Digger

Actually I am surprised this season at the Oilers fall from earlier this season. Draisaitl has 54 PTS in 35 GP to lead the league, McDavid has 53 PTS in 34 GP. So lots of scoring on the top line. I guess it goes to show it's not a simple solution to build a winning team and having the top scorer (or two) and top player (or two) in the league isn't enough. They have a few strange contracts on their team though and I would guess not enough depth to help. Yes I think coaching will be on the hot seat. Similar to the Sabres with Eichel, McDavid won't be patient waiting for the team to win. That will be a massive trade if it comes down to that in the offseason.

I'd still like to see Cozens at center with Krebs on LW and Tuch. I believe that line would be fun to watch. But for today's practice lines, okay. I did really like Asplund and Olofsson together earlier in the season but Olofsson seems to be suffering from the effects of his injury. Give him some games off and bring up Quinn for a few. Seems like a low risk move to me. Cozens with Tuch and Skinner had a great game against Nashville and the line gets broken up the next game Tage comes back (it's not logical to me to do that).

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/oilers-issues-keep-mounting-amid-latest-hiccup-vs-senators/ That's a pretty good come back from the Sens to score 5 3rd period goals for the 6-4 win over the Oilers.

I thought the same thing about Tage before this season with the way he kept getting injured in past seasons. He seems to be standing up pretty well this year. Not sure about Mitts but I think that he'll be back strong next season. Neither of them are anywhere as bad as Bogosian was with the Sabres (injury wise). That was a player that we could never count on playing a full season.

Would seem like a reasonable waiver pick up. I like the Houser story but an upgrade would seem easy.

I assume that he put the money toward one of the many $750K contracts.

The latest podcast with JR fits well with this thread in my opinion. JR has been great on these and is an entertaining listen.

Thanks for checking my work @Thorny. I meant Levi in that list. Yes we have most likely seen peak Dell (although the optimists on the board hope he reaches his peak in the next few games - because we have no other hope until healthier again).

I hear the talent argument and agree but I think it's more. We need our younger players that have talent and potential to reach their peak talent levels as quickly as possible. We have not seen the peak for Cozens or Dahlin yet, hopefully we haven't seen the peak for Mittelstadt or Tage yet. Quinn, Krebs, JJP, Power, Levi, etc. will take time to reach their peak years. And then there's upgrading the talent for checking and penalty kill. Filling out the D core with complementary support and mentoring with the young talent. +++ It's talent but it's overall team mix.

That sucks. He was having a great season so far. Hope he heals well and is able to come back strong.

Strangely the first thing I thought of was all the criticism that Edmonton got for getting the first overall picks in 2010, 2011, 2012, and then 2015 and then still sucking year after year. I know that we're not in the same place and that the Sabres current plan may translate to a better future. Sure having another 1st overall pick can't hurt this team (would be happy to get Wright). Lots of young players are being penciled into the 2022-23 lineup and I still wonder how they will manage overall next season.

Those were still hard years when we kept losing in the first round even when we were considered to be the better team. It's one of the reasons that the MayDay goal was so big at the time (besides being a great goal and a great call by RJ). Finally out of the 1st round only to be swept in round 2. But yes I agree it's nicer to at least have some hope making the playoffs instead of looking towards the next draft every year (by January or earlier).

Hopefully Jack Quinn's parents are able to be at the game tonight given the expected small crowd. I hope he plays well and has some enthusiasm rub off on his teammates.

Nice comments to read from Cozens. I would think that he's happy to finally see Krebs and Quinn coming up to play with. It's not that any of them are saviors for the team on their own but the youthful enthusiasm, talent, belief in their own talent that they can play and that they are open to coaching and improving. I think that he gets excited by having more guys to feed off that things will be getting better as they grow and develop. Fans feel that way too.

I don't see Adams having to overpay to keep Olofsson. His injury this season will help keep his contract reasonable. I would guess that they would like to keep him under $4M if they can.

Well I still don't get it. Power did not go to last year's WJC because he would miss too much time away from school (per reports) and now he's willing to go away from school for longer to the Olympics in China? He might as well sign with the Sabres now and get on with his NHL career.

We won't miss them either. Bye bye.

well done on the brother research.

I don't have much interest in Nylander anymore since we traded him but I do always look at talented players and wonder what it is that they are missing. He had (has) a great deal of raw talent (skating, shooting). Is it Lack of Character? Poor Work Ethic? Arrogance? To me he should have had the talent to play in the NHL but he looks like he will not. Don't get me wrong. I hated it when we picked him. I was convinced we were taking Chychrun or Sergachyov because we really needed more D-men. Why did he fail?

Yes that's what I meant bolded text above. He won't earn a bigger contract by playing in the Olympics but he will take some extra risk to actually go.

Yes glad to see the various recent posts with this line of thinking. I hope that we get to the day where we have enough top quality players fighting over the top 6 or top 9 spots earning ice time and staying healthy for the season. I don't see a great deal of value in ranking our top prospects against each other. This year has once again shown us that injuries can mess up our plans with Mittelstadt not being able to show what he is yet. I hope the boys develop and stay healthy for a good Rochester run and then make it interesting in next year's camp.

1 year with a raise is reasonable. 1 year deals are reasonable for Pysyk given where he is in his career right now regardless of the NHL team signing him.

I thought the biggest concern by NHL players was that they could get caught "stuck" over there after the games were over waiting to be clear of Covid before they could leave the country. I'm surprised that Power and Levi and others would not have the same concerns. Power should be looking forward to signing his first contract which for a rookie is capped (meaning his performance can't improve his 1st contract). I am normally pretty patriotic but this year's Olympics are not exciting me (maybe they will push it out a year - who knows).

I know all skills can be improved but in today's NHL I would always want the team drafting players that are great skaters not players that need to be better. Good players generally find a way to improve but it's doubtful Geekie will ever be an exceptional skater.

Hudson Fasching....................if we could turn back time on that trade, wow. Brayden McNabb