Lateralous

That and Toronto going out in the first round again TO MONTREAL. That city would implode.

In honor of the Yegor hat trick (2 goals and a bird): Pavel Zacha 20 Yegor Sharangovich 19 +1 Mackenzie Blackwood 19 Nico Hischier 18 Ty Smith 18 Jack Hughes 16 Jesper Bratt 14 Janne Kuokkanen 13 Michael McLeod 13 Nathan Bastian 13 Miles Wood 13 Damon Severson 11 Kevin Bahl 11 Mikhail Maltsev 11 Jesper Boqvist 10 Nolan Foote 10 Ryan Murray 10 Scott Wedgewood 9 Marian Studenic 8 Connor Carrick 8 Tyce Thompson 8 Aaron Dell 7 Nick Merkley 6 -1 A.J. Greer 5 P.K. Subban 5 Jonas Siegenthaler 4 ELIMINATED Andreas Johnsson Matt Tennyson Colton White Will Butcher

I mean, they did give up a goal within a minute of said boost.

We’re talking about a league that is forever chasing the casual sports fan as their holy grail, so I think things like this do hurt the overall perception. I was primarily watching Tampa vs Florida last night but for whatever reason I caught this live. Personally, after 2 scary minutes of thinking I might have just watched someone’s career end (or worse), Toronto’s GM running down the stairs from his booth in a total panic, another 10 minutes of replays and them cleaning him up off the ice, and then the relief after all of that of seeing him give the thumbs up on the way out, the staged fight afterwards just seemed completely lame. My wife was asleep but if she were watching I could imagine her looking at me and sarcastically saying “was that part of the code?” We can agree to disagree here but I think that stuff makes the NHL seem like a 2nd rate sport.

It’s a simple point. Every other sport can handle freak and accidental injuries without having a staged fight afterwards. It absolutely makes the league look like a joke. The old (really old) excuse is that you have to let the players police themselves. This wasn’t Domi on Niedermayer where I would have been all for letting Steven’s out of the box to rip his head off and sh!tting down his neck in that moment. To me, this would be like if someone on the Washington Redskins felt like they had to step up and fight Lawrence Taylor on the next play after he accidentally broke Joe Theissmans leg. What did it accomplish? Now that Nick Foligno stepped up and challenged Corey Perry to a half assed fight, will it make Perry think twice before the next time he unavoidably collides with someone’s head while they’re in a prone position?

This is where hockey is about 4 decades behind other sports IMO. What does a half assed fight where one guy knows it was unintentional and the other guy just kind of takes his lumps, in the middle of an empty building with no fans, actually “settle”? Not to be overlooked, Montreal scored about a minute after the “fight”.

Very few things in sports are as enjoyable as watching this Leafs “juggernaut” fail in the playoffs

Sweet short handed goal by Canadiens to take lead

...so have the Panthers

I think they’ve flirted with the Rockets owner in the past. He’s really the only current option since he also controls the arena. Anyone else would need to fork over a billion between expansion fee and an arena just to be the smallest fish in a big pond. I would think the NHL might be better served to be the first major pro sports team in Austin.

Foligno then goes right after Cory Perry to fight. fvcking lame. It was a total accident

Tavares just sustained an accidental kick to the head at full speed after a hit. Really hard to watch. Hope it’s not as bad as it looks Edit: he just gave a thumbs up from stretcher on way off so maybe it’s not as bad as it looked. It was really scary when trainers first got to him.

Nazim Kadri literally goes full retard every year in the playoffs, doesn’t he?

Pavel Zacha 17 Mackenzie Blackwood 17 Yegor Sharangovich 16 Nico Hischier 15 (+1) Jack Hughes 14 Ty Smith 14 Janne Kuokkanen 13 Jesper Bratt 12 Michael McLeod 12 Nathan Bastian 12 Miles Wood 11 (-1) Kevin Bahl 11 Mikhail Maltsev 11 Jesper Boqvist 10 Nolan Foote 10 Ryan Murray 10 Damon Severson 10 Marian Studenic 9 Scott Wedgewood 9 Nick Merkley 9 Tyce Thompson 8 Connor Carrick 9 Aaron Dell 8 P.K. Subban 8 A.J. Greer 8 Jonas Siegenthaler 7 Colton White 4 Will Butcher 3 Matt Tennyson 2

Pavel Zacha 17 Yegor Sharangovich 16 Mackenzie Blackwood 16 Nico Hischier 14 Jack Hughes 14 (+1) Ty Smith 13 Miles Wood 12 Jesper Bratt 12 Michael McLeod 12 Janne Kuokkanen 12 Nathan Bastian 12 Kevin Bahl 11 Jesper Boqvist 10 Nolan Foote 10 Mikhail Maltsev 10 Ryan Murray 10 Damon Severson 10 Marian Studenic 10 Scott Wedgewood 10 Nick Merkley 9 (-1) Tyce Thompson 9 Connor Carrick 9 P.K. Subban 8 Aaron Dell 8 A.J. Greer 8 Jonas Siegenthaler 7 Colton White 4 Will Butcher 4 Matt Tennyson 2 Eliminated: Andreas Johnsson 0

Mine too but I wasnt quoting you

That’s a bit harsh on the O. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that just the guys we already have under contract or at least control could grow into a really good offense. Two years from now, who of the following doesn’t belong in a good top 9? Hischier, Hughes, Holtz, Zacha, Sharangovich, Mercer, Kuokannen, Foote, Bratt?

Between Foote, Holtz and Mercer, we have a lot of potential answers from within for that. I don’t feel we’re anywhere near as deep in the back, especially with potential top 4 guys

Yegor Sharangovich 14 Pavel Zacha 13 (+1) Mackenzie Blackwood 13 Jack Hughes 12 Ty Smith 12 Nico Hischier 12 Jesper Bratt 11 Michael McLeod 11 Nathan Bastian 11 Miles Wood 11 Kevin Bahl 10 Jesper Boqvist 10 Nolan Foote 10 Janne Kuokkanen 10 Mikhail Maltsev 10 Nick Merkley 10 Ryan Murray 10 Damon Severson 10 Marian Studenic 10 P.K. Subban 10 Tyce Thompson 10 Scott Wedgewood 10 A.J. Greer 9 Aaron Dell 9 Connor Carrick 9 Jonas Siegenthaler 8 Colton White 7 Matt Tennyson 7 Will Butcher 6 Andreas Johnsson 4 (-1)

I don’t want them reaching for need but I wouldn’t be at all upset if we used all three picks in the first two round on D-men. We have a lot of long term holes to fill on the back end.

Isn’t it 80% chance at top 5? 45% is just the chance at 5th pick.

Yeah, I'm pretty happy just riding Hughes and Hischier as our top centers. One looks like a budding offensive force and the other a top end two way center. Until proven otherwise, I see no reason to make a move. These two should improve naturally. It's the rest of the roster that needs an upgrade.

Doesn’t the fact that Seattle is slipping in with an early pick negate the Arizona forfeiture?

I’ll add Foote to the 3rd line LW. I covered the D when I said “whoever.” No way I’m personally pencilling in any of those guys you listed as top 4 until I see it.

Considering that we just sucked ass to a bottom three finish, like a lot of you I still feel oddly optimistic about to direction this is headed given the improvement we've seen in the core. That being said, there are four gaping holes in our roster than Fitz needs to address: 2 top pair D, 1st line LW and and 2nd goalie. The first three aren't easy but we hopefully have answers for 2 of them in the pipeline. Here's how I see our team long term (Brackets are for prospects we hope pan out) and I left out the 4th line O because that should ideally just be a revolving door of entry level, last chance contracts. Center 1. Hughes 1a. Hischier 3. (Mercer) Next year is a big one for these guys because this rebuild goes nowhere without H & H staying healthy and reaching their potential. Left Wing: 1. TBD 2. Zacha 3. Kuokkanen/Boqvist/Foote Right Wing: 1. (Holtz) 2. Sharangovich/Bratt 3. Bratt/ Sharangovich Who knows how this will shake out but we seem pretty well positioned here in any order you want to put them in unless Holtz really bombs Defense: 1. TBD (UFA - Hamilton?) 2. Subban next year and then hopefully our 2021 1st rd pick in future 3. Ty Smith 4. Severson 5-6 Bahl + MB3’s list of D G 1a. Blackwod 1b. TBD