I thought he was already a potential lock for the top 10 in next year's draft? Maybe I'm mistaken but last I read he was getting some serious hype.
- Mordecai

5'8" 155 lbs or whatever he is at the moment....I'll believe he's a 1st rounder when I see it. It might not even matter what he does this year either. If he is dominant, it will probably just raise his stock in the 2nd round, where GMs get ballsier with these type picks.

But seriously, the Sabres do have a bright future ahead of them.
- five4fighting10

They have some great talent, but I think Murray is a bad GM and Bylsma a bad coach.

And I think their backend is a big weak spot for now looking forward.

Girouxdini is the A-Rod of the NHL. Scores when the team is up or down by 3 and nowhere to be found when the game is on the line. I'm not telling you anything you don't already know though.
- Hatboro_Swords

We've got Boyd Gordon to rescue him from his untimely magic tricks

They have some great talent, but I think Murray is a bad GM and Bylsma a bad coach.

And I think their backend is a big weak spot for now looking forward.
- Mononoke

Do they have a goalie? Lehner? yikes

They have some great talent, but I think Murray is a bad GM and Bylsma a bad coach.

And I think their backend is a big weak spot for now looking forward.
- Mononoke

Agreed that Murray is a not a great GM. I don't think he's one of the worst but his asset management is absolutely questionable.

5'8" 155 lbs or whatever he is at the moment....I'll believe he's a 1st rounder when I see it. It might not even matter what he does this year either. If he is dominant, it will probably just raise his stock in the 2nd round, where GMs get ballsier with these type picks.
- Mononoke

Clayton Keller didn't seem to suffer from the size issue too much when it came to draft day. Now you could argue that AZ's young GM was ahead of the curve but Idk.

Agreed that Murray is a not a great GM. I don't think he's one of the worst but his asset management is absolutely questionable.
- Mordecai

It's hard to be worse than the former Boston triumvirate...and there's a handful of others you could group after them. Is Murray that bad? No. But the love he gets is beyond baffling. I'd describe him as a mediocre GM who can't keep his mouth shut. He's a more sensible Jim Benning.

Clayton Keller didn't seem to suffer from the size issue too much when it came to draft day. Now you could argue that AZ's young GM was ahead of the curve but Idk.
- Mordecai

I had Keller 4th...and I would've considered him 3rd even. If anyone was going to take Keller it was gonna be Arizona. But Keller is around Giroux size. He's small and it was a knock but not in the same way as the 5'7"-5'8" bracket. I also think Keller has *looks over shoulder* e-e-e-elite potential. Not sure Yamamoto has that transcendent ceiling, even if he's very good. He's got a serious motor though and can skate. He will probably get the DeBrincat treatment. And we also saw how far Abramov and Bitten fell.

I also am less sure than ever how Hexy treats size. He drafted Kase and Konecny and others, but went real big this draft. It was obvious it was a criteria. Is that a once off, addressing going smaller in the previous drafts? Or maybe a change in philosophy? I don't know, but lean the former.

Clayton Keller didn't seem to suffer from the size issue too much when it came to draft day. Now you could argue that AZ's young GM was ahead of the curve but Idk.
- Mordecai

Going into the draft his name was rising & at least to me there was very little chance he'd make it to 18.

And in a draft that wasn't as deep as in past years the cost to move up probably wasn't worth it.

It's hard to be worse than the former Boston triumvirate...and there's a handful of others you could group after them. Is Murray that bad? No. But the love he gets is beyond baffling. I'd describe him as a mediocre GM who can't keep his mouth shut. He's a more sensible Jim Benning.
- Mononoke

Hes got Buffalo fans hook line and sinker with their "rebuild".

FYI, from last blog, toi/g has nothing to do if a guy played one game or all 82. Anyways, Gostisbehere did not average top line minutes last year, but did live up to his nickname in the playoffs. Holy S, you guys got a bunch of magicians on your team. Girouxdini is the best disappearing act in the NHL.
- Hatboro_Swords

This post reminds of of a quadriplegic making fun of a guy who cant run because he has a broken foot.

They have some great talent, but I think Murray is a bad GM and Bylsma a bad coach.

And I think their backend is a big weak spot for now looking forward.
- Mononoke

Kinda sad they went through so many bad seasons and have no hope on defense

I had Keller 4th...and I would've considered him 3rd even. If anyone was going to take Keller it was gonna be Arizona. But Keller is around Giroux size. He's small and it was a knock but not in the same way as the 5'7"-5'8" bracket. I also think Keller has *looks over shoulder* e-e-e-elite potential. Not sure Yamamoto has that transcendent ceiling, even if he's very good. He's got a serious motor though and can skate. He will probably get the DeBrincat treatment. And we also saw how far Abramov and Bitten fell.

I also am less sure than ever how Hexy treats size. He drafted Kase and Konecny and others, but went real big this draft. It was obvious it was a criteria. Is that a once off, addressing going smaller in the previous drafts? Or maybe a change in philosophy? I don't know, but lean the former.
- Mononoke

Honestly I haven't seen very much at all of Yamamoto. Definitely a bit premature to compare him to Keller.

I like Hexy's "full spectrum" approach so far. We have a little bit of everything in our prospect pool. Sans multiple xELITEx forward prospects. But there is size, skill, and two way acumen sprinkled throughout. Still plenty of room to improve though.

Kinda sad they went through so many bad seasons and have no hope on defense
- PhillySportsGuy

I would've taken Sergachev over Nylander.

Honestly I haven't seen very much at all of Yamamoto. Definitely a bit premature to compare him to Keller
- Mordecai

Keller is on a completely different level than Yamamoto for me, and I like Yamamoto a lot and he's one of my early favorites. Also, I don't think comparing them is that ridiculous. They're only 2 months apart in age. Yamamoto is going to be one of the oldest draft eligibles this year. To his credit, if last year was his draft year as a very young draftee, it would've been a heck of a year with 71 points in 57 WHL games on a pretty mediocre Spokane team w/out a supporting cast (57 points in 68 games his rookie year before that) and a killer U18s. But given he will be 18 the entire season, he needs to play like it.

The happy engaged couple.


- Feanor

She's looks about 19 (not that that's a bad thing), and fell in love with his nickname, Hartnell Down...

Kinda sad they went through so many bad seasons and have no hope on defense
- PhillySportsGuy

After trading Myers and Zadorov.

If you had a bad day, take solace in knowing I wasted away at an airport for 7 hours waiting for a flight to take me to my girlfriend that eventually got cancelled.

Rebooked today for 3. What a mess

Is anyone else having trouble seeing a fit for both Matt Read and Nick Cousins in the line up with the additions of Boyd Gordon and Dale Weise, while subtracting Ryan White?

Schenn-Giroux-Simmonds
Raffl-Courtier-Voracek
Read-Laughton-Weise
Vandevelde-Gordon-Bellemare
Cousins

I suppose it is this s simple but when Bellemare entered the league, I looked him up and found him to be a LWer who became a center full time. I think most of us found the idea of Laughton being a LWer interesting by not quit reaching his full potential at center yet, which begs the question of who will beat out who (Cousins or Laughton)? Does Hordon have to play center? Is this ideal to everyone?

I ask because I think I would rather a Laughton-Cousins-Weise line but Read has a heavy salary and key to the PK.

If you had a bad day, take solace in knowing I wasted away at an airport for 7 hours waiting for a flight to take me to my girlfriend that eventually got cancelled.

Rebooked today for 3. What a mess
- Giroux_Is_God

i remember those days...sucks...enjoy the time you have together

Girouxdini is the A-Rod of the NHL. Scores when the team is up or down by 3 and nowhere to be found when the game is on the line. I'm not telling you anything you don't already know though.
- Hatboro_Swords

You do know youre not supposed to eat the fish from Lake Erie right?

Is anyone else having trouble seeing a fit for both Matt Read and Nick Cousins in the line up with the additions of Boyd Gordon and Dale Weise, while subtracting Ryan White?

Schenn-Giroux-Simmonds
Raffl-Courtier-Voracek
Read-Laughton-Weise
Vandevelde-Gordon-Bellemare
Cousins

I suppose it is this s simple but when Bellemare entered the league, I looked him up and found him to be a LWer who became a center full time. I think most of us found the idea of Laughton being a LWer interesting by not quit reaching his full potential at center yet, which begs the question of who will beat out who (Cousins or Laughton)? Does Hordon have to play center? Is this ideal to everyone?

I ask because I think I would rather a Laughton-Cousins-Weise line but Read has a heavy salary and key to the PK.
- roenick97

Nope.

Raffl-Giroux-Voracek
Schenn-Couturier-Simmonds
Laughton-Cousins-Wiese
Lyubimov-Gordon-Read
Bellemare

Laughton spent a good chunk of time at LW in the second half, with Cousins at center. They didn't sign Gordon to play wing with his faceoff ability. VandeVelde is a replacement level player and shouldn't be guaranteed a spot.
The good thing is, both Laughton and Cousins-as well as Lyubimov-are waiver exempt to start the year so they have flexibility. I hope they didn't add guys like Lyubimov, Wiese and Gordon to replace Laughton or Cousins and not replace guys like VandeVelde and Bellemare.

If you had a bad day, take solace in knowing I wasted away at an airport for 7 hours waiting for a flight to take me to my girlfriend that eventually got cancelled.

Rebooked today for 3. What a mess
- Giroux_Is_God

On the week of my Birthday, July 15th, which was a Friday. On the Monday prior my car wouldn't start before heading to work. I was able to get a jumo but the battery light was on and the bar wouldn't drive to it's full potential. Everyone told me it could be an alternator or a belt or a battery but all three seemed fine. I got a battery at 90 bucks as wishful thinking but same issue. So I tried to hold things off till Friday on my Birthday but that Wednesday prior, my engine light was on. A totally separate issue. So I drove it to the nearest shop because as long as it ran, I didn't wanna pay for a tow. Auto Lab tells me it's the belt and the alternator. They charged me 555.00 to only fix that problem. Turns out they over charged more than other places by 200. Next I went to my other guy who is a little bit of a distance. 220 to fix the problem bouncing around in the engine but was also disabling my breaks but lucky, they went hand and hand. This week the connections on the battery went bad (or so I was told) as I was making a simple stop at the bank. Stuck in the hot Sun on a Tuesday morning making a litteral 1 dollar payment to my credit card because my insurance somehow wouldn't come out because it cost 172 but I only had 171 on the card. I was able to get a free tow to the same Auto Lab near by thinking this had to be covered under the warranty. Cleary there was life in the car/battery but won't turnover. Auto Lab wanted 275 to put these new connectors to the battery on. I freaked out and got them down to 100 after they threaten to call the cops. Turns out on places would have did it for 70 but again, same issues as 2 weeks ago, so in my mind it had to be all related and covered under the warranty.

I haven't paid my rent yet, which I know I can make up for. Challenging thing is, I'm on a weeks vacation I booked 2 months ago. I'm getting paid but not to the fullest that I would if I were working. Needless to say, if anyone wants to take satisfaction in this, I know it could be worse. I'm going on a road trip from Canton Michigan today to London Ontario and Grand Bend Ontario. I took a camping trip to Guelph Ontario last weekend. Nothing was going to stop me from enjoying my time off.

It's all still a huge kick to the nuts.

Nope.

Raffl-Giroux-Voracek
Schenn-Couturier-Simmonds
Laughton-Cousins-Wiese
Lyubimov-Gordon-Read
Bellemare

Laughton spent a good chunk of time at LW in the second half, with Cousins at center. They didn't sign Gordon to play wing with his faceoff ability. VandeVelde is a replacement level player and shouldn't be guaranteed a spot.
The good thing is, both Laughton and Cousins-as well as Lyubimov-are waiver exempt to start the year so they have flexibility. I hope they didn't add guys like Lyubimov, Wiese and Gordon to replace Laughton or Cousins and not replace guys like VandeVelde and Bellemare.
- Jsaquella

Any change would be a good change in the bottom 6.

i remember those days...sucks...enjoy the time you have together
- YuenglingJagr

Today's my bday too lol

Hopefully there won't be rain today. That's what I expect to happen anyway, because why not.