nfreeman

I agree with most of this, but I think the goalie position is a bit different (as it is in many other respects). There is only one starting goalie slot, while there are at least 9 high-usage forward slots and at least 4 high-usage D slots. A good NCAA forward or defenseman weighing his NHL options knows he has many more possibilities to force his way into a lineup than a goalie does. So while I agree with you that an NCAA player will be attracted to a strong, professionally run, winning franchise, I also think that factor will be less important, and an open slot will be more important, for a goalie than for a F or a D. It's also worth noting that an NCAA player who can become a UFA may be able to choose among multiple strong franchises -- i.e. not just between a strong franchise and a lousy one -- and in that situation an open slot would probably play a bigger role in the decision. Wouldn't Portillo be more inclined towards, say, Washington than towards Florida?

The bolded is fair. As for the last couple of renovations, I thought these were mostly about seating/amenities, and not structural improvements -- i.e. they installed bathrooms at the top of the upper deck, added club seats and boxes, etc. FWIW, wikipedia says this about the most recent reno:

You're right, of course, that nothing lasts forever. But that doesn't mean that structural deterioration is the driver behind the new stadium. BTW, the Sullivans was put into service in 1943, i.e. 30 years before the Ralph. And the Aud opened in 1940 and closed in 1996. The Montreal Forum opened in 1924 and closed in 1996. The Alouettes' stadium opened in 1914 and is still in use. Camp Nou, where FC Barcelona plays, opened in 1957. Could the upper deck not simply be reinforced without tearing it down and rebuilding it? What is this based on?

I too am pretty skeptical about structural issues at the Ralph being a driver of the decision to build a new stadium. The new stadium is all about extracting more revenue from Bills fans. While I don't doubt that the upper deck needed (or will need in the near to medium term) repairs/reinforcements, I would also guess that those could've been accomplished for less than 10% of the cost of the new stadium.

I'll see those crappy Vegas #s and raise you these: Vegas -- 29 games with Eichel -- 13-14-2 Vegas -- 29 games immediately before Eichel joined the lineup: 17-9-3 I'll say it: it seems quite possible that there is something about Eichel's game, or something about his personality, or both, that brings his teammates down.

We need the Kings to beat Anaheim tonight. EDIT: and how about Lindy helping out the Sabres by beating Vegas last night!

Eichel is a better passer and playmaker, and better carrying the puck at speed. TT has a better slapper and wrister and FWIW is better in the shootout. TT is almost certainly a better team guy. Eichel may or may not be faster than TT. TT’s long stride makes him deceptively quite fast. When Eichel was at his pre-Covid peak he was a freaking monster. TT hasn’t shown that level yet and probably doesn’t have it in him (because very few do). OTOH, Eichel only showed it for 10%-15% of his career and may or may not get it back.

I think you're right that if KA brings in a star goalie on, say, a 5-year deal, that would affect Levi's and Portillo's willingness to sign -- but I think it's pretty unlikely that KA would do so. A 3-year deal for a non-star goalie, which I think is much more likely, shouldn't affect their decisions.

I listened to the KA interview yesterday. Good stuff, and I'll note that he touched on a bunch of topics in addition to Portillo and Johnson. As for those 2, my takeaway is: - Neither of them has told the Sabres that he isn't interested in joining the Sabres. - Neither of them has committed to signing with the Sabres either though. - KA wants them in the organization and knows he will have to sell them on joining because they have UFA as an option. - KA is being smart about selling them on the Sabres by staying in touch with them, being positive and supportive, not pressuring them and having current Sabres like Dahlin and Power (and maybe someone else -- I don't recall whom) contact them. (KA mentioned that Dahlin's and Portillo's families know each other from youth hockey in Sweden.) - Johnson and Portillo, for their part, are being respectful as well but are also keeping their options open and will no doubt be following the Sabres next season to see whether the team continues to improve and the organization continues to climb towards respectability. Overall, the interview made me a bit more optimistic about the Sabres' chances of signing them, although I think I'd still be surprised if they sign both of them.

If Samuelsson plays, I think the Sabres will bounce back with a nice W. If not, it will depend on how hard Philly is running for the bus. Oh, and I hate the Flyers.

Fair question. I don’t recall who they were (I know you posted on this recently and I think Fitz was one, but don’t recall the others), but my recollection is that none of them was as good a prospect as Portillo or Johnson — and the one that was as good, Peterson, is the one that bailed on them. Both Johnson and Portillo, if they have good seasons next year, will have many suitors — more than the guys who signed with the Sabres had. EDIT: I found your prior post -- it looks like the Sabres' prospects you were referring to were Fitz, Weissbach, Borgen, Sean Malone and Peterson. YMMV, but I think Portillo, Johnson and Peterson are/were better prospects than Fitz, Weissbach, Borgen and Malone.

I hate to say it, but since he hasn’t turned pro yet, he’s probably not going to do so this year, and if he doesn’t do so this year, he’s probably going to UFA.

Two good posts here, and I think you’re both right — it’s quite possible that Portillo does not have much value to the Sabres at this point, as they may have decided that he’s probably going to bail, so including him as a throw-in in a trade makes sense. On the other hand, he would only have value to an acquiring team that thinks it has a reasonable chance of signing him, which does probably eliminate teams like Winnipeg. Playing it out a bit further, I think unfortunately this means that it’s pretty unlikely that the Sabres will get any value out of Portillo at all, unless he decides to sign with the Sabres next summer, which as I’ve said previously also seems pretty unlikely. A team that thinks it has a good shot at signing him would probably just wait until he’s a free agent instead of giving up assets to the Sabres for him.

I'd love to get Hellebucyk, but if Vegas misses the playoffs, you're talking the #15 pick or so plus other sweeteners for 2 years -- that seems like a pretty steep price.

But my point is that it's reasonably likely that his plan is to have his undergrad business degree by next May or perhaps next August -- not some undetermined future point after a number of years of offseason study. For that matter, he may have decided that it will be pretty difficult to get the degree if he turns pro first, which could be a driver of his decision to get the degree first.

My reading of your posts is that you are asserting it's impossible for Portillo to attain a business degree by staying at UM one more year (and that, since it's impossible, the theory that getting the degree is one of his reasons for returning to school must be BS).

Kuemper turns 32 next month. He’s going to be looking for a 5-6 year deal. KA isn’t going to offer that kind of contract.

I think I would throw a huge offer -- maybe $10MM per year -- at MAF for 2 years. He is exactly what they need, they have a ton of cap space and a check like that might get him in the door. He turns 38 in November and his expiring contract is at $7MM per year, btw.

The NHL wouldn't be changing the college rules. The NHL would be changing its own rules about how long an NHL team keeps the rights to a player drafted drafted by that team. You are unfortunately not the only one who does this, but I will also point out that the "lol" here is pretty much the same thing as "Ha ha! What a dumb thing you said!" It's pretty obnoxious and not in keeping with friendly hockey talk.

I don’t think that ever happened. The lion doesn’t concern himself with the actions of the ants. And a craw is stuck in, not chafed.

He’ll be 22 in September and, in a few weeks, will have finished 2 academic years at UM. This time next year it will be 3 academic years. It’s quite possible he brought transfer credits with him to Michigan from Sweden, or that he’s been taking classes over the summer and will do so this summer and next. Elon Musk, Steve Ballmer and Steve Jobs didn’t get MBAs. You could certainly be right that the whole education thing is a pretext, but you keep asserting that it’s impossible, and those assertions are simply wrong.

You keep saying this, and in a fairly caustic manner. Did he say he wants a graduate degree? UM has a pretty well regarded undergraduate business degree as well. It’s quite possible this is what he’s targeting to achieve next year, and it’s eminently feasible.

That depends on whether you think, as I do, that Roy was one of the most gutless Sabres to ever wear the uniform.

Well, if it really is the degree, leaving school in early April isn’t going to help secure it. It would indeed be great if KA were able to finesse this. It just seems pretty unlikely. How often has a drafted, very good NCAA player who stayed in college long enough to become a UFA signed with the team that drafted him instead of waiting a couple of months to become a UFA? I’m sure it’s happened, but it’s probably pretty uncommon.

Leaving aside the vituperative and vindictive nature of wishing failure on a young person, has he said this?