Derrico

I’m not expecting UPL to be a regular in buffalo for at least two full season but damn it would be amazing if he turns into a top end goalie in the bigs. I still have hope for Ullmark but this team needs a good, undesputed number one badly.

Sheary is also 56th in points per game for left wingers. We have to be better than that.

Yep. If sheary is in our top 6 again we’re in trouble.

Nice little article in the Sudbury newspaper on him today. https://www.sudbury.com/sports/triple-overtime-luukkonen-and-the-wolves-refuse-to-go-down-without-a-fight-1371054

Another one bites the dust....and another one gone another one gone another one bites the dust.....

He had a heck of a year in the OHL. Goalies usually take forever to develop but he has to be a top 5 goalie prospect right now I would think.

I really wouldn’t hate this idea either. He did some nice things with some rather mediocre zona teams.

There you go @Die Hard

Absolutely.

This is all very true. But it's so much easier said 'draft well' than actually doing. I'm sure XGMTM thought Nylander was going to be a better player than he is. I'm sure he was hoping one of our million 2nd rounders during that time would work out. The issue is drafting is not an exact science. Several players will not live up to their draft spot (including the guys being mentioned for 7th overall). So the alternative is not having the big upside but you've traded that pick for an established player who you know much more about. I see you cherry picked Kutcherov with the 26th pick. Sure. But who went 25th? Who went 27th? It's easy to say draft well but it's so much more difficult to know how a 17/18 year old kid will develop.

I don't think Dudacek is saying you don't have to draft well. I think he's saying there's an alternative approach than purely building your team through the draft. Having said that, this seems to be a pretty good draft for picking 7th so any deal would have to blow me away to move the pick. Their other first rounder I have no problem moving if the right deal is out there. Again, whether they keep the two firsts or not, the team still has to draft well whenever they're on the clock.

As others have said, I don't have a huge preference for him but if this is JBott's guy then I hope we land him. I won't get excited with whomever it is until I see winning.

Then that is who I want. A little concerned about Turcotte injury history but this is the way the NHL is moving IMO. Thanks for giving me the names, I'll have to do some digging on them.

Agreed. I think Botts realizes that one way or another he has to bring in a 2C. Mitts will drop to 3C and get significant PP time. I think 45 is a reasonable estimate if he stays healthy. Huge offseason for him this year but from everything I've read before we drafted him he is a very hard worker and takes his training seriously. I have no doubts he will come back much stronger in October.

Give me the guy with the best combo of speed and hockey IQ who could be available at 7. That's who I want.

Firstly, you cannot mention Ehlers and get NS going..... Secondly, if you are suggesting we trade 7 to the Leafs for Nazim Kadri than you can just ***** right off (but don't really do that because your an excellent poster).

Ya I'm fine with this playing out a little longer. I hope he doesn't decide for a couple of weeks. That way we can see if some playoff team who gets bounced in the playoffs fires someone. Who know Cooper's Lightening lost last night ? I'm joking by the way, no chance he gets fired. I honestly don't give two hoots how this 'looks.' The franchise has been a mess for 8 years now but there is still a good enough core here now that I think we can turn it around sooner than later. I don't care what it looks like, this HAS to work out whoever it ends up being. Whether it takes 4 more hours or 4 more weeks just make sure you get the right friggen guy.

While I agree with this, I've also been saying this is the last high pick we will have for a long time starting with the Nylander pick. Then came Mitts. Then came Dahlin. Then came Pick #7. Sounds like it's a good draft so I would prefer to stay and make our two picks. At the same time, I completely understand True's idea to use this to get better today. How many more years are we going to waste Eichel? This team has to take the next step soon. Having said all that, I would keep and make atleast the 7th OA pick. If we can use the late first in a trade then I would be open.

Agreed. It’s also crazy if 5 year deals for coaches is the standard. Sure it happens but what percentage of coaches make it a full five years. I doubt it’s even 50/50. Coaches should get 3 years max. But as we’ve said, there’s no salary cap on coaches and it’s pegula bucks so here we are.

I don’t hate this idea at all. However, I’m hearing that almost whoever we draft at 7 is going to be the next Patty Kane or superstar so that makes it much more difficult.

Ok this is getting crazy. All I’ve heard is how unbelievable all of these top 10 guys are. Is this really the best draft we’ve seen in forever or are some of these getting overly hyped? Not asking just you.

Sounds like there isn’t too much of a difference in quality between 4 and 7. I wonder what the ask would be.

Are they allowed to block a promotion? I don’t think they can in the nfl. I would be pissed if I’m Keefe and that happened. Them doing that with the assistant gm was one thing as they planned on him being the next gm. But doesn’t Babcock have like an 8 year contract or something crazy?

Ya 5'7 is crazy. It's not the 90's and I don't need all my guys over 6' but 5'7 is bordering on ridiculous.

Wow. Usually there is a near Consensus top 10 or so. Feels like this year there may not be a big difference between 3-8 or 10