Gavin

Anyone thinking about the next draft ? I think they need to take a goalie in the 2nd round.

Arizona Coyotes & NJ Devils won't get Austin Mathews in the next draft because they decided they wanted to try contending during a rebuilding year.

Those 2 teams also have the worst farm systems.

Austin Mathews is a franchise changing player. Not as good as McDavid but heard he's better than Eichel.

The Ducks don't have a second round pick. Also the coyotes have a stacked system. They have two of the top five rated prospects in the world. Plus they have young talent playing in the NHL now. If they get some help on D, then they'll be scary on a couple years.

No way we would need to include a pick.  I honestly wouldn't be too thrilled with Vats for Ladd straight up.  

100% agree. Vats is a RFA; big difference in terms of value compared to an UFA. 

How good is Lindholm? Dude is only 22 as well. The Ducks better sign him long term.

Santorelli was at over 50% on faceoffs this season, another thing he brings to the team.

7 goals(4 on power play) now for Lindholm. 1 shorthanded goal too.

He should be #1 option on the power play on the blue line.

Some how even with 3 assists Cam was only a +1 in the game.

PP points don't count towards +\-

I thought Ritchie looked pretty ineffective today. Seemed a bit out of shape. I saw him huffing it a couple times on the way to the bench.

Lindholm has been great. I think he's rounding in to the top pairing defenseman the Ducks need.

"LONG RANGE XTND FCST MDLS CONTINUE TO INDICATE DRY CONDS UNTIL NEAR THE END OF THE MONTH WITH A PATTERN SHIFT ARRIVING SOME TIME AROUND THE FIRST OF MARCH."

So AO with NOAA forecasting something like this, does that mean it will definitely rain a lot at the end of the month (seeing as they are hacks and all)?

Skinner from the Canes or Nuke from Dallas

I think it is to get Fowler back in the swing of things.  I bet that Fowler/Bieksa combination gets far fewer minutes than the other two pairings.

I have to think it would be for Despres considering he missed over 40 games. Vatanen and Stoner generally get the easier assignments (even when taking BB's role three pairings all game strategy). 

Apparently the pairings at practice:

Fowler-Bieksa

Lindholm-Manson

Despres-Vatanen

Not a fan of splitting up Fowler and Despres, but it could be to get Despres back in to the swing of things.

Played 18 yesterday. Was wonderful. Ya drought!!!

We're all dying to know, how brown were the fairways? 

What's crazy is the Ducks were advanced statistics outliers for the last few years; they always outperformed the predictors. Now, they completely flipped the switch.

The Bryzgalov debacle was just awful by Burke. It's one thing to help out a player by facilitating a trade. Giving him away, to a division "rival" (I used quotes because the Coyotes were, well the Coyotes) was some of the worst asset management this team has ever seen. Some people forget how good Bryz was in those first four years with the yotes.

Exactly my point though Gavin, if an El Nino can't end the drought, then what WILL end it????

 

I predicted to myself before November started that this would be a dry winter.

You're right. We're all going to die. 

it's like reading LAAI for opinions on Angels prospects, you aren't getting anything objective.

Want objective? Lindholm is one of the top possession defenseman in the league, top rated for QoC (quality of competition), and is only 22. All of this after the start of the season with the pylon that was Bieksa, who has admittedly looked better recently. Your Lindholm hate is nearly as subjective as anything on puck of a feather.

Edit: holy shit, I just skimmed the article. He uses multiple stats that support his point. He also only uses 5v5 stats.

Nate, come on. Your analysis has consisted of: "he looks bad" or "he's a turnover machine," which is pure conjecture. 

I'll believe El Niño when I see it.

This is, iirc, record low SoCal precipitation through January for an El Niño.

El Nino's generally contribute to at least 20-25 inches of rain in a SoCal year.

What made this year different from others?

Wrong, two in five El Ninos are drier than normal.

Silfverberg's last five games: three goals and four assists. It would be huge if he goes into his playoff mode from last year.

Cory is taking the AO El Niño approach with the Ducks... Sadly you're probably not wrong about the result against the Caps.

NOAA already somewhat butchered the January-March rain prediction for SoCal, saying way above normal.

January has had only 2-3 inches so far, with virtually no more forecast.

February and March will need to be crazy rain months to meet that prediction.

 

Also, November-current SoCal precipitation (generally only 3-4 inches) is at an all time low for El Nino years. 

You do realize that Accuweather predicted less than a quarter of an inch about a week before that early January storms, right? They're all using the same satellites, the fact that you take over a month in advance forecast to heart is laughable. AO = Aneurysm Oracle  

You knew better.....good to see that

Or it's because he wasn't an attention seeking doucher. I've never understood wearing your jersey to another team's stadium, particularly when it's a rival. 

Ducks are ‘looking at a whole bunch of things,’ not just Drouin

Interesting.

Penguins Must Make A Trade Offer For Sami Vatanen

This is actually quite funny.

That second article is awful. The trade proposals are laughable. Yeesh.

Hurricane Alex becomes the first Atlantic hurricane in January since 1938.

That is INSANE!

Yeah but Theo has ONLY scored one goal (here's for me hoping that I can jinx him into scoring again)!

Theo is Fowler with scoring. Skates just as well (maybe a tick below), his instincts are much better compared to when Cam was his age imo. Cam is great, but Theo looks like he'll be better. Early on obviously and things can change but so far so good.

FYI Cam scored 40 points his rookie year. Theo hasn't scored yet. Just food for thought.

Yeah I don't deal Theo either. Unless its for a proven super star. He's young, cheap, and NHL ready right now. Not afraid to shoot the puck either. He's gonna be a goal scorer. I'd be okay with sending out Vats or Cam at this point. I know Montour is absolutely lighting it up in SD. I'm actually heading down there on Saturday to check them out. Can't wait to see what he's made of in person. One name that would be interesting to see in trade talks is Silf. Probably costs a bit too much for TB's taste but damn.. That dude has been such a let down. Some attribute it to the Torres hit in pre season but either way. He looks lost out there. His only value is on the PK/shutdown. Drouin with back to back 100 pt seasons in Halifax is unbelievable. If we can get him without giving up Ritchie and Theo, I'm all for it.

Why Cam and not Theo? Cam is more proven, getting paid 4 million for the next two years, and is much better defensively.