dudacek

Rolston https://www.eliteprospects.com/staff/403/ron-rolston Granato https://www.eliteprospects.com/staff/6938/don-granato

I can’t swear to it but Im pretty sure a majority of starting goalies don’t achieve that status or at least solidify it until they are 25. Basically, their prime years tend to be later than skaters. Gibson at 27 should be similar to Eichel at 24, in terms of typical player careers.

Jimmy Murphy is not an Insider at the Athletic, he is a Boston sports media personality of mixed credibility. I hope that was the opening ask of the Bruins, the team he is most likely to have actual sources with. Not only will that not be the return, it is almost an impossible return. How many teams in the NHL actually have all those elements, never mind the depth to absorb trading them. From the Sabres: Mitts, if he qualifies as top six? Jokiharju if he qualifies as top 4? Cozens if qualifies as a prospect still Peterka and Samuelsson 1st overall What do your analytics show you about starting goalies between the ages of 27 and 33, comparison to their 22 to 27 years?

1) Can he be? Isn't he under contract to the Sabres? 2) How do you know he hasn't?

Girgensons peak was 15 goals, 30 points in 61 games at 21 as a 2nd year player. Comtois went 16 goals, 33 points in 55 games at 22 as a 2nd year player. Don’t agree with @Buffalonill, but it’s not a bad take at all.

Here’s a rare positive thought: What if the Sabres scouting restructure made them better prepared to scout in the age of COVID? What if the Sabres 9-person team has been hunkered down over the tape, the cell phone, and the calculator amassing data while the old-school teams had half their 15-person team just twiddling thumbs, waiting to get into arenas again?

I believe I posted something similar before, but if the Sabres are trading Jack Eichel in part because of me-first, Masshole tendencies, they should not be pursuing Tkachuk in return. And I say this as someone who really likes Tkachuk’s skill set.

Cole Perfetti is very skilled and may end up a better player than Quinn. But he's not hard skill, or fast skill.

Quinn is skilled, plays hard and does anything his coaches ask of him. He absolutely fits the profile. I get why some are upset about the Quinn pick. I'm continually surprised at the misperceptions about what kind of player he is. We can only hope he ever gets close to that level, but his game style is very Mark Stone.

Toews, Kesler, O'Reilly, Bergeron...any reason why Beniers can't have an NHL career like those guys? If he can, he's worthy number one.

Can you elaborate?

Nobody. 5OA would have to be the centrepiece. What Columbus does have are character players who grind and believe in team. They also have a goalie and they are shopping Jones. If the Ducks are 3OA, Comtois, Gibson and Perreault, Cbus could be something like 5OA, Jenner, Jones and Foudy. The Ducks mix is better at every slot, IMO. The Jackets also have Merzliklins/Korpisalo and two extra late 1sts to mix in. Hughes does not have the reputation of being a team-first player.

"“Heart, compete, fast skill, but hard skill,” said Adams. “There’s a lot of skilled players out there in the playoffs, but it's a hard skill and willingness to go to the hard areas, just that type of team identity. Also, an identity of team first, really believing in each other. Getting away from anyone in this organization or on this team that's more concerned about themselves." I can't think they aren't anything but focused on Matty Beniers.

Looking forward to my first Kraken/Seahawks double-header weekend if it’s ever safe to visit your country again.

My hope is Adams wants to vomit too, he's just saying what he needs to say in order to steer Terry where he needs to be.

Well you shoulda just said that in the 1st place 😜 The first sentence is fair. So is 3OA Gibson Comtois and a prospect offer, at least in the context of 'Eichel will be traded in the next month'. That is because I believe Gibson is a legit long-term starter, Comtois is a top-six winger with upside and leadership qualities and an "identity" player, and there is a good chance 3OA should bring us a player as good as Cozens. It is because I am fearing an ROR trade — where the best piece we acquired roughly equals the worst piece in this proposal (Tage/Perreault) — that I am open to doing this one.

I quoted you directly. Even bolded the relevant parts. I can agree with your third sentence. The point I am making is that Comtois has realized potential and Thompson had not, which means a lot. An extreme example would be like saying Zegras has potential to be a 1st line centre and therefore has similar value to Eichel.

Comtois led his team in scoring and plays a physical two-way game. Making him a rough equivalent to Tage is disengenuous. These are some of Comtois' peers. Nick Suzuki 41 points, 56 games Robert Thomas 12 points 33 games Gabe Villardi 23 points in 54 games Max Comtois 33 points in 55 games You get that your take on Gibson is pretty similar to all those internet put-downs you are shaking your head at about Eichel, right? Too old, contract too big, risk he might be a net negative, he's not as good as his reputation.... You've called John Gibson a decent backup, and the equivalent of Vlad Sobotka and Patrick Berglund — two guys who were out of hockey a year or so after we acquired them. Any "railroading" will come from your words. People are acting like a) John Gibson is not good, b) that the Sabres aren't in desperate need of a starting goaltender, c) that good goalies will be lining up to play here this summer at half of Gibson's contract. He shouldn't be the centrepiece of the trade, he would be a good addition to it; he takes care of the cap element while still providing value to the roster, and he fills a major need in the organization. I won't discount @Thorny's concern about net-negative possibilities, but I think that's a worst-case scenario that ignores the equal possibility that he can be an upper-echelon starter for us for at least another five years.

Linus Ullmark

Gibson’s last couple have been lesser, but he’s got great tools. I think a trade resets him. Perreault (if he’s the sweetener) has some skill. 17 points in 27 AHL games mostly as an 18-year-old is nothing to sneeze at.

Not sure if Chad has heard something, or if he’s spitballing, but I can live with this return. I’m sick of living in goalie purgatory. Gibson is a top-10 starter, not some washed-up cap dump. He will steady a young team and help shield its growth. I’m not worried about his age in the slightest. Good goalies play well into their 30s. Carey Price is 33, Fleury is 36. Gibson is 27. Ryan Miller was 26 when he broke out and played at a high level in 2005/06 and he sustained that high level us for 8 years, plus a couple more in Vancouver. 3rd could give us Eklund, Comtois is exactly what we need stylistically and it sounds like one more lottery ticket will be part of the package. If we have to trade Jack, this is something that makes sense to me.

Probably none. He’s been in the NHL since 2017

I get why people want the 20-year-old WJC stud over the the 18-year-old magic bean, but don’t underestimate the value of 3OA. 2020 Tim Stutzle 2019 Kirby Dach 2018 Jesperi Kotkaniemi (Brady Tkachuk) 2017 Miro Heiskanen (Cale Makar, Elias Petterson) 2016 Pierre Luc Dubois 2015 Dylan Strome (Mitch Marner) 2014 Leon Draisaitl 2013 Jonathan Drouin (Seth Jones) 2012 Alex Galchenyuk 2011 Jonathan Huberdeau

Except the bold isn’t happening. The Sabres aren’t replacing the bird dogs they fired with other bird dogs. For the most part the aren’t replacing them with anything, but the new hockey hires have been in player development and (apparently soon) analytics. I think there was pretty clearly concern over the way the department was composed and its effectiveness. “What does this guy actually do and is he really helping?” was a question the Pegulas obviously asked Adams to investigate even prior to the pandemic. This is about more than temporary layoffs to weather the storm. More fundamental and structural questions are being addressed.

So Lance says the budget cuts did not affect player costs while decimating the scouting department. Google says NHL scouts make $50,000 a year. Firing 20 scouts saves about $1 million. The Sabres spent just 76 million on players salary this year. I couldn’t find the team figure for last year, but I remember reading it was well over the cap. So the Sabres likely saved at least $5 million on players this year. Far less in terms of percentage impact, but far more in terms of actual dollars.