nfreeman

Slight correction: the danger of Robert B. killing Jon Snow arose because Jon is a Targaryen, not because he is Lyanna's son. Upon taking power, Robert B. sought to hunt down and kill all of the Targaryens, both to protect his claim to the throne and because he had a borderline-insane obsession with making sure there were no more dragons. The assassination attempt on Danerys in season 1 (I think?) was part of this hunt.

I'm kinda hoping our man in Sweden delivers a good scouting report on Nylander and Asplunge.

Well, now it's clear why that occurred to me!

It occurs to me that Florida, after having their best season in forever, is swapping out 3 of their top 4 defensemen (assuming Soupy signs elsewhere). That's pretty strange.

I think he's shown flashes of being good to very good at pretty much every desirable skill a defenseman should have, and he did so in his first full season. It should also be noted that an experienced NHL coaching staff clearly preferred him to Pysyk. The eye test unmistakeably confirms that Pysyk never drove anything while on the ice. This. Also, the coaches also didn't trust him to kill penalties, and he had zero power play skill. Yes indeed. I'm much happier with where the Sabres are today after the trade they made than I would've been if they had traded #8 for Fowler. I don't think this is the ultimate goal. I also think it was more important to upgrade the role of Risto's partner than it was to maintain a good possession number at the #6-#7 defenseman slot. This is an interesting question. I wouldn't be surprised either way. They still have Nelson and Franson at #6-#7. Separately: as Hoss noted upthread, GMTM spoke very highly of Kulikov -- high enough that I expect GMTM to try to sign him to an extension. Also worth noting that Kulikov played over 25 min per game for Florida in the playoffs this year after being 3rd on the team in ice time in the regular season (he was paired with Ekblad for much of the season too). I think this is a significant upgrade.

So his dad played in the NHL for 16 seasons, then 6 more in Europe before retiring at age 42. And his brother was drafted by the leafs a couple of years ago, also at #8. And there's this: when LQ and TG butchered the Chris Drury contract in 2007, Michael Nylander had just finished his contract with the Rangers. He signed with the Capitals on Black Sunday. LQ mentioned at the postmortem presser, in a feeble attempt to deflect blame, that if Nylander had stayed with the Rangers, Drury wouldn't have signed with them and would've stayed with the Sabres. It was and remains obvious LQ BS, but it popped to mind when I was looking at Michael's stats. It's a new era. And the kid's highlights look impressive.

IIRC, you've been lobbying for Nylander for a while, yes? So you're accountable for this one?

Regardless of how prudish/uptight Winnipeg is, Cerebral implied that Kane has a history of sexual accusations. This doesn't seem remotely accurate.

Was Kane accused of any kind of sexual impropriety in Winnipeg?

Well, I think Lindy was thinking more along the lines of Hossa or Toews.

Not Chara or Hossa. And here's one close to your heart: not Kovy. But I agree that many turn out badly. I'd be interested to see a breakdown of elite UFAs who signed big deals at, say, age 28 or lower (i.e. where the player doesn't turn 29 until after his first season with his new team).

This.

Or maybe some jerk got in his face, there was a shoving match and someone called the police. We don't have any information yet -- so can't really draw any conclusions.

Is it a strip club?

There is zero chance of this happening, or of London losing its primacy as Europe's financial hub.

There's no such rule here. Please post more often, including on your board/thread preferences.

Still blaming Lindy, eh? Even though 3 other teams (Montreal, Austrian national team and Minnesota), once they saw him up close, wanted nothing more to do with him?

He's probably a good guy, but he never wanted it bad enough. Great hands though, and every now and then he would turn on the jets. And he was the best forward Darcy ever drafted. Yeeeeeeesssshhhh.

What a freaking bum Vanek turned out to be.

Because Buffalo isn't in Canada.

Of course, but there are other teams bidding for him too. FWIW, I do not think GMTM will trade #8 for him, and I would not do so either, but I wouldn't be shocked if GMTM does so.

Speaking for myself only, the only time I will merge threads is when they are essentially redundant -- e.g. if there is a thread entitled "Should ROR be moved to wing?" and then someone starts a thread entitled "Is ROR better at center or wing?"

Well, there already is one for Stamkos and one for Vesey, and there will presumably be one for each of the Sabres' draft picks. If PAFan (or anyone else) wants to start a dedicated Fowler thread, or a dedicated Player X thread -- have at it.

What? What? That movie was one terrific scene after another. I will admit that QT is not for everyone. But if you appreciate his work, "Pulp Fiction" was pretty much a masterpiece.

I hope you're right, and I would send them Zemgus and Foligno (and a #2 pick if needed) for Fowler, and I think GMTM would too. I think Ennis would be Anaheim's least preferred member of the group due to concussion and contract. Good post. I kinda think GMTM is going to reel him in and this got me pretty psyched. I'd rather have Fowler than Shatty.