LGR4GM

Looking at line 3 to start last season, Mittelstadt was better than McLeod. However olofsson was worse. Greenway stays the same. The question then is how much does Benson or Zucker make up the Mitts difference. It's roughly .5pts per60 between Mitts and McLeod. Zucker however comes in at only .3 below Mitts. Benson is a WildCard cuz his scoring rate will increase. So let's say we have to replace Benson and Mitts on line 3 at 2.1 and 1.7 points per 60min. That's 3.8 p/60 and we ignore Greenway cuz he's the same. McLeod gives us 1.6 or 1.7, I'll lean with the higher. Zucker at 1.8. That's 3.5 total. In theory then, Buffalo lost about .3 p60 by swapping McLeod and Mitts. However, if we argue we're replacing Mitts and Olofsson on the 3rd with McLeod and Zucker, that's only a .1 p60 difference. The issue is that in pts, we didn't improve. We are ignoring Skinner who is essentially replaced by Benson. Skinner is a 2.3 p60 so Benson has ground to make up but this all ignored defense attributes. I think it's still valid because Buffalo has to up its scoring AND reduce goals against to be a playoff team. My over all point is unless Benson and McLeod improve, we took a step back. Quinn probably covers Skinners lost production but the 3rd line is less and Benson becomes the wild card to balance everything. Quinn btw, 2.7 p60... that's why everyone is projecting a good year from him. The margins are thin, Buffalo probably only improved by a couple wins overall without internal growth.

There are no NHL teams currently below the cap floor according to what is on puckpedia. Everyone is above 65 million.

VO scored 7g last year and was on pace for only 11.48goals in a full 82 game season. We aren't losing anything by him being gone.

So if Rafferty is as good as Dowd defensively, we should have a reasonably good shutdown line. I also like the fact there is 3 or so players in the bottom of the lineup who all hit a lot.

Big fan of Picasso's pizza which is Buffalo style.

I put us at an 87 point team.

47 brand had a coyotes sweater on sale right after the team moved, I purchased it and kinda love it.

FTR Elite Prospects has an agreement with Puckpedia (they had one with Capfriendly) to add salary info right onto a players NHL player page. Currently links back to their contract on Puckpedia as well: https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/310545/rasmus-dahlin

Here's another kinda off-season report card https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5626787/2024/07/10/nhl-teams-offseason-2024/

Interestingly the account or person who managed the depth charts on capfriendly (something that somehow managed to be accurate and also get players positions right) is actually building a new site for depth charts. So that will be useful when it is up and running.

We still would have lost access anyways. Also Pegula is cheap.

I wish nothing but the worst for the Washington Capitals. But also, screw you Bettman. The NHL could have purchased this and kept it available to fans and GMs but that old useless dinosaur thinks no one cares about cap info (actually he's just a whiny bitch who's upset it exists in the public sector at all). So to tell hell with you Washington and Gary, eat rocks.

I'm not convinced Detroit drafts well. Maybe, but if Buffalo supposedly only drafts small speedsters, then Detroit loves their 6'1" high floor lower ceiling middle 6 guys.

I love the part about pissing off your scouts. Never heard anyone talk about Vegas doing that and they trade prospects and picks. No one said it after Holtz trade about NJD. Speaking of that Holtz trade, how come no one bashes that? Maybe they did and I missed it. He was a ppg player in the AHL at 20. Got 1 full year in the NHL, was traded for Paul Cotter another 24yr old C/W. Cuz his 1 NHL year was bad we know what he is? It is essentially the exact same trade Buffalo did. Former rw 7th overall pick for a 24yr old center, very little reaction and grumbling. Former rw 9th overall pick for a 25yr old center, entire internet melts down.

B4 the league folds?

Yes. Yes it would. Mainly because that's only 50 minutes of ice time Edit: just so it's clear, I'm joking

"At some point, the Yzerplan must result in the Red Wings' return to the playoffs." Lol, that's not how anything works.

And yet Cozens played better with Quinn, Benson, and Peterka than he did with Greenway or Tuch. Good news, this year the Cozens line will be 23, 23, and 19! So progress?

Cozens problem last year was playing 236mins with Greenway and their 41.05xGF% just woof. Also Cozens with Tuch is ugly. 83mins and a 40.93xGF% just woof woof.

I have never disagreed with something so much... today at least... than this post. Jack Quinn is already producing more than Peterka in terms of pts per game and in terms of pts/60. Suggesting that Cozens wasn't good because he had to drag Quinn around the ice is just hogwash and Quinn will be taking a big step because he already took it. Benson, you could put Benson next to a drunken Mikhail Grigorenko and Benson would be just fine. Your hinting at that Cozens has had to do the heavy lifting and isn't lucky enough to play with veteran Alex Tuch. Cozens is also getting the 2nd defense pairing most nights while Tage and Tuch take on teams #1. Also let us discuss this bolded part. Last year is what I will focus on. In 2023-24 Dylan Cozens played 67mins at 5v5 with Benson and Quinn. It is barely enough to even use the stats but their xGF% is 54.14 which is pretty solid. CF% was 48.89, less good for sure. Now Cozens with Benson comes out at 54.42cf% and 51.24xGF%, not awful but you can see there is drop when Quinn isn't that 3rd winger. Let's check on Quinn with Cozens and no Benson, we get 51.53cf% and a 53.76xGF% so again we see a bit of a dip in xgf but a slightly better corsi. My point being that Dylan Cozens hasn't been pulled down by his linemates. Quinn and Benson have been pretty good and reliable for him. Quinn and Peterka even more so because in 23-24 that line combined for 127minutes and a 52.08cf% and a 57.76xGF%. You are implying that Cozens has to prop these players up because they haven't reached their full potential but Jack Quinn is already better than Peterka and Cozens immediately looked better about Quinn's return (Adams should sign Quinn now, right now IMO). Benson didn't get a lot of counting stats, he got 0 PP time which is a main reason why, but he was perfectly able to be a middle 6 winger last year and at the end of the year when he did play with Cozens, he was pretty good. I don't understand your worry at all. Jack Quinn is a top 6 winger and barring injury (yea yea ik) is going to be a player taking that next step. Zach Benson eats nails and pees napalm while running carnival rides in the desolate wastelands of post-apocalyptic Canada. I would be absolutely floored if he didn't make a jump in points this season. Either way, Cozens is running with two wingers that play 200ft games, are very intelligent, have excellent tools, and importantly are very good checkers. I suppose I could be quibbling over "that next step" but Quinn took it, ppl just haven't realized it yet and Benson not taking it would be a bit surprising and he can be bumped out by Zucker or Kulich or Peterka as needed. In the end, I think Cozens has the wingers necessary to survive and take whatever his next step will be.

If the Sabres run the pp like this it will fail again. They need to learn to rotate, stop getting anchored into spots, and getting the puck below the goal line and playing it outwards from there. Rotation and movement are the key, everyone is a bumper, everyone is a trigger.

Good write-up. Wahlberg is already here just a note. He's slated to play in Rochester this season.