Curt

It’s often repeated, but often true. Development is not always linear. Dahlin struggled and seemed uncomfortable at times playing under a new coach who was maybe requiring things of him that no one ever had before. He then seemed to adjust and looked great towards year end. Young players sometimes struggle when faced with new challenges, then adjust and overcome those challenges. Some take longer to adjust than others, and some never really make the necessary adjustments. I hope that they take it slow with Mitts from here on out and he is able to adjust.

I don’t think it’s an anti college player agenda. He was pretty complimentary of Borgen and Bryson, two other college players. You are right though, strangely written. I find some of the articles from that site to be a little off sometimes.

I thought it a little strange that they highlight Borgen and some overeager 7th round pick, but kind of shade Samuelsson and Johnson a bit. Johnson in particular I have quite a bit of hope for. Great skater who uses it to play very solid defense. Very good puck handler also who uses that to evade forecheck. Fiesty player. 6’1” but needs to fill out. Played his entire freshman season at UM as an 18 yr old.

Ahh, I never really made that connection. Regardless then, it was a style that had entered mainstream popular culture. The connection was tangential. It’s not as if the Buffalo Sabres were specifically trying to attract fans of hip hop/rap.

The “bubble” model for pro sports has been very successful. Much fewer infections than MLB, for example, which operated under normal travel. I don’t think it’s at all surprising that they (owners and players both) will try to play games if they can find a way for it to be done reasonably safely. It is a business that they are trying to keep going after all.

Yeah, black jerseys went through a popular phase. I just didn’t get what that had to do with hip hop.

2-way $160k if in the AHL. According to cap friendly.

Someone correct me if I’m wrong. My understanding is that new viruses often mutate over time to become more easily spread, but also less lethal to their hosts. There seems to be some early signs that this is happen with Covid-19.

5.5M for 2 years only, walking him directly to UFA ASAP. If Reinhart signed for 2 years, I would expect a similar number. If Reinhart signs long term, I would expect something more like $6.5-7M.

Hasek will always have a most special place for me. He is the reason that I became a Sabres fan as a kid, in addition to being the best goalie ever. Drury was a favorite because they were very good and he led them. I felt that he was the heart of those teams. Campbell was also a favorite. Love defensemen who can skate with the puck. If Dahlin becomes what I believe that he will, he may quickly end up my all time favorite.

Hip hop crap??? Seriously, goathead is sweet. I wouldn’t want to go back to it full time, but as a 3rd? Heck ya!

Yes, I certainly see a path for him to become a good, useful player, but when discussing draft picks, the question is generally whether the team made the best pick, not whether they made a reasonable pick. Best is what we are looking for, reasonable is more like baseline competency. I say this while also understanding that “best” is not always easily identifiable.

I think dudacek was speaking more to the style of Johnson’s game as opposed to the quality. It still appears that there were better choices on the board when Johnson was selected.

I do understand that mid-late round NHL picks usually do not work out. I just said that some teams can semi regularly find NHL players there. I don’t agree that it’s only Tampa and Boston who are able to do this, but even if it was, what’s wrong with wishing that Buffalo was able to do that as well? I want Buffalo to draft well. I agree that 90% of the top 100-200 players are probably 1st/2nd round picks. It’s that other 10% that we are talking about.

I agree in part. This can certainly be a factor as well. I don’t necessarily think it’s a larger factor that drafting, but it’s part of the equation.

I believe that this is completely untrue, and a really bad way to evaluate drafting. I understand that the draft lacks much certainly after the first 2-3 picks. Drafting is hard. However, there are teams that can semi regularly draft NHL caliber, and occasionally star, players in rounds 2-7. Do you believe that this is simply because these teams are very lucky? Do you believe that they are exhibiting some skill in drafting? Do you believe that there is such a thing as being good at drafting, or is it just luck after the top-3? top-10? 1st round?

Is it? They have drafted very poorly for quite a long time, and the team has been a borderline laughingstock. Where is the historical validation? It’s not too hard to draft good players at #1 or #2 overall. Botterill’s drafts still are kind of undecided. They don’t look great though. If Buffalo has drafted well, where are all of the 2-7 round picks who are NHL contributors? How many are there over the past 10 years?

Funny you should mention that. Sounds good to me!

Anyone have a take on Mitch McConnel seemingly splitting from Trump and playing hardball with the stimulus package negotiations. Meaning that it likely won’t get passed before the election to help Trump out. It seems like a significant thing. Is he kind of backing away from Trump in anticipation of an election loss?

Love it. Keep the goathead alive. It’s a great jersey.

I assumed they were considered to be on the team, but I’m wondering what their salary is considered to be. If he is just using last years salary, they Buffalo is going to shift straight up that graph (adding salary, but not Ws). I’m guessing that he used contract projections though.

After the rest of the RFAs sign, Buffalo is going to shift straight up on that chart quite a bit. Or is he already adding in estimated contracts for RFAs?

To the bolded: that’s the difference between acquiring a goalie for the 2020-21 season, and acquiring a goalie for 2023. Big difference. Plus Buffalo theoretically already have a high end goalie prospect on the way for 2023. They need a goalie for 2020.

Outside of the first round, any NHL player is a successful draft pick, and it matters. You need cheap young NHL players. That easily replaceable bottom 6 guy who doesn’t matter, wouldn’t it be great if he was making $850K instead of $2.5M? That 3rd pair D who doesn’t matter, wouldn’t it be great if he made $1.2M instead of $3M? This is not a support of the Sabres drafting, but in opposition to your apparent claim that only drafting top 6 level guys matter.

Yeah, I know! 0 NHL games played from the 2020 draft is unacceptable!