Curt

jfc. You know it’s the offseason when we have multiple multi-paragraph posts debating one single hockey play from 44 years ago.

Wow. That’s got to be a record. I can relate. My daughter is 22 months and she basically runs the ship here too.

It does? I think Miller is way better than Samuelsson. Seems about right, verging on a bargain for Miller. His next deal is going to be huge.

Anyone watch The Bear on Hulu? I’m going to get around to that soon. Everyone says that it’s great. Also saw first preview for Dune: Part 2. Comes out November 3rd.

Brian Campbell and Ryan Miller.

All I’m saying is that it is relatively easy to acquire players that can fill out a middle six compared to how hard it is to get a player like Bedard. For example, the Blackhawks could definitely build out a wonderful group of middle six forwards over the next few years, but Buffalo ain’t getting a Bedard over the next few years. The Oilers issues aren’t because of McDavid, I’m pretty certain of that. I get it, the Sabres have a lot of good prospects. It’s tough. Maybe the Blackhawks shouldn’t be #1 ahead of Buffalo, but it’s close and they should definitely be higher than 6th.

You can’t compare one guys production to the production of 3 guys and just call it even. Come on. What about the other two guys who will be playing along with Bedard? Let’s say you have Bedard, you can then sign, draft, or trade for guys to play on your middle 6 lines. Yes. That’s kind of baseline competence. Let’s say you have several good middle 6 guys, can you then sign, draft, or trade for a Bedard? Not impossible but pretty unlikely. Bedard is more valuable.

Bedard has the potential to be better than Eichel. Eichel is very good, one of the better centers in the NHL, but what I really meant by elite is a no doubt top 10 player in the league. I really really have no interest in having an Eichel debate.

One Connor Bedard is worth more than 4-5 Kulich/Savoie/R Johnson/Rosen’s. Would you trade 4-5 middle 6 forwards or bottom 4 defensemen for Connor McDavid? Yes, roster depth is important, but there are several ways to find/acquire/build roster depth. There is really no way to acquire an elite player. They are worth more because they are nearly impossible to get.

The Blackhawks being 6th on this list is kind of a joke. They have some decent prospects, but just having Bedard as part of their group should probably make them #1 or at least very close to it.

About the Sabres, no, definitely no new information for us, but if you want daily info about all teams around the league presented in an easily digestible way, he’s pretty good.

He is just a guy who loves hockey, with a YouTube channel, 1,000 jerseys and a couple cats.

I don’t disagree. I’m just a pedant is all.

Pesce is about to be 29. Maybe half a decade, 5-6 more years, if he lucky, as a top 4 D. I agree with your overall point, I’m just saying. He isn’t a spring chicken.

No, I really really don’t think so. Murray was going to occupy the role that Comrie ended up taking.

Huh, just realized this. Darn. I had envisioned him becoming a 6’2” beastly physical specimen. A 5’11” beast just isn’t quite the same.

Granato in a press conference today talked about the Sabres having 3 LHD (Dahlin, Power, Samuelsson) that E Johnson (and Clifton) could pair with and benefit any of them. My takeaways were I hope that they don’t overplay Johnson too much, and also it sounds like they intend to play Dahlin on the left side.

No, the teams already had agreed to a trade, but Murray wouldn’t waive his NTC to come to Buffalo.

I get being skeptical. The way I look at it though, all Sabres defenders 2-8 should be improved. Dahlin may be better too, but that’s hard. Power and Samuelsson should be better, Clifton pushes down Lyubushkin and Jokiharju, Johnson adds to the 6/7 mix. Stillman/Bryson are pushed down to 8/9. Guys like Pilut, Fitzgerald, Clague shouldn’t be playing any games at all.

Because the 6/7/8 guys would probably be a combination of players on their ELCs, like Johnson or Novikov, and guys making the minimum, like Stillman. Maybe one guy making ~$2M mixed in there. 6/7/8 defensemen just don’t usually make that much.

Lol, it’s been so long we don’t even know. I know that Clifton was in the top 4 for stretches with Boston but he was also surrounded by a great defensive team. I don’t see him as a high end 2nd pair guy, but I think he’ll play fine on a 2nd pair, especially if he is paired with Dahlin/Power. I’m hopeful that the signing works out.

Yeah, I’m optimistic, but I kind of think he might be more of a 4/5 than a rock solid 2nd pair guy. We’ll see how it goes.

Even if you don’t think he is going to be great in the role, I think it’s pretty definite that Clifton is the #4 defenseman to start the season.

I don’t know, Clifton played top 4 for the Bruins for a good chunk of early last season when they were winning like 80% of their games. Also, I think the forward group as a whole will be better defensively due to player improvement and the coaching staff’s increased emphasis on playing a responsible defensive game.

By “doing it” do you mean taking Gibson for free?