DarthEbriate

It was especially fun for Kadri. It was one handshake after another on the thumb, but I doubt he felt a thing as he's got an engraving on the way.

Let me preface this with: take the Best Player Available, don't get cute in the draft! But now let me follow that up with a conjunction but... I'm going to get cute in the draft for a minute: Because we've got 2 picks close together in 9 and 16 and the draft should be a wild mishmash after the top 5... this may be the time to take the unique player early and then come back for the "any of these guys" just a few picks later. If there, I might take Kasper at 9 because he's the early guy who plays a hard-nosed game and he could be one of those float-up/down guys that you always want on the ice. I don't believe he makes it to 16. And then at 16 I can take the more offensively-minded center who remains: Savoie, Nazar, Ostlund, Kulich, any of whom could be gone or start going at that point. (Or at 16 get [f]risky and do a Miroshnichenko, Yurov, or Trikozov.) 28 and 41 fill in the RHD and another fun forward.

I hate losing. I’m still here. Hecht, I started posting here because of the losing and the thought that maybe some smiles could be generated through a cross-referenced idiom.

Hate the player, not the name. (and not really hate, but that’s how the line goes. More don’t draft the player, dig the name.)

Ah, the glory of the SWHS. Even the most silly Star Wars has a place in Star Wars.

The Obi-Wan Kenobi Showbi was fun. It does cause a bit of a character issue for Leia. Luke is all mopey and she gives him a blanket --- but her planet just was blown up, she was tortured, and her super-companion has just self-sacrificed and disappeared! --- she's completely emotionless. That said, the show did have oodles of one of my favorite goofy film tropes: little kids running (and really, just jogging so they can stay cleanly in the camera shot, stopping and turning and looking back) and managing to easily outrun full-grown adults).

It's likely more tied to Olofsson's injury and eventual demotion than to Tuch. Thompson and Olofsson started the year on fire. Then, VO was hurt and found his way down the lineup. Tuch gave Tage a bump mid-year, but then was better placed lower in the lineup after VO/Mitts had their re-health-ifying together. In April, VO and Tager were reunited and both finished very strong.

The 12” Joes (and the Six Million Dollar Man whose head you could look through) just remind me of Barbie and furniture and clothes. 3.75 is about the vehicles… and lining them all up in play formations to play football. My Joes played a lot of football vs Cobra. Destro was one hell of a nose tackle until he suffered that devastating spinal (o-ring) injury. Please do not look up the prices on the aftermarket. 😇

Hasbro Pulse is releasing a Retro line of true-to-form 3 3/4" GI Joes and their vehicles for kids in their 40s. So if you always wanted a Cobra Stinger jeep but you opted for Legos instead because they were cooler and... more constructive? better for your soul?... now's your chance. https://hasbropulse.com/collections/gi-joe/products/g-i-joe-retro-collection-cobra-stinger-with-cobra-officer Note: You have to keep a sharp eye because some of the Retro line are 4" and not the old school 3.75". There's a bit of a marketing mislead.

It's important to get the beat writers involved in the mock because there's has to be the decision point of "best player available meets critical organizational pipeline need" (see Detroit: goalie, so they took Cossa in 2021; see Buffalo: RHD this July). Matt Fairburn did well at getting "X expected to go in this area" matched with the pipeline needs (C, scoring W, RHD). Obviously, each team will have their specific targets, but this is a solid 1st round all around, even if it lacks many surprises.

AGM JBott missed out on working with HC Byslma by a month in Buffalo. But maybe Seattle/Coachella is getting a Sabres band back together. Colin Miller is a UFA.... Lots of possibilities.

And 16. I'd take it.

Isn't that the truth. Quinn won AHL Rookie of the Year... so did previous Sabres Mika Noronen, Nathan Gerbe, and Tyler Ennis. Good for the Amerks and Pirates and all three reached the NHL. If any of them were top-10 picks I think they'd be quite poorly regarded. Their overall value to the Sabres is debatable. Noronen became a pick (Enroth). Gerbe was waived and then given a compliance buyout. Ennis (+ Foligno, 3rd) was traded Scandella, soon-to-retire Pominville, and a 4th (LHD Cronholm - never signed).

By US TV ratings, we're either the best fans (or just the most longing for hockey viewership of any kind). Or the most silly-zealous. Or... or something. I purposefully haven't read any of the comments in the article because I can imagine what any Sabres fan would be writing.

I don't trade for him at all (caveat: unless it's Kane + Chicago's unprotected 2023 1st to take his salary, then sure. Heck, I'd throw in that Dallas 7th and some future considerations). I'm fine with UFA next season, but I'm happy to keep a hard forechecking young lineup with a boatload of 1sts and 2nds coming while he gets his age 34-37 contract elsewhere. But more importantly, I don't do anything with Kane until I see this year's team. I need to know what VO wants (is he long-term or short-term and be ready to move?). I need to know if Quinn can stay healthy be a top-6 wing. Next offseason I've got RFAs in Cozens, Thompson, and Samuelsson. I'm not signing (or extending) Kane with a M-NTC/NMC that he'll require until I know what Tage and Cozens are going to project and sign to. I need to know if Okposo is coming back on a 4th liner's contract or if Kane would take his spot outright. I'm not getting suckered into a Skinner contract and I'm not falling for the TPeg "if we sign Hall trade for Kane we're a contender" garbage. In summation, go get an NHL goalie.

Agreed. And although I'd prefer him at 16, Kasper at 9 wouldn't shock me. He might not get all the points, but could become a PP/PK and "every line he's on is better" and fan favorite for 10 years. I can easily see 2 of the top 4 being defensemen and one of them simply has to be a RHD because we have nothing in the pipeline (Fitz, Laaksonen, Nyberg, Lychasen). And Fitz is already 25 and a NHL/AHL tweener. But Pronman/NHL Source picked a redundant puck-mover (a few spots too high) instead of what they lament in their comments that Buffalo doesn't have: scoring forwards. It doesn't make sense except to drive "what the heck?" conversations like this thread. 🍺

I edited my initial post with their rules. It's the former. What they think would truly happen. Which makes it worse.

I've not read anything about him being bad in the locker room or as a person, but rather this. The trade for production/minutes, and not being "want to/happy to be here and play a role that the team needs" type player. That's not consistent with Buffalo's messaging. If you're going to go high end talent and risky at 16, go Miroshnichenko or Yurov.

This Pronman/NHL Source alternating picks mock draft article: https://theathletic.com/3366772/2022/06/20/predicting-nhl-draft/ for those outside the paywall. Edit: their mock rules: "The goal was to predict what we think will actually happen on draft day, not who we personally would select at a given spot. In terms of the ground rules for this draft, no trades were allowed and no discussions about who we were going to pick next were allowed between the two selectors. After a coin flip, the team source got the first pick of the draft, but we decided I would get the first pick of the second round so we could pick for some different teams." #9: BUF Korchinski (NHL Source). Next 5 off the board: Mintyukov, Geekie, Bichsel, Savoie, Nazar. While I can see a run on LHD in the first, I see it in the teens. And definitely can't see the Sabres participating in it at #9. #16: BUF Lambert (Pronman). Next 5: Yurov, Pickering, Miroshnichenko, Gaucher, McGroarty #28: BUF D.B.B. (Pronman). Next 5: Bystedt, Lutz, Howard, Snuggerud, 2nd: Schaefer #41: BUF Hughes (Pronman). Next 5: Havelid, Beck, Sykora, Hamara, Perevalov.

One odd thing about the anthems at sporting events: it's not like the whole venue is shutting down. Camera operators are still running around and sticking the camera into players' faces. Anyone outside the bowl/seating area is still running about. Security, ushers, tickets, and concessions are still fully expected to do their jobs. Can you imagine if concessions grabbed a hot dog, put it on the counter, and then stopped your draft mid-pour... for two minutes? Four minutes in Buffalo where they sing both songs. It'd be mayhem.

In a setting hundreds of miles away... You can go about your business. --Move along. Move along, move along. (And if you do stop to listen, I assume it's to critique the singer. Particularly for the US anthem: Oh... they started out way too high. Or too fast. Or gee... really milking that ending aren't we?)

Huh. That might be my worst-case outcome of a Sabres draft [Edit: Now watch, they'll all have HOF NHL careers]. Was the source with Anaheim and letting their preferred pick get to them as wishful thinking at #10? Lambert does not scream GM Sheevyn/HC Meatballs attitude or play style, no matter the talent level. I'd think it'd be more likely for Seattle to take Korchinski (WHL Seattle) at #4 than the Sabres to take him at 9.

That's a little more hometown-discount than I think is possible. If you're still planning to play him middle 6 and PP time then you're anticipating 50ish points (and I think he'll have this production level for a few more seasons as well). And right now, he's still a PPG player. He's still outproducing Eichel every single year (except one). He can easily go get $6M+ on the open market for the next 2-3 years and then pull a veteran minimum Giordano contract when he's 37-39 back with the Sabres blue and gold.

If he wants to be here, then he can sign as a UFA next season. I don't give up any resources with which the Sabres' foundation is still being constructed for a single season at that salary, because then he has additional leverage in his extension (even a home discount) -- the Skinner effect.