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theo5789

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Everything posted by theo5789

  1. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that he takes it out of his game. By harness, I mean at least knowing when to not cross that line because you're more important on the ice than off of it. Sweden was in a prime position to potentially win the WJC, but he took himself out and he was part of a dominant line on the team. If you do care to see: If a guy was charging at him, then I get it. But Denisenko didn't look to be doing so. He could've easily shoved him down rather than put his elbow up (and it had to be way up for his height). I'm fine with a bit of nasty, but like I said, once he was out, they were much easier of a team to neutralize. If it was the regular season, then it would be more of a statement to not mess with him which I would be much more okay with.
  2. I think "cap hell" is an over-exaggeration of the situation to make it sound worse than it really is. We have maybe a bit of a cap inconvenience. I think at worse we lose one of the 3 big UFAs. If we lose 2, then we will see what the priorities are. Losing Toffoli would suck because we traded assets for a supposed return of at least a playoff drive in which I hope we still get. The thing is that we have the depth in prospects to potentially replace him, so while it would be nice to retain him, I'm not overly concerned. We have depth on RW with Boeser, Jake could try to take on bigger minutes, MacEwen is ready for a longer look, Motte is a sparkplug 4th liner that could thrive in a 3rd line role too. Of course, we may still be stuck with Eriksson who at worst is defensively responsible and helped with the Pearson-Horvat line for a good stretch. Then you have Lind who's progressing, Bailey may return as depth and we have Podkolzin likely coming in hot at the end of next season anyway. Markstrom is important. Would love to get him signed at a reasonable deal. If we can't make that work, then at least we have Demko as insurance. We would just have to sign a veteran backup that can play 30 or so games (someone like Griess, Crawford, or Mike Smith) to allow Demko to ease into that starter role. Not ideal, but not a terrible alternative if we can't get Marky signed. I think we should try to sell him with a NMC/NTC to get him to sign for less dollars though because once we commit to him, the writing is on the wall for Demko anyway and DiPietro will become the new developing youngster to take over hopefully (and his progress has been quite good). Tanev is often poo-pooed on because of his injury history and rightfully so. However, he's in a position that I don't see enough depth yet to lose. Hopefully we re-sign Tryamkin and while I think he has the potential to take over the Tanev duties, it's a bit of a risk still. Rafferty had a good season as an offensive dman, so we would take a big hit defensively and he wouldn't get the type of minutes that he got in Utica to thrive. I'd rather have Rafferty in the 6/7/8 position than to replace a top 4 dman spot. There is no much available on the market to replace the minutes needed. So IMO, Tanev is probably the most important signing and hopefully what he had said about possibly signing a one year deal or at least a covid market value deal with a bit of term is true (I know he was supposedly "mis-quoted", but that sounds more like the agents trying to not lose leverage). If we do lose Markstrom, signing Tanev is imperative. So if we were to lose 2 of these guys, I'm fine if we end up keeping either one of Marky or Tanev. This, of course, is the absolute worst case scenario in which I doubt it would get to that point.
  3. Well like you said, he's not ready now and I would agree with that, but he seems to have the battle and willingness to play above his weight which for his size will be a big attribute towards him getting to the NHL sooner than later. My point was his stature alone isn't what's going to hold him back from making the show, but he will have to take his game to another level of he expects to stick in the NHL. Let's keep in mind that the names mentioned were all still in junior at the same age as Hoglander while this is Nils 2nd season in a men's league (even if it's around or below AHL level) where he only turned 19 in December. Define stood out in world juniors because he had 11 points in 7 games. He did get ejected in a crucial time for Sweden which is something he has to harness, but that also demonstrated the side that isn't going to shy away from things because of his size. Still I do temper my expectations on his immediate impact, but there is reason for optimism.
  4. No one is saying this. He has a strong scouting background on his resume. His scouting experience comes from his time in Buffalo in which you've omitted that could be your corroborating evidence. When you draft, if you find NHL players especially in the later rounds, it's a success. That list may not be all stars, but they are NHL players that will likely get to a 300 game threshold (Benning and Grzelcyk). You want all star talent, then look at guys like Seguin and Hamilton. Now you might say these are top 10 picks (top 2 for Seguin) so they're easy picks, but I'd suggest that they made the right picks at those spots like we did (arguably) with the majority of our picks to date. Look at Philly taking Patrick with a top 2 pick. So no they didn't get a ton of players during that time period in Boston, but they got about a player per draft overall which is better than what we did in that time frame. Now Benning is the top guy and can fully put in his input towards scouting and the draft and we make a stark improvement. Coincidence?
  5. Marky unfortunately losing his father to cancer this year (and dealing with his father with cancer prior to the season) and still having such an incredible season for us (often the reason why we won games) should put him up as a finalist at the very least.
  6. Look at our drafting over the same time period. We would gladly welcome this draft board. Plus look at Buffalo's draft record where Benning was more directly involved (their GM at that time had no scouting experience).
  7. I don't know where this whole "draft guru" thing started to be honest. Benning came in with a strong scouting background with 13 years or so directly in that field, which can't be said for many GMs here. Benning feels strongly about the draft and has implemented changes here to reflect that and suddenly or team has improved in this area. No one defending Benning has called him a "guru", but on the other hand, many are considering Brackett as the sole key piece to the draft that will cripple this department with him leaving. When they're called out on it, they project the way they view things the other way and criticize opposing views on this basis.
  8. Tell that to someone like Brendan Gallagher. I get your point though. We have a roster crunch on wing at the moment and I don't think many are actually expecting him to crack the team out of camp. Even if he does, he probably will have to spend some time in the AHL until we can make room for him (through trade or an injury) like how we did with Stecher, then it's up to him to keep his spot.
  9. I agree with pretty much everything, but I think the only thing I want to say is that EP was ranked around 8-12 in most rankings. I don't think he was a complete unknown and we had this secret weapon. Surely teams knew of him already and scouted him and he was making a name for himself. We just did our research and felt he was something special, so we took a swing and nailed a grand slam. I would love to be a fly on the wall in the draft board discussions because that's likely where this got hashed out to determine that EP was their guy.
  10. DeLorme is still the chief amateur scout through this period of success (just not the director). Perhaps he didn't have good direction before (which Benning brought) or maybe he's a good scout, but not good at running the show.
  11. I agree that DeLorme didn't discover him, but Benning has said he was the loud voice that brought EP to their attention. The thing is Benning always credits his scouting staff for the work they do. He often says "we", when they get the player they targetted. Scouts are usually in the field doing their jobs, so they don't report directly to Benning, but DeLorme must've been the "lucky" guy to get the info, however he pushed hard to get EP's name in the conversation. Surely every scout will think the guy they are scouting could/should be the pick they should go for. DeLorme had to go with the info he had and stick to his guns on one guy. So the crowd that is trying to pin all the good picks on Brackett need to realize it's a group effort and it's more complicated than just one guy getting the job done. Benning has praised this group, hell even Brackett does. So with this in mind, with Benning at the helm and supposedly having too much of a footprint in this department, perhaps he is doing something right with this group. Brackett was a good piece here, but he wanted a bigger role and to take away from what Benning has developed. With the way the media has propped up Brackett here though, he's going to have big shoes to fill wherever he goes. Though aside from Patrick, I think I would be happy with any of the other 4 players and wouldn't be too upset if I was one of those teams and "missed out" on EP.
  12. https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/1581/inge-hammarstrom This seems to show that he stopped being a scout after the 2017-2018 season. And before the crowd that suggests that we are firing everyone involved with EP, the man was 70 years old at that time, so it's very plausible that he's retired now (or isn't a full timer anymore). If he retired, then it was a nice parting retirement gift that he gave us with EP. With that said, surely the scouting system goes beyond the scouts listed as even they probably have branches of connections in different areas to help gather information from as many books and crannies of the world. So if Inge is still watching games, surely our current scouts could still give him a call and see if there's anyone popping up of interest in his area (but of course now that he's not tied to a club, any team could give him a call technically now).
  13. It's also nothing new for every other team in the NHL. We were fighting for a playoff spot, it would be quite unusual for a team in this situation to sell. I always viewed it if he walked, then he simply would be a playoff rental that we didn't pay an asset for. Boeser, EP, Quinn, Gaudette, Motte, Demko were all prospects that earned their opportunities. If you can't name a prospect that has earned it over Tanev, then that prospect hasn't earned anything yet. Handing a prospect a spot with the risk of that prospect not being ready and moving on from a proven player is also a recipe that could set you back. Although with the young core starting to become the "vets" of the group, the prospects should be looking at the opportunities of spots to take over when our current vets expire from their contracts and push for those roles if they want to b-line themselves to the NHL. The pandemic has thrown a wrench into the plans, but the cap looked manageable to be able to retain all 3 of Marky, Tanev and Toffoli. With Tanev being interviewed demonstrating his understanding of the current market and having the desire to remain a Canuck, it will go a long way in keeping these guys (and hopefully the other two feel similarly) even in these circumstances.
  14. Yes pairing get mixed up on occasion, but he was pencilled in to the top pairing (or at least the top 4) this past season. I'm not opposed to the idea, I just don't think it's feasible. If the team can get it to work cap-wise and get the players to buy into it, then I'm all for it because it would be a massive upgrade to add a #1 RD and a player like Tryamkin to the current group.
  15. The thing with rumours is we don't know if it was really ever offered and what was actually true or not. I didn't hear anything about the Jets actually offering or being asked about Ehlers and it being rejected, but I remember there being a lot of talk suggesting it would be a good fit for a trade as the Jets were losing Trouba and Myers and then the Byfuglien situation happened as well leaving them with a need for RD help. I'm not surprised that the price is high for a top pairing dman. Keep in mind that he had I believe 3 or 4 more years left on a decent contract (even if his defense was suspect, an under 25 years old, 40+ points, hard hitting dman is worth 5.4 million). Buffalo wasn't in a position to restart a rebuild with Eichel in place, so if they had to move Risto, they would need immediate help rather than picks and prospects which means a better quality player(s) in return. Do I think he's worth acquiring for that high price? Hard to say unless we actually know what the price tag was, but it's fair that Buffalo wasn't simply going to dump him for cheap as he is a key player for them to build around. I put him in the same calibre as an Ekman-Larsson and Edler in his more youthful prime, so whatever that value is that you're willing to trade for.
  16. It's no surprise that the coach and GM want to appease their #1 RD. But at the end of the day, results matter. If he was supposedly that poor defensively, coaches (all that he's been with) wouldn't be continuously putting him on the ice for 22+ minutes a night including being the top PK defender. Plus/minus has been what I've heard most in regards to his defense. I'm curious as to what else you've heard though because I must've missed it.
  17. There's also the cap to deal with that is at best staying stagnant, so teams aren't going to be chomping at the bit for these players either. There are plenty of other options as well (in UFA no less). Hopefully if we get this play-in, it can boost the stock on some of these guys though. However I do agree with you that it goes to show that Benning knew what he was talking about surrounding his young core with vets and picked out the best even if it cost a bit more (or at least not play contract games and potentially miss out on a target) to do so as he knew the importance of this.
  18. If you read the article, he doesn't sound like he would be insulted. He knows the situation with the pandemic and wants to make it work so he can stay (and hopefully retire as a Canuck).
  19. I agree that they shouldn't be looking at moving Risto unless they want to restart their rebuild again. They should be building around him, but they have to be careful because he has asked out once already. So while he wants to be loyal, he also wants to be on a team committed to winning. So that's kind of my point that even though the team may want him around, it doesn't look like he's completely hooked into staying and could easily request out again as he's done in the past. He's giving the team another chance, but it's gotta be a short leash.
  20. That's putting all the onus on him and not the team. He's the top defender on some piss poor teams. He wants stability in the organization and proper direction and hopefully results that come from that. It's no coincidence that you see players like O'Rielly thrive after leaving Buffalo (and many examples coming out of Edmonton). What were the rumours though and where did you hear them? Just curious.
  21. https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/jacke-eichel-buffalo-sabres-rasmus-ristolainen-trade-quick-shifts/ Ristolainen said he wants to win “if it’s in Buffalo or somewhere else” and realizes losing necessitates change. “I haven’t really seen it before or in Buffalo. I think this year we built our culture a little bit better than previous years,” he went on. “We are young. I don’t know if a lot of guys have been in winning teams or winning organizations. Personally, I haven’t. Unfortunately, the team I played for when I was back in Finland it was in the same position, coach got fired every year, players got traded, GM got fired, so I don’t really know what is it. I haven’t seen it. I wish.” “Buffalo has a bright future,” Ristolainen said, “but we’ve been saying the ‘bright future’ for seven years now when I’ve been here. And I’m not sure when is it?” I pulled out some quotes from Risto himself. I think he wants it to work out in Buffalo, but he wants to win. They showed some promise this year, but have been eliminated once again already (not even a chance for a play-in). Of course, the coach and GM want him to stay and have likely told him the right things to keep him at bay for now, but the results are going to be telling and it doesn't sound that Risto has completely bought in just yet. Buffalo is likely going to ride it out until the last year of his contract and will have to see where they stand to decide if they will trade him because he's not going to re-sign if they remain the way they have been for his entire career with that organization. So they have a year and a half or so unless Risto demands a move again before this time is up.
  22. Yes but as you have listed in your lineup, you Myers paired with Tryamkin in seemingly the "3rd pair". Myers played 2 more minutes a game this year because he was partnered with Edler for the majority of the time. If Tanev gets his minutes reduced further, even at a 4.5 cap, it would be pricey for those minutes (we are likely letting Stecher potentially walk for free as we can't afford to pay him 2.5-3 million on the 3rd pair). And as mentioned, it's not like between Risto/Myers/Tryamkin that they couldn't take on the PK minutes that Tanev would give up. Would love to make it work somehow, I just don't see it happening.
  23. While that would be nice, I just can't see us fitting both Tanev and Risto in the same lineup cap-wise and due to ice time. Myers at "3rd pairing" minutes is a massive waste of 6 million a season. With Risto, Myers and Tryamkin on RD, I think Tanev's PK minutes would be handled well. Don't think Stecher really holds any value. I don't mind the idea of potentially moving out Jake (if we are getting a player of this calibre in return). We have players like MacEwen that can step into the 3rd line RW role and soon guys like Lind and Pod could step into a similar role that he's in. Would miss Jake's potential physicality and speed in the playoffs (plus the local factor), but I'm starting to get wary of his off ice mishaps. I think if Jake is the centerpiece, we would likely have to add a prospect and a pick as well. Player, prospect and pick would seem to be the going rate. I would think we would have to add Woo or Rathbone (which would put him out East if he wants to stay close to family) as the prospect and I'd be surprised if we didn't have to add a 1st as well in this package. Hopefully they would take someone like Sutter/Roussel to balance out the cap if this was the case though.
  24. It seems more that Risto wants out rather than the team is trying to unload him. They have called him a core player and it seems unusual that they would want to move their current #1 RD unless they plan on rebuilding again at this point. Dahlin is a LD, so I don't think he makes him expendable other than they're hoping that he takes the big minutes and balance out the RD. Whatever the case, I think his issues defensively are more to do with the fact that he's been their go-to top defender (playing the tough matchups, getting big PK minutes while also expected to be an offensive driver) on some pretty piss poor teams (and thus the poor plus/minus). You look at someone like Ekman-Larsson and he's in a similar situation where his plus/minus has looked poor on a bad team, but how many think he's actually poor defensively? Edler had a pretty bad season in plus/minus and he's been a regular top defender for us. The only reason he becomes "expendable" for Buffalo is if he forces his way out (although it seems like it's getting closer to that point as he continues to suggest that he could be on another team at some point).
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