Digger

For a prospects challenge I assume that we'll need another young goalie in addition to UPL won't we? Maybe a chance for a walk-in to try out?

Relax. I enjoy your posts and everyone's posts on the board. I imagine we all resonate and agree with some posts more than others (which is why it's nice to have the options to like, etc.). When the discussions get heated between posters I always wonder what it would be like if we were all face to face having these discussions. Writing always allows for more interpretation for "what did they mean by that" and reacting. It's amazing how many assumptions we can make without knowing for sure. Your name is Thorny, so I assumed that's why some of your posts are taken the wrong way at times. 😏

Anaheim? The team that apparently is not willing to give up Zegras, Drysdale, or McTavish (who used to be known as 3OA) for Eichel. If that's true then sending them Ryan Johnson won't help much.

Actually the wind cries P-U, this stinks.

well said

There's lots of talk and hope that Will Borgen will get waived by Seattle and that the Sabres will pick him up. I wouldn't mind that scenario because I really liked Borgen and would love to see him get more time on the Sabres. A right handed D with some toughness. But it would not shock me at all if Borgen gets waived and the Sabres don't claim him. I just think Adams will pass if he gets the chance and stay with the defense that he has put together. Hopefully I'm wrong.

I really liked what I saw from Samuelsson last season. I do think that this needs to be his year to break into the lineup and show us what kind of player he can be for the Sabres. Next year we will have Owen Power coming into the lineup and I imagine Ryan Johnson will sign and start pushing for a spot too.

It's interesting but I would suggest not this season. We would be giving up an unprotected 1st as part of the package. If we added Peterson I still don't see us having a great season and there are some great prospects coming in the next draft. Example: signing between $8,221,464 - $10,276,829 requires 2 First Round Picks, 1 Second Round Pick, 1 Third Round Pick. Over that amount requires 4 first round picks.

He definitely had some great saves and games for the Sabres but certainly a great deal of soft goals and losses too. I specifically remember the season previews in past years where they would question if Hutton was up to the task. He would play great for a few games and then lose it. Last season was all about having his eyesight corrected and he would be good again. Oh well. At least he won't have high expectations in Arizona.

Looks like he's busy reading the Sabre Space forum on his phone "Jack Eichel Trade Rumors".

I watched this video today and thought it might be an interesting discussion.

He still has some upside I believe but I'm not a huge fan of him as a player. There's been speculation that Carolina has discussed some long term options with him and that he will sign an extension next season for much less than the $6.1M that it took to get him away from Montreal. I read that they expect him to start the season at LW. His performance and stats this season will be interesting to watch and it will be interesting to see if he signs an extension closer to $2.0 or $2.5M next season.

I was thinking it's crazy for Arizona to trade a player expected to be in their top 6 under a reasonable cap hit for 4 more years in September when there's no time to replace him with similar talent. Then I remembered that the Sabres are trying to do something similar with Eichel.................so never mind. They will also be able to move Kessel at the deadline for another pick too.

so you would have matched and kept KK?

Montreal has done okay on this overall losing Kotkaniemi (getting a 1st and 3rd) and acquiring Dvorak (for a 1st and 2nd). If KK breaks out this season maybe there's some regrets but replacing KK with Dvorak seems okay and they made the best of the situation. Perhaps their only regret was that they might have tried harder to keep Danault if they knew this was going to happen.

There's not a great deal of top prospects in Montreal to send back to us. Caufield is a RW and it's doubtful that they include him in a deal. I can't envision a deal that I would like with them.

I guess they may have some confidence they can address their shortage of centers.

Eklund is not very reliable at all. That being said, of course everyone would like to see some movement or even some credible rumors on an Eichel trade.

I understand your point. I used to have the same opinion but I have to say that I love having the best players in the world from each country. I'm sure you must agree that it is exciting to see them play together. If not the Olympics then I would hope that they could play in some other tournament. The Canada Cup was pretty good but the timing was a bit rough for the players especially if they had a long playoff run.

What's your definition of amateurs? Obviously NHL players make millions, AHL players are paid well, Junior players make money for expenses, Pro leagues in Europe. The guidelines for only amateurs is pretty gray to me. We already have a yearly Junior tournament with the best players under 20 - WJC which might be the closest a best in the world amateur competition. As an example look at the summer Olympics with the 100m race. Those guys are paid pretty well with endorsements and as far as I'm concerned they should be because they have set their life aside to only train and become the best in the world. If you look back at what Dave Hannan did (stepping away from the NHL for a period of time), does that meet your criteria? I'm just interested in hearing your thoughts on who would qualify as an amateur.

I remember that Dave Hannan took the year off in 1992 so that he could play in the Olympics for Canada. He played some games for the Sabres to start the 91-92 season and then took the time off. I think he needed to take the season off just because they were not allowing pros to play at that time. I remember being really impressed that he was that committed to step away from the NHL for a period of time just so that he could play in the Olympics. I know maybe that does not technically count (because it was before pros were technically allowed to go) but he did continue playing for the Sabres for four more years following. He got a silver metal that year

Congratulations on the house and becoming a parent. I wish you and your family all the best in the future.

I like it and think it's a good contract for Jokiharju to sign. Another 3 year deal for a promising young player.

Yes but the good news is if you don't like this Jack Eichel thread you can easily switch to one of the other multiple threads discussing Eichel...................................but most of those have gone off topic as well.

all opinions are biased.