PerreaultForever

I still think UPL sharing the load with a decent veteran and one more full year in Rochester for Levi would be the better plan but this is at least better than Adams first few years.

AI still has a lot of learning to do. It thinks Peyton Krebs is a dynamic signing for the New York Rangers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p8Lzh_La2o&t=125s

I don't count it because young players have fewer options. When UFAs sign here it can mean more. Even if they are only role players. The more guys on the roster that already know how to play that way the better and it'll make it easier for Ruff to get the rest to buy in.

I heard that too and it made me wonder if that factored into NAK signing here. As I'm sure you heard they bought a place on or near the waterfront and Malenstyn has now joined them nearby (I'm assuming there's luxury condos down there?). So that seems like a very good thing and the team most definitely needs more of that. Hopefully they will help lead this team and maybe it's the beginning of players talking about how they like it in Buffalo and we start to see the end of the NTC effect.

Makes me feel better about Cozens contract.

It's not surprising. Oilers have never cared about any shall we say "off ice issues". They grabbed onto Perry this past year after he had to leave Chicago. They took in Kane before that. You can go way back and look how they brought in Craig MacTavish after he killed someone. This is just one more example of who they are. I hope they never win a cup again that's all.

Sure, but you're forgiving the guy for getting it wrong. The only reason it was in a "development focus" was because he tore it down and created an undeveloped and leaderless team and when it got close he didn't try to win, he kept "developing" until he saw that was going nowhere. Now he's trying to "win". My point would be you should ALWAYS be trying to win, the whole "development year" thing was total bs. Murray tried to construct the same thing, but he tried to do it too quickly. Both him and Botterill had no choice but to try to build around Eichel. After Eichel and the team fell out he was given a new pathway but he botched goaltending and the team has underperformed. Even now he's still a step behind the competition. There is nothing "natural" about any of this.

Of course they do. Thompson most definitely uses his reach for puck control much more than his bigness for physicality. That's why Granato got it right on him turning him into a center. He was awkward and ineffective as a power forward because he doesn't really like to hit, fight or be a big tough guy. Power is too soft for a D man (so far) but his reach definitely helps him and Tuch plays net front but is also a puck control guy. Size helps all of their games and none of them are "big" guys in the sense people think of as "tough" guys. The word "big" is the problem. It's never as simple as to say speed/skill vs. size. The players are always combinations of all factors and the more of these things they have in one body the better they are. There aren't any bad players who are big, fast and skilled are there.

There's continuity in design though. One guy has been in that management room for all those years and that's Pegula. The "plan" and the design has remained fairly similar all this time. It's not a radical departure with Adams, until maybe now. My feeling is that Pegula has finally somewhat given up on his idea and has turned the key decisions over to a "hockey guy" and that is Ruff. That's why we see a change in roster design. Ruff.

Why just 1 year ago? Why not 13?

What you say makes sense so that Sporting News article is wrong? idk, there's probably some subtle legal ways of phrasing they have to use. It gets ugly though, which is why most teams try to avoid it.

Reasonable deal. Term and money in a range where even if Levi passes him, with an increasing cap it won't be an albatross for back up money and is more likely tandem money. If he's spectacular he can still get a long term rest of his career deal and if he sucks we can manage it. I like it. 5 team NTC is weird. Rarely see a list that small but whatever.

Where are you getting that from? Everything I've read says they can not use other player's salaries. Pretty sure the arbitrator looks at them, but the team and the player can't make comparative monetary arguments.

My only point was people are saying we need a playmaking top 6 forward and they want Zegras when we just traded away our top scorer who was a playmaker. It makes no sense even if you argue Zegras is better than Mitts because you still have to give up assets to get him.

Except they started doing that AFTER they were a top of the division playoff team and got bounced in the first round by a gritty Columbus team. Toronto's trying to do that every year now. Edmonton is trying it now and came close but lost. You add missing pieces when you are close or missing a key piece. We haven't even made the playoffs yet and are trading for mediocre available bottom end talent. Look, I like the new composition of this team better than it was, but this is the structure the team should have had years ago and we should now be trying to upgrade it piece by piece. So it's progress, but it's a pin step.