Curt

Oh *****! Matt Ellis, the Matt Ellis of Player Development Directors!

I just wanna hear RJ pronounce it once.

Where would Marat Khushnutdinov rank here? His omission makes me sad (and hopeful that he might be there at #38). I think he is a stud.

Haha. You are right.

Examples???

I was attempting to be equally bombastic. However, you are right, that was in poor taste. I should have been smarter about it. That was not polite to Lehner or anyone else who might actually read it who has suffered from serious depression or alcoholism. For anyone offended, my apologies. Did not mean to diminish the very real struggles that people go through, and I really am so happy for Lehner.

This is some bombastic verbiage. Montour is a waste of a traded pick, but Lehner was a great talent? Counter argument: Montour is a good player who was acquired for magic beans and Lehner couldn’t even stay sober in Buffalo.

I don’t agree with this. He isn’t particularly good in the offensive zone. He is good at transitioning it through the zones, but when he gets in the OZone it doesn’t seem like he really knows what to do. I think he is better used in defensive situations. He is good at getting out of his own end.

I believe that this was only the case if the player in question waived the NTC as part of the trade. If the player is traded before the NTC takes affect, it remains in place and takes affect with the new team whenever it was scheduled to. No?

Olofsson produced ES points at a rate less than Kahun did. And Kahun didn’t spend 80% of his time on Eichel’s wing. I don’t mean to slam Olofsson. He was fine. Good 3rd line guy I thought. Could be even better next year. I’m also hopeful that Kahun can possibly be a serviceable top 6 wing as well though. Dark horse candidate to be a real asset and trade steal.

Yes

I don’t think #8 will be traded. Almost never happens in NHL and it’s probably unlikely that a new GM trades his first pick. Much more likely to be included in a trade for NOW assets would probably be the 2021 1st, perhaps with some protection (top 3?) attached.

Kamala Harris. Thoughts?

The draft lottery is a good system.

I don’t get the comparison at all. They don’t play the same position, have a similar style, or have a similar statistical profile. Also, Caufield DID slide to 15th, so................

Monahan is signed for 3 more years, Gaudreau for 2 more

It is real.

Yes, opposing OHL coaches voted him best defensive forward.

I think his skating is very good. His straight line top speed might be average though. His short area quickness, acceleration and agility are great. Overall it’s a strength of his game for sure. What scouting reports were you reading? In addition to this, he hustles like crazy and is very very smart on the ice, so he gets the jump on other players by outworking and outthinking them. That’s my take.

That wasn’t your question. You said there wasn’t much difference between the prospects available at 5 and at 20 this year, so maybe they should trade down. The general scouting assessment does not agree with that statement. Scouting in the top 10 is more accurate than in the late 1st. What you are now proposing is basically that there are good players drafted in the late 1st thru 3rd every year, so why not just trade down and take those guys every year? Why hasn’t Buffalo been able to find any of these gems in the draft? Because they have drafted really poorly. Want that to change? Well, they just drastically reorganized their scouting department. Maybe that will help.

Either Eichel is trying to hold serve with 3rd line wingers, and lines 2/3 desperately try to make due with decent wingers but no C, or Eichel’s line dominates and lines 2/3 get caved in. It’s trying to decide the lesser of 2 evils.

Whoa whoa whoa! So you would trade #8 for a 2nd line winger in his mid 20’s signed for a few (2-4) more years, who then is a UFA, but not for Cirelli who is under team control for 4 more years as an RFA and is the perfect 2C for this team? I don’t understand your reasoning.

Not true. There is a difference.

I think you get that 2nd line winger for A LOT less in a trade.

It’s pretty good. The white looks great. The Blue looks a little plain and I don’t love the triple yellow stripes. But, they didn’t ***** it up.