dudacek

Yes, I do seem to value Comtois more than most. How I would rank your five: 1. Comtois: Already a top 6 winger, still young enough to have upside, fills an organizational need in terms of leadership, abrasiveness and 2-way play. 2. Power: Good player, almost certainly a top 4 all-situations D; questions about his 1st-pairing upside, I still see him as Eric Johnson 3. Turcotte: has Chris Drury 2C upside, plays both ways, leader; questions about his skill, could also top out as a Cody Eakin in his prime 3C (not meant as a shot, Eakin used to be useful) 4. Vilardi: Upside is Ryan or Dylan Strome. Will produce with the right linemates; will not be driver or an identity player 5. Johnson: Nylander — ceiling Willie, floor Alex. A nice throw-in, but not who I'd want as a building block. First three are all close and players I'd like to add. see below While I agree Casey and Dylan aren't enough, there is still the return from a Sam trade to consider, as well either Eklund or Beniers from a Jack trade or 1OA. I would also be very surprised is another centre isn't brought in through trade or free agency.

Eklund is as much a centre as Trevor Zegras. As in he’s played a lot there and a lot the wing. I’m not taking Power at 1 or assuming the Sabres will. Im trying to play the draft so I walk away with Eklund and Beniers.

Player over position to me. Comtois is head and shoulders over Villardi to me. Comtois is that gritty two-way top six winger we are in desperate need of. He is the only proven player with upside being talked about. Turcotte might be better, might not. I like his game, but I’m not sold on his ceiling. 3OA to me means a good chance of Beniers/Eklund. There’s no way we get that with 8. Same. He’s probably going to be similar role, worse player than Casey.

If it’s Turcotte/8 or Comtois/3, I take the Ducks deal all day long. The Kings would have to offer significantly better sweeteners.

This is the crux of it. I believe Jack is not part of Adams plans for the fall; he wants a room similar to what Donnie finished the season with, with lots of space for kids to bond and grow. His goal is almost certainly to trade Jack prior to the draft, or at least the opening days of free agency. After that, the market will shrink. The question is, can he leverage a good deal by the deadline, and if he can’t will he pull the trigger anyways?

Roughly for argument sake: Asplund 1M, Mitts 2M, Joki 2M, Borgen 1M and Dahlin 6M So about 12 million minus 15 million from Jack and Risto and another ~ 1M from whoever Seattle takes That leaves 38 million to re-sign or replace Linus, Hutton, Sam, Jack, Risto, McCabe, Irwin, Reider and Sheahan

If you don’t believe Jack will fully recover, you aren’t bidding on him. If you do, you’re in for a penny, in for a pound. For the teams that are in, it’s a lever to try and lower the price, that’s it.

Could be as simple as: Adams talks meat-and-potatoes, all-for-one hockey that evokes hope for fans that like a Brian Burke/Boston Bruin approach to hockey. Sam Ventura and the PIttsburgh Penguins do not. I think the organization you more properly should be looking to is the one that hoisted the Stanley Cup last night: one that on the ice never gives an inch, and off the ice unearths value in places where others fail to look.

I think they want Sam and Risto to want to be here. The test of whether or not they actually do will be contract talks. Actions speak loudest. That said, Dreger’s comment is more posturing, IMO.

A relentless team. Not bullies, but fast, in your face, together, and highly competitive. Mike Peca. I still think they dearly love Beniers as the poster child for this and the fact his name has drifted to the backwaters of the rumour mill is deliberate. It’s why I think Comtois and 3OA will be Sabres within a few weeks. That said, Eklund is also of that mold, and more skilled.

“At October” is not really a factor, IMO. You are making a 5-year, $50 million commitment, never mind the pieces you are going to give up. The question is “what are the odds he will make a full recovery” You don’t make that kind of gamble unless they tell you the percentages are extraordinarily high.

I think Jack Eichel’s health status is one of the most overplayed factors in this whole scenario. If NHL teams didn’t think it was likely Jack was going to get healthy, they wouldn’t be having serious talks about him, period.

I think most of the outrage comes from people who thought Rossi was a top 5 pick and Quinn maybe a 10-12. Nothing has happened since to change their minds, except Rossi not being a top 5 pick and Quinn getting picked at 8.

The are a bad team in a weak hockey market and need a franchise face and star to get bums in the seats and sponsorship attention.

Next up, followed by San Jose and the Rangers. Not sure after that.

Cozens A game is a less-douchey Ryan Kesler, IMO, Zegras is more Artemi Panarin-esque, although I don’t see him reaching that height. Between Panarin and Willie Nylander maybe?

Because of the Pegulas? Adams Granato Karmanos Ventura is certainly a new braintrust, and the infrastructure underneath them is radically different than it was a year or two ago.

Staal was two months shy of his 24th birthday and a 6th-year pro, a year away from unrestricted free agency coming off a season of 50 points, which was his career high. Reinhart is seven months past his 25th birthday and a 6th-year pro, a year away from unrestricted free agency coming off a season of 40 points, and a career high of 65. As far as comparables go, they are a lot closer than you say. I am very confident that Sam will get a top 10 pick or similar prospect. Care to make a charity wager?

I would suspect that Vancouver at 9 and LA at 8 would add sweeteners for Sam. He’s definitely comparable to Jordan Staal, when Staal was traded for 8, Doumoulin and Sutter,

There is a large segment of (mostly non-Sabre) fandom that thinks this is about Jack forcing his way out. But anyone who has watched this develop should have no doubt it is Adams-initiated. He pretty clearly thinks that Jack is a detriment to the culture he wants to build. That said, Jack is also pretty clearly ready for a change and has very little faith that the organization is capable of giving him the support he needs. It’s broken relationship with both parties ready to move on - a divorce.

While I think Matty Beniers would quickly become one of my favourite players and I drool over the thought of alternating him and Cozens in their primes, I am all in on Eklund at #1.

100 per cent agree with your first 2 sentences. Really worried about Casey and Dylan as 1C and 2C next year and I wonder about the cost/benefit of keeping Sam until the deadline versus signing or acquiring (a likely inferior) someone else to protect them.

Hall had an NMC. And he also had 2 goals and quit on his team. Sabres still got 2 pieces.

Will they be interested? Apparently? The Avs have one of the most star-studded rosters in the league and will have to buck up big time in the next year or two for Grubauer, Makar, Landeskog and MacKinnon, so one would think it would be exceedingly difficult to accommodate Eichel and his $10 million under the cap. But they are oh so close to a cup and may see a stud to anchor their 2nd line as the missing piece. And it was reported this week that they have entered the bidding. Do they have the pieces? They have the most important piece: a prospect with 1C potential in Alex Newhook. They also have blue-chip defence prospect Bowen Byrum. Beyond that, the prospect pool is a little thin and the Sabres would almost certainly be taking a contract back, since the Avalanche has $25 million in space to re-sign or replace Saad, Landeskog, Grubauer and Makar. Would this work? Newhook, Girard, Jost, Compher and a 1st for Eichel, the Bruins 2nd and Asplund Asplund for Compher gives Sakic a similar player at a lot cheaper price. Girard opens up an expansion protection spot for Graves while Byrum fills his role. The Sabres meanwhile get their 1C prospect, and a quality young PMD on a long-term deal in Girard while adding a couple lottery tickets in Jost and the 1st. Is there a deal to be made with the Avalanche?

According to the Athletic, Kaprizov is telling the Wild he wants to see a big move for a centre before he’s willing to commit long term. Will that affect Guerin’s offer?