Hoss

Pagnotta, for the record, mentions that the Sabres did well in the return for Samson.

He lost 13 to COVID (Washington played 69) and the league was stupid not to count the in between games as regular season. It cost him a 50 goal season which would have tied him for most ever (or brought him one short, I forget).

If he averages 41.25 goals a year for those four years he will hold the record for most goals in NHL history. I imagine if he plays all four and is close (within 15 goals or so) he comes back for one more. He has averaged 51.1 goals per 82 over the last four seasons (two cut short by COVID which if that hadn't happened I think he'd be well on his way to breaking the record).

Pagnotta says there's no concern between the Panthers and Samson's agent about getting a long-term deal done. Samson is "absolutely pumped." https://www.thefourthperiod.com/pagnotta/busy-draft-could-lead-to-busy-week#.YP2zigjAMTo.twitter

https://www.thefourthperiod.com/pagnotta/busy-draft-could-lead-to-busy-week#.YP2zigjAMTo.twitter Ignore the Eichel speculation please - that's in its own separate thread. - Columbus is talking to Laine about a contract but will move him if they're not close - Timo Meier could be had from the Sharks - Yandle, Suter and Parise are all nearing deals - Boston could do a one-year deal with Yandle but Suter wants multi-year deal - Isles, Blues, Avs, Panthers and Stars are in on Suter - Parise and the Isles seems like it's going to happen but it's not done - Jake Virtanen, despite sexual assault accusations, has interest - Avs and Landeskog are not close - Alex Ovechkin is likely to sign a four-year deal worth around $10M per year ... WOW. - Kuznetzov is a guy they want to move

I think very little of what the "big" insiders say is completely made up. I DO believe it is occasionally but what I believe is that they are often fed false information by people that would know for sometimes nefarious reasons and often for negotiating reasons. Sometimes I believe the insiders go farther than their sources do in connecting dots in order to force things out (whether it works or not I do not know). Also, the very beginning of this post is also how I feel "I think very little of what the "big" insiders say." On the track of insiders, here's one: https://www.thefourthperiod.com/pagnotta/busy-draft-could-lead-to-busy-week#.YP2zigjAMTo.twitter - Calgary, Los Angeles, Anaheim and Vegas continue to be in - Does not believe the Rangers or Wild are in - Florida and Boston "poked around" - Some teams want an answer by the start of free agency but, and a lot of people (myself included) will love this, "the Sabres could care less. Pay up or shut up, basically."

Fair enough! I knew I was on the right track even if I had the wrong attribute.

I think the best insight will come if/when he signs a long-term deal with Florida.

Pegula has seemed to be in cost cutting mode with the Sabres for about a year now and I think Eichel’s injury kicked the plan into overdrive.

The Geno guy with a fake last name appears to be one of a few parody insider accounts pushing this stuff. There’s another account backing him up saying he works for a radio station #69 and his account says he has 10 kids. It’s all a trolling thing so we can ignore and not post those accounts.

I know you guys have kind of tracked this already but the overwhelming response seems to be Dreger never said this and the guy is making it all up.

This approach is similar to Liger’s approach regarding shorter players. They represent better value the later you get because a lot of them fall for a reason that should not impact their actual projection (in this case, being short is being Russian). It definitely seemed to be a strategy and I’m definitely intrigued by it. A draft with a strategy beats a draft without a strategy. (Sorry if I’m misrepresenting your theory, Liger, this is just how I’ve interpreted it)

At the end of the day both women had something very intimate taken from them they did not provide consent to.

I think the more likely scenario is I’ll check scores when games end and hope those scores are losses. For whatever games I can get out of market I’m sure I’ll hope to see some wins. Especially when they travel to my state and I’m attending in a black Drury goathead.

The next two drafts each have three guys at the top who project to be franchise-changing talents. I’m tired of losing but I imagine I’ll find myself rooting for losses once more once the trade deadlines pass in each season and this team is far out of playoff range.

Is it Patrick Ewings or Patricks Ewing.

Because of the Ewing Theory.

Niklas Hjalmarsson is retiring. The analytics crowd says he is the best defensive defensemen of the modern era:

While I don’t agree on the “we don’t have to do anything” front the rest is spot on. Drury’s moves to this point have been questionable at best. We aren’t required to move Jack but it’s teetering on ugly and because this team’s chances of winning before his NMC kicks in next offseason are slim to none it’s only going to get uglier. It’s time to move on. I don’t believe for a second they can’t find good value at some point in the coming weeks.

One part of the Friedman stuff that I forgot to mention is that free agency is likely a deadline for some teams. Those teams will want a resolution on Eichel because they will pursue free agents and spend money elsewhere. That’s another point where Eichel’s value will be impacted (though it will go down for some and up for others who strike out).

I think the likelihood of reconciliation is about as close to zero as it can be. He might be 24 but he has already spent five years of his NHL career without competing a single time and this team’s moves this offseason have made it clear they don’t plan to go through a fast rebuild. Unless a couple of the young guys suddenly become stars this team is an unpredictable amount of time away from even entering the playoff race. He’ll suit up but that’s not reconciliation.

Unless the other pieces are no bueno I think this is a spot where Adams folding should benefit us though he shouldn’t have put himself in a position to demand all the pieces he wants PLUS no salary coming back because very few teams can achieve that (thus lowering the price). The draft was only a big chip for Anaheim, Columbus and LA (the latter two have not been connected to Eichel for weeks).

I have never seen this either.

Virtanen is being accused of rape. https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/31461948/vancouver-canucks-jake-virtanen-accused-lawsuit-sexual-assault

I was giving the full name because my post was intended as a clarification and wanted to provide the clearest context for those less familiar with the international tournament setup.