In The Buff

I saw $1.6M & was like theres no way that was per year. Love the deal, 2 years at $800k is less than I thought it'd take, but only by a couple hundred K. Great move by KA. Locks in a good depth player who is solid at faceoffs & who seems genuinely happy to be here. Hoping he's a late bloomer & he continues to work on his game & can be a solid bottom 6 player for us. KA getting things done, i like it!

Yep I remember the back to backs & that would make sense this year for sure. But thats different than playing 2 games in 1 day & makes more sense too imo. I'm almost surprised you seem to be in favor of it because it sounds to me like such an obvious bad idea that the players wouldn't accept. Sure it has some advantages on a scheduling basis, but why stop there, lets have triple headers? Then we could really pack the games in! But seriously, i didn't think players liked back to backs all that much to begin with. So asking them to have them now on the same day doesnt sound likely. You'd also have to change the regulations for the game, as you couldnt expect them to play 2 60 minute games. You'd have to do what they do in baseball & shorten them, and once again i think thats a nonstarter as I can't see the league wanting to change the length of the games. Idk if you've ever played hockey before, but its not like baseball where you only physically exert yourself in spurts. In hockey you're exhausted & i just cant imagine having to play twice in a day. It'd also take longer to recover, where you'd need days off after. Days off that could just be used to play instead, making the whole idea useless. Final note, these are semi interesting things to talk about as fans, but respectfully thats all it really is i think. I'd give it less than 1% chance of happening. Unless the NHL went full on crazy & said lets play 3 on 3 hockey this year.

Well before we brought in Staal, those 'most people' believed he would retire too & that didn't happen. Not that I don't think its possible. At his age & stage in his career, he may not feel great about the challenges of joining us. We'd probably have to pay him the higher of that $2-3m range & make it a 2 year deal but he does have some connections to Buffalo. Staal an obvious one, but Pommers would put in a good word. We have a few Finns on our team too that would probably make a pitch & we have our secret weapon, Ralph Kruegers TED talks lol. But if Rivet is that close to know I'd be inclined to believe him. I think we'd prefer to find someone younger, but players like Koivu who could be had on the cheaper end of the spectrum are guys I think we'd be looking to target for our bottom 6. Appreciate your insight

Last week Guerin of the Wild said they wouldn't be bringing back Koivu. Wonder what some of you think about him being brought in as our "defensive 3C". He's older than Staal, 37 years old, but would be a replacement for Larsson, could probably be had for $2-3m per. He's better at faceoffs & at blocking shots than Larsson & could put up 40 points with the right linemates and add more veteran leadership to this team. Adding Koivu wouldn't be my 1st choice, but he'd come relatively cheap & with Staal & Eichel we'd have 3 solid C's for our spine.

Yep, thats the way I took it too. Sounds like a recipe for disaster. I think we would see more player injuries or the quality of the game would go down. But I think the whole idea is an exercise in futility, as i can't imagine the NHLPA ever agreeing to such an idea. I think its dead on arrival if its even true in the 1st place.

Double headers & a schedule that is condensed? Doesnt sound like a good plan at all & i doubt the Players Association would approve such a plan.

Yeah $2 mil is too much for Lazar. He'd accept less for sure... dudes probably just happy to be with a team. $1m -1.25m seems about right for him, 2 year deal if you want. No reason to go anymore above that for either party.

You had me until the Go Leafs part. Gtfo here with that! I have no issue with your posts in general. But eff the Leafs 😛

Watch this video if you want to see Eric Staal seem generally positive & content with the move. Comes across as he's looking forward to the new opportunity to make an impact this season. Having to play vs our 2005-2006 team on the way to the Stanley Cup, he remembers how we had 1 of the best teams in the league at one point & im sure he remembers how excited our fan base was. I imagine a player of his skill & confidence feels he can be someone to turn this team around. I for one look forward to what he can do, in addition to whatever other moves we make

I could see that in the 1993-1994 season, when he wore the Blue & Gold & was on his way to his 1st Vezina.

@Taro T's post put it pretty well. But even if we were to say he was a nobody prior to the trade, the resulting impact that trade had on our franchise was huge. I don't think it even matters if he was a superstar or not when the deal was made. The post was: 'there wasnt 1 trade that fixed the franchise' and my point was: what ended up happening with Hasek did... That's all i was saying. The Briere deal in 2003, or the Hawerchuk, Lafontaine deals get honorable mentions as well for changing the team as well, but none as much as that Hasek deal imo. Anyways Staal is a solid 1st step to addressing our needs. Now lets see Adams' next move

Btw was Staal the player that was subject in the rumor about a trade deal being worked out with a team currently still in the playoffs or was that someone else? Wondering if anyone has any idea about that, or if that rumor still exists in any way

Dominic Hasek would probably qualify. But outside of that not really. Agree with all your points

Glad we got Staal. It just happened 10 years later than i wanted it too lol

The thing with the Reinhart - Skinner contract situations. Is that you could probably make the argument that Reinhart is the one who most deserves Skinners deal & that Skins deserves Sam's deal. Plus Sam already accepted a bridge deal last time. Which i may be wrong, but wasnt the perception that he accepted less at the time than what he was worth? I wonder if that makes it less likely that Sam would be willing to "do it again", if he perceives another bridge deal as being below his market value. Personally I think both are worth around 6.5-7 per, with Sam being more valuable to our team than Skins. But of course you can't look at these things in a vacuum.

Yeah the 8.75 has been used a lot by the "expert" sources online. Evolving-Hockey projects he will sign an eight-year deal worth $8.75 million.

Sounds like you have a good son there. Thank you for his service. But if Casey hasn't improved from this here, we have a big problem.

Yeah the shot disparity is insane. If Vegas loses this, a lot of their players are gonna be crushed. They would be anyways but you know what i mean haha

Can't wait for the 3rd installment titled: Brandon Montour: What Have We Done? 😛

This hockey movie just released right now called 'Odd Man Rush'... Has Trevor Gretzky, son of Wayne Gretzky, and Alexa Lemieux, daughter of Mario Lemieux in it as well. Came to find out that parts of the movie were filmed on the campuses of Colgate and Hamilton College. I haven't watched it yet but (but i plan to)... but it looks like it could be decent. Really have to take what you can get when it comes to hockey themed films. Here's a couple articles about it if anyone is interested. Article with the trailer & info about the local connection: https://www.syracuse.com/sports/2020/07/odd-man-rush-hockey-movie-filmed-in-cny-set-for-release-see-exclusive-trailer.html Article from The Hockey News to "Get the Popcorn Ready' https://www.si.com/hockey/news/get-the-popcorn-ready-for-odd-man-rush

I remember hearing about TP really liking Pietrangelo & i can see how he'd help us, especially if we made other moves in conjunction with it. But there will be a bunch of other teams interested in him. Montreal, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Minnesota, LA, Ottawa. But most likely i see Dubas making the strongest push. Toronto moving Kapanen is largely thought of being a cap move to bring in a Dman of Pietrangelo's caliber. And he could even move out Tyson Barrie or Nylander to save additional cap & gain additional assets. I do think we'll kick the tires on Alex, at the very least to see what it'd take, but I'd say its extremely, extremely unlikely we pay up to bring him here or that he chooses us over those other teams. Unless Terry really loves the guy so much he orders Kevyn to offer more than any other club, i just don't see it happening. Stranger things have happened though.

Was that Sergachev who pushed Bogosian in the back so he'd skate faster? What a heads up play & example of working together. Did make me laugh though

We can say the NHL should've done it yesterday & i'd agree. But i also think its good for people or entities to realize they made a mistake & take corrective action. And thats what they did, albeit in this small way

Yeah he's been effective. There were times when he was here too. Its just that those times pale in comparison to the negative plays or him simply not being on the ice at all because he couldn't stay healthy. Others here made the point that i agree with, in that Bogo's mistakes are minimized or covered by the rest of the team when he's on the ice. If Bogo goes to clear the zone & its an errant clear off the boards, theres a litany of good players around him to bail him out. TBL are obviously a much better team than us so i think that point makes a lot of sense. I also think Bogo is highly motivated. He finds himself in a great situation, something he must be thrilled with after the past few years.

Everytime i hear the commentators praise & talk up Bogosian, a little part of me dies inside.