Curt

Last season the forwards who were truly caved in were Sobotka, Thompson, Okposo, and Mittelstadt. They are the players who had shot share numbers far worse than should be expected given their deployment. That’s most of what would generally be considered the middle-6. Girgensons and Larsson didn’t do badly considering they were given the most defensive deployment in the league. It’s the middle-6 (in addition to the D) that needed serious upgrades. They got some upgrades in Johansson and maybe Vesey, but that’s definitely not enough. Olofsson and growth from Mitts may also help, but still, not enough. In order to be a truly good team, Buffalo needed to add 3 legitimate 2nd line quality players on top of what they had last season. If Johansson is his very best self, Mittelstadt takes a huge leap forward, and Olofsson is a ready made 20+ goal/40+ pt player, then that brings the team close. However, each of those things is unlikely to be true, and the probability that all of them come to pass is almost nil. As things stand now, this team will probably still struggle to stay in the playoff hunt, despite being upgraded over last season.

The suggestion was Risto + spare parts for Mantha. Then McCabe and Smith were suggested as the spare parts. It wasn’t a proposed trade of McCabe and Smith for Mantha.

In what world is Risto a shutdown D?

When has Olofsson last played RW? I’ve heard that he hasn’t played there in like 4+ years. Could be wrong though.

Yeah, absolutely. I wasn't passing any judgments, just laying out a couple facts. I wouldn't really say Eichel "broke out" though. He has had a pretty slow and steady improvement season to season. His point per game have gone from 0.69 to 0.93 to 0.96 to 1.06. MacKinnon, on the other hand, doubled his points per game from 0.65 in 2016-17 to 1.31 in 2017-18. That's a break out!

4 seasons. He basically broke out in his 5th season, at age 22. Eichel will be in his 5th season in 2019-20, but also has already completed his age 22 season.

I basically agree, and think that’s why teams don’t seem to try to force unwilling players onto LTIR with saving cap space as the main motivating factor. It doesn’t appear to be a thing that happens in the NHL. These situations seem to be handled with a great deal of respect for the player. It seems to be a very case by case type thing, depending on the player, the team, and the medical situation.

Discipline, Structure, Communication, and Character: The pillars upon which winning cultures are built

Thanks for the info. Like I posted above, I would still think a team would want to avoid being seen as forcing a player to LTIR to avoid their cap hit. Taking away a player’s dream in order to save some cash? It could really sour players across the league on that organization. So, probably would tread very carefully around these type of situations.

Haha, I literally read that exact thing from wiki after your early post to see what exactly happened when LaFontaine left.

I guess the question is a team has doctors that say “this guy shouldn’t play” and the player has doctors who say “this guy can play”, what happens next? I don’t know, but I think it rarely comes up because teams attempt to maintain positive relationships with players whenever possible. No organization wants to be known for trying to force unwilling players into retirement as I think most players fear the end of their player career. It’s a bad look for a team.

I have no idea what happened with LaFontaine. I was 10 and not following the situation. Whatever was the case then, I’m sure the rules have changed in the past 20+ years. I honestly don’t know what happens if a team refuses to clear a player to play, but the player refuses to retire. I guess trade him like they did with LaFonaine??? Whatever the case, I’m pretty sure that going on LTIR is something that a player agrees to do, not something that a team can force upon a player. The whole LTIR thing seems very complicated and some aspects of it are not public knowledge or even in the CBA. I have to believe that if there was a readily available magic bullet to dissolve Okposo’s cap hit, Buffalo would do that. I don’t believe that they are complete idiots.

I don’t think it’s really Buffalo’s decision to make. They can’t force a player onto LTIR. The player has to agree to it.

I think if it got to the point where he was actually going to be sent to the AHL, then maybe he would consider it. Who knows. Thats not the current situation though. He is still good enough to play in the NHL. Chances are that he wants to remain an NHL player as long as he can because he loves hockey and loves the competition of playing at the highest level. It’s about what he wants in this situation, at this point. He isn’t yet at the point where choice is being taken out of his hands. I have no doubt that a player who has suffered multiple concussions and almost died from complications of one could find many doctors to agree that they are not fit to play a highly physical contact sport professional.

I think as he grows into/builds more strength he will be a bit harder on the puck and a bit quicker. For these reasons, I think that hitting the gym actually will help him keep possession and make plays against NHL defenders.