nfreeman

For the record, the Bills lost to KC because KC had better QB play and better coaching, and I say that as a big fan of both McD and JA. Having said that, I would be happy with Etienne if he indeed is a major playmaker. Would also be happy with a DE or OL in the first round and BPA after that.

Well, certainly there's a fair amount of projecting for Cozens. But I also think he puts more pressure on the opponent with his speed and his force, and is more effective 5-on-5, than Mitts, who is more of an opportunist and scores more on the PP. And while I'm happy to see Mitts showing that he isn't a washout, it's worth remembering that he has 11 ES pts in 35 games this year. His scoring has improved over the past month, to be sure, but it's still 7 ES pts in 15 games -- i.e. solid scoring in a small sample size, but nothing that makes me think he's a lock to be a productive 2C or 3C next year. I'd guess 30ish pts from each of them next year, topping out in the mid-40s, without much spread between them, and with Mitts getting more PP pts than Cozens.

Definitely an all-time great Sabre, as well as one of my favorites. Thanks for the memories Ryan.

@Thorny's point about Reino helping Eichel is not to be ignored, but I think a healthy Eichel on a well-coached team will nevertheless be able to thrive with other wingers. I also agree with @dudacek that I'd like to see Reino at 2C and let Cozens and Mitts fight it out for 3C. I think Cozens will win that competition, but if Mitts improves as much year-over-year as he did from last year to this year, anything is possible.

I'm still not sold on Mittlestadt, although he certainly has improved, and I expect Cozens to be substantially better than Mittlestadt next season.

This seems a bit of a strong reaction, innit? What exactly has you flummoxed?

But do you think Seattle would take Asplund over Borgen? It's not a slam dunk, but I think they would take Borgen.

Good man.

Also a good one.

Good question. I was going to say Geoff Sanderson, based on my memories of him as a Sabre -- ie a 30ish-pt winger who can score goals, isn't much of a playmaker and puts pressure on the opposing D with his speed, plus a better 2-way game than Sandy, but then I checked Sanderson's stats. I didn't realize he had SIX 30-goal seasons, including 2 40-goal seasons, plus another season with 25 goals, over a 17-year career. In any case I'll stick with Sanderson as a comp based on his Sabre years. I agree that Bjork seems sometimes to carry it into congestion and that he generally doesn't seem like much of a playmaker. However, I think he has a good shot and good goal-scoring instincts and that he can hang with Cozens and R2 on that line, be a good 2-way contributor and gradually improve his awareness and decision-making in the offensive zone.

And?

I'd guess that Asplund will be exposed and Bjork and TT will be protected (as well as Skinner, who will not waive his NMC), and that Borgen and Miller will be exposed, and that Seattle will unfortunately take Borgen unless KA pays them to take someone else. FWIW, I think protecting Bjork over Asplund is the right call as I think Bjork has more upside. OTOH, I'd rather lose Bjork than lose Borgen, and Seattle might be more inclined to take Bjork than to take Asplund, so it might make strategic sense to expose Bjork instead of Asplund.

God bless you and your mom. Hang in there.

Let's chill out a bit please.

But didn't goalies (and other waiver-eligible players) have to clear waivers in order to be assigned to the taxi squad?

Interesting, and I think you're right.

So if Ullmark doesn't return, that means he'll have played in 37, 34 and 20 games in the past 3 seasons. That's really not much to base, say, a 4-year contract at starter money on.

That game was the start of the Sabres' unforgettable run in 2005-06. Ottawa was one of the most loaded teams I can remember, with Alfredsson, Spezza, Heatley, Havlat, Fisher, Chara and Redden -- and then before the season they added Dominik, who at age 41 wanted another Cup, still very much had his mojo and had a .925 SV% that year. They crushed the Sabres several times early in that season -- 5-0, 10-4, and 6-1 -- but then they played again in early February. The game was hard-fought and intense, and low-scoring for a change. Vanek pulled the around-the-world move in the shootout to beat Dom and give the Sabres a thrilling 2-1 win. Misty water-colored memories...

A quote or a link sure would help here.

I'd agree with this 100% if we knew we'd get the Foligno of 2-3 years ago, and I kinda expect him to dig deep and bring it in the playoffs, but he turns 34 in October and his numbers indicate a decline. They need someone who brings intensity and leadership AND still has enough legs and effectiveness to play in the top 6.

@dudacek is usually right, but not this time IMHO. Drury was a great hockey player and a great Sabre. He was ready to re-sign here until OSP jerked him around, which was the original sin that led the Sabres to a generation in the dungeon. He didn't steal anything from the Rangers. He was good there until he suffered a career-ending injury. And none of us knows why he hasn't re-connected with the organization. What is indisputable is that he and Briere came here unwillingly but still conducted themselves like professionals and leaders, and they lifted a sad-sack team out of the ditch after an extremely tumultuous period that saw the prior owner imprisoned, the league take over the team and a new owner buy it for pennies on the dollar and run it on a shoestring budget. What is also indisputable is that Drury and Briere were the most clutch players the franchise has ever seen. Drury had 17 goals and 31 points in 34 playoff games as a Sabre. And Briere is something like #2 or #3 in playoff scoring in the last 20 years. Swap Eichel in for Drury and the Sabres aren't beating Ottawa in the 2006 playoffs, or the Rangers in 2007. It's not fair to Eichel, because Drury had Briere, plus Lindy, Ryan Miller, Tim Connolly, Soupy, scoring depth and a lot of other important components that Eichel doesn't have to support him. And if we are interpreting "talent" as skills -- speed, puckhandling, shooting, etc -- there is no question that Eichel is on a different level than Drury was. But I guaran-damn-tee that if the Sabres had Drury and Briere instead of Eichel and Reino, they would be nowhere near as downtrodden as they are.

Peak Mike Richards is exactly what this team needs -- a talented, intense ball of fury whose teammates will follow him anywhere.

Thanks. I was more curious about what the increase in the US national rights was going to do to the cap -- it looks like the increase is about $425MM per year, which is about a $13.3MM increase per team per year.

Well, I can see the appeal in your point on player movement, and I think the NBA has gone too far in that direction, but still: IMHO there should be more RFA movement in the NHL, and I think 30 is too old for first-time UFA status in a league where the best players start at 18 or 19. As for tactics and offense/defense: the good NBA teams are good defensive teams too. It's just that the NBA has made the overall strategic decision that good offense should beat good defense. The NHL has not made that decision, or really, IMHO, any decision on the matter -- they've just allowed goalies and defense to change the game gradually for the worse. I generally agree, although I think it's a bit more nuanced -- i.e. the NBA hasn't decided to enforce every rule, but from time to time they decide to emphasize enforcement of something (e.g. hand-checking by perimeter defenders) in order to facilitate offense.

I think the NHL could learn a lot from the NBA, especially how important the "offense first" approach to the game is, and how much the fans enjoy the hot stove player movement (e.g. RFAs). Ken Dryden's article a few weeks ago about how the enlarged goaltending equipment has turned once-beautiful NHL offense into a series of scrums around the net was absolutely spot on IMHO.