Curt

Yeah, Roy always played C I think. Hecht was at W. In 2005-06 I believe Roy/Vanek/Pominville was the 3rd line pretty much all year. They didn’t score over 50 though. The next season they were not together, or playing the 3rd line nearly as much. This is based off mostly fuzzy memory. In any case, those 2 season were a long time ago, and a strange time in the NHL. Penalties called were through the roof and PP scoring numbers followed suit. Point totals were inflated. It was 15 years ago.

There is the issue of: A guy playing 3rd line mins with 3rd line talent is pretty unlikely to hit 50 pts, even if he is very good. That’s why it doesn’t happen. ROR’s pts while in Buffalo are pretty much what I described as Lundell’s “ceiling”. If Cozens were to develop into a 50-60 point, good 2-way C. I would be very happy, and I think that is a well above average 2C.

Better at puck control/defense? Probably not. Better at scoring goals? Probably. Correct. Probably are none. A 50 point C who is also very good defensively? That’s a 2C.

Oh yes. I wasn’t saying it made no sense to bring Dudley in, I was just referring to the title.

For the Sabres??? There isn’t one. Which probably means that it wouldn’t make much sense to have a VP of Hockey Operations.

Only reason I call Perfetti a lock is because I’ve seen it said that Detroit is definitely taking him at #4. I suppose it’s possible that it doesn’t happen though. In the scenario you laid out: A trade is always an option, but remember that the value of the puck may go down in the eyes of other teams as well. I don’t think Lundell should necessarily be dismissed as low ceiling. He reminds me of a ROR or Couturier type, in that his responsible game and IQ will quickly get him to the NHL in a bottom 6 C role, but he can improve from there and eventually take on a bigger offensive role. I try not to underestimate guys with elite IQ, because if he improves his skating and overall offensive skills a bit, then he has it all. I think it’s a lot easier for guys to improve things like skating than it is for players to improve their hockey IQ. I could see Lundell starting off as a 20-25 point 4C, but over the course of 4-5 years, becoming a 50+ point all around good 2C by the time he is 23-24

My hope is that 2 do. Drysdale & Sanderson Top 7 Locks- Lafrenierre, Byfield, Stutzle, Perfetti, Drysdale Top 7 Strong Possibilities- Rossi, Raymond, Sanderson, Holtz Top 7 Longshot Possibilities- Lundell, Askarov, Quinn

They are definitely in rough shape. I think people have just got it stuck in their heads that because it’s TB, they will somehow easily wiggle their way out of it. It’s a tough spot. They will probably have a hard time trying to convince guys with NTCs to waive them right now. Buffalo should certainly be trying hard to make a deal for Cirelli. Or if an alternate deal can be found for an acceptable 2C, maybe try to make a deal for Sergachev instead. TB may be reluctant to trade within the division though.

Agree that it’s unlikely that Cirelli is both (1) moved, and (2) moved with the division to Buffalo. Small quibble, Tampa was always in a fine position to resign Stamkos. The only question was if he wanted to go somewhere else or not. Specifically, whether he wanted to be close to home (Toronto).

Well, if they are not willing to pay him what he thinks he deserves, then he probably isn’t going to Buffalo. Regardless of the title, he would most likely be in an advisory role to Adams. Perhaps similar to what he was doing in Car, as Brawndo just described. The title could be Assistant GM, Director of Player Personel, Assistant Director of Scouting, etc. I doubt it’s the title that matters. It will probably be the duties and compensation that matter.

Why can’t he just be an Executive Vice President? He would work in conjunction with Adams, to be his advisor/right hand man, but not report to him. He would report to Pegulas. It would be like having co-GMs, but Dudley wouldn’t need to deal with the BS of managing the entire hockey department.

What you want to see is every line scoring more goals than they concede, or at least close to it. To me, that shows that they are doing well in their role. I would agree that Girgensons is probably the most easily replaceable member of that line. Unfortunately, both Girgensons and Larsson are UFAs. I think it’s very possible that neither will return and we have seen the last of that line.

Bottom 6 line? Yup That line was pretty much never the 4th line. The sometimes were the 2nd line by TOI. My point was just that they had a role and they did a pretty good job in that role. They were not part of the problem. Players in other roles couldn’t get it done.

It was good, useful bottom 6 line, that served a purpose. They were great at preventing goals, and scored enough to at least break even. In the quest to score more goals than the other team, they were not a problem. Obviously the team needs more scoring, but even if better offensive players were brought in, there could still be a role for that Larsson line. Every player on a team has a role, the roles that were lacking were those secondary scoring lines.

Certainly fair to criticize this 2020 lottery format. They probably should have just waited until playoffs 1st round was complete. We were speaking on the current lottery format used over the past few years, special 2020 Covid conditions excluded.

I think the biggest difference between our points of view is the extent to which we view the worst team in the league drafting at #4 to be a problem. You seem to think it’s grossly unfair. I think it’s not a big deal.

What is the arbitrary drawing of lines that you speak of? Theoretically, I would be ok with equal odds, or maybe all non playoff teams having equal odds. But from the perspective of what’s good for the league, I think the sweet spot between maintaining talent balance and discouraging hard tanking is something similar to what they have now.

I don’t have a lot of sympathy. I’m not big on rewarding failure. If you are bad, you are still going to get a high pick. If it’s not #1 too bad. Draft well and you’ll get better. Deal with it. I like the randomness.

The thing about it is that it is extremely hard for a goalie to keep view of and track a puck coming from behind them. Even more difficult than pucks traveling cross ice. Also, isn’t it easier for a shooter to time a puck coming straight at the open face of the stick blade instead of coming across from the other side of the ice?

Cozens can not play in the AHL for the 2020-21 season. He is too young. It’s NHL or WHL.

Detroit this year wasn’t tanking. They are just bad and have restrictive cap problems. Rebuilding is trading current assets for future assets. Tanking is trading 3 goalies in a season when they start to play too well and you are afraid you won’t finish last, and your home crowd is actively cheering for the other team to win so you can clinch last place. That’s the kind of embarrassing that I’m talking about. That’s what the league doesn’t want to see.

Huh?.............. What gives more incentive to tank? -Finish last and get 1st pick OR -Finish last and you could get 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th. With 4th being 50% likely. Doesn't a guaranteed 1st pick make you want to tank more than a 15% chance of getting the 1st pick?

I think Claude and some others are talking right past each other, with little attempt from either side to make themselves clearly understood or find common ground. Basically, a totally unproductive dialogue.

He didn’t say it was sourced. And he wasn’t confident enough to say more than that he wouldn’t be surprised if it happened in the not too distance future. Does that sound like sourced information? Maybe he has heard something but it’s nothing definite. I suppose it’s not entirely clear. Ask him if you like. I dunno.

This article was posted before, but it’s very interesting and I think everyone should give it a read. It gives a general idea of how the Carolina scouting department is structured. It seems to be the same direction that Adams wants to take the Sabres in. So reading the article may give you a good idea of what Adams aims to create in Buffalo.