Curt

A lot of these guys are either young players who are playing to establish themselves in the NHL, or fringe NHLers who are playing to stay in the league. So, there should be pressure there.

Those players always were going to be ready for the NHL in 2024 at the very earliest. So in 2024 or 2025 we’ll see what the situation is with whether players can come over from Russia or not. A lot can change in 3 years, so not much sense in getting too worried about it right now.

Yeah, he really forces things sometimes. He is always looking for the great play and sometimes misses the merely good play and turns it over instead. He definitely needs to get stronger, shoot more, and figure out when to make the safe play vs when to go for greatness. 21 years old. 41 NHL games played. He’ll be fine. I get a distinct Tim Connolly vibe from him.

Wow. Fun game! They hung in there with a high end, well organized team. Stick taps for Toker. Is Dahlin now like the 3rd-4th most physical guy on this team? Looking something like what he was supposed to become. Samuelsson is a beast. Cozens is a ***** stirrer. The forwards who couldn’t hang kind of stuck out tonight. Mitts, Olofsson, Asplund were not impressive.

A slingshot, a zapper, and slick mitts too. Whoah! Colorful language is fun.

I admittedly didn’t watch the whole game, but I didn’t see a lack of effort. As it stands now, the team simply doesn’t have the talent (developed) to make any kind of a playoff push for next season. I really just thought they got overwhelmed by the Oilers offensive skill in a difficult setting.

This team has the 4th worst record in the NHL. Im just surprised that some people seem surprised or upset that they lost to the oilers on the road, 2000 miles and a couple time zones from home, and were especially eaten up by their elite guys. Its simple not surprising.

Man, I feel the opposite. I think the past 10 years or so is when the Rangers STOPPED doing that. They used to 10-20-30 years ago maybe but I don’t feel they have behaved that way in a long time. You specifically stated that they gutted their prospect pool to acquire big name players. I feel that they have been particularly protective of their prospects/picks. I agree that they are a mediocre team buoyed by excellent goaltending. However, I disagree that the reason for that is because of a gutted prospect pool and overspending on star players.

You mean that Chris Drury was a better player on ice? Maybe.

I understand what you mean, but the wins still count and the goalie is part of the team. Main point though: you described a Rangers team gutting it’s prospect pool to acquire big names. The current rangers team has not done that, so I think it’s reasonable to wonder what Rangers teams you were talking about.

It’s not hitting me the same that it’s hitting you I guess.

I believe that Giroux is on record as wanting to play his 1000th game in a Flyers sweater. I’m pretty sure that his is both proud of his time in Philadelphia and fully understands that the team is going in a different direction.

Tuch started off very hot. I don’t think he will be an 80 point player, but I do think that he may have a little more to give than he was able to show in Vegas. I think he is doing that now. In addition to being a top-6 capable winger with a game that is built for the playoffs, Tuch seems to be a galvanizing figure among his teammates. I think the fans see that as well and appreciate it just as much as his on ice contributions.

Need it for what? How close to the cap floor are they?

Yeah, but if I were the Sabres I wouldn’t want to use 1/3 of my retention slots retaining $3M on Okposo, a player who I like as a veteran for the young team and who probably doesn’t want to go right now anyway.

True, I just meant that at a $6M cap hit a year left he isn’t very tradable right now, but next deadline he would be. I too hope he sticks around for a couple more years on Sabres playoff teams.

They have already been doing the show for the whole season.

Not necessarily. It’s more difficult to get inside on the larger ice because defenses are generally better able keep the offensive players far to the outside. Plus I think teams just tend to play a more defensive style over in Sweden. They certainly score fewer goals in the Swedish junior leagues than in the CHL. That’s not debatable.

They are probably pretty close in terms of quality. The CHL leagues are higher scoring than the Swedish junior leagues and the CHL players put up more gaudy point totals.

A couple things: 1) Power plays both sides a lot at Michigan? Are you sure that is true? Who is his partner when at RD? I thought he basically always played LD with Blankenburg as his RD. 2) I’m not sure that we should be hoping for Chychrun. He is hurt a lot and he isn’t that solid defensively. Sabres don’t need another offensive leaning LHD. They need defensively reliable RHD.

It couldn’t have helped. KA stood by him, committed to him, and is being rewarded.

Ouwy wowy! He everyone! Can I interest you in a Colin Miller!?

I think you need to consider you may be biasing towards the CHL prospects. If the Russians or Rosen were playing in a CHL league, I have no doubt that they would be putting up numbers just as impressive. I’m not sure that Kozak is much larger than Rosen, and he isn’t nearly as skilled. The situation with Russia is definitely a concern right now, but who knows what the situation will be in a couple years. Guys like Nadeau, Bloom and Kozak are also 3-4 years away from the NHL anyway.

Are these guys likable or are they lovable?