Thank you for the fantastic episode Kronos! Big thank you to Barker for his contributions to the Winnipeg Jets as well. With Buffalo entering a rebuild, he should thrive and score a lot over there. Oh... And thank you to the other guy that was traded too, I guess. Forgot his name. 1. Just sign the contract extensions when it makes sense to do so. It's a moving target, so it tottally illogical to wait for input, especially with core players like Kennedy. 7.75M became 11.65M and now who knows... After being toyed with for years in Buffalo to start his career, he came to Winnipeg for some stability. Instead, he's being hard-balled at every turn and would probably ask for a trade IRL haha 😄 He's the best overall rating on the team, in his prime and probably wouldn't settle for less than 8 years, as far as term is concerned. Now we know for sure he's only a RW too. 2. Stempniak, Dowd, Targaryen and Kreutzer should all also be locked up at the first opportunity too (5-8 years). All four will see monster growth, given their roles on the team moving forward and it's not the end of the world if any of them ends up being overpaid by a million or two. Better that than paying to some bench warmer or AHL-fodder (cough Walman cough 🫢) the same cash. 3. Shoutout to Mills on an epic breakout season. Seattle should have Buffalo's first(s) from the Carlsson offersheet (just as the Sabres are selling off). Between that and Helmersson, the trade tree keeps getting juicier. 4. Were there no injuries this year?

Svensson - Eklund - Kennedy Perfetti - Patrick - Tomasino Stone - Pinto - Dowd Othman - Johnston - Bhowmik BMB Stempniak - Mills Power - Hoffman Targaryen - Kreutzer Havelid Wallstedt Silovs PP1: Unchanged PP2: LW Tomasino, C Eklund, RW Dowd, LD Stempniak, RD Hoffman PKs: Stempniak-Hoffman on their strong sides

Lineup reasoning: Based on everything we know, here's the lineup that should start the POs and be given the runway until we face elimination or really need to make a change due to poor individual performances. 1. There's no lack of options for 1C between Eklund and Perfetti, but Patrick is the only proven, cup winning 2C on the team. He's also the only top-6 player with the size needed to matchup against the opposition's best and go on a deep run. 2. Stone's 40yo and his potential is AHL top-6. If his overall drops or he drags his line down, he needs to come out in favor of McConnell-Barker. Othman was a great signing and has produced amazingly with only 4th line minutes. If anything, he's under-utilized and would do well on the 3rd line if Stone falters. Another option would be Quenneville (let's sign him and potentially have him debut in the PO like Stone himself did!). 3. Don't hesitate to elevate Dowd to the 2nd line. His low-ish overall is deceiving, as he has better hands than Tomasino + all the tools to kill it offensively. Boost his physical category to league-average and he's probably an 84-86ov player right now. He just scored more points on his offside on the 3rd line as a rookie than Tomasino did in a similar spot for years. Putting him on the 2nd line also balances the forward core against a very deep Dallas team. He's legitimately a bigger, older rookie Svensson. 4. Lastly, let's run the D-core untouched. Stempniak-Mills deserve a playoff run together to prove they're a championship caliber top pair. On paper, Power - Hoffman is as great a 2nd pair as there is. And with his size and upside, Kreutzer should get the nod in the PO. Going from top-4 minutes on a winning team all year to healthy scratch is crazy. Havelid can come in if he clearly struggles. 5. Oh one more thing, Stempniak - Hoffman should play on their strong sides on the PK. That's probably the last place we'd want Dmen on the offside. Let's get rolling and win the cup!