The Oilers could have found an Adam Larsson on the FA market for a couple mil and keep Hall on the roster. As a Flames fan, I'm fine with this!

Hall for Larsson ROFL ROFL

A good breakdown of yesterdays deals plus tsn's top 50 FA list.

http://www.tsn.ca/wait-there-s-more-...-list-1.518321

That's absolutely wrong. There isn't a FA defenseman out there that comes close to him. He is easily a top 3 D man, in IMHO, top 2 on a team. First off, my favorite Devil currently is/was Adam Larsson so I will admit a biased before I start. I also fully admit that the Devils got the better of this trade, especially in the present, by a wide margin.

However, if you are just looking at Larsson and not comparing him to Hall, he is a fantastic player. He does not have the offensive stats to wow people, but he really does have the ability. He has a good shot, plays with his head up in the offensive zone, and has great break out passes. Unfortunately for him he was a rookie when the Devils had a good offense and was coming into his own on an awful Devils offense the past few years.

He was an absolute shutdown defenseman the past few years, especially last year. And he has room to grow. He is also on a fantastic 4.5 mil cap hit for years to come.

Point is, I get why people don't really appreciate him. He is been on a bad team, in NJ, without sexy numbers. Watch the kid play, especially in the defensive zone when the opponent is set up. He is cool as a cucumber and works the boards very well with his body. He is exactly what EDM needs, just not at the price he cost them.

But if you do care about those numbers, he did have a +15 on a bad team last year. I recognize my bias here, but I also recognize that I have watched him more than any non-Devil fan that has weighed in on Adam the past few days. Depends on the discussion you want to have. Is he equal to Taylor Hall or is he a really good defenseman who can actually still get better at 23 years old.

Decent article on why the Oilers and Canadiens couldn't make a deal, (Hall for Subban)-
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/3...eal-make-deal/

Look at Rangers fans saying they're going to get Shattenkirk for Nash.

Nash has ****ing negative value with the 2/$16 he still has left to be paid. Nobody's going to give a thing for a declining forward with an albatross contract.

Still hoping that the Blue can convince the Devils to be too cute by half and flip Hall back our way for Shatty. Or that the Bruins get a FA forward signed and are willing to move Pastrnak for him. Larkin's a pipe dream, but then again, so was Hall for Larsson.

Oh well - if keeping Shattenkirk prevents us from making a silly decision on a Backes extension, then it's a win for us. Backes is going to hurt any team that gives him the 5/$32 deal that he's looking for in fairly short order.

The Blues didn't win shit with him - they can not win shit without him. The window on the Backes era closed a month ago; it's time to move on. There's nothing they can do to make up for the fact that they needed to have this season's run 3 years ago to act as a springboard to further success. It didn't happen - it's over. Move on behind Petro, Tarasenko, Schwartz, Parayko and Allen.

(And please please please see if anyone will give you a bag of pucks for Bouwmeester....**** that guy)

Perron back! The Cup is ours!

Flush that turd Bo. **** thought we were rid of Perron for good.

Don't forget Svbotka DJ!!

Backes to Boston. This could actually be good news in that it may allow them to trade Pastrnak for Shatty now.

And Shatty's preference has always been Boston or the Rags. The Rags have jack and shit to offer so a Shattenkirk for Pastrnak deal would be about as good as we could hope for.

Hundreds of Bleed Bluers weep in a corner for Capn underachiever

Ladd to the NY Afterthoughts

So after today I don't know how to feel about the Blues.

On one hand, I'm happy they dodged two bullets in Backes(though I would've loved him to be a lifelong Blue) and Brouwer.

On the other, I feel disappointed that they don't appear to have brought in a top 6 forward and seem to have slightly downgraded offensively without a stud #1 C/replacement for Backes.

Perron is fine as a replacement for Brouwer.

I would be physically shocked if the Devils traded away any veteran offense for defense. While we have holes, we also have guys like Santini, Severson, and eventually Jacobs coming up. And while their offensive cupboard isn't as bare as it once was, there is just no way they would move an offensive player. Maybe Cammalleri because of his age.

Unless STL is interested in the Devils first next year plus a Severson or Santini or Boucher I can't see them making a deal. Ray Shero, for better or worse, at least always comes out on the better end of trades for both PIT and NJ. Especially since you guys have time, I wouldn't expect a deal between those two teams. That is unless you really like one of the names I mentioned plus our potential lottery pick of a 1st rounder next year.

Yeah, I'm a little confused by the Perron hate.

I don't love the guy; he was never someone I was sorry to see leave. But we got good value for him (our best forward prospect in Barbashev) and he brings speed that I felt was sorely lacking.

Yes, this team needs another top 6 forward to compete. Army can put on a brave face and say that we'll roll with Shattenkirk but if they go into this season with him instead of the forward we need to replace our defections (it ain't Sobotka), we'll be in trouble.

But as you said - sometimes the best deals are the ones you don't make. Brouwer's deal doesn't seem unreasonable, to be honest. But at the same time, the guy was a rich man's Andrew Shaw. He's just another of those guys that will take as many stupid goddamn penalties as he delivers clean hits. Jaskin could be a better player as soon as next year if he takes the step forward we've expected of him for years (and while Jaskin's slow as shit, he's not any slower than Brouwer).

I'm disappointed we didn't get Boedker; loved the speed he could bring. At the same time, there's a good chance he'll shut it down when he gets paid...and he wasn't exactly lighting things up to begin with.

This is the reality of a cap league; make a push and re-load. Those that don't deal with those waves are the guys with legitimate superstars and/or outstanding head coaches. Well we don't have an outstanding head coach and Backes/Oshie/Steen aren't that kind of player either.

The hope is that Tarasenko/Schwartz/Fabbri are (because Yeo isn't an elite coach either).

I wouldn't say the future is bright...but has the future ever been bright for the Blues? We're probably in the same boat we've always been; bit players in some other team's championship video...