French Collection

Nicholas Savoie from the Quebec Remparts. Played with Komarov.

I’m curious to see who goes over the boards for PK1. Clifton is one of them with Mule is my guess. EJ with Power/Boosh as PK2.

Moscow Mule. Neuchev intrigues me, I think he will surprise people and end up better than Kisakov.

I know Mike Comrie has Edmonton connections and married Hillary Duff. I can’t recall him winning Cups though.

I’ve circled back to Hart being my favourite goalie acquisition. He can handle the starters’ workload and has done fine on a bad team. He is young enough to fit into this team short term and perhaps longer term. He can help Levi navigate breaking in at a young age. If Levi develops well then Hart can be moved for good assets.

The role based on his body of work.

I am nervous about giving Levi the pressure of being #1 this season without a fall back plan. He was impressive in his 7 games last year and he could do it. The only recent guy I can recall doing something similar is Carter Hart. He played 18 games in the AHL as a 20 year old and finished the season as the #1 in Philly with 31 games there.

The Leafs were dressing an ATO goalie as a backup in a few games just to save a few thousand dollars towards the cap.

There is the handedness issue again. Dahlin is a great defenseman and has quite a bit of experience on his off side. He seemed to be fine. Joki, EJ and Boosh may not be as good on their off side, meaning they could be a liability. Stillman may get extra games because he is LHD.

I think this is a possibility. Maybe there are games where they dress 7D. Marty was saying yesterday that coaches like 8D to run through the drills. This also tells me that 3 goalies is not in the cards if they carry 8D.

No I don’t think you’re full of it. Like other leagues, coaching and goaltending has improved a lot. It’s more Wild West than the NHL but games are more disciplined. Looking at Kane’s draft class, the only goalie I recognize as an NHLer is Scott Darling, and he’s not exactly good. Darling played 126 games and only three others from that class got in any games, with 11 being the most.

That was a weak draft. Kane really stands out. Kane’s numbers were similar to Bedard’s. Kane outscored Benson by 50 points in their draft year, that is a lot of points. Both were in the CHL. There was much more balanced scoring on the Winnipeg team while Kane’s London team was top heavy. Just guessing but Kane probably got 2 minutes of PP time, every time. I would have to say Kane was a much better prospect than Benson at 18. There are definite similarities to their games as well as their physical size.

I think the dominoes falling for teams grabbing D was a factor. Reinbacher, Simashev and Willander were behind him on most mocks/lists. Size (But) and position (Danielson) were the two final pieces that made him fall to the Sabres. Both of those guys were far behind Benson on consensus lists. He is regarded as a strong defensive player so he’s got that on Skinner right from the get go. His game is more playmaking than scoring which is the opposite of Skinner. If Benson was 2 inches taller and a C he might have gone in the top 5 imho. Skinner has improved his passing and defense, which helped him have a great season.

I like Helle for one year but this is a good compromise. Hart is young enough to be the long term goalie if he improves and Levi doesn’t. The Sabres have assets to make this work and could bag a reliable C like Laughton if they move enough to the Flyers.

At half of his salary, for two years, I would give him a shot.

A family member is billeting a Russian kid for junior hockey. He had visa issues last year and missed most of the season. He is spending the summer here this time around.

Will Butcher signs with the Penguins. https://www.nhl.com/penguins/news/penguins-sign-defenseman-will-butcher-to-a-one-year-contract/c-345211690?partnerId=pit-twt-penguins

I think Nylander has a limited no movement clause that kicked in July 1st. It sounds like he wants $10M per season from the Leafs and they are offering $8M.

If there are goalie problems KA may have to make a move earlier that the deadline just to be able to get to the playoffs. He may have to add goalie depth at the deadline, especially if one of Comrie/UPL are claimed on waivers or traded.

You can tell his maturity level is that of a four year NCAA guy and not an 18 year old. He spoke well during his interview and didn’t just provide hockey clichés. Seth Appert made a comment on how there is a huge weight off his shoulders now that he has signed. He wants to be in Buffalo. This kid was months away from choosing any team in the NHL and he decided to sign with the Sabres. KA must be pretty pleased with that. His upside is probably 4-5 D but that is great if it is homegrown.

As others have said he is patient and will not overpay. I think he is keeping his powder dry and will make a move or two to get the roster trimmed a bit. Teams are over the cap or up against it with rosters to fill. There will be some cap casualties and he has space to pick one or two up. He can also retain 50% of VO’s salary to make him more attractive. It is nice depth to have 9 NHL defensemen but I think he moves 1 or 2 in an upgrade. Something like Joki+ for Hanifin. Bryson will not draw any interest, especially being above minimum wage, so I would send him down. One of Comrie/UPL will probably be moved as well. I’ve been saying it forever but there is still time to weaponize the cap space.

Matthews pulls a Tkachuk and tells them he’s not extending? They would have to move him.

I guess nobody knows who the best partner for Power is yet. CC may have terrible chemistry with Power. EJ could be a great match but he is not up to 20+ minutes a night. Maybe Joki takes a step and realizes this is a make or break camp for him.

I got that vibe too. He doesn’t want to say that he’s pushed Joki and Boosh down the depth chart. He also wants to show that he deserves that opportunity.

Say the price was Rosen for one year of Hellebuyck. Rosen may never get any kind of important role with Buffalo or even develop into a good NHLer. No one sees him as the best prospect, but if he turns into a good player there are so many comparable ones in the Sabres system that it will not crater the organization. After a year of Hellebuyck maybe Levi is ready to fly solo, maybe he is not as good as everyone thought, maybe Hellebuyck loves it and wants to extend at a reasonable price. There are options and the cost may not be crazy for a good year with a great chance at a playoff run.