Curt

Hard to say about this, would need to see medically. With his knee, it was one very bad injury that required major surgery and rehab. That was 2018-19. Then he returned this year and missed a little time with it. He was healthy at the end of the season though. Hard to say for sure. Would need to trust the doctors opinions.

Marchessault‘s cap hit is $5M. In actual money he is owed $17M over 4 years, equaling out to $4.25M per. He made $13M combined over the first 2 years of his 6 year deal.

I feel pretty sure that it’s not the biggest problem with the PK. The reason they were last in the league is because Jack took twice as many FOs as anyone else, and isn’t great at them, and because Johansson took 500 FOs and won just 40%. Those guys weren’t taking draws on the PK though. In fact, Buffalo was not among the worst teams in the league in PK FO%, not that they were good, 18th at 44.5%. That was still better than some teams with much better PKs. Edmonton - #2 PK, 41.9% Boston - #3 PK, 39.4% (2nd last) New Jersey - #7 PK, 42.2%. Penguins -#10 PK, 37.7% (dead last) And there are more. It seems as though there is not that much correlation between FO% on the PK and how good the PK is.

Not what Casey is, but what he was supposed to be. What he was hyped and sold as.

I kind of view Perfetti as similar to what Mittelstadt was/is supposed to be. Not big, not fast, but just amazing hands, a good shot, and tons of creative playmaking.

I like him ok. Honestly I haven’t looked at the D as closely as the forwards because Sabres, and haven’t looked at Drysdale specifically in some time because I figure he’ll be gone by 8, so maybe I should take another look. After a quick glance at the numbers I see that he didn’t put up a lot of points on a bad PP, and for some reason I had it I’m my head that he had killed it on the PP and not so much at ES. Guess I’ve gotta watch him on film again.

Agreed. Outside of the top 3, 4, 5, you not going to RELIABLY find guys like that, but they are out there still.

Here are my Top-14 Rankings separates into tiers. Just for fun and discussion. Alexis Lafreniere Quinton Byfield. Marco Rossi Cole Perfetti. Lucas Raymond. Tim Stutzle Jake Sanderson. Anton Lundell. Seth Jarvis. Yaroslav Askarov Jamie Drysdale. Rodion Amirov. Jack Quinn. Alexander Holtz I’m working on my next tier now.

I’m hypothetically ok with Jarvis at 8, depending on who else is on the board. Vs Holtz, Jarvis is a better skater, better creator, shot definitely isn’t as good, but Jarvis has good scoring instincts, and a very good shot. Jarvis isn’t a real 2-way player either though. He is feisty and forchecks tenaciously, but he cheats for offense quite a lot, sometimes not getting involved in the D zone. Honestly that’s a lot of good offensive players in Juniors though, and something that often improves a lot if the player is willing.

I agree. I’m not a Holtz fan, but I wouldn’t be terribly let down either. I feel that he is only above average at one thing. Luckily, elite shooting is pretty valuable. If he can adjust his style of play a bit and just be good enough at everything else, his elite shot could see him be a consistent 30+ goal scorer. I would just like to add a less one dimensional player.

She is not President of Hockey Operations. She is Owner/President. It’s a different title. Many NHL teams have a non hockey person as team President. The Pegulas do enough questionable things to complain that we don’t need to invent grievances where there are none.

Sorry if you don’t, but do you know how many years the projection was for?

I followed. How about you just leave the person alone??? Poops on you.

Pre COVID projections and probably not good for much. I think the complete economic environment is changed.

Just a note. Kessel costs 6.8. Toronto is still paying $1.2M of his salary, after all these years. I could see a lot of teams being philosophically opposed to Kessel because of fit. Personally, I’m bought into the idea that the Sabres should focus on adding players with a lot of tenacity and responsible play. Just to try to get out of this funk and develop a team mentality they can take pride in. I don’t think Kessel fits into that.

I think there is a chance that a few other guys go in the top 7 too. Im not saying it’s probable, but it just takes one team to really like a player Lafreniere, Byfield, Stutzle, Rossi, Perfetti, Raymond, Holtz, Quinn, Drysdale, Sanderson, Lundell, Askarov, Amirov, Jarvis Thats 14 guys who I think have a chance to go top 7.

Good question. How do you know that?

In general, I agree, but that’s just my perception of Kessel. I don’t know if that’s how he really is. He seems to be a bit odd, so maybe he just comes across that way. I can’t say that I have a good handle on Kessel’s headspace. Maybe someone closer to him would know more. Maybe he has rededicated himself during these off months and is in the best shape of his life. Maybe he has been sitting on the couch watching Netflix. I don’t know.

I didn’t read this all because it has nothing to do with what I said. Yeah, depending upon circumstances it can make sense to trade future assets for now assets. By doing so, you are giving up future assets though. No where in my post did I say anything about the current Sabres and whether they should or should not make a trade like that. It would depend completely on the specifics of the deal. I’m just saying there is a possible downside to such a trade. Anyone who says there is not is deluding themselves.

Kessel is an odd duck of an NHL player. I think for him so much of his game will be dependent upon his mindset. If he is motivated and working hard, he has all the talent to remain good for a while longer, but if he isn’t things can/will go downhill quick. Fast is a useful middle 6 player. He fills a position of need for Buffalo. All depends on salary and term though. I could absolutely see Fast being a better investment than Kessel, especially at their price points. I am down for like 3 years of Fast, ages 29, 30, 31, at around $3M. Is that close to reasonable?

No, no, no. I wasn’t trying to distort, or be a jerk. So we are dealing with two concepts here. Concept 1) Every team has a first line C, by default, even if they are not 1C quality. Concept 2) A player has to be (insert personal criteria) good in order to be considered a 1C. Still on the same page? This is where I got confused. Because if he is on a team with an elite C, like Eichel, he won’t qualify for the above concept (1), because would obviously be the 2C on that team, so I figured you weren’t talking about that. So that leaves concept (2), but two different tiers of it??? That’s what I thought you meant. In this post what’s the difference between “a first line center” and “a One See”? If I am missing something obvious and you are thinking that I am screwing with you because no one can possibly be this dumb, I assure you that I am this dumb. I ask only for you patience.

$2M is a lot for a 4th line player. Why are you assuming that he has more upside? What upside do you see?

If you don’t know who is getting pooped on, maybe the poops on you.

There is a difference between saying that a player is a first line C quality player and saying that he is a 1C quality player????? 🤯 -First Line Center Quality Player -1C Quality Player Isn’t that just two ways of typing the exact same thing?

He plays wing now, I’m quite sure, but if he was still playing C, I would agree.