LindG1000

I'm a little confused by the Ryan Leonard talk. Wouldn't bringing him in burn a year of his ELC? Surely, this isn't the spot to do that.

I think the difference this time around is that four or five guys on the team would spear him and start wailing on his face like Donkey Kong if he tried. You think Rempe won't immediately go for him? Cuylle would do it. Trouba would do it - he wasn't in the game where it happened. Ditto Lindgren. Goodrow would too - he wasn't there last time. We're a different team.

The funny part is thinking about the sheer impact of what losing those 5 1sts would have meant. No Manny Malhotra. Probably no 7th overall that year either though. No Marc Savard to Calgary trade and no Sundstrom/Cloutier to Tampa trade, because we're not making that stupid push for Brendl and Lundmark after a disaster season that never happened (and also, no pick to trade Tampa in 2000 anyway. Without Brendl, no Lindros trade. No Dan Blackburn No Pavel Bure trade Basically, no dark ages if not for Air Force One. Fundamentally shifts the franchise in multiple directions to simply not have those assets. Not to mention Sakic-Gretzky being almost impossible to compete with

I'm convinced that whomever they hire doesn't matter. Adams is a decent enough GM, but they will never be a good team so long as the Pegulas own the team.

There are two playoff teams in the Eastern Conference with sub-500 records. The Caps are one of them - 40-42 with 11 failure points, and the Islanders are the other - 38-43 with an astonishing 16 failure points. The truth of the league is that the 7th best team in the East is probably either the Sabres or the Devils. Neither is in the playoffs. Regardless, let's just run over the Caps and the bevy of "who the fuck are these guys" beyond their second line.

Flyers need 2 goals in regulation to stay alive, else it's the Caps spot.

The coach they needed at the time had literally one job - develop the kids, don't alienate the veterans. By the year 1.5 mark, he'd stagnated Lafreniere, he'd stagnated Kakko, he'd stagnated Miller, he had Schneider swimming underwater, and he'd stagnated Chytil. By the end of that year, he had Kreider looking like someone shot his dog, Mika looking more vacant than usual, made Trocheck look awful, and had Panarin convinced he had demons living in his hair. I just don't think that's a good 22 months.

Throw the ESPN+ app on your phone or iPad and get a cushion for the porcelain throne, my dude.

Hindsight is 20/20, but every passing day with Laviolette makes me angrier and angrier about Gallant. And it's not the attitude mix you're calling out. It's that he was so obviously the wrong coach for that team at that time, and it cost this franchise a lot. And look, maybe it was a necessary growing pain and half the team had a "Fuck you Jobu, I do this myself" moment (and damn, does it sure feel like that was the case for Panarin, Trocheck, Lafreniere, Braden Schneider, and a few others), but I can't shake how Gallant fucked up so badly with the kids and basic ass game management. I think there's an argument that a better coach manages to beat the Lightning in 2022 and possibly win the Cup. I also think there's an argument that a better coach outs the Devils in 5 last year and moves on to god knows what. And, I think there's a very strong argument that a better coach finds this version of Lafreniere, a better version of Kakko, of Chytil, of Miller, of Schneider - far sooner than it's taken. Lafreniere has a bright, bright future in this league, and he plays a playoff-tested game. We should be very, very excited for what we've got here.

Will Cuylle becomes this generation's Stephane Matteau with two OT goals in the playoffs, including a series clincher.

We don't know who our opponent will be. It might be the fuckin Caps. It might be the fuckin Pens. It might be the fuckin Wings. It might be the fuckin Flyers (okay, it's probably not the Flyers), but we know that no matter who we face and in what series, we get four home games and they're going to be the "fuckin whatevers" We're back. Ballsy Predictions, 2024 edition, which brought you such classics as... Actually. fuck this bit. I looked back at the thread from last year, and I'm not bringing ANYTHING from that tire fire of a series back into the world. Some things need to stay where they are after you crack them over the head with a shovel and bury them deep in your soul. Rules: ONE PREDICTION about this New York Rangers team for the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. You may not steal anyone else's prediction. If it's out there, it's out there. All predictions must be made before the puck drops in game one. Have at it, folks.

Happy end of the regular season, folks. Let's see how we did! Certainly ballsy. Blake Wheeler played 51 games this season, scored 9 goals, had 21 total points. Goddamn man. Ballsy to call a 130 point season, and that it feels like this was even CLOSE is worthy of recognition. Take a bow, and honestly, take rep for this one. Certainly ballsy, but much to our chagrin, off by 20 goals and 36 assists. Ballsy, my dude, but off by 9. Ballsy for sure. K'Andre Miller had....zero PPG. The Hog had a great season, but he finished 39 points short. Ballsy, but nope. Kakko missed by 51, Lafrenire missed by 13 This one never had a chance. I guess, technically, you're still alive, but technically, you also predicted out-of-bounds. The rare "ballsy and dead before the puck drops" prediction! Panarin OVERPACED this by 33 goals and 51 points, or as we call it, an entire season of Chris Kreider powerplay production. Jack Roslovic is like upmarket Tyler Motte, but he isn't Tyler Motte The ballsy! Zib had a great season, but did none of this things It's a push! They both managed...goose egg Not bad! But, 39 isn't 50. Gus put up 30, so not a bad pull here, but 30 ain't 45. We had a great PP (heh), but not league leading ....and not 34.3% good either. Kudos for the Laf call, but Panarin went nuclear this season. Just as an underscore, this is the ballsiest prediction possible. This has only been done once in the history of the NHL. This happened. Ballsy in context, not so ballsy in that 15-17 teams are probably over 50% every year. I think we gotta give this to you. Quick got 18 wins in 26 starts, and since this prediction came almost true without a Shesterkin injury, I think we give the props and kudos here. Let's get some rep over to @Karan, @Valriera, @RJWantsTheCup, and if you want to give a bit of shit to @BrooksBurner for that anti-mush pick, go for it. We'll see you for the playoffs, folks.

I knew Sam was a third party candidate.

What a season. President's trophy. Over 200 points from the defense. Panarin 49/71/120. Kreider and Trocheck and Zibanejad all over 70 points. Lafreniere breaks out. Cuylle and Schneider and Miller all taking big steps. Real games begin this weekend.

Here's 50 for Bread, lets go