DarthEbriate

It's particularly alarming since one of the strengths of those late '90s-'01 teams was a center-heavy forward group where you'd sometimes have 2 centers on the same line, and Lindy was able to roll 3 lines with #2-#3 centers (Peca, Brown, Barnes, Connolly) and a #3-#4 center (Gratton, Holzinger, Primeau/Rasmussen). Once those players were established (age 24-25), only Connolly could have been considered to still have the potential to be a #1C on a team. And it happened again later in the 2005 surge (Briere was a #1, but Drury probably tops out as a 2, and they still had Connolly, Roy as potential 2s.) Get a center spine you can roll all day.

Judge me by my size, Hamilton? As all have noted, size is not the same as determination and grit. And we've had (and all teams do) our share of player who backed off when a confrontation might have resulted in a won puck battle, a forced turnover, a blocked shot, etc. There were definitely times in the downward slide last season where the team played small and was small with lineups featuring the following: Bryson, Butcher, Joker, Olofsson (with only one hand), Asplund (defensively sound but not pugnacious), Eakin, Bjork, Skinner, Thompson (big, but not a bruiser), and Ruotsalainen. But as the team got healthier and Tuch inserted and led arguably by Dahlin... they started collectively playing with more grit and assertiveness. Size is not the problem beyond getting some young players bulked up a bit...but that'll take care of itself in a couple seasons.

No, he likely wouldn't say that. He'd say something positive about Murray "we love the move and how this solidifies the goalie position" "we look forward to an open competition" or such. Then, make comments that they'd still look to be in the market, always looking to improve, etc. But if the musical chairs of free agency leave the Sabres without one of the premier additions... then he'd say well as least we've got Murray as a proven NHL #1.

Especially if Ottawa retained a touch of salary, as noted. 7, 9, 28, a goalie (to buyout or backup or waive if he doesn't want to be here, or whatever).

This is why you don't come up with any dream UFA lists until after the draft and teams negotiate their own. No one is a UFA yet.

Would they still acquire a 1, then though? I'm not so sure. Murray and Anderson provide the NHL starts, UPL gets the call-up.

Good. Just say no to Murray. (Even if it had been #16 to Ottawa for #7 and Murray) -- plus whatever balancing picks to make it work. Let another team take his contract and Hutton-level play.

Grier is hired as GM 2 days before the entry draft with one 1st (11th OA), no 2nd, and one 3rd (76th OA). He inherits these contracts: Couture, 33, 5x8$M; Karlsson, 32, 5x$11.5M; Burns, 37, 3x$8M; Vlasic, 35, 4x$7M; and 5 more years of buyout hits for Martin Jones (minimum $1.66M/year).

Congratulations, Mr. Grier! I was hoping he might become the head coach; so this is a surprise, but a welcome one. Celebrations are in order: Yub nub!

JJP might turn out to be worth packaging 100th and 38th to move up to 34th.

If the chart takes career stats into account and not just games played, I wonder how these various analyses would be impacted if Gretzky had been drafted (and in which draft slot).

I do. Setting the bar high is a good thing.

After his close to 2020-21, a strong preseason that had him on the first line, a whole bunch of us 'spacers predicted Mitts would lead the team in scoring last season. He'll be hard-pressed to do it this year if Thompson continues improving, but if Thompson does well and Mitts is part of a powerful second line, the Sabres could be extraordinarily feisty. (mumble something about and goaltending)

Agreed. But I also believe that Ullmark could've easily played well enough to win a Cup with the Avalanche roster in front of him. Just one comment here to avoid confusion for some younger viewers: Ken Dryden was a great NCAA goalie who played for Cornell in the 1960s and then became a Habs legend. Dryden McKay is a TBD (but great collegiate) goalie who just won the Hobey Baker in the 2021-22 season for Minnesota State. The Toronto Marlies signed him to a 2-year AHL contract (he's not a Leafs prospect at this time). I assume your note on surpassing Miller is based on save percentage, where Levi was astounding. Levi should've won both the Mike Richter Award and the Hobey Baker (as Dryden McKay did his past season -- the first goalie to win it since Miller). McKay benefitted from a much better Minn St. team and defense (way fewer shots allowed). But Levi did cool off a bit after he sat out the Olympics pause.

9 - Jiricek. seriously? 7 Savoie, 8 Nemec. No decision to be made. 16 - Kasper. 14 Yurov 15 Miroshnichenko. It was Kasper or Ohgren for me. 28 - Hutson. Didn't expect him to be there. If Ryan Johnson doesn't want to sign, I'll take that compensatory pick next year and get a potential game-changer (or at least a top-end Bryson/Woolley) for the 3rd pair. Backup is Mesar or Beck like everyone else seems to be picking. 41 - Del Bel Belluz.

Or Hasek.

The Ehrhoff will be with us. Always. And was he overpaid in term? Yes (10 years at age 29? Yikes!). Was his salary a bit high? Only those first two years ($8, $5). Was the cap hit fine for a 2-3/PPqb type? Yup. Particularly since he became the de facto 1D. Was the contract legal? I will make it legal. At the time. The new owner wanted to play like the big markets and so they did. And was Ehrhoff the best defenseman on the roster for those 3 seasons? Undoubtedly. He led the D in minutes and scoring each season and somehow managed CF% Relative scores of 6.6, 10.9, and 6.7 compared to the rest of the roster. The trouble was the team was Vanek+Pominville or nothing, then the 2013-14 season was trading both of them for futures and tanking for Reinhart. Ehrhoff (and Leino) weren't going to put the team over top, but at least Ehrhoff was a good player.

Nevre?

So the Sabres sign MAF to a big 2-year deal and he blows out his ACL in game 11 with a 4-6 record. UPL gets the callup from ROC to take the reins and goes a respectable 10-14 over the next two months until he too is injured for the year. Anderson is a .901 sv% goalie who's getting by on savvy and goes 20-22. Meanwhile, the kids look good and score in the middle of the pack league for Goals For. The D-corps looks amazing. They're tenacious and fun to watch. And then... it happens. Northeastern and Michigan both fall in the opening round of the Frozen Four tourney to 3-1 (empty netter) and 1-0 scores where the opposing goalie stands on his head. Portillo signs and will finish his business degree in the summer. Levi signs as expected. Both rookies go 3-0 with a shutout down the stretch while alternating starts with Anderson as the backup to guide them. Final record 40-30-12 for 92 points and the kids have taken over the pipes to finish the season 6-0 with 2 shutouts over BOS (in Boston) and TOR (at home) and a combined score of 31-7. You wouldn't take that?

Wait... you're saying that the Sabres win a minimum of 40 games (the most wins since 2011-12 when Lindy Ruff was coach 39-32-11) --- As an example, 40-37-5 for 85 points or 40-30-12 for 92 points... and the Pegulas axe their GM for it?

I'm also taking a RHD in the top 41; wherever the BPA matches the # the best (probably 28/41). Heck, Chesley becoming a McCabe-type would be acceptable for the next 6 years (particularly if Power, Muel, and Rasmus all continue to meet their potential).

Congrats to Mr. Anderson. He was a week from retirement and they assigned him to assist some wild young cop... he's getting too old for this ******. But then, it killed in the box office (the team was calm with him on the ice) despite upon rewatch the numbers don't really hold up (backup goalie save percentage). So they decided to do a sequel. And Mr. Anderson -- the Roger Murtaugh of the squad -- got a nice big pay raise. Double the salary. UPL will be with Subban in Rochester.

That's the big question in diversifying. If I get the skilled/fast center at 9, do I double up on the center at 16 or go for a potential high-impact winger in Ohgren/Miro/Yurov. If prioritizing centers within the same tier... Then yes, I might just do that. Savoie/Nazar, Kasper (or Kulich or Lambert), Trikozov, RHD also works for me.

Pronman clearly hasn't read up on the RHD pipeline of Laaksonen, Lyckasen, and Nyberg. Somewhere they're taking 1 or 2 RHD. And... two goalies. Keep the pipeline full and the competition stoked.

Not really worried about him being a locomotive. More of, if I take Z who is basically a 3W/4W off the roster in a couple years and replace him with a similar but slightly better 3C/4C who has 2C upside... that's a win. But I think Kasper projects more to middle six than the bottom six winger that Girgs has been basically his entire career (except the first couple seasons when the roster was in full tank mode and he was a top 6 by default).