn't be surprised if he's at camp. Wouldn't be surprised if he were better next season either. Harder nosed guys who are also top six players are tricky to track down though, every team wants players of that ilk and teams tend to hold on to them when they have them. I personally think we need at least another top six winger though, Sutur shouldn't be playing in the top six. If they want a harder nosed guy size up front they may have to settle for a complimentary guy with more of a middle six skill set.

Be interesting to see who's brought in

https://thebeaverton.com/2024/04/leafs-assure-fans-that-this-is-them-trying-their-best/

Guess we'll see, and I say that as someone who's consistently spoken to the importance of playoff experience and our lack of it.

Shanahan should be on the chopping block too, don't know how he's survived this long. Dubas is already gone, Keefe could get the axe too, could be quite the cleaning of house. https://theleafsnation.com/news/friedman-this-is-end-core-4-if-leafs-dont-pull-off-comeback

I said the series would be Nucks in 6 so I'm sticking with that 4-2 Preds Josi

Still too early to say imo, if we make the conference finals or deeper it's worth it, no question. If we go out in the second round? Folks might look at that a bit different, particularly if he walks (and I think there's a good chance he does). Time will tell, but he's been useful thus far.

He won't win it, but a nomination could help towards him winning in the future if he can stay healthy Reputation plays a role in even getting nominated so it's a good first step

Probably doesn't work, even if Dallas wanted Hronek they don't have the cap space to add him at 7-8M. Pavelski and Duchene are pending UFA's and they'll need to be replaced if they aren't retained, doesn't free up a whole lot of cap, if anything Dallas may look at Stankoven to fill one of those slots. Tanev was a retained salary deal so the cap he frees up is minimal, Hanakpa is also due for a raise as a pending UFA. Harley will be due for a sizeable raise. Between Heiskanen and Harley they don't necessarily need Hronek either, they'll probably try and retain Tanev. As for Guentzel, Carolina's not a team that typically pays up big at the deadline and they're not really a team that rents players either, they'll almost certainly try to keep him. He's taken their offense to another level. They'll at least try, was always the plan. If he does hit UFA he'll likely be the most coveted forward on the market though, I don't imagine he'll come in at less than 8M long-term via the open market.

Big save Dave is playing well but it won't matter if LA can't score

I'll give you credit for not including Brady Tkachuk

Definitely, stocking the cupboard and developing talent is very important All top teams lose talent, guys wanna get paid and there's only so much cap space to go around, cost effective talent is very important

Oh wow

Brock/Silovs show

You just had to say it

They don't have this opportunity without him

Top heavy offense, they'll need more from everyone if they plan on trying to win a few rounds

Just had to do things the hard way

Ha, what a twist