dudacek

Beniers/Eklund Eidvisson/Hughes

Vogl today talked about staff staying in place until the draft despite the old June 30 cut-off. This is evidence that is certainly not universal. I guess this guy has no connection to Karmanos, but he is certainly the type we’ve been led to believe he and Adams are interested in adding.

I saw what you saw. I also wonder how much of that was a factor of trying hard to do what was being asked of him instead of what came naturally - the old thinking-instead-of-reacting issue. He did look better post-Krueger and this certainly fits with his comments about Granato wanting him to play the way he’s been brought up to play.

Is anyone else intrigued that a few short weeks after Kevyn Adams telling the world that no one is going to know until the Sabres step up to the mike who the first pick is going to be, we get not one, but two juicy leaks? On the same day no less? That seem to conflict? From what has been an extraordinarily tight ship? Reported by Buffalo reporters not known to be insiders? Could our rookie GM actually be playing the plant a rumour smokescreen game with the competition as he jockeys to reset his roster while holding the high card in a highly volatile draft and talking trade with a number of teams behind him?

The Sabres getting all three Michigan players would have helluva story. Be still my beating heart…

So if the Sabres pick the “consensus” top player in the draft at #1, is it meddling? Johnson strikes me as Alex Nylander, a guy more in love with his skills than the games.

You mean people haven’t already decided?

Give him the Chabot deal now? 8x8? The going rate? 3x4.9 (McAvoy bridge) or 6x6.75 (Provorov term) Or wait and let Heiskanen, Hughes and Makar set the market and try to slide in behind them?

It is a tough scenario for Adams, but he is the one who has decided to hit the reset button, decided to hire Granato and will make the decisions on who we acquire. I mostly agree with your post Im not going to give him a pass or fail based entirely on his record, but I will need to see improvement that includes wins. This is a last place team that was awful last year. Improvement shouldn’t be hard.

The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler has released a mock where he projects who he thinks teams will take, as opposed to who they should take. I think how different it is from his own personal rankings points to the volatility of this draft. This is his personal top 10 Power (1) Johnson (9) Clarke (8) Beniers (2) Eklund (6) Guenther (3) Hughes (4) Lucius (10) Sillinger (12) McTavish (7) This is his mock Power (1) Beniers (4) Guenther (6) Hughes (7) Edvinsson (11) Eklund (5) McTavish (10) Clarke (3) Johnson (2) Lucius (8)

This is what I was trying to say.

The New York Rangers, as a rival, are irrelevant to me. Must be a western New York thing. If the Rangers make the best offer, I make the trade. They could make a winning bid, but if Drury only offers what their fans would offer, they aren’t getting Eichel.

I don’t get that sense with Sam. I think he’s the one who wants the fresh start. With Jack, however, I absolutely agree.

Me too. If he succeeds with this roster next year, I will give him a ton of credit. If he fails, I will give him very little blame. Adams is the one I’ll be be putting under the microscope.

The Sabres will have the ability to appeal to Sam’s pocketbook by offering him a better contract than he will likely get elsewhere. They will have the ability to offer him a better role than he will get on any other team: 1C and likely team captain. They will have the ability to give him a coach he knows he connects with and is valued by. And they have a month to demonstrate they finally get it. Its not a foregone conclusion. I still think he’s gone.

I’ve never heard of Ohtani until these posts.

“I’m sure he’ll enjoy his time in Columbus and be a good player for them.”

I sometimes think the genial health care professional thing is a facade and @Brawndo is actually an AI.

Yes, or Columbus could kick back a Tampa’s 1st to Philly as well. I think Philly needs a sweetener.

Columbus: Eichel Philadelphia: Seth Jones Buffalo: 5 OA, 13 OA, Konecny, Merzlikins, Patrick

Nugent-Hopkins deal is very notable. First long-term UFA contract post-pandemic, other than Pietrangelo, who is on another tier. $5 million AAV is significantly lower than one would expect. Very much a Reinhart comparable.

It was nine months ago we were suffocating for a week under the California wildfire smoke from thousands of miles away. The high pressure ridge is expected to start to collapse overnight and that could bring lightning as that progresses east over the next few days. My raspberries are roasted. Sunblasted fruit, crispy dry leaves and stalks. The thornless blackberries right beside them look healthy, and a month ahead of schedule

I think this is likely a very strong element at play. I also wonder about the July 1 element. It has long been rumoured that Adams is bringing more people into the hockey department. I’m wondering if they are planning to stack up multiple hirings in a single announcement, but need to wait until contracts expire before making things official. There is very much a business/marketing element to this whole next month - giving the fans and sponsors a reason to invest and to be invested. Of course this is premised on the coaching decision being already made. Unless they have extraordinary interest in one of assistants still in play, there is no reason for it not to be.

It occurred to me when reading over some draft rankings, what a leap of faith the top end of the draft will be. Virtually every prospect will be ranked on an extraordinarily small sample size, filtered through distant memories of impressions left from a season that wrapped 18 months before, with no testing and limited knowledge of physical growth and trends. Whose to say the guys ranked 8th or 9th wouldn’t have established themselves as top three candidates in a normal year? That Chaz Lucius would have put up Cole Caufield goal numbers and been this year’s Alexander Holtz, or that Artu Raty’s struggles continued and plunged him all the way into the 2nd round? I’m not going to be shocked if somebody says (for example) Kent Johnson is the most talented player in the draft and plucks him top 3 or that nobody believes his talent overcomes his style and he falls like Josh Ho-Sang. Its that kind of year.

We just hit 40.4, which is .2 off the highest temperature ever recorded here. Usually peaks about now, so we’ve got a shot at the 6 p.m. measurement. I’m scared to look at my raspberries.