jame

You don't run a PP from behind the net. We run a 1-3-1 PP, it's run from the halfwall. No.

I agree. We really need Botts to not suck at his job so we can develop our prospects where they belong. Neither Tage or Mitts belonged in the NHL this year... it's been a gross mismanagement. I don't think he's bad. I think he has NHL skills... we are just doing a terrible job of properly developing those skills. He should be building in the AHL, getting comfortable dominating with his size at a level that's appropriate.

Yea... isn't that what you believe in, depth? We have our core of impact players... and they will be with us for years to come. Maybe 1 or 2 guys from the non-nhl roster will be impact players... probably not. But that's now what we need... we need a pipeline of ELC NHL depth... I thought we actually agreed on this. I just don't believe every single first rounder is critical to building that pipeline. and we are just as capable of building it with good scouting/drafting in the mid rounds (Samuelsson, Laaksonen,etc) as we are with late 1sts.

Tier Rank Name Total 1 1 Dahlin 9.7 2 2 Mittelstadt 8.05 2 3 Pilut 7.75 3 4 Olofsson 7.4 3 5 Luukkonen 7.2 3 6 Nylander 7.15 3 7 Laaksonen 7.05 3 8 Thompson 6.9 4 9 Borgen 6.7 4 10 Guhle 6.5 4 11 Samuelsson 6.5 4 12 Asplund 6.4 5 13 Pekar 6.05 5 14 Smith 5.95 5 15 Davidsson 5.9 6 16 O'regan 5.25 6 17 Weissbach 5.25 6 18 Daugherty 4.9 6 19 Malone 4.9 6 20 Hickey 4.75 6 21 Fitzgerald 4.75 6 22 Glotov 4.75 6 23 Cronholm 4.75 6 24 Kukkonen 4.75 6 25 Worge-Kreu 4.75 6 26 Bryson 4.75 7 27 Oglevie 4.55 7 28 Stephens 4.55 7 29 Johansson 3.9 7 30 Cornel 3.9 7 31 Brown 3.75 7 32 Nyberg 3.75 7 33 Murray 3.75 8 34 Hurley 3.35 8 35 Chukarov 3.2 8 36 Willman 2.7

I'm interested in where everyone lands on our prospects... I consider a prospect anyone with less than 80 total games at the NHL level and under 24 years old. I use the following 4 weighted ranking categories: Talent / Ceiling 50% Current Development state 20% Floor 15% Current Projection 15% I rank the Talent, Floor, and Projection on the following scale: 5 = Superstar talent 4.5 = Upper Top Line/Pair Talent 4.0 = Lower Top Line/Pair Talent 3.5 = 2nd tier (top checking, secondary scoring, 2nd pair etc) 3.0 = Upper Non Top6/Top4 NHL talent (Checker, PP QB, 3rd pair, etc) 2.5 = Lower Non Top6/Top4 NHL talent (4th line, depth D) 2.0 = Upper AHL/NHL Depth/Back to Europe 1.5 = Lower AHL/Fringe Major Pro League 1.0 = Lower League Fodder 0.5 = Find a new job I rank Development on the following scale 5 = Proven NHLer 4.5 = NHL Ready 4 = Within a season of NHL Ready 3.5 = Pro level development 3 = Developing at proper rate 2.5 = Development is stalled 2 = Under developing 1.5 = Development failing 1 = Underdevelopment Complete 0.5 = Find a new job

So you believe Mittelstadt today, is the player he will be in 2-3 years? If the answer is yes... then you can stop calling him a prospect. I'll assume the answer is "No, I think he's going to be much better than he is as a 20 year old today"... when you provide that answer, you will be confirming that he is still a prospect. If you are considering Mitts, Dahlin, etc NOT prospects...then you should be even less concerned about our pipeline, as you've now etched them in to their PROJECTED roles... and our pipeline becomes far less concerning when the core is locked in at its top potential. Asplund and Davidsson being "bottom 6 center" prospects... is hardly an issue when you've annointed Mittelstadt as a #2 NHL center behind Eichel... Olofsson and Nylander being question marks (your words) is hardly an issue when we have Reinhart, Skinner, and a proven NHLer (in your mind) in Thompson

I think there is a huge drop off in the 12-14 range of this draft... I wouldn't trade the Buffalo or St Louis picks in this draft.

If you think our prospect pool is bad... you're not up to date on our prospects.

Dahlin, Thompson and Mittelstadt are still prospects. Beyond that. Borgen, Laaksonen, Samuelsson, Guhle is one of the best non-nhl defensive prospect pipelines in the league. Nylander, Olofsson, Asplund, Davidsson is a solid forward pipeline. UPL is looking like a stud. Before the season started, most sites/publications had the Sabres prospect pipeline rated #1,2, or 3 in the league Any GM making decisions based on #2 in 2019, should be fired immediately.

It allows the receiver of the drop pass to read and create his line before handling the puck, it's far more effective

1. Nonsense 2. irrelevant today 3. Late 1sts give you cheap talent... rarely... and when they do, it's at a rate similar to 2nd rounders. Yea, that's a silly cherry picked example

I'm just talking about the cost.... The norm around here is "oh my god, no way am I trading a 1st" Reality is a late 1st results in little tangible draft difference than an early-mid 2nd+3rd Frost would cost Mittelstadt Couturier would cost Mittelstadt, 1st, + Frost is viewed as a top 10 "not yet in the NHL" prospect... he's equivalent to how Mittelstadt was viewed last year.

The drop pass is used because we have two elite zone entry players. It's utilized to put the opponent in static positions, while allowing our elite talent to attack with speed. It's not a tactic used to attack what the opponent is doing (being "blocked" as you say, or being pressured... it's used entirely because it puts the puck and decision making with the puck entirely in Eichel/Dahlin's hands rather than allowing the opponent to force/dictate the play

What does an offer from Buffalo that peaks Philly's interest look like, in your opinion?

Looking at that chart... and ask yourself if there is much difference between spending a 2nd, 3rd, Pu on Skinner vs a 1st, 4th, Malone on Eric Staal....

Actually we need Botts to remove the not so great players. Reinhart has made almost every player he’s played with better throughout his career. It’s his defining trait. I only used the most recent 2 seasons to avoid controversy... if you include the 2016-17 season the gap is even worse (in terms of Eichel being worse without Reinhart). You don’t need to be a stats guy to see Reinhart’s impact all over the ice...

Reinhart’s development path mirrors Schiefele’s. And Reinhart is critical to Jack’s line being successful, because a successful line doesn’t just produce offense, they outproduce their matchup. last 1.5 seasons: eichel w/ reinhart GF60: 3.04 & GA60: 2.23 result, we win the matchup when Eichel/Reinhart are together (+0.81) eichel w/o Reinhart GF60 2.92 & GA60 3.30 we lose the matchup when eichel is away from Reinhart (-0.38) Reinhart has proven to be an incredible asset in our transition game, his zone exit percentage is off the charts (elite) and he’s turned himself into a top end forechecker. His subtle and/or under appreciated skills generate more opportunities for our best scorers... and keeps the puck away from our opponents best players. Reinhart is the type of player every team wants on their top line... a player who makes your best players even better.

Yea, walking away from Tim Kennedy’s RFA arbitration award would totally be the same as letting a 70 point 25 year old walk for free.... ?

A completely incomparable scenario (Lehner) shouldn’t be an example for anything regarding Reinhart....

what? You think there is a plausible scenario where Botts let’s Reinhart walk for free because he didn’t draft him????

Do you agree that the SJ pick is likely to be a late 1st and that late 1sts have about a 20% success rate?

I would say that if you're making decisions in 2019, based on actions taken in 2015.... yea, that's being a slave to a long rebuild. So you really don't think those Penguins teams were good enough? I can only interpret that as you believing any team that doesn't win the cup... wasn't good enough to win it? Those were some great Penguins teams, they got knocked out in game 7 a couple of times... it's the NHL playoffs. If anything, they were done in by some awful coaching by Dan Bylsma in the post season (The Flyers series stands out, Peter Laviolette handed Byslma his lunch). You used SJ as an example before... how did they get to a cup final if they weren't good enough at drafting? The washington capitals haven't drafted well for a decade... how did they win a cup? The Penguins were one of the best teams in the league from 2009-2015, but failed to win a cup... which time frame do you think they drafted better during: 2009-2013 impacting their back to back cups (2015-2017).... or 2003-2007, impacting their dry spell (2009-2015)?

SJ 1st, Buf 4th, Sean Malone for Eric Staal Marco Scandella for NYI 2nd Skinner-Eichel-Reinhart Erod/Sheary-Staal-Okposo Nylander-Mittelstadt-Thompson Erod/Sheary-Larsson-Girgs Dahlin-Bogo Pilut-Risto McCabe-Nelson/Hunwick/Beaulieu Make playoffs (Add Staal, Nylander. Remove Poms, Sobotka, Scandella... old, slow) 2019 STL 1st - Ryan Suzuki 2019 BUF 1st - Arthur Kaliyev

I understand your preferred team building philosophy. I'm only trying to help you see your blind spots (a 100 point/1st place team... loses in the playoffs, because of "poor drafting"... is nonsense. You can't see that in hindsight?) I don't have a rigid "team building philosophy". I have a view of what TYPE of team should be built, structurally/talent distribution/etc. But I'm not a slave to a long rebuild. But I am happy to have my views and opinions challenged by others. What are we here for otherwise?

The bolded is utter nonsense. I appreciate the level of confirmation bias you are willing to reach for though, that's a commitment. Amazing how over those 6 years they were able to average 107 points a season... but apparently struck out in the playoffs because of their prospect pipeline... lol