ChiLla

I obviously don't like either team but seeing the Leafs choke just never gets old

Some crazy stuff happening for sure. Wasn't St. Louis like dead last in the standings at the end of last year? Then you've got both top teams from the East and West already eliminated in the first round... unreal. The funny thing is MB has been preaching that for years, I guess he's ahead of his time after all, a true visionary

Max Pacioretty is tied with Mark Stone for the playoff scoring lead... way to go, Max

Guys I'd spend money on: 1. Skinner. 26 years old, solid goalscorer with speed and offensive flair. Questionable defense but I'd go 7 years, 9M per year. According to reports, he only wants to play in BUF or TOR though, so I guess we're out. 2. Panarin: Elite talent, can be a difference maker and would be a nice fit here I believe. 7 years, 10M per year would be my limit though, which probably isn't going to be enough. 3. Karlsson: No brainer. I'd go 7 years, as high as 11M and would even add for shorter term. Instant upgrade on the PP, requires a strong shutdown LHD though. Then proceed to trade Petry (ideally Weber but not going to happen). 4. Edler: Still logs big minutes and definitely a better option than Gardiner since he won't command as much term. 6M, 2 years or 5.5M for three is what I'd offer - and that's probably not enough to get him to move from coast to coast. I'd be reluctant to go any higher, considering what we're already spending on Karl Alzner. Guys I'd pass on: 1. Duchene: Strong offensive center, great speed. Not sold on the overall production though, especially at an estimated cost of ~10M per year. Even though he's had a great season, he'll probably be a ~60 point center in Montreal and I don't think Julien will like his defensive game. Too risky, no thanks. 2. Lee: Really good player but the vast majority of his goals come from the "garbage" area, i.e. tap ins, deflections, etc. He'd finally give us a solid net presence but seeing as he reportedly wants around 7M per season, I'll politely decline. There's a huge risk that he's not going to be able to repeat his production elsewhere I think. I'd rather take Simmonds who's clearly not as good at this stage of his career but will also be much cheaper. 3. Gardiner: Please no, I have a strong feeling this is going to be disastrous. He's not a bad player and has a bit of a tough rep due to his role in the BOS-TOR series but he'll instantly become our No1 LHD and I just don't think he's cut out for that. I'd rather pass and have somebody else pay him 6-7M on a long-term deal. 4. Pretty much everybody else. Sure, there are guys that could help but I don't see the point of overspending just for the sake of it. I want MB to finally plug that hole on LHD he's created, that should be our priority. Not taking a gamble on guys like Nelson, Dzingel, Donskoi, or Nyqist just because we have unused Cap space.

Two shocking sweeps in the first round, I like it Even though I don't care for Tampa at all, this has to suck real bad for their fans. So dominant in the regular season and all of a sudden it's over, with their entire team underperforming. I guess it's safe to say that people will start bringing up size and toughness again but CLB didn't physically dominate the Lightning, they've been hands down the better team all around. Which is probably even more shocking...

Yeah, that's one of the reasons I really wanted this team to make the playoffs. In the past, we've often been carried by strong goaltending and special teams, the latter not being a factor at all this year. As for different officiating standards, I couldn't agree more even though it seems to be the same thing year after year. We all like the additional intensity of course but there's absolute no reason to basically have two set of rules in the game, one for the regular season and another one for the playoffs.

CLB continues to impress, it seems they're finding ways to really get under Tampa's skin. Really happy for the Islanders as well, it'd be fun to see some new faces in the conference and cup finals this year.

Broberg would be great, not sure we'll get him with the 15th pick though. We may have to trade up... Haven't seen much of Lavoie outside of YouTube clips, do you think he'd be worth taking at #15 even though we should probably draft a defenseman?

Wow, looks like Tampa and Winnipeg are in trouble.

We‘d be a playoff team with Marner for sure, at least until Price goes down with an injury. If we had a solid team and a guy like Marner was the missing piece, I‘d be all for extending an offer sheet to get him. But we still have too many holes I think and with the new lottery system, even a middling first round pick can end up in the top three (see: Chicago). It‘s a huge risk to take for a team like ours but I totally agree in general, it‘d be fun to see more offer sheets around the league. Their gentleman‘s agreement kinda sucks 😉

The problem with Marner is that you‘ll basically have to outbid Toronto to make sure they can‘t afford to match Cap-wise. That‘s going to cost you 4 first round picks if I’m not mistaken. Is he worth that? Maybe. Is he worth that to us specifically? I don’t think so. He‘s an amazing player but he’s not going to put us over the top to the extent that we can afford to spend 4 first rounders for him IMO.

So, as expected, we kept the 15th pick. Damn you Jersey for lucking out again and how about those Hawks Taking a look at potential Habs picks this year, there seem to be some interesting LHDs available. I'm really hoping that Broberg or Harley are still there at #15, but even if not there are others like Heinola, York, or Robertson who could help down the road. And even though we should draft a defenseman, how about Nick's brother Ryan Suzuki at #15? I've also watched RHD Moritz Seider quite a bit this season, as he plays for Mannheim in the German DEL. Listed at 6' 4"/185 lbs and just turned 18 a few days ago, he did play top 4 minutes including the PP in his first season against men. He'll probably be picked a bit later in the 1st round and while I'm not sure how his game will translate to the much faster NHL (the DEL is probably a step below the Swedish and Finnish top leagues), I do like him a lot.

NAS vs. DAL in 6 WPG vs. STL in 7 CAL vs. COL in 6 SJS vs. VGK in 6 TBL vs. CLB in 5 BOS vs. TOR in 6 WAS vs. CAR in 5 PIT vs. NYI in 5 Rooting for Winnipeg and Calgary, but I'm leaning towards Tampa Bay to win it.

It's all good Yeah, the chances to jump up in the draft are terribly low, so I'm definitely not getting my hopes up. But they do still owe us for John Scott, so there's that

Maybe you should fine tune your sarcasm detector, my post was meant to be a joke