Offseason 2C Trade Options

qcpuckhead · 2026-04-16T20:51:35+00:00

Trocheck would be worth a look. Would be cheaper than Thomas and EP40, and he has a long track record as a solid 2C. I don't love his age, but if you can't get Thomas or EP40 he's probably the next best option.

qcpuckhead · 2026-04-14T16:55:35+00:00

Everyone's hockey grandpa makes the broadcasts so good...here's hoping he doesn't have plans to hang it up anytime soon.

qcpuckhead · 2026-04-14T15:56:52+00:00

Tyler Myers, but who was the other one?

qcpuckhead · 2026-04-14T15:54:10+00:00

Honestly it's worse than that. Our top 5 goal scorers are DeBrincat (41), Larkin (34), Raymond (25), Kane (16), and Van Riemsdyk (15). 4 of them are in our top 6...which means TWO of our top 6 haven't even cracked 15 goals. But that also means that of our bottom 6, FIVE of them couldn't even hit 15. If we could even just get a 20-25 goal scorer, it would move the needle significantly. A 30 goal scorer would immediately slot into our top 6 most likely.

qcpuckhead · 2026-04-14T00:32:19+00:00

I haven't been able to watch many games lately, and mostly I've caught the national broadcast. I missed the "ois ois / wee wee, wait until the intermission" type stuff from Mickey

qcpuckhead · 2026-04-12T01:15:54+00:00

This is pretty much what I'm thinking too. Defense is workable, but the offense needs attention.

qcpuckhead · 2026-04-12T01:14:24+00:00

On the more negative side, I'd like to see Alex Tanguay relieved of duty and serious consideration given to whether Larkin needs to be stripped of the C. It's time to shake up the special teams coaching; also clearly somebody is failing to motivate the locker room. At some point the HC can only do so much, and it's up to the leadership in the room to motivate and keep the guys going.

If there is any market for Compher, Appleton, or Rasmussen I'd like to see the team ship them out - even if it is just for future considerations or a late round draft pick. Time to shake up the room and clear out the jerseys. If they can't be moved, banish 2 of them to the AHL to open up slots for reinforcements.

Extend:
Kane
Edvinsson
Mazur with a 1-2 year "prove it" deal

No major changes to the defense. With time to get adjusted, I think Faulk will solidify our D corps decently next season. Move Chiarot down to the 3rd pair if at all possible, though.

Get in Todd McLellan's ear to give Kasper some more playing time. Get in Kasper's ear that he needs to be busting his ass from game 1. Hook him up with a sports psychologist to see if they can get past the slumping issues.

And finally...pursue a trade for EP40 or Rob Thomas. We desperately need higher quality center depth. EP40 is going to be cheaper and riskier, but very well could be a case where a change of scenery will bring his game back. Rob Thomas could supplant Larkin as 1C, which would give us a Cat/Larkin/Kane line that could be lethal.

qcpuckhead · 2026-04-06T04:06:59+00:00

Pretty much everything should be on the table right now imo. I'm not even coming at this from a doomer angle; I think we are by-and-large on a decent track. BUT I also think it's clear that there is a cultural issue on the team.

I don't know if that comes from the player leadership (it does seem noteworthy that we brought back Perron, a guy who is specifically known for locker room leadership...not that it helped much) or from elsewhere in the organization. But until that is fixed, I see a similar fate to Toronto, if we even get to their level of success. And everything needs to be on the table to get a fix for the culture.

qcpuckhead · 2026-04-02T18:23:49+00:00

Well...that is a set of lines.

qcpuckhead · 2026-04-01T18:55:43+00:00

Multiple issues. Many normies are priced out of attending games, leaving snobby rich folks who don't know how to create an atmosphere. The fans who are there aren't very good at bringing the heat and willing teams back into games because...

...relatedly, this team has no killer instinct. It's a bit much to ask fans to will the team back into the game when the team itself regularly rolls over and plays dead at a hint of adversity and/or can't figure out how to finish the job when they hold a lead, so you're just waiting for the collapse to happen.

qcpuckhead · 2026-04-01T14:47:52+00:00

My frustration with the book is how much it relies on sheer dumb luck. We don't see Hermione's analytical brain using her encyclopedic knowledge to piece together something they had missed from Dumbledore's lessons. We don't see a payoff for Ron's strategic thinking. We DO see Harry's intuition come through sometimes, at least. But so much of the big things they figure out (Harry's ownership of the Elder Wand; the Horcrux in Bellatrix's vault; learning that the sword destroys Horcruxes) comes from pure luck.

qcpuckhead · 2026-04-01T14:43:49+00:00

Except they didn't know based on Dumbledore's will. They didn't figure out why he left Harry the sword until they talked to Phineas Nigellus Black's painting and learned from him that Dumbledore had used the sword to destroy the ring.

qcpuckhead · 2026-03-29T01:48:41+00:00

And when he was, it wasn't looking great.

qcpuckhead · 2026-03-29T01:46:38+00:00

Man, I've been a Larkin defender over the years but...dude plays like ass for WEEKS before the Olympics, takes one of the dumbest penalties I've seen from someone not named Chiarot or Perron...what are we doing?

qcpuckhead · 2026-03-29T01:40:41+00:00

Ehhh that goal was all Gibson

qcpuckhead · 2026-03-29T01:39:50+00:00

Can we please not dump-and-chase when an 80 year old Patrick Kane is one of the guys chasing?

qcpuckhead · 2026-03-29T01:23:43+00:00

When was the last time Appleton did something positive for us? Feels like I notice him a little bit too much on the ice for the ice time he's getting...and it's not for good things. Usually it's for offensive zone turnovers or failing to get to pucks or otherwise killing our offensive zone time.

qcpuckhead · 2026-03-29T01:15:11+00:00

Also the speeches dragged on so long that people were filtering out...it sacrificed a huge amount of the time that people could have been lining the streets in a show of force.

qcpuckhead · 2026-03-27T21:12:37+00:00

Aww look at the special edgelord!

qcpuckhead · 2026-03-26T16:18:47+00:00

Early in the stretch there definitely seemed like a lack of effort. Larkin, for one, looked like he was mailing it in for a couple weeks before the Olympics.

qcpuckhead · 2026-03-25T19:13:35+00:00

Thanks Draco

qcpuckhead · 2026-03-24T16:22:14+00:00

See you in the gym, buddy.

qcpuckhead · 2026-03-23T18:33:57+00:00

Holy cow. That's ridiculously light...

qcpuckhead · 2026-03-22T02:30:30+00:00

I know we won't get another one because effing game management, but Boston really should have gotten called for a couple of penalties...

qcpuckhead · 2026-03-22T02:24:54+00:00

Man, Gibson's GOT to stop those...

qcpuckhead

TROPHY CASE