Curt

Lazar just made a centering pass about 5 ft high

That was actually a great play by Gourde. Lazar was doing a pretty good job moving him out of the goal front area and he still tipped it.

I’m not sure what this means exactly. What is a top 2-3 forward?

What does that mean to you. I find that people sometimes have drasticly different definitions for terms like that. For example, you expect Asplund to develop into a C with good defense (I’m assuming), who can contribute........ (blank/how much offense?)

It’s not new, but I just recently watched the film “Room” on Netflix. It’s really great. Anyone who hasn’t seen it should watch.

I think he has looked pretty good. I’ll agree with others who say he plays bigger than his size. I don’t expect much scoring from him. I think long term he’ll be a strong D, checking 3rd/4th liner or a third wheel/responsible presence on a middle 6 line. Contributing around 30 points. I don’t think he has the offensive skill to be a real top 6 scoring line contributor.

Fabbri is a winger and has been playing wing for Detroit. Apart from that, he would have been a nice bounce back/change of scenery candidate to go after.

I think you are ignoring the fact that Botterill has made several trades since the OReilly deal.

It was kind of a joke. It’s true that his size limits his ability to defend in a lot of situations. But it’s also true that his transition/offensive ability really reduces the amount of time that he actually has to spend defending. Overall you are looking at a solidly above average player. A very dangerous player. There are other guys who can play in the more defensive situations and PK.

These roster moves are pretty standard. I don’t know why people are getting worked up. Gilmour is a 26 year old career AHL/fringe NHL guy. He is on a one way contract. I’m kind of doubtful that he gets claimed. It’s absolutely normal that he would be waived in favor of veteran Bogosian, who really isn’t a bad player when healthy.

But can he clear the crease? Oh, what’s that? He keeps the puck in the OZone so it never comes near the crease anyway? Oh, that works too.

I doubt that, he is a UFA after the season. I hope you are right though.

I get the skepticism, but he isn’t Vesey. If the trade includes a bottom 6 guy or someone like Scandella and a lower pick, or something like that, then whatever, go for it. What’s the harm?

Hey! Don’t knock it. It worked for thousands of years!

Ok. So every single player on the team sucks. What’s the next step? Trade everyone? I’m honestly curious what you propose.

So, just a note on this guy Jankowski. Zeros this season, but the last 2 seasons he had 17 and 14 goals, playing about 13 mins. This includes just 2 PP goals and 7 SH goals. Im not advocating for him, but it looks like he could possibly be a change of scenery candidate. I wouldn’t like giving much of anything for him, but I wouldn’t be mad to add him.

Couple points: 1) +/- is really a mix between a team stat and individual player stat. For any player it’s going to be heavily influenced by the team they play on. 2) +/- is not a defensive stat any more than it is an offensive stat. 3) If you take the view that Reinhart is not defensively responsible because his +/- is negative, then you are also taking the view that Buffalo has had zero defensively responsible players over the last few years, because they all have negative +/-. This includes even ROR.

Lightning, Leafs, Sens, Rangers, Devils, and Blue Jackets are all going to pass Buffalo in the near future? Bummer. PS: Can I borrow your crystal ball?

I don’t know. I would guess it’s around 5% of 3rd/4th round picks.

Haha, there are a lot of very good NHLers who didn’t come up with impressive pedigrees. Guys who no one would have assigned a high upside when they were 20. Marchand, Stone, Panarin, Gaudreau, Giordano, Dadonov, Hoffman, Atkinson, Pavelski, Yandle, Nyquist, Marchessault, Dzingle, Leblanc, Letang, Athanasiou, Benn, Krug, Gallagher. Thats just players who were drafted 3rd round or later and were top 100 in NHL scoring last season. That’s about 20% of the leagues top 100 producers coming from the 3rd round or later. It’s not some freak occurrence that a player exceeds expectations. It happens sometimes. And I see Pekar as someone more likely than most to do just that. I’m not even daring to hope that Pekar will be as good as most of the players I just listed.

Sure he does Thorny. Anything is possible. Sometimes players exceed expectations and surpass their assigned upside. I’m not saying that’s what should be expected of him, or even that it’s at all likely. I just really like the kid and feel like he is going to find a way to be a positive contributor in the NHL. My feelings about him are definitely driven by gut instinct and hope, as opposed to rational analysis about what is most likely. I’m letting myself have this one though.

Well, one is a start.

I thought he was kinda bad. (*Ducks*)

If you don’t want to watch and see how they play, or talk about it, just check the score after the game. It will save you a couple hours.

This was a really good effort where they carried the play for long stretches against one of the top 5 teams in the league. This game shouldn’t be looked at as another example of Buffalo sux. If anything it should be looked at positively.