Curt

I can’t imagine why it would. I’d be very surprised if that was a negotiation point.

Former Disney child actor, 34, doesn’t do anything notable now (sounds mean but didn’t intend for it to be), former wife of former NHLer Mike Comrie.

The semi-issue is that it does not even take 30 goal 70 point seasons to get a $8M contract. Suzuki got $7.8M x 8 after a best season of 41 points in 56 games. Norris got $8M x 8 after a best season of 55 in 66. And both those deals bought up more RFA years. Thompson will be only 1 year from UFA status and will have more leverage. I just think that some might be setting unrealistic expectations regarding what some of these contracts are going to look like. You are right though. If Dahlin gets $9M+, Power gets $7.5M+, Thompson gets $8M+, there will only really be room to give 1-2 other forwards $8M+ deals. It will need to be managed with care.

I don’t necessarily disagree with most of this, but I also think it could potentially mislead some people. Firstly, we don’t know that there won’t be a “superstar” forward. There are a lot of very talented guys, and no one really projects to be, but someone could get there. I think that Savoie, Quinn and even Peterka have a shot. But the main thing I wanted to say is that I don’t want anyone to be fooled. If some of our forwards perform, as Thompson did last season, they are going to get paid. Unless Thompson disappoints next season (under 60 points) he is going to get a big contract. Maybe not 8 years, but it’s going to be in the neighborhood of $8M+ for 5+ years. Everyone needs to be mentally prepared for that.

Roughly 18% of the people here will not catch this.

The NHL CBA doesn’t allow for contract incentives.

I don’t think you could sign Thompson for that unless it was signed after a down year next season.

I kind of hate to point it out, but Chicago wasn’t able to win any Cups after extending Kane, Toews, and Seabrook to their big 8 year deals.

How is Kotkaniemi’s deal working out? He just signed it a few months ago and hasn’t played a single game under it. So, we don’t know.

It’s an interesting philosophical question. What’s your risk tolerance? It’s not really a yes/no question though. The real questions are, How much? How long? Thompson, I wouldn’t extend him this offseason for more than $7.5M on a long term deal. If it goes to next offseason and he repeats with 35+ goals and 65+ points you are probably looking at a contract over $8M. If you don’t believe me, just go look at the contracts that Nick Suzuki, Josh Norris, and Robert Thomas recently signed after just one season producing at a 1st line type level. Cozens, I wouldn’t extend for more than $5M on a long term deal. It would be really good value at anything less than that. If Cozens “breaks out” next season for 20+ goals and 50+ points you are probably looking at a $6M+ contract. Guys who signed relevant comparable contracts are Dvorak, Kotkaniemi, Eriksson Ek, Schmaltz, Cirelli, Hischier. Samuelsson, I doubt anyone would consider giving him an early long term extension, but personally, I’d sign him long term for anything $2.5M or less.

Can’t end or renegotiate a deal early. Can sign an extension with 1 year or less left on your existing deal. For example, Dahlin has 2 years left on his contract. He can’t sign an extension right now. Cozens has 1 year left on his deal. He can sign an extension, but it doesn’t kick in until his current deal is finished. So if Cozens signed a 6 year, $4.5M extension tomorrow, he still plays next season on the last year of his $0.85M (or whatever it is) ELC. Then his 6 year contract starts the year after that.

On defense: Pilut or Fitzgerald gets waived/moved, Bryson becomes the 7th D. At forward: Bjork gets waived, Hinostroza can be the 13th forward some games, maybe Peterka starts the season in the AHL, wouldn’t be long before someone gets hurt anyway. I think it’s far from impossible to make space on the roster.

Yeah, I was just speculating. It’s been said that Novikov fell in the draft because of questions about his desire to come to NA. I was speculating about what that might mean exactly.

Really interesting point. I never really thought about in that way. He moved to a much better league, on a different continent, and his performance increased anyway.

The draft combine is an event the prospects are invited to. Usually the somewhere between 60-90 guys are invited (I think, maybe some else knows better). Generally the guys projected to go highest. Don’t know much about Novikov’s specific case. I would guess that when talking with him/his agent NHL teams were told that he would probably only come over if guaranteed a spot on the NHL, or something like that. Contrast that with Kisakov, for example, who is coming over to play in the AHL and develop.

Players don’t really enter into the NHL draft. They just become eligible to be selected based on their age and teams pick them if they choose to. I don’t believe that they have to actually apply/register for the draft like prospects do for the NBA/NFL drafts.

Same for me. I would trade a couple good prospects and a 1st for him, in a vacuum. In the Sabres situation I’m not sure that having $19M committed to two wingers for the next several years would be a good idea.

I personally was surprised by how much the bolded improved my experience.

I’m not even sure if it still works like that, but regardless, he was traded to Vegas before the NTC kicked in.

You are standing here in the pizza shop with the rest of us. You must feel so much less gullible because you decide to sit at the corner table with a frowny face.

Certainly. I mostly agree. I don’t expect this to be a correct prediction. It’s more of a rough sketch. Right now the Sabres have tons of prospects and unlimited cap space, so the possibilities are endless. As the Sabres commit to a few more guys long term, the team’s options will become more limited. At that point this spreadsheet will become more useful as a look forward to examine what financial options and issues are on the horizon for the Sabres.

Tkachuk playing C?

I was not a fan of Detroit’s offseason. Copp is a good player, though he could end up a bit overpaid if his offense dips back to what it was a couple years ago. Husso, I’m not sold on for that $ and term. If you look at his career stats, last season looks more like a fluke than anything else. Chairot I don’t think is that good, not for that contract. Is he actually better than Lyubushkin??? The reason they felt like they needed to go for it like that is because of fear that Larkin, Bertuzzi, and/or Vrana, might walk as UFAs 1 or 2 years from now if they don’t show progress. MPO

First paragraph definitely seems true. Second paragraph, Calgary seems like a perfectly nice, if unexciting, city. I think the issue with Calgary and Edmonton are that they are just so darn far from everywhere, especially for players who aren’t from western Canada. And cold too, they are darn cold.

You mean he said there are 24 teams with better goaltending prospect group than Levi/Portillo/UP/Leinonen???