7+6=13

Since he declined the qualifying offer - what kind of contract would you be willing to give him?

The night of has been excellent. I highly recommend it.

ok, guess it all depends on whether he earns significant time with the 3rd line. If not I think it'll be tough for him to get into the teens. If we get 23 and 16 from Ennis and Moulson - gotta think this is a playoff team just on that alone.

Zemgus traded?

He can't be happy with 7-8 minutes which means he's not producing. The fact he didn't sign his qualifying offer is evidence that he's not loving that and the 105% wasn't enough - some speculating he wants Foligno money. He underachieved miserably last year with plenty of ice time available. Zemgus isn't settling into a role to love and at this point is a riddle. I still can't fathom what you're loving.

You love a players game that you think 7 goals in 71 games represents his average? I can see your 3rd line/4th line point - however that's not love and I'm not paying 2+ mil a year for it.

I'm not saying he will or that GMTM means he's ready to play. I do believe what they saw in the camp - made them think he's physically ready to have an opportunity to make the team or get some NHL playing time. “We are extremely pleased to sign Alex to his entry-level deal,” said Sabres General Manager Tim Murray. “When we selected Alex, we obviously knew he was a talented, skilled player. We look forward to him coming to training camp and competing for a job.”

Haha, absolutely

Nah man I wasn't responding to you to be too ugly or serious. Just wanted to give the OP some props.

Nice post. I don't think anyone would have predicted the drop in production from Girgensons. He's kind of put them in a tough spot because it's very difficult to understand why - equally difficult to commit to him and/or give up on him. He got good ice time last year and there's still ice time to be had on this team (even though it certainly got tighter). I like the numbers you propose on a 2 year deal which is what it would take to keep him - but I don't think the team is going to commit to more than a one year show me last year was a fluke.

I think a very well thought out post deserves a bit more than that.

I think he's going to play for Buffalo a lot more than most think. I think he plays more than 20 games and even more if there's an injury. When he does play - if there's a shootout - I believe he'll get a chance to shoot.

Young man has elite offensive skills. Can't wait to see what he turns into in 2-3 years.

He was nice enough and was obviously coached into what to say - as you picked up on. Couple things that struck me as particularly odd was his lack of being respectful to Buffalo for spending resources to acquire the rights to be able to talk to him and his representation - I think he could / should have said that. I don't think it would have been a bad thing for him to recognize they spent a draft pick and money to fly into see me and that was an honor. He basically said them flying in gave me practice on what it's going to be like to talk to a GM and coach on August 15th. I also think he could have said hey they spent resources to be able to talk to me and based on the positive meeting would talk to them again if they feel it's necessary to get more questions answered from me and my team. Instead he said they've agreed to leave me alone now. I just think he could have come off as more respectful and possibly removing the stigma he's getting (ever how unfair) that he hasn't earned anything from the NHL. Understand that I am fully aware that he has earned the right to do what he's doing. I do still believe he didn't help himself in terms of how he's perceived.

Well then he's not as mature and Harvard smart as I'd hoped - he said almost everything the wrong way and basically disrespected 2 teams now. Unless you're a Bruins fan because it's obvious that's where he's going. Not that it matters because if you've got the talent - you've got the talent to play well in the NHL - but he sure didn't represent himself well in that interview.

IMO Nylander is going to be a much better player than Vesey.

Well that's good news. They've got great soup in that area and it can only help our chances.

I can't help but think some of these comments about the plane are sarcastic.

Amazing how much force is behind the flick back hand shot he has.

You don't know that he did.

You don't think the owner/operator of a restaurant business should be able to have input on renovations because he leases it? You don't think he should be able to say "Hey if you change that you'll take away 3 seats at the bar and those mean $10K in revenue to me each per year"?

I agree with everything you've posted and I can't understand any of it.

Looks like he'd only gain 1.5 million by doing that vs NY taxes. He'd have to work is arse off - off the ice just to get what he could easier in the U.S.

I found these numbers interesting. Might not be about money at all. I really had no idea Canadian taxes were much worse than NY. As a Tampa Bay Times analysis in January showed, Stamkos could net nearly the same annually after taxes in Tampa Bay at $8.5 million as $10 million in New York (Rangers, Islanders), presuming he'd be a New York City resident; Stamkos would make more over the length of the deal in Tampa because of the extra year. Stamkos would net $500,000 less annually than a $10 million deal with Detroit, another strong suitor, but, again, more over the length of the deal. And Stamkos' hometown Maple Leafs, due to a 53.53 percent combined federal/provincial tax rate, would have to offer him $12.37 million annually over seven years to net the same as he'd make over eight years at $8.5 million in Tampa, according to national sports tax guru Robert Raiola, the director of the Sports and Entertainment group at PKF O'Connor Davis, who has professional sports clients throughout the country.

Or leave, right?