dudacek

Here’s a question: Does Johnny Boychuk’s contract have any value as a tool a team can use to create extra space by moving him to LTIR like the Lightning have with Seabrook? And, if so, why the heck did Lou trade him to us?

I have concerns that there is so little wiggle room that a lot of the deadline activity were used to. Are teams going to pay the added cost of laundering a contract? If you have barely any space, are you going to use it on Colin Miller? Who can afford to squeeze even a Cody Eakin under the cap? Maybe a lot of teams will conclude they aren’t paying a premium.

I’ve chewed on it enough to conclude that Adams would be derelict not to take advantage if the market and the Pegulas allow.

I really like what I’ve seen of Tuch but he comes across to me as more of a corporal personality than a captain.

If there is a burning desire to get a captain in place as soon as possible, a guy they anoint and say 'you lead', then that makes sense. I don't know if that is the case. Especially after Jack. I think they want a guy to evolve into the captain's role organically I would not be surprised if they run with the same scenario they have now until Grigs and KO's contracts run out so they can see how the Power/Quinn/Krebs/Peterka/Samuelsson/Cozens dynamic starts to come together behind the Mitts/thompson/Tuch/Dahlin/Jokiharju group and who steps up into the role.

We see soundbites and on-ice stuff that appeal to us, but we don't have any idea how the room actually works. My dark horse based on the way Donnie talks about him is Casey Mittelstadt. He paints him with a real Drury vibe: a burning desire to be better than the guy opposite him, a sourness about losing, and a magnetism that draws in the younger guys. Quite surprising to hear actually, given the way Casey is generally perceived and portrayed here. I think the team wants it to happen organically, and that would give Dahlin, Mitts and Thompson the inside track, although Tuch certainly has time to push his way to the front of that line.

Power?

I’m sorta resigned to Bjork as the 13th forward next year, simply because he’s under contract. Personally, I’d rather have Hayden because he’s tougher, Caggiula because he’s peskier or Hinostroza because he’s better. But they don’t have contracts and I’ll settle for one JAG over five.

My suspicion right now is it’s mostly marketing; the Sabres have hopes they can sell Eakin at the deadline on his Vegas/Dallas rep. Also, given the fact Mitts has been out all year and Krebs has been unavailable, he really has been one of the 4 best centres at Donnie’s disposal most nights.

Unfortunately, the same could be said for Pysyk.

Not really interested in Debrusk per se, but a player of his age and contract status that fits long-term like Tuch, sure. Also, more than happy to take on a guy one year away from UFA as a cap dump who can fill a role next year like Hagg did this year. Payment to take a Hagg on a bad salary, or I’ll pay you for a discount better player.

Free agency would be the last thing I would like to see done with this cap space.

Other journalists and people who like hold journalists accountable do.

In announcing the hiring of Patrick Allvin as his new Canucks GM, Jim Rutherford dropped a nugget about the troubling reality of being out of the playoffs and hard up against the cap. I listened to Vancouver radio today spend a lot of time on what a team like Vancouver could do to fix that (sell overpaid players at discount prices, or pay other teams to take bad players). Then they went on to talk about how hard that is with Cap space at such a premium around the league. I have watched the pains Kevyn Adams has taken to put the Sabres in the best possible place in terms of cap space and have been patiently waiting to see if, and how, he will take advantage of it. 15 NHL teams are too tight against the cap right now to add even 1 minimum wage player and 5 others are close enough that they don't really have much flexibility. The majority of those are using LTIR to comply. The cap isn't going to grow next year. Loading up for a playoff run at the deadline for a Vegas or Tampa or St. Louis, or tearing down in order to launch a rebuild next year for a Philly or Vancouver or Montreal will require finding a partner willing to sell you some space. The Sabres, with $12.6 million in cap space right now and only 11 NHLers under contract for next year are in the best position of any team in the league to take advantage. They aren't alone. Arizona, Columbus and Detroit have certainly put themselves in a similar position and 6 other teams could play that game if they are so inclined. I need to see Adams take advantage of this opportunity and add some picks for other teams junk, or a helpful player that another team can no longer afford at a discount price, or anything at all for laundering another team's big trade. Otherwise, it's an opportunity wasted. What do you think he will, or should, do? https://www.capfriendly.com/

Hope the means Robson gets an appearance. Has a team ever gone 7 goalies deep into their depth chart?

From a logical armchair perspective you are absolutely correct. On the ice, it has been, and will be a different story. I believe Levi is better than, and more highly regarded by Hockey Canada than, conventional wisdom and the hockey Internet would have you believe.

Here's the thing for me: This isn't a case of a more talented kid having to sit behind a less-talented vet because he's not quite ready yet. It's not Hinostroza over Peterka or Quinn. Levi is already head and shoulders above the other 2 guys. He's a better player now. Distant observers don't know that yet, but Hockey Canada does.

It was dirty, but not nasty if you get the distinction, and deserved 2 minutes for interference. Had Hagg done the same thing and Batherson hopped right back up we wouldn't be talking about it. But the NHL seems to care more about the outcome and the optics of a play than the play itself.

Marty said Levi isn't going there to watch and learn.

Follow the Amerks. Not as interesting at the moment due to injuries and call-ups, but they have been entertaining and good for my hopium supply this year.

Did people catch Adams interview on the Levi/Power Team Canada news? All but confirmed without confirming that Power is coming here as soon as Michigan is done.

Just coming to post this. Just in case somebody unplugged @Brawndo 😜 Marty also expects Devon to get the crease for Canada. This excites me way more than it should.

This i am in full agreement with. Ideally, a right-handed Samuelsson clone. Check how well Mule's skillset matches those defensive skills I listed.

I think the first is covered under "winning loose puck battles" (the fact that it doesn't matter whether you do it with brains, quickness or strength is exactly what I'm getting at) Take Rasmus Dahlin for example. While he needs to improve his strength on the puck, he isn't awful at it, and I see him steadily improving in his battle skills. this season, he wins as many as he loses. But he is also very good at getting to pucks first because of his skating and his reads and often outright beats his man as a result in the way you describe. Some see him get worked physically, remember the times he got worked in the past and say "he sucks defensively" I see a guy winning 1/2 of his loose puck battles with his skill and 1/4 of them with his strength and say a 75 per cent success rate is pretty damn good. I include this under "identifying your check" (call it positioning, or playing the system if you'd rather). To continue with Dahlin, I see a guy who does struggle in this area, chasing when should stay at home, or getting caught in no man's land. i think he's improved in this part of the game, but he still has a long way to go. So when people say "he sucks defensively" but they really mean he sucks at identifying his coverage, I totally get that. Saying he sucks defensively overall, however, I think is flat out wrong. It ignores how good he is at the skills @mjd1001 is talking about.

I wish people would be more specific when they talk about defensive skills. I get a sense that sometimes people are laser-focused on one or two attributes while overlooking the wide range of skills that constitute “defence” To me, defensive skills include: Identifying your check Tying up your check Clearing the front of the net Eliminating/blocking passing/shooting lanes Forcing attackers wide Forcing turnovers Winning loose puck battles Evading the forecheck Safely moving the puck out of danger Launching an effective zone exit and probably more. It feels like people like to sum defence up as being “tougher” or “more mobile” when those are tools to augment the above skill set, not prerequisites.