dudacek

I know I'm in the minority here, but I really don't think Jack's condition could result in a whole spectrum of trades. I see one of two trade scenarios happening: 1) Teams are OK with the medical reports and the Sabres flip him for the yet-to-be-established market value of a 24-year-old first-line centre on a long-term fair contract. (Pat Lafontaine trade 1.0) 2) Teams aren't OK with the medical reports and the Sabres flip him for a low-risk bid from a team willing and able to gamble (Pat Lafontaine trade 2.0) What I'm saying is I don't see a huge chance of there being in-between bids. Most team doctors looking at the same reports are going to come to the same conclusions: health risk, or not. And I think that will mean they will be all-in, or all-out. Don't get me wrong, teams will try to use the injury as a lever, but Adams doesn't have to fall for that. If the consensus is health risk, I think the Sabres will be smarter to hang on to him until he proves he is not. The Sabres are not always smart.

No, I didn't.

Actually I was more expressing my frustration about the people who say Seth Jones is garbage based wholly on charts. My eye test on Jones, based mostly on the Toronto playoffs last year, the Tampa series the year before and a lot of games against the Sabres, is that he is very good. I have not watched him this year and I know his charts don't look good. I have yet to read about what flaws in his game are causing his charts to look that way. I tend to think the fact he eats tough minutes on a bad team is the main reason why, but I am open to others changing my mind. To the portion of my post you are responding to, I think the difference between Jones and Risto might be bigger than the gap between #1 and #5, but I don't have a strong opinion on that, mostly because I don't have strong opinions on some of the players that might be available at 5. If it's Eklund or Beniers though, I'm all over that.

I know exactly what you mean. 🍺

The way I see it, the Sabres have five future NHLers: Peterka, Quinn, Samuelsson, Johnson and Lukkonnen. The rest are fringe or longshots. I think all of those guys are going to be useful, mid-roster players, with Quinn and Lukkonnen having outside shots of being something more. The fact that they don't have a stud in the mix might put that group a bit below average. The fact that Rasmus Dahlin and Dylan Cozens are already in the NHL makes up for that considerably. I don't think the recent pipeline is the wasteland @LGR4GM makes it out to be, or the bed of roses @GASabresIUFAN seems to be lying in. It's a pretty typical NHL group.

Will they be interested? You're going to have ask Jonathan Toews. Do they have the pieces? Ummm...maybe? The Hawks have $21 million on LTIR. Half of that is not coming back due to the fake retirements of Brent Seabrook and Andrew Shaw. The other half is Toews, who walked away from hockey with a mysterious condition six months ago and has not provided any updates about his future since. With Toews, the Hawks have some room to manouevre under the cap and could use a star centre to build around for their next phase. Without Toews, they have a blank slate and a huge hole at the top of their roster. As far as trade chips go, they don't have many, but they may have the most important piece. Would this work? Kirby Dach, Lukas Reichel and the 10th pick for Eichel. People like throw around Byfield, Lafreniere and Zegras as the prime targets for Eichel. Dach is rarely thrown into that soup, and had mediocre numbers this year coming back from his World Juniors injury, but is at their level in terms of prospect potential. Reichel is their 1st rounder from last year and a JJ Peterka twin. It's not clear if the Hawks have the prospect depth to take such a big chunk out of the top, or if the Sabres would be willing to accept a package that is just futures. Chicago's plan is even murkier than the Sabres. Is there a deal to be made with the Blackhawks?

You can't see this as anything other than best-case scenario, right?

Yep, people keep saying that. But the secret is, we’re trading him for someone even worse. (I got charts and everything)

Gotta get to Scotland one day.

Well, that explains one reason why he slipped. Sidebar, Staal is 50 career goals and points ahead of anyone else in that draft and has a cup. He might be number one.

Why did Patrice Bergeron last until the second round? Perceived lack of high ceiling? Why can’t Beniers be Bergeron? In retrospect, wouldn’t Bergeron have been a worthy 1st overall?

The number of players who should not be available for a healthy Eichel should total what, maybe 10? If loyalty wasn’t a thing, Sidney Crosby should be available for Eichel. Marner?

Risto and 1 for Jones and 5 is worth looking at. Sam for Merzlikins is terrible, IMO.

This is it. Teams will make offers (or not) based on the medical report. The Sabres respond based on the offers. We will see what happens.

Gotta say those kinda posts from Dreger have a history of turning into a big heap of nothing.

Good news. Is there a player in the system Sabrespace is more unanimously positive about? Cozens, maybe?

The thought that we could leave the 2nd round as the the proud drafters of Red Savage and Owen Stankoven pleases me to no end.

It almost certainly will. The issue is that star will probably be someone who not being talked about as the 1st overall pick.

Absolutely, as long as it involves a good player 25-and-under who we can sign long term. I am sick of the approach that the players we acquire have to be 20 or 18. We have 12 players 25 and under on our roster picked in the top 35, six of them in the top 8. Add some players who can lead Casey and Rasmus and Dylan, or be their partners, not more followers.

Or that both sides are using it as a PR cover to justify the break-up. And, in the Sabres case, the willingness to take on a poor return.

Is Jack's career potentially over? Because no one in the industry is saying that but people on the internet are talking about the trade as if that is a possibility. If it is a possibility, then we are talking about a Lafontaine situation. They may offer a token pick, but no team will be making a legitimate offer for Jack and his $50 million contract. Seems to me it comes down to the doctors. If they 80 per cent chance he returns to full value, does that mean you offer 80 per cent of his value? If I'm the GM and I get that report, I'm not trading for him at all.

Is anyone saying Power is a strong #1? I thought the main issue at hand is whether he is #1 this year. all kinds of players who don’t play in the NHL at all at 18 become stars.

Yep. To be clear, I agree that it would be disappointing to me as well to see Power ranked 3rd on our depth chart right now, not so much if McCabe was under contract. That’s not the same as thinking it’s unusual, because Power is a boy, Samuelsson a man. Boys who can play in the top half of an NHL roster don’t come around all that often.

To be third on the depth chart? 2nd overall Quinton Byfield wasn’t in the top four of a pretty mediocre team. 2nd overall pick Sam Reinhart wasnt top 4 on an awful team. Lafreniere was 3rd on the Ranger LW depth chart this year, Hughes was 4C for Jersey the year before.