French Collection

Yeah, it’s all western teams messing this up so far. Like others are saying, just win. If they win a few in a row, the other teams will feel the heat.

Hockey takes up 95% of my “sports” time and the Sabres are the only NHL team I care about. There is some great discussion here and I learn something every day, which makes it a good day.

Looking at the Sabres roster and where they were drafted indicates to me how much talent is on the team and the importance of the draft. There are 13 1st round picks. 6 are Sabres picks. Average draft position is 12.5. There are 6 2nd round picks. 4 are Sabres picks. There are 1 pick each from rounds 3,4 and 7. Two are Sabres picks. There is 1 undrafted FA. That is an impressive collection of talent from their draft years. They are young and still developing while many other high picks are still waiting their turns. The future is bright and this team has drafted better recently.

Latest CHL rankings are out. The Sabres have players on 5 of the top 10 teams. These guys should get deep playoff runs and a few may get to the Memorial Cup. Komarov #1 Quebec Remparts Savoie #2 Winnipeg Ice Bloom #8 North Bay Battalion Lindgren #9 Red Deer Rebels Nadeau #10 Gatineau Olympiques

I wouldn’t consider him in the SHL as stuck. It is one level above where he is now, Allsvenskan. He is playing well but still needs to grow, Sweden may be the best place for him. Kulich and Rosen jumped the pond at 19 but not everyone may be ready for it. I would like to see him in the AHL, but the SHL is a good place to develop. He will be a big part of their WJ team, so it may be important for him to stay close to home.

I was instructing some apprentices at trade school. There was a math question (multiplication) that I solved in my mind in a few seconds, before they could punch the numbers on their phones. This blew their minds.

I wonder if Vegas would reunite him and Jack. They have Stone’s LTIR money so they could add a bigger fish.

Canucks were pumped to beat Horvat’s new team. Exciting finish to this one.

Agree that it won’t happen, but it could, with shadier people involved.

If the gentleman’s agreement is verbal it may be tough to prove.

These western teams suck, hardly beating any eastern teams. Calgary better keep this up on Saturday. Canucks up 6-4 vs Isles late in the third may be a rare win.

Olivier Nadeau scores 4G & 1A tonight in a win vs Ottawa 67s. Neat scheduling to get a game between a OHL team and a QMJHL team. This rivalry has been around for years, now called the Alexandra Cup.

I like this idea. Also, if he is a 4 or 5 D he will not get PP time in Buffalo, keeping his points lower and his salary demands.

Edmundson and Boosh would be a bruising pair. Could be the go to PKers, keeping Mule healthier for his 5v5 work with Dahlin.

This guy has been on the block for a few years. St Louis confirming they are a seller if this is the case.

I work in the Powerline industry and have seen this once in a while. We had gas line markings near where our pole was going so we excavated with a vacuum truck to find the gas line first and the dig accordingly. We dug down to the bedrock (7’ down) in every direction and never found a gas line. The quality of utility locates has gone down in Ontario since they’ve allowed one contractor to locate all of the utilities. They run the same equipment and do decent locates most of the time but lack common sense and utility background. When a utility used to provide their own locates, they had a grasp of where their plant is and knowledge of utility standards and practices for the initial installations.

I prefer watching the wild card race, but during this lull in Sabres hockey, I want to get a glimpse of the ‘23 draft prospects. We can’t rely on these picks for many years but the Sabres have gaps to fill and they need to keep fuel in the prospect pipeline. I don’t want them to become the present day Penguins, trading every prospect and 1st round pick for one more failed playoff run. I know the Pens have their Cups but their pipeline is where they fell short trying to please Sid. Mario got out at the right time. The Sabres have a decent 1st round and three 2nd round picks so this may be their last chance to add some higher quality talent to their pipeline. This draft could yield Power’s long term partner, a 4C who excels at PK and the faceoff dot, a goalie to compete with UPL/Levi/Portillo/Leinonen, a Foligno type winger for the bottom six or a physical 5-6 Dman that can defend like Bill Hajt.

Mid season top 40 list from Jason Bukala at Sportsnet. He was director of amateur scouting for Florida. https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/scouts-analysis-top-40-prospects-in-2023-and-how-to-build-a-draft-list/ Quite a few RHD in the 25-40 range.

Gil would never sign it.

Did he and Evander Kane have the same financial advisors?

It would also remind you how far you’ve come in player evaluations.

I would throw Bryson in there so they get someone to play right away.

This reinforces my view of the Cozens deal. I would much rather pay for future performance than past performance. The Kadri, Horvat and other recent deals like those are fair dollar wise but the term is what I can’t fathom. It’s easy for the player to take those deals but GMs committing 7-8 years to guys at or past their primes is crazy. You can get burned by young guys flaming out or even falling short of their ceilings, but there is a greater chance of outperformance from a 21-23 year old than a 28-31 year old.

That would be a cold business move. He is providing tremendous value and should be wearing a letter then. He skates well so I can see him lasting a few years after his current deal. His role will change and I can see him accepting a spot on an energy line.

If a part of the salary is “shares” in the team, would that count vs the cap? There are probably CBA rules against that sort of thing but I am trying to get creative with a franchise player. TP wouldn’t go there anyway.