Tobias Björnfot

And like, you're gonna see guys.

Now, there, there are other cases, like Tobias Bjornfot I saw was put on waivers recently, and so you go like, all right, well, not, they, they're not all, they're not all hits.

But yeah, it's gonna be weird seeing former Kings going on and, and succeeding, and I think that's gonna be one of the weird things about this season is as I was in the locker room today, you know, looking at the roster and, or looking at the lockers in the locker room and realizing that like a lot of these guys have had be- and this is just a function of age, right? It's the oldest team in the league.

This is not, not catching anybody off guard with that fact.

Also, you have a lot of guys in the first round being drafted very deep in the first round, 31st, 30th, 29th.

So you go, like, "Okay, what we're really talking about is Rasmus Kupari and Gabe Vilardi maybe." Like, if you're talking about first round picks or, and Alex Turcotte and Tobias Bjornfot.

But you're talking about, like, four or five guys in the first round that didn't pan out the way you want them to, and that's what people are getting mad about.

If you expand that out to the second round, the list gets a little longer, and it's starting to get a little suspicious that, like, well, why, why these things? Um, can you share that spreadsheet with me so I can highlight Helenius and Doughty? No, 'cause if I share it with you, then you can see all the other spreadsheets I have on that tab, and some of them have personal medical information on them.

There's talent there, but cohesion is key against Tampa.

And what about the defense? We have Marek Alscher, Juuse Saros, Tobias Bjornfot, and Luke Coughlin listed.

Are those the guys getting the bulk of the minutes tonight? How does that defensive core match up against Tampa's offensive rush?

That's a young, untested group compared to the veteran core usually seen.

Safe bet, but safety doesn't always win championships.

Emily in Key Biscayne asks, "Who is the odd man out on the blue line? There are so many defensemen, Ekblad, Jones, Forsling, Gudas, Kulakov, Bilinskis, Björnfot, et cetera."

The top four is pretty set, Jones, Ekblad, Forsling, and maybe Gudas or Kulakov, depending on health.

Then you have Bilinskis, Björnfot, Havørk, Jansen, Petrovic, Piianinemi, Sibrango.

That's a lot of bodies.

I'd guess Jansen or Petrovic are most vulnerable.

The Hurricanes rely on quick transitions and cycling.

Jones can kill time, make smart entries, and use his size to clear the crease, but he needs help from Forsling and Bjornfot in the neutral zone.

If they get caught pinching, Carolina's skilled forwards will punish them.

So it's all about discipline.

Gudas is the enforcer, the physical presence.

Then you have Mikkola, Kulakov, Bilinskiy, Bjornfot, Mikulas Havorka, Alexander Petrovic, Emil Pietineni, Donovan Cebrango, and Craig Benning.

That's a lot of bodies.

[whistles]