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Tim Murray’s revenge


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16 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Perspective is a funny thing. When I watched the pregame tonight on Sportsnet (not vested in us and thus more objective) they said Housley's done a good job. Botterill's done a good job. Eichel's proving them wrong and he was worth the contract he got and is finally becoming a true superstar and it's been a positive season where they fully expect us to compete and knock somebody from the playoffs next year.

Go figure.

 

6 hours ago, dudacek said:

Living in hockey territory far from Buffalo, this is exactly the outside perspective. I’ve listened to a couple clips recently where there the talking heads have politely rolled their eyes at the recent angst in the market.

The general perspective is the team was bad and it is clearly better. It’s not good yet, but it is young enough and well-managed enough that they expect that it will be.

Exactly.  One of the nice things about being in Atlanta is that you get to watch Caroline and Nashville games on regular TV, plus the national games, and in each broadcast when the Sabres play against those two teams or nationally, the announcers say exactly the same thing.  Young, up and coming team with emerging stars Dahlin, Eichel, Reinhart.  Sometimes distance is a good thing.

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1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

 

Exactly.  One of the nice things about being in Atlanta is that you get to watch Caroline and Nashville games on regular TV, plus the national games, and in each broadcast when the Sabres play against those two teams or nationally, the announcers say exactly the same thing.  Young, up and coming team with emerging stars Dahlin, Eichel, Reinhart.  Sometimes distance is a good thing.

The Carolina and Nashville broadcasters are saying those things about the Sabres b/c they don't really know what's going on here, or anywhere outside their own markets, and are going off of a fact sheet prepared for them and general conventional wisdom that floats around the league.

What neutral observer of a Sabres game wouldn't discuss the general plot line currently in play?  I.e., young team, bunch of very high recent draft picks, young stars in the making...

That's the script on Buffalo and everyone around the league is going to repeat that until it is not the script.

The one exception I can think of is Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley on NESN; those guys are brutal homers, but actually know what's going on around the league and aren't afraid to attack whoever is playing Boston on a given night.

 

 

 

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5 minutes ago, Kruppstahl said:

The Carolina and Nashville broadcasters are saying those things about the Sabres b/c they don't really know what's going on here, or anywhere outside their own markets, and are going off of a fact sheet prepared for them and general conventional wisdom that floats around the league.

What neutral observer of a Sabres game wouldn't discuss the general plot line currently in play?  I.e., young team, bunch of very high recent draft picks, young stars in the making...

That's the script on Buffalo and everyone around the league is going to repeat that until it is not the script.

The one exception I can think of is Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley on NESN; those guys are brutal homers, but actually know what's going on around the league and aren't afraid to attack whoever is playing Boston on a given night.

 

 

 

That argument might be valid for Carolina, but not for Sportsnet Canada. They live and breath hockey 24/7 and know the whole league.

As for Edwards and Brickley, they also called us "up and coming" and "not the same team we're used to" and also praised Eichel as "coming into his own."  They also give Risto begrudging respect. So maybe it's true.

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5 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

That argument might be valid for Carolina, but not for Sportsnet Canada. They live and breath hockey 24/7 and know the whole league.

As for Edwards and Brickley, they also called us "up and coming" and "not the same team we're used to" and also praised Eichel as "coming into his own."  They also give Risto begrudging respect. So maybe it's true.

No it isn’t.  The Canes broadcast team has 20 and 24 years of Hockey broadcasting experience both for the Canes and National broadcasting.  Tripp was a pro goaltender.  Just because Raleigh isn’t a big market or traditional hockey market don’t assume that they don’t have a professional broadcasters who know the game.

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13 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Depth means more then just having a good core.  Depth means having players through out the organization who can step up when needed as well as rolling at least 3 good lines in the NHL.  Ultimately Depth means drafting and developing your own players to maintain your team as you become good to keep you under the Cap as the core gets paid. 

Take a look at TB’s roster for example. How many guys on their team have been drafted and developed by them? Now look how many were drafted after the 1st rd.    Look at Toronto.  

TM’s plan put was in cap hell in just a couple of years with a team that scored 201 goals achieved 78 pts for a real $ cost of 80 mill.  He left the Amerks in shambles and left us with almost no D and center prospects.  This is why Jbot had to sign Pilut and trade for Baloo and Scandella.  This guy was so bad he traded an NHL D (McNabb) and 2 2nd rd picks (one of which is Cernak for TB) to get a 4th rd pick Fasching and a 4th line forward in Deslauriers.  

PS just because someone was once a 1st rd pick does make them a good NHL hockey player.  Who would you rather have in our top 6, undrafted Erod or 1st rd pick Girgensons? We just sent for 1st rd pick Baloo packing because he got passed on the depth chart by undrafted Pilut.

Lol.

Depth takes time to develop in the NHL.  The path is rarely draft->AHL->NHL.  Prospects spend time in the juniors, or in their national leagues, or in college before hitting the AHL or NHL.

With that in mind, take a look at the current Murray prospects who are currently on the Amerks roster (who are in first place in their division, tied for second in the league):

  • Borgen
  • Olofsson
  • Smith
  • Cornel
  • Asplund
  • Nylander
  • Johansson (for a few games)

He also drafted Pu and Guhle, who Botterill traded for Skinner and Montour.  It doesn't seem that Murray left the Amerks in shambles, it looks like it took the normal amount of time for his prospects to make their way through the system.  Botterill has done a better job of adding AHL vets to the Amerks than Murray did, but none of Boterill's draft picks have made their way to the Amerks roster yet.

No doubt that Tampa has done a great job drafting post the 1st round, but they are the exception to the rule. And the Maple Leafs prove this.  Mathews, Marner, Nylander, Rielly, Kadri, and Gauthier were all their own 1st round picks.  Tavaras, Andersen, Marleau, Ennis, Kapenen, Hyman, Gardniner, Hainsey, and Muzzin were aquisitions. 

The Leafs have two home-grown, post-1st round players contributing to the team:  Andreas Johnsson (7th round pick) with 36 points and Connor Brown (6th round pick) with 22 points.  The Leafs have no home grown players on the team drafted between the 2nd and 5th rounds in the draft.

Murray's approach to building an NHL roster looks alot like Toronto's.  Aquire 1st round talent, using your own picks or assets to trade for other team's former 1st rounders, or aquire them in FA.

I don't agree with you on the center prospects.  When Murray arrived, the Sabres centerman were Hodgson, Girgensons, and Ott.  The team had no center prospects.  In two seasons, Murray added Eichel, O'Reilly, and Reinhart (who didn't work out), and drafted Asplund.  He was only here only three drafts, so there's not much more he could of done here. 

Murray did trade defense for offense, which hurt the defensive depth, but Bogosian's and Kulikov's injuries also had an impact.  The McNabb trade was dicey.  Murray was trying to build a 'heavy' team up front, like the Kings.  Not really the type of game that Blysma was coaching.  So yeah, bad trade. And bad choice for coach. 

Murray accelerated the salary cap trying to build the top six forwards.  O'Reilly and Kane were worth it.  Okposo and Moulson, who were a product of a soft FA market, weren't worth their hit against the cap.  Again, the strategy wasn't a bad one, but the execution was lacking. 

I don't think Murray's issues were with his talent aquisition.  Again, if O'Reilly and Kane were still on the current roster, the Sabres (and Amerks) are a playoff team.

Murray's issues were really with his coaching choice, and inability to communicate with the rest of the organization.  Botterill might have these same issues.  Both GMs and their coaches seem to struggle with setting a winning tone in the locker room.

 

 

 

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7 hours ago, jad1 said:

Depth takes time to develop in the NHL.  The path is rarely draft->AHL->NHL.  Prospects spend time in the juniors, or in their national leagues, or in college before hitting the AHL or NHL.

With that in mind, take a look at the current Murray prospects who are currently on the Amerks roster (who are in first place in their division, tied for second in the league):

  • Borgen
  • Olofsson
  • Smith
  • Cornel
  • Asplund
  • Nylander
  • Johansson (for a few games)

He also drafted Pu and Guhle, who Botterill traded for Skinner and Montour.  It doesn't seem that Murray left the Amerks in shambles, it looks like it took the normal amount of time for his prospects to make their way through the system.  Botterill has done a better job of adding AHL vets to the Amerks than Murray did, but none of Boterill's draft picks have made their way to the Amerks roster yet.

No doubt that Tampa has done a great job drafting post the 1st round, but they are the exception to the rule. And the Maple Leafs prove this.  Mathews, Marner, Nylander, Rielly, Kadri, and Gauthier were all their own 1st round picks.  Tavaras, Andersen, Marleau, Ennis, Kapenen, Hyman, Gardniner, Hainsey, and Muzzin were aquisitions. 

The Leafs have two home-grown, post-1st round players contributing to the team:  Andreas Johnsson (7th round pick) with 36 points and Connor Brown (6th round pick) with 22 points.  The Leafs have no home grown players on the team drafted between the 2nd and 5th rounds in the draft.

Murray's approach to building an NHL roster looks alot like Toronto's.  Aquire 1st round talent, using your own picks or assets to trade for other team's former 1st rounders, or aquire them in FA.

I don't agree with you on the center prospects.  When Murray arrived, the Sabres centerman were Hodgson, Girgensons, and Ott.  The team had no center prospects.  In two seasons, Murray added Eichel, O'Reilly, and Reinhart (who didn't work out), and drafted Asplund.  He was only here only three drafts, so there's not much more he could of done here. 

Murray did trade defense for offense, which hurt the defensive depth, but Bogosian's and Kulikov's injuries also had an impact.  The McNabb trade was dicey.  Murray was trying to build a 'heavy' team up front, like the Kings.  Not really the type of game that Blysma was coaching.  So yeah, bad trade. And bad choice for coach. 

Murray accelerated the salary cap trying to build the top six forwards.  O'Reilly and Kane were worth it.  Okposo and Moulson, who were a product of a soft FA market, weren't worth their hit against the cap.  Again, the strategy wasn't a bad one, but the execution was lacking. 

I don't think Murray's issues were with his talent aquisition.  Again, if O'Reilly and Kane were still on the current roster, the Sabres (and Amerks) are a playoff team.

Murray's issues were really with his coaching choice, and inability to communicate with the rest of the organization.  Botterill might have these same issues.  Both GMs and their coaches seem to struggle with setting a winning tone in the locker room.

 

 

 

Very nice breakdown.  It shows  Murray’s work in a bit of a new light   He is known for neglecting the farm, trading too many assets, overpaying the wrong free agents, and communication issues.  

I struggle with exactly what is meant by the “communication issues” that were charged to Bylsma and Murray. Communication of what to whom? 

Kane, ROR and Lehrer were his biggest moves and all are having career seasons on playoff teams, which of course adds to our pain.  

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21 hours ago, jad1 said:

Depth takes time to develop in the NHL.  The path is rarely draft->AHL->NHL.  Prospects spend time in the juniors, or in their national leagues, or in college before hitting the AHL or NHL.

With that in mind, take a look at the current Murray prospects who are currently on the Amerks roster (who are in first place in their division, tied for second in the league):

  • Borgen
  • Olofsson
  • Smith
  • Cornel
  • Asplund
  • Nylander
  • Johansson (for a few games)

He also drafted Pu and Guhle, who Botterill traded for Skinner and Montour.  It doesn't seem that Murray left the Amerks in shambles, it looks like it took the normal amount of time for his prospects to make their way through the system.  Botterill has done a better job of adding AHL vets to the Amerks than Murray did, but none of Boterill's draft picks have made their way to the Amerks roster yet.

No doubt that Tampa has done a great job drafting post the 1st round, but they are the exception to the rule. And the Maple Leafs prove this.  Mathews, Marner, Nylander, Rielly, Kadri, and Gauthier were all their own 1st round picks.  Tavaras, Andersen, Marleau, Ennis, Kapenen, Hyman, Gardniner, Hainsey, and Muzzin were aquisitions. 

The Leafs have two home-grown, post-1st round players contributing to the team:  Andreas Johnsson (7th round pick) with 36 points and Connor Brown (6th round pick) with 22 points.  The Leafs have no home grown players on the team drafted between the 2nd and 5th rounds in the draft.

Murray's approach to building an NHL roster looks alot like Toronto's.  Aquire 1st round talent, using your own picks or assets to trade for other team's former 1st rounders, or aquire them in FA.

I don't agree with you on the center prospects.  When Murray arrived, the Sabres centerman were Hodgson, Girgensons, and Ott.  The team had no center prospects.  In two seasons, Murray added Eichel, O'Reilly, and Reinhart (who didn't work out), and drafted Asplund.  He was only here only three drafts, so there's not much more he could of done here. 

Murray did trade defense for offense, which hurt the defensive depth, but Bogosian's and Kulikov's injuries also had an impact.  The McNabb trade was dicey.  Murray was trying to build a 'heavy' team up front, like the Kings.  Not really the type of game that Blysma was coaching.  So yeah, bad trade. And bad choice for coach. 

Murray accelerated the salary cap trying to build the top six forwards.  O'Reilly and Kane were worth it.  Okposo and Moulson, who were a product of a soft FA market, weren't worth their hit against the cap.  Again, the strategy wasn't a bad one, but the execution was lacking. 

I don't think Murray's issues were with his talent aquisition.  Again, if O'Reilly and Kane were still on the current roster, the Sabres (and Amerks) are a playoff team.

Murray's issues were really with his coaching choice, and inability to communicate with the rest of the organization.  Botterill might have these same issues.  Both GMs and their coaches seem to struggle with setting a winning tone in the locker room.

 

 

 

I wasn't sure exactly how to respond to this at first but here goes.

1) There is no way in other then fantasy land that we keep Kane, ROR, and get Skinner.  It doesn’t work cap wise or logic wise.  If we had kept both players that means we'd have to eliminate $14.0 mill of players from this team.  We are at 76 mill right now, plus we traded Baloo (2.4) and lost Berglund (3+).  If Jbot had kept Kane he may have still acquired Sheary, but Skinner would have been out of the question because Kane would have been playing top line LW.  In addition the Sheary trade was prior to the Skinner one.  So we eliminate Sobotka, Thompson, Skinner and we might have had to trade Baloo before the season, and release Wilson to get under the cap, or keep Baloo and WIlson and not acquire Sheary and Hunwick.  We also wouldn't likely have Montour now.  Well we've seen that team and it finished last in the NHL.  

2) TM and the draft.  Your list, which simply show players in our system drafted by TM.  How many of these guys have the potential to truly impact this franchise? Besides Eichel and Reinhart, who anyone who reads a website could have drafted, the Sabres have zero other players.  Cornel will never play for the Sabres.  Johansson likely wont as well.  Right now that leaves Asplund, Nylander, Olofsson and Borgen as his 4 remaining legit prospects.  If they all make the NHL and make an impact on the Sabres that will bring his NHL player total on the Sabres to 6 players (or 2 per draft).  Sadly, all these guys project as bottom 6 forwards or as a bottom pair D.  That is a terrible batting average.  GMs in today's game need to be generating 3+ players per draft to build and maintain a franchise.  In addition, during his 3 drafts, TM had 8 1st and 2nd rd picks he didn't waste in trades.  Only two players from those 8 are in the full time NHL players (Jack and Sam) and only Jack and Sam play for the Sabres.   

There is just no way to sugar coat it but TM is among the worst GMs ever to manage an NHL hockey team.  His rebuild strategy stunk.  He trades were bad, were often lopsided the wrong way and often included damaged goods (Kane and Lehner).  His evaluation of pro players, allegedly a strength was terrrible.  His draft record is mediocre at best.  His cap management was awful and his communication skills lacking.  Other then that he was great. 

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21 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

No it isn’t.  The Canes broadcast team has 20 and 24 years of Hockey broadcasting experience both for the Canes and National broadcasting.  Tripp was a pro goaltender.  Just because Raleigh isn’t a big market or traditional hockey market don’t assume that they don’t have a professional broadcasters who know the game.

Tripp is absolutely brutal. Jack Edwards level of bad.

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35 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

I wasn't sure exactly how to respond to this at first but here goes.

1) There is no way in other then fantasy land that we keep Kane, ROR, and get Skinner.  It does work cap wise or logic wise.  If we had kept both players that means we'd have to eliminate $14.0 of players from this team.  We are at 76 mill right now, plus we traded Baloo (2.4) and lost Berglund (3+).  If Jbot had kept Kane he may have still acquired Sheary, but Skinner would have been out of the question because Kane would have been playing top line LW.  In addition the Sheary trade was prior to the Skinner one.  So we eliminate Sobotka, Thompson, Skinner and we might have had to trade Baloo before the season, and release Wilson to get under the cap, or keep Baloo and WIlson and not acquire Sheary and Hunwick.  We also wouldn't likely have Montour now.  Well we've seen that team and it finished last in the NHL.  

2) TM and the draft.  Your list, which simply show players in our system drafted by TM.  How many of these guys have the potential to truly impact this franchise? Besides Eichel and Reinhart, who anyone who reads a website could have drafted, the Sabres have zero other players.  Cornel will never play for the Sabres.  Johansson likely wont as well.  Right now that leaves Asplund, Nylander, Olofsson and Borgen as his 4 remaining legit prospects.  If they all make the NHL and make an impact on the Sabres that will bring his NHL player total on the Sabres to 6 players (or 2 per draft).  Sadly, all these guys project as bottom 6 forwards or as a bottom pair D.  That is a terrible batting average.  GMs in today's game need to be generating 3+ players per draft to build and maintain a franchise.  In addition, during his 3 drafts, TM had 8 1st and 2nd rd picks he didn't waste in trades.  Only two players from those 8 are in the full time NHL players (Jack and Sam) and only Jack and Sam play for the Sabres.   

There is just no way to sugar coat it but TM is among the worst GMs ever to manage a, NHL hockey team.  His rebuild strategy stunk.  He trades were bad, were often lopsided the wrong way and often included damaged goods (Kane and Lehner).  His evaluation of pro players, allegedly a strength was terrrible.  His draft record is mediocre at best.  His cap management was awful and his communication skills lacking.  Other then that he was great. 

You pretty much sunned up what I was gonna say a couple hours ago but I got pulled away for awhile.

I might just add that Murray lacked in another area.....how would that locker room of a sh***y team been able to deal with Pu in their stall?

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One other note:

In Jbot's two years at the draft he has already produced as many full time NHL players at TM.  Dahlin & Mittelstadt vs Jack and Sam.

Jbot also signed Pilut and drafted UPL, Pekar, Laaksonen, Bryson, Samuelsson, Davidsson and Weissbach who are moving rapidly up our prospect list.  UPL and Pekar and maybe Davidsson, Bryson and Weissbach could be on the Amerks as early as next year.  Laaksonen is also one of the fasting rising prospects across the NHL.  

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7 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

One other note:

In Jbot's two years at the draft he has already produced as many full time NHL players at TM.  Dahlin & Mittelstadt vs Jack and Sam.

Jbot also signed Pilut and drafted UPL, Pekar, Laaksonen, Bryson, Samuelsson, Davidsson and Weissbach who are moving rapidly up our prospect list.  UPL and Pekar and maybe Davidsson, Bryson and Weissbach could be on the Amerks as early as next year.  Laaksonen is also one of the fasting rising prospects across the NHL.  

It's funny that when I look at the drafted and think about how I felt when they were drafted,  I feel like everyone of JBotts picks has at least a chance of making the team. Never really felt that good about Murray picks outside of a few.

I think this years draft (1st rd especially) might change that a bit. I don't think we'll fall far enough to get what we want/need. Where we likely fall to the mocks and rankings have a lot of LHD and small C/LW. Might be able to get a Newhook or Turcotte. I'm thinking that we could sell off that highest pick (depending on who's available) and maybe get someone decent to help immediately next year and maybe pick up some extra picks. 

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5 minutes ago, MakeSabresGrr8Again said:

It's funny that when I look at the drafted and think about how I felt when they were drafted,  I feel like everyone of JBotts picks has at least a chance of making the team. Never really felt that good about Murray picks outside of a few.

I think this years draft (1st rd especially) might change that a bit. I don't think we'll fall far enough to get what we want/need. Where we likely fall to the mocks and rankings have a lot of LHD and small C/LW. Might be able to get a Newhook or Turcotte. I'm thinking that we could sell off that highest pick (depending on who's available) and maybe get someone decent to help immediately next year and maybe pick up some extra picks. 

The biggest issue with moving out of our pick is he lack of any real high end talent upfront in the AHL or coming to the pros.  Our top forward prospects are Olofsson (a 23 year old AHL rookie), Asplund, Nylander and probably Davidsson.  None really project as top 6 players as illustrated in the recent chart in the prospects thread.  We really need a young scoring forward and my hope is that we get one this year in the draft.

Defense is where our quality prospect depth is now.  Pilut, Borgen, Dougherty are in the AHL.  Samuelsson and Laaksonen will be in the AHL in the next year or two.

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4 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

The biggest issue with moving out of our pick is he lack of any real high end talent upfront in the AHL or coming to the pros.  Our top forward prospects are Olofsson (a 23 year old AHL rookie), Asplund, Nylander and probably Davidsson.  None really project as top 6 players as illustrated in the recent chart in the prospects thread.  We really need a young scoring forward and my hope is that we get one this year in the draft.

Defense is where our quality prospect depth is now.  Pilut, Borgen, Dougherty are in the AHL.  Samuelsson and Laaksonen will be in the AHL in the next year or two.

I agree, there just isn't too much to be excited about if we end up in the 8-13 range. Looks like you either have to hope that someone falls enough or you might have to over-draft a player. My thought is that trading the pick might be a better option this draft. Maybe we can work out a deal with Anaheim....they get to move up and we get another player from them, either a roster player or prospect such as Benoit Olivier Groulx.

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48 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

The biggest issue with moving out of our pick is he lack of any real high end talent upfront in the AHL or coming to the pros.  Our top forward prospects are Olofsson (a 23 year old AHL rookie), Asplund, Nylander and probably Davidsson.  None really project as top 6 players as illustrated in the recent chart in the prospects thread.  We really need a young scoring forward and my hope is that we get one this year in the draft.

Defense is where our quality prospect depth is now.  Pilut, Borgen, Dougherty are in the AHL.  Samuelsson and Laaksonen will be in the AHL in the next year or two.

Assuming we keep both picks, are we in a place where both should be used on talented forwards?

We have role players (Smith, Pekar, Asplund, Davidsson) and defensive depth ( Pilut, Samuelsson, Laaksonen) looking promising in the system, as well as a starting goalie. Our top scorers (Nylander, Olofsson) look like longshots to even make it, let alone put up 25 in the NHL.

Or does the presence of Casey and Tage mean we are OK to pick BPA?

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47 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Assuming we keep both picks, are we in a place where both should be used on talented forwards?

We have role players (Smith, Pekar, Asplund, Davidsson) and defensive depth ( Pilut, Samuelsson, Laaksonen) looking promising in the system, as well as a starting goalie. Our top scorers (Nylander, Olofsson) look like longshots to even make it, let alone put up 25 in the NHL.

Or does the presence of Casey and Tage mean we are OK to pick BPA?

Besides Skinner, the only pure goal scorer in our system is Olofsson.  He’ll be 24 next season. We are desperate for scorers.  ImHO with our two 1st rd picks I ‘d like to see one center and one pure scorer.  Also depending on how late our other 1st is, I might even consider moving down to the early second for the cost of a 2nd 2nd rd pick to pick up another forward prospect and a D.

Boldy, Cozens, Krebs and Lavoie all look interesting.  

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53 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Assuming we keep both picks, are we in a place where both should be used on talented forwards?

We have role players (Smith, Pekar, Asplund, Davidsson) and defensive depth ( Pilut, Samuelsson, Laaksonen) looking promising in the system, as well as a starting goalie. Our top scorers (Nylander, Olofsson) look like longshots to even make it, let alone put up 25 in the NHL.

Or does the presence of Casey and Tage mean we are OK to pick BPA?

Mittelstadt WILL be a true 2C.  Wouldn't put any money on Thompson being a good top 6 winger though he could turn into 1.

Would still prefer that 1st pick to be used on a guy that projects top 6, but not if it means reaching.

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This team will get better. They're still young and some of these kids are in their first full season in the NHL. They tend to burn out the last quarter.

I wish Tage could become Dave Andreychuck. He has the size not the muscle yet. But his long reach should give him an advantage in front if he can take and dish out the beatings. Right now he doesn't dish it out much, and doesn't get in there and get dirty

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6 hours ago, ddaryl said:

This team will get better. They're still young and some of these kids are in their first full season in the NHL. They tend to burn out the last quarter.

I wish Tage could become Dave Andreychuck. He has the size not the muscle yet. But his long reach should give him an advantage in front if he can take and dish out the beatings. Right now he doesn't dish it out much, and doesn't get in there and get dirty

He needs to learn to do exactly that or he’ll never reach his potential.

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