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Lost Docker... makes sense

Not necessarily. Expect he should be ready next year & possibly this year.

looks like a left handed puck mover/third pairing guy? the kevyn adams specialty

I'd rather have the Fiddler On The Roof

It's a nominal designation. Your choices are McLeod, Norris and Kulich. Who are you playing with Thompson? You need McLeod to play against the other teams' best line. Norris and Thompson are both shoot first players. I don't see a fit there. That leaves Kulich who showed good chemistry with Thompson last season. This isn't ideal but I disagree with those who argue he can't handle the job. He is defensively aware and has good offensive instincts and plays hard. I expect him to blossom this season.

Kulich should be the 3C, playing between a couple of vets like Zucker and trade acquisition Rust. Norris is 1C by default until he is injured or proves he isn’t up to it. Thompson and Benson on the wings. McLeod should be 2C with Tuch and Greenway. Potential to be a real shut down line. Krebs, Doan, Malenstyn, Danforth, Kozak make up line 4, with Krebs and Doan playing up when there are injuries. Need to move Quinn in a package for Rust. I actually think this works as a wild card level group of forwards on a team that actually plays with structure. So, not the Sabres. But the best I am hoping for is that the pieces are there and Adams and Ruff are turfed in November.

My god, how many Tweener defencemen can Kevyn Adams sign before he’s finally through? Seriously. He seems to acquire 4 or 5 every ***** year.

Interesting

I'm not worried about Benson but the problem is there's overlap in the waves of futility so each time, the next wave wants out and next up will be Dahlin. Peterka kind of jumped the gun early on the usual pattern.

Usually, but this year I think we've actually taken a step backwards.

Only in Buffalo would a young prospect be anointed as a 1C where otherwise in properly managed teams it would be questionable that he is even a center and/or top 6 player (yet).

Nashville spent like drunken sailors during FA last year then missed the playoffs. So uhh; exsctly why huge FA signings aren’t a guarantee

Essentially, by the time Levi reaches his potential, he'll be on the brink of UFA. Tuch may already be gone. TNT and Dahlin could be demanding trades. And then Levi walks, just as Ullmark did, because there's no money in the organization that had Hasek to pay a proven starting goalie. (Under this current GM/owner combination.)

I'm not worried about Benson not responding to a coach. I'm worried about Benson being a self-respecting SOB who wants to win and telling the GM of this team via agent: There is no counteroffer. We don't want to be here. Trade, please.

So he would become DeVon LeVon?

Yeah. Really like Metsa for the Amerks and Fiddler-Crab too. Karmanos has been doing some solid work.

???

Two good signings for Rochester. Metsa won't ever get a look over Bryson. Metsa would hate to be stuck in the press box.

What good is Levi hitting if you've wasted Tuch's cheap days, Dahlin and Tuch get tired of waiting on a goalie prospect, and Power never achieves full power? Levi will price himself out of Buffalo by the time he's good.

Benson's a carney. You honestly think that he can't handle a little stick tap on the helmet when the HC is trying to make an example of him? He's heard every single derogatory slur there is and it has all rolled right off. Benson laughs at your lack of faith.

Benson is one of the hardest workers on the team. Kulich has proven that he is a hard worker as well. JJP improved every year he was in the organization. That doesn't happen without hard work. Who can blame him for wanting out from under the Adams' gross mismanagement on the team? If they dogged it on the ice, you might have a point, but Benson, Kulich and JJP are the wrong choices for you theory. There are guys who have dogged it out there. Power is the leader of that group. He is the epidemy of spoiled player. He got his big contract and has regressed every year.

That’s a lot for KAM but if there’s one team that I would trust in identifying under-developed defensemen and getting the most out of them, it’s Carolina. I don’t love the fit for them looking at the player he was in NY but I feel like every D that goes to Carolina finds the next level in their game. I’d bet they’re hoping he clicks with Slavin who can mitigate any mistakes. Now they just have to find an entire second line. Not sure where that 2C comes from unless they’re just going to continue trying to roll Kotkaniemi out there.

And it's so easy to leave. Don't worry. You won't be branded a quitter by the league -- how you gave up on your teammates and such. You'll be praised for your intelligence and desire to win. JJP (and I guess JBD, too) laid the blueprint for how to simply coast on out of town. Benson is a RFA next summer.