dudacek

I think Adams has already gauged the interest around the league. The second step is to see who is serious. Drury, if you want Eichel, we are going to have to have Lafreniere coming back as part of the deal. Blake, Byfield. Treliving, Tkachuk Murray, Zegras. And on down the line. See what prime assets might be on the table. If you have multiple teams stepping up with one, you are in good shape to set up a bidding war. If you have none, then you look at the counter offers and see what you can build off.

This is what I was alluding to in my action/reaction thread. Jack generally has appeared loyal to the Sabres and Buffalo up until now. His attitude in his presser fits with a guy who has realized the team isn't feeling the same way about him.

Quinn works his ass off and is very diligent on D (and, apparently, off the ice too). "Floater" is among the last words that comes to mind when I watch him play. Peterka also works hard, he appears faster and he uses his speed, but he does tend to cheat towards the offence.

Is this really going to be a thing? Can't we just be happy that we have two promising prospects on the wing?

The proper conclusion to take from the Granato run is that particular group of kids has promise and many are ready for regular roles. The reaction should be to bring the proper pieces in to augment and improve that. Counting on the group we saw to be a playoff contender simply by adding a goalie is utter folly. It needed two top six forwards, two goalies, and a shutdown D at minimum.

This has been my sense for a while now: they think he's the wrong personality (or at least in the wrong headspace) to be the centrepiece of their team.

I think if you go the lottery ticket route, we are probably going to end up with Turcotte as the centrepiece. 5th overall in 2019, high motor, complete player, USAHockey... he fits the Adams profile. https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=209490 I loved Turcotte heading into the draft, not so much now. He projects as a good, likable, rounded player — Drury, without the "born winner" mystique — but he is middle sixer, IMO. That's why I'd much rather be looking at a possibly available good young NHLer in a hockey trade, Matt Tkachuk, Seth Jones...

Thompson was 1st round pick who put up a point a game in his D1 college season and had just spent half his D2 season in the NHL. You might not have liked him, but at the time he was traded he absolutely met the definition of a good prospect. I think there is a lot of hindsight to this post, or maybe we have different definitions of run-of-the-mill. Berglund had just put up 17 goals in 57 games. Sobotka had 31 points and was top six among Blues forwards in ice time. Both were ordinary, every game players.

I think you and Adams might be on the same page when it comes to what the problem is. Im not sure if you agree exactly as to where it lies.

The only time in the last decade I could find an elite prospect like those two getting traded was Brayden Schenn in the Mike Richards deal. Coincidentally, Mike Richards is one of the traded players that most closely resembles Jack.

One interesting thing about trading Jack is how few precedents there are for a 24-year-old 1C on a long-term contract. Here are some relative non-rental comparables (as they appeared to be at the time) Duchene: a 1st, a 2nd, a 3rd, 2 good prospects, a B prospect and a mediocre backup O'Reilly: a 1st, a 2nd, a good prospect and two run-of-the-mill NHLers Hamilton (+ a good prospect and an NHLer): a young top six forward and a top young defenceman Subban: Weber Hall: a top 4 NHL defenceman Kessel: essentially a 1st, and a good prospect (a lot of other lesser pieces moved in either direction) Johanssen: Jones Hamilton: a 1st, 2 2nds Yandle: a 1st, a 2nd, 2 good prospects Kesler: a 1st a 3rd, two run-of-the-mill NHLers Ryan: a 1st and 2 good prospects Seguin: essentially a 1st liner and 2 good prospects Nash: a 1st, a good prospect and two NHLers Staal: a 1st, a good prospect and a good young NHLer Carter: a 1st and a very good 25-year-old NHL defenceman Richards: a 2nd, an elite prospect, and a good young NHL winger Carter: a 1st, a 3rd and a good young NHLer Kovalchuk: a 1st, 2 good prospects, and a young NHL defenceman Kessel: 2 1sts and a 2nd Heatley: a 2nd, a top six NHLer and a fading top 6 NHLer So we learn that: These types of trades are usually for futures, almost always net a 1st and an intriguing young piece as a base, and elite prospects are almost never included (the lone exception was Brayden Schenn in the Richards deal) Hockey trades aren't unheard of (Subban for Weber, Carter for Johnson+, Hamilton+ for Lindholm and Hanifin), but package deals rarely include a top player coming back (70-point scorer Louie Eriksson in the Seguin deal being the primary exception). You are inherently rolling the dice. Sometimes your lottery ticket turns into Tim Stutzle, Jakub Voracek or Tyler Seguin. Sometimes it turns into Derick Pouliot or Niklas Bergfors. None of these comparables were a 24-year-old unquestioned 1C at the time of the deal. The closest matches would be Carter, Richards and Seguin. We are kinda breaking new ground here.

Is like Elliotte Friedman saying " John Davidson The Rangers told me have let it be known" or like Paul Hamilton saying "Sam Reinhart wants to be traded to the West Coast (because he is from there and is grumpy in interviews, we don't really talk)"

It’s what I’ve been hoping, for sure. My thought train has been running a lot towards Bruce McNall’s comments after buying Gretzky: how undervalued he was from a business perspective. We’re so focused on the hockey aspect, we tend to look past the fact that NHL teams are businesses owned by businessmen and there are marketing departments across the league salivating at the chance of selling Jack to their city. Add in egos like Dolan’s and it’s a lever the Sabres should be pulling. Acquiring a player like Jack Eichel is an ownership call.

Anaheim’s core is Silfverberg, 30, Rakell, 28, Fowler 29, Manson, 29, Lindholm, 27 and Gibson, 27 Jack is 24. He helps that group now, and their younger group moving forward. The last is true of any team. It’s one of the reasons why he should be so valuable. Also, markets like Anaheim can’t afford extended rebuilds at the bottom of the league from a business perspective. Eichel makes a ton of sense from a business perspective.

I think there is a bit of a disconnect between what Buffalo fans think of Eichel (top 10 asset in the league) and what general fans think (top 30 player, bit of problem child, would be better on any other team) I’m hoping GMs value him more like Buffalo fans, because if it’s general fans, that Athletic list Brawndo posted is the best we can hope for.

You are going to hate the actual trade so much. Those are probably among the most generous proposals I’ve seen, other than those made by Sabres fans. Personally, I’m hoping we get a return as good as some of the above. Not counting on it. The only way I will actually be happy is if Lafreniere or Zegras (Byfield fits the profile but I’m not as convinced on him) is coming back. And that’s only because I’ve resigned myself to that level of talent being out of reach.

Prepare to be disappointed. Kings are picking 9th at the moment. The won’t give up Byfield but they will sacrifice two other prime prospects; Sabres will take Fagemo and Turcotte Adrian Kempe will be the player. Three young players who can play fast and compete and fit what Adams seems to want. Not a high end player in the bunch, but possibly four good ones. If Adams is going for a bushel of lottery tickets, that’s likely as good a package as we’ll get, IMO

Fair and intriguing. Personally, I’d rather have Pelletier. Need an indication that Tkachuk would sign a fair contract to stay. I like the pieces (assuming Rossi is what he was before COVID) but it’s not enough. How about Minny gives Greenway and Dumba and we flip a lesser asset back? Byfield is kinda the holy grail of prospects in an Eichel trade, but Quick is more dump than add. Turcotte and Villardi are excellent prospects, but they aren’t going to hit Byfield’s first line ceiling. It meets the sniff test (young, first line player, good veteran at a position of need, top 10 pick) and I like the idea of Jack in the desert. I need to know Kuemper will stick around. First outright bad one here. Wouldnt do Zadina and Raymond, let alone Zadina or. When they say more picks, do they mean all 5 Detroit has in the first two rounds? Mirrors the Yotes proposal, with the fact Kuznetsov is a centre balancing the loss on the other two. Not interested because I see Kuz as the Sabres 1C as a disaster waiting to happen. Cirelli and Sergachev would be my favourite package here I think. Young 2C young top pairing D, fair contracts, nice fit with who we have left. A hockey trade. This looks like a thoughtful bunch of proposals.

Don't know. A lot of cards to play and I don't believe his words have tipped his hand. Ask me in October.

Yes, because if you really want to know about what Sam Reinhart is thinking, Paul Hamilton is absolutely the man to talk to.

Unlikable person, very good player, and out of Buffalo as soon as possible? 😜

This is thoughtful and entirely valid post, but I disagree. I don't think Adams goal is to "rebuild" the Sabres, I think his goal is to "fix" them. And I think what he feels he needs to repair is the belief in the locker room that they can get better, and the mindset that they come to work every day believing that if they work hard and trust the process, they will get better. He demands commitment or he doesn't want you on his team, no matter how talented you are. But I don't think he shares your belief that he needs to take a step back to do it. He's saying Jay McKee and Mike Peca may not be as talented, but they make for a better team than Alex Mogilny, period. Yes, it is a very Bills philosophy.

He's not a top 20 centre. The way he was playing to finish the year he would be maybe a 21-50 kinda guy? But he is serviceable enough in that role to insulate Mitts and Dylan. (I also think if he Brendan Gallagher or Chris Kreider on his flank instead of Jeff Skinner and Nader Bjork he would have had more assists, but I know that's touchy subject 😜)

Absolutely. I mean some of it is probably just "did you hear" and some comes from some digging. But most of it is calculated to push an agenda. The reporters know it, but they use it to keep the taps flowing.

Well, they did hire one scout (months ago), and a director of hockey systems, or some such title (and promptly fired him) 😜