Trettioåtta

Shorter season could help us with Coho's contract. But yeah, I think we will see a 3 year contract (which would keep him an RFA) for 2.5-3.5, depending on this season

Sabres' fans aren't winning many model competitions are they...

Good spot. So Sizz now has the honor of a picture that includes Chz hair. Gotta admit I'm jealous dude.

When Coho arrived, he said that Ennis/Gerbe instantly invited him over to play games and chill with them, and he said how it made him feel veyr at home. Grigs is not much younger than those guys, so it wouldn't surprise me if they did it again. I think that adjusting to a different culture has two elements, 1) the actual understanding of how it is different and coping with homesickness of how different it is and 2) feeling like you belong there. IMO number 2 is more important, and if the Sabres players make him feel at home as part of the team, the older players and foreign players can help him with number 1. I.e. if he is in a team where he feels he belongs and is comfortable, then he will be less homesick and can ask the other players more practical questions about missing home and dealing with it. If I was going abroad, to say, China, I think having a North American to talk to about missing home would be almost as effective as having a Brit to talk to. Or having a Swede would aslo make me fee less homesick. So i'm not sure our lack of Russian players is a problem, we have a lot of international players

I'm glad he is back. Pommers says he is back to his old self, and I believe him. The guy is a professional hockey player, i'm sure he can tell! So i don't think Hecht will get that hurt this year, he will be fairly cheap, he is a good presence on the team and can teach defensive responsibility and chip in 30-40 points. Good signing. And i'm glad someone who has been on this team for so long remains. His main problem was winning that faceoff. If Grigs stays, then Hecht would be a good winger to cover Grigs so he doesn't screw the pooch defensively. If not, then Ott/Hecht as the draw taker and defensive centre would work for me. Hecht also goes to the corners happily, something not all the Sabres do

Frattin is 25 and has played in less than 60 NHL games - i wouldn't describe him as a prospect anymore. As Matt said, it might be a bias, but it is true that the AHL serves the NHL and so we will not trade Leopold for AHL talent. I don't see why we could lose Leopold for less? He has a year remaining on his contract and is a solid D-man, presuming we don't try to re-sign him, we can still trade him for NHL talent/picks. D'Amigo might have a chance at developing further but i think i'd rather take my chance on the pick instead of trading it for a player whose limit appears to be 4th line talent. Rochester might not have many players who are natural wingers, but i don't see why we can't just sign some talent or have the odd throw in. rochester are nto going to win anything for the next few years anyway. They are barely in the playoff picture with Coho, Foligno and Brennan, all three of which will be on the Sabres roster in a few days. Not to mention we have no goalie prospect with much hope (our Swede and our Russian might show signs but they are aways off). If we trade an NHL player like Leopold, it is to get an NHL player back, or a prospect with NHL potential. Frattin and Kostka are career AHLers at this point and D'Amigo doesn't have much potential. Adam might not be hugely in our plans and has regressed a bit but he still has more upside than any of the Leaf 'prospects' and has more NHL games/points.

I don't really get why we would do this? We trade a d-man for a worse d-man, a prospect for a worse prosect and a 2nd round pick for a career AHLer. Re-reading what you said it is because we need depth in Roch and Buf. Well nobody really cares about Roch, so we will not trade a decent NHL asset to fill in depth at the lower leagues - we'll just sign someone. Buf doesn't need depth, we have plenty of mediocre forwards, we need talent through the middle/gritty wingers

I'd like to know how much he expects - you'd have to think they would give up anything up to $4 million. The fact he is refusing to play for the Avs does lower his value, I think we could still get him, we would just need to trade Sekera (2/3 D man with a great contract) and Pysyk (good prospect with a good upside) or something like that

Well at the moment they don't have him, he has signed a 2 year contract in the KHL. I agree it would take a fair amount to get him, but he isn't playing for the Avs in the next 2 years unless they up their offer. If they were going to up their offer, they would have done so already.

"That made me chuckle," Holmgren told the Daily News. "It's safe to say those rumours aren't true. They have no basis or merit."

One idea i read was that they will simply not play him at all this year, to ensure he doesn't get hurt. I feel really sorry for the guy, he used to be a decent D-man, and it isn't his fault he got offered that awful contract

BOG ratifies the CBA http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=649585&navid=DL|NHL|home

Jones, Erhoff, Myers, Sekera, McNabb, Pysyk and Mccabe - that would be an awesome defense

So we traded Roy for Ott and Pardy. Roy is better than Ott, so I don't think Pardy was a Kotalik style throw in to lower the cost. This means we have 9 NHL D men, who could possibly play...Yeah it does feel like there must be some movement before the season starts. Having 2 guys start in the press box is a lot, having 3 seems down right wasteful

He was so calm when he got the puck, even with a player charging him - good to see. Lovely goal

This rule will also really help the players make a decision - always surprised me how many big names signed new contracts on day 1, having never properly seen the city/rink (bar for the 12 hours they are there on away games)

I dunno, our issue is we already have two very young centres. I think if we trade, we trade for a more established veteran. I could see us signing Hecht instead of trading for a veteran 2/3 centre and running the lines below: F - E - S V - H - P L - Hecht - O 4th liners

Had spinal surgery over summer, still recovering - might explain his poor season

What did Darcy say about Hecht?

I would love Hecht back. He has played so long here i don't want him to just slink off. If he has recovered he is very useful, very good on the PK, defensively responsible and combine him with Ott and Ott can win the face offs and Hecht can swap into centre and take the defensive responsibilities of that position

http://www.ukamericansportsstore.co.uk/ordering-items-on-request/info_18.html I used this, i don't know if they ship to Sweden though :/

That sucks! I'm confused why they are allowed to impose restrictions on citizens like that, or is it just if they are under contract? What if a player's parents move to N. America on work? Are the kids allowed to go but not play hockey?

So are there rules for LTIR, or can Pronger just stay on that for the next 3 years and retire when his cap hit is off the books?

The league coming off their demand for a $60 million cap in Year 2, meeting the NHLPA's request to have it at $64.3 million - which was the upper limit from last year's cap. The salary floor in Year 2 will be $44 million. - The upper limit on the salary cap in the first year is $60 million, but teams can spend up to $70.2 million. The cap floor will be $44 million. - The 10-year deal also has an opt-out clause that kicks in after eight years. - The salary variance on contracts from year to year cannot vary more than 35 per cent and the final year cannot vary more than 50 per cent of the highest year. - A player contract term limit for free agents will be seven years and eight years for a team signing its own player. - The draft lottery selection process will change with all 14 teams fully eligible for the first overall pick. The weighting system for each team may remain, but four-spot move restriction will be eliminated. - Supplemental discipline for players in on-ice incidents will go through NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan first, followed by an appeal process that would go through Bettman. For suspensions of six or more games, a neutral third party will decide if necessary. - Revenue sharing among teams will spread to $200 million. Additionally, an NHLPA-initiated growth fund of $60 million is included. - The NHL had hoped to change opening of free agency to July 10, but the players stood firm and it remains July 1 in the new agreement. But with a later ending to the season, free agency for this summer will start at a later date. Also, a decision on NHL participation at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games will be made outside of the new CBA. While it is likely that the league will participate, the IIHF and IOC will have discussions with the NHL and Players' Association.

I agree with the whole Russian thing. I don't see any reason you can't have many on a team, it all depends on the person - for example, you can't get more into the 'American' life than Ovi did, i respected him for how well he threw himself into a foreign country, but he now wants to play in the KHL. Compare that to Datsyuk, who still struggles to speak English, but has been the clutch heart of the Red Wings for an age. I think that if a player has chemistry with Grigs then we should try and get him - Kucherov is a good pick not because he is Russian, but because he has played with him at both a National and club level and has scored lots of points with him. I think the Russian factor only matters because it has given them more time to play together, not because they have a secret understanding of each others play that comes from being Russian Also, never heard that song before, but my 16 year old sister had...