nfreeman

He must've told them he was going to UFA, and they've learned their lesson from the Gaudreau debacle. That stinks for Calgary fans.

Comrie and Olofsson.

This is obnoxious.

Well, you might not like the NBA, but it is an enormously successful league -- much more popular and profitable than the NHL -- where everyone involved is making huge amounts of money. And calling the owners "fools" is simply denying reality, as revenues and franchise values have skyrocketed. The NBA's demise isn't coming anytime soon, and if it does arrive, it's highly likely to be well after the NHL's. The bolded is obnoxious. As for your views on morality, the NBA is no more or less morally corrupt than any other sports league. Has the NHL done anything about the molestation scandal in Chicago or the concussion issue? Has the NFL done anything about its concussion issue or reduced life expectancy among its players?

But Krebs scored a lot in juniors — 60 pts in 38 games in his last junior season, and 68 pts in 64 games the prior season.

I think Cozens will get the 2nd most ES minutes out of the centers, will put up about 46 pts and will usually play with KO, assuming KO still has gas in the tank (as he did last year). LW on that line could be a revolving door and could be situational — Krebs, VO, JJP, Zemgus and Asplund are all candidates.

Now you’ve done it @PerreaultForever — he’s mad at you! I do recall looking overmatched against TB though — but they were the 2-time defending champs! They should’ve been much better and they were. But we’ll be better next year and they’ll be a bit worse.

I thought Krebs was also excellent at carrying it up the ice and driving it to the net. It might not happen this year, but the finish will come.

I would be pretty surprised if this were to happen. I haven't been a fan of Mitts', but trading him now would be selling him when his value is quite low. It just seems much more prudent, and likely, to get him in the lineup and producing regularly so DG and KA can see what they have in him when he's healthy and in a non-dysfunctional situation. I suppose they could've decided that they've seen enough from Mitts and they are pretty confident that he's going to wash out, but this just doesn't seem likely.

I will be pretty surprised if Joker isn't Power's partner or isn't in the top 4 if the top 4 pairings are jumbled. I think the organization likes Joker quite a bit and that they brought in Boosh to solidify what would've been a shaky Bryson-Fitzie 3rd pair -- not because they thought Boosh would compete with Joker for a 2nd pairing slot. I also think Bryson probably has more leash than just this year, although I agree that he could play himself off the roster if he's lousy.

Does anyone know what the "prospects" threshold is? Is it the same as the NHL "rookie" definition? I'm wondering who we're going to see from Ottawa and NJ, each of whom have a bunch of good young players who might be too experienced at this point to be considered prospects.

Yes -- I was also thinking there is likely a psychological coaching component at work here. But I also think that Peca wouldn't say that about someone who he didn't think had the potential to be a really effective scorer.

I will be pretty surprised if a cap move delivers to the Sabres a F who is good enough for KA to want to take ice time away from the guys in their projected top 12 -- i.e. I think KA would only bring in a F -- in a cap move or any other kind of transaction -- who was an undeniable, extremely compelling player. I think if it happens, it's much more likely to deliver a Dman to the Sabres than a F.

Because JJP is much faster and more powerful than Kucherov, of course.

Well, my lineups came from dailyfaceoff.com, so your beef is with them, not me. As for Sanderson, he could be a difference-maker next season, or he could have the impact more typical of a rookie offensive defenseman who has never played in the NHL and who is coming off of 2 semi-serious injuries (hand surgery and shoulder). I don't think it's prudent to pencil him in as a Cale Makar clone right out of the gate. I agree that the 2nd bolded is a major question, and I too have been skeptical of how meaningful their garbage-time performance was. However, I think they absolutely were a much better team in the last 1/3 of the season than in the 1st 2/3, perhaps mostly because of health but also because of maturity, moving on from Eichel, etc. The playoff-level record they put up in that last 1/3 was likely overstated due to not getting their opponents' A games most nights, but they were still greatly improved IMHO. If the team we saw in the last 1/3 of the season was the real Sabres (a huge if, to be sure), then I don't think the 1st bolded in your post above is a correct assumption, because I think that Sabres team was materially better than the Senators and the Red Wings. The other 2 teams narrowed that gap with their offseason additions, but the Sabres also made some potentially important additions (starting G, starting, physical D, 2 scoring Fs). If the Sabres' additions deliver -- also a huge if -- then I think they will be able to maintain their separation from Ottawa and Detroit. One semi-related point on this: I think Ottawa's franchise is likely to benefit from its new ownership and Detroit's is likely to benefit from its new leadership in Stevie Y. So although I think the Sabres are likely to be better than those 2 teams this year, over the long term, I doubt those 2 will remain doormats.

From the Athletic’s wrap-up article on the camp: 4. Coaches couldn’t stop gushing about J.J. Peterka, who had a breakout season in the AHL last year. A second-round pick in 2020, Peterka has exciting skill and a scorer’s mentality on the ice. Rochester assistant Michael Peca worked closely with him last season and was blown away by his progress. “I still view him as a unicorn,” Peca said. “I can’t find anybody I played with or against, even in today’s game, that resembles the type of player he can become. “He has no idea how good he can be, which is scary. It’s the blend of the power and speed and the skill set with his hands and his shot and his ability to play in a physical game. He can play in any environment, and he can dominate in any environment.”

Ottawa projected top 9 forwards/top 4 😧 Brady Tkachuk - Josh Norris - Drake Batherson Alex DeBrincat - Tim Stützle - Claude Giroux Alex Formenton - Shane Pinto -Mathieu Joseph Thomas Chabot - Travis Hamonic Erik Brannstrom - Artem Zub Detroit projected top 9 forwards/top 4: Lucas Raymond - Dylan Larkin - Tyler Bertuzzi Jakub Vrana - Andrew Copp - David Perron Dominik Kubalik - Pius Suter - Filip Zadina Ben Chiarot - Moritz Seider Olli Maatta - Filip Hronek Sabres projected top 9 forwards/top 4: Skinner - TT - Tuch Krebs-Cozens-KO VO-Mitts-Quinn Mule-Dahlin Power-Joker Ottawa's top 6 looks good, but has 3 young guys that need to replicate and build on their early-career success and a fourth, in Giroux, who may be out of gas. IMHO It's pretty likely that the Sabres' top 9 will be about as productive as Ottawa's, and more productive than Detroit's. And the Sabres' top 4 D look better than Ottawa's, and Detroit's for that matter.

I just meant that the thread is about which of the 3 teams is the best team right now -- and if that is the question, then we need to consider the teams' entire rosters, not just the offseason additions. You are of course correct that the offseason additions will be on the opening night rosters, but your posts in this thread seem to focus solely on the offseason additions, and not on the entire rosters.

@PerreaultForever— But if the question is which team is better right now, doesn’t it make sense to focus on the expected opening night rosters, and not just on the summer additions? if the last 2 months of the Sabres’ season weren’t a garbage-time mirage, and if either Comrie or UPL is up to the job, I think the Sabres are the best of the 3. But those are 2 large ifs.

Indeed, but Crosby is still one of the best players in the league, and Pitt is still a playoff team, and once you get in the playoffs, anything can happen. Dominik was 36 when he forced the Sabres to trade him to Detroit. The Sabres had no choice at that point, but if Dom had been willing to stay, wouldn't the Sabres have been better off keeping him and extending that era, in which they made it to the conf. finals, the finals and the 2nd round (and were 30 seconds away from another conf. finals that year)? I also think there's a legit argument to be made that trading an all-timer like Crosby in a bloodless, machiavellian manner is bad for business.

You have got to be kidding me.

Quinn, JJP and Kulich are going to be good NHL players.

Levi and UPL are going to guard the wall like Jon Snow and Tormund Giantsbane.

I’m just referring to his quote at the draft when asked about his plans for the season — he said he was planning only on the NHL (which was kinda awesome).

Koolie's plans for this season do not include the AHL.