French Collection

If the acquired Dman is Graves this team would definitely make the playoffs and do some damage if they had a goalie heat up at the right time. I would guess you regained some draft pick(s) by dealing away VO. Rousek could be the 13th forward, giving KO breaks.

I could go for Saros as well. That extra year would cost something but it is 2 years and he is younger. His worst statically season was 2.70 GAA and .914 SV%. For Saros I would be willing to part with a better prospect than Kisakov. The Preds have picks #15, #46 and #47 in the first two rounds. Some creative swapping to let them move up could reduce the price and/or take the sting out of losing #13. Bonus points for KA if the deal included VO as a piece.

Florida Vegas

Sometimes there is more to be gained from scratch and sniff.

I hope those guys remain here for a bit. He’ll probably poach a few guys from the Leafs that Treliving doesn’t care about. These guys often have a posse that they move around with. Interesting that he gets a promotion after only 1 stint as a GM. It sounds like he didn’t like Shanahan meddling in his trades and such. I wonder how much real power the new GM will have. This always makes me wonder if the hockey Czar is really just a GM while the GM is really an assistant GM with a better title. Depends on the tandem I guess.

I think I would take the risk of #13, UPL and a mid level prospect for one year of Hellebuyck. As the year goes on KA can assess the impact of Helle, the fit with the team and how Helle feels going forward. One wild card here is how Levi develops with Helle as a mentor. I don’t expect him to get to Helle’s level by January but there should be some improvements in his game and how he handles the NHL. A few ifs I can live with here. If Helle is a good fit and wants to extend, KA can get this done. He has cap space and the luxury of a backup on an ELC to keep the goalie costs reasonable. The term may reflect Levi’s progress and his projected future. If Helle doesn’t want to extend KA can move him at the deadline and possibly recoup similar assets. Helle/Levi would probably have the team inside the playoff numbers so there would have to be a few things in place to keep them there. If Levi has shown to be not much of a step down from Helle and is ready to handle more, they stay in the playoff race. If Levi has progressed but needs a 1B then the trade can be structured to get a goalie back. Trade partner would upgrade with Helle and send a Cam Talbot level veteran back. This lowers the return of other assets but keeps the playoffs in view. As I said earlier,I would hate to see Hellebuyck go to New Jersey or Ottawa and be the guy that knocks the Sabres out of the playoffs for the next 5 years.

We live on a country road, we were one of the only homes to be built between the 90’s and 2015. In the last 8 years dozens of homes have been built as more people want to have acreage, woods or live by the river. Our area is commutable to Sudbury and North Bay. I walk my dog on the road in the summer as the bugs are too bad on our trails through the property. The speed limit is 35 MPH and there is just a tiny shoulder. All of this new traffic seems to leave at the last possible second and be in a rush to get to work. Some barely move over and zoom by at 50+ MPH. The later morning vehicles are retirees like myself, heading to the golf course, coffee shops etc. They slow down and pull over. Had to get that off of my chest this morning.

The added benefit is keeping him away from NJD.

Yes, many European stars take the time off like the North Americans. A lot of fringe NHLers and veteran club players make up the Euro teams. Rantanen played for Finland but no one else of that caliber joined him.

Kulich with the goal, Cecconi with the assist. I don’t get the feed but I am watching the scoreboard every few minutes.

Moscow Mule (Novikov) Traktor (Komarov) and Simashev could add up to some Russian horsepower.

Panthers for sure, they took down the Leafs, Bruins and Canes, 3 of my most hated teams.

There should be more action at the draft, all the GMs will be together. It would be nice if Winnipeg took him as part of a package for Hellebuyck.

FYI folks, I sent a message a few days ago to @Sabres Fan in NShoping all was OK. No answer yet. They have some massive wildfires raging around Halifax. Thousands have been evacuated and a few dozen homes lost.

My views of Barlow are limited but I wasn’t really impressed. His scoring is due to his shot and nose for the net. Morin and Dragicevic are high risk Dmen, all offense. Bonk is more well rounded. KA & DG are building a speedy team so iffy skaters like Perreault and Dragicevic may struggle at the next level.

https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/2023-nhl-draft-rankings-top-100

1st, UPL and Komarov sounds reasonable. I would entertain Quinn for Hellebuyck straight up if he extended. I love Quinn though so it would hurt. I wonder if Savoie’s name has been thrown around since he plays in Winnipeg.

I’m not done but after compiling the rankings of 16 mock drafts from good sources(still waiting for Bob McKenzie’s 17-32, FC to update and a few others) I have a pretty good feel for the first round. I will probably use around 20 different lists. Most lists are 32 players, a few are 64 or 100. 19 players are on all 16 lists. Here are the rankings, the number is the average ranking of that player. 1 Connor Bedard 1 2 Adam Fantilli 2 3 Leo Carlsson 3.4 4 Matvei Michkov 4.5 5 Will Smith 4.8 6 Zach Benson 7.1 7 Ryan Leonard 8 8 Dalibor Dvorsky 9.6 9 Adam Sandin-Pellikka 11.3 10 Oliver Moore 11.8 11 David Reinbacher 12.1 12 Colby Barlow 13.3 13 Matthew Wood 13.3 14 Nate Danielson 13.9 15 Eduard Sale 15.6 16 Gabriel Perreault 16.3 17 Brayden Yager 17.8 18 Andrew Cristall 19 19 Samuel Honzek 19.5 20 Dimitri Simashev 21.3 21 Calum Ritchie 22.1 22 Otto Stenberg 22.2 23 Thomas Willander 22.3 24 Quentin Musty 22.9 25 Mikhail Gulyalev 23.9 26 Lukas Dragicevic 24.5 27 Gavin Brindley 25.7 28 Daniel But 26.3 29 Riley Heidt 26.5 30 Bradly Nadeau 30.2 31 Ethan Gauthier 31.1 32 Gracyn Sawchyn & Jayden Perron 33.7

He can score 60 in the regular season but until he plays the same way in the playoffs he remains behind others on my list of top players. I value a guy like Brayden Point higher than Matthews because he plays even better in the playoffs. Matthews 1.13 ppg in the regular season, .88 ppg in the playoffs. Point .93 ppg in the regular season, 1 ppg in the playoffs. 2 Cups MacKinnon 1.07 ppg in the regular season, 1.3 ppg in the playoffs. 1 Cup Makar 1.03 ppg in the regular season, 1.07 ppg in the playoffs. 1 Cup

The Toronto Star had a poll asking who the Leafs should trade from their core 4 and what the return should be. They posted some of the replies. One was Matthews to Buffalo for TNT and Dahlin. I can’t believe that newspaper would think KA would even entertain that one. Talk about overvaluing your players.

He was very good with an excellent 200’ game. He was gritty and was not easy to knock off the puck. He has got some man strength now and the confidence to use it. Quinn was more impressive offensively but he ended up on his butt in many battles like he does in the NHL. He needs to get stronger. His offensive instincts are really good and he is equally dangerous passing or shooting. I think they will all improve from this tournament. I only watched a few periods of Tuch playing and he didn’t look like himself. I don’t know if his brother was healthy scratched or something but I didn’t see him playing. That may have affected Alex.

I can see the owners wanting more games because ticket sales are a large part of revenue. 2 more games are not a deal breaker for me but I don’t want to see it. Players will be worn down a bit more so there might be a move to load management which means key players may miss more games. Those guys are the ones fans are paying to see. Trying to strike a balance between regular season success, healthy teams, and playoff runs will be tougher to juggle. I would prefer fewer games and more international tournaments, but that won’t happen.

Michkov at 13, wow! He also has the Sabres trading Joki, pick #39 and a 2024 3rd rounder to the Blues for #25. They pick Simashev with that one. A few people have the Sabres interested in Simashev. McKeen’s has him at 9 while Smaht has him at 10.

Reinbacher is a RHD.

Latvia in OT.