ghdi

It depends on the defenseman obviously. A guy like Larsson is coveted, I think he becomes potentially expendable if Hanifin or Provorov is drafted. And Ive already said if Marner is there, that's who I'd want. It's completely dependent on who is there.

I don't think he was asking from a perspective of it being possible. It is impossible all 4 of those guys are there. Id take Marner over those 4.

Look we all agree that the draft is a crapshoot, it comes down to what our scouting department think. One thing that Conte and company have proven is their knowledge of defensemen. If we draft Provorov or Hanifin, I'm confident that was the right pick. We absolutely need forwards, but I don't think the guys potentially available to us is necessarily the right pick over one of the two defensemen, but again I don't think a Barzal or Zacha is a bad pick, I just think we have more options if that is the guy we're targeting and the defenseman should be considered. This is all moot if Hanifin and Provorov are gone by 6.

I don't see having too many good young defensemen as being a problem, but I don't disagree with you that forward should be the priority. All of these potential forwards come from good teams really. Marner with London. Strome with McDavid. If we're going from that perspective than why aren't we championing Lawson Crouse?

Marner.

This is part of the point I'm trying to make. Hanifin or Provorov (I personally think Provorov is the more dynamic player) ARE guaranteed to be top pairing guys. I also don't disagree that a forward should be the target going in, but its wholly dependent on who's available at #6. I personally feel that Barzal or Zacha are not the right pick at #6. If either of their names are called it wouldn't be bad nor would I be disappointed. These two defensemen are going to be the type of guys you can build your whole backline around IMO. I think they're the more sure things than any of the forwards we're going to have a crack at and thats the question the Devils front office has to answer. The only potential guy we'll be able to take that Id take over the 2 defenseman is Marner (or Strome) but I dont think either will be there. One of the defensemen will be. I also completely agree with the trade down idea. I just don't think the team should be locked into any position considering the talent level these two defensemen possess.

If we take a defenseman at 6 it doesn't mean we're locked in to keeping all of them. Having too many at one position creates trade opportunities. I don't understand your near-sightedness here. It's arguable that a Hanifin or Provorov end up better than Larsson or Severson. One of those guys becomes more expendable as an asset to get that top 6 forward, and rather than a draft pick only having potential it creates an opportunity to get that young impact forward as a sure thing. The draft isn't the only way we can acquire young forwards. Again, we have 2 2nd round picks in this very deep draft. We are minimum a few years away from being a competitive team again as it stands, but there's no reason we can't turn it around in 2 or 3. Lots of things can happen. The Devils are set up well financially going forward, but we need to acquire young assets to continue to add pieces going forward. Sure, we can take Barzal, Zacha, etc. and they could end up being the impact forward we need, just the same we could take one of them and they end up being a career 3rd liner. There's no guarantees with the draft. That's why BPA is the optimal choice. You take BPA and you're working from a position of strength provided that guy pans out, but that applies just the same if BPA is a forward. Drafting for need is silly unless the forward is the BPA. I think there's plenty of potential for the BPA to be a forward at #6, but if Ivan Provorov is there, he has to be considered over guys like Barzal and Zacha. That's the type of talent he potentially possesses. If Marner is there (and I think that looks less likely as we get closer to the draft) than it becomes easier to take the forward. I personally think Barzal falls out of the top 10 unless the Devils take him. Zacha probably won't fall that far. If Barzal is the target, I'm supportive of the idea of trading down a few spots to allow someone to take Provorov and keep him out of Philly and we get Barzal at 8-10. I'm more supportive of just drafting Provorov if he's there, but I also won't be surprised if Provorov goes in the top 5. Then that means that someone has fallen to us, whether its Marner or Hanifin or even Strome. There's too many possibilities to stay locked on anyone b/c the potential is there for us to hit a homerun at 6.

Florida is not like anyplace in this country when it concerns professional sports. I lived there for my junior high through two college years. Its very weird that Florida sports teams besides the Dolphins (and the Heat when they're good) don't get any sort of meaningful attendance, espc considering its so football crazed, although the Bucs aren't devoid of a fan base. Jacksonville is not a tourist destination at all. The Panthers get attendance when they're good and they're going to be good again soon. I don't think the comparison to Vegas is apt. People go to Florida to hit the beach and places like Disney (there's a reason there's only an NBA team and an MLS team are in Orlando). People go to Vegas to have a good time and that doesn't always revolve around gambling. They want to do things in the evening, go to shows etc. NHL hockey is exactly the type of regular event that a place like Vegas could use as its not Celine Dion or Britney Spears concerts lol. Basically something that will lure more guys into. Things like UNLV sports do great gates in Vegas and they havent been relevant in most sports for more than 20 years now. Vegas' demographics also trend a lot younger.

Drafting for need is a mistake. It's not the NFL where everybody is basically playing right away. You take BPA. It's not a bad thing to have "too many" excellent young defensemen especially when we're talking about the talent level of Hanifin and Provorov, who are the only two guys worth considering over a forward. We also have 2 2nd rounders to work with and can easily find strong forward talent there or package them to move back up into the first. It also depends on who's left on the board. If Marner is there, I think he gets chosen, but if the top 5 falls as its rumored to, it's imperative to take BPA with #6. No matter who we pick could tank, hell McDavid could tank. That's why BPA is the safe move rather than reaching for a guy just because we need a forward. If we took Provorov and he turns out to be as good, if not better, than advertised that opens a lot of doors to making moves for sure thing forwards in trade, not draft picks who are all potential. We're not going to be fixed overnight and with one pick. We're likely to stink again this coming season and will be in the same position give or take a few spots next season where a forward could be BPA in our spot. This could all be smoke blowing anyway. Lets say Barzal is our target. He's going to be there at 6, as is Zacha. If either of these guys are our targets this could all be positioning to get a great deal to move down a couple of spots. At the same time, if Provorov is the target, they're obviously high on him for a reason. His talent is no joke. Be excited if thats the name who's called tomorrow night. He's a Doughty type of player. Look at this sh!t lol No matter who we take is going to be at least a year or two away from contributing on any Devils team anyway.

Right. Just about any of the guys that we're supposedly taking would not be eligible for the AHL until they're 20 because of the agreement with the CHL. So its NHL or back to juniors. Hanifin would be AHL-eligible since he'd be coming from the NCAA.

Select: Provorov, Hanifin, Marner, Zacha, Barzal, or Strome. No order of preference, but if forced to choose I take Marner over the rest. I don't think there's much of a chance Hanifin is there though. I'd rank Barzal the lowest as while I think he's talented and I'm fine if we take him, I think 6 is a little high for him when I feel there's more upside to a Zacha or Provorov. Some recent mocks have Strome dropping instead of Marner as one will almost certainly be available if both defensemen are off the board. If we came away with any of those, we'd have done well. I'm also fine with trading down depending on how far and what we're receiving i.e. I'd think long and hard if Edmonton came at us with Draisaitl and #16 for #6, but I realize that's a pipe dream most likely. Eh, he likes to go off the board when we're picking in the 20s, which isn't a stretch 99% of the time. The last two times we were drafting in the top ten, we traded for Cory and we drafted exactly the guy everyone expected us to (Larsson). I don't see them going for Connor or Meier at 6. Shero is the wildcard here. I'm not counting Lance Ward since its almost 20 years ago, but our highest pick between Ward at 10 in 96 and Larsson in 2012 was Zach at 17 who we traded up for. Was a different league in 1996 and it was also a sh!tty draft.

Provorov is arguably the biggest riser in the draft right now. I saw a mock today by one of Philly's beat writers that had Provorov and Hanifin gone by 5. and even Toronto is interested in him https://twitter.com/Michael_Traikos/status/606092739705511936

If Hanifin is still in the board at 6 at the very least we'll be entertaining some very good trade proposals to get into that spot. They're not going to let Hanifin fall to Philly. Provorov will generate interest there as well and almost certainly will be available at 6, but Hanifin won't get past us. Frankly, I think Hanifin getting past Toronto is a pipe dream and I wouldnt be surprised to see both Hanifin and Provorov off the board by 6. That would have us drafting Marner.

You already know the answer. He's a trap. IMO he's Clarkson 2.0. He's going to get overpaid in both years and $ and almost certainly will not live up to it. I think there are cheaper and safer options than Beleskey. IMO he's the definition of boom or bust and there's no real indication that he will boom despite getting hot at a time when all eyes are on him.

1. BPA - Whether its Marner or Zacha or Provorov or Hanifin, just take the best player available at 6 regardless of position or trade down a bit (i.e. 8-10) and pick up another asset in the process. 2. Drew Stafford 3 yrs/12M. Don't break the bank and don't go long on any UFA. I'd go to 5 years with Soderberg if necessary. 3. Trade for Draisaitl or Grigorenko without having to lose Larsson or Severson.

According to McKenzie, he could be signing in the KHL, my guess is thats a power play to force Buffalo to sign him for a one way. Now is the time to strike and get him.

It seems to becoming one on The Players Tribune Heres one by Gomez http://www.theplayerstribune.com/scott-gomez-ken-daneyko-story-time/

Its been mentioned in a few places but its nothing substantial and just jibber-jabber. The point that's basically being made is that he's going to cost close to/more than 10M per and that will put a big dent into Tampa's depth, which does make sense all considering. http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/05/23/bruin-glen-murray-developing-reputation/8oSS5EhGSD4G6QoWZGhqLL/story.html I don't think Stamkos is moved anytime soon. The big money kicks in after this next season and then maybe we'll see him moved or the talk will increase. Johnson and Palat are locked up for 2 more seasons and will still be RFAs. The big block will be Hedman who's up in 2 years.

Crawford is not great, but he's not terrible. I find it hard to blame him alone the last two games. The Lightning are rolling 3 strong and fast forward lines and the Hawks' D isnt matching up well enough right now. Oduya has been bad the whole series and Seabrook was bad tonight.

Perfectly fine with Nasreddine. I would hope that Stevens stays on board too. He's apparently interviewing soon. Hynes at head coach with Nasreddine and Stevens assisting. I can swing with that.

This is not a surprise. It was rumored the day he got hired that he would want to bring Nasreddine along. As to the compensation question, its unclear to me http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/eye-on-hockey/24599205/report-nhl-teams-losing-staff-to-other-clubs-will-be-compensated It states "coaching staffs" in this article.

Because he plays a lot of RW. He's not a pure center. He's also listed as a RW on the London Knights own website. http://londonknights.com/roster/bio/207129 He's basically a C/RW.

I pretty much agree with this down the line right down to Strome/Marner hope. I also think that if Hanifin (or even Provorov) is still there at 6, that means that its pretty much assured Marner and Strome are gone. In this scenario, while I could totally see and understand the Devils taking Hanifin, I could also see that situation bring a trade down into play. There could be some team that is willing to pay out the nose to get up to 6 to grab him. I'd be fine with that as it keeps him out of Philly. This draft is deep enough to consider a drop down and still come away with an excellent player + more assets. We may not even have to drop far if say Columbus wanted him, would likely be able to pick up another 2nd in that scenario espc since they have 3 of them.

Its not a stretch to think he has a strong first half (relatively speaking) in a new situation as motivation simply to get contenders interested in him for the deadline. If he succeeds, great, we get an asset for cap space we weren't going to be using anyway. He could lead this team in scoring depending on who he was paired with. His hands are still there. Yes, he was playing with better forwards this past season, but he still outscored anyone on this team by 9 points. If this scenario was to pan out (MSL coming here), it's literally no risk. Even if he was garbage he'd be gone in a year or in the worst case scenario, waived or he retires. The arguments against are literally empty. We're in the position to take these chances as it stands today. There's enough room to play our prospects that will need to play and take a flier on MSL.

No on both counts. We dont have the assets and they're not going to trade Malkin to the Rags.