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2019 Offseason Thread


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What are you most looking forward to this upcoming season and what are you most concerned about?

I’m most looking forward to seeing Hughes play and see what kind of change that brings to the team, hopefully a lot of success.

I’m most concerned about the defense and goaltending...and Hall’s signing status of course.

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1 minute ago, ajsgolf said:

What are you most looking forward to this upcoming season and what are you most concerned about?

I’m most looking forward to seeing Hughes play and see what kind of change that brings to the team, hopefully a lot of success.

I’m most concerned about the defense and goaltending...and Hall’s signing status of course.

Looking forward to seeing what the goaltending is going to look like.  I'm optimistic but wouldn't be surprised at all if Cory goes back to his losing ways and Blackwood doesn't pan out.  But yeah, I'm optimistic and think it will be a solid 60/40 split with Cory playing the way he did at the end of last season.

Obviously also looking forward to the Hughes/Smith/Boqvist injection.  I'm pumped to see just how good they are in NHL games.

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7 minutes ago, ajsgolf said:

What are you most looking forward to this upcoming season and what are you most concerned about?

I’m most looking forward to seeing Hughes play and see what kind of change that brings to the team, hopefully a lot of success.

I’m most concerned about the defense and goaltending...and Hall’s signing status of course.

I cannot wait to see what Hughes, Gusev, Smith, Subban and Boqvist bring. The skill those guys bring to the team could make for a very exciting season. Having up to four rookies on the team will bring it's ups and downs though and a lot could hinge on how the goalies pan out. I think the person most in the spotlight though will be Hynes. I like him and he's done fairly well with a crap roster but he's got some shiny new toys this season so I expect ownership will want to see resluts improve.

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5 minutes ago, Aitchmack said:

I cannot wait to see what Hughes, Gusev, Smith, Subban and Boqvist bring. The skill those guys bring to the team could make for a very exciting season. Having up to four rookies on the team will bring it's ups and downs though and a lot could hinge on how the goalies pan out. I think the person most in the spotlight though will be Hynes. I like him and he's done fairly well with a crap roster but he's got some shiny new toys this season so I expect ownership will want to see resluts improve.

Sounds like my second ex-wife, amirite?!

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6 hours ago, SterioDesign said:

i think the player with the most pressure this season is Schneider.

No matter how the rest of the team play the outcome of the season could definitely make or break on the play of Schneider. I, obviously, hope he's back to his best.

 

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12 minutes ago, Aitchmack said:

No matter how the rest of the team play the outcome of the season could definitely make or break on the play of Schneider. I, obviously, hope he's back to his best.

 

His best is probably behind him. I just hope he doesn’t have any more unbelievable runs of losing games that last weeks, or even months...

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12 minutes ago, NJDevils1214 said:

The only place to go from last season is up... So at least he has that going for him. 

I don't expect a Vezina season but i do think this year will be a return to respectability for Schneider. If he has another year like last year we are in trouble. I like Mac and i think he has a good future for us but I'm not sure he's ready for 50-60 games yet. 

I'd like Ray to add one more goalie as insurance because right now, who is #3 on the depth chart? Cormier or Senn?

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Just now, Devil Dan 56 said:

I don't expect a Vezina season but i do think this year will be a return to respectability for Schneider. If he has another year like last year we are in trouble. I like Mac and i think he has a good future for us but I'm not sure he's ready for 50-60 games yet. 

I'd like Ray to add one more goalie as insurance because right now, who is #3 on the depth chart? Cormier or Senn?

A great thing about today's NHL is that you don't need an amazing goalie to win. You just need a goalie that's more consistent than Keith Kinkaid. Teams end up with more than one decent goalie often enough these days that I think it'll be possible to pick one up for future assets if needed in the next couple years. The real issue is, if Schneider's play continues to decline, what gets done with his contract? 

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2 minutes ago, NJDevils1214 said:

A great thing about today's NHL is that you don't need an amazing goalie to win. You just need a goalie that's more consistent than Keith Kinkaid. Teams end up with more than one decent goalie often enough these days that I think it'll be possible to pick one up for future assets if needed in the next couple years. The real issue is, if Schneider's play continues to decline, what gets done with his contract? 

Maybe with the expansion coming there will be another full buyout period? Or maybe Ray can convince Seattle that he would be great for them? I'm not sure if that would work. Its this year and then 2 more right?

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45 minutes ago, NJDevils1214 said:

A great thing about today's NHL is that you don't need an amazing goalie to win. You just need a goalie that's more consistent than Keith Kinkaid. Teams end up with more than one decent goalie often enough these days that I think it'll be possible to pick one up for future assets if needed in the next couple years. The real issue is, if Schneider's play continues to decline, what gets done with his contract? 

I’m not sure I necessarily agree with that. Just look at the Cup final last season. Two great goalies in Rask and Binnington. The year before that it was MAF and Holtby. Sure you can win with guys like Corey Crawford or Matt Murray if you surround them with a bunch of HoFers, but having elite goaltending is just as important as ever, imo. 

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11 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

I’m not sure I necessarily agree with that. Just look at the Cup final last season. Two great goalies in Rask and Billington. The year before that it was MAF and Holtby. Sure you can win with guys like Corey Crawford or Matt Murray if you surround them with a bunch of HoFers, but having elite goaltending is just as important as ever, imo. 

I disagree with this take.  What you say is pretty contradictory.  Sure you can win if you surround a goalie with a bunch of HoFers.. how are Rask and Holtby exempt from that?  Billington is a rookie so we don't know if he is an elite goaltender or a goalie on a hot streak, but he had a fantastic supporting cast.  The conference runner ups played in front of Martin Jones (previous Stanley Cup losing goaltender who I wouldn't say is in the "elite" category) and Petr Mrazek.

Sure, goaltending can certainly steal a few games, but I agree with NJD1214 that a top tier goaltender is not as much of a requirement as it used to be.

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17 minutes ago, Crisis said:

I disagree with this take.  What you say is pretty contradictory.  Sure you can win if you surround a goalie with a bunch of HoFers.. how are Rask and Holtby exempt from that?  Billington is a rookie so we don't know if he is an elite goaltender or a goalie on a hot streak, but he had a fantastic supporting cast.  The conference runner ups played in front of Martin Jones (previous Stanley Cup losing goaltender who I wouldn't say is in the "elite" category) and Petr Mrazek.

Sure, goaltending can certainly steal a few games, but I agree with NJD1214 that a top tier goaltender is not as much of a requirement as it used to be.

The Blues had a fantastic supporting cast? That team was in dead last place until Binnington came up in January. 

Who exactly would you consider fantastic on STL? ROR certainly was, and Tarasenko is an elite player, but that’s about it. Those 2 were their only players that had over 60 points last year. They are hardly the Cup winning Hawks or Pens.. 

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24 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

I’m not sure I necessarily agree with that. Just look at the Cup final last season. Two great goalies in Rask and Billington. The year before that it was MAF and Holtby. Sure you can win with guys like Corey Crawford or Matt Murray if you surround them with a bunch of HoFers, but having elite goaltending is just as important as ever, imo. 

 

7 minutes ago, Crisis said:

I disagree with this take.  What you say is pretty contradictory.  Sure you can win if you surround a goalie with a bunch of HoFers.. how are Rask and Holtby exempt from that?  Billington is a rookie so we don't know if he is an elite goaltender or a goalie on a hot streak, but he had a fantastic supporting cast.  The conference runner ups played in front of Martin Jones (previous Stanley Cup losing goaltender who I wouldn't say is in the "elite" category) and Petr Mrazek.

Sure, goaltending can certainly steal a few games, but I agree with NJD1214 that a top tier goaltender is not as much of a requirement as it used to be.

I would not consider Crawford an elite goalie but he won two or three cups with an above average team in front of him. You could make a similar argument with... I think Jimmy Howard in Det. I'm not saying that it doesn't help, I just don't think it is a NEED, in all caps, like it was in the early 00s and before. Totally agree on Binnington. 

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6 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

The Blues had a fantastic supporting cast? That team was in dead last place until Binnington came up in January. 

Who exactly would you consider fantastic on STL? ROR certainly was, and Tarasenko is an elite player, but that’s about it. Those 2 were their only players that had over 60 points last year. They are hardly the Cup winning Hawks or Pens.. 

Well the team went from dead last to the championship... So... Yea... Also, that whole D core played out of their minds during the playoffs. Dunn and Edmonson were pretty damn good, but you wouldn't consider Pietrangelo or Parayko elite? I think they're elite. 

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1 minute ago, NJDevils1214 said:

Well the team went from dead last to the championship... So... Yea... Also, that whole D core played out of their minds during the playoffs. Dunn and Edmonson were pretty damn good, but you wouldn't consider Pietrangelo or Parayko elite? I think they're elite. 

I guess Pietrangelo probably is, but I stand by my point, which is it took a hell of a goaltending performance for them to win. I could have easily seen the Conn Smythe going to Binnington instead of ROR. And he’s the biggest reason the team turned things around in January. 

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10 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

I guess Pietrangelo probably is, but I stand by my point, which is it took a hell of a goaltending performance for them to win. I could have easily seen the Conn Smythe going to Binnington instead of ROR. And he’s the biggest reason the team turned things around in January. 

Well to be fair no one is saying that Binnington played badly. I just don't know that he is elite. You have to play well to win a cup-- I don't think anyone would argue that. The point I thought we were arguing was "your goalie has to be elite" not "your goalie has to not play like sh!t". 

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4 minutes ago, NJDevils1214 said:

Well to be fair no one is saying that Binnington played badly. I just don't know that he is elite. You have to play well to win a cup-- I don't think anyone would argue that. The point I thought we were arguing was "your goalie has to be elite" not "your goalie has to not play like sh!t". 

He was last season. Top 4 in Sv% and top 3 in GAA. Whether he will be going forward is anybody’s guess. STL doesn’t win that Cup with Jake Allen in net though, that’s for sure. 

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