Curt

Crosby is not bad defensively. My goodness, I think far from it.

No particular order. I had a hard enough time picking the 10. I wasn’t up for trying to order numbers 2-10.

Today I read this story of professional baseball player Drew Robinson’s struggle with mental illness, attempted suicide, and continued recovery. It was very moving for me. Just the fact that he survived is crazy. I’m amazed at both how strong and vulnerable this guy is, as well as how much someone can be struggling without anyone else really knowing. He was back playing AAA baseball this week, which is just incredible. If anyone wants to read his story, I highly recommend it. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/30800732/san-francisco-giants-outfielder-drew-robinson-remarkable-second-act https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31393995/drew-robinson-makes-san-francisco-giants-triple-roster-losing-eye-2020-suicide-attempt?platform=amp

Yeah, absolutely. It is hypothetical based on “if” he wanted out, because that was the scenario presented in the post that I responded to. If means if.

I’m not saying that Jack can do whatever he wants, go to whichever team he wants, pick and choose every detail of the situation. He doesn’t have a NMC right now. I’m just simply saying, if he becomes adamant that he wants to leave Buffalo, he would be traded. And as @Weave said, Eichel’s leverage is that the team wants to avoid/end the negative attention circus that would definitely come with an Eichel trade demand. It would be a further embarrassment for the organization and consistent negative distraction for the team.

If he makes it clear that he is flat out done with Buffalo , he would be traded. Perhaps not immediately traded for whatever pile of junk other teams have laying around, but he would be traded. No organization wants to indefinitely deal with the negative media distraction and team chemistry effect of having a disgruntled franchise player/captain hanging around for years. It would be an unsustainable situation. I think to say, “well he has a contract, they don’t have to trade him if they don’t want to.” is the real oversimplified position. It’s being completely naive to all the other factors of the situation.

Hope it hasn’t been a factor, but Cozens also sustained a concussion this season. That stuff can have minor lingering effects.

I don’t disagree with that. Sorry, maybe my point is being lost. The reason I posted was because you said that you looked it up and Mitts did better than Cozens as a rookie. My only input was to say that, no Mitts didn’t really do better.

I just told you the NHL numbers. In their draft+2 seasons, both were rookies in the NHL.

Before I really started thinking about it I didn’t think Fox would be there. I’ve watched him against the Sabres and clearly he is dynamic. Then just looking at the mins he is logging, his production, his play in all situations (getting used quite a bit on the PK and excelling there), the overall package won me over.

D+2 year , Mittelstadt and Cozens have basically identical points per game, 0.32 vs 0.33. However, Mitts was extremely sheltered in terms of zone starts that season and Cozens was given no such treatment.

Have you observed how these things work in the real world? If Jack Eichel seriously requests (demands?) a trade, he will be traded. I don’t think it’s even a question.

My Top-10. I surprised myself with a couple of these. Connor McDavid Leon Draisaitl Auston Matthews Mitch Marner Nathan MacKinnon Cale Makar Sidney Crosby Aleksaner Barkov Nikita Kucherov Adam Fox

I’ve gone through a range of emotions this season and I’ve come out on the optimistic side. RK was just killing everything good about hockey. Firing him has really changed things. The kids are playing like kids, but showing that they can be difference makers. They seem to be building up a critical mass of young talent and will be adding a couple more important pieces in the upcoming draft. I feel more interesting in the Sabres now than I have in a couple years.

Barkov has been a ppg player. ROR just a little under.

60 points is Barkov-ROR territory? Go look at what each of those guys has done the past 3 years.

Probably because Canada was dominant and everyone put up points. Guenther was expected to be one of the couple best players on the team. He finished the tournament tied for 8th on the team in points and was outperformed by some players ranked lower in the draft.

15

Sure, if trading someone for ROR is giving them away, then yes. Also, Zadorov isn’t really that good.

What’s this now?

I mean, they are good, but are they elite? He has never really put up elite offensive numbers. The one thing that I feel about players with great hockey IQ and work ethic is that they seem to just keep getting better and end up playing above their “ceiling”. Like a ROR who isn’t flashy and everyone pegged as a good 2C. Then he is putting up 70+ points while playing elite defense and everyone realizes that he is one of the 20 best C’s in the league. I guess I’m just trying to say who knows, he could end up with more offense to give, but I have a hard time projecting that because he hasn’t put up really eye opening numbers at lower levels.

I mean, it’s kind of true because they are pretty good and Buffalo isn’t, but I’m sure you realize that this is an overly simplistic way of evaluating a roster.

Almost certainly not that gifted offensively. I doubt he will be a real top scorer, probably more of a 45-65 point guy. What I like about his game is that he is constantly applying pressure to the other team, making life hard for them. When he doesn’t have the puck he always trying to get it back, great on the forecheck/backcheck. When he does get it back he quickly gets it up the ice, either by skating or passing. He is very mentally and physically engaged, always “on”. Fast skater, good size, some physicality, makes good decisions, good, but not elite, offensive skills. Other teams are just going to hate playing against him. Also, he has a punchable face, I consider that a positive attribute. I feel like he also fits in well with what Adams seems to want.

The Sabres are unrivaled.

Why should I care about Taylor Hall?