Gabrielor

Olofsson played a ton of RW in the SHL, and was a RW prospect on my board for years before he got to NA. Its been a bit, but he’s had success off wing; that elite shot travels.

-2C/T6W Combo -One of the 24 teams who didn't fail at life -A friendly hint Reinhart may be involved That's what we've gotten. Wouldn't really make sense to break much more until Adams actually has a confirmed deal done.

No confirmations. We're still in the sea of speculation.

Reinhart is 1 2 is hopefully Mittelstadt, ehhhh if it’s 8 and bad if it’s cozens.

One of the more contrarian opinions I’ve taken, but I had Dennis Gurianov as a top 10 pick in 2015, ahead of Strome. Glad to see he’s making me proud.

That's one terrible agent then, who completely messed up Mitt's career. It's not like rushing him into Buffalo would gain anything financially, and if he wasn't ready (like what happened), he could crater his value and ensure that his 2nd contract may not even be 7 digits a year (again, like what happened).

I gotta be honest, this roster is pretty close to the nightmare scenario. It could only be worse if Eichel got traded. Cozens at 2C year 1 will get crushed. We have to avoid this at all costs. Grigorenko and Mittelstadt should be enough proof. Granlund will get overpaid. Olofsson is on an interesting line that'll see too many bad matchups. That 4th line would be forced into a LOG role with significantly less talent. Thompson also has the potential to bury that 1st line depending on how far along his speed and awareness is... On the defense, Miller on the top pair would be a mistake for any longer than an injury sub. 2nd pair is fine. 3rd of Montour-Risto got demolished last year in a short cameo...I can't see it going any better. In short, the forward comps are way worse, the defense made zero change, and no problems were fixed from the previous year...while somehow adding more holes. Apologies, but this is a top 3 lotto odds roster.

Granlund would be a big mistake. Price will be way too high. Not a center. Not a winger with the flavor we need, or enough of a scorer to make up for being the softer flavor. Of all the good stuff you've thrown out, if Granlund is our big move, I'll continue with Botterill-level concern about this franchise. Also, his analytics last year were pretty bad. He doesn't seem to fit the new number-driven approach, or the 'fit'-approach. Hopefully it was an early Adams idea before he actually got numbers and facts on it.

Vegas Colorado would be a hell of a series.

What a crew Murray put around rookie Eichel/Reinhart... Evander Kane - aside from the bar incident, largely a good player and person here Ryan O'Reilly - got super depressed being here, then got traded Tyler Ennis - drafted by Buffalo; heard nothing good/bad from him since leaving Matt Moulson - haven't found anything good/bad on his time in Buffalo Jack Eichel - our captain / franchise player; signs of oreilly depression Brian GIonta - from this area, has maintained ties Jamie McGinn - short stay; heard nothing good/bad from him since leaving Zemgus Girgensons - drafted by us, could leave, ufa Sam Reinhart - very silent person; I'd bet mirrors oreilly/jack depression Marcus Foligno - from buffalo, so hasn't badmouthed us since leaving Johan Larsson - could leave, ufa Nicholas Deslauriers - heard nothing good/bad from him since leaving Josh Gorges - retired after us; haven't found anything good/bad on his time in Buffalo Rasmus Ristolainen - has wanted to be traded for a while Mike Weber - drafted by us, has maintained ties, largely beccause of connection to past era team Mark Pysyk - heard nothing good/bad from him since leaving Jake McCabe - here; leader; nothing bad to say Cody Franson - heard nothing good/bad from him since leaving Robin Lehner - has badmouthed time in Buffalo Chad Johnson - has badmouthed time in Buffalo David Legwand - short stay, retired Zach Bogosian - indirectly has badmouthed time in Buffalo Carlo Colaiacovo - short stay, retired Cody McCormick - has maintained ties, largely beccause of connection to past era team

Watching a lot of the Dallas Calgary series, and Gaudreau is looking to me a lot like Tyler Ennis...

That's fair, but your interpretation would still serve the purpose of dismissing Friedman's hot take. ? (if nothing's considered, then no qo hasn't been considered)

We have not even considered that. (concerning not qualifying) I don't think it could be any clearer... I understand the Pegula pessimism though, that's fair.

It was always horseshit. Now trading him...that should be happening....

Casey definitely comes off as a 15-16 year old, for sure. Immature is the perfect word to describe him.. You need to tackle that in development before we even talk about the on-ice stuff. He's proven he can look real good in a 2 week youth tournament with the world watching. Can he consistently do it in an 82 season against men, is the question. Then on the analytical side, he's never tracked as the prospect that he got hyped as by Pronman and others after that tournament, so expectations should also be adjusted. Tyson Jost is probably what we're looking at long term, with development. So yeah, if there's still a team out there who thinks higher of him, you need to be investigating a trade scenario...(please be Calgary)

I've only started posted here regularly recently, but this place has a more far discussion-based, upbeat tone than HFBoards...

I was writing exactly this, but thanks for catching that.

Then the reverse is true as well. We aren't special in shittiness.

Since I'm on an optimism bender... We aren't far away from playoff contention. Eichel will come out screaming this year. Hart finalist for sure. Dahlin will take that step and become a game-changer. This one is hard to quantify, but suffice to say, it'll mean wins. Extra time off will work in our favor. Cozens, Thompson, Borgen could all be ready. Joker, Olof will improve. (Speculation territory, so every point here starts with the word IF) We acquire a real 2C, and suddenly, opponents have to account for more than 1 line. We keep Girgs/Larsson, we'll still have a premiere shutdown line to throw at teams. Cozens is ready to provide secondary offense, increasing our non-Eichel-fueled chances to score. We rebalance our defense, so Ristolainen isn't getting crushed for the 100th straight year. So yeah, if 1-2 moves are made, people will see that we weren't so far away, Botterill should created a crater thats made the team so bad the last 2 years.

Rossi is the best player we'd realistic get there. I have him 3rd on my board, behind only Lafreniere and Byfield. He's the real deal.

In the short term, moving a little transition for a little more defensive toughness, that can still play (note: not Bogosian) In the long term, Dahlin contract, Jokiharju contract, transitioning to younger guys eventually (Borgen, etc) Defense is deep, fully agree, but not a finished product, and does require tinkering. Also should mention: There's a 0% chance Montour and Ristolainen and Miller are all back. Someone's moving, and therefore, that depth will change a bit (it should've in 2019, but I digress).

I meant contractual timeline, not competing timeline. Our team timeline to win is right now. Adding a Hall contract (9+ million dollar winger for multiple years) basically ensures that we can't maneuver to fix our center position, or continue to build our defense.

If Buffalo went into free agency and pays enough for Taylor Hall to come to Buffalo and he signs, would you be happy? Devil in the details, but I imagine no. Too expensive, and won't fit our timeline. Would Kim Pegula still trouble you? Of course. She won't earn the benefit of the doubt until it's a cup contending program. Would you be upset because they still don't have the 2nd line center? VERY MUCH YES Would you be upset because they still haven't traded Ristolainen? Most likely. Would you damn the team for spending so close to the cap that they limit their ability to make future acquisitions? If this question is "Are you ok with crippling flexibility of roster composition before the important holes are filled?", then yes, of course I am. Adding Hall does not equate to we're suddenly a contender. or Would you be excited for the team? See above Would you be back in the seats when allowed to attend games? Once my wife is ok that it's safe, yes. Would you see that acquisition as enough attempted improvement to the forwards that you'd concede Cozens time to grow into his role? This question is weird. Cozens should be given time to grow regardless; acquisitions to aid this aren't a requirement for that (they are if the team wants to compete right now, though.) What would a move like that do for you? Yeah, I hear Calgary is the desired destination for Taylor Hall, but I'm just curious. If they pull off this move, would it change your opinion of current operations? It wouldn't. It would once again make me question whether or not they know how championship teams are constructed. I'd also like to say, that if this questionnaire was hypothetically coming from Kim Pegula herself, I'd be terrified. These are all the wrong questions on how to fix this team. Too much focus on a shiny, expensive player we don't need right now, and not enough on the structure of the team that's been crippled since the O'Reilly trade. Without a proper center spine, we're in trouble.

That was Botterill's finest hour, not only removing Nylander, but acquiring Joker. Alex was a hoot to iso cam last night. Looked like an OHL player out there. That old-man-twirl clip was apt. Someone on HFBoards called Alex Marcel Hossa to Will's Marian in 2017, and that turned out to be right on the money.

Every time the Knights are trapping Chicago in the zone, I look around, and of course it's 92, 12, 17 lol. Nylander hasn't developed much from 2016.