Inside my mind

Why the hell did Anaheim give up Theodore to Vegas in order to keep Manson and Vatanen. It doesn’t make any sense.

What's going on with Clayton Keller? Honestly haven’t watched a ‘Yotes game in years, but, wasn’t this guy on track for stardom?

Getting Taylor Hall was an absolute steal. A second-round pick, for a guy three years removed from a Hart Trophy. STEAL.

Do Hall's struggles in Buffalo but success in Boston show how good Eichel actually is? How good would Eichel be on a good team? With legit linemates? Who knows.

Calgary is bad and will continue to be bad.

I know Carolina is a good team, with good players, but it always seems slightly odd to see them win games. Weird.

I miss Jonathan Toews.

Mackinnon for $6.3 mil or Mcdavid for $12.5? I’ll take Mac over Mc. Playoff success is what it's all about.

Poor Patrik Laine. Get him in a position where he can just focus on offense. Misuse of his talents.

Stop calling Jamie Benn washed. Players get worse the older they get. It's life.

Filip Hronek led the Detroit Red Wings in points. Let that sink in.

McDavid, you really gonna put up 105 points in the regular season and then have 0 primary points in the playoffs and get swept? Stephen A. roasted you and he knows nothing about hockey.

Imagine getting paid $10 million a year to put up a 5.33 GAA in the playoffs? Sergei Bobrovsky can.

Stop calling Drew Doughty washed. Players get worse the older they get. It's life.

F**k you Kevin Fiala.

Carey Price could do whatever he wanted to me and I would be completely fine with it.

Some NHL players are douchebags; namely Jake Virtanen and Ryan Johansen.

Nolan Foote’s first career goal was assisted by Nick Merkley and Damon Severson, all three players were Kelowna Rockets so that was cool.

Imagine Mathew Barzal on an offense-first team.

I had zero expectations for Alexis Lafreniere. He still didn’t meet them.

Depending on how far either Winnipeg or Montreal make it in the playoffs, Ottawa could be the Canadian team happiest with their season.

When Shayne Gostisbehere was good at hockey, he was fun to watch.

Don’t forget that Crosby had a higher career PPG at this point in his career than Mcdavid does, and he had a cup. And don’t give me that “Crosby had a better team”. Pittsburgh had five top-5 picks in a row, they were just as bad as Edmonton when McDavid got there.

F**k you Timo Meier.

Ryan O’Reilly is a beast.

Steven Stamkos doesn’t get enough love.

Toronto is not built for the playoffs. In this article I wrote in 2018 I explained why the Nylander signing would make the Leafs unable to build an effective roster in the future. I was right. F**k you Kyle Dubas. Signing four players to over $40 million dollars won’t win you playoff series.

Jim Benning isn’t actually that bad. Right? After all, he drafted Petey, Boeser, Hughes, and Hoglander. Most of his terrible signings are almost off the books.

Anyone else loved Mark Stone on the Sens but hate him on the Knights? Or just me?

It seems illegal that T.J. Oshie is 34 years old. 

Pierre-Luc Dubois is actually not that good at hockey. For the Jets, I thought he was such a freeloader and didn’t drive the play at all. I’m glad he didn’t get traded to Montreal, after all his whining in Columbus he didn't deserve to go to the team he wanted.

- Brandon Smith