IKnowPhysics

Not with that attitude he won't. We're going to win it all this year.

To sign him before he turns UFA.

Honestly, we could trade for Kuemper's rights and do a pretty rich deal (he's currently at $4.5MAAV) and I wouldn't be mad about it. He's still a top five to 12-ish goalie in this league.

Kuemper's a UFA. Francouz is under contract for two more years, then UFA. Georgiev is an RFA. Francouz and Kuemper are 5th and 6th in 5v5 GSAA/60 this season. 11th and 7th in HDGSAA/60. Both worthwhile to examine. Francouz performed similarly to Kuemper, but makes only $2M. Kuemper made $4.5M last season. They might trade Kemper's signing rights for a late round pick. Clearing cap space, etc.

I knew our draft capital gave us a lot of options, but I did not think we'd be adding more 1st round draft capital. But that value is crazy. Also Pierre Dorion is drunk. Try to make another trade with him.

***** Antonio Brown.

Wins.

Haha, if the local media is respecting her medical privacy, it's not just a failure of journalistic integrity, it's a conspiracy. What a ***** take.

Was it Tim Murray that effectively said it was really easy to spend lots of money on bad players and that getting to the cap floor was the easy part? I believed him.

There's a potential scenario for a blockbuster draft trade. I could definitely see CHI/BUF/NHL colluding to send #9 or #16 (and other things) to CHI for Kane (and maybe other things). We'd still have two 1sts, including #9 or #16. Quinn, Cozens, Mitts et al don't go anywhere. CHI would get back into the 1st round (they don't have a 1st this year; they were to pick #6). The league would definitely wait until the pick to announce this. The draft's in MTL so it won't get booed on TV by Hawks fans. That kind of draft day spectacle would make Gary Bettman's maw moist. Over the past three years, Kane's rankings: Goals 32nd Assists 5th Points 7th P/GP 11th Kane hasn't had any major injuries. His game is kind to his longevity. One of seven active players with three Stanley Cups. His speed may wear off in the next couple of years, but his hands and veteran influence will last. If BUF thinks they have any edge on the market for a player that produces like that, you have to believe they're going to pursue it. We have the draft capital.

Kane stats while working with Granato: 2017-18 82GP 27G 49A 76P 2018-19 81GP 44G 66A* 110P* *career highs

Don't wait the year, pay the reduced "rental" asset price to secure the player and then re-sign them before having to compete in the open market on salary. If it doesn't work out, trade the rights before the deadline to recoup the rental fee.

Is this broadcasted or streamed somewhere?

"Undisclosed Personal Issue" caused him to sit out the 2nd half of his junior year at Notre Dame after posting 16P in 21GP. Team reportedly excluded him in that summer's media communication. He transferred to Minnesota, being forced to sit out a year due to NCAA transfer rules. Didn't suit up for Minnesota in Fall 2018 (reason unknown) and immediately signed with Norfolk (which eliminated his NCAA eligibility), played 2018/19 there. Sabres rights to him expired August 2018, before he signed with Norfolk.

Big oof. Naw. Maths: If impact is defined by a 200GP player, then even in the back half of the 1st round, you still have a ~44% chance of selecting an impact player. Over the course of four selections, each which that chance, here's what you get: 9.8% chance of not selecting an impact player 30.9% chance of selecting precisely one impact player 36.4% chance of selecting precisely two impact players 19.1% chance of selecting precisely three impact players 3.8% chance of selecting precisely four impact players And four years of firsts isn't temporary. In a sport with an average career length of five years, that's an eternity. But none of this matters because: ...be matched by the other team.

Former Buffalo Sabres picks at 9OA and 16OA: 1982 (9OA) Paul Cyr 1982 (16OA) Dave Andreychuk 1995 (16OA) Martin Biron 2011 (16OA) Joel Armia 2013 (16OA) Nikita Zadorov

Agreed. I've recently befriended someone in analytics and had a number of good conversations with them on the topic. This sounds healthier than a lot of arrangements they described in the front offices of professional sports. They indicated that egos, personality differences, closed-mindedness, ultra-cut-throat internal competition, and general ***** management culture and/or player culture ruin many, many opportunities for positive data-driven growth within franchises. KA and DG seem like they're committed to building culture first; hopefully a positive culture extends to and within the analytics department.

The reasoning is sound, but the NHL player market is overboard irrational. Offer sheets have been one-off flukes, not ever driven by league-wide economic environment, and perceived as acts of violence and almost immediately perceived as overcompensating for the player. There have been only 10 offer sheets signed since the year 2000 and only two in the past eight years; only two players of the 10 have not been matched (Penner 2007 1st and 3rd; Kotkaniemi 2021 1st and 3rd). Is it possible that a few offer sheets are signed this year? Perhaps. But they'll be on a player-by-player basis. And without the Sabres 3rd, I don't see us making any meaningful moves that won't be matched (unless we do something realll dumb, which we won't).

Logical me: Agreed, 100%. Over-caffeinated, out-of-the-playoffs me: Law & Order: SDS Fun Police over here Let me get my pseudoscience on, mannn.

Also, by that analysis: 16+28+41 could get 4-5 9+16+28+41 still wouldn't get 1 And, just a fun thought, it'd be bonkers to fully convert to get 2-3OA and 13-18OA -or- 4-5OA and 9OA if KA and the gang thought they could get studs. The latter is pretty attractive: trade 16/28/41 for 4OA and take 9OA. And this is without packaging anyone in.

By that analysis: 9+16 could get 2-3 (previous: 1) 16+28 could get 7-8 (previous: 6) 28+41 could get 18 (previous: 13) Seems within the bounds of reason. You still don't see many trades moving down from 2-3 in practice though, but the value seems right.

The analysis is well founded. But GMs definitely don't use it ubiquitously and religiously. 1OA, even 2 and 3OA, are wayyy overvalued in the real draft economy, such that 9 and 16 probably wouldn't get much higher than 5OA (plus maybe a late 2nd at best). Probably because marketing. And that no GM wants to be known for unknowingly trading away the next unexpected phenom whomever. But it also makes for fun conjecture.

It's not. I'm too lazy to out-lazy my lazy thinking.

You want the earlier pick, which means you don't want Vegas to win the lottery. Several reasons: You want the prospect in the system one year earlier. Better development options, including stacking Rochester if that's what's best. You don't want to dilute this year's draft capital. We have (pre-lottery) 9ish, 16ish, 28ish, and 41. I get that 16 is actually 18, but I'm lazy. That's a lot of ammo if we decide to move up. Loosely speaking, from Shuckers' 2011 draft value paper, picks 9 and 16 are worth 1st overall. 16 and 28 are worth 6th overall. 28 and 41 are worth 13th overall. You can make all of those moves and still select two 1st round picks. Not saying we'd get that or do that, but three 1sts is nothing to sneeze at trade-wise. Equally, it's also an enormous amount of potential return if we decide to move down. BOS, CGY, CAR, COL, and FLA definitely do not have their own 1st round picks. CHI, MIN, NYR, and VGK may not end up with their picks. That's a lot of teams that may want to move back into the first round. Vegas could be a better team next year compared to the delicious meltdown they just incurred; few expected them to do that this year. This year's pick is likely better value, and even if I'm wrong, they won't be so much worse next year as to make it worth waiting.