dudacek

I don’t know that I agree with that. Boldy outscored him in both college and the minors, and IMO looked better at the WJC. He’s an underrated and very complete player. Rossi’s draft year was better than Turcotte’s. I think it’s pretty hard to argue Turcotte is on a higher tier. And part of the appeal with this deal is two Turcotte-level prospects.

Bob Hartley is a Neanderthal.Hope they stay far away. Can’t see Babcock ever working for the Pegula’s after jilting them on the altar last time.

Will they be interested? Highly. Minnesota has been surprisingly successful this year despite not having a clear-cut top line centre. In fact, it’s been the story for them pretty much their entire existence. General feeling is they see an Eichel as a bridge to becoming a true contender. Do they have the pieces? There seems to be a sweet spot in the Eichel trade market buzz for prospects who aren’t sure stars, but do have first line potential. The Wild have two such prospects in Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi. They have NHL pieces the Sabres could use like Foligno, Greenway, Erickson Ek, Fiala and Matt Dumba, who is vulnerable to the expansion draft. And they have two firsts this year. Would this work? Boldy, Rossi, Dumba and a 1st for Eichel When the report surfaced that the Sabres were looking for the equivalent of 4 firsts in an Eichel trade, this certainly fits the bill. Boldy and Rossi certainly show every sign of being a Pominville/Roy level combo and Dumba effectively is a replacement and upgrade for Risto. Doctors would have to clear Rossi, just as they would Eichel. The Wild give up a hefty chunk of their future, but console themselves with Jack Eichel. It’s not as sexy as some proposals fans might prefer, but it is a solid, competitive offer. Is there a deal to be made with the Wild?

It was a demotion. He was a random pro scout with a USNDP background elevated to being the head of all scouting - pro and amateur. He was asked to re-rank the work of Botterill’s large team on grading the 2020 draft based on new criteria from Adams, with greater analytics input from Nightengale, but no further input from any new scouts. This resulted in the somewhat controversial pick of Quinn, and in moving up for Peterka. He oversaw a skeleton group of scouts gathering info on this year’s prospects while also leading the pro scouts through a patchwork pandemic few months of hockey before being shuffled into a strictly pro scouting role again, with his amateur duties handed over to Jerry Forton, a pre-existing college scout. It seems like his scouting director responsibilities have been passed over to Karmanos, who will lead the still-small staff through creating the list, based on whatever information has been acquired under Crowe’s part-time direction. It has also been hinted that a real scouting director will be hired after this year’s draft. All told, it doesn’t bode well for this year’s draft.

How much are we reading into Jeremiah Crowe leading last year’s draft, and now being moved out of amateur scouting altogether? Is that an indictment of who we picked?

Great question. I know I saw it, but I don’t remember where, or how old or credible the list was.

Depends on the team picking there and their need for offence. Ive seen Beniers ranked in the 7-8 range. Pronman and McKenzie each had him at 4.

Beniers is literally the only name I’ve seen linked with them, although I’ve yet to really dive into the draft. They are likely picking at three, and I will be surprised if Beniers isnt the pick. Given Power’s growing consensus as #1 and your well-considered arguments as to what that means, it also seems likely Power is the man at #1. Therefore, they will be picking #2.

It was Pronman who had Quinn to the Sabres: Buffalo Sabres: Jack Quinn, RW, Ottawa-OHL Trying to figure out the Sabres has been tough with the moving pieces from new management coming in, but the two names I’ve heard the most are the two Ottawa forwards in Quinn and Marco Rossi. I’ve been hearing Quinn more often now and think that could be the pick

Interesting take from veteran Athletic writer Eric Duhatschek: “If I was L.A. and nervous about Eichel’s health, I would be prepared to part with both Alex Turcotte and Gabe Vilardi, two recent first-round picks, to bring in Reinhart.“

I know either Wheeler or Pronman from the Athletic had Quinn or Rossi to Buffalo in his final preview. For what it’s worth, none of the talking heads during the draft showed any surprise whatsoever. The Sabres were known to be very high on Sanderson and were also thought to be Rossi fans. Prioritizing size and position for Quinn is strictly your own conclusion right? I can’t recall anything from the Sabres that indicated any of this. They talked about Quinn’s skill and character, but the thing they really emphasized was upside: they loved his development curve and thought the package of attitude and athleticism offered the best chance for continued growth.

Looks like we’ve got 4 D, 2G and 8F under contract that could be in Rochester next year, although Borgen, Bryson and R2 may have fully graduated to Buffalo. Borgen, Bryson, Samuelsson, Laaksonen, Lukkonnen, Tokarski, Biro, Quinn, Murray, Pekar, Oglevie, Rousek, Weissbach, Ruotsalainen Fitzgerald and Dipietro (who doesn’t appear to have played hockey at all this year after signing as a college free agent) are listed as RFAs. I think Ryan Johnson is expected to go back to Minnesota for his junior year. Peterka is really the only other unsigned guy in the system I could see being added. Not sure of his contract situation over there. Lots of blank canvas to paint.

New GM, two straight disappointing playoffs, I’d say it’s likely. I’d also say he’d rocket straight to the top of our list if it happens.

I missed this. I can’t see how anyone who ever played would think there isn’t an advantage to shooting from your offside.

Who thinks Kakko is going to be a superstar? Landeskog, Reinhart... isn’t that more his general expectation?

Terrific interview. I won’t have any issues with him getting the job.

Well, so far he’s better than Dylan Cozens and Trevor Zegras. Power forwards tend to develop more slowly, yet he is the leading goal scorer and 2nd leading point scorer from his draft class. His career numbers aren’t out of line with Jarome Iginla’s at the same age. He’s skilled and he’s good.

I doubt we get a better offer. Or one that good.

Not really, at least not with such good comparables. Dubois for Laine and Roslovic? Jeff Carter for Jack Johnson and a first? Domi for Anderson? Mantha for Vrana, Panik (cap dump) 1st and a 2nd. Lindholm plus for Dougie Hamilton plus?

I really think Philly will be among the more highly-motivated teams to make a deal for Jack and they do have intriguing pieces. I am also far more interested in Couturier than some of you here as the secondary piece. He’d be the ideal player to shield Casey and Dylan. You can’t trust that he will re-sign and that will have to be factored into the value, but I think we can re-sign him if we look like an up-and-comer, and also get a decent return at the deadline if it doesn’t work out.

Brayden Schenn was a 26-year-old C/W when he was traded from Philly to St. Louis. He had just put up seasons of 45, 59 and 55 points. He was traded for 2 first-rounders. Ryan O’Reilly was a 24-year-old C/W when he was traded from Colorado to Buffalo. He had just put up seasons of 56 (prorated) 64 and 55 points. He was traded for two recent 1st rounders, a recent 2nd rounder and a 2nd Matt Duchene was a 26-year-old C/W when he was traded from Colorado to Ottawa He had just put up seasons of 55, 59 and 41 points He was traded for a recent 1st rounder, 2 recent 2nd rounders, a 1st, a 2nd and a 3rd. The comparables show Adams has a valuable asset. He better not ***** it up.

Sam Reinhart is 25. He was the 10th leading goal scorer in the NHL last year, and among the top dozen highest point-scoring RWs and the top 50 scoring players period since Jan. 1 2018. He also showed compelling evidence of having the ability to be a top 6 centre. His past three years pro-rated over 82 games: 22 43 65 26 33 59 38 22 60 I would be very much surprised if there is not a wide range of suitors for either a futures deal or a hockey deal.

For the record, I see nothing at all wrong with Adams having to present and justify his plans to the owner; on the contrary, it’s how I expect business to be run. I also think financial decisions, like the gutting of the hockey department and the decision to trade ROR before his bonus kicked in, are also well within the purview of the owner, even if they are clearly detrimental to the hockey department. I think those are two cases where there is clear evidence where Terry clearly meddled to the detriment of the on-ice product. I think direct evidence is lacking in cases like Ehrhoff and Girgensons, but Occam’s Razor works for me. I also think Terry’s presence on the draft room floor or the war room during free agency is more than what one typically sees from an owner, and is less than optimal for the functioning of your hockey department. What do you think?

Well, at least they will stop talking about Eichel for a little while.

How I remember them: Pushed to sign Ville Leino and Christian Ehrhoff. It was reported by multiple sources at the time that Terry was enamoured by Ehrhoff's play in the playoffs and wanted the team to pursue him. Whether that amounts to a random comment, an order, or a thumb on the scale is a matter of interpretation. Leino was more conjecture, and a fallback after Richards wasn't interested. It's pretty undisputable that Terry handed Darcy a whack of cash and ordered him to spend it. Instigated the tank. Darcy was pretty frank that the idea came from Terry questioning him on how Stanley Cup winners like Pittsburgh came together and that the form of the tank would come at the direction of ownership. Again, thumb on the scale? OKed the Ryan Miller trade behind Pat Lafontaine’s back. Pure conjecture based on the timing. No one has ever definitively reported why Lafontaine left Overruled Botterill on the Eichel contract. This came from one of the Insiders, can't remember which. Vetoed any attempt to re-sign Kane. Again, conjecture. It was widely reported that the Pegulas were thoroughly embarrassed by the bad publicity surrounding Kane and the situation that occurred at the draft. Insisted O’Reilly be traded prior to the bonus: I don't see how this can be interpreted any other way given what Lebrun reported both before and after the deal and what Armstrong said in its wake. Steered the signing of Phil Housley: message board whispers Resisted acquiring Russians, feeding the Nylander over Sergachev decision: message board whispers Overruled Botterill on the Skinner deal: From the same insider reporter as the Eichel contract info Instigated the signings of Brett Murray and Brandon Biro because of their Penn State connections; message board whispers Ordered Botterill to gut the hockey department and fired him when he refused: pretty much straight out of Terry's mouth Ordered Adams to give Girgensons what it took to get him re-signed: message board whispers Pushed for Quinn because “52 goals”: message board whispers