LGR4GM

I think you could waive upl and he'd clear.

Ok

This is my stance as well.

Let's just restart here. UPL isn't particularly good and it's not the defense, he's slow to recover in part because of his size. He's also slow moving lateral, which is a key component in a modern offense. Take the puck to A, get the defense and goalie to shift that way, hit B the opposite way for a shot. A good goalie is good imo whether they are small or large, the height imo doesn't make them naturally better. Levi will have holes in different spots than a large goalie but large goalies have holes too. For example the V under a goalie arm is larger in a taller goalie while the space above the shoulders is smaller. The biggest issue Levi will have is over the shoulder because he naturally won't cover the area as much, it's why he comes out further. Now, big goalies can be good. And small ones can be bad. They have different advantages and weaknesses. Shesterkin and Saros aren't big but they are good. Leinonen is big but he's not good. Lots of NHL goalies that are big wash out. It all depends on reactions, positioning, and tracking. Smaller goalies move faster usually, large ones cover more area. Not always but generally. I don't think though there is a good correlation to say bigger is always better in terms of goalies. That was my only point with looking at past winners. Will Levi succeed? Maybe, but he won't fail simply because he's short.

Do you want VO taking a regular shift when this team makes the playoffs?

Chill, take a deep breath

I'm just impressed with the use of truculence.

Jack is a good hockey player. VO that year has 18min of toi versus the 14 he gets now. I think vo on the pp1 is the only way and I'd never play him there. He's a bad facilitator.

2 seasons ago he got more ice time and more pp1 time. I don't see that repeating

I don't believe he's a 50pt player, a 60pt year or pacing for that would have me trade him asap. It would be a massive anomaly or outlier. I just can't see him ever being that.

Not that I can think of. But indirectly you would see a lot of red on a shot heat map where those rebounds go if they turned into shots. Upl has a slow recovery from initial shots. It's something noticeable with Levi along with the difference in rebounds.

Again, you claimed he was the best forward on the roster in 2021 and I said no chance in hell he was. He's always been a spotty 3rdline guy who I think will be invisible in the playoffs. I haven't upgraded him at all, I'd trade him if I could. I don't see a 50pt player.

This is in another thread but what do we expect from him? I'll go 23.5 goals 20.5 assists. I think yes a spotty 3rd line player who I'd move on from if possible. If he stays this year, fine but I'm not re-signing him.

There's a lot of talent in Buffalo to beat out. What vet would we sign to block anyone? The top 6 is practically written in stone. The 3rd line has Krebs and Greenway and I guess VO on it so that's 3 nhl players. Everyone younger than Owen Power is effectively blocked from this roster unless they beat a vet.

He's never going to play 82 games. 25/25 isn't fair impo. Maybe 22/20 is but that's about where I'll go. He's never once reached 50 pts and 40 pts is his most likely total. Also he outshot his career sh% by over 4% last season, I don't see it happening again because he doesn't get to high danger areas enough.

You've been here a bit, I'm not being very adamant about vo other than saying he's 100% not a top 6 forward.

Again, the original comment was that 2 years ago olofsson was our best forward and we somehow forgot. He was not. Idc if he makes the team, but the team itself will be beyond him within a year if they aren't already.

Vo is a great 7th round pick and a useful player to some teams 3rd or maybe 2nd line... but not this team. Not how it's constructed and the forward depth it has. If vo stays this year, that's fine with me. After that, I'm sorry but we need to move on.

Vo is not a 30g scorer. He's a 25g 15a guy. That's what he is.

I... didn't. I just looked to see if their was a soft correlation between size and goodness and there really isn't. Being athletic and able to track plays are the biggest factors. You universally claiming a big goalie has an advantage is not true. Biron has talked about the bigger holes that get created by being big. Idk why you dislike Levi. Not sure why you have any faith in UPL but size only matters for goalies at extremes. Upl looks adequate? The guys a sieve and inconsistent as hell.

@GASabresIUFAN it still does not take away from the fact VO has never come close to being the best forward on this team. That was my original comment and I stand by it. You said he was 2 years ago. I dispute that is a re-write of the first Granato season and not what actually happened. I'll add 1 thing. VO plays the type of game that makes him far less valuable in the playoffs. He's a perimeter shooter.

VO hasn't really evolved, he just plays on a better team. His finishing is great, but he's terrible defensively. He's not good at taking the puck places and he can't really manipulate players to open lanes. He's weak on the walls and easily knocked off pucks. He's about to be 28 and this will be his 5th full season, so unless he's doing something drastically different, you're getting a 1 dimensional forward with a great shot. I'd move on from him. When? We've seen the same hockey from VO every year. Mitts evolved and is 4 years younger, Vo literally dragged Mitts into the gutter for 20 games last season.

No he wasn't. That's just a strange re-write of history to suggest on a team with Tuch, Tage, and Skinner that VO was ever the best forward. And yes, I understand which season you're referring too.

So that's why he got cut

So the 9 games is specifically nhl games and applies to prospects before they are 20. So in this case his contract would slide or extend for 2 seasons if he plays anywhere but the NHL. It's a 5 year deal in reality unless they play nhl games, specifically 9 games