dudacek

Not sure where to put this, and I don't think it's official, but our top scouts that Adams fired — Ryan Jankowski and Jeff Crisp — are supposed to be getting prominent roles in Arizona under new GM Bill Armstrong.

Add the Lazar deal

Patrick is a huge injury risk, Gostisbehere is having trouble staying in the lineup and Philly's 1st is what, 20th? I put up an example of what the ask might be from Philly. To each his own.

We have a consistent 40-point guy, and two guys who have shown they are easily capable of hitting 30 — none of whom are going to get the PP time they need. Because we have another guy who might hit 60 this year. We don't need a PP specialist, we need a guy who can defend.

Do these Bills ever settle for field goals? They seem to be money in the red zone.

The rumour mill seems to be that Calagary wants to create cap space to make a free agent plunge, so I suspect that he will go for a similar package: an offensive forward, a defenceman and a high pick, with one of the players being proven and the other not. That seems to be the going rate. Gostisbehere, Patrick and the Flyers 1st? Palmieri, Ty Smith and the Devils first? Some variation on that model would get it done, I would suspect.

Yeah, that's what I meant by the "in a vacuum" and "better plans" comments: there should be better ways for us to go. From the perspective of a team with tons of cap space that won't be in the playoffs, it's a good move. That would include us, it we do nothing else to improve this off-season. Hopefully, Adams has other plans.

Apparent the French 'Insider' Renaud Lavoie is saying the Flames are taking bids on Gaudreau and hope to trade him before free agency starts.

Sorry, didn't realize you knew both men 😜 Prior to the trade their situations and reputations were almost identical, at least from a public perspective.

I'm not sure Marc Staal is even good enough any more to be our 3LD. But in a vacuum I would have done what Detroit did. Just hope the Sabres have better plans for the $4.2 million salary and the $5.7 million cap space.

This Perfetti quote will get war rooms talking: “A lot of coaches are still stuck in their olden days. They’re kind of chip pucks in and crash and bang, play hard, stuff like that and you gotta play the structure to a T..If I was under a head coach where I had to dump the puck in every time I go out over the red line and get on the forecheck, it would be frustrating and I wouldn’t be able to express how I really am as a player.”

Patrick Berglund is a person of integrity who through his honest effort on the ice doesn't cheat the game. He accepted coming to Buffalo (happy or not) and will do what he has always done in his long career i.e. give his best effort and be an exemplary teammate. You may have concerns about his state of mind but I don't.

In other news for all of us Rossi watchers, Brian Burke had his top six in the intermission tonight: Laf, Byfield, Stuetzle, Perfetti, Sanderson/Drysdale (tie) and Askarov. He said there is not a drop-off after that and mentioned Raymond as the next guy in line.

I don't think so. It seems like everyone thinks Drysdale is somewhere between 3-10 and most of them 4-8. But there is less of a consensus on Sanderson. Some scouts see him in the teens, others top 5 and the best defenceman in the draft.

Why?

I understand your point and acknowledge you may be correct. But for me, I am less concerned about his physical state than his mental state. Perreault agreed to come back for the 86-87 season after initially suggesting he was going to retire. Six weeks of bad Sabres hockey later, and he changed his mind. People make decisions they later regret all the time.

The part you are missing here is that even the most professional and grounded hockey player still comes to a point where they see the end and the sacrifice stops being worth it. It can arrive at any time. it almost did for Staal four years ago. Gil Perreault could still play when he called it quits, but he didn't want to. Staal has to continue to see playing for the Sabres as worthwhile.

This is great stuff. Thank you.

I mentioned in the Lazar thread how much Lundell's scouting reports remind me of Lazar's from back in the day. He strikes me as a player I would like a lot as an unheralded bottom -sixer but one who might be very disappointing as a top-10 pick. I don't see him as a top 10 player in this draft in terms of raw skill. And given the lack of raw skill in our organization, it seems very risky to be squandering a top 10 pick on a guy with questions about his talent level. I am very concerned we will be looking back on this draft five years from now and he will be the Pavel Zacha.

I would like nothing better than for you to be right, but he's scored 20 goals in his entire NHL career — 280 games. He had one 20-goal season in the minors, but his second highest total as a pro is 6. He's smart and determined enough to get chances, but he just doesn't have the hands o finish.

Really hope he comes in refreshed and fired up, as opposed to tired and asking himself 'why?' Can see it going either way.

The more I've read, the more I think I will be surprised if Sanderson doesn't go top 8. There are teams that absolutely love him, and it sounds like some of them are picking high.

the reason they will probably trade Killorn is that he is the only one without a full NTC. He has a 16-team list.

@SwampD no way can I agree with you on that. Point was setting up for a 2-on-1. Cowardly call by the ref.

Marek said he's hearing Ottawa is debating Sanderson (?) Askarov (?!) and Quinn )(!?!?!?!?!) at five, Any of those and we should be golden for Rossi or Perfetti.