Friedman's 31 thoughts - Apr 5

[sureLoss]

https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/...in-retirement/

Not a lot of Flames related content this week besides this:

2. All of a sudden, Vancouver has more than $20 million to play with for 2018–19. Word is they were very interested in Mikael Backlund before Calgary re-signed him. They have young players with top-six skill — Jonathan Dahlen, Adam Gaudette and Elias Pettersson — who might not be ready for full-time top-six roles. How do they bridge that one-, two- or three-year gap? One possibility is they offer some short-term, bigger-money contracts to the group of available free agents.

Their interest in Backlund has opponents thinking they could be an aggressive participant in the market. The other is by leveraging their cap space like Vegas did last summer. We’ll help you, the Canucks can say, but you are going to help us. Two calls I’d be making would be to Chicago and Ottawa. Could the Canucks pitch taking some or all of Marian Hossa’s cap hit and/or Bobby Ryan’s contract, as long as the Blackhawks and Senators make it worth their while? (Ryan would have some control over his destination.)

Also of interest:

8. Doug MacLean said on our Wednesday-night telecast of Ottawa/Buffalo that the Senators see a drop-off after the first seven picks of the 2018 Draft. They could finish anywhere from 27th to 30th with two games to go, and don’t have to decide on giving up their first-rounder to Colorado until the pick is due. But if it is lower than seven, Doug’s intel suggests a pass. We’ll see.

10. Interesting conversation last week with Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor. In the 2015 draft, he thought he was going to Florida. The Panthers were picking 11th, “and I had a lot of good conversations with them,” he said. “But I remember that Lawson Crouse was supposed to be a high pick and he dropped down to them. So I understood why it didn’t happen.” From there, Connor wasn’t sure. Neither were the Jets, although every team knew the Boston, which picked 13, 14, and 15 had a different list than almost everyone else. Most teams agree that Vancouver had Brock Boeser ranked higher than almost everyone else, but when I said that on-air a few weeks ago, someone reached out to say there were two teams the Canucks privately admitted they were afraid of. One was Minnesota, which was common knowledge. It took me a while, but I finally figured out the other. It was the Jets. If Connor was gone, Boeser was going to be the pick. Worked out for Winnipeg — and Vancouver.

[Ashasx]

How is there so much public knowledge that the Canucks were interested in Backlund? Things like that surely don't help negotiations.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

How is there so much public knowledge that the Canucks were interested in Backlund? Things like that surely don't help negotiations.

This is the same group that once openly discussed their intentions to pursue specific pending UFAs in 2014/15.

[VladtheImpaler]

Great. Let's trade them Backlund for untold riches.

[Strange Brew]

Does seem weird this would be well known, unless Treliving was exploring trade interest before he knew they'd reach an agreement. Even then, Canucks wouldn't be trading for a pending UFA.

[Mass_nerder]

Backlund for Pettersson and their 2nd!

[Huntingwhale]

I keep forgetting there's a Dahlen (with Canucks) and Dahlin (likely #1 overall pick). Everytime I see someone talking about Dahlen with the Canucks, it GMG thinking they already think they will draft Dahlin and are pencilling him into the lineup.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

I keep forgetting there's a Dahlen (with Canucks) and Dahlin (likely #1 overall pick). Everytime I see someone talking about Dahlen with the Canucks, it GMG thinking they already think they will draft Dahlin and are pencilling him into the lineup.

Their Dhalen will be on Patterson's wing in the near future. That's going to be a heck of a pair

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Mass_nerder

Backlund for Pettersson and their 2nd!

I would trade Backlund straight across for Pettersson but that would be a stupid trade for the Canucks so I just don't see any other really good fits for a trade. The Canucks do have a big void at center for sure and they could certainly offer Tavares more money than most teams but if they can't or don't want to go that route they do have to find a 2nd line center with experience.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I would trade Backlund straight across for Pettersson but that would be a stupid trade for the Canucks so I just don't see any other really good fits for a trade. The Canucks do have a big void at center for sure and they could certainly offer Tavares more money than most teams but if they can't or don't want to go that route they do have to find a 2nd line center with experience.

Monumentally Stupid. No offense at all to Backs but Pettersson looks miles beyond him at the same age.

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I would trade Backlund straight across for Pettersson

orly

[Vinny01]

Could be a big summer in Van. High pick, tons of cap space, promising young players.

Any of Weisbroads favs still in Calgary besides Janko? Would love to package Brouwer with one of them for a late pick

[Lanny_McDonald]

If you can trade Backlund before that contract kicks in, you do it, especially if you can get a bluechip prospect back.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Monumentally Stupid. No offense at all to Backs but Pettersson looks miles beyond him at the same age.

Exactly, which is why their awesome GM just might do it.

[activeStick]

.#A few weeks ago, I was preparing for a Blackhawks broadcast, and an opposing coach kind of snickered at#Duncan Keith on their power play.

“[Keith] can’t shoot anymore,” he said.

The#Chicago Sun-Times’ Mark Lazerus wrote recently about the future Hall of Famer flirting with one of the the worst shooting percentages in NHL history. He scored an enormous goal Wednesday night, a power-play snipe that put St. Louis’s playoff hopes in jeopardy. I have no rooting interest in the Western playoff race, but good for for Keith, who doesn’t deserve such mockery and has taken a ton of internal responsibility for a difficult Blackhawks season.

I was curious who this coach was...

I'm not sure which games Elliotte works but assuming it's exclusively Sportsnet, the snickering coach would need to be from the below game which was the only SN televised game that included Chicago going back to get February.

Feb 21 - Ottawa