nfreeman

I too found that remark by DDB interesting. I suppose one reason we haven't seen much of it is that Kaner's centers have usually been Larsson and Zemgus -- who aren't the playmakers that Eichel and Reino are. I watched it and I agree -- he is definitely cutting Hammy off in a way that he didn't do to the other guy. Interesting.

Respectfully: NFW. It is crazy, IMHO, to commit to any goalie for longer than 3 years, especially well before his contract status requires you to do so.

I think this has been settled -- the Sabres can only call him up from juniors due to an emergency rash of injuries.

I noticed that too. The HNIC production is consistently excellent.

Yes indeedly!

Here's something else on Lehner: it's fair, IMHO, to attribute some of the Sabres' PK deficiencies to him -- I think there's more than a little truth to the axiom that your best penalty-killer has to be your goalie. Lehner ranks 21st in PK SV% and has surrendered the 6th-most PPGs. However, it's fair to note that Carey Price's PK #s are worse than Lehner's -- Price has surrendered the most PPGs in the NHL and is 25th in PK SV%. Price is 9th in overall SV%; Lehner is now 4th.

One Kane item from that interview with GMTM that I thought was interesting was GMTM's statement to the effect that they are continuing to work with Kaner regarding off-ice behavior. We'll probably never find out, but I'd love to know what he meant by that.

Good stuff here, matter, but it's time to set up an avatar.

Speaking of Ennis -- since Zemgus is still out, why not try him at center between Gio and Foligno?

If Franson is out for 2-3 weeks as has been reported -- no one is going to give up a #2 for him.

This is some high-quality hockey talk here boys.

If another team had McCabe, would you trade Kane for McCabe? (The correct answer is "hell no").

I thought Evander evinced the most happiness tonight I've seen all season. I really hope they sign him to an extension early this summer. Kadri is kind of a poor man's Marchand. Very hate-able. (Although to be fair I thought his hit on Gio was clean -- but not his crash into Lehner). Lehner was terrific. Pretty sound game by the D as a group. Now they need to keep it going tomorrow night vs Miller.

Good man. Don Edwards was one of my favorite players as a kid. Me too.

Hang in there friend.

At this point, the freezer is my only hope. Well, we've known them for a number of years now -- so it's quite possible they've had enough of me. They're Italian -- it's pretty good Italian food (meatballs, chicken marsala, fettucine alfredo, etc.)

My family and I were invited earlier this week to come over for dinner tonight to the home of old friends of ours. We enjoy their company and are looking forward to the evening -- but yesterday, the wife told my wife that the menu was going to consist of leftovers from their Super Bowl party -- so pretty close to 6-day old food. This is a pretty unusual situation. The husband is pretty educated about wine, so that part of the meal will be very good, but there's a real possibility that I'll be spending the rest of the weekend in the bathroom. We'll see.

I will be very surprised if DDB is canned before the end of the season, but I think if they really fall off the table then it could happen this summer. What is the bolded based on? Their improvement over last season is nonexistent-to-marginal, based on wins and losses.

I'm not too happy with DDB either, but to be fair, I don't think Pittsburgh lost any good players due to them not liking his system.

I thought it was Kaner and Gionta, and I agree that it was the best he's looked -- and moreover, that stretch is what convinced me to join your "Reino needs to play center" movement.

I don't think Vegas will take Ennis. Too much money for too little production. Now, depending on Vegas' budget for the next couple of years, I could see them taking Moulson -- if they need to get to the cap floor, Moulson's cap hit is I believe around $2MM higher per year than his actual cash cost, so he would add value in that way, as well as perhaps 12-15 goals if he were to get a featured offensive role.

To be clear: I am very far from coming to any conclusions about Nylander in the long term. My point is simply that it would be crazy to assume that Nylander would fill the putative void, either next year or the following year, that would be created by trading Kane.

I don't agree at all and I will be surprised if Ennis is protected. I think GMTM will be very happy if Vegas takes Ennis or Moulson.

No -- to be the #4 forward, score 25+ goals per year, play in all situations and send bodies flying on the regular. Good post. I don't think it's prudent to assume World Juniors is a better predictor of NHL play than AHL play is. Plenty of junior stars have washed out in the NHL. Put another way: how many guys who were 10-goals-or-less guys in the AHL turned into 25+ goal guys in the NHL? This isn't fantasy hockey. No one with functioning eyesight can seriously compare Stafford -- who routinely disappeared for months at a time -- with Kane -- who is a dangerous presence on every shift.

Robvy and WC: what if Kaner is willing to sign an extension for $5.75MM x 6 years?