dudacek

Not seeing any silver at all. Think it's just the raised profile you're seeing.

Pronman has his mock out, based on what he's hearing around the league: 8. Buffalo Sabres: Marco Rossi, C, Ottawa-OHL Buffalo’s been a tough team to project because of recent management and scouting changes. There’s a lot of rumors but that group has a lot of new faces so I think they are still trying to figure out what direction they are going in. A lot of people I’ve talked to have mentioned Rossi or the two Swedes as the likely choices.

I’m all for trading it too, if it brings in a 2C. But Im not sure where you get this from. There will be several good players at 8.

He should be. Given the uncertainty in Florida, couldn’t say for absolutely certainty, though. Might depend on his contract demands. He’s two years away from UFA and his no-trade kicks in this NHL summer (whenever that starts)

I’m getting the sense that it will be the originals with some subtle variations that echo the variations of the 50th. Unlike the rest of you bitter old men, I already have my wallet open. Been saving 26 for this one.

I have seen this name pop up a few times. He is their captain and a perfect complement to their 1C, and he has three years left on a team friendly contract. They have no one like him in their system. Bo Horvat is one of the least-likely players to be traded in the NHL.

Me too.

Bob is the best, bar none.

I was thinking from the perspective of adding Lafreniere means it suddenly becomes easier to trade a a good forward or a good prospect, similar to having Cozens makes it easier for us to trade Mittelstadt, and having Montour makes it easier to trade Risto.

If the Jets or Minnesota win the Lafreniere lottery, those teams will have better ammunition to chase the same centres we are.

Sometimes you catch lightning in a bottle though with line combos where the chemistry just works between a star and “some guy.” Kunitz with Crosby is the one that comes to mind. Moulson Tavares is another.

As bad as the Sabres have been, at least they still have bragging rights in playoff success, even if you have to go all the way back to 07 to find it. The Leafs haven’t won a playoff round in 16 years.

Sabres need to hire some more scouts. I will be surprised if that doesn’t happen when there are games to scout again. The ambassador thing seems like a non-issue. Contracts up, no work for them to do, team moving to a new per-event model. Bert wasn’t pissed and neither should anyone else.

has it really been tried much? Wonder what the numbers are. Fancy stats, boys? i remember Vesey getting some shifts, usually late in a period or game for defensive purposes. I also get the sense that Jack gets a ton of say about who his wingers are.

And anyone who thinks the hiring of Adams wasnt related to trust considerations is also naive. There has been an attempt to portray Adams as something of a hockey neophyte, which is ridiculous, he has been in the business of hockey his entire life. He understands players and player development, he understands coaches and agents, he is NHL-connected. He also understands both Buffalo and the Sabres, which are two elements other candidates have not had, elements which have been underplayed. But the primary reason he was hired is because he understands the Pegulas and has shown them not just cooperation, but competence in executing their tasks. Twice they’ve hired men the NHL told them were competent and were wrong. And I think there have been several times in recent months where they’ve said “why can’t Jason be more like Kevyn?” I don’t think the Sabres hired Adams primarily because he was cheap and easy, I think they hired him primarily because he understood shared their philosophy (Indeed, it seems like he may have helped shape it) and had long history of being able to execute their desires. For better or (mostly) worse, being able to manage the Pegulas seems like an essential quality to being the Sabres GM. I hope he brings other items to the table.

How Rasmus spent the pandemic

Just a hunch: you and I don’t have a clue about Adams competence, or that of most any other prospective GM. We do know that Botterill and Murray checked all the resume boxes except “previous GM experience“ and were dismal failures any way, and we do know that only two GMs in the century-plus history of The NHL ever won a Stanley Cup with more than one team. This is an interesting study of how to hire GM winners in the NHL: https://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/debunking-the-proven-winner-myth-in-the-national-hockey-league/ It concludes you are probably best off to Find the brightest, youngest person in your organization Patiently mentor, develop and train this person. If you need to go outside, find individuals who have been involved in winning organizations and give them time to learn your organization The first two dont sound much different than what the Pegulas did with Adams, although I question both the mentoring he received and the deliberation with how it happened. He’ll succeed or he won’t. Right now, you and I don’t have a ***** clue which. I’ll watch and find out and complain when he gives me something to complain about.

Remember when the pathetic Chicago Bulls hired a baseball scout to be their general manager? Dude had zero management experience. None. What a freaking disaster that was.

His production did not fall. Not even close. He got almost as many points in 23 fewer games. He went from .54 P/g (33rd in the league) to .68 (15th). Where do these made-up narratives come from?

I don't want him to shark Tampa, I want him to make a trade that helps our hockey team.

Lehner is Tim Murray for me in a nutshell: he had an eye for spotting talent, but not a clue how to nourish or blend it.

I wonder if he has a relationship with Frolunda’s Lucas Raymond, a possible Sabres first rounder.

Yes. ?

Bingo. This has been my point all along. There are scenarios where the smart move would be trading Cirelli. It really comes down to the market -financial and trade - for its three young RFAs versus the options they have with their NTCs. Is it smarter to deal a veteran for peanuts, or at a loss, or Sergachev/Cirelli for a substantial return?

Reasonable take. I would suggest that Mittelstadt and Montour are better value than Thompson and a late 1st, and that O'Reilly is of higher value than Monahan. Now that clearly wasn't a smart trade, but my point is sometimes teams decide to move on and take the best offer available. In my view, Tampa has run out of cards. They might not lose Cirelli, but keeping him is going to cost them some other good players for very little return.