DucksFan_08

That'll never fly in Anaheim simply because it's Anaheim. The wings can do that. So can the leafs and the rangers to name a few but we can't. We have to overpay UFA's and then it's still not certain they want to come here. Unless the hockey gods decide we end up with Bedard. That might be an incentive to come to sunny SoCal.

100%. The Bruins lose McAvoy and Lindholm steps up his game and plays like a true #1. I wanted us to re-sign him badly and it hurts to see him this good on another team but he never was going to be this good on this team. Super stoked for him. I have to admit that when Lindholm moved to Boston I posted somewhere on this board that he made the wrong choice because Boston's contending days were over. Boy was I wrong. It's still early and a lot of teams are going to get better but so will the Bruins by adding McAvoy. I think they're already getting antsy in toronto.

Your 2nd thought was my 1st thought. It´s a shame that we see that as a possible silver lining though.

Talking about the kings, is it too early to think they may have struck gold with Gabe Vilardi? He's shooting at an unsustainable 26% right now but I like this guy's game.

Congrats to Kessel. An incredible feet. Hopefully Vegas handles this one well because it's an amazing achievement. Also scoring his 400th goal in that game is a nice bonus. On to consecutive game 1000 and beyond!

Another whooping. Another 40+ SOG against. I hope the leash has already shortened a bit.

Very well put. Kinda sad, heartbreaking even but that's exactly how I feel about it. I sincerely hope PV doesn't need a whole season to form an opinion on Eakins. The man has coached 325 games in the NHL. He's won 115. That's bad. He's not going to magically turn it around and become Scotty Bowman 2.0 . If Eakins goes (and a decent coach is brought in) my faith in this team will be restored but sadly I don't see him going anytime soon.

So Eakins' new way is letting the opposing team fire 20+ shots on goal during the 1st as to tire themselves out only to strike back late in the game when they are exhausted. Bold strategy Dallas. Happy we got the win but this is not sustainable. But either way we'll take the 2 points.

Thoughts? The preseason is over now. Bad defense and lack of some sort of system are still major issues. Is it just preseason or will that trend continue? If it's the latter, will PV keep Eakins around for the season? He had this to say on him (from NHL.com): "I felt it was necessary," Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek told the Orange County Register. "Dallas has had to do a job under difficult circumstances. It's been just two months under me, and I thought he deserved to get another year and go from there. We can build our relationship and figure out where the organization goes from here." Will het get another full year? I see we have a 10 game home streak late december - early january. I hope we see some movement after that home stretch. Either Eakins has righted the ship and we're "good" or he has stunk it up and gets canned.

Gotta give credit to Henrique for stepping in. I can´t know for sure but I think he´s a great leader and mentor for the young guys. Him taking care of business tonight is a prime example. Love me some Henrique and I´m very glad he´s still around.

I feel bad for the guy but I've mentioned this quite a few times already. Whatever it is, he can't stay healthy. Too bad because he's a hard worker but if it's not meant to be it's not meant to be. I don't know of any prior cases where a player that got hurt constantly all of a sudden could stay healthy in hockey. I can think of one in soccer. For those who follow it and are old enough to know/remember him there was Arjen Robben who couldn't stay healthy when he played for real madrid. You could injure the guy by looking at him. Then he switched teams (bayern munich) and all of a sudden he could stay healthy and became a top player. Don't know what was ailing him but there's always hope I guess. But this looks very bad for Jones.

I don't know whether he's their best player but he's one of the top players and he'll probably be there for a long time. I'd give the C to the guy who brings his A (no pun intended) game every shift, who is most respected in the dressing room and can keep his cool in tough situations. Is that guy your best player? Depends on what you see as best player. He may not be the most talented guy but definitely one of the top players more often than not.

Something funny about our goalies. They both weigh 205 lbs but one has 5 inches on the other. Skinny & chubby? Or slim and muscular? 😄

I wonder whether the EA Sports cover is something that plays a role. It's only game (as Bryz would say) but it kind of establishes him a one of the new faces of the league no? The kid is marketable. Is that something you take advantage of as a player because as a team you don't want to lose that player that draws the crowd. And Zegras is exactly that in quite a tough market. He could be our new Getzlaf/Selanne/Kariya. IMO that is worth something. PV is in a good position as in he has a clean slate with lots of capspace but those contract negotiations may be difficult.

I'm hoping for some PP magic. With Klingberg we have a real PP QB and if McT can rip some one timers from Zegras passes that would be great. But will Eakins let them play? He will play Zegras obviously but McT I'm not so sure. Our D will be better offensively. Maybe our possession game will be a bit better. If the other team doesn't have the puck they can't score. I think a lot will come down to coaching which obviously is still a problem.

I like it. He's not soft so that gives us some physicality on the blue line. Must also be nice for Mintyukov to see that the no Russians in Anaheim policy has ended.

Looking at it rationally this seems about right. I think we improved offensively but our D is still suspect and the biggest trouble factor - Dallas Eakins - is still around. We're probably picking top 10 again. I think we're too good or others are so bad for a top 5 pick. But looking at it through a naive orange-black with gold lining colored glasses I can see us finishing a bit higher. The reason why is because there are a couple of what if factors and if those turn out OK I think this team can surprise quite a few people. With all due respect to Getzy and Rakell but I think our offense has improved. Our offense from the blue line has also improved by adding Klingberg. That's a given. But what if: - Max Comtois can shake of whatever was ailing him last season? - Mason McTavish can carry over his play from the WJC? I know he's not gonna lead the league in scoring but it should help him contribute in at top 9 maybe even top 6 role. - Drysdale has improved his defensive game from last year? Doesn't have to be by much but anything helps. - somebody in the system besides hopefully McT takes a giant leap and plays a role on the big team? Preferably on D (Helleson) but I'd be fine if it were on offense (Perreault). - Eakins has improved? IMO he's a bad coach but even he must be able to improve. He's not going to evolve in Scotty Bowman but minimal gains have to be possible. - we can stay healthy? - losing got in our heads and the effort just wasn't there anymore? Getzy was contemplating retirement. Rakell, Manson, Lindholm and maybe even Gibson perhaps had a trade on their mind. Maybe their head wasn't in the game on every night. Apart from Gibson everybody's gone. What if we can start with a clean slate with players who will want to prove themselves? Not all of these are going to come true but I'm hoping some will. Depending on how much or to what extent I think this team can be better than we all expect it to be. Nobody is going to beat chicago at tanking. Not even the coyotes I think but those two are by far the worst. I expect very little from san jose. Philly, Montreal and Seattle and probably buffalo won't be good. Jersey is further in their rebuild but I think their goaltending is questionable. Then there's teams like ottawa, islanders, winnipeg whom we should be able to stay ahead of. Am I the only one who was surprised by nashville last season? To me they outperformed themselves. Don't know whether they can repeat that. Then there are teams like pittsburgh, boston, st.-louis and washington who have been good for so long that someday it has to end. Boston is going to have a rough start. As for Detroit. They have made quite a few moves that put them ahead IMO. I think detroit is going to contend for a playoff spot.

Meanwhile Paul Stastny has signed in Carolina and Phil Kessel in Vegas. Both 1 year, $ 1.5 M deals. I like the Stastny deal for Carolina. Gives them some serious depth up front, especially when Patches returns and another solid face-off guy. You can´t have enough of those. Kessel will put up points in Vegas so not too bad I guess. And the money´s good. I just hope for Kessel´s sake the knights know he´s about to break the iron man streak.

I hope so too but I´m afraid Jones is already broken. He just can´t stay healthy and when he was playing he didn´t have a lot of finishing ability. I´d like to see Comtois bounce back. Another guy who I´d like to see the next step is Perreault. I´d like to see one of those three pan out this season. On our back end it´s also Helleson for me. Very curious what he´ll show either with the big club or in the AHL.

Didn´t see that one coming. 7 x 7. That´s not great. Might be atrocious even.

The following quote from Eakins is from a piece on NHL.com: "Ryan was an incredible captain and an incredible player and an even better person," Eakins said. "So, it does leave a hole, but Adam Henrique is a great leader. Troy Terry is growing into a very good leader. … Jakob Silfverberg. Derek Grant is a quiet leader. Cam Fowler, incredible leader. Kevin Shattenkirk, great leader. John Gibson. We've got lots of really good people. These guys are good human beings and that's usually where the leadership starts, and they're all I think going to be able to fill the void as a group." Chances of Grant & Shattenkirk becoming captain are slim to none. Gibson also because you rarely see goalies in that role. I think it´s interesting he´s naming Terry. Anyway it may not be up to Eakins to choose our next C but a combination of Henrique, Fowler & Terry makes a lot of sense IMO.

They have to re-sign dobson and romanov. Even if those 2 take cheap bridge deals it won´t be enough if the 'kadri is going to get $ 7 mil rumors are true'. Bailey or beauvillier are assumed to be the most likely trade candidates.

They´ll be fine capwise but their injury situation is less than fine. McAvoy, Marchant & Grzelchyk might be out 5-6 months which would see them return in december. Reilly will miss time. Imagine one of Bergeron, Pastrnak or Lindholm going down and they might be toast. It´s unlikely but you never know. Detroit and ottawa have gotten better and maybe even buffalo. Columbus (other division but same conference) will also likely be better. The East is going to be interesting for sure.

I think the bonus carries over to next year. I also think they´re too old but that core is definitely still good enough to make a run. If they stay healthy and Bergeron is still good (seems likely) they do have a talented bunch. McAvoy - Lindholm is nuts and so are Bergeron, Pastrnak and Marchant (in every sense of the word). The likes of Hall, Carlo & DeBrusk are no suckers either. I would be surprised if they don´t make the playoffs but suppose it happens I´m curious to see whether Bergeron would do his team one last favor by leaving. If they could move Bergeron and Krejci at the deadline it would be very good news for their farm system.

Huberdeau had an amazing season so based on that he´s earned it but that ´s a lot of money for a 38 year old guy at the end.