Devil Dan 56

Well, to be fair, the people who post on some of those FB pages are among the dumbest in all the land.

Looks like a guy who's young and still learning. And I don't see disinterested from him at all. To me, disinterested is Brian Rolston and Rob Neidermayer that one year. Or Langenbrunner before he was traded. Or Bobby Holik at a party of any kind. Zacha looks more timid and unsure than not interested to me.

It really is sad. He's very young, adjusting to much bigger, stronger players and after having flashes of potential last season, I think he's continued to show little things that he brings this preseason. But for some reason he's a lot of people's whipping boy. Not everyone can step into the league and belong like Barzal or Nico.

Eh. Not a great look if that's what it is. I feel like you show up at camp and earn ice time.

That quote makes it pretty clear that the aren't just a few 100k apart. "Philosophical issues", as Ray puts it, makes you wonder what else Woods is looking for.

If it were that close they'd have it figured it. Those are speculatory numbers, we don't know if they are even in the right ball park to the actual numbers. Also, Shero didn't seem to imply that each parties numbers were that close

Kind of a shame that he's doing this already. I wonder if he's getting bad advice. I mean I get it, he brings a ton of energy and 19 goals isn't something to sneeze at that young and on mostly lower lines. But still, i feel like he needs to build the consistency, which is the exact reason for a bridge deal I don't think anyone knows what's been offered and what he's looking for. He may be wanting something ridiculous.

I'm not going to get too crazy about the Bratt play. It looked like he got hit just as he was trying to poke the puck forward to McLeod. I think it was just a well timed hit from the Ranger player. To be fair, Hall had a crappy turnover that led to a goal too. Its preseason so it's gonna be sloppy.

There's that McLeod speed. Dang

I finally caught the highlight of the goal by Speers. Very exciting how many guys are fighting for those spots.

Interesting using McLeod on the point on the power play.

I hate everything Micheletti says. He could tell me I just won money and id want to punch him still.

I get a definite Clarkson feel from Woods. He'll do anything on the ice for his team, definitely entertaining to watch, and will put up some numbers from time to time, but maybe not the smartest fellas in the world. Clarkson thinking he was the next Wendel Clark (even taking number 71 in Toronto to reverse Wendel's 17) kind of gave me that vibe. Woods probably wanting Tom Wilson money doesn't surprise me and is in that same vein of thought.

I agree that it's 50/50. Lack of restraint on both sides leads to this every 5-10 years, and the owners are loyal to Bettman because he has lead the league through a ton of growth as much as I can't stand him. What bothers me every time is that no other sport goes through this and at this point it's a given instead of a rarity. Contracts these days are literally written with lockout coverage and that makes me believe it'll be the new normal as they continue to kick the can down the road.