Vanflyer

@canoli Time will tell. I just don't know if I see it as this monstrous albatross that many portray. He may just hate it here so much, take his half contract money after three years and go back to KHL.

@podien25 Actually 22, but who's splitting hairs. I like the kid. I like the grit you mentioned, I like his speed and his potential. I just still see the potential- the same potential I saw in Philly. WAYYYYY to early to give up on him for sure and as a prospect and potential 3/4 dmen, would love to have him back.

@sarsippius- Nah, now its the old lady's pissing and moaning that has me on edge. I just need a boys night out I think. :-)

@AlaskaFlyerFan Something is up with NHL.com. When I did a player search for him, he did not even come up. I had to go to Vancouver individual stats to find him and last year at that (he played 4 games there and 39 at Manitoba). Capgeek had him listed as a two-way player with Vancouver this past season. I guess because he did not play and NHL games, they do not even link in his AHL stats. After some digging, I did not see he was waived by Vancouver and claimed by Chicago. Still, you would think the NHL would be up to date with stuff.

@Podein25 I have not watched him thus much this past year (perhaps @AndyS could provide input), but what I have seen is he seems to still run around allot and is still irresponsible in his own end and when it comes to taking penalties. My point being is that he is not all that and a bag of chips yet, just the ingredients that still need to be cooked and who knows what its going to look or taste like.

@Irishjim, @all I just don't think the Flyers are as stuck with Bryz as much as they think they are. They are stuck for the next two years, but after that I don't thinks so. For starters, if Breezy has as bad a time next year as he did this year and it looks like he is not the goalie for the following 7 years, I could completely see Bobs given every opportunity to win the starting job in year 3 (particularly if he plays well next year). After Bryz's third year, his salary payment will drop to 4.2M for the final 6 years as almost 50% of his salary will have been paid in the first three years of the contract. I could easily see that if it was clear that the Flyers were shifting to Bobs as their guy in Year three AND Bryz had a bad experience in year two, that he would waive his NMC. I also have a suspicion that his NMC (similar to Richards and Carters), may be null and void if Bryz agrees to a trade. What that would mean is an accepting trade partner would not mind the 5.6m cap hit or 4.2m salary hit knowing they are not locked into him for 6 years.

@Podein25 I don't get all the love for Sbisa. Potential yes. But that potential has not matured yet and does not look like it is going t mature tomorrow. I am willing to give JVR another year (assumming he is healthy).

@blocker I kind of separate Tony from plante as post v. pre-expansion. Tony just started playing when Jacques career was winding down. Certainly if you are talking all time, you would have to list Plante and Sawerchuk into the discussion.

@Podein25 While Dryden did have a great team in front of him, he also played extremely well.

@flyercanuck Roy is a complete ass and perhaps the complete opposite of the sytle and grace that is bernie parent. Hard to choose who I would take on the ice as Roy was such an enormous competitor.

I kept digging for vids (and sent HF101 a note to edit a couple). I came across this Ken Dryden vid. Not to sway voters any which way, but more to listen to a guy that after all his accolades and achievements, to me epitomizes what being a hockey player means. Listening to him reminds so much of being a kid and having dreams. http://youtu.be/wmLetcxwj6g

I kept digging for vids (and sent HF101 a note to edit a couple). I came across this Ken Dryden vid. Not to sway voters any which way, but more to listen to a guy that after all his accolades and achievements, to me epitomizes what being a hockey player means. Listening to him reminds so much of being a kid and having dreams.

@ruxpin "Now you're just being an ass- AGAIN." There, I fixed it for ya!

After watching Brodeur have a whale of a game at 40 years young, it raised the question of best goalie of all time in the modern era. Jacque Plante and Terry Sawerchuck would be included in an overall all time, but other than @blocker (:-)), I am not sure any of us were alive to witness their greatness. The modern era candidates are (with input from others): 1) Ken Dryden 2) Martin Brodeur 3) Tony Esposito 4) Bernie Parent 5) Patrick Roy 6) Vladislav Tetriak Ken Dryden: Martin Brodeur: Tony Espisito: Bernie Parent: Patrick Roy: Vadlislav Tetriak: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VkvqP39e3E

@sarsippius Your momma is SOOOOO BIG....... :-p

@jackhole Great response. I obviously have no personal observation. I guess in the end, perhaps he will be a decent minor league d-man. On JVR, while I continue to hope for him, for whatever reason he (in my and many others opinions) messed up by going to play for ECAS / NCAA. He should have gone to Juniors (either OHL or WHL). It would have served him so much more. It is hard for me because I respect folks that want to get an education. Yet, when you already have a contract awaiting you that will pay you 10's of thousands of dollars (Millions), the education can come later. Just do a Pat Falloon or that other guy that wanted to be an actor and was banging pamela anderson for a bit!!!

@mojo1917 Nice post. Yet somebody needs to really start some shite around here. It much too tame. Where is the drama, the angst, the out right fury? :-P

@Polaris922 I am basing it on the limited games I get to see of him. You would know much better than I. Is he lazy of hampered? I ask because watching the other two Staal brothers, lazy does not seem to be an adjetive to describe either one of them. On the rumor mill, it is said that if he is traded, he would really like to go to Carolina to play with his brother. Any assets there that are worth while coming back to the Penguins from your point of view?

@jackhole "wasn't close to the best d on the team" What d were better on the team (if he wasn't close to being the best on the team)? I am just curious because he was named Hockey East All-American. So if he wasn't close to the best on the team defensively, certainly those better than him were All-Americans as well?? Just wondering.....

@Irishjim "While on one hand Burke sounds like a sane GM, don't mortgage the future for old rentals and just be bounced in the first round. but in a month watch him trade his 1st pick and a couple of prospects to vancouver for overrated and over priced Luongo." All things being equal, that would be a good trade. I also don't think it will cost that much to get Luongo. Teams are not gaga over him like they used to be and his HUMONGOUS contract is a huge liability. I think Vancouver would just be pleased to rid themselves of his contract. Luongo is 10x better than anything Toronto has going on in the net anyway. Vancouver is almost as scrutinizing on its players as Toronto is (so you would not have the "Bryzgalov" syndrome). I think a Schenn could get the deal done.

@Irishjim

@terp So, what is Kane doing- throwing a bunch of hush money around? I just don't get it. It just feels whisper down the line-ish to me. Meaning, that there is some truth there, but also and equal portion of fabrication. Don't get me wrong. I don't like Kane at all. While very skilled, I find him one dimensional. He reminds a bit of Alex Kovalev. He could / can / is great, but only when he wants to be and that is becoming less and less. For the most part, he plays a 120 foot game. It looks more and more (at this point) that Couture is the true stud of that draft class.

@doom88 "Why wouldn't a team sign him to a two way deal and start him off in the A? If it's ice time he needs to develop, he might get it there. It's really too bad about the injuries though." I actually had to go look. In five years, Parent has played a total of 212 professional games (106 in the NHL and 106 in the AHL). By all accounts he has been as ineffective at the AHL level as the NHL level. I am not sure how much of that is attributed to injuries. I guess in the end, your point is valid (try and get him healthy and loads of ice time in the AHL). What is his latest injury?? He has not played a pro hockey game since 2010-2011? He was supposed to be the sleeper in the Forsberg trade. We all thought that was figurative, not literal. Sad.

@doom88 "I'd rather Grossmann every day of the week over Mike Green for example." Why they don't move Mike Green to the wing and play him on the point on the PP is beyond me.

@terp "After reading the eye witness accounts, I don't think the Hawks could give him away. " C'mon. Not a SINGLE source name. Just blank messages. I know where there is smoke there is fire, but in reading the "witness accounts", not a single name of a person? Truthfully it almost seems slanderous and liable.