Pimlach

Did Eichel lead that team? I recall many veteran players that led the charge. Eichel played very well, but saying he led them to a Cup is incorrect. What would you give up for Zegras?

I am going there for 16 days in September. I will be in all the cities you mentioned plus a few more. My experience when discussing foreign travel is that everyone is different, what they like, what they want to do or see, the pace they can go, the amount of money they can spend. It all impacts the experience. I can send you my thoughts when I get back, end of September.

Well now you are in my alley. We do have drones that can self assess threats and data link the information back to command and control, but they are allowed to strike when they are "authorized" to strike by a person in the loop. I think you are saying the person in the loop can increases the level of autonomy and enable the drone to decide, and that is certainly possible. Beyond that, you make a case for AI seeing us as the threat and going rogue. I guess anything can happen?

Then what?

It would be nice to have players that love nd appreciate this area and bring a winning culture back here. Of course it has to start with a winning commitment at the top. My buddy went to Dudley's house in Lewiston, NY (near the Falls) to see the Cup. He loves the area.

This is happening way to often. I do not have any accounts for FaceBook, X, Instagram, or Tik Tok. Yet my PC and my iPad and my iPhone all to seem to know what I am doing, what I am looking at, and even what I was talking about. It seems to be an invasion of privacy and incriminating too.

Buffalo's looked pretty good. There were actually many non-badass ones. Just make the Buffalo Angry (show teeth) and yielding a sword, or two, and you get badass.

Certainly can agree that nothing is guaranteed at this point.

I voted for #1. Yes. But I want to caveat this There appears to be a clear #1, a great prospect who can possibly play right now, and a reasonably solid veteran stopgap. This is the best goalie situation we have seen going into a season in quite some time. Their is talent in goal that is maturing, and this should be the year we turn a corner and can feel good about the goaltending. If Lindy can put a better team structure in front of these guys than we have seen in the past, then we will be much better in the net.

Good pedigree for sure, and he may someday be better, but I don't care about pedigree right now. Pedigree means something on draft day, or if you are looking to trade, but we are now past that. Now you earn your keep at the NHL level. If your rating pedigree, don't forget that UPL was a 2nd rounder and Levi fell to round 7, so maybe not all the scouts felt the same way about him as you do? As I recall, according to many "experts" Josh Rosen, Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold all had better pedigree than Josh Allen. Late bloomers sometimes catch up, especially goalies. Last season UPL matched Husso's best season ever, and Husso was on a very stout Blues team at the time while UPL played on a below average team. If you think UPL compares to Cal Petersen then no wonder your worried. I just don't like the thought process that Levi is automatically going to be the #1 goalie because he is better in the AHL, or has better pedigree. Right now, based on last season, UPL is the #1. Levi is 2 or 3. UPL is big, he moves well, and is proto-typical of todays NHL goalies, he is at the perfect age to emerge, and the players seem to rise up and play for him. If Levi is better than UPL at the end of this season, and maybe that happens, then we have a good problem in Sabreland. If Levi emerges in the next 2-3 years, as long as UPL is still solid he is easily tradable at $4.75M.

You complain about all the contracts, ok some of that is fair, but then you say "hand the reins to Levi"? What a giant leap of faith for Levi. What has he done to earn such faith? Shouldn't you wait to see more before making such statements?

I did not like the long term contract for Power, still don't. Not sure the long term deal for Cozens was warranted either. But this one is not even close to being in that league.

He has already proven to be better than the younger and less experienced UPL that we saw prior to last season. He will return as the #1, with the same goalie coach (Bales) as last season, and with Lindy as head coach and who has publicly stated his confidence in him. I feel pretty good about it. I hope Reimer can handle the #2 so that Levi gets lots of games in the AHL.

Depends on what “doesn’t pan out” means. If he plays good, but Levi becomes the #1, he is tradable. If he plays ok, and we need cap space, he is still tradable. If he is very good, he is a steal at $4.75M and easily tradable. If he falls apart and busts then it’s a problem, no different than any other contract of this length. He looks like a real NHL goalie right now. The years 4 and 5 might be medium risk, but not high risk, unless you think last season was a mirage. Besides, they need to win now. They are counting on him. You have to take some risk and you should reward your own.

I like it. Not gonna worry about the 5 years at this point, there are ways to manage that risk. This could be a steal if he plays like he can, which we saw the second half of last season. I think this kid could be very good.

Hard to believe he gets an NHL job

Zegras is not Eichel. Not even the injured Eichel. I offer them Krebs, a protected 1, and a lower tier prospect. Nothing more, and certainly not Benson.

Skinner simply does not fit Lindy's vision for this team and he makes too much money for what he brings. That is why he is gone. If DG was still here I think he would have been ok with keeping Skinner. I think Pegula is listening to both Adams and Lindy right now. The Zegras rumors show there may be intent to spend to cap, but they won't force it either. I think the Malenstyn contract was fine, and now he comes in happy and ready to prove himself. Lets get working on UPL next.

I know that area well. Been to Hughes hundreds of times. The weekend newspaper had 20 pages of job ads for aerospace back then too. McDonnell Douglas in Long Beach, Northrop in Hawthorn, Lockheed, General Dynamics, Ford Aerospace, Loral, Rockwell, etc. Lots of greats jobs in So Cal in the 80’s. Not to mention the chip industry in Silicon Valley.

She is an old school retired RN and a clean freak. I would have to go through the motions of cleaning it, then burn all the germs out, but it must be cleaned first. This would be an operation under her careful supervision. I know my Sweetheart.

The idea is that they bring skills that Lindy wants in support of the core players you named. Lafferty, NAK, Malenstyn, McLeod are replacing Olofsson, Okposo, Girgs, Jost, and Robinson. They appear to be upgrades to me. The loss of Mitts is the only concern I still have and if McLeod can provide speed, faceoffs, and defense then maybe he is a good alternative. Zucker is a player that can move around and slot into any line. Something Skinner could not do. I’m not sure this is a playoff group but it looks like a better team so far. The Lindy factor is another consideration.

What kind of grill can these chubby creatures get into? My wife would make me sanitize the entire grill.

Right now we know who the top 13 forwards are, unless one of Kulich/Rosen/Rousek pushes Krebs out or they move him. Defense top 8 is Dahlin, Power, Byram, Muel, Clifton, Joker, Bryson and Gilbert, unless Johnson pushes for a spot but its best to keep him playing in Rochester rather than the 5/6/7/8 rotation in Buffalo. Goalie is UPL, Levi and Reimer. Not sure what will happen here. Seems like the logical thing would be to start Levi in Rochester and give him games. We could still see another move before the season starts.