Confirmed Owen Power returning to Michigan for His Sophomore Season

[Brawndo]

 

[Pimlach]

No surprise and still the best news of the off season. 

[Thorner]

The first 1st overall pick to not step immediately into the NHL since Erik Johnson (2006) who @dudacek IMO accurately has pegged as the most likely Power future comparable 

Edited August 19, 2021 by Thorny

[GASabresIUFAN]

Have fun kid.  Go play winning hockey.  Michigan needs at least one good sports team.  

[Doohicksie]

Ack.  This awful.

Or good.

I guess.

 

 

Maybe.

[Norcal]

Party Time

[JohnC]

That Michigan team is loaded. If they don't win the collegiate championship they will be disappointed. They should be a fun team to watch and a team with a couple of Buffalo prospects (Portillo and Power) who the Sabre fans will follow. 

[nfreeman]

Good.

[woods-racer]

Who here doesn't believe it's the right thing to do and what is best for the player and his development?

 

GMKA is doing it right by not making it financially better to play with the Sabres this season.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

This is good and not surprising.

I think he will get a look this year depending when his college season ends, which should be in a Championship at the Frozen Four (I think that is what they call it).

[Pimlach]

46 minutes ago, Thorny said:

The first 1st overall pick to not step immediately into the NHL since Erik Johnson (2006) who @dudacek IMO accurately has pegged as the most likely Power future comparable 

Not so fast on the comparison.   Can he have a fair chance to develop his game? 
 

1.  Power never got the college experience he wanted.  

2. His freshman year was limited by Covid. 

3. His development would be better served playing another season in NCAA on a strong team  

4.  There is no good reason to join his NHL team right now.  

[Thorner]

8 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Not so fast on the comparison.   Can he have a fair chance to develop his game? 
 

1.  Power never got the college experience he wanted.  

2. His freshman year was limited by Covid. 

3. His development would be better served playing another season in NCAA on a strong team  

4.  There is no good reason to join his NHL team right now.  

Points 3 and 4 aren't relevant to my post - I didn't question the decision being made, I think it's the correct decision. 

I'm not sure where any unfairness comes in, re: the bold. I think Erik Johnson represents the most likely result and projection, which is what I said. It wasn't an absolute statement, I didn't say his future has been accurately pegged, merely that his *most likely* NHL comparable was accurately offered by dudacek. A solid, reasonably proficient at both ends of the ice, minutes eating second pair D-man for over a decade seems reasonable, to me, as a likely result. 

Would you like to set the expectation at something higher?

[Srw1525]

Best decision for him for this upcoming season. No reason to have him in the NHL this season with this transition we’re in. 

[inkman]

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

The first 1st overall pick to not step immediately into the NHL since Erik Johnson (2006) who @dudacek IMO accurately has pegged as the most likely Power future comparable 

Should be noted that Johnson was easily one of the worst 1st overall picks in the last 20 years. 

[Thorner]

2 minutes ago, inkman said:

Should be noted that Johnson was easily one of the worst 1st overall picks in the last 20 years. 

It's of note - but I feel like most people already appreciate the fact that Power was a below-average 1st overall pick in terms of prospect evaluation at the time of the selection. That doesn't mean he won't be a very good player, nor does that even preclude the possibility he ends up a solid 1OA in retrospect.  But I mean if his status was instead reflective of being an "average" first overall pick where the last 20 years or so are concerned, he'd be in the NHL. 

[Digger]

News as expected.  It would have been breaking news if he had signed with the Sabres for this season considering it's August 19th. 

I wish him all the best.  The Michigan team is really strong this season with some future NHL stars.  It will be interesting to watch that team play.  I'm also hopeful that he plays in the WJC and plays very well at that tournament.  A good year of development and let's see how he looks next season.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

EJ turned out fine.  Finer than fine, really.  It's very likey that OP will turn out just as fine.

[dudacek]

Any insight as to how much influence the Sabres had in this decision?

[Zamboni]

1 minute ago, dudacek said:

Any insight as to how much influence the Sabres had in this decision?

Well, the Sabres had a lot of influence… Or should I say the state of the Sabres 😂

[Flashsabre]

Super Happy to hear this.  This has always been the best development option regardless of draft position.  He has a ton of upside but needs to work on/develop things still at a lower level.
 

Play big minutes on a powerhouse. Play for Canada at the WJCs and play Frozen Four this season. Add some man muscle.

[inkman]

Twitter acting like this is a result of the bumbling Sabres franchise. I love Twitter. I also hate Twitter. 
 

 

[Thorner]

10 minutes ago, inkman said:

Twitter acting like this is a result of the bumbling Sabres franchise. I love Twitter. I also hate Twitter. 
 

 

Almost all of the takes on there are besides the point - people acting like Power is doing this to "avoid" the Sabres and that he'd step right in with another team...wrong. People acting like the Sabres are making a smart decision....also wrong, in a sense.

It's merely the correct decision (I'd argue, the obvious one), for both parties. 

Edited August 19, 2021 by Thorny

[Digger]

4 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Almost all of the takes on there are besides the point - people acting like Power is doing this to "avoid" the Sabres and that he'd step right in with another team...wrong. People acting like the Sabres are making a smart decision....also wrong, in a sense.

It's merely the correct decision (I'd argue, the obvious one), for both parties. 

Yeah, I hate that negative stuff.  I suppose the media outlets really love the Sabre organizational issues.  NHL news is pretty slow in August.  Manufacturing a fictional rift with Owen Power will give them something else other than Eichel to talk about with regards to the Sabres.

To quote @New Scotland (NS) he'll be fine.  😏

[dudacek]

8 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Almost all of the takes on there are besides the point - people acting like Power is doing this to "avoid" the Sabres and that he'd step right in with another team...wrong. People acting like the Sabres are making a smart decision....also wrong, in a sense.

It's merely the correct decision (I'd argue, the obvious one), for both parties. 

This is what I think too and I'm sure it's how both sides will spin it.

I wonder what the actual discussion was and how if it is how each side actually feels.

[Stoner]

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

Points 3 and 4 aren't relevant to my post - I didn't question the decision being made, I think it's the correct decision. 

I'm not sure where any unfairness comes in, re: the bold. I think Erik Johnson represents the most likely result and projection, which is what I said. It wasn't an absolute statement, I didn't say his future has been accurately pegged, merely that his *most likely* NHL comparable was accurately offered by dudacek. A solid, reasonably proficient at both ends of the ice, minutes eating second pair D-man for over a decade seems reasonable, to me, as a likely result. 

Would you like to set the expectation at something higher?

How about setting it lower, or not setting it all, and see what happens? For our collective mental health.

28 minutes ago, inkman said:

Twitter acting like this is a result of the bumbling Sabres franchise. I love Twitter. I also hate Twitter. 
 

 

Is Television also acting in a certain way? Books? The Telephone? The Newspaper? I don't get the generalization.