dudacek

Yeah, and we all seem to have variations on what we think a tank is - or maybe I should say The Tank was.

But it was after selling off Vanek and Pominville and really everyone else of value save Miller. The tank started with Darcy and was well underway when Patty was hired. He left apparently when disagreeing with Murray (and Terry?) on how to finish it

It will be a crime if he doesn’t wear #4.

I think you took that as a slight, when it was not intended to be anything other that what was said: a coach both good at and willing to focus on the development. More below. It absolutely feels different. Tank is such a loaded word around here, but in this case it simply means short-term pain for long-term gain, dare I say “tank with dignity” It’s an attempt to strip away the last vestiges of the failed Murray tank and this time do it properly with four key differences: 1) don’t gut the team without having a good farm system already in place. Mitts, Dahlin, Joki, Asplund, Tage, Bryson and to a lesser extent Samuelsson and Cozens already have pro experience under their belt and some sense of the NHL; they aren’t young kids being thrown to the wolves for the first time like Girgs and Risto were. UPL, Levi, Laaksonen, Johnson, Quinn, Peterka, Power, Rosen, Poltapov, Sardarsian, Kisakov etc. will be already in the system, but playing in the appropriate places and not moving here until they are ready. 2) bring in a coach focused on making our talented young players better, with a manager who holds him accountable for doing that, not a coach (Nolan) focused on trying to stay alive with an non-communicative GM who just wants you to lose, or a coach (Bylsma) with no development history tasked strictly to win for a GM with no larger vision or overall plan. 3) make sure your kids are kids with the proper mindset and you surround them with veterans capable of providing them with the leadership they need. No more Kanes and Bogosians mocking Gionta and Gorges to impressionable and maybe entitled Eichels and Reinharts. 4) once you’ve finished deconstructing the roster, try to win, be happy when you do and push for constant improvement. None of this two years of salted earth. Once Eichel is gone, every step becomes a step forward. If next year you end up finishing 10th like Ottawa did, that’s a good thing. You’re still getting another piece in the draft and that piece will be coming in to a better situation. It means you are further ahead on your path than you thought, the pieces you identified were the right ones, and you are on the right path.

Think about it This team currently has a cap hit of $43 million with only 4 RFAs to sign. Those UFAs will cost $10-12 million which barely gets them to the floor. The just traded their #1 defenceman by usage and their highest scoring forward for a sixth defenceman and a bucket of assets that won’t see Buffalo for two more years at the earliest. The guy they just took first overall is not likely playing until next spring. Their franchise player will not be playing for them next season and they are working hard to trade him for a package of futures. Their top two remaining defencemen have not seen their 22nd birthday. Their next two have played 50 NHL games combined. Their top two centres have a combined for 31 NHL career goals They promoted an inexpensive development specialist to be head coach And they do not have an NHL goalie under contract. Next year promises to have some elite talent at the top of the draft. In my view, they haven’t announced it, and they may pick up the odd veteran to soften the blow, but we would be foolish to think they are doing anything but tanking next year while possibly preparing a clean, fresh slate for a new buyer.

There was a report (Modo?) that Ullmark wanted to see what the team did in the off-season before deciding whether to re-sign. Anyone think he’s happy?

Elite prospects calls him a winger too…😂 The only thing I can thing of is Kim called in the marketing department in a panic and said this city needs a team it can identify with. Work with the hockey department to make it happen. And somebody said “well, Buffalo is known for its wings…”

This thread just gets sadder and sadder.

I’m still struggling with the fact we just picked 6 consecutive wingers in the space of a little over two rounds. Don’t bother telling me they were doing anything other than taking the highest player of their list, especially after taking wingers with their top two picks last year. Also, 7 picks, but not a single American, let alone USNDTP player? Talk about crushing the stereotypes.

The two CHL kids (!) both seem like attempts at 3rd liners after the 3 Russian swings for 2nd liners. I see more size and ability to play in traffic.

This is about taking a kid who missed a year due to COVID because he was a stud in midget. Similar numbers in the Greater Toronto league to 1st-rounders Zach Dean and Wyatt Johnson, but struggled in his rookie OHL season. Would have had been heavily scouted this year to see is he had progressed. Power forward type who can skate and score from what I gather.

To be fair, Levi’s numbers were ridiculous the previous year, although admittedly in a low league. His scouting reports in terms of athleticism, positioning and tracking are all excellent, and he was obviously high on Hockey Canada’s radar. You don’t get to be Team Canada’s goalie by being the Zamboni driver when the regular guy gets sick. He’s talented and seems like a great kid. Seems like the main reason he wasn’t a mid-round pick was his size. The NHL wants goalies who are 6’3” or more. Which is fair, because Juse Saros types are few and far between.

I’m thinking the Russian kids in particular are going to be heavier than their listed weights already. We may be seeing their 16-year-old weights there.

Great find. This certainly inspires hope from the “overlooked ‘cause COVID file” His numbers the year before COVID are sick: 28 goals and 85 points in 24 games?

I usually agree with you when you are on this stream, but I suspect that in this case there were offers most of us would have considered “better.” The Sabres probably think more of Levi than we do - more UPL than Dustin Tokarski.

I think this needs to be moved into the “could this team be for sale?” thread.

Talk about obscure. Another rail. I want to hear the back story because his numbers sucked last season, but were amazing the year before. This has Laaksonen written all over it. The trend this year is getting bizarre.

Im preparing myself for Kotkaniemi, Romanov, next year’s 1st and a guy we’ve never heard of.

I would have been happy with Risto for this return. I would have accepted Sam for the Risto return. Im too old to have favourite players, but Sam is someone I enjoyed watching and appreciated his professionalism on the ice. I’m going to miss him. It sounds like it was a conditional 1st, the league didn’t like the conditions and maybe the Panthers just removed the conditions and the additional pick to let iT go through?

I can’t remember the particulars @nfreeman, but you’re right, I’m wrong. Give me the specs and I will pay up. Terrible return and I like Levi. They must love Him, because that pick looks a lot more like the ROR next year’s 1st than the Erik Karlsson 1st.

Are we to the point where they have to take at least two non-wingers in that stretch? And 7 of the top 100 picks makes the draft a lot more interesting than last year’s 2 in the top 130.

I’m pretty sure Adams didn’t tell Friedman anything and I doubt Zito did either. Given how Adams acted last night, he knew there might be issues with the trade and the fact that it’s out there before it’s approved is not on him.

Yes. These guys are no Alex Nylanders. Rosen is always moving and sticking his nose in. Poltapov seems to approach the game like Forsberg. Will they grow enough to play that way in the NHL? That’s the question. I don’t think size is an issue with Power.

Poltapov (I’ll get his name right eventually) in particular seems to have that “I don’t give ***** how small you think I am, get out of my way” vibe. I think I’m going to like him.

Reinhart must be wondering if his nightmare will ever end?