Curt

Not Arizona. I think they are the exception that proves the rule, or something like that.

When it comes down to it, this thread is about RHD in the 2022 Draft. If you don’t want to talk or learn about RHD in the 2022 Draft, then you don’t need to read or post in this thread. If you want to talk about trading for a proven top-4 RHD for the upcoming season there are other threads for that. It’s pointless for you to come post about it in here.

Not exactly. Google PNHLe, then read.

Stone has a back issue, but I’m sure he will be back for game 1 of the playoffs. He is worth his contract. Great player. I would agree about Smith. We’ll see what they can do. Agree, except for the 1C part. He is a wing.

They will need to move a player, but not one of their top guys. I see no reason why they couldn’t be among the very teams in the league next season.

I hope that the puck doesn’t slide to next year too. I think the chances of it being top 10 are pretty small though. Vegas would need to lose at least 4-5 more conservative to get down in the top ten range, and the for draft slots in the 16-12 range the odds of moving up with the lottery range from just 2-5% so that feels very safe. I hope they miss the playoffs. I would rather the pick slide to 2023 than for Vegas to make a run to the conference finals and end up with a pick 29-32.

Cody Eakin looks just like Dwight from The Walking Dead, so he is ok with me.

I think that guys like Tuch, young veterans, are even more important than older experienced vets when it comes to off ice stuff. No doubt that Okposo is a great leader and a wealth of knowledge, but I think it’s natural that guys like Tuch might have more influence. Everyone likes and respects Okposo, but when the practice/game is over, he has a lot of family responsibilities and is almost 15 years older than most of the kids. Tuch on the other hand is a lot closer in age and will have a lot more time to spend with the younger guys.

This is good to hear. Top end probably is an experienced top-4 RD who can help Power and play a lot of mins. I can’t imagine it’s a truly elite guy, I don’t think any true top pair guys are even available. I think that Cernak would be great. I don’t he would be available though.

Yes, agree completely. And yes, Gionta did not talk bombastic smack about Eichel. He chose his words very carefully, but still had more negative than positive to say about Eichel, and didn’t refute anything that Peters/Rivet threw out there either.

For anyone who thinks these two guys are just windbags: I think that most would agree that Brian Gionta is a respectable, mild mannered, good natured guy who knows what it is to be a hockey leader. He also has nothing to gain from running down Eichel in this scenario. If you just listen to what Gionta says here, I think it says all that you need to know. This is also not the first time that Gionta has publicly said things of this nature.

And the Dahlin/Bryson pair. They have looked pretty good (Dahlin has looked amazing), and Buffalo could benefit from finding that one of their LD can play the right side well.

They didn’t hold back, that’s for sure.

And I completely agree with what Jesse Granger says here. That is exactly why Eichel said those things. If you want to give Eichel the full benefit of doubt, maybe he didn’t even really mean them. That’s viewing it best possible light for Eichel. But even that speaks volumes I would say. Someone who, when they are going through difficult moments, lashes out and says purposely hurtful things that they don’t mean. What would you say about that person? Immature? Bratty? *****? Maybe. Inspirational? Good guy? Leader? Probably not.

People are going to defend him by saying that it was right after a tough, emotional loss, and that it must be hard to go out and be booed. I agree, but it is in difficult situations where people show you who they really are. Eichel is a great player and on a good team, he can be an important piece, I have no doubt. But he is kind of bratty, I don’t think he is much of a leader, and if Vegas is expecting that Eichel will put them on his back and pull them out of struggling I’m afraid that they may be disappointed.

Look for Buffalo to get a make up penalty call here in the 2nd.

I’m mostly on board with this take. However, if they trade Olofsson for futures, but then also use some futures to acquire a replacement in a separate deal, that works for me.

A team is going to require something in return for taking that on, no?

What is this supposed to be?

If he is, Sabres should probably draft him!

Informational note regarding why Krebs went 17th. He had a bad leg injury part way through his draft season. Torn achilles I believe. This caused him to slide a little in his draft. He has generally ranked in the 8-12 range or so before his injury, if my memory is correct. I think a analysis of Krebs expectations relative to his draft position needs to include this important context. It doesn’t nullify anything you are saying, but it’s a little insight into why Krebs is fairly highly regarded even though he went just 17th.

Yeah, I guess. I wouldn’t have a real problem with it if they did decide not to honor KHL contracts any longer. I’m not so sure that it makes much difference one way or another though. Players are probably going to be hesitant to screw over their KHL teams and risk mob type retaliation against themselves or their families.

The NHL is not the US government and the KHL is not Vladimir Putin. First bold- what would be your legal standing to do so? Second bold- That is basically correct. Practically, it’s just that the NHL will no longer be communicating with the KHL to get player contract details and stuff like that.

Why do you believe that?

I don’t think that they are counting on rookies to “save” them. I don’t think that they are really planning on being good next season (but we’ll see what they do between now and then). However, I think that having Tuch for a full season combined with improvements from a lot of the young players means that they will probably be better next season than season. In addition to that, I think there will be a couple teams who flat out blatantly tank (cough*arizona*cough) for the top of the 2023 draft. Meaning they will purposely sell off good players in an effort to be bad. Buffalo will not be among that group. So, while I think Buffalo will still be kind of bad next season, I think the chance that they finish in last place is pretty small. I think that if you have a difficult time imagining that they don’t finish in last place next season (or this season?) then you are misevaluating the situation.