DarthEbriate

Skill, schmill. His name is a horrible Star Wars name and doesn't lend itself to barely any references atoll.

Well... I mean, truly his floor is total bust. This ankle injury at the WCs blossoms into a recurring surgery-machine and he never sniffs the NHL. But... provided return to health, let's say he's a 3C who kills penalties. That would stink. However, he's the USNTDP top center... In last 10 years they're starting to have a very solid track record. One is a top-15 pick even in the deepest recent drafts. And probably top-10 even in the deepest, but it's really hard to be concrete on anything this year because the wide variety of games played, teams that didn't play at all, etc., from COVID. The other (Bjork) was very good and made it as far as the USNTDP junior team and managed to represent Team USA a few times. But he was a fifth round project who has a high motor. Beniers knocks Bjork out of the park skill-wise and has the motor, too. Upstaging by Frank Oz! Bjork, Bjork, Bjork! You may say that in jest... but Curtis Brown was a 2C. Peca was a 2C. Stu Barnes was a 2C. Holzinger was a 4C. Put a bunch of complimentary hard-charging wingers in there. Get some (yeah, OK, all-world) goaltending... and voila. However, goaltending across the board is so much better than the average back in the '90s... you get two Ullmarks together and a boatload of 2Cs and you're in business. Our trouble is we haven't even managed to get two 2Cs together in the last 8 years.

I think that's the right move for them. I also wonder if they'd be a great fit for Ullmark. Kind of a perfect fit, really. And then @MODO Hockey just trolls us forever. 🍺🍺

And which one takes on the nickname of "Buffalo West"?

Or, if when he'd gotten his rib injury (or whatever UBI it was?) in training camp this season we'd have sat him out until he'd fully (or near-fully) recovered so he wouldn't have been playing every other day through the injury, thereby opening himself up to straining other parts of his body while compensating, or the rigors of being the target of opposition defensemen because he was our only offense with HCRK's structure. Let him recover for 3 weeks at the start of the season, like we did when he injured his ankle in training camp a few years previously. It wasn't the playoffs where you need to play through injuries. But then Hall would've had to truly be a top-line player he's uncomfortable being. But... maybe Eichel comes back out of our COVID break looking like Hart-Eichel and HCRK doesn't get fired. All fun what-ifs.

That's what the opposition GM has to be willing to stake his job on, though. Eichel pre-injury or Eichel post-injury. If we deal him before this year's draft then that new GM has one year to find out whether Eichel is still his Hart-caliber self, or if he's what we saw this past season, which while still producing PP points, had no burst. Or if his body is going to continue to be injury-prone and deteriorate, but healthy enough to pass physicals and keep playing. If you give up a bunch of stuff for Eichel and he's just 2021 Eichel when he's fully recovered... you're out of a job and he's on your team's payroll forever.

I dunno. Seems harmless enough.

Not the Pegulas. But I would expect a pro scouting department <rimshot> and hockey GM to be able to do and pay/contract him accordingly. If he's a 1-year deal as a Skinner-play-with-Eichel cash grab, then you don't give him a NMC. If he doesn't want to be a team leader, then you don't give him a team leader salary. The hockey people should know he's had one great year and otherwise is just a good playmaking winger who has never elevated his team in any great capacity. He did fade. He had a fantastic opening night. Inserting some icons so you know I'm partially tongue-in-cheek. 😇🍺 And screw exHCRK for starting Hutton over Ullmark in the opener. Back to Hall, he was pretty decent in zone entries and PPA early on until Eichel's continuing/lingering/new injuries dismantled that top line. And then Hall played with Staal and it was over. And then he completely checked out once they were back from COVID. (This is all in the first couple weeks of the season.) Again, it goes back to pro scouting/league information, everyone knew Hall wasn't a leader, he's a really talented JAG, and when Eichel/Ullmark/McCabe got hurt... Hall disappeared. But we can dream, can't we? Boston takes Rask's cash and Krejci's cash and pulls a JBott-Skinner-level deal with Hall. That'd be sweet.

And who the goalies are. Goalies determine a coach's fate more than any other position. If only we had known... it was the Saberspacers we made along the way. Except even if they had chosen the right person, it's become apparent that they don't have the ability to see it through on the hockey side because it's not an easy fix once you destroy the team and its farm system to tank. My question is now: Who is TPeg being enamored by currently who is the team's next savior? The Ehrhoff, Leino, McDavid/Eichel, Mittelstadt, Skinner, UPL, Hall that he sees in a WJC/playoffs and pushes for him to be on the team post-haste. And yes, I've included UPL because of the thread/line here on Sabrespace that TPeg was convinced UPL should have been already in Buffalo ... was it the '19-'20 season? Because that target is the player that Karmanos has to show his power to either approve or rein back the owner.

Just another point that our owner is even further off-kilter with reality that he thought Taylor ("My claim to fame is that I help teams get #1 picks and have never done anything of note in the playoffs") Hall made us a contender, and OK'ed $8M, and our GM allowed a NMC to a guy who wanted top salary but just wants to be a second fiddle and not a leader (who makes that range of salary). These are the people in charge of our team. He faded when it got real, just like he faded for us. I hope Boston signs him to Krejci's deal + 50%.

When 31 Shopping Jack Eichels you reach, look as good, you will not. Hmm? Eee-hee-heh-heh! Came here to also add my repeating line re: P Kane. He can sign a 3rd-line winger salary here in a couple years when his current deal is up. $2.5M/year to help his hometown team win a Cup. Just like it's working for Toronto with all their old guys "coming home." Nothing more. Besides, we've got JJ Peterka coming. I hear he's the German Patrick Kane now.

You slimy, double-crossing, no-good swindler... I like your heart, but you've got to get someone who can immediately plug and play as a scorer in return for any Reinhart deal. Especially if Beniers stays in school another season.

Agreed with everyone: yuck and yuck. But what a steal by CBJ! If I'm CBJ GM, this is exactly where I start the talks. We've balanced out the contracts and given up 5OA for injured Eichel. I can be convinced to maybe add a piece, but why offer (from my perspective) it to start? It's on GM Sheevyn to do the bartering and the hard work. 1) Jones has to agree to a reasonable extension, 2) Either the trade takes place after the expansion draft OR Sheevyn moves Ristolainen at the exact same moment so as to not deal from an overstocked position, 3) Is Elvis the 1A or 1B to the next few seasons and how do I manage the goaltending situation, and most importantly 4) no deal without another 1st AND prospect. Who is CLB's prize? Foudy? meh. Chinakhov? I know nothing of their pipeline. Edit: Marchenko, after reading a little bit more.

If we're not feeling modern slang, we can also think of it as the Persian root "istan". As in Kazakhstan. Or in this case Powerstan or Benierstan. The land of Beniers! mmmm... land of be'ers... Skybluewaterstan. Hammstan.

Phillip Gogulla? Felix Schütz?

And after that garbage collapse 2 weeks earlier I was pleased as punch that the Seahawks got their comeuppance in the continually escalating pained endings on the NFC side of the ledger.

I assume the odds are better than surviving a direct assault on an Imperial Star Destroyer in a modified YT-1300 Corellian light freighter.

Well, I still make the pick relative to the value. If I'm omniscient (including the future) and I know Cameron Whynot (because it's a great name!) is a HOF, I still don't take him #1 overall because I also know no one else is even considering him in the 1st round. I take Beniers/Power/whomever is going to be a good pick at their expected pick position, and then I grab Whynot (because) in the 2nd. Then my true genius is on display.

Certainly. And this draft class in particular is going to be an oddity. The player who ends up with the best career out of it may have had their entire 2020 season wiped from existence. But that doesn't change my want for whomever I take 1st overall to be a cornerstone block for my team and be better than a Hecht. And that's no disrespect to Hecht who moved around his team's top 6 for the majority of his career. Delving into Blues history. Hecht and Handzus (two super-solid guys) were from that same draft. Both got traded away when the Blues wanted to go for it. Hecht was part of the package for Doug Weight. Handzus went to get Tkachuk. I want my 1OA to be the Weight/Tkachuk side of that equation. I want to pick up the Hechts and Handzuses of the world in the 2nd and 3rd rounds as pleasant surprises.

I love me some Hecht. He was the guy you'd add to any line to make it greater than the sum of its parts. This team needs a Hecht (they have one in Reinhart, although not the defensive skillset). All that to say: If we draft Hecht 1st overall I will be sorely disappointed. If we draft Beniers I want him in the Selke conversation when he gets into his 2nd contract and ongoing for the following 6 seasons.

This is where the fun begins.

Canadian homerism for Power? 😇

Are... are those my brethren? Nooooooooooooo! Why? Why! You maniacs! You blew it up. Damn you! ***** you all to hell! Errrrm... which one is Staal?

It's also OK if Samuelsson starts next season in Rochester to get big minutes if McCabe a) re-signs a 1-yr rehab deal, and b) is ready for the season.

And that's an excellent mindset. I really hope we aren't sellers at the deadline, that the kids all grow up and take off. Then, we're able to negotiate in-season and Reinhart signs a team-friendly 2x$5M to be a part of the solution as a top-6 Swiss Army Knife and set himself up again for when the cap goes up, and that Ristolainen is cool with a 2nd-pairing $4M salary. But... I can't fathom why they'd do that with this organization and management. But if those are my wild Padme-dying-in-childbirth-future-fever-dreams... then by golly, I'd better have a contingency plan as a seller because that seems much more likely.