pi2000

Whaaaat?! Where is this coming from? As a socal resident I can say with conviction that ANA fans are 100x more boring and less interested in the game. Kings fans are definitely more raucous, knowledgeable and involved in the play.

not to pile on but in addition to sqaq/kobe... SF Giants (bonds, kent) CHI Bulls (kerr, jordan) CHI Blackhawks (sharp/kieth) Talent always wins out over brotherly love. Don't confuse cause and effect here. Winning teams are usually more talented, and winning breeds a positive atmosphere in the locker room. Liking your teammates alone will not get you wins.

Hawks will win the next 4.

There have been a lot of close tight knit teams that never won a damn thing. I don't care if they share a giant group hug before and after every practice, just win some games please.

Wasn't expecting this. He'll probably play on O'Reilly's wing. McDavid and Domi also on the team... maybe they re-unite Domi and Reinhart?

After continually watching guys like Franson, Gorges, and Weber plod around the ice, it was refreshing to see somebody with foot speed and quickness. Guhle is a very good skater, however he still needs to learn how to defend at the pro-level, as does Nelson. I see at least 1 full year of seasoning in Rochester for both of them.

he's OK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsC1J8PEvBI

he's right

for ROR, it will likely help his World Cup chances if he has a good tournament. Eichel has been playing hockey non-stop for a year and half... BU, world juniors, frozen four, world championships, draft combine, dev camp, etc... he deserves a well earned break.

I don't think Crusader was insinuating that all it would take to land Fowler would be Guhle. He would of course be part of some package going back the other way, combination of picks, Guhle and a roster player like Gorges or Franson perhaps... .maybe even Moulson with BUF retaining some salary.

yes although I'd prefer Vatanen

Caggiula could be another Tyler Johnson or.... Corey Conacher. He was in Buffalo's summer dev camp 2 years ago. from 2014: "A few of the camp invites had a pretty good go against the Sabres prospects this week. Drake Caggiula was earning plenty of praise from folks today, and Hockey Hotline discussed the strong play from Patrick Russell. Caggiula, only 20-years-old, still has two years of eligibility left at North Dakota. He likely wouldn't sign right now to just be a Rochester guy, but I can certainly see him hooking on with a team when he graduates." ...and he's from the Toronto area so you would think Buffalo has to at least be in the mix, although I'm not that high on him.

Vatanen or Fowler, and Barrie are likely available for the right price. GMTM has executed trades with both COL and ANA in the recent past, I think chances are something gets done.

BUF lands in the 8th spot. chances... 1st: 6.00% 2nd: 6.36% 3rd: 6.76% 8th: 39.22% 9th: 34.76% 10th: 6.63% 11th: 0.27% chance of moving UP: 19.12% chance of staying at 8: 39.22% chance of sliding DOWN: 41.66% AVG pick: 8.23

such a tanky lineup... what year is it?

what? where? Roch?

why are kasdorf, rodrigues and schneider playing again?

In 2013-14, 79 points would've placed Buffalo in 27th, picking 4th. 25th in 2014-15, picking 6th. In 15-16', 79 points has them in 23rd, picking 8th. There are more bad teams this year than years past. So how exactly is the lottery preventing teams from tanking?

RFAs re-signed: Foligno Girgensons Larsson McCabe Ristolainen Kasdorf Nelson UFAs re-signed: none Draft: Jesse Puljujärvi Buy out: Franson Acquisitions: Stamkos

Barrie?! Yes!!! Stamkos?

It will be interesting to see how the Calder voting goes this season. Panarin, a 24 year old, playing in his 8th year of professional hockey, playing alongside the best offensive player in the game. How many points would Eichel or Larkin have on a line with Kane? McDavid averaging > 1 pt/gm. Eichel missing only 1 game, second in rookie points only to Panarin. Yeah I like the progress late in the season. Hopefully guys like Larsson and Foligno can pickup where they left off, need more of that seconary scoring on a consistent basis. Larsson finished 2014-15 on a tear, but was invisible until the second half of 15-16.

probably still more exciting than playing the Devils

All that would do is encourage teams in positions 6,7,8,9 to tank down to 5. If the lottery must stick, the odds should be a function of the teams' performance over the previous 3-4 seasons and how many times you've won the 1st overall pick during that same time. So if you're a team like BUF, lets say they finish 24th, considering 2 consecutive last place finishes + a 24th place finish, combined with no lottery wins during that time, they should have better odds at the #1 pick than the 24th place team would normally have. Likewise, if you're EDM, yes you suck and have been a bottom feeder forever, but the fact you won the lottery a bunch of times means your odds are reduced from what the 30th overall team would normally have. Using multi-seasonal standings would prevent teams from tanking in any single season.

Don't like that idea. Then you'll have small market teams who can never compete, or teams with injuries down the stretch get punished. The NHL wants parody. The only way to do that is to give the worst teams the best picks. I say just get rid of the lottery altogether. There is nothing sinister about tanking. If a franchise wants to risk alienating their fan base and season ticket holders by fielding an inferior product to get a higher pick, then they have every right to do so. There was no draft lottery in the NHL for 80 years... 80. Just get rid of it.