That contract is not going anywhere; Gaudreau is retiring rich in Ohio...

Not sure if it's fun, but a bizarre fact: The Blues have played 17 games so far. There has yet to be a lead change in either direction.

So apparently, until further notice, you always know who will win a Blues game once the first goal is scored.

Nah I think hes getting moved but it will be a summer move.

If I were Columbus I’d hold. Or at worst I’d target a hockey trade where I didn’t downgrade. An even swap. Lotsa teams around .500 have somebody they’d shuffle.

When looking their roster, defense especially, this should be a .500 team. I probably overrate Merzlikins, but regardless, I feel he’s legit. There’s some thick holes up front, but I’ve seen lesser teams win more often.

I feel their second half will not be like their first half.

And if they were to react early and send away the best player in a trade scenario, especially for futures, they’d just maintain the losers mindset. Like laine going for a 22 year old and a 21 year old and a pick is a losers trade (plus I don’t want to trade Jake Neighbors, Zach Bolduc, and a 1st for Laine). I’d let them figure it out, or this off-season would be busy and forwards would change. At the same time, if you like what you’ve received in Fantilli you may want to bring in a sure fire nhl-er that’s his age, so maybe you take a laine or Johnny and move him for something younger. I’d vote no if I were their board, but I could see it happen. They’d def get stuffed on the return, the opposite of a sellers market rn due to cap and lack of long term injuries.

Goalie observations:

Best Week of His Life Pittsburgh's Alex Nedeljkovic returned from injury with a conditioning stint in the AHL; where he had a great game that saw him score his THIRD goal of his AHL career! Then he gets the call-up for the B2B game against Vegas where he gets a huge 38 save shutout!

Sweden Global Series the Wild vs Senators was a dramatic game as far as goalers go; two Swedes needing a big game to fix a broken start to the season playing a once in a lifetime chance in front of their friends and family in their nation's capital. Only fitting that it was a goalie dual (1-1 in regulation) with Forsberg having to nearly do it all himself (awarded an assist on his teams goal), stopping a penalty shot, and a dramatic overtime and shootout win. Feels like both guys "won" so we'll see if Gustavsson gains confidence for the rest of the year.

LA Kings - the Kings coaching staff are always interesting when it comes to deployment; as they prefer a Tandem roster setup but ride a "hot hand" rotation. This year that has seen Cam Talbot break out of the split-duty role with Copley and become a true Workhorse netminder; getting 75% usage so far this season. On a $1,000,000 deal so far he has been a steal! With Erick Portillo (a forgotten about top goalie prospect that chose to leave Buffalo's crowded goalie pipeline and sign as a college free agent) doing well in the AHL and Copley not providing a reliable relief role 25% of the time I wonder if we'll see Portillo get a few games in the near future. The Kings have a pretty light schedule for the next 2 weeks; but there is B2B against Anaheim/Montreal that might be Copley's last chance to right the ship before they have a busy early December (10 games in 21 nights)

Washington Capitals - Is Charlie Lindgren just filling in admirably for Kuemper thru illness/injury or is he actually pushing for a much bigger share of the workload long-term? He has been impressive so far and if the Caps really want to push for a playoff spot; perhaps a 2/3 split is in order

Buffalo Sabres - Now with the three-headed monster all healthy; we'll see how their usage changes from the start of the season. The coaching staff has made it clear Levi is NOT going to the AHL at this point but they acknowledge that it will be more of a rotation. Is that 1/3rd each; ride the "hot hand"; 50% for Levi 25% each for Comrie/Luukkonen? This week I would expect each to get 1 game as there are 3 games in 4 nights. From November 30 thru December 16 they have 10 games in 17 nights so they will likely continue until year-end; but it flattens out for 45 days after that so it feels cumbersome beyond then. With LA, Columbus and Edmonton probably in the market for a decent backup goalie waiting it out might also be a bad asset management strategy.

St. Louis Blues - What else does Joel Hofer have to do before the Blues turn this into a true tandem or not? The Blues streakiness doesn't help the netminders; but I can't help but feel that both goalies would perform better if the starts were structured clearly in advance with a clear rotation.

Carolina Hurricanes - With Andersen out on an unknown timeline, Raanta and Kochetkov have shared the load so far with mixed results. It felt like the Canes were giving Kochetkov his chance to take the reigns and maybe that still happens.

Arizona Coyotes - Ingram has pushed Vejmelka into a timeshare tandem but now we'll see if he is truly up for the challenge. Using the current "leap frog" split Ingram will get games against the Kings and Golden Knights this week and Avs on 11/30. Vejmelka will get the Blues (x2) and the Lightning.

Seattle Kraken - the Kraken have taken over from the Kings as the hardest team to predict starting goalies. Grubauer/Daccord split starts to begin the year then each of them had 3 game runs and 2 game runs. Seattle is not off to the start they had hoped. Meanwhile Driedger in the AHL has been playing really well.

Philadelphia Flyers - Ersson has won the backup job as the Flyers waived Sandstrom after never getting a game (Cal Petersen filled in when Hart was hurt).

Edmonton Oilers - Skinner has started 6 straight games. They are 1 game into a 4 game road trip to the SE USA; so Martin might make a spot start to avoid fatigue (vs Washington or back home against Anaheim?). The Oilers get a 5 day break at the beginning of December, and don't have a B2B game until 12/21-22; then get a 5 holiday break again. So they might ride Skinner hard through this period; but I can't help looking at James Reimer in Detroit as perfect complement to him. It feels like the pressure in Edmonton is either going to make a diamond or shatter their season (and him?).

Colorado Avalanche - With Pavel Francouz done for the year the Avs can manage around the cap with a clearer picture. Ivan Prosvetov has gained the team's confidence as a backup to Georgiev. The Avs rode Georgiev really hard to start the year due to lack of options behind him. Expect Prosvetov to get 1/3 to 1/4 of the starts thru the end of the year.

Tampa Bay Lightning - Vasilevskiy should be back very soon and Jonas Johansson seems to have found his "law of diminishing return" threshold.

Note: Two of the most successful teams in the league have kept true to their absolute split of tandem duties: Boston and Vegas have continued their planned rotation of "every other game". Vegas did have Hill play 2 games in a row but it is unkown if that was due to health/minor injury. Boston and Vegas both have compressed schedules coming up so no reason to think they won't continue. Toronto appears to be doing the same but not sure if they aren't just hoping to find a hot hand and will ride it when they find it or if it is a disciplined approach.

Dallas and NY Islanders seem to be committed to load management for their starter and are keeping them on a 2/3 to 3/4 split.

Laine for Mantha who says no?

CBJ

Laine has the track record its just CBJ aint for him

Gaudreau’s contract is unmovable

Not necessarily.

As if we look hes not working out in CBJ but in CGY he put up 115 points before leaving

Last year he put up 74 points but lets be real its that seems to happen alot down there. Laine be showing it

If a team like Carolina or New Jersey would have signed him got a feeling he would be doing much better. To me he needs out of CBJ and to be put on a team that better fits his style of play. Whether its a return to CGY next year or a move to another team I think if things dont improve hes gone along with Laine

Hes got a NMC sure but if its not working out he will probs waive it to go to a new team

whose gonna create next thread? we're at 51

And of course the Bruins interrupt their rotation to get Swayman into consecutive games tonight. Not sure what the reason is, but I suspect it might have something to do with Ullmark wanting to get a revenge game against Florida on Wednesday?

Also Pickard gets the nod for his first Edmonton start in relief of Skinner (a little earlier than I had predicted) and Copley gets in the net tonight for LAKings vs Arizona (guess they want him to challenge the rubber-match as he split against them for 2 starts already this season allowing 3 goals each time; one in 27 shot attempts, the other on 6).