Curt

I’m definitely not saying that the coaching staff is perfect. I think the special teams were very disappointing and I disagreed with other decisions here and there. I think it’s possible that Granato needs to be replaced at some point in the mid term future. He has been good for young player development, but a lot of other stuff is an uncertainty. I just think that you are being silly by blaming the season’s failures on coaching, while not acknowledging that the coaching may have been part of the reason that the team wildly outperformed your expectations for them. Also, no fan base looks at their coach and thinks they are doing a perfect job. Even the guys considered to be the top coaches in the league are not perfect. There is always always always something to point at and complain about.

I don’t think it does. He would still be an RFA, one year from UFA. Need to have 7 accrued seasons (be on roster for 40+ games) or be 27 years old in order to become a UFA.

Based on what? Based on pasted examples of similar players and similar contracts, $9M is more than would be expected.

This is an excellent point. You were emphatic for 3/4 of the season that the team would finish in the bottom 5 because they were so bad. Based on that opinion, the coaching staff must have performed a miracle by nearly getting them to the playoffs! But now you are saying that actually the coaches are the reason the team struggled at times! The two opinions are pretty conflicting when viewed side by side. Plus, listen, all teams go through good and bad stretches of play, relative to their baseline. Young teams tend to be especially volatile. Teams with inconsistent goaltending tend to be especially inconsistent. I think it’s absolutely normal, and expected (by me at least) the the Sabres of last season were inconsistent.

Not that it matters, but I disagree.

You talking about Savoie? I wouldn’t be surprised if he is under 5’9” because that’s what he has always been listed as but he declined to be measured at the draft combine. However, I think he is definitely heavier than 150’s. He is built quite stocky.

Yeah, no. His play has really tailed off the pas few years. He probably isn’t a top-4 guy anymore, at least not for a good team. He is about to turn 32, so I’m not too confident that he will be able to turn things around.

Fair. Just wanted to clarify. I see it much more as “kid who has really been through the wringer this year” as opposed to “spoiled brat who is trying to manipulate the draft process to his advantage“.

What kind of player do you think Faulk is? He isn’t purely a stay at home guy, but he is good defensively and physical.

Just to follow up on this. I also listened to the podcast. Friedman didn’t actually say that Michkov has REFUSED to meet with scouts. It was more that Michkov/his people have been mostly unresponsive to requests to meet with people and teams have some uncertainty about if he will meet with them before the draft. He said that scouts have had to catch him after games to talk for a couple minutes, as opposed to setting up meetings in advance. I think it’s important to keep in mind that this season Michkov was a 17-18 year old who lost his father (who he was close with) under very suspicious circumstances. I have no idea what is going on with him from a mental, emotional, legal, or political standpoint.

Draft picks are a liquid asset. They are often used to acquire NHL players.

I don’t think this years draft is considered to be so deep, it’s just that the 3-4 guys at the very top are better than normal.

That’s fair. I just didn’t want everyone thinking that he was ridiculously slight.

148? This can’t be correct any more. I’m not sure what he weights exactly but I’ve seen him listed at over 170 in some places. Not too much info coming out of Russia, but apparently Michkov will be at the draft, so NHL teams will get a chance to meet with him.

I rarely listen to the episodes with Roenick. I listen to most of the others. Peters and Rivet alone are pretty hit or miss. When they have Gio or Vanek as a guest, it’s usually pretty good.

There have never been more than 4 D at any given time with cap hits of 12%+ at the time of signing. I’m sure Power will be very good, but I doubt he will be so good that he earns that contract. It’s possible, but I doubt it. The cap is projected to take a couple big jumps starting with the 2024-25 season as a kind of “catch up” but I doubt that it takes a big jump in 4 consecutive years and increases by $16M+ in 4 years. It could be close to that though. Basically I doubt either of those two things happen, although both are possible. As a result, I think the chances that BOTH of those things happen is extremely small. I think a projection of a roughly 10%, $10M long term contract for for Power following a hypothetical 3 year bridge, with the cap at or near $100, is a lot more realistic.

The cap is projected to take a couple large jumps in coming years, but I doubt that it reaches 100M by 2027. Even if it did, Power would basically need to have established himself as no doubt one of the top 5 Defensemen in the NHL in order to get a 12% cap hit type of contract. There are currently only 3 Defensemen who have contracts with 12% cap hit at the time of signing. The situation you lay out is like a 1% probability type of scenario.

You may be right but I’m not sure if really will make that much difference to him from a financial standpoint. I really don’t think he will earn Dahlin $ of $10M+, because he isn’t going to play PP1 and put up those same point totals. Let’s do the math. A 2 x $6M bridge = $12M Followed by 8 x $10M = $80M = $92M over 10 years A 8 x $8M deal = $64M Followed by something like 6 x $12M (but only counting the first 2 seasons) = $24M = $88M over 10 years Thats about how I see it working out. If he signs a bridge, he might make a few $M more over the next 10 years, but if he signs long term now, he will get more money sooner, and it’s always better to get the money sooner because you can invest it and get that compounding interest going sooner, so I see it as pretty much a wash. Plus, just the security of locking that contract in right away is really worth something in terms of piece of mind and financial certainty. I would say that he actually makes out better by taking a long term deal now. You could quibble with the numbers I used above, but I doubt they are off by much. Does anyone really think that 2 years from now Power will be able to command a contract bigger that 8 x $10M? I’d be shocked if he was able to get even that much.

Risto, Dahlin, and Joker

If you had to predict, what would you guess for Mitts point production next next season? Assuming no major changes to the forward group and a mostly healthy season for Casey. Im not actually advocating for signing him to a big extension this offseason, I think it may be better to wait. I just think he is pretty important part of the forward group right now.

Slowjamistan Coyotes has a nice ring to it.

But what if he isn’t a 3C? What if he is a guy who you can plug anywhere in your top 9 and puts up 55+ points per season? What is that worth?

It just seems factually incorrect. I guess my question is, why don’t you view him as a small goalie?

Levi is closer to those smallest numbers than he is to the average numbers. He definitely is a small goalie. It’s ok.

I’ll throw out David Pasternak with a little of Trevor Zegras’ flash added in, but a little smaller.