weeoiler

Can't be much worse than the current style.

Crazy in Edmonton this morning. Overall reaction seems favourable, even with the Hitch side of the equation. He's a local guy and will hopefully bring structure and discipline to the three-quarters of this team that are AHL calibre players. Along with that, he'll ride the big boys even more than Todd did, and I'll think you'll see Connor's minutes jump back up to that 25 min mark like he was doing when they were on their 8-1-1 stretch, not decline like Veg suggests. And Da Leafs has the right of it … Chia-Pete will be firing himself by Christmas if this doesn't turn around.

Appears to have a broken bone in his foot or ankle. Not sure how long he's out for.

The Sens marketing folks should get Boroweicki behind the wheel of an Uber, have Melnyck hop in the back, and have them rip into the team, all tongue-in-cheek-like. Great opportunity to win back some fans from that crazy-ass video earlier in the year. Maybe they bust out their own carpool Karaoke at the end of it ...

Sometimes, my wife buys that line, Veg, but I don't think that applies here. If you're suggesting that defenses just sit in a tight circle around their net to diffuse offenses, I can't see how that would work. I think it would bring back real hockey plays, not detract from it. Bigger is bigger. That's not me. It's science.

The NHL rinks are shrinking every year due to players and equipment getting larger. Concussions are a major legal issue in the league, and guys are just running into each other cuz there's no where else to go. By the playoffs, we're looking at smash mouth hockey again where a group of guys are pushing the puck toward the net against another group of guys. The larger ice creates the room the leagues craves, let's the skilled players do their thing, and will force players/coaches to do the same. I'd prefer that to the league making drastic changes to the integrity of the game, like regulation 4 on 4 or something like that. They can set min/maxes for nhl rink sizes, and let individual teams do what they want.

You had me with everything up to "watching less hockey" har! Everyone says I'm nuts for wanting Olympic sized rinks. You had me at enlarge, James. You had me at enlarge...

Love to eliminate the loser point somehow. Has to be the only league in pro-sports that awards a point for losing a game.

Hey Boys ... Just doing a quick survey of the Capwise world of how GMs feel about the current points system in the NHL. Choose one of the three options, or feel free to propose your own idea. 1) Keep it the same 2) 2 points for Regulation or Overtime win, 1 point for Shoot-out win, 0 points for the loser. 3) 3 points for Regulation win, 2 points for an Overtime win, 1 point for Shoot-out win, 0 points for the loser. Stay classy, Capwise.

Anyone know of a reason why the NHL has no games scheduled tonite? A week into the season, before the NBA starts, and they have no games on a Friday night. They bury Connor for the first week, then go dark for a night. Hopefully they have waaaay smarter dudes working in their scheduling department than me who have their reasons as to why they're not pushing the league more vigorously.

I'm 55, and just read that report Knobert referred to. I printed it off so I could tear it up into little pieces. Then I lit it on fire. Then I pissed on it. Then Lars Eller came in my office and laughed at me. I punched him in the face.

Bang on, Bags. Marchand feeling he needs to beat up on a guy who wants nothing to do with it, is like Trump addressing the #MeToo national convention. The old days are long gone, and I hope the old ways of the NHL looking the other way are as well. They made a good step with Tom Wilson ... time to follow that up with Marchand.

Was in 5 drafts, and they all went quite smoothly ... NAFL was the last, and my last pick was made in that one this morning. I was afraid at least a few of them would be going well into the week, but the GMs seemed pretty engaged and got 'em done in pretty short order.

Agreed. An increasingly common story that needs to be told.

The Melnyk/Dorian Management Crazy Train just keeps on chuggin. Combine this with the Duchene deal (who will probably walk for nothing) and the loss of what could easily be Jack Hughes, and they are looking like the worst run organization in hockey. Karlsson/Duchene gone for fringe players/prospects and a 2020 first round pick and a 2019 2nd rounder. Not to mention losing Turris, what could easily be the 1st overall pick, and a 3rd rounder as well as Hammond and Bouwers. Pretty suspect last two deals.

Ouch. The scabs from last season still haven't fully healed. At least give me 'till September But, yeh. Sounds like a blast.

Ryan Ellis, 8 year extension with a 6.25M AAV

He must work out.

Guess he got tired of constantly forgetting where he parked.

ahaha. You got that right, George.

I tried that with my boss … didn't go well.

I saw that. Pretty low risk at 625K. If he does well, Dubas is a genius. If not, oh well.

And it's worked so well for the Oilers. Trust me, it's no replacement for competent management.

Cool. Thanks, Byz

Just to be clear, because Johnny wasn't signed before June 20th, he's in the re-entry draft across all leagues ... right?