deepdrive

Loll.

I think Verbeek's actions have made it clear signing Vatrano is a priority. The two acquisitions this summer will be in addition to Vatrano. I do see him acquiring a veteran defender this off-season ( or at least seriously trying). And... since he has no room for a left hand shooter, that would probably be a rhs. Killorn won't be put on a bottom 6 line. He had injuries this season. When healthy, he's a top 6 player. Strome is the 3rd guy on a middle 6 line. He's shown this season that with the right guys he can contribute to a scoring line . Those two aren't hurting us offensively (it's too hard to tell defensively because of TV's limited viewing range.). They also aren't helping enough. There's only here 3 more years until their salary's expire. Plenty early enough for the coming LT contracts. I really haven't seen anything yet that has compromised Verbeek's LT plan. There's been mistakes - Klingburg, guys who haven't played well - Kulikov, Strome, Killorn. But most of his moves have taken us forward. I'm still optimistic. But I do feel he could have moved his rebuild along faster. You only need so many prospects. I think we have enough.

Good question. But, I wouldn't waste my time thinking about it. Well, of course, maybe before I say that I should ask, do you feel lucky. Well Ducks fan, do you ? You have to figure we get a defender. If things happen and we pick a forward, that changes a lot. Which is why I don't think it's too meaningful to look beyond the draft. Verbeek has said his priority is to improve scoring with the bottom 6. He can do that by bringing in a couple high quality bottom 6 guys or he can get higher quality guys and push some of our developing guys down to the 3rd line. I would think the latter is more probable if Verbeek can get the top 6 guys ( or at least one ). We don't need another Strome. We need a veteran with some real top 6 talent.

I don't think you can make a call about FA's until you see who we get in the draft. The drafted player that high can affect other prospects future and make them available for trade. Verbeek is getting to a point in his rebuild where he's going to have to start trading some of these guys. Maybe not this summer, but it becomes an option. I would say expect him to keep doing what he's done in the past. Though, I wouldn't be surprised to be surprised. I think he's at the point where he would move on a top line forward or defender if the fit was right. If not, expect two guys of the caliber of the last two off-seasons at between 3-5 years. Though 5 years can't be a Strome type player now. Long-term contracts on our young guys are coming.

Same story as last time we played Minnesota. They need the points; we don't. Win-win. Sad, but that's the reality with the dual race system of the NHL.

I'm missing this one too. ESPN telecast. Seems like same-o, same-o. We can't score.

Is this our current MO - two solid periods and then implode.

And, somehow we didn't score ?

I thought the game was at 5. Oops. Guess I didn't miss much 1-1. Out of town, so I only have audio.

I don't think the Ducks are on the 3-4 years out plan. They're raising their ticket prices substantially next year.they have to show significant improvement next year and compete for a playoff spot the following year. Otherwise, they are going to take a revenue hit. I expect to see Verbeek continue with a couple FA signings this off-season. Plus I think he may trade one or two of our D prospects for a top pairing veteran. We probably will get another d-man with our top pick this year. You can't have 5 sub 23y/o d-guys. Something has to break.

For longer than you would think, the win was in play. Now it's all about how bad we get killed.

Maybe we'll score again when we play Chicago in Anaheim.

Shut down Terry and Vatrano; keep an eye on Killorn = 0 goals. Not too tuff.

You know your team has some skills when they can score a goal like that. Too bad it was for the Jets.

We're still in it.

Here we go. Haven't won in Winnipeg since 2017. Second night of a back to back. Our 3rd line is now our 2nd line. My guess: We'll either get killed or win.

Fleury will retire before we need to start winning. Problem solved.

Well, that was good game with a good outcome - 2 points for the team that needed to stay in the race and 0 for the team that needed to stay in the lottery race.

In the end, it's just click another game off. Playoffs start on the 19th, correct ? And, when are Z and Leo supposed to return ?

Yeah, I really wonder if there's a chance they try to resign him this summer. He seems to still be rather healthy. Three years wouldn't be much of a risk. I think he liked it here. But if he wants to be in the playoffs, his best shot is probably somewhere else. But... he's in Edmonton right now. How do you think his wife and baby like that. Resigning there could be a hard sell if the wife grew accustomed to SoCal weather.

Funny, but I thought we were going to win this game.

It didn't seem like he even wanted to fight. The other guy kind of pushed him into it.

He can fight.

Lol. It sure seems that way.

We deserve to win the lottery this year and celebrate. But I give Pittsburgh a better chance than us. Just saying.