Eleven

And that's for the NHL team to decide as soon as he's drafted, IMO.

I like this format because it's similar to what I grew up with. Also, think of how much better the Sabres would have fared with first round matchups against the Habs in 2010 and again in 2011.

I don't understand why it's the NHL's job to protect the CHL at all, but I could deal with your proposal as a step in the right direction.

This stupid rule protects the CHL at the expense of NHL teams toward the bottom of the standings, at the expense of the AHL, and at the expense of the players drafted towards the top. At least amend it so it only applies to the player's first season after the draft.

I heard about ten or twelve seconds before serious buffering issues--but you sounded good.

Oh I very much agree. But buyers near the trade deadline usually aren't teams with top ten picks. When draft picks are the currency, this is the expected return. I don't think any team would have given two #1s, for example. A 1, 2, and 3 is a pretty decent haul, and chances are the Blues will hit on one or the other of the Rags/Leaves picks. (Or they can package them and move up.) Meanwhile, a whole lot of us are wondering whether the last pick in the 2019 first round will sign here--coincidentally, also from a trade involving the Blues.

It works out to only about $1.3 M in actual dollars if my math is right. This gives Saint Louis three (and potentially 4 if they move another guy) first round picks in a very deep draft. I think it was a very shrewd move by the Blues--in fact, by all three teams. The Leaves got creative with limited cap space, the Wild sold an expiring asset, and Saint Louis may not have to go through a lengthy rebuild with all the picks it's received recently. EDIT: Also, we're talking about the Blues--a team that traded and re-signed Tkachuk about seventeen times--so it's not inconceivable that they'll leave the captaincy vacant and get O'Reilly back over the summer.

Because Minnesota has an unused asset (the cap space) that expires at the end of the season and wanted to get something for it.

But in 2023, there should be no reason. There really shouldn't. This system is obsolete and stupid and there is a way to get RSNs paid without all the blackouts.

I think you missed my point entirely.

And Saint Louis is showing everyone how to pivot quickly, too.

This is -- wow. Damn. At 25% salary, too.

Well, yeah, because they didn't play that season.

I do wonder what Mr. Sonnelitter Jr., or perhaps more likely his scions, are up to now.

The story that isn't: Johnson has not made a decision. https://buffalonews.com/sports/sabres/sabres-ryan-johnson-plan-to-discuss-future-when-college-season-ends/article_48f3cd50-ac8c-11ed-b286-b73fe9f198c5.html “I really like the Sabres, and I really like Buffalo,” Johnson explained. “It's crazy that this year is going really fast. Just gonna have to wait and see, too. And obviously, just focus where I am right now. That opportunity will be great when it comes. “I think Buffalo, they do have great opportunities, and it's an excellent place to play. So, I don't think that will be a problem. It just going to be my decision and talking to their general manager to get their view.” Either Lysowski didn't ask hard questions, or he didn't get answers to them, because this is the non-news Sabres story of the year.

Wow, that leaves me hopeful! Thanks.

And he's going to the Olympics!

Have they announced that they're going to do it at all (regardless of price)?

I know you edited your post, but I wish you hadn't, because it reminded me of seeing how some employees reacted when Ted Black would come by. Head down, "hello Mr. Black," walk by as quickly as possible...

Pegula has never, ever resisted spending money to try to win. The examples are myriad. He's made big offers to Babcock, Bylsma, Eichel, Tavares, Richards, Ehrhoff, Leino, Hodgson, Okposo, was ready to do so w/ Stamkos, and many others that do not immediately come to mind. His GMs haven't always made smart decisions, but the money always has been there until Adams decided to take things a little more slowly (this is not intended as a criticism of Adams; I have other criticisms but this ain't one).

We need the answer to this question!

The NHL was good at adapting once. Back in the very late 90s-early 00s, I could use my AOL connection to listen to Sabres broadcasts on RealAudio free of charge. The league understood that the ad revenue outstripped what it could get from charging me for emerging technology. Right now, there is no reason other than greed for any of the big sports (other than NFL, see below) to be doing what it does with broadcast/streaming. The concept of regional blackouts should have been dead a decade ago; for example, there should be no reason why an Angels fan living in Buffalo can watch Angels games UNLESS the Angels are playing the Mets, Yanks, Jays, Indians, or Pirates. There should be no reason why a Sabres fan living in NJ can watch Sabres games UNLESS the Sabs are playing the Rags, Isles, Devils, or Flyers. There really is no good reason why the NHL--or any league other than the NFL--can't go to a streaming subscription with no blackouts other than refusal to do so. Yes, the league and its teams have contracts with RSNs. All contracts can be renegotiated, and, in this case, if a league trailing everything in terms of popularity wants to move up, they should be renegotiated. Current practice is stupid, it's greedy, it leads to piracy, and it ultimately leads to devolution of the brand. Across all sports, with the possible exception of the NFL, which is starting to un-handcuff itself from lucrative but prohibitive contracts and which has no connections to RSNs.

Well there's the third. Welch, McCarver, Wieland. All icons of the early 80s in my book.

I cut it in 2014 and I am not the "upcoming generation," nor was I then. There are ways for the NHL to reasonably make money in streaming, but right now, its model is split into "a million little pieces" which few consumers--even rabid hockey fans--are going to go for. The NHL *could* see this as an opportunity to gather the RSNs into a reasonable package with no blackouts, but I doubt it does. And I think it will lose hockey related revenue, and we will see a lower cap, as a result.

Pool party a healthy scratch?