Jorcus

The PK seemed odd last night when Norris was on it. At least twice there were two men deep in the opponents zone when they were setting up for the break out. Norris seemed to stay very deep at times. I don't know if it was by design or just not adapting to the system. Have to wait and see what happens next time.

Ullmark made some crazy saves in that game.

I don't have the numbers but I think the dynamic of the 4th line must tilt more positive when Krebs is playing center. I can pick apart a lot of Krebs game but his best asset is the forcheck and when Malenstyn and Lafferty are on the ice with Krebs they seem to be effective. They do need to finish more chances but they often get the puck deep and at least force a save for a line change and a face off. In their own end they are about as bad as everyone else on the team. I think that is more about structure than talent.

I don't think Vegas will move off of Whitecloud. He is cheap and has term. You do have some interesting candidates. There are not many so called proven UFA right handers out there. Cody CeCi being the main one. Not sure how I fell about him. The Oilers kind of ran him off. Evan Bouchard is an RFA for the Oilers but they are not going to let him go without a fight. Then you get into mostly real old guys or very young ones.

Yep, I got mixed up between Pelech and Pulock. So Pulock seems like he would be a target. He is 30 with 5 more years at 6.15 M per year. If Lou wants to get younger he is more likely to deal him than Dobson. But there is a no trade clause and what the return would look like? Still has good NHL edge metrics. Certainly a solid player as far as I can tell.

Instead of discussing the need for a top 4 right handed D man in the abstract it's time to identify who might be available and discussing at what It might cost us. An interesting article in Yardbarker showed up where Lou Lamoriello is talking about a retool and a need to get younger over all. The article goes on to speculate that 3 D men might be available for a trade. The 2 right handers mentioned are Noah Dobson and Adam Pelech. Dobson is 25 and an RFA but is projected to get a huge contract. Projections are an 10 mil by 8 year contract. The only way that would work is if Power goes the other way which would kind of defeat the idea of getting a righty to play beside him in the first place. Adam Pelech checks a lot of boxes. at 30 years old he has 4 years left at 5.75 Mil per year. I can't say I have watched his play over the years but according to NHL edge he still has speed and a hard shot, certainly experienced. He has a limited no trade list but unknown if we are on it or not. The question is what do you give up for a guy like that? To be honest there are not a lot of options out there for this type of player. https://www.yardbarker.com/nhl/articles/islanders_goaltender_semyon_varlamov_is_likely_out_for_the_rest_of_the_season/s1_14825_41877776

Best at what?

I wonder what happens after you take an insulting call like that?

When Cozens was playing well and teamed with Peterka and Quinn they were very effective on the rush. Not much defense with that line. I posted the all of Cozens goals video in another thread a while back and he was an equal contributor back at that time. What is apparent is that he scores most of his goals skating toward the net from above but in between the dots. He has not been too effective scoring from other positions on the ice. A lot have things have fallen off since then. I watched some or the Norris videos and and it does seem like he is effective at scoring from different areas of the ice. That should be a plus.

Cozens has not been on the 1st power play unit for 15 or 20 games and it is not any better now. It's kind of like watching a Space X launch with all the breakaways they give up. So replacing Quinn with Norris might be the answer. He is not known as a playmaker so maybe it's not Quinn that comes off. Zucker coming back would help.

The Sabres still need another solid right winger to replace Quinn. They need at least 2 shut down D men to replace the bottom of the line up. They need to fix that 4th line. They also need another reliable goaltender who can play 40% of the games instead of a guy we just use on back to backs.

The Ottawa GM kept talking about improving 5 on 5 play. Not sure how this trade helps that. Still not sure why Ottawa made this trade other than they found a way to save a little money. He did say something about this trade enabled the Zetterlund acquisition.

According to Cap wages Cozens is on Long Term Injured reserve.

Well they lost Miko and Mitts and a bunch of other stuff. I can't blame them for the moves but it's probably going to come down to how well Blackwood holds up.

Maybe he already knew he was getting traded and made a business decision.

A few questions rolling around in my head. 1st. What is Ottawa's motivation for doing this deal? I guess with the Stutzle/ Pinto combo at center they are placing Cozens on the wing? He fills in at center if needed? 2nd What is mjd1001 going to do with all his new free time (just kidding of course).

One thing about Peterka is that he is prime offer sheet bait. Even at a bridge deal he will cost minimum 4.6 mil per year for what ever the term is. Any team that has their own 2nd round pick could poach him if we offer less. Is he worth losing for a first and a third? There could be a team or two who would who could up the anti for a 1st a 2nd and a third at around 6.9 Mil per year. Would we match that? This rule while it helps the players is going to be regressive for bottom feeder teams like the Sabres. A second round pick late in the draft is not worth as much as a second round pick early in the draft. So if the better teams that have the picks and cap space why would they not take advantage of the rules. I expect we are going to see a lot more of this activity soon.

I don't think Penguins can go into full rebuild mode until Crosby and Malkin are gone. So they will try to reload with vets until the inevitable time comes.

We can only speculate about Why Greenway chose to resign here but comparing Canton to Buffalo to New York City. Is like comparing an Apple to an Orange to a Coconut. I have lived in all three places and they are wildly different. Canton is a remote college town where the nearest place of interest is another remote college town. I am not knocking it, two of the best years of my life were spent there but it is a harsh place to live. Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto are all closer in distance than Buffalo if it's about family matters. Not that he could depend on those offers but we just don't know the why unless he tells us. As far as his play I am also of the mind that he is very inconsistent. Some games he seems to make a big difference and others he drifts. One negative I think I see is that he has to skate short shifts. I don't know if it's related to his injury but if he gets hung out on the ice he skates very slow and upright. You can almost always tell when he is out of gas. I guess the big fear is the good aggressive play he has shown this year was to get the next contract and that he might not put forth the same effort next year. On the other hand he should be in his prime years so maybe it all works out.

I think at the end of the season Detroit will be in the playoffs.

No, I don't want to trade him at all. Our right wing is a weak spot in our line up and trading Tuch would just make that worse. I am looking for a name you would trade him for. Someone you consider 4D or 1C that you think is available.

So you want to trade the guy who is 2nd place of all forwards in the NHL in blocked shots, 4th place of all forwards for takeaways, Tied for 38th in goals scored. He also plays in all situations. He has more goals than people like Jack Eichel, Brad Marchand, Mitch Marner among other big names. So exactly what name are you looking for in return? He is top 6 all day long and every GM would take him for that position I am certain.

I am pretty sure the lots between Scott and Perry you have to pay using a parking app. It could have changed since the last time I went there. I park at the ramp on the corner of Exchange and Washington behind the baseball stadium but that is CC only.

we lost the Skinner trade. At least for tonight.

Just out today. Venue is not going to happen.