nfreeman

I'd also note that including Johnson and/or Portillo in any trade isn't really meaningful unless Dallas knows at the time of the trade that the player will sign with them, which is pretty unlikely. In any event, I'd guess that there is less than a 5% chance that Dallas trades him. He's young, under their control and turning into a star. Trading him would be a really dumb move.

I generally agree with this in the abstract, but I think that culture and attitude are extremely important to KA. Unless he's had sufficient personal experience with Robertson to be very comfortable that his motor/attitude/esprit de corps fit what KA is looking for, I do not think KA would pay a high price for Robertson (or for any player, for that matter). KA has zero interest in bringing in another Evander Kane or rhymes-with-Shmeikel.

Fair point, but if that were the only obstacle, KA would probably retain salary and/or take on a cap dump from Dallas in the deal.

I agree with both of these -- Robertson almost certainly wants a fat long-term contract, which KA isn't going to give to an outsider at this point, and KA also isn't going to give up the crown jewels of his rebuild, i.e. Quinn, Peterka, Power, Rosen, Savoie, Kulich, Östlund, Krebs, Tuch, TT, etc. I also think Cozens is NFW for this deal. I could see KA giving Robertson a good bridge deal and giving up Mittlestadt, VO and a top-3 protected #1 though, but I don't think that would get it done.

Awesome, but aren’t your feet hot? Let the dogs out!

Ted Darling wasn't RJ but he was pretty darn good IMHO. "He shoots, he scores!" "And a souvenir for a lovely young fan from Lackawanna." Yes -- that is what I meant. I too would rather have it for all of the games, but how many games are we talking about? 7 or 8? One or more of which may be on national TV anyway? I get that it seems like penny-pinching, but it doesn't seem like that big of a deal.

I think this is good news. I think most teams' broadcasters did not travel on road trips for the past 2 seasons due to Covid, and I'd guess that most (but probably not all) are resuming travel this season. Separately, I know many here don't like Dunleavy, but he's kinda grown on me, and having to call road games from the studio was a pretty substantial handicap for him IMHO.

Is anyone outside WNY and DC able to see this game? I am not able to get it on my laptop.

That was maybe the worst arena I’ve ever seen a game in.

Yes. This is a major loss — close to as big a loss as Tre White was IMHO.

I agree, and I think it’s worth repeating that KO had the fourth most ice time among forwards last year. I don’t think he will fall below fifth or sixth this year. I expect him to be on a line with Cozens or maybe Middlestadt, and ahead of Quinn and JJP in the rotation.

It just seems impossible that they would put a rookie on the top line. Having said that, I'd be counting the minutes until opening night if DG were to announce that lineup and that JJP and Quinn have earned those spots.

Shots fired in Calgary:

My 2 cents: - I do not for a second believe that KA has intentionally constructed this roster to "soft tank" or otherwise have a lousy season in order to produce another high draft pick. That would completely conflict with his goal of developing a winning culture. - I think he absolutely believes that there is a good likelihood that Comrie/Anderson/UPL will deliver capable goaltending, and that the other goalies who were available to the Sabres last summer didn't provide a likelihood of capable goaltending that was sufficiently better than the path he chose as to justify the price it would've cost. - It may nevertheless be the case that his expectations, which he hasn't revealed to the public, do not include playoffs this season, as he may think that outcome is unrealistic given the youth of his team, unproven goaltending, competition in the conference, etc. In fact some of his comments in his presser yesterday were consistent with this perspective -- i.e. he talked about not targeting a certain outcome for the season as much as improving every day, etc.

Y’know, I’ve always found PA to be fairly scrutable. Maybe it’s just me.

This is obnoxious.

I think it’s fair to say JB improved the organization in some respects, but not overall. None of the roster, its results on the ice, the FO, the coaching staff, the scouting staff or the team’s reputation were any better when he left than when he arrived. Some of those elements were undoubtedly worse. And while he did add a number of quality pieces, many of those, e.g. Dahlin, Cozens and TT were available due to his poor performance as GM. Overall he gets a D.

I like it, not so much due to being convinced that KA is the right guy -- I think he is but until they start making playoff runs consistently I can't be sure -- but because it makes a statement about KA and the franchise, both internally and to the rest of the NHL. The statement is that ownership believes in KA and the direction of the franchise, and he's backing that belief with (presumably) significant cash, and as a result the franchise is going to be stable, professional and on an upward track. Now KA just needs to make it so.

I'll say it: if they get good goaltending out of Comrie, Anderson and UPL, and if TT stays healthy, they are going to get 95+ points and make the playoffs.

That is fantastic news about Dane Jackson. What a scary looking play that was. And holy mackerel the Bills are awesome. Also, here's a little something for the other old guys:

Those Miami WRs will be very tough to defend without Jackson and Hyde (and Tre of course) if both are out. They'll need another excellent pass rush effort. OTOH, the O looks unstoppable.

This occurred to me too as I was watching some of the prospects games -- that building was sold out with enthusiastic fans who are pretty psyched about this team -- after no playoffs for 11 years and one bozo after another at GM and coach! If they get off to a good start this year, the arena will come to life.