dudacek

Matthew Boldy is an excellent prospect Id love to have in the organization. Very Jack Quinn-ish.

I think Zegras is probably a better player than Power and will have a better career. I think he definitely fills a greater need for an Eichel-less, Reino-less Sabres.

As confident as I am the Sam could garner a top 10 pick in value, there is no way he’s getting the equivalent of two top 10 picks in 8 and Turcotte. Turcotte’s star has fallen a bit, but not that much.

Not sure whether Friedman’s report is good news or not? Not that there has been anything confirmed, but the internet seems to think 3OA and Comtois were offered. If Anaheim has bowed out and it is down to Minnesota and the Rangers, can we assume the leading package now beats that? To me, that would mean at minimum Kakko and Rossi would have to be on the table with a number of pluses, no? If the offers were never as good as the rumoured Duck offer to begin with, we are in trouble.

As a guy who wants Eklund, the decisive separation Power seems to created in the minds of some scouting departments would be something I’m trying to leverage. What would Seattle or Anaheim be willing to offer in order to switch spots? I might trade first overall for Zegras. Would the Ducks trade Zegras for Power?

@Thorny, wondering if you think there is any chance the Sabres take anyone other than Power? Thinking back to your posts on how the consensus #1 prospect seems to always get picked there once the consensus is arrived at. As much as @LGR4GM may still feel otherwise, Power has arrived as the industry consensus #1. You can’t reasonably argue otherwise when all 10 head scouts polled by McKenzie ranked him 1st. Well,” said one scout, “the only rationale I can see for taking anyone other than Power at No. 1 is because you’re a team that really wants or needs a forward more than a defenceman. Because if you don’t care about position or you want a defenceman, Power should be the guy.” The scout added that if a team is taking a forward at No. 1, the top three candidates would be, in no particular order: Beniers, because he’s the most complete centre in the draft; Eklund, because his energy and skill level give him enormous upside; and Guenther, because he has the tools to be a first-line scoring winger in the NHL. But make no mistake, the consensus No. 1 in this draft is Power. It’s clear-cut and unanimous on TSN’s list.

Yep, the Wolf report was early March. The Maclean one was more like a month ago.

This is not two anonymous social media posts: The Wolf one was quickly refuted by Tim Graham who tweeted “The Sabres are not for sale” and Die by the Blade’s Anthony, who called the Tweet not even 1/2 way, maybe 1/4 right.

I think Tage uses his length very well for stripping pucks. I also think it’s weird that some of the same posters who think 23-year-old Tage Thompson has reached his ceiling after three pro seasons in the Sabres organization also think 24-year-old Will Borgen can still be a top-four NHL defencemen after three pro seasons in the same organization. (wrong thread?)

Not that I disagree, but there has been surprisingly few concrete rumours and discussions about what a Reinhart return might be, considering that it will one of the more important moves this team has made since The selloff for the tank.

Why would they be? The Pegulas are trying to amass capital for a massive new stadium project for their flagship holding, the Bills, after a year where revenue sources have been hard to come by. What evidence have we seen this might even be a consideration? Nothing concrete at all. I remember a Tweet by a Buffalo media personality earlier this year that was quickly discredited by media more closely connected to Buffalo Sabres coverage. That was followed by a suggestion by well-connected former NHL GM and national hockey media personality Doug McLean, where he referenced “a friend of John Torterella” as an interested buyer. The report did not generate legs. Circumstantially, the Pegulas have been downsizing and divesting themselves of many of their secondary holdings, as well as gutting overhead with the Sabres, bringing in an insider from their business operations side to run the team, and preparing to sell off their three most fungible hockey assets for inexpensive futures. These are behaviours that can be simply chalked up to normal business operations during tough times. But they are also moves I associate with major corporations preparing a property for sale. @Buffalonill had started a similar thread based on an anonymous post on another hockey forum that got deleted. I’d like to see more conversation on the topic

So the 7 goals in 21 games to finish the year wasn’t any kind of “click”? He certainly looked a lot better to me than he did when Botts sent him down 40-50 games earlier.

You might be right. Let’s not overlook the transition from the awkward giraffe Botts finally mercifully sent down, to the 25-ish goal scorer we saw at the finish with Donnie took place over just 24 games under Chris Taylor and a similar amount riding the pine under Krueger. He’s been around for a while, but he hasn’t actually played a lot.

Totally on the same page with this and it’s why Tage will never be a Reinhart-level player. The question is can he leverage the things he does do well to make him an effective middle-sixer? Donnie had a great segment where he talked about players having to learn to play a different game when they go up a level because what worked on a lower level doesn’t work for them at the next. He said his priority is getting players to focus on what they can do that still works at this level and rebuilding their games around it. With Tage, it’s about limiting the open ice dangles and Reggie Leach slap shots and focusing on using his length to protect pucks and get to the net on offence and pick pockets and block lanes on defence. In other words, simplify, stop trying to be the driver, let the Reinharts create for him and benefit. Because he has the skill set to benefit. I think he can succeed if he makes the transition.

Agree completely with certain themes of this post and not with others. I think learning what you should and shouldn’t and can and cannot do at NHL pace is the hardest thing to learn, that some never get it, and that this is the biggest question with Tage. However, I also think it is where we have seen a lot of growth from him as well. 2018-19 Tage was absolutely terrible at this. It was obvious he couldn’t process at an NHL level. Finishing last year it was obvious he could, just not as consistently as you want him to. The question is, can he continue growing or have we seen his ceiling? Next year will effectively be his first full season starting the year as a full-fledged NHLer who believes he has made the team, with a coach who thinks seeing him develop is a priority. Very interested to see how he does in that environment.

Daughter just cancelled a planned trip to the Yukon because they still don’t want her visiting. All three had 1st shots, but only one had 2nd. @digger and I may hang with different crowds, but most of the people I talk to are ready for the border to be opened but only to people who are fully vaxxed. Living on an west Coast Island does tend to skew people’s perspective here somewhat over, say, an Ontario border town. Wife and got off the Island for the 1st time since Christmas 2019 last week after many of our in-province restrictions were lifted July 1. We’re finally getting our 2nd shots Wednesday. Our province is at about 80 percent 1st and 50 Percent 2nd. I’d like to see a much higher percentage with 2 shots before I’m comfortable opening things up to protect against variants.

Can’t recall much of a media backlash up here that is was, and I’ve never heard a real person in public or private conversation suggest it was.

Jack’s work with kids is exemplary and comes across as utterly sincere.

Your collective attitude about COVID scares me and a majority of Canadians.

For the record, I only believe the Sabres should have retired two numbers: 11 and 39. But if the standard is Gare and Robert, then Miller absolutely deserves it. *** On topic, maybe that’s a Jesper Olofsson jersey? Wonder if his contract rolled over and he’s coming over this year?

All this and we are experiencing the hottest, driest summer on record up here. Climate change is as made up as COVID.

What does this even mean?

Would you agree with me that under the expansion rules, the Kraken would really have to ***** things up, not to be better than the Sabres?

Again, expansion is designed to give the Kraken an average team: the 11th best asset on every roster. It stands to reason they should be an average team if they do an average job of picking. And an average team should be better than the Sabres. Why are people making this a thing? It’s supposed to be like this.

I understand Donskoi and Compher’s contracts are considered a bit of a burden to the Avs, but they aren’t exactly Jeff Skinners. Leaving those two, along with Landeskog, unprotected was eyebrow raising to me. They protected Logan O’Connor…?