JoeSchmoe

His asking price won't reflect potential. He's going to want established defenseman money, and IMO it won't be worth it... especially given hasn't shown himself to be capable of playing good hockey without Dahlin.

Biron also does TSN so if he's on the road that probably wouldn't be possible anymore.

It's both of them. But my inkling is that Dunleavy does it more.

Between all the Ray bashing in the game day threads, it's refreshing to see in this thread how many people still like him for the same reasons I like him. Yeah he doesn't speak the King's English and he's no Roger Neilson on the video analysis, but he's entertaining! I've said it many times- I've been around the game (watching, playing, coaching, parenting) since I was a kid. I don't need somebody breaking down plays for me. I just want to be entertained between the whistles. Now if only he and Dan would STFU and call the game while it's being played. As I'm forced to listen on the radio in the car a lot... this is so irritating.

The D was bad. UPL was worse. If we had Reimer level play in net all season this discussion would be vastly different.

I haven't watched him but I've heard only positives about Novikov. He's been the far and away +/- leader on ROC the last two seasons. What kind of assignments is he getting? Could he be the guy that gets Clifton a regular spot in the press box next season?

We're picking 9th, so Martin's skating is definitely a compromise. I just think he makes the team better than a better skater with less compete and less shot. I also feel like this is something that can be improved more than compete and grit which is just something you're born with.

For anyone that might be interested, at 645 in this clip Martin hits the 6'6 200lb Radim Mrtka.😀

I really like Marty but there's a such thing as too much Marty, and colour commentating would be well over that line.

Let me be the first on this thread to throw out a Danny Gallivan reference and say this was a Savardian Spinnorama of a hire.

Terry Pegula for Owner.

Adams knew Byram's value. The value was that he was not on an expiring contract whereas Mittelstadt was up for a pay raise... I.e. he saved Terry a few $mill for the all important yacht, while placating the fan base into thinking that the trade might make sense in a few years time. Another in a long list of shrewd moves by Adams that's kept him in a job despite 5 years with no playoffs.

Byram played with Dahlin. End of story. Even a 6'4 225lb 2nd round marshmallow can look like a $30,000,000 player next to Dahlin. 😞

Yes... The whole team for that matter. Less so with Power than the other two though.

I've posted this many times. When we got him, Byram was a sub 50% expected goal % player on a stacked Avalanche team where basically everyone was above. He also had cherry picked assignments with Manson and Girard getting the tough defense zone matchups that typically drop the %'s. On the Sabres he was always one of our worse expected goals too unless he was playing with Dahlin. We don't want him, nor his contract asking price. Had he asked me, I would have helped him move too.

I was going to say that as well, but from my Google search, he didn't play on their line. Who knows about the PP, but given I haven't watched any Bulldogs I figured I'd play it safe and not mention it.

O'Brien's Bulldogs team was a +60, while he sported a -2. Let some team that already has a culture of playing 200ft take him. We're already 8th in the league in Goals For... we just need to improve on our 4th worst Goals Against. O'Brien isn't that guy.

That Wheeler article you just posted still has him at 10th. Are you thinking Philly, Boston, or Seattle will want him at 6 thru 8? I definitely don't see him going ahead of Misa, Schaefer, Mortone, Hagens, or Desnoyers.

I watched the full game too. Martin got the 2G, player of the game (Ivankovic should have got it) and led Team Canada at +4. They haven't updated it, but I think he'll get the tournament lead at +15. I wanted to see him get the hat trick, but TBH he seemed disinterested... I thought he was coasting from about the 5-0 mark. Not sure if that's a cause for concern or a pro given the team had the game won and he's team first? Edit: Here's the final +/- leaders.

That would be culture changing!

If there's a 70pt guy, we have to take him... But outside of Misa, do you think any of the other picks will hit that? As I was saying before, Martin was a +25 on a team that was -42 and has the work ethic to change the culture of the team. Plus, he was one of the best offensive players in the draft in the second half of the season and I see him at 50 to 60 points in his prime. From what little I saw, I also really like that Carter Bear guy you posted about... I just happen to know Martin's game going back quite a few years and think he has intangibles that other kids might not have.

One last link...

Martin got thrown out of the U18 semifinals against Slovakia for this late hit. I think the Mike Peca comparison might be right... I was reading in another forum that at 17yo the Soo fans think he's already the best hitter in the league. The hit was clearly late, but all signs are that he plays the type of hockey many Sabres fans are clamouring for. Let's trade down and get him (and avoid O'Brien at all costs).

Hopefully Rochester keeps winning. We've got a lot of trade pieces there we can spin into vets. A deep run will only up their value. This is provided KA will actually take on the $$$ associated with veteran contracts.

RJ was so good!