Digger

When Ray and May were on the Sabres I think Ray would have won a head to head. May really developed as a fighter as his career moved on and I agree he was really underrated by some of his opponents. Later on I think May would do okay against Ray. I don't recall any actual Ray vs May fights but maybe there was. Barnaby was a lightweight that was always yapping and getting under players skin. But he also had the most hockey talent (skating and scoring) of the three. I always wished he would have found a better balance for agitating, fighting, and thinking about offence. His mothers day hat-trick was an example of his skill. I'm not saying he would have been a high scorer but I am suggesting he could have had maybe a better career if he had more of a balance. He really did not have the body to be a true enforcer and he went through some really scary stuff with head injuries and concussion effects getting beat by bigger enforcers. Domi had to have had the hardest head in the NHL. Hits to the head did not seem to hurt him at all. He was much more arrogant on and off the ice than Ray.

I looked it up. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Troopers Actor Jay Chandrasekhar, Super Troopers - Arcot "Thorny" Ramathorn. Now we know.

4 pieces, all former 1st round picks. Yes makes you wonder about the potential return for Eichel. I hope that we do better with at least one of the prospects coming back to be a top 6 NHL player (assuming this trade ever happens).

I agree that the move would make the Rangers a better team once Eichel joined their lineup but I think that it was true for many of the teams that were or are rumored to be in on Eichel. LA, Minnesota too in my opinion. Everyone loves their A+ prospects I guess at least until they hit their ceilings in the NHL. It seems to me that even first round draft picks are treasured more after the pick is taken (when the pick becomes a prospect with a name and hype about their potential).

No I think the fans would have had a deal worked out by the draft. Real things like money and player health and surgery options and maybe even CBA now have got in the way (NHL business stuff).

For a prospects challenge I assume that we'll need another young goalie in addition to UPL won't we? Maybe a chance for a walk-in to try out?

Relax. I enjoy your posts and everyone's posts on the board. I imagine we all resonate and agree with some posts more than others (which is why it's nice to have the options to like, etc.). When the discussions get heated between posters I always wonder what it would be like if we were all face to face having these discussions. Writing always allows for more interpretation for "what did they mean by that" and reacting. It's amazing how many assumptions we can make without knowing for sure. Your name is Thorny, so I assumed that's why some of your posts are taken the wrong way at times. 😏

Anaheim? The team that apparently is not willing to give up Zegras, Drysdale, or McTavish (who used to be known as 3OA) for Eichel. If that's true then sending them Ryan Johnson won't help much.

Actually the wind cries P-U, this stinks.

well said

There's lots of talk and hope that Will Borgen will get waived by Seattle and that the Sabres will pick him up. I wouldn't mind that scenario because I really liked Borgen and would love to see him get more time on the Sabres. A right handed D with some toughness. But it would not shock me at all if Borgen gets waived and the Sabres don't claim him. I just think Adams will pass if he gets the chance and stay with the defense that he has put together. Hopefully I'm wrong.

I really liked what I saw from Samuelsson last season. I do think that this needs to be his year to break into the lineup and show us what kind of player he can be for the Sabres. Next year we will have Owen Power coming into the lineup and I imagine Ryan Johnson will sign and start pushing for a spot too.

It's interesting but I would suggest not this season. We would be giving up an unprotected 1st as part of the package. If we added Peterson I still don't see us having a great season and there are some great prospects coming in the next draft. Example: signing between $8,221,464 - $10,276,829 requires 2 First Round Picks, 1 Second Round Pick, 1 Third Round Pick. Over that amount requires 4 first round picks.

He definitely had some great saves and games for the Sabres but certainly a great deal of soft goals and losses too. I specifically remember the season previews in past years where they would question if Hutton was up to the task. He would play great for a few games and then lose it. Last season was all about having his eyesight corrected and he would be good again. Oh well. At least he won't have high expectations in Arizona.

Looks like he's busy reading the Sabre Space forum on his phone "Jack Eichel Trade Rumors".

I watched this video today and thought it might be an interesting discussion.

He still has some upside I believe but I'm not a huge fan of him as a player. There's been speculation that Carolina has discussed some long term options with him and that he will sign an extension next season for much less than the $6.1M that it took to get him away from Montreal. I read that they expect him to start the season at LW. His performance and stats this season will be interesting to watch and it will be interesting to see if he signs an extension closer to $2.0 or $2.5M next season.

I was thinking it's crazy for Arizona to trade a player expected to be in their top 6 under a reasonable cap hit for 4 more years in September when there's no time to replace him with similar talent. Then I remembered that the Sabres are trying to do something similar with Eichel.................so never mind. They will also be able to move Kessel at the deadline for another pick too.

so you would have matched and kept KK?

Montreal has done okay on this overall losing Kotkaniemi (getting a 1st and 3rd) and acquiring Dvorak (for a 1st and 2nd). If KK breaks out this season maybe there's some regrets but replacing KK with Dvorak seems okay and they made the best of the situation. Perhaps their only regret was that they might have tried harder to keep Danault if they knew this was going to happen.

There's not a great deal of top prospects in Montreal to send back to us. Caufield is a RW and it's doubtful that they include him in a deal. I can't envision a deal that I would like with them.

I guess they may have some confidence they can address their shortage of centers.

Eklund is not very reliable at all. That being said, of course everyone would like to see some movement or even some credible rumors on an Eichel trade.

I understand your point. I used to have the same opinion but I have to say that I love having the best players in the world from each country. I'm sure you must agree that it is exciting to see them play together. If not the Olympics then I would hope that they could play in some other tournament. The Canada Cup was pretty good but the timing was a bit rough for the players especially if they had a long playoff run.

What's your definition of amateurs? Obviously NHL players make millions, AHL players are paid well, Junior players make money for expenses, Pro leagues in Europe. The guidelines for only amateurs is pretty gray to me. We already have a yearly Junior tournament with the best players under 20 - WJC which might be the closest a best in the world amateur competition. As an example look at the summer Olympics with the 100m race. Those guys are paid pretty well with endorsements and as far as I'm concerned they should be because they have set their life aside to only train and become the best in the world. If you look back at what Dave Hannan did (stepping away from the NHL for a period of time), does that meet your criteria? I'm just interested in hearing your thoughts on who would qualify as an amateur.