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RochesterExpat

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Posts posted by RochesterExpat

  1. I made a bet with a friend during the off-season that Jeff Skinner would have 25G and 55P this season (assuming he played at least 70 games). My friend laughed at me and happily took that bet. 

    Now if only I could be this right the rest of the time... 😞

    • Like (+1) 1
  2. 1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

    Oh by the way, I know this is sacrilege but I’d trade Girgensons this off-season.  I give his job to Asplund, waive Bjork and re-sign Vinnie.  I then spend money to bring in a good two way center.

    I think Girgs is worth keeping around for the last season of his contract. What can you realistically expect as far as a return goes? He's a role player and a good one at that.

    • Like (+1) 3
  3. 1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

    Jankowski, who should be playing over eakin.

    I like Jankowski because he was drafted by Calgary with a pick that Buffalo had as a result of trading away Gaustad, but then Buffalo packaged the pick with a second to trade up to draft Girgensons. Time is a flat circle or something.

  4. 1) Team MVP - Dahlin

    2) Rookie of the Year - Samuelsson 

    3) Comeback Player of the Year - Okposo or Skinner

    4) Unsung Hero (player who doesn’t get enough credit) - Asplund if we're talking on-ice. Okposo if we're talking off-ice.

    5) Top Forward - TT

    6) Team Norris - Dahlin

    7) Team Vezina - Houser, technically. Otherwise it has to be Andy followed by UPL. 

  5. People seem to be forgetting the cap will go up again. We're not in a flat cap forever. Signing him for 6 @ 6.5 would be a good deal for Buffalo for a Top 6 player (assuming he continues to fill such a role) who gets 55+ points in a season (when balanced toward pucks in the net). If he matures into a PPG player then it's a steal. 

    At some point you need to gamble on players. TT has been consistently good this season playing against top lines in the league. Should he regress, it won't be on the scale where paying him Okposo numbers when the cap is going to increase again is a bad thing. I understand reservations people have because Buffalo signed Skinner to an overpay with too much term (which, even then, at the time of expiry the contract won't be all that bad because the cap will go up), but you can't live forever in a bridge/'prove it' deal world. Say Buffalo signs him for 3 years at 5 million to bridge him to 27/28 and he continues to develop into a true 1C putting up PPG numbers, Buffalo could be looking at a massive hit to re-sign him when he's a pending UFA. It goes both ways, but it could be hurting more because the cap will have gone up in three years. GMs right now can play the "we don't know what the cap will be in three years" card. That ace-in-the-hole is going to go away sooner rather than later.

    Sign him this offseason or early into next season. Lock him up for 6 years. Make a statement that you're done doing never-ending  short-term contracts. Sign VO for 4-5 years. The only player getting a bridge/short-term deal this off-season should be UPL (not counting Murray/R2/Biro or however those get handled).

  6. 5 hours ago, Scottysabres said:

    The seals on the doors and dog handles go bad over time.

    The ship hasn't had its hull serviced in a long long time. The epoxy patching isn't enough, it needs a shipyard. 

    I was under the impression the patching was necessary to tow it to a dry dock for further repairs, but now I can't find any real information regarding the repair plan. I might have been confusing the repairs with those of the USS Texas.

    Honestly, there's not a ton of information out there about the long-term plan for the ship. 

    • Like (+1) 1
  7. 4 hours ago, Buffalonill said:

    Are you sure its not 2 year contract no matter what ? 

    Someone point me where I'm wrong, but--as far as I know--it's a three year contract. He is 20 years old and two year contracts are for 22 or 23 year old players. 24 year old's sign 1 year contracts. If he had signed this year it would have burned a year leaving him with two.

    My guess is he signs when the season is over so he gets the full three years which is presumably what the Sabres want.

    • Like (+1) 1
  8. Are there any goalies Buffalo could conceivably offer sheet on? The only one I can think of is Jake Oettinger and I suspect Dallas may not match if Buffalo did a $4m x 3 year contract. He'd expire as an RFA in Buffalo at the cost of a 2nd round draft pick in 2023. On the flip side, if Dallas matches, there's zero chance they can afford to re-sign Klingberg when they have to sign Robertson this year and Hintz next season... so maybe there's a right-shot defensman that can be picked up as a result.

    Not that anyone does offer sheets because of some bs "gentleman's agreement."

    • Like (+1) 3
  9. I watch a lot of Amerks games via AHL.tv and JJ's "defensive liability" is lessening as the season continues. Quinn has a much better two-way game and they're not at all at the same stage in development, but JJ continues to get better and should be starting the season in Buffalo next year.

    Peterka mentioned in an interview that he struggled when he first arrived in Rochester because the changes in the rink size. The DEL plays on a sheet of ice that is something like 20% wider than an NHL rink. This allows for substantially more real estate on zone entry (the old "finesse" vs "physicality" argument) and players tend to carry the puck for longer stretches. If you watch the Amerks, you'll notice he has a tendency to overcommit on man and he doesn't position well in zone. It happens a lot with EU skaters when transitioning to NA hockey.

    When Asplund first came to Rochester, he was a similar defensive liability for the majority of the season and even into his second year because he would be incorrectly positioned on zone coverage. I would hardly think anyone will argue he's a defensive liability in Buffalo at this point.

    Considering JJ  was billed as a two-way, physical skater during the draft, I believe his game will adapt--as it did with offense--and he will figure out the defensive aspects to North American hockey in due time. It's something he's clearly been working on as it is already. 

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  10. 1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

    Pod 4 is Rosen and the Russians.  I have Rosen (8th) higher then the rest despite his struggles this season because the talent is there.  All three Russians excelled at different points this year, but I discounted them because of the war in the Ukraine which has clouded their availability to come to NA. Kisakov (12th) has 26g in the MHL, Novikov (13th) played 32 KHL games as a 18 year old D, and Poltapov (14th) hit his stride with 10 pts in 10 MHL playoff games.

    I watched several regular season KHL games this year (ESPN+ had streaming rights to some of the games) and Novikov was very impressive as a stay-at-home defenseman (playing 3rd or 4th pairing--KHL rolls 4 pairs of defensemen for those who are confused at this) and I'm glad you have him listed here as high as you do. He knows how to use his size to his advantage and does a very good job disrupting the play with his stickwork. If the current political climate doesn't prevent it, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Buffalo trying to bring him into Rochester at the end of next season.

    Frankly, I'd have him above Kisakov as well, but assessing the value of stay-at-home D-men is incredibly difficult. Especially when he is only playing 5-10 shifts a game.

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  11. He wants to win a championship and is not happy with the outcome of his last season. Rather than whine, complain and ask for a trade, he's going back to the same mediocre team to give it another chance because he's clearly a very driven player. Instead of quitting and jumping ship, he's foregoing hundreds of thousands of dollars and the limelight of professional hockey to try and win a championship.

    Maybe I'm just an optimist, but isn't everyone else here tired of people who either accept losing and become complacent, or else jump ship and request a trade because the team is underperforming? I'd much rather have the guy who shows up at the start of the season having spent the entire off-season analyzing how he could improve and what he needs to do to get the team to the next step.

    Is this the best move from a development standpoint? Highly unlikely. Is this the best move to stop the Chicken Littles? Not at all. Is this a move that tells us if he is the kind of personality we want on the team? In my opinion it absolutely is.

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  12. Quote

     

    Is there a dark horse to keep an eye on down the stretch?

    Defenseman Noah Warren (6-5, 216), No. 49 on Central Scouting's midterm list of North American skaters, has impressed with a strong, physical presence in his zone while scoring 19 points (four goals, 15 assists) in 50 games for Gatineau of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

    "It's been an impressive progression from Noah," Central Scouting's Jean-Francois Damphousse said. "He's a big, strong defenseman who can skate well and has impressive speed with his forward stride carrying the puck."

     

    https://www.nhl.com/news/five-questions-entering-nhl-central-scouting-final-meetings/c-332592714

    Curious what the "can skate well and has impressive speed" really means or if they're just biasing it because the first item (that he's "big"). 

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