We don't really know for sure that there are no other teams interested in acquiring Kessel.
Everyone's just assuming that if there were that the deal would have already happened, but there's no reason to make a deal before the draft.
And keep in mind the only leak we've had is from a deal that was already dead in the water at the time that we heard about it.
The Minnesota deal wasn't already dead when we heard about it, it was very much live.
Why release the info if it’s shot down immediately. I’m not one to assume that I hear every offer JR gets over the phone.
If its shot down immediately its not a serious bid.
And in reply to both of you - even if you believe they are keeping serious offers under wrap and they're not talked about in rumours, I think its fair to assume that Rutherford's not talking the way he is if he's got a ton of serious offers on the table.
I think it's some people just resigned to the fact that he's unmovable due to his asinine full NTC and some people who legitimately think he can bounce back. I think he has it in him to at least be a contributor but I have doubts about where he fits in the lineup. But that's been an ongoing concern for a while.
The line up thing is the big one. Good things still happened with Horny on ice with Sid/Geno in the latter half of the season, he was just never with them.
Horny has to be with skill. He's a force multiplier. Asking him to multiply a blocking line is a waste of money (although he'll do fine there as we saw). But whether he will be...
You know that most players do not play hard for 82 games, right? Except in a few cases like the Isles last year, most teams and many players who aren’t reaching for a personal or team goals (or reacting to snubs) are just not playing all out for the majority of games...and our core, if anyone, especially as they age, definitely subscribe to theory of not playing your hardest for many, many games and shifts within games...whether Phil is there or not, regardless of what JR or Sully wants, no core player on this team will be hard to play against for the majority of games this upcoming year....just a fact...and I’m fine with that as long as they save themselves and bring it in the POs...that’s all that matters
So this idea that they have to rediscover some “championship form” in the RS is fantasy...just not happening...
Kinda late to the party, but they have to play hard enough to establish the right habits. They've been trying to coast and flick the button and it's just not worked and they really need to re-establish habits bad. I'm not expecting max effort, but if they don't raise the effort level from last season, I don't see much point to watching.
Don’t really agree on Guentzel tbh. Love the kid but he’s like the best complimentary player in the league (and one of the smartest). Don’t think he brings a ton of skill, and he was so consistent last year that I don’t really know what he looks like when he’s off. (Regardless, Guentzel doesn’t really matter because he’s tethered to Crosby and L1. Want to hand some hands/scoring touch to L2/3)
Guentzel has a filthy snipe - just ask Nashville. I trust him on a 1 on 1/2 on 1 as much as any guy on the roster. And McCann has that too. Neither have the same playmaking licks but they will pick up a bunch of 'easy' goals.
Is there a deal to be made with Detroit? They’re looking for D and have money...what about Rust and Maatta/JJ for Mantha or AA?
There probably is a deal to be made there (and iirc, they were reported to be interested in Johnson), but probably not for Mantha or AA
then there better be a big + coming back.
There won't be and that's the whole point behind the "Well why doesn't anyone else like him" thing. His value around the league has been established and its nowhere near as high as people would like.
