JoeSchmoe

When I went to a Pittsburgh Pirates game, the guy that sat beside me showed me his homemade Pennsylvania State tattoo.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's not so much that Canadians are taking the tournament more seriously, but I think the Euros are taking this tournament less seriously. Like most of the top talent in Canada, the rest of the stars around the world (for the most part) are also sitting this out.

You and Marvin must have some ESPN or something to know what I was thinking. Forecasting trades is as big a time waste as it gets. Much worse so than me creating this thread. 😁

Haha! Wrong take. Speculating on trades is a colossal waste of time, and as 6 year Sabrespacer veteran, I know a thing or two about colossal wastes of time. 🥴

Jorge the defenseman of the Cartagena Ice Monsters from the Colombian Coastal League. Either him, or someone else... maybe as part of a package.

My problem is if you draw out the organizational depth for F's, and then do it for D, there is a huge disparity. Based on his draft pedigree, he could fetch us a good return on the backend. If we don't deal him, he'll have a hard time displacing any of the F's that are already on the team or further along than him. Even if he were lucky enough to crack the lineup, the incremental improvement he's likely to provide won't measure up to the large incremental improvement we could get by improving our #4 and lower defense.

One thing I'll give Rosen/the Sabres credit for is he seems to be the first of the drop off point in picks that have done much to date. Most picks above him have seen NHL playing time and most picks below him haven't. Can't hurt to have taken a flyer on him, but I stand my the notion they should have took a flyer on a player of similar stats but larger size.

This is how.

In my post above, I show that #8 was among EU skaters only. World wide, he'd have been much lower.

I went to the Wayback Machine. That #8 ranking was from NHL Central Scouting for EU skaters. Here's what was listed in EP on June 2021.

You "rest your case" in saying he's underrated because I said there are 10 Fs on the team he's not likely to pass. Not sure what else to say.

Are you saying you're projecting him above Tuch, Thompson, Skinner, Cozens, Mitts, Krebs, Quinn, JJP, Kulich, Savoie? I wish I had your crystal ball, because I don't see it. He's worth more in exchange for a D prospect IMO. If that's criminal... I don't want to be law abiding.

He's well behind where our other prospects are/were at his age. Even if he starts tracking upward, the likelihood of him beating out any of our existing or projected top-10 is quite low. Does he really fit with this crew, or do we need size/grit/checking? Tuch, Thompson, Skinner, Cozens, Mitts, Krebs, Quinn, JJP, Kulich, Savoie He'd be far more use to us if we could flip him for more help with our D pipeline.

Elite prospects used to have all the predraft rankings and the highest anyone had him was the late teens. Many/most were sub-20. Sabres reached on him after a strong U18 tournament.

Every thread seems to have Kulich penciled into the Sabres lineup next year. Some even hint at Rosen cracking the lineup. Here's some food for thought. Quinn and Peterka's AHL season before making the big club: Quinn: 61pt in 45gp Peterka: 68pt in 70gp Kulich and Rosen this year: Kulich: 46pt in 62gp Rosen: 37pt in 66gp Peterka (and even Quinn) struggled at times this year coming off a ppg season in ROC. Clearly the latter are a step or two behind being nowhere near ppg. Given his age, Kulich looks to like he'll be an impact player... Just give him another year to marinate and work on his 200ft game. Next year in the A I could see him putting up Peterka or maybe even Quinn-like numbers. Rosen in my long standing opinion isn't tracking to be an NHL player of any significance. Even after potentially another year or two of putting on some size and gaining skill, I question whether we'll need more of his style of play in the lineup. I'd be packaging him pretty hard this offseason.

I can't believe I'm in the minority of people that would rather have KO than Girgs (though I also would have been good with neither). Besides being the undisputed leader of the team, KO has actual hockey IQ. Comparatively, Girgs has a hamster wheel upstairs. I don't care that he can hit... He just doesn't make plays... Too many times it looks like he's about to make a play, then he just doesn't. Sick of watching it. I think anything he has done is because he's been the benefactor of being so closely tied to a much more talented KO for a few years now. More importantly, we can do much better than him on the PK, which seems to be his default role. I'd like to see a skill guy given a shot there similar to what Boston does with Marchand. Sure KO has lost a step, but hopefully with the new hope for the team, he'll put in a little extra work this summer and serve the us well in his 12F role.

Is this a fact? Seems nearly impossible. For every 20yo fan you'd need 3 or 4 80yo old fans. Not what I'm seeing at the Jays games I go to. The games are better now. More balls in play, less dead time. I don't see it overtaking the NFL by any stretch, but I think baseball is here to stay.

I think this year's rule changes are going to help a lot with that. Also, I see some steps in the right direction as far as marketing the stars of the league. Still a long way to go, but this year's record audience for the Baseball Classic tells me there's hope... Even though it sounds like it'll never be your thing.

It'd be good if we could get something back for him ASAP... Especially if it's part of a package for an NHL top 4 defenseman. That said, a 2nd round pick is worth more than what he's worth at this point. If we can't trade him, let him walk if that's what he wants.

Tapping my first post. It's not an All-star game anymore. You fixed the All-star game by doing something better instead. This would be must see hockey for all fans globally. Maybe the lack of success of the US program makes watching their team a less attractive proposition as here in Canada. 😜🤣

Maybe I wasn't clear. This is one game per team per year. And realistically, it's not an all-star game anymore, but it's a chance to see your national team in action for one game. In effect, you've fixed the all-star game by not having it. It's an NHL backed international day of hockey instead. Maybe most of the US based posters here don't have as much interest in this as Canadians, but here the ratings would be through the roof.

Year 1 I'd set the following matchups based on timezones: 8am EST 5 vs 6 - Russia vs Czechia in Russia 11am EST 7 vs 8 - Slovakia vs Germany in Slovakia 2pm EST 3 vs 4 - Sweden vs Finland in Sweden Primetime Canada vs US - in Canada 😉 I'd be willing to take that risk. Eventually it would take on meaning much like soccer internationals do.

So you'd have zero interest in watching Canada vs US where the players are actually trying?

Had this idea percolating in my brain for a while... Just thought I'd put it to paper here. Instead of an All-star game, you turn it into an international ladder style "tournament". 4 games back to back all day with the international teams, starting in Europe, finishing in North America. Set it up so that there's hockey all day long. Matchups go: 1 plays 2 3 plays 4 5 plays 6 7 plays 8. Win you move up a rung for next year, lose you move down. 8th team is hand selected by the league by some TBD criteria. Odd team plays at home. The risk is neither Canada or the US get a home game, so there could be a North American veto to ensure at least one game on home soil. Also, some of the smaller Euro teams might have to recruit a few players from outside the NHL, but NHL players get priority on the roster. 1st place team gets the Wayne Gretzky Trophy for being the league's all-time All-star and keeps home ice advantage in the championship game the next year. Picture a couple of silver 9's mounted on some Canadian maple... Possibly sourced from the Brantford homestead. The skills competition could be held with a virtual connection between the 4 rinks on the day before the ladder. The way I see it, the revenue potential is way up (quadruple), the player and fan interest would be way up, and getting Europe in on the NHL product would be a side benefit. Thoughts?

I'm surprised the Pirates or Guardians don't have any Buffalo fans, despite the affiliation history with the Bisons, and the relative close proximity. I'm also surprised to see the Mets beating the Yankees. It is really too bad Buffalo can't get the Jays games on TV. That said, if you scour the internet for TV ratings you'll see the Jays actually have double the viewers of the Yankees. They're the biggest market in all of baseball, but won't spend like they are. Because of this, I actually tried switching allegiance to the Tigers maybe 10 years ago, but without the hometown TV deal, I couldn't get the emotional connection.