Around the league (signings, RFAs injuries)

[Chef Boi RD]

Chiarelli really has dropped the ball, he got too impatient when McDavid arrived by trading Hall and Schultz much too early. Now they are looking for someone just like Taylor Hall to play on the wing with McDavid. Adam Larsson, has not turned out well at all. Nurse is not looking very good for a 7th overall pick, Sekeres hasn't worked out, Klefbom hasn't turned into this great new version of a better Alex Edler like they all had hoped, Russell was a stupid signing, giving Schultz away for peanuts, their defense is a disaster.

They gave up a lot of assets to land Talbot and he hasn't panned out at all

Lucic was a putrid signing

Yes, Eberle was a cap dump, big contract, but he is playing good hockey in New York and all you get is Ryan Strome who then turned into the major defensive liability and one dimensional - Spooner?

Trading a 1st round pick and a very high 2nd round pick for Reinhart, is a back breaker IMO. The Isles did very well with those two picks - Barzal and Beauvillier. Those two would look fantastic in Edmonton right now, where the hell is Griffin Reinhart?

The alarm bells should have gone off when the Finnish GM in Columbus passes on Puljujarvi and drafts PLD when all year everyone was saying McDavid one, Laine two, Puljujarvi 3, yes pick which was next isn't looking much better "at the moment" but they really couldn't afford having Puljujarvi busting like Yakupov busting. I don't know if it's a combination of bad scouting and bad management, but coaching is not the problem there, it's always never the problem there, it's the dingbats up top, with all those high 1st round picks this team should be contending for the cup right now, they should be another version the Winnipeg Jets to be honest, but nowhere near it. It's a disaster there.

[dangler]

................trading away Petry for a 2nd + conditional 5th....the list goes on and on

[Blob Mckenzie]

McLellan is still a good coach. He didn’t become a dummy going to Edmonton. I still think Poolparty will be a decent player but they are the team who should have taken Matt Tkachuk. Perfect linemate for Mcjesus. Never should have traded Hall. The Reinhardt trade was terrible.

Chia is living off the Chara signing and the cup. Boston made some great drafts between 03-06 and he MAY get credit for 06. After that the Bruins crapped the bed at the draft table for half dozen years other than the gifts from Brian Burke. The Seguin trade was stupid as hell. If Vancouver had not been mangled by injuries and a couple bozo moves by Eye Bags ( ie subbing Ballard in for Mitchell) that cup does not exist.

[Chef Boi RD]

McLellan is still a good coach. He didn’t become a dummy going to Edmonton. I still think Poolparty will be a decent player but they are the team who should have taken Matt Tkachuk. Perfect linemate for Mcjesus. Never should have traded Hall. The Reinhardt trade was terrible.

Chia is living off the Chara signing and the cup. Boston made some great drafts between 03-06 and he MAY get credit for 06. After that the Bruins crapped the bed at the draft table for half dozen years other than the gifts from Brian Burke. The Seguin trade was stupid as hell. If Vancouver had not been mangled by injuries and a couple bozo moves by Eye Bags ( ie subbing Ballard in for Mitchell) that cup does not exist.

Not seeing it with Puljujarvi. They say he’s so dumb he’s borderline special needs. The Finn GM in Columbus wanted no part of him or Juolevi. Edmonton and Vancouver should have gone “hm, interesting. Why?”

[SKYO]

Not seeing it with Puljujarvi. They say he’s so dumb he’s borderline special needs. The Finn GM in Columbus wanted no part of him or Juolevi. Edmonton and Vancouver should have gone “hm, interesting. Why?”

There are a couple reason's Jarmo didn't take Puljujarvi, one is the BJ's really needed a center and a one theory is (that no one will admit) that they are both Finnish and if Puljujarvi busts, Jarmo would look bad as he could be considered bias. But the CBJ's said they had Dubois ranked #3 on their list.

Regardless it’s a lot of conspiracy theories without a whole lot of substance to sink your teeth into. It’s quite simple though. Kekalainen really wanted that big first-line center, not a winger like Puljujarvi.

Columbus also had a big hole at centre. But the key in all such situations isn’t the general rule, it’s the specific players and how big a gap in talent there is between the centre and the winger.
In this case, at least according to the scouting consensus, the gap between Dubois and Puljujarvi is large.

And the scouts really liked Dubois game, we know the Habs would have moved heaven and earth for him to no avail, and the Canucks also wanted PLD. And Dubois is proving everyone right with 48 points last season and looks to eclipse that this season.

I'd trade for Puljujarvi and put him through the Canucks (virtanen) development plan.


OJ is doing fine, he's actually more a playmaker/setup/passer guy than two-way type, but the defensive game will have to be learned through good ol' on the job experience.

[Chef Boi RD]

Puljujarvi is dumber than a sack of hammers, SKYO. You can’t fix that. Juolevi suffers from immaturity and not taking his craft seriously. Olli isn’t dumb like Pjljujarvi, it’s his heart or compete level, desire or lack thereof. Its not a question of Olli’s skill set and can he play, it’s a question of him not wanting it bad enough

[Mickey107]

Puljujarvi is dumber than a sack of hammers, SKYO. You can’t fix that. Juolevi suffers from immaturity and not taking his craft seriously. Olli isn’t dumb like Pjljujarvi, it’s his heart or compete level, desire or lack thereof. Its not a question of Olli’s skill set and can he play, it’s a question of him not wanting it bad enough

Oli's confidence took a shit kicking when he wore the C for his country in the 17 World Junior tourney. He was berated all the way back to his home town. Shouldn't have taken this long to finally start getting over it but it has. Maybe just immature, maybe not the right people to help him,
don't know. Seems to be starting to finally turn in a positive direction now and should join the Canucks by X-mas or soon thereafter.

[Hockey Widow]

hopefully Juolevi will get a chance this season to play some games. He's already been passed by Hughes and neither has played a NHL game. Hopefully he's not another Hutton and Pouliot.

[2Fingers]

hopefully Juolevi will get a chance this season to play some games. He's already been passed by Hughes and neither has played a NHL game. Hopefully he's not another Hutton and Pouliot.

Its OK Strang said our D prospects are in great shape, no need to worry be happy.

One day you read something positive about Julio, the next week something different. If he does not get at least 9 games this season, that is telling.

[Cousin Strawberry]

hopefully Juolevi will get a chance this season to play some games. He's already been passed by Hughes and neither has played a NHL game. Hopefully he's not another Hutton and Pouliot.

The problem with Juolevi is hes nowhere near the prospect he was drafted as. Hes a b prospect who may make it, may not.

Definitely doesnt have the heart and desire to do what it takes to succeed. Package him with the giant russian marshmallow and bend over shanahan for nylander

[Mickey107]

hopefully Juolevi will get a chance this season to play some games. He's already been passed by Hughes and neither has played a NHL game. Hopefully he's not another Hutton and Pouliot.

The problem with Juolevi is hes nowhere near the prospect he was drafted as. Hes a b prospect who may make it, may not.

Definitely doesnt have the heart and desire to do what it takes to succeed. Package him with the giant russian marshmallow and bend over shanahan for nylander

Ya! Fuck defense! Let's just out score everyone. More exciting anyway.
No uninjured, proven, agile, intelligent, good catching hand, goalie anyways.
Actually, I'm not entirely being sarcastic.
Paying fans would like it.

[Cousin Strawberry]

Neither of those 2 prospects are difference makers looking down the road. The canucks with nylander without subtracting other offensive assets would be a very good team in a year or 2...probably damn good right now.

Its not so common to see good young pieces on the block like WN. Too bad we arent loaded with suitable defensive prospects to make a play for him

[SKYO]

Hopefully Juolevi will get a chance this season to play some games.

I think he will in February+

Sounds like everyone just wants OJ to get #1 Dman minutes in Utica playing in all situations.

Some quotes from the Comets GM Johnson:

Ryan Johnson: I'm not a huge fan of the "are they ready or are they not".
He's up to 23, 24 minutes a night and we're improving on things on a daily basis. So to put a timeline on it - I never like to do that. But we're seeing an improved Olli Juolevi daily and weekly.

We want him to come up and be able to eat minutes up top, and not sit around. We just want to stay the course, and when that time comes, you'll be seeing the best version of Olli Juolevi coming up.

He QBs our power-play. He isn't fancy, high-risk, but he's poised and walks the line well. He's learning in his own zone and being aggressive. His progress has been great. We just want to keep him in the fire. He plays a lot of mins for us, but it's great.

Juolevi is on a great track & learning the game while having success on the powerplay. We need to keep developing his game in North America with the faster game. We don’t feel the need to fast-track anybody.

[Cousin Strawberry]

Skyo that sounds like confidence building horseshit fed to the press. The reality is he isnt that good.

[SKYO]

Skyo that sounds like confidence building horseshit fed to the press. The reality is he isnt that good.

I'll take the managers opinion who actually is invested in the team and it's players, as the development/GM guy wouldn't just say bullshit for nothing, it's his job to be unbiased and professional/realistic in his assessment of a player, he also said Juolevi's defense needs to improve, but he's improving & getting better the longer he's there, and is their top dman, plus he leads all rookie dmen in the AHL in points and is ranked 9th in dman points in the entire league, that's not a player who "isn't that good".