dudacek

Further to the above, the D situation is not like the situation in goal last summer. Last summer the Sabres were shopping from a list headlined by question marks like Campbell, Husso, Vanecek, Georgiev and Comrie. This year the names of potential D targets is much more proven: Graves, Pesce, Hanifan, Grelczyk, Faulk, Parayko, Martinez, Mayfield, Tanev, Toews, Girard, DeMelo, Murphy, Edmundson, Lindgren, Dumba, Orlov, Dumoulin, Dunn, Soucy, Gudas, Schenn, Bouchard, DeHaan, Peeke, Borgen… Gavrikov, Severson and Provorov have already been locked up. I’m sure there are others I’ve missed. Any of these guys could solidify our corps. Most will see the opportunity that exists for them here. Adams has the ammunition to acquire them. There’s just no excuse not to pull the trigger on someone.

The Sabres have a bigger piggy bank than most teams (cap space, assets) and there appears to be multiple options out there, be it trade or free agency. The price is the price, the need is obvious. Failing to add a bigger piece than Lyubushkin in the next 2 weeks would be derelict, in my opinion.

Been cable free for awhile now. Started this last season when they switched up the apps. Bit of a learning curve initially, but it’s been relatively glitch free and I’ve been happy with the service.

I mean it’s a promotion, but living in New York, working with Drury and Laviolette? Yuck. He’ll come home eventually.

If I’m Power I’m betting on myself. If the Sabres want 8 years, it better be for around 8 per.

As someone who lives relatively close to Vancouver, visits frequently, and was there as recently as last week that video (at least the intro and brief snippets I saw) is hardly a fair reflection. It’s like showing 60 minutes of Jacob Bryson and saying “look at the Sabres”.

I feel like the media has kinda hand-waved Michkov as “Russian issues” and has provided very little insight as to what he is as a player and a person. Before the war,when he was playing against his peers in this draft he was a clear #2, if not a 1B. We live in a world where even top draft picks take 2 or 3 years to make the jump, so I don’t see why his Russian contract is a huge concern. Russian players are still coming. We just added 2. Why are scouts saying “he’s going to get someone fired?” Is he a diva? A puck hog? A talent who got overrated early like Wright but hasn’t progressed? Is he tied up with the oligarchs? If he has a good chance to be Nikita Kucherov, there’s no way he shouldn’t be in consideration for the 2nd pick. What’s the real story on this guy?

Shh! Why any Sabres fan would want to question the results of this meticulous report from T. Pegula and Associates Research Inc., released so close to free agency day is beyond me.

On paper I can see why somebody would look at him on paper and go “Teppo? Jeep?” You wouldn’t feel the same way if you watched him. Dude looks shot and has for some time. That’s for 2 teams and multiple coaches. (There, by the grace of god, goes Jeff Skinner. Did we ever dodge a bullet there)

And the above is pretty much part of why I’m leaning towards trading the pick: There are lots of intriguing players available around 13, who will be great adds to our asset pool. Not sure if any of them make me go “that’s the piece we are missing.” You’re never beyond the need for adding assets, and you never get stupid about blowing up your pipeline. But we’ve reached the time where roster building takes precedence. If 13 is the price we have to pay to fill in our missing pieces, pay it.

Not sure where I am with Benson, but I’d think the same logic applies. He’s not what we need at all, but if he slips to 13 the value is probably too much to ignore. Perreault is the same script, although, unlike Benson, there will probably be other guys available at 13 who are as good as he is.

Maybe even some suffering? 😜

Size concerns, as in he thinks we’d have too many small skill guys who’d get pushed off the puck too easily. I think he’s probably right, but I’d still draft Michkov: draft for talent, trade for roster construction.

I don’t think he’s getting traded. I think he loves Carolina and wants to stay and the Canes have dangled this story to LeBrun in order to frighten Pesce into taking less than he’s worth. I mean he says he loves the Carolina weather and gets told Buffalo and Edmonton are sniffing around? Fake news.

Vanek is quite good. Seems a lot more savvy than the hosts.

There seems to be a lot of options out there and you get the sense Adams is leaving no stone unturned. I think filling that number 4 spot has been a huge priority and they’ve done a done of work identifying what’s needed and the best available fits. Really curious who their top targets are and how much they are willing to pay.

He's going to really have to wash out for me to give up after 2-years. You're looking at at least 5 years with goalies. Look at the 2017 draft. Oettinger was the top goalie picked and arrived relatively quickly. The next most successful guys (UPL and Stuart Skinner) are just starting to show up this year.

Victor no longer has a spot; that’s why he didn’t play down the stretch and it’s why he’s being moved. His replacement on the roster is already here in Jordan Greenway. Adams sacrificed excess scoring in his middle six wing group for a boost in size and defensive awareness. The combination of Greenway and whatever Adams uses Victor for needs to benefit the team more than Olofsson and the 2nd he gave up for Greenway.

I’m in a comfortable place with the draft. Nobody bats 1.000, but the Sabres are on a run of either drafting players I’ve liked, or proving me wrong when I’ve questioned their choices. It’s been proven to me that Adams, Forton and Ventura are better at the draft than the internet is. If they pick a guy I’m meh on, chances are I’m probably the one who’s wrong.

Those Athletic quotes from anonymous scouts seem to indicate he is very high on some people’s lists. 6’5” and highly skilled? I’d tend to think he’s underrated on some lists due to lack of exposure. Might be a top 10 talent. I’d be fine with Adams taking a swing.

We thinking that when we do a checklist of what this D needs there aren’t many NHLers who tick more boxes than Pesce.

The offence really doesn’t matter to me. Im looking for Mattias Ekholm. Ive said it before, and it’s why I haven’t been really concerned about the lack of D in the pipeline: it’s a helluvalot easier to find a 4-6 than a 1-3. Having Power and Dahlin around for a decade is going to be a privilege this franchise has never seen the likes of.

I like the Heiskanen/Ekblad comparables Lance uses above for Power. Adjust those for today’s cap and we have a fair deal. I like even more the report that each wants to be a Sabre long-term. I was pretty sure that was the case was Dahlin, not so sure about Power.

I believe it was the Joe and Lance podcast where they pitched the idea of Olofsson to Calgary, who desperately needs a finisher. Tanev was mentioned. Vegas was another team they said might be interested (Martinez) and Winnipeg (Demelo). They were spitballing teams who might need an Olofsson and have what we need, not passing along rumours. They also said a market might be there despite the holes in his game for 3 reasons: Olofsson can kickstart a lot of power plays in a way many players can’t the list of players who score 25 goals for $2.5 million (with retention) is very short his acquisition cost and/or contract commitment is a lot easier to swallow than other scorers on the market like Debrincat and Tarasenko. I think he moves at the draft.

A pretty good argument can be made that Florida’s overly physical style ended with them being so battered by the finals they didn’t belong in the same rink as Vegas. There has to be a smart element to your physicality. Vegas seems to have that balance. Guys like Cozens Krebs Tuch and Mule seem to be in that mold. Greenway is intended to be a step in that direction. Certainly would like to see that from our new 4D.