pi2000

Lehner will fit right in with the culture in Buffalo.

Yes. Considering TMs ties to Ottawa, it's a natural reaction for him to "overpay" for Lehner. In his mind he didn't overpay, which is all that matters. I trust his decision making... bold, sometimes looks stupid on the surface, but I'm not going to pretend I know more about Lehner than he does. Hopefully he's right about him and he turns out better than any player they could've had at 21 (Samsonov?).

Can't believe I woke up to this trade. Very disappointed. Puts a wet blanket over on Eichel Day, .

Reinhart is certainly Captain material as well.... has those intangibles.

Yeah that defeats the purpose of 3 on 3 if it ends up 4on4 or whatever. The other OT rule about forfeiting the loser point if you pull your goalie is strange as well.... I get the idea, but why penalize the team who's brave enough to do so?

correct. TM likes to draft a goalie just about every year, but not in the first 2-3 rounds. He'll take a big European goalie in the middle rounds even if they trade for Lack or Lehner. I agree with this strategy. Vlader might be there in the middle rounds, Samsonov and Blackwood will likely be gone. Goalies are more of an unkown than any position, drafting large atheletic European goalies is a good strategy... they'll stick gold eventually.

http://www.tsn.ca/eichel-i-m-not-signing-to-play-major-junior-1.316807 Eichel will only sign with Buffalo if he's guaranteed a roster spot for all 82 regular season games.

what's the new face of procedure, and what are the rules around the video review?

No chance they bite on Skinner. He's small and damaged. They want big, aggressive, north south type players.

Why would he be embarrassed by his condition? It just doesn't add up. The Miller trade, teardown of the team, etc... IMO, it's more likely PLF disagreed with the direction of the team, and instead of causing an uproar by protesting the trades, and ultimately being fired, he takes a cash deal to resign quietly and ride of into the sunset. Pegula likely didn't want the black-eye of having to fire a fan favorite, so he talked PLF into resigning, probably gave him a large cash bonus, which ended up with an NDA.

I have a friend who worked for the Coyotes the past 2 seasons. As per him, the owners never wanted to keep the team to be in Arizona, they wanted an expansion team, but it's much cheaper to re-locate an existing franchise ($101mil fee?) vs paying the expansion fee of +$450mil. So, while the focus has been on demonizing the city council of Glendale, in reality it's the owners who are looking for a way out, and they believe they have found the loophole to break off the lease agreement. They sign the lease agreement with the city of Glendale, then turn around and hire Craig Tindall (city attorney) and Julie Fisoni (city manager) which give them an out to break off the lease. Arizona law states that any time a state official signs a contract, "the person involved may not work for the entity who is receiving the contract during the life of such contract...." The City of Glendale alleges that Tindall and Frisoni, were heavily involved in drafting and negotiating the lease agreement. It makes total sense if you think about it. The owners never wanted to stay in Arizona, so they sign the lease, then hire the city attorney and city manager who worked on the agreement to give them a way out. I just wonder how much they're lining the pockets of the city council members.

If it was the case then why did PLF sign a NDA when he resigned? Why not just come out and say... "..due to ongoing health issues as a result of the multiple concussions I've received throughout my career, I'm stepping down as President of hockey operations with the Buffalo Sabres". This also raises awareness about concussions, etc... But that's not what happened. He resigned (was forced to?) and signed a NDA which prevents him from talking about his reason for leaving the club.

Eichel walks on stage by himself. Steps up to the mic.... clears his throat..."With the second overall pick in the 2015 NHL draft. Jack Eichel is proud to select the Buffalo Sabres, NHL franchise, Buffalo, NY".

ARI will be all in this coming season for local boy Auston Matthews, the consensus 2016 #1 pick. I'd say they have the inside track to finish 30th, but we all know how that usually works out in the lottery. A top prospect, a 2015 1st and a 2016 top 5 probably gets it done. BUF has all those available... but do they give up their lottery ticket for Matthews as part of the deal?

wait. what?

mother

Sunny Feels like 84 Humidity 63% Wind Speed 0mph Precipitation chance 0% Sunrise 05:40 /Noon 12:51 / Sunset 20:02 Observation Time 2015-06-15 12:58:02 Observation Point: Laguna Hills, CA

They'll likely try to move Bickell, but at $4mil per for the next 2 seasons for a guy who scored only 14 goals this season and 11 the year prior, it won't be easy. $4mil/yr might be enough for a 2-3 year bridge deal for Saad. I think the more likely scenario is they trade Sharp, which free's up $5.9mi. He's a 25-30 goal scorer, and at 33yrs old, still has a few years left in the tank. Might be a good mentor for a younger team with plenty of cap space. Maybe a pick or two and a second tier prospect gets it done.

I expect Murray to make a run at one maybe two of the pending RFAs this summer (offer sheet or more likely via trade). some top RFAs... Dougie Hamilton* Tanner Pearson* Tyler Toffoli* Martin Jones* Brandon Saad* Derek Stepan Alex Galchenyuk* Nazeem Kadri Gustav Nyquist Vladimir Tarasenko Jake Allen Braden Holtby Michael Del Zotto* Yannick Weber* *- teams up against the cap RFA compensation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offer_sheet#Compensation

I see a line of Girgensons between Kane and Foligno. And Eichel with Ennis and Moulson. Unless another vet top 6 forward comes in here I seen Moulson shepherding Eichel through his first NHL season, and Kane with Girgensons and Foligno could score 25.

A goalie to consider is Anders Nilsson.... http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=120937 ..he put up stellar numbers in the KHL last season, and stands 6'05" 220lbs. However his rights belong to the Blackhawks (as part of the Nick Leddy trade).

They're still a bottom 5 team. The good news is that the teardown is over. It's all about improvement now. Young, new coach, no goaltending.

Last I heard, both Eichel and McDavid will be skipping the combine.

1. Yes. Eichel is face of USA Hockey going forward. 2. DB 3. 4 4. 0% 5. Battista

Interesting, so it sounds like he didn't want to put the effort into qualifying scholastically for college. Red flag?