Dont hate it

Me either. EDM might tho.

Change 25 1st to Broberg and maybe then we'll have something to discuss.

Why in the world would you rather have Broberg over a 1st?

Over a late 25 1st? How long ya got?

I don’t think there’s any reasonable way we’re very competitive during the Krug/faulk contracts. At the very least the Saad, Hayes contracts. I think we’ll have at least 2 more rough years depending on what they do with Buch. I dunno I just may be the lowest person on here on prospects or Brobergs ilk. Guys drafted high. Who have played near 100 nhl games and failed to make an impact of any significance.

1 - I don't think there's any way those two both finish their contracts in STL. So that's where I'm coming from. This whole idea that we will have to wait 5 years to be competitive is crazy to me. People are conflating how they feel about the roster today with what can happen as time moves on and moves get made. Where was Vancouver last season? Or Winnipeg? Look at how Jersey have fallen. And Seattle. And the Wild. So much can happen, even in one offseason. Or one full year.

2 - I'm not super concerned about Saad. Hayes I would obviously like to move. I'd have liked for him to already been moved, if I'm being honest. Our little garbage slump lately has affected a lot more than just our playoff outlook for this season.

3 - Broberg is a legit complimentary top 4 Dman whether the Oil realize it or not. And how many times in Blues history have we taken some guy that was not thriving elsewhere and then he played the best hockey of his career in STL? We could list names for a long time, man. Broberg is still an excellent prospect, and the Oilers are still a team that routinely mishandles excellent prospects.

For the last point. I think there's something extremely flawed about how the Oilers draft and develop. They seem to rush guys to the NHL too quickly and then when they start to sink they don't really give them a life raft killing confidence. It's why i'm fairly concerned about Holloway as well. I have a hard time squinting enough to see Broberg as more than a bottom pairing guy who has the tools to play higher but not really the toolbox to do it. I would love to be wrong on the player. I've also just seen the Oilers do this mishandling and wait too long, again this could be heavily clouded by Puljujaarvi, Yakupov, and Paajarvii along with a few others. I just feel like we've seen this play out before. A late 1st would at least give us flexibility to make a move.

As for the where was Vancouver last season, that's a bit of an extreme point. Vancouver made alot of good additions. My general concern is how night and day this team looks routinely. That paired along with the areas we have major deficiencies in I don't see the players rebounding or us being able to patch it over. We have a very strong 1st and 4th line. However, our middle 6 is an absolute nightmare of consistently inconsistent veterans who are payed to provide more. This will open up a bit with Kapanen expiring, and I think we can fill that spot via Snuggerud internally. But Hayes, Saad, Schenn, I don't think they're going anywhere, and I don't think they're going to become any more consistent. I know this is odd to say because Saad is generally the most predictable player in terms of outcomes you will find. He'll get near 20 goals and near 20 assists. But boy when he isn't scoring he is doing virtually nothing. Schenn, probably a 3rd liner at this point in time. Always had been streaky, but this is a new level of not scoring a goal in 15 games, then scoring 4 in 5, and now on another dry streak for 15 games. Hayes gets a breakaway or two a game somehow yet is the slowest player in the NHL. I jut don't see a rebound here. We're already getting an ascension from Thomas, Parayko probably playing the best hockey of his career, and Binnington/Hofer being outstanding and are teetering .500, how much more can we jump if we're strapped up to the cap with aging contracts getting hypothetically worse?

Re Broberg: Tools is not the problem. He has all the tools.

The Canucks are an amazing point, they were awful last season. They had two more points than we did. And yes, they made a bunch of great moves... as could we. Remember the 2018 offseason?

Like I've said before, there are solutions. They aren't always easy, for sure, but the future lies ahead. You can't get trapped in the misery of the now. I could make two great roster changes (a proper 2C that moves Schenn to the wing and Krug bought out to sign Forsling), and suddenly the whole thing looks totally different. We're not so far away as some folks feel out their on the ledge.

Those are two pretty significant moves. And i think you read the Broberg part wrong or I typed it wrong. I think we are in agreement with him, but I seem to be alot more pessimistic about his outcome.

Those are massively large roster changes to make. 1. Moving Krug out would have to imply that Doug makes any use of his philosophy of not giving out any NMCs. They have to threaten him with sending him down at this point to push a move. They gave the grace of not doing it instantly last year which would've been a great move for the Blues. Can't do it again.

I think our front office internally is teetering the line of whether they want to wait for the kids to come up, or whether they want to compete and jeopardize the future. In a perfect world we could find a 2C that has a 2-4 years left on his contract. That's a tough task, especially considering if it does fix our issues we would probably have to let him walk after unless Dvorsky doesn't work out. Forsling re-signed on a very good contract with Florida, but I understand what you mean there. But where is that market? It's essentially down to Skjei. I wont hold my breath that we are able to sign the one good UFA in a position when we are in the position we are.

1- Yes, I said two great moves.

2 - For starters, there was a team who wanted Krug full cap last summer. And frankly, I've been wondering if he would turn down a trade to Philly today... I'm not convinced he would. But above all that, I think we've reached the juncture where a buyout is entirely reasonable to float. We do not need to play games with this if we do not want to. It's as easy as a signature.

3 - Stephenson is a UFA. And I'm not following your Forsling-Skjei point. Let's be real, there's almost no chance Florida can keep Forsling unless somebody like Reinhart or perhaps Montour walks. They just cannot afford it. Not even close.

They already extended Forsling to a 5.75 AAV contract

Oh FFS, I totally missed that. But hey, I almost had his AAV right on the money.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go sink into the darkness...

Edit: Btw, they look super mega screwed for next season with this signing. I hope Zito knows what he's doing.