Derrico

Below is a very interesting article discussing the prospects of doing away with the current draft lottery system. It proposes each team drafting in a predetermined spot every year. Each team would draft in a different position every year for 30 years. It would eliminate tanking for sure and trades would be very interesting if you knew exactly what 1st round draft pick you would be trading. http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/nhl-ban-draft-lottery-162726362--nhl.html

I think it's Porter who he's replacing.

We gave up a conditional 6th rounder do you really think he would be an improved version of Ennis??

This is what gives me hope. Obviously this guys NHL career is at a crossroads. This may be his last chance to make it in the leauge which will hopefully inspire him to play better in the D zone. In his only year he played most of a season in the NHL he was -16. I know the Oilers weren't very good in 2010/2011 but it was still tied for second worse +/- on that club. Some offense will be a welcomed change to this team, as will his creativity but let's see just how bad his defensive awarness is.

Canada playing in pre-tournament World Junior game. So far Canada leads Finland 3-2 and Ekblad has scored for Canada while Sam Reinhart has picked up a secondary assist. For those looking ahead to the 2015 draft, Connor McDavid has 2 primary assists.

Oh I completely agree. No risk.

No, someone else mentioned that there is a threat to go back to Europe if he's not playing in the NHL.

Again, not saying it won't work out and I credit Patty for trying a low to no risk move. Having said that, the Oils are only 18th in the league in goals per game and have a terrible record and he still can't crack that lineup? To nfreeman, do you know how many seasons he's been in N/A? If he came when he was 23 and he's 26 now then has it been 2.5 or 3.5? If 3.5 he's played less than one full season in the NHL. So although he may not be an AHL lifer, it's not like he's an NHL regular either.

Wow, can we slow down a touch here guys? We didn't give up anything so it can't end up being a bad trade but I think it's way too premature to use the word steal. The guy has been a near AHL lifer, is already 26 and threatening to take his toys and fly back to Europe. I will give Patty props for making a zero risk trade like this. But this screams like another Luke Adam / D'Agostini type player. That video was a good watch but if he has that type of offensive skill, his D must be 50 times worse than Hodgson.

On a side note, what the ###### has happened to LabattBlue? Looks like he hasn't been active in months.

No, your not exaggerating.

Good luck Weave. You've been sharing these details with us all along and it sounds like it's been a long process.

This whole demotion is very confusing. I'm still not sure why he's down there if he's not playing.

We're trading Myers and need pysyk in the lineup. Just kidding I have no idea.

To be fair he almost always does.

It's the only thing getting some of us through this mess of a season :P Thank goodness we're not NJ fans.

I'm going to be very interested to see how Dal Colle plays over the next month. Scott Laughton may be the best player in the OHL IMO and he's heading to Sweden to play in the World Juniors so how will Dal Colle (his linemate) fair? I'm confident he will still put up points as he did early in the year before Laughton rejoined the team but it will give some insite into just how much Dal Colle benefits from playing with Laughton.

What do you mean by the bolded? Not a fan of Reinhart?

That's a tough decision. I always believe in BPA but I love what Dal Colle can do around the net. I guess I haven't seen enough Barrie Colts games to make an accurate judgement of him. If our scouting staff think Ekblad is much better than the next highest ranked forward I hope we go with the big Dman, if it's close I hope we go with the forward.

Ya unless they go on a long winning streak over the next month or two he will almost certainly be moved at the deadline.

Vanek is a better player than Moulson. Period. I don't care about this years stats. Having said that, I think we still got the better end of that deal, possibly by alot depending on where the Isles end up in the standings over the next two seasons.

Me too. I wish he was centre though. Someone compared him to Alex Galchenyuk and I think that's spot on. He reminds me so much of him when I watch Dal Colle. Especially after Saturday's game where Galchenyuk scored and play well, I'd love having a player like that in our lineup.

Dal Colle with an excellent weekend scoring 4 times and adding two assists over the two games.

If they get a first in another trade do you think it's more likely they defer I take it?

Yep. Wishful thinking for sure and there are other good players in the draft other than him. But with Nolan's talk of keeping Miller and a new GM likely wanting to put a mark on this team with a boat load of money available and us so far under the cap, I can't see us being this bad again next year. I could still see us ending up around 5-15 (worst) so there would be a small shot at winning the lottery but come on, we're Buffalo sports fans, we know how it ends.