French Collection

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.

Tournament all star. He was also named top forward of the tournament. Weegar best Dman and Silovs best goalie.

Levi was dressed as backup, for what that is worth. Krebs, Quinn and Levi took a nice picture with the trophy. Get used to it boys!

Nice passing, good on faceoffs, hard forechecking, covering the D when they pinch, he’s doing it all as a C.

Krebs with another assist on the PP, tied 2-2.

Scrum after the whistle, JJP pairs up with Krebs. Didn’t look very threatening. Nice backhand saucer pass. Gorgeous shot by JJP.

I didn’t watch it but obviously the US didn’t bring their A game.

The Sabres may have all three finalists in a few years.

It’s a dumb and dumber 1 in a million odds but maybe a GM would have an intern read all of the forums for trade/draft/FA ideas.

He is a first rounder, the messiah, get him in Buffalo ASAP. He has been slow but probably took a well thought out approach to signing. KA is not rushing any prospects, Johnson will be given plenty of time to develop and earn a spot.

It sounds like their speed is the main advantage they have over Hershey. Use it or lose it boys. Let’s go Amerks!

There’s a line I like to hear, “pocket picked by Peterka”.

That league is comparable to the NOSHO (Nortern Ontario Senior Hockey Organization) up here.

JJP with an assist on the second German goal.