DarthEbriate

That's fair --- I'm seeing him as a #41 and long-term potential player. I'd much rather have a Chesley at 28 if he makes it that far... which I feel with the recent runs on USNDTP in the 1st because it's such a safe and high-floor program.. he's likely gone at 28. Rinzel is the typical US High school risk. When looking at those players you have to trust whatever program he's going to next and his interviews (if any), because the competition certainly won't give the indicator of how good he'll become. Will he be Ryan McDonagh/Tommy Cross/Nico Sacchetti/Will Weber/Alex Killorn? (I had to look up the McDonagh draft year to find them all... those are the top 5 US HS picks from 2007, rounds 1-3.)

For whatever reason, the German and English are the first videos posted.

This is where I’m at as well. 2 NHL-caliber power forwards to replace Okposo and Tuch (in good time), one playmaker/attacker to be a Krebs/Mitts alternative, and one RHD. I’d add a Rinzel at the 28/41 just for rounding out the options list. The best part is in a few years any of these could end up being bottom 6 guys and that might be the best thing in the world because it means the other high-potential players on the roster reached their potential 9 Nazar/Savoie, 16 Ohgren/McGroarty, 28 Miroshnichenko, 41 Chesley(gone by 28 or soon after)/Rinzel/Warren. Many thousands of other permutations — but I’d see a pretty well-rounded haul in 3 years with any 3 of those early.

Yup. I'd like him at 28... he won't (likely) be there at 28. A playoff-bound team will snap up him and his game in the 18-26 range.

This is pretty flippin' sweet.

$5.2M and 3 arbitration-eligible RFAs who will chew up that space in a hurry. Very little depth there... as they learned last season. And so many NMCs and M-NTCs. Even Brayden McNabb got a modified NTC.

All the best to your dad and you and yours. As to the list, I can dig it. And I think there’s an excellent chance to get 2 of them with either Ohgren or Mintyukov available at #16.

Excellent crosswise comparisons and reminders.

Let’s do that 6 more times.

Neither Bichsel nor Kasper would surprise me at #8 to Detroit. And it wouldn’t surprise me that they’re both gone at 16. At 16, either could be a very solid addition.

Pretty much unforced puck over the glass in the final 2 minutes. What a maroon! But so much fun to watch.

Brother! So.... you have a wrong brother. Your drafting has now betrayed him, too.

Someday, someone will name their kid Jaggerest and we'll have to take them. Baron William von Barnekow-Løfberg

Hope she is able to make a complete and speedy recovery to whatever the ailment. Take care, Kim.

Ah... the EA NHL draft-the-coolest-names-because-you-can-always-play-the-game-and-win-instead-of-simming approach... I haven't done that yet except for some goalies... If the Sabres have any intention of checking on Braden Holtby in UFA, then they should totally draft G Braden Holt. G Chase Coward is hilarious to me. He's in the WHL. And there's a Croix Kochendorfer as a good French-German hybrid.

Precisely. It's having the NHL ELCs who could have a Sabres future vs. any player young or older who could be a perfectly serviceable AHLer, but not be in the plans for the Sabres. It's having Rosen in Rochester and learning the speed/ice size and not worrying so much about Scarfo or even Jankowski (who would likely be a much better player than Rosen this season and can also be a good mentor as a former 1st round pick).

That is my thought as well -- at least on the goalie and defensemen contracts. @sweetlou -- are the options listed intended as overpays on short term for Buffalo's non-blocking timeline? As an example, Holtby's last contract and 2 seasons were for lesser starter salary and he played a backup's load. There's no reason to offer him #1 goalie money anymore. $3-3.5M would be more reasonable as a tandem starter, and even that could be argued as the overpay.

It was great and he played well. HC Meatballs was going to put Power in all situations. But the 3rd pair was Bryson/Fitz at the end of the season. Depending on health and UFA (we all agree we need a RHD) and as they start playing matchups more (and other coaches have to start matching up against the Sabres to exploit weaknesses otherwise we’ll crush them!), he could find himself on the third pair and still be excellent and gaining momentum while protecting him over the 82-game grind.

Are you suggesting that Landeskog would pick up the Cup from Bettman, try to give it the hoist, have his knees buckle, and proceed to fall flat on his face?

We'd need someone with the right website access/subscriptions and know-how to grab all of PK's fancy stats for possession and controlled transitions. He would be an upgrade over Fitzgerald in the 5/6 pairing across the board (and possibly displace Joker to the 3rd pair, which would be a good thing). He'd be a very good mentor for offensive-minded, highly-touted guys like Dahlin and Power and how manage the expectations and also to hone their shots. And my understanding is he's been a very good face of the franchise and community guy on his various teams. He can continue building the interest in the new core as an ambassador-of-the-game type. For the defensive D, I would just like someone other than Muel who is going to be on PK1 and block oodles of shots and take that continuous abuse. I don't want Dahlin missing 2 months because he's got a bum ankle from a dozen shot blocks while killing penalties in November.

To be fair... it's not like the Bills were a 2nd-place juggernaut that simply couldn't get past Brady during the Patriots dynasty. They were a middling squad with no consistent QB for the bulk of this century.

Full team photo with the Prince of Wales trophy. Some hands/touches on it. And only a gentle lift and Stamkos with a carry. No need to superstitious when you're this good.

In super slo-mo, yes. But in real time, there's no chance for Stamkos to do anything but have it bounce off him, even if he then contacts the goalie. He didn't even react with a knee wobble impacting the puck until after he was past the net.

Palat is a UFA this offseason... PK Subban would be a Numminen/Patrick in terms of type of player. And that'd be fine if the rest of the D-corps was different. But James Patrick joined a D of: Smehlik - Zhitnik; Shannon - McKee; Patrick - Woolley; (Wilson, Grand-Pierre). They had the veteran defense-first guys already: Smehlik, Shannon, and another two D-first kids in McKee and Wilson. (And would swap Wilson for an even savvier D-first Warrener.) Numminen essentially directly replaced James Patrick. The season before Numminen joined, the D-corps was: Zhitnik - Kalinin; Tallinder - Campbell; McKee - Patrick (Fitzpatrick, Delmore, B Brown (acquired late), Jillson). Zhitnik, ancient Patrick, and baby Campbell being the only true offensive guys there. This Sabres team has Dahlin, Power, and Bryson will be offense first. Muel and Joker are the D-first guys. They need a 3rd (and better than Fitz/Pysyk). Subban is better than those two... but he's not a shutdown D.

Hedman gets pulled for concussion protocol. On the next shift after a TV timeout, Stamkos scores on a shot Shesterkin will want back (otherwise he's been excellent and the Rangers are being dominated). 20 minutes for the Rangers to salvage their playoffs. If TB holds on, we're all getting the series we've wanted for the past few seasons (Sabres excepted).