DarthEbriate

Well, if I'm an NHL-caliber UFA, I'm not signing in Arizona in the offseason. If I'm a fringe/tweener AHLer and this is my only shot at the big league, sure: sign me up. Except it's way too hot to live there. If I'm Logan Cooley in the NCAA... no way in hell am I signing an ELC with this franchise and not having a stable future. There could be a new owner, GM, and city in any of the next 1-2 seasons, so I'm staying happily in Minnesota and playing my game. I'll go UFA and sign the same ELC anywhere I choose, thank you very much. If I'm Dylan Guenther or Conor Geekie, I'm letting my agent tell them I'm happy to moved in any trade that they see fit, because I won't be signing anything beyond the minimum RFA years with this chickensh bantha fodder outfit.

Your research is my command. TL;DR - yes. But his linemates and Krueger's game plan crushed anyone who wasn't skating with Eichel. First, some table setting. In 2018-19, Skinner scores 40-23-63 and is 0 +/- while linemates Eichel and Reinhart are -10 and -11, respectively. All 3 players tie or exceed their career high point totals to that point (Skinner has finished with 63 points 4 times in his career). Skinner does finish the season very cold (4 goals in his final 19 games in March/April) as the team sputters. Enter Krueger. In 2019-20 - Skinner is moved off the top line from opening night. VO will net 20 goals with Eichel/Reinhart. I like VO a lot, but you can't tell me that Skinner doesn't score more with Eichel/Reinhart as their games continue to grow. Skinner gets MoJo as his center and a combination of Vesey/Sobotka as his defensively responsible linemates. His main linemates throughout the season: MoJo, Sobotka, Lazar, Frolik, Asplund, Rodrigues, Sheary, and Simmonds. His scoring craters, as you might expect. On 3/7/2020, Skinner finally returns to the Eichel-Reinhart line in time for Ullmark's return from injury 3/9. The season is cut short by COVID on 3/12. Enter Taylor Hall. Now, at least you can argue there's a LW who could supplant Skinner on the top line. Preseason January 2021 (COVID-delayed start to season). Opening Blue-Gold scrimmage: Skinner-Staal-Reinhart is the top line on Gold, the 2nd line on the team behind Hall-Eichel-Olofsson. An injury to Okposo throws a bit of a wrinkle into the opening night lineup, but it doesn't matter because Skinner is on the 4th line on opening night as Skinner-Lazar-Sheahan. He is behind LWs Hall, Olofsson, and.... Tobias Rieder. [[SabreSpace is wild because Hall-Eichel both want to carry the puck and it just doesn't look like the right combination up top. 40-goal Skinner remains on a defensive checking line.]] COVID strikes the team in February and Skinner gets to Line 1 (Skinner-Eichel-VO) on 2/15-2/16 for a pair of listless (but a bunch of folks getting over COVID or unable to fully practice because of contact tracing) losses to the Isles. 2/23/2021 - Skinner scratched for 2 or so games. Note: the team is in utter freefall at this point. Ullmark gets hurt. 3/5/2021 - GM Sheevyn gives a vote of No Confidence in HC Krueger. A couple days later, Eichel gets hurt (or more hurt) vs. the Isles. On 3/17, Krueger is fired. Granato takes over and COVID protocols prevent practices during the couple day break, so the lines remain the same for a bit. Skinner-Lazar stay together on the 3rd line for a couple weeks. 4/9 - Skinner-Reinhart-Olofsson makes its debut as line 2. For the next 2 weeks through season's end it becomes the top line. (The Asplund-Mitts-Thompson line is the line that surprises as #2.)

It's time for the Jedi Coyotes to end. The cities don't want the headaches of constant moves/threats of moves/legal battles. The general populace has the lingering resentment of past taxes and whatever hidden costs will be found in the future despite any private funding. Just take the team to an actual hockey market that won't need constant bailing out by the league. You can even charge the new city (and maybe owner group) a modest relocation fee. Thanks for Tage and Matthews and ASU getting a hockey team. It was good to see a couple generations of kids grow up with the game. But maybe all the greater Phoenix-Tempe area needs is an AHL franchise to give Tucson a really close rival.

Goals were exchanged in the opening 90 seconds and then the T-birds scored 3 times in 45 seconds to effectively end the game before the first intermission. Yay! As a Sabres fan... Savoie was invisible in the first period (and not in the good 3rd pairing defenseman's name wasn't mentioned sort of way). The Ice woke up in the 2nd and played with some heart and scrappiness. Savoie's best shift all game was a PP where he took an uncalled high stick from fellow 1st-round pick Reid Schaefer off the faceoff. After that initial clear and re-entry, Savoie showed fantastic reaction to keep the puck in at the blue line, had a nifty stickhandle along the boards to create space and get the puck to a teammate, floated to the slot and made another good pass to generate a scoring chance. Elite hands, good vision and really good movement off the puck on the power play all on display in 1 minute, and he should have drawn a penalty to make it a 5-on-3 to boot. No goal came of it though. Savoie and his tiny line (Benson, McClennon) were neutralized throughout the game by Seattle's bigger guys. Davidson (13/16) crushed Savoie (4/15) in the faceoff dot all game. When the game was 5-1, the Ice scored at 4-on-4. Savoie broke loose in coverage and had all day to shoot or pass. He froze Milic and dished to Benson for a tap-in. Lovely play. But that 4-on-4 was the only time he or Benson had any time/space in the offensive zone. The Ice had 38 shots (Savoie with 4) but Milic made all but 2-3 saves look routine. He had one stellar save in the 3rd to keep it from getting interesting.

He's as clumsy as he is stupid. Get him on the hologram videoconference so we can discuss his project roll off date. Folks cannot forget this. He allowed Hall to win the lottery for Power. His ineptitude allowed for a complete culture change, Granato's offensive attack to be unlocked (meaning Tage moves to center and plays legit minutes, Skinner isn't scratched) and the acquisition of Tuch, Krebs, Östlund, Greenway, Levi, Kulich, Kisakov, Komarov (by paying for some Butcher salary), Rosen, Karlsson, a 2023 PHI 2nd still to be selected. Now... would the team be better with Granato as a forwards coach only, a different but real HC at the time, and still have Eichel as captain, Hall, Reinhart, and Risto on the team (the assets moved for the above list), no Power but probably a top 14 pick that season, etc. That's the alternate universe.

Lidstrom's NHL career spanned 1991-2012 and two key forward waves (Yzerman, Fedorov, Shanahan; Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen -- none of whom played in the AHL in the 90s-00s). And while their core was mostly those top-flight guys and an endless barrage of the best free agents who wanted to be there, they also hade a bunch of these guys who occasionally became core (Kronwall, Holmstrom, Osgood), but mostly were just solid contributors along the way --- and sometimes never for more than just a cup of tea in Detroit. I recognized all of these guys: Keith Primeau, Mike Sillinger, Slava Kozlov, Darren McCarty, Martin LaPointe, Bob Boughner, Osgood, Tim Taylor, Jason York, Kris Draper, Aaron Ward, Jamie Pushor, Mike Knuble, Mathieu Dandenault, Anders Eriksson, Tomas Holmstrom, Jiri Hudler, Matt Ellis, Niklas Kronwall, Tomas Kopecky, Valtteri Filppula, Brett Lebda, Jakub Kindl, Jonathan Ericsson, Kyle Quincey. Even Ville Leino started out as a Wing! There's some solid careers and playoff contributors. With Dahlin and Power, you're hoping to have an open window with 2-3 forward cores and 20 years of awesomeness. Keep Rochester locked and loaded.

The Concept of Borgen! 😇

It's 1-1 in WHL Final after the first two games in Winnipeg. Savoie has 1 assist and a -2 rating. 10 shots (5 in each game). 0 PIMs and 23 of 40 on faceoffs.

Kulich still maintaining his goal every playoff game streak.

Occasionally I take a look at this one: the battle for McDavid. There's tanking and then there's what this franchise did for over 2 years to get to this point... The Sabres lost that game in regulation. Myers and Risto with the goals.

That's sublime.

Gotta bold Knapp. Tank on!

And the key is replicating VO with a first-round athletic, vision, and talent level instead of a 7th-round leve. Some more tenacity and net-drive and defensive game will help, too.

Whoa! Lineup card messup. Amerks dress 11-7, but Warren isn't listed on the lineup sheet and is removed from the game. They're skating 10 forwards for the remainder and no one has been injured or ejected via on-ice infraction. That's an unacceptable coaching blunder. And it's true -- on AHL.com, Tischke is in the lineup and Warren is not listed. They officially dressed 8 defensemen!

They're missing Pekar Passolt.

Actually, they'll need about 7-8 of them. And another 2 for possible playoff depth is there's an injury bug.

Considering Subban and Houser are UFAs and could easily be starters elsewhere next season (and I don't consider either of them prospects), the Amerks have a clear need of a prospect goalie next season. This is why I'm firmly in the 5th or 6th on Suchanek or Milic camp so you have someone who can immediately step in as a backup in Rochester. Then, you only have to ensure you keep either Subban or Houser (you can still keep both and that's fine, too). Then, in 2024, draft another goalie as a more long-term project.

I still remember Kozak as a Winterhawk and my "I like him even more" realization. He laid a solid bodycheck in the offensive zone and knocked a T-bird to the ice. Clean, hard. Probably unnecessary, but whatever. T-bird Matt Rempe (Rangers pick) decides he needs to address it. He comes skating over and Kozak catches sight and prepares a shoulder. Rempe bounces off Kozak like skating into a brick wall. Rempe gives his helmet a shake and is like "The hell? Anyway, yeah, consider that addressed." And proceeds to skate away. Today, a year later, Rempe is listed as 6'8" 240#. He was not likely 240 then, but he still didn't expect Kozak to stop him his tracks. Neither did I.

Looking forward to seeing Savoie in person against some very good competition. The T-Birds have been a juggernaut this season.

I agree with that. Theoretically, in a Frederic acquisition: KO retires, GM sees Frederic as the Zemgus upgrade, and Greenway was already the VO replacement in last year's lineup. But if KO moves on, Greenway becomes KO and you have a 3rd line (in 5-on-5 ice time; we'd all call it the 4th) of Frederic-Krebs-Greenway. Then, you might see VO still on the team as a 4th line scorer and PP guy if they don't find a willing trade partner for him.

True. I know they were traded before the UFA start. (some research).... Fiala: Traded for 1st and Faber (2nd), signed 7x$7.875M. RFA Offer sheet value, if you wait and don't pre-emptively trade: A 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. The trade appears the better option. Towes: Traded for two 2nds, signed 4x$4.1M. RFA Offer value: one 2nd. The offer sheet appears the better option. A revised question is: What is GM Sheevyn willing to part with to acquire the RFA Frederic before signing to an extension? How willing is he to wait and allow other GMs to make their trade offer first?

3x$3 gets him and replaces Zemgus. But more than the money, is GM Sheevyn willing to extend the offer sheet and sacrifice a 2nd round pick (they just gave one away for Greenway, but this would be the only 2024 2nd they own (at the moment). And the grander-scheme question, would he break the GM silence of extending an offer sheet? Particularly on a bottom 6 forward.

Bummer. I was thinking, incorrectly, he would be able to start working on his pro game next season. So without he or Johnson, they're still holding 0 defensemen on waivers-exempt ELCs next season unless Novikov signs. Or.... Nyberg or Lyckasen, I suppose

Savoie likely makes it as 12/13 next season because he can't play in ROC. I believe Kulich plays in ROC all next season except a toe-wetting 2-4 game stint. But the folks who are blocking those two are youngsters themselves: JJP, Quinn, probably Rousek, probably Jost. Adding Kane is all about the role... (see below) Exactly. It's about the role Kane plays. His comparable Sabres players are the PP-only forwards. Skinner, Quinn, Thompson, Mitts, JJP, and currently VO. While Kane might be better than VO: what's VO's current role? Healthy scratch. If they need another PP-only player they've got Savoie or even Kulich waiting in the wings.

I don't know if it counts as gritty, but I can think of 2 instances when Eichel was run and the first (and sometimes only) player who went barreling in to address the hit/roughing was Reino. Now, he had the advantage of being on the ice both times. He also was in the end-game line scrum at Arizona and then was laughing down the tunnel with Eichel and Bogo when I (foolishly) thought the team was coming together, getting scrappy, and the future was bright. They also had several comeback wins that first Bylsma season.