Curt

I disagree with this narrative for Botterill. He did not build a team with no diversity of skills. He just built a team with a dearth of skills. They just weren’t very good.

Says the guy with THAT profile pic!? Pot, meet Kettle.

Holy wall o’ text that I won’t be reading. Taro meant, I think, that there was no editorializing about the website being done in posts on this forum, not that there was no editorializing being done on the website itself.

The question that comes to mind is, what players value may depend heavily on playoff performance? Which players have something to prove? To me, that’s Strome and Monahan, both players who had kind of down years compared to previous seasons and need to show that they can get back to that level. Cirelli has been on a steady upward trajectory and I don’t think his value is so tied to near term performance.

Nope what? Carolina IS one of the most analytics heavy teams. By all accounts, Tulsky is the guy who runs the show there. Dudley worked there for only 2 years, how many of their current players were even acquired in that timeframe? Looks like 5-6? And none of the amazingly talented youth that you referenced. The main reasons that they have ascended the past couple seasons from perennial ok team, to great team is because Aho and Svechnikov have given them real firepower up front and their goaltending has been solid instead of disappointing. Before that Dudley held the same position in Montreal for 6 years, 2012-18. Where is all the amazingly talented guys that were acquired while he was there? Of course a balanced approach where all information is taken into account and weighed by smart, experienced people is probably going to yield the best results. I agree there.

What is a #1 goalie contract? There are plenty of teams who don’t have big money or term invested in a goalie. You don’t need to pay your best goalie like a star just because he is your best goalie. You pay him based on what he has shown he can do. I honestly think this notion that every team needs a have a goalie who plays 60+ games, is given a big contract and anointed the #1 is pretty out dated.

Sure, maybe, but if you have the cap space to add an $8M 2C, then you have cap space, no?

Rebuked how? Sabres have some cap room, maybe quite a bit depending on who is signed, and who walks/is traded. It’s not going to be enough to go on some outrageous spending spree, but it will be more than 90% of the NHL teams have.

I don’t know if you were implying that it is, but penicillin does not treat viral infections. It’s an antibiotic, which only treat bacterial infections. I chuckled at the bolded.

Except the Carolina team that you are touting is also one of the few most analytics reliant teams in the league, so you are cutting the legs out from under your own argument.

Valiant effort on the name there. She is an interesting one. She has some ideas that I agree with but she says some off the wall things too. I think that she, like Trump should take a step back from social media.

I’ll just say this. When it is relatively easy to do something (find good produce, afford healthier food, have ample time to cook good meals at home) more people will do. If any/all of those things become more difficult, it’s not they it becomes impossible, but fewer people will be willing to devote the resources doing them. Everything is a choice, sure, but when something is easier, it’s a lot more likely to actually get chosen. The more barriers put in someone’s way, the less likely they are to overcome them. We, as a society, should support initiatives that make it easier for people to make healthy choices, as opposed to expecting people to put in extreme effort and make difficult choices in order to be healthy.

These are completely not true. No one thought Scandella was a guy that you build around, he was just a guy who could help in the top 4. He did that 2 out of the 3 years he was in Buffalo. Montour was never going to be the PP QB. The team already had Risto and Dahlin.

I don’t believe that Trump is stupid exactly. His pettiness and ego do get the better of him from time to time though. Apart from that, he has a lifetime of experience at marketing, self promotion, and lying, and he is very good at it. I don’t know if that makes him smart, but I don’t think he is dumb.

I’m curious about how Johnson will develop over the next couple years. He is a very good skater with very good puck handling skills who needed to work on his passing, overall decision making, polish, and strength/weight. He was also very young for his draft class, being just 17 when drafted and just turned 19 last week. He certainly doesn’t have a super high upside, but I’m optimistic that he can be a good transition defender with the skating and good puck handling.

He is a defense first, transition it out of the zone with really good skating, no? He is a player somewhat similar in style to Montour, no?

Scandella, Pominville, Montour, Skinner, Kahun..........

I get where you are coming from and I think you are right, but that’s not exactly proof.

If you’re not doing it already, then you missed the bandwagon.

No, the pressure to not suck was not altered because the Pegulas were not interested in Chayka. It existed before and after, just as it does for every GM at all times.

Agreed. I think you are doing a good job of highlighting some guys like that. Especially the CHL guys where the stats are relatively easy to pick apart.

I like Robins too. Would be a good pick anytime after the 2nd.

Smart of them. The fact that MLB decided it was ok for the teams to travel is ridiculous. It’s going to cost them their (already shortened) season. The players didn’t want the bubble, but I’m pretty sure that they don’t want COVID either. Would not be surprised atol if the whole thing shuts down within a couple weeks.

I like Colangelo and I’ve spoken about him in here as a good option for #38. Another player that I really like at 38 is Marat Kushnutdinov. He is an elite skating 2-way C from the Russian junior league, MHL. Great hands, good passer, good shot. He can make plays with the puck at full speed. He is tenacious in puck pursuit, creative and dangerous when it’s on his stick. Only real weakness is his size, listed at 5’9” 165 some places, but 5’11” 175 others, so I think he has grown. Despite this, he does not avoid physical contact, isn’t particularly weak and his puck possession is pretty good. Also has strong leadership skills, serving as captain at multiple junior levels. Overall, a smallish, 2-way, intense, creative, dynamic, east-west center. He is projected everywhere from the late 1st to late 2nd. For me, he should be a top-20 guy. I hope he is there at 38. See link to YouTube highlights below. https://youtu.be/Aq5NeoeQK9U

See: Title of thread.