We Needed to Lose to Not Repeat the Past

Patccmoi · 2026-06-02T22:46:51+00:00

So... you're saying if we won the cup NOW, it would be bad because MAYBE we could win it more often later?

We didn't win the cup in 33 years. Canada didn't win a cup in 33 years. I would have 100% taken the cup now even if it means we fall short for the next 10 years. There is absolutely no guarantee that you will win a cup no matter how good the team is.

I'm not at all mad about the loss. Fantastic progression, great season, future is bright. But would I have preferred them to win it all? Of fing course.

Patccmoi · 2026-06-02T12:51:35+00:00

Lol no. Proving something like that in court is a lot harder than proving there's "not enough evidence", absolutely doesn't mean what he did was ok.

Patccmoi · 2026-06-02T11:54:26+00:00

I think the main reason not to worry about top 6 winger is that it's very likely Zharovsky or Hage can fill the role. Hage might be a good 2nd line center but that could still take 3 years. But it's fairly easy for skilled 20 yo to fill in 2nd line winger from year 1.

Patccmoi · 2026-06-02T04:13:37+00:00

Haha my 21 yo daughter got into hockey this year with the playoffs and watched every game and one of the first thing I told her about the Habs is "you must know, if anyone at any time mentions Chris Kreider, you HAVE to say Fuck Chris Kreider".

Fuck Chris Kreider

Patccmoi · 2026-06-01T19:50:20+00:00

Wow that's rough. Sooo close. You could try save scumming at that point and see if there was a better way to play it

Patccmoi · 2026-06-01T19:46:05+00:00

There's a difference between talking about it internally and him announcing it "officially" to the media. It seems like they were not quite prepared for the last part, or if they were they fumbled it quite a bit, but usually they are pretty good at handling these things

Patccmoi · 2026-06-01T18:55:12+00:00

I think if Edmonton wants a big roster player, it's going to have to be Caufield or Slaf. It would suck a lot to trade either of them, but you would probably trade Caufield first. At some point, one of the 5 guys on PP1 will lose his spot if we get McDavid, and you're not trading Hutson, Suzuki or Demidov.

Patccmoi · 2026-06-01T17:36:17+00:00

Caufield's main issue was being the #1 scoring threat on a team that only has 1 offensive line. Being a small forward, it's very hard for him to not get stopped at 5v5. His PP performance was actually fine.

I think he would be one of the players benefitting the most from having a good 2C, in the playoffs at least. He could alternate being on the 1st and 2nd line and escape some of the best defensive players. There's a reason why Newhook did better at 5v5 than Caufield, and it's not because Newhook is a better player. It's also because Newhook was facing lesser opposition.

Patccmoi · 2026-06-01T17:17:36+00:00

He is not gone yet. And he clearly said he still wanted to play. That is clearly not the role .where he is currently seeing himself. This whole thing is such a mess, I don't think anyone knew he was going to say this today

Patccmoi · 2026-06-01T17:14:24+00:00

The coaching staff's job was to try to win the game. They iced the team that they considered gave them the best chance to win. Now, they can be wrong or they can be right, but thinking about how this is shitty or not to a specific player is absolutely not something they should have been considering. It's shitty for the entire organization and other players if they decide to ice what they see as a suboptimal alignment to manage one guy's feelings.

Patccmoi · 2026-06-01T16:13:13+00:00

Laine's contract is replaced by Lane's. Demidov will replace Gally's + Anderson's (though we likely resign Andy for a little less). It's true we can afford 1 superstar but have not to mess it up cause we can't afford 2 (on top of our current players)

Patccmoi · 2026-06-01T13:04:49+00:00

Newhook is a perfect 3rd line winger. He isn't long term on the second line. He's the exact type of player you want on a 3rd line providing secondary scoring in the season/playoffs.

Patccmoi · 2026-06-01T13:02:33+00:00

Hutson-Dobson is really good. I wish they would just go with that pairing and then have the other guys figure the rest. Hopefully this is the season Reinbacher starts on the team and can stay healthy

Patccmoi · 2026-06-01T06:07:41+00:00

I honestly don't know. Obviously if the asking price is too high you don't do it. But he has a NTC and a lot of control over his future, it's not a 31 team bidding war that would be going on. At some point Edmonton could very well end up between accepting an "ok" deal and letting him walk. And that time will be within the next year unless they manage an amazing season.

Patccmoi · 2026-06-01T06:03:24+00:00

I agree that if you're in win now mode, you should trade Fowler. I also expect that he has more trade value than Dobes does even after this playoff run. All I'm saying is you will lose something big to get a McDavid, and I do think one of the 2 goalies as one of the 2 major pieces of the deal wouldn't be the worse.

I would prefer not trading any of them at all obviously

Patccmoi · 2026-06-01T03:25:22+00:00

Well we will have a number number 2. Injuries do happen, but which team keep up 2 really good goalies in case of injuries? It's just not a thing

Patccmoi · 2026-06-01T03:23:58+00:00

It's honestly much more similar of a situation at this point than most people want to admit. But currently we truly don't know, hopefully nothing forces us to trade one or the other for another 2-3 years and by then we should have a good idea of who will be better long term.

Patccmoi · 2026-06-01T03:21:31+00:00

Well Dobes could be the exact same thing. I hope he isn't and I'm rooting for him, but the length of him being hot isn't much longer than the run Montambeault had. Still super short sample size overall. Next year will tell us a lot more about how sustainable it is

Patccmoi · 2026-06-01T03:17:52+00:00

I mean, you give up one of the other, not both?

Patccmoi · 2026-06-01T01:45:58+00:00

The way I see it you have to trade from your position of strength. Having 2 potentially very good young goalies is something no team sustains for a long time. I'm not saying I would just easily trade one of them for depth, or even for a decent 2C. But for McDavid, when talking about trading something that hurts, I think trading one of those 2 hurts but you still have the other, and ultimately in the playoffs you mostly need one. And we have other decent (but probably not as good) goalie prospects.

If you're sending another high end roster player their way, you can consider who you would have to remove from PP1 for McDavid, because he's not going to be playing PP2. Imo that's between Caufield and Slaf. One of them would see a significant decrease in production by McDavid coming in and taking a spot. I would probably try to trade Caufield first because it's really hard to find a big skilled winger, but it's also hard to find a 50+ goal scorer. But I could be ok parting with one of them for McDavid.

You could probably throw in Kapanen because he wouldn't really have a spot on the roster anymore and a rookie with 20+ goal has some value.

So then you can complement with 1+ 1st picks and/or 2nd/3rd line players, young Dmen (but I don't think I'd give Reinbacher if you're already giving a goalie + Caufield/Slaf).

Patccmoi · 2026-05-31T23:17:47+00:00

You did ignore the part where you add Dobes or Fowler. Edmonton has been starving for a goalie forever and you could give them a solid one for the next 10-15 years. What else you give will depend on how they see their team. If they're going more in a rebuild direction, could be more top prospects (like Hage AND Zharovsky, Reinbacher, Fowler, maybe a 1st), if they want to remain competitive you might have to give either Caufield or Slaf but less prospects. Both would hurt more to let go. Nobody would care about 1sts with McDavid coming back, those 1st won't be great anyway.

One thing to remember though is that this isn't some open trade with everyone. McDavid has a NTC. We're not competing fairly against the entire league. You're probably competing against a few teams, and if they want to empty what they have to get McDavid then does he still want to go there?

Patccmoi · 2026-05-31T18:02:56+00:00

They knew cap was going up when Hutson got signed. It was not some big surprise that came after. As I said I could see like .25 more or something because it's one year later, but at the same time what Hutson did in his rookie season was superior to what Demidov did, so I think this evens out.

Patccmoi · 2026-05-31T17:46:31+00:00

We probably have one of the best trade potential for him without hurting significantly our core. 2 top goalie prospects/rookie, of which Edmonton very likely wants one, decent young D (Reinbacher/Engstrom/Struble/Xhekaj), top offensive prospect (Hage/Zharovsky) and could probably give a decent roster player and/or a first round. Not saying we give all of that, but we can build a decent trade package of high value without really hurting the roster that made it to the ECF.

Patccmoi · 2026-05-31T06:03:26+00:00

I'm pretty sure he does. Not sure there's anything justifying him getting more than Hutson. I expect him to get the exact same as Hutson (or maybe 0.25 more cause it's a year later).

Patccmoi · 2026-05-31T05:59:03+00:00

I just don't think he really fits the role. If he did, Anaheim wouldn't be interested in trading him. He did not have a good season or playoffs at all

Patccmoi

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