LGR4GM

Sometimes children have short temper tantrums and sometimes long. My eyeroll is for Tuch and Greenway

Speaking of him

Amazing what happens when you go for it.

As the game yes tied, we take you live to Sabres Twitter for reactions:

You mean Lindstrom? The big center?

These guys think Donny is safe and are planning their April golf trips and cookouts.

Which line is the 4th line? We have 4 4th lines so I just need to verify which one.

If you buy Skinner out now (2024), the cap ramifications are the following: 2024-25 $1,444,445 2025-26 $4,444,445 2026-27 $6,444,445 2027-28 $2,444,445 2028-29 $2,444,445 2029-30 $2,444,445 If you buyout Skinner in 2025: 2025-26 $4,000,000 2026-27 $6,000,000 2027-28 $2,000,000 2028-29 2,000,000

Almost like digging up a 2 month old thread to post this was bad and someone should have just started a new thread.

The game is on msg.

Someone to consider on day 2 of the draft. Prep school kids are really hit and miss but in the 2nd round this is good bet to at least make the show eventually.

We have a game tonight. Against the Devils of New Jersey.

Iginla has a long way to go and I am not done going through players by a long shot. For me right now, Iginla sits just outside my top 10 and I think he will end there most likely. There are guys who are also tenacious with better skills like skating, that should be considered over Iginla. Berkly Catton for example is a more skilled player with high end talent. I think some of the doggediness that Iginla has is missing but it would be a mistake to think that means he isn't effective in puck pursuit or doesn't care. He has all the skills and manipulation and smarts and it is unlikely he will be there but he would be a guy I would want Buffalo to take. Catton is a level above Iginla. Right now for forwards my ranks would look roughly like this: Celebrini, Demidov, Catton, Lindstrom, Iginla, Greentree, Helenius, Eiserman, Nygard. I think there is a break after Demidov and another one after Lindstrom.

Why do I like Iginla anywhere from about 9-12 (I think he goes top 10)? For me it comes down to things I look for in prospects. Seth Jarvis, Zach Benson, Tij Iginla, Jack Quinn (who I was late on). I believe that in the NHL time/space is the most precious commodity you have on the ice because if you take away time/space, that takes away everything else. This means that I tend to value the types of players that are on step 3 when an average player is on step 1. Basically a lot of players are able to think "I am here, I am getting this pass, I am going into that space to my right" when I want a player who is "the pass is coming, options: cut right to space, cut left across my defenders hands, keep this line and dry to forecheck. Each one of those will result in these moves by the other players" That 6th sense that Sam Reinhart used to always seem to be open. That is one of the first things I want, can they think ahead. Tij seems to do that, there are a bunch of plays where he has mapped out the next few moves and is executing at a rapid pace, thats really good. If they can think ahead that leads into the 2nd thing I want: manipulation. Can you dictate reactions with your skills to get where you want to be. Zach Benson is the prime example of this and Peyton Krebs is the prime example of not this. Benson baits, switches, cuts, stops, starts, whatever all in an effort to manipulate the time and space he has. Krebs pretty much just goes straight at you. Tij Iginla very much has some of the advanced manipulation qualities we see in Benson. There is fakes and dekes but they have a very specific purpose. You drop your shoulder for a net drive and then suddenly explode around behind the net to feed a pass into the slot. You have a defender on your back to you fake a cutback and then use your momentum to spin inside the defender and get the puck to the net. The 3rd thing I want: tenacity with and in pursuit of the puck. This board famously equates size with grit, it fact most of the NHL does. If you are 6'3" or bigger you are a power forward. Tage and Tuch aren't really power forwards. One of the most tenacious and gritty forwards we have is again Zach Benson. He is dogged on the puck, he is dogged in pursuit of the puck. He uses the manipulations he has to shield or take the puck back. He plays at pace. Now Zach has slipped a bit and I think because of his age and size (size does matter at times) he just wasn't ready for an 82 game season but that's okay. Tij Iginla has the best metrics in this draft at puck retrievals and takebacks among the forwards from what I know. Benson was 2nd last year. In fact last year, Benson was closer to Bedard in these metrics than the 3rd place guy was to Benson. Tij is a bit lower than Zach but still, if you want to be harder to play against, find these guys. The 4th and final thing for this post (I could go on a long time): production. If you don't produce at the jr level you don't produce at the NHL level. Sure you can find some far flung examples but stop thinking you are getting the exceptions to rules. You aren't. Tij Iginla plays in the WHL which is currently my favorite canadian jr league. Unlike the Q, they play something closer to the NHL style. Unlike the O, I think the offensive systems in the W are better. In the WHL I limited to 17 and 18yr old skaters and sorted by goals. Tij Iginla is 2nd. He outproduced former 14th overall pick Brayden Yager by 12 goals. Now pick224 is no longer so I can't see the breakdown of primary and secondary assists anymore but as a 17yr old with an aug bday, Yager had 1.31ppg which puts him 8th for 17/18yr old and 4th for his class where he is the youngest. Wrap up: Prospects IMO need 4 things, the brains to be on step 3 not step 1, manipulation abilities to prepare space, tenacity on and off the puck, and the production. Sure they need all the skills too but we already know that. Tij Iginla has all of the things I would be looking for in a player. His Aug bday makes me feel that his runway is long too and that the 1.31ppg he put up in his 2nd WHL season, might be eclipsed next year. If the Sabres manage to pick 9th-11th, he would be a solid target and a worthy pick.

Think Zach Benson but bigger with better skating but I would argue slightly less skill and tenacity. 90% Benson but he's 6ft tall already and with an Aug bday, he is a really interesting guy to see at the combine because is he actually 6' tall and can he pull a Kulich and add another inch or so? If he does that, my god he will certainly be a power forward but with brains. This isn't a run you through the wall type but more of the dogged puck pursuit and using his body effectively type that Benson is. I like Tij a lot but he is rocketing up draft boards in part because of himself but also because others like Lidstrom have gotten injured and slid. Recency bias is a hell of a drug for NHL teams.

Guessing you've never watched Iginla play. Also, size doesn't equal toughness.

This needs its own thread. Nashville went 16-0-2 after this. The coach called out the players to the press, and didn't mix words. The GM backed him up. Can you even imagine Adams and Granato doing anything remotely like this? This is how an adult organization does things, they hold players accountable in ways that aren't punitive shenanigans like throwing your track suit in the shower. Wish some adults ran the Buffalo Sabres. https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/nhl/predators/2024/02/27/nashville-predators-u2-concert-las-vegas-ryan-oreilly-roman-josi-barry-trotz/72753054007/ https://www.wate.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-nashville-predators-are-16-0-2-since-their-trip-to-see-u2-in-vegas-was-canceled/#:~:text=AP Sports-,Nashville Predators are 16-0-2 since their trip to,U2 in Vegas was canceled&text=Barry Trotz watched his Nashville,the Sphere in Las Vegas.

Let's talk about the Nashville Predators. An organization that is run by adults like Barry Trotz and Andrew Burnette (Burnette btw, is the same coach that made Florida really good, then the Devils, and now the Predators in consecutive years). https://www.wate.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-nashville-predators-are-16-0-2-since-their-trip-to-see-u2-in-vegas-was-canceled/#:~:text=AP Sports-,Nashville Predators are 16-0-2 since their trip to,U2 in Vegas was canceled&text=Barry Trotz watched his Nashville,the Sphere in Las Vegas. The Predators were 16-0-2 after that moment.

13 years of no playoffs, a coach with no answers, a gm that built a country club not a NHL team, and a group of players who get mad at the fans when they suck. Oh and an Owner who either meddles and screws ***** up or is completely absent while his lackeys screw ***** up. Is there a more inept and worse run team in the entire NHL if we ignore the dumpster fire Coyotes?

Ignore the contract or Adams. Bales is excluded because UPL. What have Granato and his assistants done that deserves retention for next season?

Zach Benson is not AHL eligible. This is a recording.

If anyone needs a new coach, it's Owen Power