Topic: Hockey Discussion: The Leafs Would Like To Borrow Taylor Hall's Horseshoe

[NWR_insanolord]

I mean, it remains to be seen how it goes, but I was afraid we were returning to the Paul Holmgren days of trading 1st round picks for 35 year olds, but based on everything Fletcher's said so far it sounds like he intends to stick closer to Hextall's patient approach of building through the draft. I know he made some mistakes in Minnesota, but it sounds like he's learned from them.

[NWR_insanolord]

Sure, the NHL playoffs are pretty okay and starting tomorrow, but the main event is tonight: the NHL draft lottery! Time to see what colors Jack Hughes will be wearing in the fall.

[Shaymin]

So Taylor Hall's team has now won seven draft lotteries and the one year they didn't get into it, he was league MVP.

[Khushrenada]

He did say he was an "NHL lottery ball specialist". Congrats on him further proving that point.

[Khushrenada]

He did say he was an "NHL lottery ball specialist". Congrats on him further proving that point.

So Taylor Hall's team has now won seven draft lotteries and the one year they didn't get into it, he was league MVP.

Seven? I would double check those numbers. I'm seeing it as just four.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Did  no one watch the Sharks come back on the Vegas Knights tonite and win in OT!?

I left 1 spot, and the Sharks were down 3-0
I get to the other spot..... 15 minutes later!? and the game was 4-4 in OT
EVERYONE was watching (since the only bball game on was OKC about to lose to Portland.)
final goal was HYPE as ****.

[Shaymin]

The Sharks scored four goals on a five minute powerplay, Vegas managed to tie it, but the Sharks won it late in OT.

Nice to see Toronto's not alone in the "blow a game 7 3 goal lead in the third period" club, which I suppose is one good thing after they lost their own game 7 to Boston and ruined a country's hopes (specifically, the US's).

[Ian Sane]

Vegas is creating a typical sports team history for their fans in record time.  They already did the miracle season where you fall short in the finals.  Now they've got the heartbreaking playoff choke job complete with a pariah in Cody Eakin.  Poll any fan of a sports team that's been around for at least 20 years and we've all got these stories.

They still need an infamous trade that sets the franchise back ten years, a notorious draft bust and a high priced free agent who comes nowhere near to earning his salary.  Oh and I guess a championship but not every team gets one of those.  But everyone eventually gets the bad stuff.

[Shaymin]

Based on the magnitude of the penalty kill failure, I was curious how many times that 4 goals on a major PP ever happened, and the answer was twice in the regular season (2011, last year) and never in the playoffs.

I think Fleury got angry after the call and lost his cool, which insanolord will remind us that he has a habit of doing in the playoffs (see: 2012 first round).

[BlackNMild2k1]

I don't watch Hockey but...

GO SHARKS!!!

[Ian Sane]

So with Washington out my playoff pool team is down to only a handful of San Jose players.  So, yeah, it took a miracle 4 goals in one penalty to prevent my entire playoff pool lineup from being wiped out in the first round.  This is the least predictable playoffs I can think of.  My guess is that Boston or San Jose will win the cup since they're the only teams left where there was some expectation of them going far.  But who knows?  Carolina has only been to the playoffs four times since 2002 but all of the previous three trips went at least as far as the conference finals.  They seem to either completely suck or they go on miracle runs.  Of all the teams left the one I would find most surprising to win the cup would be the post-Tavares Islanders.

[Khushrenada]

Ugh. Ducks trade Kase. Bob Murray keeps getting fleeced. First Sprong for Pettersson and now this. Sure, maybe the pick becomes a great player and maybe the defensive prospect Andersson can turn into something they lost like Pettersson but with the way things have been going for the Ducks, I doubt it.

Maybe Pens can pull off a bit more magic before the deadline and get Pageau out of Ottawa and Gustafsson out of Chicago while trading away Jack Johnson and a 4th liner like Teddy Blueger to get the necessary cap space. Although I am leery of picking up an Ottawa player as they don't often do to well once they leave Ottawa with exceptions to Chara and Hossa. The Brassard trade a couple years ago highlighted that. Guess we'll see what happens but Penguins have got me very excited for the playoff chances with how things have been going this season.

I thought letting Kessel go was going to result in them struggling a bit more this season. I felt they'd still make the playoffs but might be battling a bit more for third place in the division. However, things have gone very well despite injuries at times to their top talent with some of their newer and younger players making a big impact like Jarry in net and Marino on defense. The fact that the Penguins are somewhat in a position to win the President's Trophy this year is not what I was expecting at all. Of course, the East is going to be a tough conference to get through since 4 of the top 5 teams are in the East (Pens included.) But playoffs can be strange at times. Still, I'm getting to the point now where I just want to time travel ahead two months to get into the playoff action now and see what happens. I'd like to see the Penguins get one more cup and pass Edmonton for most cups won with 6 joining the Bruins and Chicago at that marker. (Then be greedy and wish for one more to get past them.  )

[NWR_insanolord]

I'm really interested to see what Chuck Fletcher does at the deadline. The Flyers are still probably a year or two away from being real contenders, but they're playing really good hockey right now and if they keep that up and Carter Hart gets hot at the right time who knows. We're pretty tight up against the cap, though, which limits his options even if he can get the other team to retain salary. There's been some talk of a Jeff Carter return to Philadelphia, but that doesn't make a ton of sense beyond sentimental reasons.

EDIT: The Flyers win this afternoon and Pittsburgh and Washington both losing in regulation means they're only 3 points back of the division lead. Maybe this is our year after all.

[Khushrenada]

Well, part of that is a lot of Metro teams are stalling at the moment. Columbus is on an 8 game losing streak. Washington had lost 4 in a row until their win yesterday against the Pens. That puts the Pens on a 3-game losing streak. Islanders are playing 50/50 hockey. Had a 4 game losing streak but have now won 2. Carolina has been about the same though maybe more 60/40. With Philly having a 3 game win streak, it's allowed them to make some movement in the standings but if everyone starts winning again and Philly loses a couple then they'd probably go back to the same position they were before of fighting for a wildcard spot. Still, you never know what can happen in the playoffs. It's gotta be someone's year.


Well, Pageau went to the Islanders so the trade scenario I had mentioned earlier is kaput. Good pick-up for Islanders. That may give them the boost they need to secure a playoff spot. Philly's trade for Grant is ok. I don't think it does much to increase their chances of winning a cup or anything but Grant had impressed myself and Zap Jamaican Mario Scholar with his play in Anaheim of making their 4th line a bit more competitive. Instead of Pageau, Pens went for Marleau which is something, I suppose. I see it as being the equivalent of Washington's Kovalchuk pick-up. The big name people had been chatting up, Kreider, re-signed with Rangers so he's off the market.

Will anyone take a chance on Joe Thornton?

[NWR_insanolord]

Grant and Thompson are minor pieces, but like I said, we didn't have the cap room to make any big moves. If we used all our remaining cap space and got the other team to retain half the salary, we could still only get someone making about $2.8 million. I think we were in on Pageau but didn't want to give up a 1st, which the Islanders did. We're probably not real cup contenders, but it'd still be nice to get a couple playoff series to give our young guys some valuable experience.

[Khushrenada]

Yeah, the sooner you can get playoff experience then the more it can really help a team in the future and also let management know just how well some of these players can perform in that higher stakes scenario.


Ducks traded Nick Ritchie to make up for the Kase trade. ZAP should be happy on that. Looks like the Ducks are starting to give up on their younger players. Not sure where Bob Murray is planning on taking this team now.

[Khushrenada]

Lol! Rutherford did it. I was scanning through a list of players thought to be open for trade which is how I came up with Pageau as a possibility. Among the list, I saw Conor Sheary and laughed to myself how funny it would be if Pens brought him back and, sure enough, it has come to pass. I know the PensBlog was alright with Sheary going since he seemed to have lost his magic touch after the 2016 Cup run with Guentzel coming in and being the better player to keep long-term. Near the end before he was traded, they liked to highlight how he kept falling all over the ice during the games. Guess I'll have that fun factor to watch for now in the games. Reminds me of last yeah when Rutherford traded Hagelin away and then tried to trade for him back at the deadline. (He was denied since you can't trade back for a player you traded away in the same year.) Got to love GM's changing their minds on a player.

[NWR_insanolord]

With tonight's 5-2 win in Washington, the Flyers are within 1 point of the Metropolitan Division lead. This team might just be for real.

[Khushrenada]

Flyers are hot right now. 7 game win streak has really helped allow them put some distance on the other teams they were fighting for that third Metro spot earlier. Saw your Discord post about thanking the Ducks for Derek Grant. I touched on the Grant trade before when it happened on Trade deadline and knew the Ducks were giving up a good lower roster player. Is Grant playing on the third or fourth line in Philly? I'm so out of touch with the Flyers, I only just realized Alain Vigneault was coaching them tonight.

It was nice of the Flyers to slow down the Capitals recent bit of momentum and keep the Division title still in contention for the Pens also. Was excited to see them snap their 5 game losing streak yesterday. Probably helped that 2 of the top 4 defensemen for the team finally came back from injury to play in that game. That should give the team a boost as we have about a month left in the season. I'm expecting the usual March of the Penguins now.

[NWR_insanolord]

Grant’s been playing some on the 3rd and some on the 4th, though his big play tonight came as part of the second power play unit, but technically at even strength since the penalty expired a few seconds earlier.

[NWR_insanolord]

We were this close to the Flyers ending the night in first place after their 8th straight win, 4-1 over Carolina, but the Capitals tied it up with less than a minute left and even though they ended up losing in overtime, the loser point puts them level on points with the Flyers and ahead slightly on the tiebreaker.

[Khushrenada]

And the reloaded Pens won again tonight so the race goes on, Judah, uh er, Insano.

But by focusing on the Caps you are neglecting the bigger story that game which was Zibanejad scoring 5 (FIVE!) goals in that game. Wowsers!! What a performance!

I can't believe Rangers are now in the playoff hunt. 7 of the 8 Metro teams are fighting to make the playoffs and the current top three of Caps, Flyers and Pens don't have that much breathing room ahead of the lower 4. Can't believe how stacked the Metro division is. Of course, with Isles, Blue Jackets and Hurricanes slumping of late, that's why Rangers have managed to get some traction. Can't believe how Florida is stuggling despite having this opportunity also to get a wildcard spot.

[NWR_insanolord]

Zibanejad was fantastic, but it would have only needed to be 4 goals if they didn't leave Ovechkin wide open with every Ranger on the other side of the net with less than a minute to play. The OT winner was really pretty, though.

[ShyGuy]

Congratulations to Seattle on their new NHL hockey team, the Seattle Kremlins!

[NWR_insanolord]

I'm already dreading the expansion draft.