Broken Ankles

For me, this is where the rubber meets the road. If the Oilers miss the playoffs completely and Leon chooses not to resign and test UFA, then McDavid could force a rebuild scenario. McDavid might not want to play his last season without him, assuming Leon Ops out after 2025. Which means you are buying only one year of term so the return could be short of Eichel, who had 4 years of prime term. Two good players and two picks. Maybe conditional 1st or Second rounders. And another big if, is how well our team is progressing, bc as you said, he has a full NMC. If Buffalo isn’t showing real growth on its own, McDavid would ixnay any trade to the 716.

…If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

Bills play a first place schedule, and Houston plays a last place one. Houston’s remaining games are all winnable, whereas Buffalo has Dallas, SanDiego, Philly, KC and Miami. Need to win at least 3 and two must be Miami and San Diego to keep pace with the conference. The North have a ton of games against each other so Pittsburg, Cinci, and Cleveland will probably suffer a few more losses each (minimum) in conference. Miami has only two tough games left on their schedule, with Dallas (home) and Baltimore (road). I thought the Bills easiest path to the playoffs was hope for 2 Miami losses, allowing us a loss to Chiefs and Philly then come down to week 18 against Miami for the division. Only way they make it is to take care of business and that means getting the Offense back on track to scoring 30 points per game. The defense is somewhat decimated but they can hold all of these teams under 30. Even KC.

Didn’t see the 7 D but….

Acknowledging where he is trending. If he finishes with 28-30 goals and 40-45 assists then maybe it’s a difference conversation. My point is he hasn’t proven the PPG of a Fiala or Hintz or the consistency in games played or the goals scoring of these two, yet. Those two have 7 year agreements, and Kempe has 4. Kempe, if he continues to perform, to your point will exceed both of those deals in his next contract based on where the cap will be. And his deal might worth more over the course of time. If I’m looking at Mitts and the term is 4 years then it’s a COLA over Kempe, $5.75-$6m. Could there be a recency bias with some of the spacers? Not hating on Casey. I hope he is signed.

5 minutes were 5v5, and the Corsi was 2 attempted shots for 1 against. He was 0-3 on the dot, although he has not been that bad throughout the year. Mostly starts in O-zone. Could have been his line mates, but I think the conventional wisdom that he is not bringing anything lately is accurate. Corsi, Fenwick, even high danger chances especially when paired with Z and KO are positive, but something is a miss.

What are you using to define “market”? The comparable I see is Kempe in LA. He had his entry level slide one year followed by a three year bridge like Mitts. Kempe was $2m, Mitts was $2.5m. Kempe then signed a 4x $5.5m deal in July ‘22. Kempe had ~ 100 more games played in the same previous 6 years (year to year equivalents) with about the same PPG. He also potted 35 the final year before the extension. Mitts has peaked at 15 goals. Could he net 35, sure. So more durability (over the course of six years) and greater goal scoring results by Kempe. And yet Mitts is somehow undervalued at $7M? Don’t see it the same. What is your comparable for a .52 PPG guy entering his final year of RFA with arbitration eligibility?

If Tuch is back, Krebs must be the healthy scratch tomorrow. A message has to be sent immediately. Cozens drops to center FWL#3.

Worst no call all season. Marcus was very late on that hit to JJP.

Skinny always good to give one away during the PP

Run three lines in the third. Staple Krebs to the bench. Give Savoie a shift or two in Cozens place. Mix up the lines. Rotate Cozens and Jost. Cozens cannot be on the ice w/ PP1 to start the period. Pray for good puck luck.

With: Hands of Stone on the left.

Same penalty he took last game.

San Jose is now tied with Edmonton after their win tonight. Two in a row after Mike Grier rattled some cages in the dressing room. McKenzie Blackwood played great. Skinner, not so much, giving up 3 on 18 shots. The Sharks PK held the Oil scoreless on 4 chances. Could be some broken LCD’s in Edmonton tonight.

Maybe more luck and conditioning.

I’ll ask in the form of an SAT question. RyJo is to Sabrespace as Blank is to Mean Girls? The answer is Fetch. It’s just not going to happen.

Raanta’s save against Krebs was number 8 on ESPN’s Top 10, and his save against Mitts was number three.

Sebastian Aho with two points tonight and 22 in his last 11 games against Buffalo. This guy kills Buffalo like William Fredrick Cody.

JJ - retribution for a careless mistake.

What’s up with the nuance? Don’t you know there is a narrative we need to support?

Bruins win in Big D. Swayman is a perfect 6-0, GAA ~1.38 with a save percentage above .950. An embarrassment of riches between the pipes.