French Collection

Perfect 3C, winning pedigree, PK, wins draws and plays hard for all 200’. Tampa would like to move him before his NMC kicks in if they ant Stamkos. Nick Paul would be a cheaper option but they can probably afford to keep him. KA can deal with the cap issues next year. Playoffs now!

Sabres have more prospects (minimum wage employees) and picks than most teams. The Bolts may even take Krebs as a 4C. Drunken sailors spend it all ASAP. KA is much too slow for that. Besides, they don’t have that much cap space anyway. It’s not like he can sign Stamkos, Pesce and a couple of grit guys, unless they were one year deals.

I’m kind of in Sam’s corner and I’ve always liked Maurice’s candour. I guess that makes me a Florida bandwagon jumper. No real emotion for KO one way or another, definitely not the Ray Bourque vibes.

That is the recency bias I guess, but has a look about him that brings out the Pronger once in while.

We’ll see this season how Byram and Power progress. If these two take a step forward the D core will be a force to be reckoned with, not so much defensively but in puck possession and zone exits. I like Byram’s nasty edge. I hope that Power puts on a few pounds this summer to have stronger legs and more confidence. He will never be that punishing, physical Dman, but if he moves the needle 10% more towards asserting himself, that will give him more room to be creative. A face wash once in a while, pushing a man down in front of the net or in the corner. Added strength and Ruff’s influence can get him 10% tougher to play against. Then his confidence, growth and talent can take him to 20% above where he is now.

The fans will be rocking in Ostrava. Rivals. Sweden vs Finland and Switzerland vs Germany.

I am not a fussy eater but……no.

A guy like Joshua may be around $3-4M. I would rather they push the envelope and flirt with maximum cap than have tons of cap space and not use it, like KA during his reign. He never weaponized his cap space. Having talent on board will cause him to make tough decisions and move people out as needed and bring in minimum wage prospects as they are needed. An example might be moving on from Mule if Novikov takes the next step after next season. There is over $3M in savings in one move. The other variable is the cap going up.

This is not NHL competition but the Czech team only has a handful of guys who have never played in the NHL. Their goalie played 44 games in the NHL this season. He has elevated his game to lead a Canada team with Tavares, Bedard, 40 goal man McCann and former 35 goal scorer Mangiapane. He can also play there without worrying about getting his face caved in.

Tampa Bay has $5M in cap space to sign 5 more players, 1 of them being Stamkos. Maybe Cirelli does shake loose. They could use some minimum wage players (prospects) and draft picks.

He kept his season going by joining Czechia at the World Championships, I doubt he is banged up real badly.

I’ve watched every Canada game. He is skating hard and blowing by people. The odd time he will go through someone when he loses control of the puck. His shorthanded goals have been the driving to net variety. His PP goals have been snipes.

Watched him up close for two games in Prague. Skates well and tried to battle vs men but obviously needs to get stronger. Scored a nice goal on a feed from Zuccarello, who was on his line. He doesn’t drive play but gets involved in all of it. Coach didn’t put him out in final minutes of close game. Decent size.

JJP with an assist so far after 2 periods vs France.

The winner of this one has a good chance to win game #1 as the Stars have been sitting awhile, resting but not having that intensity level at 10. I do like their chances though, they are a well balanced team.

I don’t think he is available either, just that he is the type the Sabres need on the 4th line. Energy ++++.

Eiserman is one kid where you hear he is the best scorer and has the best shot of this class. They don’t say why he dropped from #1 or #2 to around 10-16 in a year. Some hint at his skating, others say he doesn’t pass or doesn’t play a 200’ game.There must be more to this story. Parekh is another. Lights out offensive production and they say his defense is OK. If that was the case then he should be top 5. I’ve seen him play so I know his warts and I hope the Sabres stay away. The worst podcast for this was The NHL Network who had Dan Marr from Central Scouting on. I just like to hear about a few warts so that you get a more accurate picture. This podcast was all about accentuating their qualities. We know they won’t all become all-stars.

I’ve listened to a few podcasts about the draft. It’s tough to get a read on prospects weaknesses because all they focus on are the strengths. I like to hear about the areas of their games they need to work on to get a full report on a kid. I realize they can’t be too negative but these guys are not all the next great one.

JJP and Cozens tied for 8th in scoring with 8 points each.

Brandon Tanev playing a solid 4th line game for Canada. Blocking shots, PK, huge hit and hard on the forecheck. Gritty, effort type of player that the Sabres need.

2 goals and an assist. Coach likes him, playing him PP1 and PK.

Czech team is adding Pastrnak, Zacha and Necas. That is a great boost.

Cozens scores the first of the game for Canada.

Here is something else to chew on about the Pegula hires. Granato joins a list of coaches fired by the Sabres who may never get another Head Coaching gig. He is not mentioned as a possible candidate for any of the numerous jobs.

It is time. Deliberate, slow and long term should have an expiry date of April 2025.