kas23

Knowing how winning NHL teams roll with multiple lines, I don't know how I would feel about depleting our system of nearly a whole very good 3rd line (plus a defender) for 1 winger, especially when Eichel would make most wingers look good. I hope GMTM doesn't go for the shiny toy model of building a team.

Never mind the height issue, is that weight a misprint?

I wouldn't give up Reinhart, Eichel, Risto, or ROR for anyone in this draft or any current players. Anyone else would be on the table.

And I'd love to see that bone-headed logic blow up in their faces. No offense to the Boston marathon victims.

Given the pick of a questionable forward versus a questionable defenseman, people are usually going to get excited about the forward. It's human nature. Fans like the prospect of goals.

That's a fine idea. Take pics of them laughing, then blow them up to a distasteful size and hang them behind the podium. Someone could even pipe in some snickering while the Leafs are on the clock, which of course would become very loud as the pick is announced.

Trading them entails another team(s) picking them up and we know GMTM has tried this in the past and failed (and that was with 2nd rounders). You can draft 4 3rd rounders without having any effect on the contract limit. Picks don't equal contracts. Plus, 3rd rounders (and on) are usually busts. It's best having the odds in your favor because you never know when you might strike gold.

You forgot just drafting 4 3rd rounders. He has to hit on at least one, right?

Agreed, with the exception of the broken fax machine incident, which is now the stuff of legends. Sure, it ultimately meant nothing, but actually meant a lot.

That's if you believe him. When it comes to discussing 1st talent in relation to the Sabres pick therein, GMTM usually speaks with his mouth full of sour grapes. It's likely he was trying to save face based on the lottery pick we were likely going to get. "Look, we didn't need to move up, they're all the same anyways"

There very few that would fall into the "would not bang" category for me. Although those are indeed strange looking ears, she falls short of the criteria needed for this category. That honor goes to the likes of Nancy Pelosi, Rosie O,Donnell, the lady who got her face chewed off by that chimp, women who are not breathing. etc.

I think he would. Under the right circumstances and after much internal debate. I just don't see him as the type of guy who automatically takes things off the table. For example, I don't think he would rule-out offer sheeting a player on Totonto or Boston.

This is a very good point. Tells you the game's more about chemistry and teamwork than signing the biggest FA name.

Great post. I'm confident GMTM will grab a great player, even if he's considered a reach by many. He apparently really wanted Larkin in 2014, a player 14 teams passed on in the 1st. If GMTM picks a player people aren't discussing as a "top 10 talent", so be it.

Propa!

You should find a way of containing and reusing that methane. Such a waste....

I think people are forgetting the reasoning behind a draft. It's a sustainable source of incoming talent. If we traded all of our 1sts/2nds over a span of 3-4 years for proven vets, we may get a Cup (or not), but then be forced to dismantle and our prospect pool would be depleted, sort of as it is now). We'll get our Cup, then it'll be another million years before we get another. We need the continuous wave of cheap talent the draft provides. Prospects in the draft are like trees. Free and sustainable. This is exactly why most of us don't remember the last time Detroit missed the playoffs. We'll need to make some unpopular moves in the future to keep Eichel, Sam, and Risto together. We'll need good players to be ready to step up to continue to be competitive.

Edmonton should be the poster child on why the NHL's current lottery system does not work. Awarding the top picks to the worse teams is done in the spirit of parity and competition. However, this has not happened in the last 5 years. Edmonton continues to be a bottom feeder. The wild card is that Edomonton has also been the epitome of a dysfunctional front office. And that should be punished. The leads me to my Award and Punishment model. First, you can only win the lottery once in a 5 year period. The NHL should still have its dog and pony lottery show, but a public spectacle should be made of those who have previous won the lotto and continue to suck. Within a 5 year period, if you win it twice, you actually go DOWN a spot. Win it 3 times, YOU go down 2 spots, etc. I think this will place a greater pressure on owners and front office folks to field a winning product. Purposely tanking will be a thing of the past due to the punishment part and lottery-winning teams will feel an added pressure to improve. In the end, fans will benefit.

While DUI is a very serious crime, I think we can all think of a time when, in hindsight, we shouldn't have been driving. That doesn't make it right though. What does is that he crashed into a Tim Hortons.

Wow. That slide right past me. I'm sure he could catch on somewhere as an Equipment Manager though.

This is nothing more than posturing to get a larger haul. All it may take is the #1 plus another player. With DR there, maybe they'll go for #1 pick plus Pysyk. And don't forget the person who ultimately makes the final decision. It's in the owner's best interest to get Matthews there.

I don't exactly understand what PA was saying in regards to the Hawks, but they are one of the biggest reasons in modern professional sports why a team should tank to be successful.

You could. But that would be a quick self-defeating one.

Even though the teams you mentioned didn't purposely tank at any point, I don't think winning a Stanley Cup is the appropriate metric for judging the success (or failure) of a tank. Let's say the Sabres never win a SC, when you sit down in your seat with your family at FNC to watch Eichel light it up, don't you think it was worth it?

Michael Babcock: http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/14901485/nhl-mike-babcock-begins-grooming-toronto-maple-leafs-future Am I still bitter about this? Course not.