French Collection

I’m just trying to suppress his cap hit. With Dahlin getting a point per game, his top end might be 60 pts.

He’ll never put up Dahlin numbers without taking over PP1.

https://www.nhl.com/news/mock-2023-nhl-draft-connor-bedard-adam-fantilli-top-picks/c-344826764 Two guys that write for NHL.com

I met a Russian kid that has played with Novikov. He said that when he is on the ice, you feel safe. He clarified his response to say you knew you were not going to get scored on and the puck was coming out of your end. This guy also knew Kisakov and said he wasn’t the type to handle the physical play of pro hockey. He said he was highly skilled though. Poltapov is a guy he was high on. He said he was a physical presence with a nose for the net. Neuchev was a guy he didn’t know, he never played with or against him.

Agree. I loved watching what he could do on the ice, he just never drew me into his fandom, for lack of a better word.

I’m kind of indifferent to him winning the Cup. I would have preferred Sam winning. I hope he has matured and takes the high road, his comments in Buffalo were not thought out.

I don’t do that stuff but sometimes I still let my imagination run away.

If everyone leaves, it’s tough for that team to find talent to win their way back. I guess in the NHL, the owners could pay lots of money to target guys that could help them get back where they want to be. Expansion hopefuls could make a pitch to the AHL winner to play out their barn for a year to increase revenues and giving the new city some exposure. NHL owners would never go for this but it would be a ballsy move to have billionaires relegated and their franchise values plummet. On the other hand, a rich guy like Smith in Salt Lake could load up an AHL franchise to take a run at the NHL without paying a billion in expansion fees.

It’s hard to imagine pro sports in North America doing relegations but I guess it’s common in Europe. The logistics of relegating Anaheim to the AHL and promoting Coachella to the NHL seem insurmountable. If Arizona plays out of a university rink, I guess it could be done. Huge downgrade for the Ducks but if they retained their talent you think they would come back the following year. That’s an interesting idea too. Do they keep all of their guys under contract or is there an out for guys to play in the NHL? FA would move to play in the NHL. Zegras and their young stars riding buses and playing in front of small crowds would be a jolt to their egos. It would also be a huge motivation to get back to the big time. The AHL would get a big bump from having NHL stars around. Bottom teams would dread signing a guy to a big 8 year deal and have to pay that while getting AHL revenue. Same with players, do you want to commit long term to a team that can be relegated?

Too bad VO is not a guy Torts would use. Could package him, UPL and a draft pick(s) for Hart and Laughton.

I’m sure there are scouts that are way higher or lower than the consensus. I find Button hasn’t changed his rankings much as the hockey season has wound down. His lists from April/May are almost identical. I like looking at the last 50 names or so, he has a few guys that no other mocks have. He also has Benson and Leonard outside the top 10 and Sandin-Pellikka at 5, which I don’t think happens.

So after looking at almost 30 different mock drafts, I think it is a safe bet that 8 guys will not be available at 13. Bedard, Fantilli, Carlsson, Michkov, Smith, Benson, Leonard and Dvorsky should be gone. There is a slight chance someone from the last 5 falls but I doubt it. 4 from the next group of 14 will be taken before the Sabres pick. I’ve listed them in the average ranking they got from the mock drafts I have looked at. Moore, Sandin-Pellikka, Reinbacher, Wood, Barlow, Perreault, Danielson, Sale, Yager, Simashev, Cristall, Willander, Honzek and Musty. My order of preference for the Sabres would be: Simashev, big Dman that skates very well. Moore, fast, 200’ C. Reinbacher, big RHD, could be a long term 4D. Could come to the Amerks right away. Perreault, super skilled W, broke Matthews’ USNDTP records but skating needs work. Musty, big skilled W whose stock has been rising. Sabres fan. Barlow, big winger with a good shot. Wallinder, good all round Swedish RHD. Wood, big scoring winger who needs to work on his skating.

Whenever I walk my dog along the road I can’t believe how many things get thrown out of vehicles. There are garbage/recycling cans at your next stop.

TSN’s Craig Button out with his final top 100. I find his picks are often out of alignment with what actually happens. He is not afraid to take a swing on some guys. https://www.tsn.ca/craig-s-list-plenty-of-intrigue-surrounding-matvei-michkov-ahead-of-nhl-draft-1.1972205

I think he had mono at the start of the season so that would lead to a sluggish start.

At the moment, yes. Krebs still has upside while 29 year old Laughton will start going downhill. Laughton’s career average is .38 pts per game while Krebs is at .36. He would help fill a hole though. Good two way C, decent on faceoffs, some grit and experience. He led the Flyers in PK ice time so he must be good at it. The C spine with TNT, Cozens, Laughton and Krebs would be solid.

I think the board of governors can veto a sale and that may be their approach to the Coyotes.

Nick Taylor won the Canadian Open golf tournament, first Canadian to win since 1954.

Krebs looked as good as him at the Worlds. Laughton may be 4C in Buffalo.

What they’ve done is within the rules, no need to put an asterisk on their record. However, there is a stench from that approach, especially when the guys return for the very first playoff game. I like the way KA is getting guys locked up to fair deals with the long term cap implications in mind. If the cap goes up significantly, he can add some good talent to his core. That loophole may still be there when the Sabres are contending but they may not need it.

7 of these 11 are Dmen, safe to say the pipeline will get a few this year.

Tkachuk got destroyed by Kolesar last game, I think his shoulder is messed up. He wasn’t able to shoot in the warmup.

He is one of the top of the guys I like there.

Dvorsky must be strong, he is 200lbs and he was top ten in BMI.

Combine results. https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/2023-nhl-combine-results-top-10-prospects-in-every-drill/